The winter in Kolon Town weighs heavily like a slab of lead on every corner.
Since the enemy forces swept across Sefren Country like a Heavenly Punishment, and news of the Royal City's fall arrived half a month ago, this inland town has been completely cut off from the outside world.
Panic grows like a plague, but more soul-consuming than panic is hunger!
Old blacksmith Hank's furnace has long grown cold, and the last bit of black bread mixed with sawdust was gone five days ago.
In the tavern, the boisterous chatter of drunkards has been replaced by dead silence; people curl up in corners like phantoms, their eyes hollow.
Hans lays at home, his stomach burning with fire.
His mind repeatedly plays the scene of the destroying silver moon on the coastline and the figure that seemed like a divine demon.
He once rejoiced escaping the grasp of the Evil God, returning to his hometown, only to find himself seemingly trapped in another, even more desperate cage.
"We can't just wait like this, we must go out and find food!"
Hans crawled out of bed, firm in his decision.
"Are you crazy? What if you encounter the enemy troops?"
His wife immediately tried to stop him.
Since the fall of the Royal City, the town has received no information from the outside world.
Postmen, telegraphs, telephones, merchant convoys... all communication has been severed.
Everything outside the town has become unknown.
Perhaps out there, battles are raging, and the Evil God's army is rampaging everywhere!
"Being killed is better than sitting here waiting to die!"
Hans gritted his teeth.
As a soldier, even though he chose to become a deserter, it doesn't mean all his courage has faded away.
"Then we go together."
His wife said.
"No, what about the child?"
Hans refused.
"I'm afraid you won't come back, I'm afraid I'll never see you again..."
His wife couldn't help but start crying.
Hans hugged his wife, feeling powerless.
In the face of such war, the soldiers and civilians at the bottom can never decide their fate.
Thud, thud, thudβ
The ground suddenly started trembling slightly.
Hans's face changed drastically, and he rushed to the window to look outside.
"What happened?"
"It's cavalry! A great band of cavalry!"
Hans's tone carried terror.
Cavalry appearing in Kolon Town at this time is most likely not from the royal forces, but the enemy!
Indeed, upon seeing that blue flag, Hans felt utterly hopeless.
"Finished..."
He turned and found his son, taking him in his arms, "Quick, go hide in the cellar with the child!"
"What about you?"
His wife was equally terrified.
Hans: "I'll take another look, you go hide quickly!"
After his wife hid with the child, the enemy cavalry had already reached Kolon Town.
The town was empty; everyone had hidden inside their homes.
Behind window gaps, behind door panels, pairs of frightened eyes crowded.
The cavalry circled the town outskirts, seemingly observing something.
Then the cavalry rode into town, swiftly dispersing to occupy key points at the entrance and main streets, their movements precise and efficient, exuding an oppressive suffocating aura.
Hans now held a shotgun, believing that many in the town also held weapons at that moment.
He noticed these cavalrymen were not carrying firearms; their weapons were still cold weapons.
But somehow, the pressure this cavalry exerted felt even stronger than the fully armed Guard Army in the Royal City!
"Could they each be Transcendents?"
Hans's mind flashed with this terrifying thought.
If true, Kolon Town would stand no chance against this cavalry.
A handful of pistols and shotguns are as a joke against such numbers of Transcendents.
The atmosphere in the town grew increasingly tense, no one dared to fire the first shot.
However, the expected slaughter and looting did not occur.
Shortly, three large trucks drove into town.
Soldiers disembarked from the trucks and began unloading cargo.
What they unloaded were not blades and guns, but bulging sacks of grain and bundles of dry meat.
Everyone was stunned, doubting if they had become delusional from hunger.
An officer riding a warhorse came to the open ground, his gaze swept over faces hidden behind doors and windows, filled with suspicion and fear, speaking in stiff but clear Sefren Language, as if reading an official document:
"The Da Lan Dynasty has taken over here!"
"From today, as long as you acknowledge yourselves as citizens of the Da Lan Dynasty, you can receive food for free!"
His voice carried an irrefutable authority, unequivocally spreading throughout the town.
"The Evil God's army... giving out food?"
Someone murmured, their voice full of absurdity.
A standoff began.
No one dared to leave their homes, yet the instinctual hunger roared.
Hans stared hard at those sacks of grain, his chest heaving violently as hatred and hunger waged war within.
He had witnessed that Evil God destroy the coastline, killing tens of thousands in an instant!
That's certainly not a gesture of mercy.
But looking at the food outside, his fists slowly loosened.
In the stifling silence, one figure voluntarily stepped out of a house.
It was the most destitute, limping Old Harvey from town.
Hunger had entirely overwhelmed fear, like a wild beast driven to the edge, he ran towards the nearest sack of food, eyes bloodshot and staggering.
A few soldiers immediately stepped forward to restrain him, pinning him to the ground.
A round of suppressed gasps echoed around.
However, the soldiers did not take further action, as the officer loudly stated:
"All you need to do is loudly declare yourself a citizen of the Da Lan Dynasty, and you can take the portion of food that belongs to you."
Hunger overcame the last of reason; Old Harvey, who normally harbored resentment against the nobility, already had little sense of belonging to this country, so he shouted loudly: