Although I would have liked to spend the rest of the day with Dina and Daisy and spoil them a lot, unfortunately, I had a lot to do.
It was already time to return with Aunt Dayana and the others. They were about to arrive at the frontlines soon.
Thus, I bid farewell to Dina and Daisy and stepped across space.
I had left a clone of mine behind when I left for the capital, so nobody noticed my absence. In fact, to the general and the others, I never left.
Currently, my clone was riding a horse beside Aunt Dayana, the general, and some other important people towards Fort Mist, our destination. We were surrounded by the soldiers of the empire, who were already on high alert, ready to face an ambush at any time.
Aunt Sera, Andrea, Katherine, Ysnay, and Rose were following behind us. They were being protected by Lina and the men of Eternity's Fangs, who were looking at their surroundings warily.
I dispelled the clone and took its place without anyone noticing. Immediately, I sensed the tense atmosphere surrounding the group.
However, I did not need to think too much to find the reason. We were just twenty kilometers away from Fort Mist. We would arrive in less than two hours.
And after that, we would enter in combat against the daemons.
In fact, perhaps the battle will start even before that.
Suddenly, I felt a gaze on me.
Turning around, I saw Ysnay staring at me with a playful expression. It was obvious she noticed I returned.
I nodded at her indicating that everything was alright.
Just at that moment, the voice of General Liko reached my ears.
"Prince Claus, we are about to arrive at the frontlines. You should tell your men to get ready in case we need to enter in combat as soon as we arrive."
"Don't worry, general. I know what to do."
"I hope so." The general glanced at me coldly. "Remember to follow my orders, Prince. Once we reach the frontlines, you will be just one of my subordinates."
I nodded indifferently. You don't have to remind me of that, old man.
I'm curious to see what you have prepared for me. What is your plan?
The general snorted and turned around to give orders to other people. Taking advantage of that, Aunt Dayana approached me with an anxious expression.
"Claus, are you confident about this?"
"Don't worry aunt. Everything is under control."
Aunt Dayana looked at me worriedly and sighed.
"Be careful, Claus. I know about your capabilities, but it's obvious the general is planning something. You could end suffering a loss if you underestimate him."
… Believe me, aunt, I will not suffer a loss even if I ignore him completely.
This war is just a bit of amusement before the main act.
Around two hours later, Fort Mist finally entered to our sight.
The reason it was called that was due to the thick mist surrounding it almost every day of the year. The thick mist made it so that normal people could hardly see anything beyond ten meters.
Even practitioners whose senses were stronger than normal had their sight severely limited.
Fort Mist was located between two tall cliffs. It was the only path from the Daemon Empire towards the Arcadian Empire in hundreds of kilometers.
Unless the daemons want to go through the mountains, this was the only route they could choose if they wanted to invade from this direction.
That was the reason this fort was so important.
However, its strategic location made it easy to defend and hard to attack.
That, coupled with the constant thick mist in the zone, made the place a natural fort that even the strongest armies would have trouble breaching.
In fact, proof of that was the fact that Fort Mist had managed to defend against the invasion of the Daemon Army with just one thousand soldiers!
However, no matter how excellent the fort was or and how outstanding the soldiers were, there was a limit to how much they could do when facing an army of hundreds of thousands.
According to the news we received recently, the fort was about to be breached.
But when we saw the fort, we realized the situation was worse than we thought.
A tattered fort was standing between two cliffs, blocking the way of the Daemon Army as thousands of daemons charged towards it every second.
Moreover, in the distance, hundreds of Daemon Mages were casting spells constantly, some to push away the mist, and others to bring the fort down.
If not for the enchantments and arrays on the fort that made it incredibly tough, it would have been taken down long ago.
However, it seemed like it could not endure much longer despite that.
We could see the remaining soldiers enduring bitterly, shooting arrows, and throwing rocks from the walls to kill the daemons soldiers that were desperately trying to climb the walls.
Occasionally, an arrow or spell would hit one of the human soldiers, wounding them and killing them in the worst of the cases.
However, if the soldiers were not killed, they would grit their teeth and stand up again, enduring their injuries and continuing defending.
Their determination to defend the fort was so firm that it seemed like they planned to die defending it.
Unfortunately, there was not much they could do anymore.
The reason was that a group of Daemons had appeared behind the fort.
Judging by the situation, they were most likely a group of elites that had gone through the mountains to attack from behind to bring the fort down.
And unfortunately, the defenses on this part of the fort were not as good.
At this rate, the fort would fall in less than one hour.
When the general and the soldiers saw the situation of the fort, their expression turned stern.
"General, what should we do?" One of the general aides asked worriedly.
The general looked at the fort and snorted.
"Is it not obvious? We will charge through. We need to reinforce the fort before it falls, or it will be too late! Order the calvary to charge forward and kill the daemons trying to invade the fort from the rear!"
"Understood!"
But suddenly, the general extended his hand.
"Wait a moment." The general then looked towards me. "Prince, you will lead the charge."