The winter night was heavy.
Unlike previous cold winters, this year's season was remarkably warm. The sun blazed brightly during the day, and the night lacked the harsh biting winds.
However, the mild climate seemed to accentuate the tense and volatile atmosphere of this winter.
The Royal Capital was in chaos.
The King abandoned the royal heirs and the citizens of the capital, fleeing alone, his whereabouts still unknown. This upheaval had caused unrest to spread across the entirety of the Eastern Continent.
Most ordinary folk were still unaware of this, and farther regions hadn't even heard of the empire's turmoil yet. But the nobility had already foreseen the inevitability of war.
The disappearance of the lords' private armies left the city-states relying solely on the City Defense Forces under the Governors.
But the City Defense Forces only numbered around ten thousand.
