744. A bit of a flame_1

Night Country, somewhere in a fortress.

The insect swarm had already obscured the entire sky, rising from the twisted vegetation of the Black Forest, attempting to gnaw even on stones wherever they settled.

The knights remaining in the fortress had tattered armor; having withstood two waves of insect attacks, already more than half had fallen. Those who remained had hollow eyes and numb expressions, clearly suffering not just in body, but in sanity as well. Even if they were to survive by chance, their understanding of the world would be fundamentally changed, never to return to how it once was.

A knight gazed at the sea of insects beyond the fortress walls, his eyes stirring, then looked down at his longsword, now full of notches from ceaselessly slaying insects, and he felt a wave of weariness.

What was he staying here for?

What was the reason he had been fighting for all this time?