The black-bottomed, gold-edged general's cloak fluttered with the first snow of winter, as she stood on the north gate of the military city, looking down at the scene before her.
The fragmented corpses of beasts and the severed limbs of fallen soldiers were mixed together, frozen into a single mass in the cold wind of the falling snow, indistinguishable from each other.
There was no passion, no heroism, no so-called belief or glory; once dead, there was nothing left… Faced with this scene, anyone could understand why Kiritsugu Emiya once so vehemently rejected glory and heroes, because once that layer of human selfishness's false veneer was stripped away, what was revealed was naked slaughter and crime.
At this moment, it wasn't yet the season for snow, but this heavy snowfall was caused by the large amount of frigid Essence of the Demon that overflowed during Rin's battle with the Black Qilin yesterday, affecting the weather and triggering a continuous, day-and-night goose down snow.
The sudden drop in temperature also caused many Danger Beasts to enter hibernation, making things much calmer and ensuring the safety of the auxiliary troops working outside the city, though it also increased the difficulty.
The land between the military camp city and the Forest of Dangerous Species was piled high with the corpses of humans and beasts.
Regardless of whether they were Danger Beasts or soldiers, all bodies had to be recovered into the city.
The remains of fallen soldiers had to be pieced together as much as possible to maintain their integrity, then cremated and buried.
The bodies of Danger Beasts, of course, were different; these were spoils of war bought with the lives of over ten thousand soldiers.
Their meat, skin, scales, blood, and bones would all be absorbed by the soldiers as nourishment for the growth of the Seventh Legion.
In yesterday's battle, Rin did not actually use her full strength.
If she were to unleash the suppressed Dragon bloodline within her, her body's life level would immediately ascend a dimension.
Even if the Dragon's Heart could no longer infinitely refine vast amounts of magical power by breathing air, the vitality provided by the Dragon's cells would be enough for her to end this war between humans and beasts.
But for her own purposes, she did not do so...
"I'm one step closer to becoming the Demon Lord."
Rin looked down at the snow-covered battlefield in front of the gate, a self-deprecating smile on her lips.
"Taking advantage of the Seventh Legion stationed here being in a weakened state, and risking everything to delve deep into the Forest of Dangerous Species from the Great Snow Mountain to incite a Danger Beast riot with an Imperial Arm, well done, barbarians of the Northern Frontier."
Rin's expression quickly turned cold with a murmur, her face like the chilling ice of the Nine Netherworlds.
Rin could communicate with the corpse puppets she controlled using the power of yatsufusa, much like conversing with a robot, asking and receiving answers.
During the process of using Mahapadma and exhausting her magical power to transform the Black Qilin before retreating to the rear, Rin had already tried to understand the cause of the riot from the Black Qilin, and the result was—
It heard a sound that made it irritable.
Among the forty-eight Imperial Arms, there was a lost bone flute that could control and command land-based Danger Beasts for one's own use.
There were also Imperial Arms to control aquatic and aerial Danger Beasts, made based on the beast-taming techniques of the border Native.
The Imperial Arm that controlled aquatic Danger Beasts was too large in its manifested form and had remained in the hands of the navy along the East Sea coast since its creation.
The Imperial Arm that controlled aerial Danger Beasts remained in the Imperial Capital, responsible for the safety of the Imperial Capital's airspace, and incidentally, the flying dragons used as mounts by the military were also bred and tamed by that Imperial Arm.
"And that flute that controls terrestrial Danger Beasts was lost in a civil war four hundred years ago.
Logically speaking, it should be in the Western Kingdom..."
Rin frowned, watching the wind and snow in the sky as she pondered.
The border between the Western Kingdom and the Northern Nomads' territory was a rocky belt of barren land.
The Western Kingdom was originally vast and sparsely populated, with a geography primarily composed of sand and gravel plains, rich in minerals.
Its technology for forging weapons and equipment was extremely advanced.
Before it split from the Empire, it was the Empire's largest smelting and military manufacturing zone, and it also had the secret art of Alchemy.
