On the front line of the Winter Wolf Castle, the war has been ignited on this land and is still burning.

On the east side of the defense line, the narrow valley area had just ended a fierce battle. A group of Typhon's extraordinary people tried to conceal the supply line of the Cecils from the valley, but during the march, it alarmed a mobile corps temporarily stationed nearby. The two sides fought fiercely during the encounter. The organized Extraordinary Army and ordinary people armed by steel machines ignited the entire area. Three hours later, the remnants of Typhon retreated, and the Cecils, who had suffered certain damage, rested on the spot at the commanding heights of the valley until reinforcements arrived.

A young officer with bronze skin came to this battlefield where gunpowder was still emitting smoke. The cold north wind whistled through the valley, and the wind was filled with the pungent smell of burning earth and carbonizing flesh. All of this made the young man trusted by Maryland couldn't help but squint his eyes slightly.

He looked up and looked towards the end of the ramp and saw three destroyed chariots lying in the explosion pit, with thick smoke still emitting under the twisted and bent armor plates, and further afield, soldiers who were active - soldiers cleaning the battlefield and putting their bodies into body bags.

The people of Tifeng were unable to take all the bodies away when they retreated - these dangerous remains should be taken back and burned completely and left them here, and they were not sure what troublesome things would happen.

A company commander wearing the second-generation magic armor and a blue heraldic ribbon on one side of his shoulder came to the high ground. He saluted the young officer with bronze skin: "Sir Penn, the work of consolidating the body has been completed."

"Well," the young officer called Payne nodded, then frowned slightly, his eyes falling on the destroyed chariots, "...the Tifeng people are gradually mastering the way to fight against war vehicles in skirmishes... without relying on legion-level spells, their extraordinary troops can also fight our tanks."

"It seems that this is true - their tactical progress is very fast, and they have been learning from us," the company commander nodded, "Now they no longer use melee troops to attack tanks head-on, but rely on various extraordinary units to cooperate with teams to fight each other. When conditions allow, they will use various magic traps. When conditions do not allow, they will use powerful knights to form a team of five to ten people to resist one or two shellings. The mage will use cover to cast spells quickly, use mud or rock-type spells to trap the chariot, and use counter-sprays such as arcane impact to try to destroy the magic cycle in the car body. There are also stalkers who perform close blasts, or rely on multiple mages to cooperate with the attack...

"At present, these tactics of the Tifeng people often have to be at the cost of large casualties and can only deal with small groups of tanks and multi-purpose combat vehicles, but it is a fact that their tactics are constantly improving - and they have also created some powerful 'new things', such as explosives used by the stalkers, which are very threatening."

"...Is the hybrid troops formed by the extraordinary so difficult..." Payne couldn't help frowning, "It was obvious that they were helpless in the face of our steel chariots in an encounter not long ago..."

"Before the war with Tifeng, we had never seen such an opponent who could use the extraordinary as ordinary soldiers," the company commander said bluntly. "Even the historical archives of Changfeng Fortress do not mention this mixed force and tactical changes - this should have been developed by Tifeng in recent years."

"We haven't seen the 'Unvergent Force', so we're caught off guard," Penn couldn't help but sigh, "and Tifong had never seen the 'Ordinary Legion' using steel machines, and they were also caught off guard... This is an eye-opening war for both sides."

His eyes swept across the battlefield, and Tifeng's black flag fell on the cold earth, stained with soil and ashes, and the red patterns on its surface looked particularly eye-catching.

He felt sincerely grateful to usher in this war when Tiphon was at its weakest - this idea might not be "chivalry", but Payne knew that the era of chivalry was over.

After a moment of thinking, he withdrew his gaze and looked at the company commander beside him: "Have those corpses undergo a preliminary examination? What's the result?"

"Yes, the inspection has been conducted, and the results are basically in line with General Philip's prediction," the company commander said immediately. "The enemy commanders have signs of physical mutation, and can be identified as 'completely infected'. Most ordinary knights and some auxiliary soldiers also show strength and recovery ability beyond ordinary people, and can be identified as 'spiritual aliens'. The above-mentioned enemies are all rational. As for those accompanying soldiers... they do not seem to be contaminated by the spirit of the God of War."

"...So, among these Tifeng troops sent to attack the Donglang Defense Line, the proportion of mentally polluted people is increasing, especially the officer class..." Payne nodded slowly and said in a deep voice, "When the Donglang Defense Line just fell into our hands, only about half of the officers who came to counterattack were mentally polluted..."

"Isn't this normal?" the company commander was a little confused. "This shows that pollution is spreading in the army of Tifeng. More and more soldiers and officers affected by the Mad God are - their infection is on the verge of losing control."

"No," Payne shook his head, with a serious look on his face, "You've made one mistake--though we call this a 'mental plague', its pollution speed and pollution range were actually limited from the beginning, and it is unlikely that such a rapid infection will be produced now.

"This 'spiritual plague' is based on the belief in the God of War as the basic medium. According to the above scholars' analysis, only when the belief in the God of War reaches a certain degree of piety, will human beings be infected - so if you are not a devout believer of the God of War, then you will not be infected no matter what. If you believe in the God of War, then you will have been affected in the first few days of the outbreak of this 'plague'."

The company commander listened to his commander's explanation and finally slowly reacted: "In other words, the number of 'infected people' in the Tifeng army should have entered a stable state a few days ago. Theoretically, this abnormal increase should not occur... But what about those suddenly increasing infected people?"

"...I don't know," Payne shook his head and looked into the distance, "but we should figure it out soon."

...

In the east of Winter Wolf Castle, in the snow forest near an unknown mine, several hazy figures were passing through the trees and snow quickly.

