Steampunk Era: Mad Abield

In the following week, a multitude of war reports from the Eastern Kingdom have arrived one after another, and the war correspondents and druids sent ahead have also photographed those Chaos troops, rumored to use repeating firearms. Currently, the team is in the process of retreating from the frontlines of the Eastern Kingdom. They will complete all procedures for developing the photos within a week and deliver both the reports and the photographs to Malin’s office in Carterburg.

It is said that this Chaos troop is equipped with helmets and uniforms, only to have their clothing severely torn and tattered, and their desiccated shells are intimidating enough to instill fear in anyone, as the blood-red Soul Fire tumbles in their eye sockets, much like evil spirits returning from hell.

They are believed to be Chaos Demons, and which type specifically is still being determined, but they do not carry diseases, so they are not from Nagoth.

Malin plans to make further plans once the reports and photos are developed. The Eastern Kingdom is now resisting step by step, repeatedly giving up the land they had expanded into the Dark Zone decades ago. Malin agrees with this approach, as the Eastern Kingdom needs a large amount of equipment for refitting. They are currently defending their protruding parts in the Dark Zone using second and even third-tier time.

Malin has finally discovered the source of the Eastern Kingdom’s wealth—it all comes from alloy raw materials and various creations from the era before the Great Destruction, carried from the Dark Zone.

Beyond this, the situation in the North hasn’t shown many new developments, as two Chaos troops from Nagoth and Mimicking Bird confront the Northern Kingdom’s legions daily in the snowy landscapes. Sometimes the two Chaos factions would unite, while other times they fight independently, and occasionally, they even start to fight in front of the human defensive lines.

Although the legions of the Northern Kingdom can’t counterattack due to consecutive months of heavy snow, the Chaotic forces are also unable to break through the increasingly impenetrable human defensive lines. Hence, it is said that the soldiers have found a new form of entertainment—Svenson’s younger brother apparently opened a betting pool on the front lines, where soldiers can place bets every night on which Chaos troop will visit them first the following day.

This is the most basic form of entertainment; details like the time of their arrival, who arrives first, whether they will play as a team or start fighting directly in front of the humans, all have a carefully calculated set of odds. For many soldiers, this has almost become their only source of daily entertainment.

Malin too bet 10 gold pieces that Nagoth’s big guns would come first the next day. However, the following morning, before dawn, the Demons from Mimicking Bird touched down at the position, as usual, triggering a landmine about two hundred meters in front of the defensive line. Then, with flare shells rising into the sky, human soldiers joyfully engaged in target practice, resulting in the Demons retreating after leaving behind several thousand corpses, achieving nothing.

"I’ve heard that veterans from the battlefield may suffer from something called post-traumatic stress disorder, which comes in many forms, most often waking from nightmares, but I have never seen anyone as consistently high-spirited as you."

During this time, a Bishop from the Benevolent Church had come to help Malin with psychological counseling, only to find that Malin was sleeping well, eating well, and in good physical condition, leaving in indignation and rating this experience of Malin’s with an A+. Malin thought it should at least be an S, if there were SR or SSR, that would be even better.