Tons of dust was tossed into the air as the rushing carriage plowed onwards at a frantic pace. There was nothing within the carriage but fully armed men with a minuscule amount of supplies. Contrary to their expectations, this commander of theirs was planning to end the Wolfenstein Kingdom today, before the sun sets!

The six people from the Bainzen Empire were totally unprepared to get rid of the other five people after their task was done. They did not know how the true fight would flow as the 'Grand Assault Plan' that he gave them just smelled like utter BS, and they wouldn't dare to follow such a stupid order. These six people grew grim as they neared their destination.

...

Feihren's party arrived at the easternmost part of the Wolfenstein Kingdom before noon.

Opposite to what the other people in the party had expected, there was nothing there to block them.

The only things they found were a wall with a shattered section, a still closed gate, and a gigantic empty building. Further inspecting the place, there seemed to be blood markings on the ground, but not a single dead body could be found anywhere.

Feihren did not mind the party's dumbfounded expressions as he continued 'driving' the carriage through the shattered portion of the wall. This further confirmed that the place was truly empty, not even a single guard had blocked them from entering! The entire party kept wondering how this was possible. It seemed way too easy for them to enter the Wolfenstein Kingdom.

The hint of a smile that appeared on Feihren's face cleared the doubts of the other members of the party. But soon, everyone had a grim expression on their faces. They now realized that this commander of theirs had done all this yesterday when they were busy with their supposed 'team-building exercise'... The four people from the Ranustin Kingdom had their expressions fill with pride and confidence. 'It seems that this commander of ours would actually be able to pull this operation successfully, and with ease. It seems like going home intact is not a far-fetched dream anymore.'

The other six people, on the other hand, had felt like their stomach was being crushed by a sudden illusionary jolt of pain. In their mind, they had estimated that there should be at least a few thousand soldiers posted at this stronghold of Wolfenstein. Given that this fort was hurriedly built and was never intended to be permanent, there should have been elites that would be guarding this strategic location for the Wolfenstein Kingdom, but now... it feels like a ghost town. Nothing but silence could be heard.

Feihren did not say a single word as he started inspecting the place.

'Eh, it seems that nobody sent any distress signals towards the capital, but just to be sure...'

"Excuse me, Magi Zeph, do you have any sort of item or spell that could detect any recent magic usage or something along those lines?" Feihren then inquired for help from the prominent magi.

"In fact, I do. I had to learn this spell prior to the plan of attacking the Wolfenstein Kingdom."

"I too have such way of confirming magic usage. Although it is not a skill, I have a magic equipment of the same effect."

Magi Zeph and a mage from Bainzen Empire confirmed that they indeed have ways to detect magic traces. Feihren then commanded them to split into two groups for them to scout out the entirety of the stronghold.

"Sir Feihren, could we split into non-Ranustin and Ranustin citizen groups? It would be more efficient as it is more comfortable to work with the people you know the best." One of the Bainzen citizens added with a seemingly 'innocent' smile on his face.

'Nice try, You're just trying to regroup yourselves and revise your plans' Feihren thought to himself as a grin appeared on his face. "You want to split into that kind of grouping? No, I beg to differ. If you do that, then what was the point of the team-building exercise yesterday? Alright, now, go split yourselves into the same grouping you had yesterday." Feihren rejected their proposal immediately.

The Bainzen Empire citizens could not help but reply with a bitter smile on their faces as they proceeded with the previous grouping and started scouting. The stronghold was in no way small, so they only went to the places where there were bloodstains, since that meant there were definitely people their beforehand, in order to trace the magic usage most efficiently. It took until late afternoon before they found a trace of magic usage. It was at the westernmost part of the stronghold, towards the Wolfenstein Kingdom.

Feihren then gathered everyone back together as they started inspecting the place where the trace was found. It seemed to have been the exit of the fort which was what had become of the former Coboro Village. On the other side of the fence was the agricultural land from when this was a simple village. A wooden gate was the only way out, as the fence seems sturdy enough to block a man and tall enough to prevent anyone from easily climbing over it. The fence, however, was reasonably clean, yet not spotless. The portion closest to the wooden gate had blood marks that were splattered on it, which was in contrast to the red-ish ground below the fence. It seems like only one person made it this far during that battle.

It seems that this person was the most rational among those in the stronghold. Not only did they reach the gate first, it seemed that they were also sober enough to send a distress signal towards the capital. This person might have slipped past Feihren's notice and escaped if they were fast enough, too bad bullets are really fast...

"Well, I expect that this will not become a 'surprise attack' anymore but more of an expected assault against them, where they would have ample time to prepare. But before that..."  

Feihren hadn't even finished his sentence when he felt a slight tremble on the ground. No, this does not seem like an earthquake.

The other people within the party were not sensitive enough to feel this and had blank expressions on their faces as they stared at Feihren who suddenly stopped talking. Feihren then continued...

"Prepare yourselves, an army is marching towards us..." Feihren said in a solemn tone.

The ground started trembling even further as panicked expressions appeared on the entire party's faces. As General Rey muttered...

"This is gonna be really, really bad..."