The engineers got to work with an avid quickness. Though they were assured that everything was under control, these men and women were ultimately used to lives spent in labs and private work stations. Something like a battlefield was completely foreign to them.

Though they had had some run-ins with danger on their way to the Fort, it had already been over a year since then. They had gotten used to their lives of comfort and leisure again.

Many of them weren't even willing to be here. But, they had lost the luck of the draw, so this was their only remaining option.

It was no surprise, then, that many of them would be shaking and quaking as they worked. But, luckily, there was the vanguard of troops protecting them from all sides. As they noticed they weren't in any danger, they were able to work faster and faster.

...

In the distance, Leonel and Aina watched all of this in silence. It had already been a few days since they began to monitor the Fort, so they were quite used to the flow of things. However, this plan the Fort sprung was completely out of their expectations as well.

Aina seemed to still be mad at Leonel and spent all her time cuddling with Little Blackstar. As though that wasn't bad enough, even Little Tolly betrayed him as well.

Usually, Little Tolly could only interact with Leonel due to the hazard it presented. But, who knew when the little guy got intelligent enough to steal Leonel's Force Crafter Gloves and pass them over toward Aina.

Somehow, both his partners favored Aina more than him.

Though Aina was still mad at him, Leonel couldn't help but chuckle at this.

Didn't this just mean he had excellent taste? Of course his woman would be beloved by all.

"Ah..."

Leonel's breath hitched when Aina turned back to glare at him. It couldn't be that she heard his thoughts, right? Her gaze seemed to spit fire as though saying 'who's your woman'?

Leonel's father had always warned him that a woman's intuition was scary, but he never really believed it. Back then, Leonel thought his mother had ditched them so he never trusted his father when it came to advice about women. What would an old man who couldn't even keep his own wife know about that topic?

The morale of the troops were exceptionally high. Their casualties were near zero and the engineers looked as though they might finish at any time. The longer they worked, the more comfortable they got and the faster they moved.

However, all this time, Milan felt an itchiness to the back of his neck. It was the same feeling he got when the opponent was coming with a sudden exotic blitz. As the center of a football team, it was his job to point out protections and adjust to the onslaught of the opponent. In some cases, his decision trumped even Leonel's.

They say that the quarterback was the most important position on the field, but the offensive line was the most important group on the field.

"Defensive positions!" Milan roared, his rounded gut becoming almost like a steel cap. It flexed with such power that it seemed he wanted to break through Miles' sensory block.

The head of the vanguard was mostly constructed of Leonel's teammates. Hearing such words, they didn't hesitate to move. Their influence caused others to listen as well. There were only very few who lagged behind. But, even they rushed over as they followed with the crowd.

Milan had been the ancor to their defenses all this time. There was no way they would snub his command without reason or cause.

At that moment, on the top of the walls, Miles, who had been quietly observing everything suddenly felt uncomfortable as well because...

The Variant Invalid's smile still hadn't faded. In fact, it continued to look at him from start to finish as though observing something that made it curious.

The white-skinned Invalids smile suddenly became a grin. Its handsome face distorted, revealing a jagged row of teeth.

It's mouth outgrew its body in the blink of an eye. Soon after, its entire body more, enlarging and sprouting what felt like mountains of white fur.

What once was a handsome young man became a towering wolf that was easily half the height of the tall steel walls of the Royal Blue Fort.

Its jagged teeth shone beneath the drifting snow.

"ROOOAAARRR!"

The snowy ground quaked and the snowfall became ten times heavier. Whipping cold winds tore through the surroundings, kicking up even the wet snow and sending it jetting outward.

It took just a single roar. And just like that, Miles' Sensory Domain collapsed.