Leah and her Blood Legion marched through the thick snow, their crimson eyes glowing faintly in the dim, stormy light. The wind howled through the trees, carrying the icy bite of the snowfall. Heavy flakes drifted down in an endless sheet, covering the world in white.

  Leah pulled her cloak tighter around herself, though the cold didn’t truly bother her anyway. If anything, the harsh weather gave her an idea. Today, she would begin her assault on the goblin camps to the north. It was the perfect opportunity—the blizzard would cloak their movements, keeping the other camps unaware until it was too late.

  She trudged ahead, her boots crunching in the thick snow. Eventually, the trees began to thin, and her legion reached the edge of the forest. Beyond, through the dense snowfall, she barely made out the glow of torches and the dark shapes of the nearest goblin camp, nestled below.

  Ibbi stepped up beside her, squinting into the storm. "I wish it wasn’t snowing so heavily. Can’t see a damn thing."

  Leah smirked slightly. "It’s better this way. The other camps won’t notice what’s happening until it’s too late."

  A moment later, Zytherin approached, his long cloak billowing in the wind. "The mage squad is ready." he said, his tone calm but expectant.

  Leah nodded. She had learned that Zytherin was a magician, and since then, she had allowed him to lead his own squad—a unit of spellcasters, mainly elves, who could provide ranged support.

  Turning to face her army, Leah activated Blood Connection, her voice reverberating through the minds of her soldiers.

  'Only half of you will advance for now. That means three hundred of you will attack with me. The rest, hold position.'

  A silent wave of acknowledgment passed through the legion.

  Leah took a breath, locking her gaze on the goblin camp below. "Let’s go."

  With that, she leapt from the edge of the cliff, descending rapidly into the storm. Her army followed, a dark wave of warriors rushing down to meet her.

  Leah landed in the snow with a soft thud, her legion touching down around her. There was no hesitation—the moment their feet hit the ground, they broke into a sprint, their bodies cutting through the storm like wraiths. The high wooden walls of the goblin camp loomed ahead, half-buried in snow.

  With their enhanced muscles, Leah and her soldiers launched themselves into the air in unison. Hundreds of bodies vaulted over the wall, moving like a coordinated tide of destruction.

  As Leah descended, she spotted an unsuspecting snow goblin below, its back turned as it lazily clutched a spear. It barely had time to turn its head before Leah’s blood tendril shot out, piercing straight through its skull. The goblin slumped instantly, lifeless.

  All around her, her goblins rained into the camp, landing in the snow and immediately breaking into action. Chaos erupted. Leah’s forces surged forward, attacking the snow goblins before they could even react.

  The crack of bones, the clang of weapons, and the screams of dying goblins filled the air as the legion carved their way through the camp.

  A commotion stirred at the centre of the camp, and Leah's eyes snapped towards the largest tent, its entrance flapping wildly in the storm’s wind. From within, a hulking hobgoblin emerged, its greyish-blue skin marked with crude war paint. Unlike the lesser goblins, it wore actual armour—stitched leather and bits of scavenged metal—and gripped a jagged bone axe in one hand.

  Leah immediately zoomed across the snow, her blood-enhanced speed making her little more than a crimson blur. The hobgoblin barely had time to register her presence before her tendril shot forward, piercing straight through its chest.

  Its mouth opened in a silent scream, but Leah had already begun pumping her blood into its body. The hobgoblin spasmed violently, its limbs twitching before finally collapsing onto the snow. Leah ripped her tendril free, leaving behind a gaping hole.

  Leaping into the air, she cleared the tent in a single bound and landed on its roof. From her vantage point, she surveyed the battlefield before sending out a command through her blood connection.

  'Don't let a single goblin escape.'

  Her legion obeyed without question. The goblins that attempted to flee were cut down before they could even reach the walls. The battle was over within minutes.

  As silence settled over the camp, Leah took to the sky. Her gaze drifted over the field of corpses, and she sent out over fifty tendrils, each one piercing into a fallen goblin. A moment later, she began draining them dry, their blood rushing through the tendrils and into her body. The process was gruesome as the corpses shrivelled where they lay.

  When she was done, a familiar chime rang in her mind. She pulled up her status and noted the change.

  Evolution Points: 22

  Leah exhaled sharply, her breath visible in the frigid air.

