The night sky over Greystone flickered with stars, but Kaelen couldn't sleep. The latest alert from the System replayed in his mind over and over:
System Alert: Major Faction Activity DetectedFaction: Crimson Lord's BannerRisk Level: ModerateRecommendation: Scout or prepare defenses.
"Crimson Lord..." Kaelen muttered to himself, eyes narrowed as he stood at the top of the wooden palisade, watching the forests beyond the border. The world outside was waking up fast—too fast.
And not every Lord would be content with mere survival.
System Notification
[New Quest Available: "The Crimson March"]Description: Scout the Crimson Lord's growing domain before conflict begins.Objectives:
Infiltrate the Crimson Banner Encampment (0/1)
Extract tactical intel (0/1)
Return without detection (Optional: Bonus SP)Rewards: +1 Army Command Slot, 1000 EXP, 200 SPBonus: Shadow-Woven Cloak (Epic)
Kaelen accepted the quest without hesitation.
War was coming. If he didn't get ahead of it, someone else would drag him into it on their terms.
He turned to Bronn, his silent Bone Knight captain, and issued the mental command.
"Prepare two Wight Archers and the Pack Beast. We're moving at first light."
Neria sat cross-legged inside her personal greenhouse. Since planting the Moonshade Vine, her class had undergone another subtle transformation. New passive traits were budding within her like leaves in spring.
Class Trait Updated: Verdant Aegis Lv. 4
"Warden of Seed and Storm": You can now bond with rare magical plants and use them for defense or area control.
"Photosynthetic Reservoir": Gain accelerated mana regen during daylight.
"Symbiosis Core (Linked: Kaelen)": Grants aura bonuses when nearby Kaelen.
She stared at the sprout in the center of her greenhouse.
It pulsed with moonlight.
And it spoke.
Not in words. But in feelings. Urgency. Growth. Danger.
The Moonshade Vine had tasted the world—and it was frightened.
"Kaelen's going to war…" she whispered.
The vine shimmered in response, and a flower bloomed at its center. Inside it was a single crystal tear — pale and blue.
She picked it up.
[Item Acquired: Dewdrop of Tranquil Pulse]Effect: Instantly calms hostile plant-based entities or disrupts enemy nature-based spells.
She smiled faintly. "Guess I'm not staying behind this time."
By morning, Kaelen, cloaked in the newly purchased Silent Dust Mantle, moved like a shadow through the underbrush. The Pack Beast slinked beside him, carrying his gear and emergency rations. The Wight Archers stayed hidden on the ridge, ready for backup.
After two hours of steady travel, he spotted the outer limits of the Crimson Banner's operation.
What he saw made his blood chill.
A fully constructed stone outpost—twice the size of Greystone—surrounded by crimson banners, spiked barricades, and patrols in plated armor.
They were organized. Disciplined. Far too advanced for a normal Lord's stage of development.
"How…?" Kaelen whispered.
Then he saw the reason.
A woman in blood-red robes stood at the center of the base, overseeing units that clearly weren't native to this world. Giant lizards, bone-drakes, and flamebound constructs moved with eerie synchronicity.
[Crimson Lord – Subordinate Command: Marleah the Flamebound]Level: 34Traits: Pyromancer of the Bound Circle, Command Aura III, Contracted FiendStatus: Secondary Commander – Aggressive Doctrine
So it wasn't just a Lord he had to worry about. The Crimson Lord had subordinates… like generals.
And worse—those weren't summoned creatures.
They were Contracted.
Which meant: the Crimson Lord had made deals with entities from other realms.
Kaelen's jaw clenched. That sort of shortcut always came at a cost.
He used [Undead Reconvergence]—a rare ability he unlocked two levels ago—to temporarily merge vision with one of his bone scouts.
Through the eyes of a skull mounted on a tree branch, he zoomed in on the war room.
There it was: a full map with Greystone circled in red.
"They're already targeting us."
System Notification
[Objective 1: Completed – Encampment Scouted][Objective 2: Completed – Tactical Data Acquired]Bonus Objective: Still Active
He could've turned back.
He should've.
But he saw something else—an emaciated figure in chains behind the command tent. A girl.
No, a Lord.
One of the weaker ones who must've failed early… now being bled for mana or perhaps worse.
He burned her image into his mind.
"We're going to tear them down," Kaelen muttered as he vanished into the mist, leaving no trace.
That night, back at Greystone, Kaelen stood before the council chamber with Sylra, Neria, and the newly promoted Scout Captain, Gareth.
Sylra slammed a fist on the table.
"They already marked us?"
Kaelen nodded. "They're not expanding. They're hunting."
"What kind of Lord hunts other Lords this early?" Gareth asked, his brow furrowed.
"The kind who made a deal," Kaelen said, crossing his arms. "Crimson's power isn't natural. They have a fiend contract and a battle mage running logistics."
Gareth looked uneasy. "Fiends… we're not ready for that."
"We will be," Kaelen said. "Because we don't have a choice."
Neria placed the blue crystal flower from the Moonshade Vine on the table. "Then we grow faster."
They all looked at her.
"I can use this to enchant our fields to generate healing fruit and mana-dense herbs. If Kaelen fortifies our walls with the bone trenches and we synchronize again, we can double the growth rate."
Sylra looked between the two siblings. "You're talking about an all-in defense."
Kaelen nodded. "Greystone will be our fortress. And our trap."
Later, Kaelen opened the System Shop, now expanded due to his scouting achievement.
[New Items Available]
[Fortified Bone Trenches – 90 SP]
[Spirit Net Trap (Fiend Bane) – 120 SP]
[Crystherium Arrowheads – 60 SP]
[Barracks Expansion: Elite Wight Forge – 180 SP]
[Hero Unit: Umbra Skirmisher – 250 SP]
He chose the Spirit Net Trap and the Elite Wight Forge.
He needed elite troops to stand a chance.
The next three days moved like a storm.
Kaelen oversaw the formation of defensive lines—bone trenches laced with mana-disrupting spikes. Neria enchanted the farmland with Moonshade blossoms, allowing even common herbs to mutate into potent materials. Sylra trained a new elite guard unit composed of mercenaries and undead hybrids.
And Kaelen began testing new formations for the army. The synergy between him and Neria had also evolved:
New Bond Trait: "Battlefield Bloom"
While Kaelen is engaged in melee, Neria's area effects gain +30% potency.
While Neria is channeling, Kaelen regenerates stamina 2x faster.
That night, Kaelen stood on the eastern wall.
In the distance, a single crimson torch appeared on the ridgeline, burning like a bloodstain in the dark.
He turned to Neria beside him.
"It begins tomorrow."