After Orion returned to Horizon with Amelia and Karteira.


    Triazils entered its roughest period. The annual defense at the border of the Frigoria Plains was happening, with the group oblivious to this event.


    To understand how it come to this, we have to return a few hours before.


    ~


    *ROAR*


    The ground shook in Turric. Many stalls broke, and a few people were lightly injured, but nothing grave other than that happened.


    "What in the love of the world is happening?!"


    Eric Layman, Turric''s Lord, stood up from his couch and immediately ran out of his house to check outside.


    "Caroline said she was at the market if I remember right. I''ll go get her while checking if everyone is alright."


    He ran through the city, toward the marketplace. Turric was a peculiar city. It had no defensive walls like Hocride or Albriar, and was mostly protected by a serious amount of soldiers. Every five meters around the city, a soldier was posted.


    Why was there no walls? Because it had proved to be the most useless expense against the corrupted beasts in the past. Instead, the expense went to pay the soldiers, who were more than grateful for that.


    The city was separated by a river, with the east side being the living area, where the citizens could enjoy a peaceful moment away of the always bustling west part, which was where the marketplace and soldiers training ground was located.


    Of course, Eric''s house was also on the eastern part, and like his peers, he had a normal house. Nothing extravagant like a castle or a manor.


    As Eric ran on the bridge leading to the marketplace, he saw a giant beam of light in his peripheral vision. Turning his head in terror, his eyes never broke away from it, until it finally died down.


    ''W-What in the world?''


    The feeling coming from this beam of energy reminded him of his past fight against the Azur Dragon, Monolavir.


    "Caroline!"


    His senses returned as he remembered his wife, and began to run again. Once across the bridge, he saw the damage.


    "I knew it. I''ll have to carefully navigate around."


    Some of the stalls were blocking his path, so he had to find another path. Until.


    "Please! Someone!"


    He was about to walk to his right, but stop in his tracks to look at a young boy crouched on the ground next to a pile of broken wood pieces.


    Without hesitation, Eric ran to the boy, and stop next to him.


    "Can you move away a little?"


    "Lord Eric!"


    The boy nodded even though he was surprised.


    "Alright. Just wait a little bit, and brace yourself in case something falls on you."


    He bent his knees slightly, and grabbed the lowest piece of wood, before pulling effortlessly the whole pile.


    "Hup!"


    Pushing the wood away, it crashed a meter further on another pile of rubble.


    "Mom!"


    Eric saved the boy''s mother, who wasn''t looking very well. The woman had blood flowing from her mouth.


    He crouched next to the woman and examined her body without touching it.


    ''From what I can noticed, she might have a broken rib or two, and most likely a punctured lung. You don''t spit blood without an internal injury. There''s nothing I can do.''


    Standing up, he was about to shout at the top of his lungs, but was interrupted before being able to.


    "Lord Eric! We are here! We will take over this matter."


    "What awful damages! Everyone, move out and rescue as many as possible!"


    "Not as many, save everyone! We can''t let a single life get lost!"


    Many soldiers finally arrived in the marketplace from all sides of the city. They began to rummage through the destroyed stalls, finding more and more citizens who needed rescue.


    Two of the soldiers came with a stretcher, and carefully took the woman and her son with her to the hospital.


    "Caroline, where are you?"


    "Right there."


    With surprise, he looked on his right.


    "I was scared to death you would be injured. Thank the world."


    He let out a sigh of relief.


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    "That''s why I love you."


    Caroline, Eric''s wife, jump on her husband and wrapped her legs around his waist, and grabbed his head between her hands.


    She stared deep in his eyes, and spoke.


    "Even though you were worried about me, you still prioritized saving your people. I will always be proud to have you in my life."


    "Were you watching?"


    "I was on my way home when this happened, away from the damaged area."


    Short black hair, a thin yet fit body, as tall as Eric himself, and a little tomboyish, she was a few years younger than him. Eric was forty two, while she was thirty eight. They were childhood friends, and had gone through quite a lot of problems to end up being together.


    "Thank goodness you are al- HMF!"


    Without warning, she kissed him.


    ''As wild as ever.''


    The soldiers that were around looked at them for a second, before returning to their duties, slightly jealous.


    "Ah. You were worried that much, huh?"


    *slurp*


    Caroline removed the saliva from her lips, and dropped her feet to the ground.


    "I was. Have you seen that beam of magic?"


    "I did."


    Both of them looked in the direction where the light came from earlier.


    With a frown on his face, Eric turned to the south.


    "I have a bad feeling about this. There is always an indication when the invasion will start, could it be that..."


    She finished his sentence.


    "This was the sign? Are you going to move toward the wall?"


    "Hmm."


    Eric nodded.


    "Alright, I''m going to prepare our stuff. Finish directing your men, we will need them once this is done."


    "Sure. Wait for me at home."


    Walking away from Eric, Caroline returned back to her home to prepare their gear.


    "You sure have a great wife, Lord Eric."


    One of the soldiers approached him.


    "You''ll find someone too, May. Don''t lose hope."


    "If you say so."


    The woman who was dressed as a simple soldier was his aid, June. She was an ordinary woman, yet she was a rare fire magic user.


    She was a redhead, also a rare occurrence in this cold area of the continent, and there was a good reason for that. This young lady had been saved by Eric, before becoming his aid.


    With her long hair in a bun, and her helmet under her arm, she really looked like an ordinary soldier.


