The general and his subordinates looked out over the battlefield as the humans, demons, beasts, and demonic beasts died in droves and dropped like flies. Since it was war, the sight wasn't unexpected or shocking. But their opponent was the Tribe of Death. People and beasts dying would only serve to strengthen their enemies.
However, the looks on the general and his subordinates weren't ones of worry. They were just grave.
The Tribe of Death weren't using their magic to control the corpses of the fallen. Granted, a lot of the corpses were mangled and destroyed beyond what their magic could restore. But many corpses were also more than intact enough for the Tribe of Death to use as weapons against the Alliance of Kingdoms and their allies.
Unfortunately, it wasn't a good thing.
General Scoll had obtained a piece of information from the Obsidian Empire in preparation for the war regarding the Tribe of Death's war methods. Due to the time and effort most of them took, General Scoll didn't want to believe that they would go through with several of those methods. He still began thinking up possible countermeasures. But he didn't want to have to put them to use.
However, as the battle progressed, General Scoll began seeing what the Tribe of Death was planning to do. And he didn't like it, even if he had prepared a countermeasure.
"Denebra, they're going with option three."
"Mhmm."
Denebra's short reply managed to put General Scoll's heart at ease. But only until she opened her mouth again.
"It's fine as long as the Fountain is out of play."
General Scoll held back a sigh and looked toward the Fortress of Death, where the mana storm was gradually dropping further and further down. The center was still far above the ground, but the vortex was still expanding, and there were no signs of the storm dissipating prematurely.
As the supreme commander of the Alliance of Kingdom's army, General Scoll would have known if they or their allies were behind the mana storm in some way. But his infiltration plan was the only thing that was related to any activities close to the Fortress. But Cooper's tracking magic getting cut off indicated that the plan had failed.
Besides, there was no way that his infiltration plan could have caused a mana storm unless there was something or someone else within the Fortress capable of causing a mana storm with their actions.
Someone like a transcendent or stronger might be able to cause the necessary change in the atmosphere or nature if they went all out, which might lead to a mana storm occurring. But not even someone like that would be able to guarantee a mana storm, especially not without making it obvious that they had done something.
General Scoll entertained the thought, nonetheless. But he couldn't figure out the motive of someone doing something like that.
And none of the people who had gone on the mission seemed to have a good enough background to carry a defensive item capable of unleashing a transcendent's strength. Besides, when a transcendent themselves shouldn't be able to hide their interference, a simple item would be even less capable of doing that.
There was an item within the Fortress of Death that surpassed the mortal levels, the Fountain of Death. But as far as Scoll knew, that artifact wasn't capable of something like that. It was merely a seemingly endless source of death attribute demonic energy.
But maybe destroying it had unleashed something that had been enough to upset the atmospherical mana. That hopefully meant that the mission had been a partial success.
General Scoll followed that line of thought, but he couldn't figure out the mana storm's composition. The darkness was ominous enough to make out even from a distance as death attribute demonic energy. But where did the orange mana come from?
That was the main thing that made General Scoll suspect someone's interference.
His thoughts briefly thought to one person he noticed used fire before quickly moving on. There was no way a sixth level mage would be capable of something like that, so General Scoll immediately disregarded the thought.
The mana storm perplexed and annoyed General Scoll since he didn't like variables showing up on his battlefields, especially not variables large enough to affect the battle's outcome. But there was nothing he could do about it except prepare to adjust his plans.
General Scoll looked on as the vortex's center continued toward the ground as if being pulled downwards. It wouldn't be long until the mana storm fully formed and began wreaking havoc.
With the chaos and the turbulent mana around the battlefield, it wouldn't be strange if the mana storm started moving their way when it formed. It would be good if they could end the war before then. But if they couldn't, it would be good if they could use the mana storm against the Tribe of Death.
"Let's proceed on the assumption that the Fountain of Death is still in play. But when the mana storm lands, it won't be useable anyways."
"Yes, General."
"Yes, sir."
"Sounds good, sir."
"Mmm."
General Scoll looked away from the vortex and toward the raging battlefield. It was time to put some reins on the chaos and start controlling the war properly. That was how he had trained his inclination, after all.
General Scoll took one step forward on his platform and took a deep breath after analyzing the flow of the battle. Since the mana storm had popped up, he would have to play a more active role in the battle or risk losing the war. General Scoll had planned and predicted many outcomes for the war, but he never once thought that he would lose.
Even if things he hadn't predicted or planned for happened, General Scoll was still confident in his abilities and the abilities of the people around him.
After his deep breath, the general shouted. Magic filled his voice as it rang out across the battlefield and touched every combatant's ears.
"Barriers all around!"
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