Prologue

Snow drifted about slowly, coating the once-green field in an impressive amount of white. It was pristine and beautiful, giving off an air of unrivaled purity in the winter. However, this was not meant to last. The etherealness was immediately dispersed when a panting woman with a huge, tightly wrapped bundle on her back appeared. Her leg was injured, dripping blood all over the snow, and her clothing was in disarray; it was evident that she fled in a hurry.

Not long after, three horsemen also arrived at the scene, two of whom brandished terrifying weapons in their hands. The third one, who was the leader of the three, wore simple garments and wielded no weapons, but he was the one the woman seemed to be more wary of. He had a contemplative look on his face as the woman subconsciously reached for the bundle on her back. Apart from the huffing and puffing of the horses and the exhausted woman, the serenity of the scenery would have been maintained.

"Give up," said the leader of the trio softly. One could see he really did not want to hurt the woman before him. The woman, obviously, shared no such sentiment. She backed away slowly and had to stop when she reached a dead end. At the rear of the snow-covered field was a cliff known as Death's Edge because no one has survived a fall from it. The woman thought bitterly that they would force her in this direction. "You are only dragging this out; what do you hope to accomplish? They can't be beaten this way," the leader tried to reason with her.

The woman scoffed. "You think? You are the reason why things got to this extent—your greed! I will never trust a word that comes out of that stinky hole again." The other two horsemen tensed up after the woman scorned their leader, but his inaction kept them at bay.

The woman dropped to her knees, and a formation came to life beneath her. The horsemen panicked, but only a rueful expression appeared on their leader's face. "It doesn't have to be this way," he said, shaking his head. The woman naturally didn't answer; she was too busy chanting the words to power her formation. The snow rose into the air, and a whirlwind appeared out of nowhere. The spooked horses jerked off their riders and tried to run away, but they too were trapped in the storm.

A gigantic formation appeared above the storm, instantly stabilizing it. If the leader didn't recognize the woman's move as a diversion tactic, then all the years he spent in the military were for naught. How could a silk-pants noblewoman stand against him? Forcing the storm to stabilize whipped a fierce backlash at the woman, and she keeled over, coughing up blood. His heart tightened. This time, she was truly on the edge of the cliff.

He made a grabbing motion, and the bundle on her back flew over. She let out a chuckle, and he immediately had an urgent sense of foreboding. "You didn't think I brought them here, now did you?"

His eyes immediately went to the formation at her feet. It was a body switch formation hidden under a storm formation; he had been fooled. His features twisted as his anger went through the roof. "HOW DARE YOU?!" The formation that had originally been above them rapidly shrank in the woman's direction. Having no choice, the woman sent him one last withering stare and immediately jumped off the cliff. He lunged forward, the bundle thrown off to the side, in a hopeless attempt to catch her, but he was one step too late as always. The bundle blew up, but it hardly affected the boys behind him.

One of them joined him at the edge of the cliff and pulled him away. "The commander sent a message; the remnants have been cleared. Return to the capital."

He stared at the abyss the woman had jumped into and winced. There were many other choices, but you had to choose the one leading to your death, he thought. Nichole... You are too stone-hearted. He stood up and mounted his horse, "to the encampment!". His two boys glanced at themselves briefly but followed after him nonetheless. This incident—their leader would probably never forget it.