The weapons I forge are absolutely flawless.

"Array to welcome——"

"Wait a moment!"

Viner interrupted Sazar, dragging him backward.

Completely unprepared for Wiener's actions, Sazar was pulled so hard that he fell to the ground.

But Viner acted as if nothing had happened, dragging Sazar along the ground.

"Put—"

Sazar wanted to question the other party and ask him to release him, but seeing the swarming stone monsters, he could only obediently shut up.

Just as the group of stone monsters was about to catch up with the two, they seemed to sense something and revealed a wary look in their eyes.

Not only that, they even stopped in their tracks, watching helplessly as the two of them moved out of their attack range.

"found it!"

Viner instantly understood, released Sazar, drew his longsword, and drew a shallow mark on the ground.

"This is Ademra's maximum coverage area!"

-----------------

"First, fourth, and fifth squads, withdraw from your current positions and return to the ground for rest. The next batch of people will then take over."

It seemed that from a certain point in time, the attacks of the underground monsters suddenly became extremely fierce. They even surged out from deeper layers of the earth, frantically supporting the front line.

One moment you might be dealing with twenty stone monsters, but the next, the number of enemies doubles, to forty, fifty... and surges in like a tidal wave.

As their stamina waned, the Iceblade Knights, who had been unstoppable in their advance, found their battle lines severely hampered.

The sudden dimming of the blue light signaled that the knights had begun to suffer casualties.

Sigurd, who was guarding the glass jar, also realized this and began to instruct the first group of knights who had entered the mine tunnel to begin their retreat.

"Third Squad—"

He was about to warn the team to be careful of enemy reinforcements when he suddenly saw the deep blue light burst forth with astonishing power, instantly clearing away all the red dots in his field of vision.

"...Your position is too deep. There are demons at many of the forks in the road ahead. Retreat and rotate with the ground troops. Only proceed further after you are fully prepared."

When Sigurd shifted his gaze to the last second squad, he fell silent.

The second squad's infiltration depth was the most conservative among all the squads, even less than half that of the third squad.

If you only look at it this way, it's easy to mistakenly think they're afraid to fight.

Sigurd, who was observing the dynamics of both sides through the glass jar, probably knew the situation best.

The second squad, with no members seriously injured, annihilated more demons than the fourth and fifth squads combined.

God knows what methods they used.

Chapter 420 The Lafner Family's Stance

"Hurry up!"

Wiener kept urging him on.

"I'd like to go even faster! This is already eight trips! Don't just talk the talk without walking the walk!"

Sazar ran wildly, followed by a large number of stone monsters.

He had never felt such disdain for the weight of the Cold Iron Armor as he did today, and the reason was simply because of one of Viner's plans.

......

"You're telling me to run away whenever I see a stone monster?"

Saza was clearly unhappy with Wiener's proposal.

He had been in the army for eight years and had never once turned his back on the enemy and fled.

“How can you say that? This is called luring the enemy in.” Vena pointed to the scratches on the ground and continued, “These stone monsters are not very smart. Without anyone to command them, they will only indiscriminately chase after any strangers who invade their territory.”

“If you just lure them here, we can easily annihilate them with the help of Ademra’s power.”

"What if they were under someone's command?"

"Then we will remember you well."

......

"Hu-hu-"

Saza took off his helmet and greedily inhaled the air.

By the time he recovered, the battle behind him had already come to an end.

Looking at the mountain of stone monster corpses, Sazar felt that his efforts had been worthwhile.

"Boss, aren't the brothers tired yet? Why don't you make a couple more trips?"

One of the team members shouted.

Outside of Amra's coverage area, the Rock Chewer moves at incredible speed.

Only Saza and Vina were confident they could lure them to their ambush location.

Sazar initially refused, as fleeing with his back to the demons like this would be a disgrace to his military dignity.

But after Venerer personally demonstrated how easily the group slaughtered nearly twenty stone golems, Sazar declared that no one else could do the task.

"Get the hell out of here! It's not you guys who are suffering from this relationship!" Although Saza was cursing, he couldn't suppress the smile on his face.

"Let me rest a little longer—"

Saza leaned against the wall, preparing to regain some strength before continuing, when Sigurd's voice suddenly rang out.

"Second squad, you can withdraw now."

"Roger that!"

Sazar immediately straightened up, and even though he knew the other party couldn't hear him, he still responded to the air.

"Also... I don't know how you managed to kill 278 enemies with zero casualties, but I hope you will share your methods with other squads when you return."

"Yes!"