    "Anyway, you want my orders, right?"


    "Yes, Lord Eric. I already told the soldiers to rescue the citizens, but it seems to be almost done, as only six people were found."


    "Casualties?"


    "None. Only the woman you found is in grave danger."


    "Alright. The moment everything has been clean, I want every single soldier of Turric in the training ground. I''ll meet with you in thirty minutes there."


    May saluted her Lord, before leaving in a hurry to give the order. She had half an hour to round up all of the soldiers.


    ''Time to get serious.''


    Eric turned around and prepared himself in case his feeling was right.


    ''If I am right, then it is too early. I hoped it would have been at least two months before it happened, like usual.''


    But checking wouldn''t cost him anything. The wall was only a few hours on foot from Turric, so it was not a long excursion that would exhaust his men.


    ~


    Thirty minutes later.


    "Is everyone here?"


    Eric asked May, even though he knew she always completed her orders perfectly.


    "Every single one of your army is here. Since you haven''t told me why you needed them, I wasn''t able to tell them the reason."


    He nodded, and walked on stage without a word.


    All soldiers saluted their Lord the moment they saw him and May walk in front of them.


    "You can rest easy now."


    Were his words as he lifted his hand to make them stop. After walking to the middle of the stage, he stopped, placed his arms on his hips, and looked at his soldiers.


    "You all did a great job getting our people out of danger. Once all of this is done, I''ll order a large quantity of wine, beer, and food from Albriar as a reward."


    "Oooh!"


    Many voices began to echo in elation.


    "BUT!"


    Silence fell when they understand that something more important was coming.


    "I apologize for getting your hopes high like this. I want all of you to follow me toward the wall right now."


    "What?!"


    Questions filled the mind and mouth of the soldiers.


    "Lord Eric, could you explain?"


    May, looked a little shocked at his words. She was, just like everyone, not prepared to hear that.


    *Cough*


    Catching everyone''s attention to make them listen, Eric continued.


    "All of you felt that tremor earlier, and seen the damage it did. But have you seen the magic beam travelling to the sky right after?"


    Many nodded.


    "I believe it was the beginning of the invasion. If not, then it would be a good thing for all of us, but I won''t risk yours and Triazils lives for the simple reason of ''This wasn''t the corresponding time''.


    "Nothing in life is definite. If the invasion truly happens, then it will take us by surprise, and all of us, your family, and the one you cherish, will perish before your eyes."


    Eric crossed his arms and looked with determination at his soldiers.


    "The time has come to defend our continent once again. Prepare your weapons, and follow me to battle!"


    An two-handed earthen axe formed in his right hand, which he was able to wield with only one hand.


    "Yes, my Lord!"


    Everyone cheered loudly, as they prepared for battle.


    ~


    Three hours later, they arrived at the wall separating Triazils to the Frigoria Plains.


    The cold was unbearable past the wall, and everything was snowy around them. Behind the wall, a constant blizzard existed, which never stopped for reasons unknown.


    A high wall of polished stone, build from the work of many earth magic users over two thousand years created this masterpiece.


    How was it still standing, even if the creators already died long ago? The rule of magic was that any construction made with it, if not fed, would vanish into nothing.


    Only that this wall had a catalyst that maintained its shape constantly. All they had to do was to replenish the crystal once a year after each invasion, and it would hold forever. Only Eric knew where that catalyst was currently.


    Talking about Eric, him and his army stopped, looking at the horrible sight in front of him.


    "They are about to breach the door..."


    "Lord Eric, your intuition was right all along."


    *BOOM* *SLAM*


    The sound of creatures slamming the giant iron door echoed in the surrounding. The door looked close to breaking down already.


    "We don''t have time to prepare, everyone, get ready for a breach."


    He turned around to look at his soldiers, who all looked determined.


    "We are the shields of Triazils! But even then, I went you all to return alive. Do not sacrifice your life in vain. Be a hero that returns, not one that is written in books. Fight in groups of three against one beast, and do not take oversized one. Me, Caroline and May will deal with them."


    "I can go wild, right?"


    "Do not go overboard, Lady Caroline. It would be bad if something were to happen to you."


    "Oh, you cutie. Can I count on you then?"


    "Of course. Leave your back to me."


    Fire began to cover May, as her appearance changed.


    "Combustion."


    Her whole body began to burn, thawing the snow around her. She was another fire user able to use the Linked Elemental Mastery, just like Amelia.


    "Truly a monster. I like you."


    Eric shouted at his soldiers to get their blood pumping, like he always did each time he fought the Invasion.


    "Everyone! Get ready! They will appear at any moment!"


    "YES!"


    ...


    Twenty minutes later, the soldiers were finishing readying themselves.


    *CRACK*


    The sides of the doors, where the hinges were, began to crack.


    "Here they come!"


    *BANG*


    The doors hinges exploded, leading the doors to fall on the snow. Behind it was an army of bloodthirsty corrupted beasts, ready to kill anything on their path.


    Eric gripped his axe, and placed his left hand near the holster on his right thigh.


    "Balmung, time to go wild."


    He took a blue gun from it, and pointed at the beast running toward him that looked like a wolf.


    *BAM*


    Pressing the trigger, a bullet flew straight, and pierced the wolfs head, leaving it dead in an instant.


    *ROAR*


    "Here they come! Everyone!"


    "CHARGE!"