Late at night, the soldiers of the Emperor’s Army were busy fortifying their defenses near Bohemia.

Having just covered a staggering distance of 300 km, they felt a profound fatigue as they set up their formations under General Tilly’s orders.

With the sun nearly gone, they rushed to complete their tasks.

The size of the encampment was anything but small, as it needed to accommodate a whopping 25,000 people, extending as far as the nearby Baeksan, where the Bohemian soldiers were waiting.

Tired soldiers haphazardly worked on the fortifications, when suddenly, they began to notice long iron rods set up everywhere.

“…What the heck is this?”

“Well, it looks like there are some stones at the ends…”

At first glance, those objects resembled some kind of monument.

However, while a few had doubts about it, the majority of them showed no particular interest.

Or rather, to be precise, they really didn’t want to care.

‘I’m dead tired… What do I care about these poles?’

‘If I report this and it turns out to be suspicious, they might send orders from above to clear it all out…’

‘Well, this is convenient; I can stack my gear here and find it easily.’

Having come this far in a hurry, the soldiers were already exhausted.

To them, the presence of the poles meant nothing significant, and they thought it was clear that reporting it would only add to their workload.

Moreover, not only the regular soldiers but even the mid-ranking commanders didn’t want to create more work for themselves when they were already dead on their feet. The diligent ones didn’t even have the energy to concern themselves with these poles in the first place.

Since they arrived a bit late, with the sun setting, the urgency to establish the defenses was paramount. If they couldn’t set up camp, they might face a dire situation, fighting in the early morning dew alongside the soldiers.

‘We’re already dead tired; if we can’t even set up a camp, the losses will be catastrophic in every way.’

‘Before worrying about other matters, I need to finish this first…’

And so, while some poles were ignored and others blended into the natural surroundings, they remained firmly in place throughout the Emperor’s encampment without any intervention.

Not a word of this was reported to General Tilly, who was completely engaged in preparing for the battle that was set for the next day, completely unaware of the iron poles adorned with stones within his defenses.

*

“Phew…”

“Looks like I can get a little rest now…”

With the sun gone, the weary soldiers finally completed their fortifications and crawled into their resting spots.

Meanwhile, at that very moment while the soldiers were settling in…

General Tilly sat quietly inside a barracks at the forefront of the defenses, keeping watch.

“General, it’s getting late. The battle is to commence tomorrow; shouldn’t you get some rest?”

“…You go ahead and rest. I’ll keep watch through the night.”

“Eh? But… is that really necessary?”

Tilly replied to his concerned aide in a calm voice.

“It is indeed necessary. As you know, our army is tired after a long journey. If we were to be ambushed in this state, it would put us at a significant disadvantage.”

“Well, that’s true, but shouldn’t you rest as well, General?”

“Even if I look like this, I’m a High Mage. This is nothing. I’ll rest after we win the war tomorrow, so you go get some sleep.”

“…Um… I understand. Then…”

With Tilly’s firm stance, the aide realized he couldn’t sway him and left to take his leave.

Thus, Tilly was left alone in the barracks.

Immediately, he began to slowly release his magical energies, creating a radius around him.

A magical circle.

The massive detection area covering a diameter of 1.5 km began to sense everything surrounding the outer edge of the Imperial Army’s formation.

‘The only thing I can feel right now is the movement of our troops… But if the enemy ambushes us or attacks at dawn, things are gonna get complicated. The possibility is very high.’

In terms of strength, the Imperial Army might be superior, but they were smack in the middle of the enemy’s territory.

As the saying goes, even a mutt knows how to defend its own yard; the geographical advantage shouldn’t be underestimated, especially when the troops were already exhausted from the long journey.

In other words, this was the most dangerous time for the Emperor’s Army, and General Tilly was on high alert, closely monitoring the enemy’s movements in preparation for an invasion.

‘Come at me if you dare… I won’t let things go your way.’

Without easing his tension, Tilly maintained the magical circle, vigilantly watching through the night.

For a High Mage of his caliber, who possessed stamina surpassing ordinary humans, this task was still not very easy.

It required considerable patience, and maintaining the magical circle for an extended period would inevitably drain his energy.

Of course, for a 9th-level High Mage like him, this wouldn’t render him incapable of combat, but he would be sacrificing some of his original fighting strength.

Nevertheless, Tilly didn’t particularly care about that.

Even if his own power waned, what mattered most was keeping the troops here in prime condition for battle, and victory would be assured.

Taking that fact into account, he did his best, but…

To his astonishment, there were no midnight ambushes.

‘…Hmmm… Could it be they’re really not coming? Dawn is almost here. If that’s the case, I might have overestimated the enemies. But then again… the level of those heretics is pretty much the same across the board…’

As those thoughts wandered, Tilly began to feel oddly disappointed.

At that moment…

“!…”

In the next instant, countless entities began to be detected within his magical circle.

Realizing this, Tilly, who had been focused with his eyes closed, dismantled the magical circle.

‘Of course, they’re coming. A little later than expected, but…’

Detecting the movements of the enemies he had been waiting for, Tilly immediately prepared to act.

The enemy advancing at dawn would arrive here within a few minutes.

If he could wake the sleeping troops and set up defenses quickly, he wouldn’t be pressed for time.

‘And with the sun rising soon, it’ll start getting bright. In this moment, the effectiveness of a surprise attack will significantly decrease. I’ll teach them that a half-hearted ambush is actually a detriment…!’

With that in mind, Tilly stepped out of the barracks.

In that moment…

“! Wh-What the hell?”

What appeared before him was an unexpected sight.

At this hour when dawn was breaking, it was indeed getting brighter compared to the darkness surrounding them.

However… Tilly’s eyes saw nothing in front of him.

But it wasn’t due to some special magic causing this.

Fog…

A thick shroud of fog so dense that it obscured his vision completely.

Seeing this, curses slipped from Tilly’s lips automatically.

“Damn it! Of all times…!”

In this visibility-blocking situation, even gathering the troops would be a struggle.

Meanwhile, the enemy was already on their way, moving in formation.

At that moment, Tilly began to notice strange things that he hadn’t realized before.

“What… what are those poles?”

The iron poles whose origins were a mystery.

On top of them, glowing stones were emitting light due to the moisture from the fog, looking as if they were lighthouses.

Shining with unknown symbols…

It seemed like they were clearly marking their position in this fog.

Feeling a sense of alarm about the unusual situation, Tilly shouted urgently.

-“All troops, awaken! Enemies! The enemy is approaching!”-