-----------------

After giving the order to evacuate the last squad, Sigurd finally breathed a sigh of relief.

His lips were cracked from providing uninterrupted guidance to the five teams for two hours straight.

The thought that the information he provided could very well determine the safety of the soldiers on the front lines made Sigurd unable to calm down.

"Young master, have some water."

The immense mental pressure prevented Sigurd from even noticing others approaching.

"Ah—thank you, Uncle Jiegang."

Sigurd took the glass of water and drank it all in one gulp, spilling quite a bit because he drank so fast.

"Let me pour some more for the young master."

“No need, Uncle Jegan.” Sigurd wiped his lips. “How are things on your end?”

“I have already checked several key locations, and the women, children, and elderly in the tribe and valley have all been arranged to take refuge,” Jie Gang replied.

"That's good."

Sigurd finally relaxed and slumped back in his chair.

“Young Master, you don’t need to be so tense,” Jegan reassured him. “Thanks to Viner and the others for their timely discovery, the situation is improving for us.”

“I’m afraid it’s not that simple,” Sigurd said, sitting up straight again and pointing to the glass jar.

"The image stopped extending just now, it seems that the detection range has reached its limit."

“Sometimes red dots even enter the image from outside the boundary.”

“These stone monsters are not reproduced normally, including their distribution. I speculate that what we are encountering now is only a part that has been driven to the shallow layer, and everything below is unknown.”

“We are prepared for a protracted war. With Lord Feld at the front, young master only needs to complete his own tasks,” Jegan reminded him.

"...yes."

Sigurd had a bad feeling about this.

-----------------

Outside the mine, a temporary command tent.

"Lord Feld, I propose that we postpone our advance and rely on the sacred artifact's deterrent effect on the demons to gradually weaken their forces."

After explaining in detail the methods used by the second squad, Saza offered his advice to Feld.

Feld glanced at Viner, who was standing behind Saza, and agreed, "Approved. Your second squad will be responsible for relaying the message to the other squads that have entered."

"Yes, sir!" Saza saluted and quickly ran out of the camp.

“Lord Feld,” Vena began, “this rock-chewing monster is certainly not something Ademra should be wary of.”

“I understand,” Feld nodded.

This is also what he is worried about.

Although things seem to be going very well right now, we must not let our guard down as long as the demon who can command the Yetis has not shown himself.

"Our current advantage relies mainly on the Glass Jar and Adramlah; the mansion cannot be lost."

“I have already sent someone to the mansion to inform Jegan to stay and oversee the situation.”

“Mr. Jegan, then I am relieved.”

Although Jegan retired from the Knights due to his age, he was a genuine seventh-tier emblem user, second only to Feld in strength within the entire Rafna family.

In addition, the mansion is heavily guarded with traps and mechanisms, so even if an unexpected situation occurs, it can at least delay the arrival of reinforcements.

“However, in return, I hope you can replace Jegan and take charge of patrolling the Snowdrift Valley,” Feld pleaded.

Even the most sophisticated equipment can malfunction, and Feld trusted people more than glass jars.

"This...I'm afraid that's not a good idea. What if I accidentally wander into some forbidden area—"

As representatives of the Silver Wolf Class, the three of them, including Viner, enjoy the highest level of privileges and can move freely in most parts of the valley.

However, some areas will still be under strict security.

For example, the warehouses where the Laughman family had stored their accumulated minerals over the years, and the armory.

If they were to discover some armor they had secretly kept for the uprising, or a crown they had made in advance to pledge allegiance to Adele, then it would be impossible to say for sure.

"It's alright. From the moment you created the glass jar, Snow Valley had no secrets from you."

"The fact that Her Highness Edelweiss bestowed upon you the Black Eagle Badge and the Eagle Crown Ring shows that she considers you one of her own. Even if you saw something you shouldn't have seen, I can pretend I didn't know."

Feld, who always had a stern face, surprisingly managed to squeeze out a smile.

Perhaps it had been too long since he had smiled, but this expression, which should have conveyed goodwill, was more terrifying than a threat.

This made Vina realize once again the position of Snow Valley.

"I will pretend I didn't see anything that I shouldn't have seen!" Viner raised her hand in assurance.

Chapter 421 Shocking Change in the Valley

"Drive! Drive! Drive!"

Horse hooves trod through the snow, kicking up a flurry of snowflakes.

The messenger urged his warhorse on with all his might, just to get the message out as soon as possible.

From the entrance to the mine to the Lafner family mansion, it would take a quarter of an hour even at full speed.

The messenger, focused only on moving forward, failed to notice the approaching danger.