"Orn? …… It seems that neither the Ideal nor the Conqueror are simple characters, and they have found reliable allies for each other. ”

Deep in the Frostguard's main castle, Lisandro wakes up from a dream, and a new discovery has left her sleepy.

She stepped out of the ice bed and in front of the statue of Serilda, and spoke to the ice sculpture, exhaling cold frost through her opening.

"Looks like Winterclaw needs some instructions, but the conqueror seems to hate me...... Forget it, this time in your name. ”

Lisandro reached out and gently stroked the ice, and beneath it was Serilda's empty but clenched right hand. It seemed that something she had been holding on to had already been taken.

……

On the frozen river, the lights flickered in the distance. The freezing rain soaked the fur coats, and the warmth and satisfaction of these people were not available.

The sun is setting low, signaling a dangerous cold spell that may come at any time. If they meet the cold wave with a wet posture, under the pressure of hunger and cold, someone will definitely die because of it.

In order to survive, Sejuani had her warriors attack. Thousands of blood warriors, hoplites, mammoth riders, and icy bloodlines roared in at the sound of battle cries, and, of course, the bears who had recently joined them, who had never been afraid of war, and even longed for war itself.

Dawn hadn't yet arrived, but there was not much left of the riverside city, and it was impossible to have a warm fire to drive away the chill of the night. All of the city's buildings are charred skeletons, except for charred wood and stone chimneys that stand atop sharp piles of rubble.

Winterclaw's army had recently ransacked the place, setting the town on fire to dispel the cold, but the cold rain lasted longer than they expected, showing no signs of abating until the flames cleared.

This can hardly be called a war, and the addition of the bears makes it a one-sided slaughter. They were the first to break through the town's defenses, followed by Sejuani's troops, but they were as ferocious as the former, crushing everything that stood in their way.

Following the cruel traditions of the Ice Fields, the weak do not deserve to survive in this cold world. The warriors of Winterclaw will kill all the survivors to prevent the trouble, but the bears will not spare even the corpses.

On a soot-covered street, a bear man is dismembering the corpse of a shopkeeper. It was not afraid of freezing rain, but not even the rain could wash away the blood stained on its hair.

It casually slashed a pair of tomahawks at the long-dead corpse, then dragged the mutilated corpse to the side of the giant shadow and pinned it to the tip, forming a pattern of some kind of position. Immediately after, the bear-man let out a roar, and the nearby warriors immediately approached the remaining town guards, mercilessly pushing them into the sea of fire.

Winterclaw's shaman, Udir, sat in a charred ruin and watched it all, and he felt the slicing, unquestionable spirit bear creeping into the minds of every living creature around him.

He refused to allow the bear spirit to crawl into his mind, but the majestic shadow lingered in front of him. He took out a silver thorn from his hidden pocket and plunged it into his scarred finger, forcing himself to stay awake with the sharp pain of his ten fingers.

Born under the Crimson Moon, Udir was inherently closer to the spirit realm, and it was more gifted than any beast spirit walker. But because of this, he was forced to hear many voices that he didn't want to hear, and he couldn't be at peace for a moment. When a starry number of beast spirits burrowed into his mind at the same time, Udir could easily lose his mind and get lost in the waves of sound.

But Spirit Bear's domineering was far beyond his imagination, and he began to worry, fearing that before long, he would become the only normal person in the army who had not been assimilated. Or, even they themselves were devoured.

"Udir, what's wrong with you?" A woman in a horned helmet beside him greeted him in a thick voice, the only human care he could feel in this animal world.

This person was the Mother of Winter's Claws, Sejuani, and Udir felt that she had grown from a skinny little girl to a strong, broad-shouldered woman surrounded by a group of strong blood alliances. Don't get me wrong, the is a compliment in Freljord, as long as the strong are better suited to survive in this bitter cold land.

"Did you see that? That's what you want, Sejuani, Spirit Bear's power is growing, it makes the warriors of Winterclaw as ferocious as the Lost, and I even hear Spirit Bear's voice in their heads, that terrible roar that resounded through the heavens and the earth. Udir whispered a warning to Sejuani, trying not to let the bears hear, but the Blood Alliance next to her was startled and couldn't help but look at each other.

Sejuani gave them a stern look, and the Blood Pact immediately turned back to gather supplies. Even they had no right to intervene in the affairs of Sejuani and her shaman, and their place in her heart was far less important than that of Udir.

"But I don't hear anything in my head, don't think about it, Udil. In this battle, we have been given food, shelter, and rest, which is what we want in the war to keep the Winterclaw clan through the troughs. ”

Sejuani narrowed her eyes in peace, and let the children of the tribe get food and warmth, which was the most comforting thing for her. She promised her people strength and victory, and she must not watch her army starve to death.

"I'm afraid you've become like that. The bears' bloodlust will spread from person to person, eventually eating us away! "No one knows the bear-man better than Udir, because he can combine the bear-spirit to become the bear-man himself, so he knows what's going on in the bear-man's head.

"Enough! I'm not that kid anymore, I have my own opinions! If it weren't for the bear people, we wouldn't have had enough strength to break through so many towns, and we would have starved to death half a month ago! ”

Sejuani let out a loud shout, and Udir finally fell silent.

She exhaled, Udir's place in Sejuani's heart was no different from that of her father. She respects him, but is also angry at his persistence in the subject. She knew Udil was right, but there was no turning back, and once she backed down from the war, the bears would tear Winter's Claws apart.

After listening to the sound of the rain for a long time, Sejuani was the first to break the silence: "I'm sorry, Udir. It wasn't my intention, but that's all I can do. ”

"I know, you don't have to apologize. Everything the war mother does is right, you can't admit mistakes, admitting mistakes is giving in. ”

Udir understood, and they watched each other silently, the atmosphere softening slightly, only to be broken by the sound of hurried footsteps in the rain.

The one who came was one of Sejuani's Blood Alliances, an Ice-Descendant who ran shirtless in the freezing rain without feeling cold. But at this moment, he was holding something in his hand, which made his arms tremble, as if he could be frozen to pieces at any moment.

"Sejuani, the Mother of War, offer you the perfect loot I found!" He knelt down on one knee and presented Sejuani with a heavy ice-defying weapon with trembling hands.