The figures were as flexible as beasts in the forest, and their bodies were covered by some changing magic halo. Under the influence of the magic effect, their bodies were almost completely integrated with the surrounding environment. Only by focusing on their minds can they detect the flashing outline - they quickly crossed the boundaries of the snow forest, bypassed the paths that even hunters rarely involved, and finally stopped at a secret hiding point deep in the forest.

A giant tree that had not known how long it had died fell here. After the huge trunk was weathered and decayed, it formed a wooden wall covering the wind and snow. Several other soldiers wearing white light armor and white blouses were guarding here. When the team that was currently investigating the situation returned, these soldiers instinctively raised their vigilance, but soon they confirmed the identity of the visitor through the identifier seal they carried with them and relaxed a little.

"Safe, you can turn off the curved light force field."

A low voice seemed to sound out of thin air, and then the figures returning from the snow forest were removed from disguise one by one, revealing the same outfits as the soldiers left behind in the hiding place.

This is a team of steel rangers that penetrated deep into Tifeng. In this snow-covered season, they changed into equipment that facilitates movement in the snow-covered areas, and all carried light field generators that could hide their bodies.

They have been in the area for two days, and at the same time, several teams are still in several other nearby areas.

"Where is Chief Saldrin?" The team leader who returned from outside the snow forest glanced at the hiding place that was clearly visible and asked casually curiously. The moment he finished speaking, a magnetic voice almost came from under his nose: "I'm here."

Blonde Saldrin stood up from a wooden stake next to him - the soldiers didn't realize his existence at all until he made a sound and made a move!

The high-level ranger of the Silver Elf can even be "invisible" in front of ordinary people without even using any extraordinary skills. This incredible ability made the captain unable to help but feel awe. Then he hurriedly saluted and said to Saldrin: "Sir, we have come back from Songlin Town, and the action is still smooth."

"Tell me what you find," said Saldrin--his elegant temperament always seemed to contain a hint of melancholy. "The other teams have not replied yet, you are the first to complete the investigation."

"Yes, sir," the captain nodded immediately. "The informant's information is accurate. We saw several buildings in the Tifeng Army Camp near Songlin Town replaced the heralds on the exterior walls. Judging from the shape, it should be a place for noble officers and medal knights to rest. In addition, we also saw several large-scale personnel entering and leaving, and there were military gatherings at an intersection in the southeast. Judging from the flags and heralds, it should be a national knight order from the central region..."

Listening to the team leader's well-organized report, Saldrin nodded slowly: "Very good, you have seen something very important."

"It's a pity that we can't go deeper to the southeast," the captain shook his head with some regret. "The magic sentry over there is too tight, and there are eye of mages everywhere - magicians are like money-free, and there are even mages standing guard at the entrance of the village. Our Quguang Power Field may be invalid there."

"...It's not that the magician doesn't want money, but that Tifeng has always been very rich," Saldrin curled his lips, unable to help but comment in a sentence that Gao Wen once said, "This is the ability to make money."

As he spoke, the handsome blonde elf seemed to have a hint of melancholy temperament between his eyebrows, but soon he shook his head: "Next time for communication, I will send the information you found and the information you collected last time to the rear. Everyone will take a break during this period - we will move again after that."

After explaining, the high-level ranger turned around and left the hiding place, and quickly came to a big tree nearby. He used the leaves that never set in winter to hide his body and sat down half-vigilantly and half-rest among the branches.

"Are you in a bad mood today?" The captain couldn't help but look over there and said to his comrades beside him, "I feel like he is frowning."

"He has been like this recently, it's okay," said an iron ranger casually. "As elves, they are all very emotional. Maybe they will feel moved when they see the snow scenes, dead trees, barren mountains, etc...."

The team leader thought about it and nodded in agreement: "Oh, it makes sense..."

The soldiers pressed the conversation very low, but these sounds could not be hidden from the elves' keen ears.

Saldrin, who was sitting on the tree branch, shook his ears for a moment, but he didn't care about the boring chatting of his subordinates. He just adjusted his posture slightly, causing almost no tremor of the tree branch. Then he raised his head and looked at the clear blue sky in winter with a slight melancholy.

After a long time, he sighed softly, "...Why do they have no hair?

"Can you change it...can the ones you change it still count..."

...

"This is the latest information from the front line," Heti put a sorted document in front of Gao Wen in the study of Cecil Palace. "The defense line of the Winter Wolf Castle has stabilized. Although the counterattack of the Tifeng people is more fierce every time, we have sent more troops in time. No. 0 and the giant python of the world have also arrived near the Shadow Swamp in time. The soldiers finally stood there."

Gao Wen took the document handed over by Hedy, and while listening to the other party's report, his eyes quickly swept across the paper. Soon, his gaze moved slowly, and after Hedy finished speaking, he said to himself: "Sure enough... the proportion of 'polluters' in the Tifeng army has increased..."

"Theoretically, there is no such 'surge' of spiritual pollution transmitted through the chain of faith - the unbelievers will not be polluted, and the pious will be polluted in large quantities at the beginning. Between these two groups, there is no 'human-to-human transmission' phenomenon," Hetty said, "So... the situation really hits you."

"Yes, I guessed it," Gao Wen said with a smile, with a complex and subtle expression. "Look at this, these signs of mobilization, these complex, exquisite and rapid reorganization..."

He sighed, his face was not sure whether it was crying or laughing.

"These 'new' infected people gathered from the rear and sent over. Rosetta Augustus is launching his huge ruling machine and war machine, and in a series of personnel adjustments, he continues to send soldiers affected by the God of War to the front line of the Winter Wolf Castle - he is purifying this pollution with our power, maybe... he is still using this to eliminate his political enemies."
Chapter completed!