"...To say that the Northern Nomads invaded the Western Kingdom and seized that Imperial Arm is simply impossible.
The only explanation is that there was a transaction between them."
Thinking of this, Rin couldn't help but smile.
"Biting dogs really don't bark.
How could the Western Kingdom, this evil dog that turned on its master, simply lie idly by after breaking its leash?"
Although that Imperial Arm couldn't control the Black Qilin, it could disturb it.
The affected Black Qilin, agitated and aggressive, naturally chose the Seventh Legion's camp, only ten kilometers from the forest, as its primary target, rather than the cold, uninhabited side of the Great Snow Mountain.
The Black Qilin's roar, combined with the Imperial Arm's mental sound, caused the entire Forest of Dangerous Species to riot.
The affected Danger Beasts were fearful and chaotic in their minds, so much so that they didn't even notice the Black Qilin's death.
After Rin slew it, the beast tide continued for a long time, only subsiding when the sun was about to set, and the Danger Beasts finally awoke from the Imperial Arm's enchantment.
If the Seventh Legion at this time hadn't been led and guarded by Rin, any other Imperial unit stationed here would have been flattened by the beast tide led by the Black Qilin.
Afterward, large groups of Danger Beasts would have penetrated deep into the Empire, with Wuxi City being the first to suffer.
This could ultimately lead to widespread chaos in the entire northern Empire, resulting in unimaginable casualties among the Imperial populace and soldiers.
At that time, if the Northern Native launched an invasion, the collapse of the northern border defenses would have been inevitable, and then...
"A well-played move.
It seems some things are now unavoidable."
Rin smiled knowingly, then stepped onto the city wall and leaped vigorously into the sky.
As she rapidly ascended to a hundred meters, a Wind God Winged Dragon, flying from the clouds, skillfully flipped in the air to catch Rin's figure.
Then, amidst the howling gale, it carried Rin rapidly towards the northern sky.
"Although their deaths can only be attributed to their own weakness, as their general, to have my soldiers killed by someone's scheme—I cannot let this go unavenged!"
"Roar—!!!"
Rin struck yatsufusa heavily on the Wind God Winged Dragon's head.
The Wind God Winged Dragon, supported by Rin's magical power, let out a sky-shaking dragon's roar.
Its colossal dragon wings, blotting out the sky, flapped with roaring wind pressure, and the Wind God Winged Dragon's flight speed instantly increased by over ten times the speed of sound!
In just a quarter of an hour, Rin, riding the Wind God Winged Dragon, flew out of the Empire's territory and entered the lands of the Northern Native.
This was a region of perpetual extreme cold, where snow fell and rarely melted, composed of continuous snow-capped mountains and vast, boundless snowy grasslands.
Due to the weather, very few crops could grow here apart from grass; only a type of plant similar to highland barley could be cultivated in small quantities, but for the needs of the Northern Nomads, it was utterly insignificant.
The Northern Native were primarily nomadic people who lived by herding and hunting.
Both men and women learned hunting techniques and how to kill Danger Beasts from a young age.
Their customs were fierce, very similar to the Balutes Tribe.
Every winter, when heavy snow covered the grasslands, the Northern Nomads would launch invasions into the Empire to plunder food and supplies.
If the Empire held its defensive lines, it was fine, but once the lines fell and the Native invaded deep into the Empire, the resulting tragedies were far worse than anything caused by Danger Beasts!
The Wind God Winged Dragon, flying at a speed of 3.6 kilometers per second, carried Rin soaring through this vast, empty region.
Before long, Rin discovered a settlement of a Northern Native, with tens of thousands of tents clustered together.
Rin adjusted her cloak slightly and murmured, "Although the main purpose of this trip is to gather materials for the third assessment, if someone must pay for my fallen soldiers, then, farewell."
With that, Rin lightly leaped from the Wind God Winged Dragon, plummeting thousands of meters from high altitude towards the ground!
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