A Peaceful Night

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The offensive was a success. The entire military might of the Theocracy was put into question as they are pushed back from all sides of the front with losses exceeding that they could afford. And all of this happened in the time span of merely a day. Dusk has settled over the land and the two moons have finally appeared together in the night sky. If only the sky was not blanketed in a cloud of ash and smoke.

Speaking of ash and smoke, the environmental effects have begun to affect the Theocracy's war efforts, mainly the soldiers and mages in the front. A deadly smog has decided to manifest in their side of the war and was showing no signs of disappearing anytime soon. The haze was toxic in a way that it contained pollutants, once inhaled, would cause severe respiratory problems.

Many of the soldiers have begun to suffer severe coughs, some are even experiencing asthma attacks and the unlucky ones would die prematurely from these ailments. The Council, however, paid the problem no heed and decided it best to continue the war effort and have the mages assist the soldiers in the deadly haze without doing anything crucial to remove it instead.

The haze could be removed by the use of the tier 6 spell: Weathering but no mage capable doing the spell was present at this time, they were expected to arrive after a few days but will they arrive in time to stop the invasion?

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Deep inside the burnt treelines, blackened pillars of ash replaced the trees that once grew around these parts. Scores of dead animals littered the ground, either they were killed by knights, hunters or were just unlucky to get caught in the fiery blaze that consumed the forest, regardless they lied dead from whence they stood before.

A small group of three knights were patrolling in the area, the main armies were still caught in engagements while some have just gone and routed due to the overbearing pressure from the encroaching Metal Army.

They held firmly onto their swords and shields as they scanned the night for anything out of the ordinary. Their mission made no sense, they knew it.

Why send only three weak knights to patrol a large swathe of land in the middle of the night? Did they think the enemy would respect their ways of war? Did they think that the ceasefire request they sent would be honoured by an enemy who has so far shown its might and power against them? Was it wise?

These insignificant ants knew they were going to die, they just did not want to accept their fates just yet. This unusual moral was spread among the ranks and they themselves questioned but was an accepted gift, nonetheless.

"You see anything?" One of the knights asked the two knights in front of him.

"You expect me to see anything through this fog? And it's night!" The knight he asked angrily retorted.

"Hey, I was just trying to start a conversation,"

"It's best we stay quiet or else we give the enemy the luxury of knowing our position just by your loud mouth alone!"

The Knights continued through the night, silently walking and scanning the surroundings. The fiery flames that continued to swallow the forest whole blazed in the distance, giving them some degree of light amid the insufferable disability to see.

And as they walked further and further, they would hear the faint sounds of explosions. Once they do, the leader of the group would always guide them to a different direction, their job was to patrol the segments where the enemy was supposedly absent and send out a magical signal if the enemy were to appear so that a fast-response unit could respond.

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