Following their defeat on the Istein Plains, the Nocteins desperately tried to recapture some of their eastern territories before winter came. Knights and mages were deployed deep into occupied lands to harass their enemies, attacking soldiers and supply lines in an attempt to reverse the unfavorable war situation.

Among these, some of the attempts proved successful, and the Nocteins made minor gains. However, that was the extent of the changes. The Adenburg forces did not budge, despite their supply lines becoming a bit disorganized.

The Adenburg Kingdom endured the ever-increasing attacks as they prepared for the winter, and ultimately, the Nocteins regained less than 20 percent of their eastern lands.

This development was infuriating for the Nocteins. However, it was the Griffindor Kingdom that truly found the situation unfair.

The seven griffin riders were the pride and joy of the Griffindor Kingdom. Not one, but two of these griffin riders had been captured in battle, and this had not happened in one of their own wars, but a foreign conflict.

Not only this, they had lost more than just the griffin riders. The reputation of the Knights of the Azure Sky was also in tatters.

“The image of the griffin crying out under the talons of the red wyvern is not fitting of a divine master of the wind.”

“The true rulers of the skies are Drachen and his wyvern, not the griffins.”

The...