  "Alright, let’s move on to the next camp."

  Her legion let out a unified growl of acknowledgment, their blood-drenched forms blending into the storm as they prepared to advance once more.

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  ***

  The fourth camp fell just as swiftly as the others. Leah moved like a specter through the battlefield, her tendrils striking with deadly precision, while her legion cut down any goblin that stood in their way.

  By the time the last snow goblin fell, Leah hovered above the camp, taking stock of her progress. She pulled up her status panel and smirked slightly.

  Evolution Points: 75

  It was slow, but she was getting there. However, she had quickly learned a limitation—if she drained a corpse completely for evolution points, she couldn’t convert it. Because of this, only four new hobgoblins had joined her ranks so far.

  As Leah hovered in the air, her sharp eyes scanning the landscape ahead. Through the swirling snow, she spotted two goblin camps nestled close to each other.

  She descended swiftly, landing beside Ibbi and Boko with a light thud.

  "Boko," Leah said, her voice steady, "take two hundred soldiers and attack the camp on the left. Make sure no one escapes."

  Boko banged a fist against his chest and gave a sharp nod.

  Leah then turned to the rest of her forces. "We’ll take the right camp. Move quickly—strike hard and leave nothing standing."

  With that, they moved out, slipping through the camp’s gate and breaking into a rapid sprint across the snow.

  In the next camp, Leah landed inside with her legion, the clash of steel and screams of battle already filling the air. Snow goblins fell one after another as Leah ran through the camp.

  A deep roar cut through the chaos. Leah’s eyes snapped toward the sound, locking onto a massive hobgoblin at the centre of the camp. Its muscles tensed as it grabbed one of her goblins and hurled them across the battlefield. Her gaze flicked above its head—its title was yellow. It was around the same strength as her.

  As the hobgoblin tossed another goblin aside, Leah shot into the air, tendrils lashing out toward it. But the hobgoblin reacted instantly, swatting them away with a powerful swing of its arm.

  Ibbi came in from the side, her axe flashing as she brought it down. The blade sliced into the hobgoblin’s forearm, dark blood spraying onto the snow. The hobgoblin snarled and grabbed Ibbi by the arm, lifting her off the ground and flinging her through the air.

  Leah’s tendrils snapped out, catching Ibbi before she could crash. But in that moment, the hobgoblin snatched a nearby axe and hurled it straight at Leah.

  She leaned back just in time, the axe whistling past her face and embedding itself into a wooden post far behind her. She straightened midair, eyes locking onto the hobgoblin as she descended back to the snow-covered ground.

  The hobgoblin snarled and stomped toward her, its heavy footfalls shaking the snow beneath them. Leah narrowed her eyes and activated Blood Empowerment.

  A surge of energy exploded through her veins as the black marks across her body pulsed with a white glow.

  The moment the hobgoblin raised its arm, Leah vanished. A gust of wind burst from where she had been standing, sending snow flying backwards.

  In the next instant, she reappeared in front of the hobgoblin, her foot slamming into its face with unbelievable force. Its skull snapped back violently, the sheer impact sending a crack echoing through the battlefield.

  With its face caved in, the hobgoblin collapsed backwards into the snow, motionless.

  Leah landed gently on the snow, her glowing marks gradually dimming back to black. She extended a tendril from her palm, piercing the fallen hobgoblin’s body and started pumping her blood into its body.

  As she did, her eyes swept over the camp. Her goblins were still overpowering the snow goblins, but the fight was dragging on longer than before. The enemy was stronger, and more coordinated. The deeper they went into the snow plains, the tougher the resistance became.

  Leah narrowed her eyes. It was time she called the rest of the legion.

  'Those of you in the forest, advance to our position. Prepare for the next assault.'

  ***

  Leah stood among the fallen snow goblins, the white glow of her marks gradually dimming as her blood tendrils retracted. Around her, the remains of four hobgoblins lay scattered in the blood-soaked snow, their strength finally overcome by her relentless assault and the aid of her warriors.

  Ibbi, breathing heavily, wiped her axe clean on a fallen goblin’s tattered cloak. Despite the exhaustion in her posture, her grin remained wide, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

  Before Leah could speak, Daraena approached, her twin curved short swords now resting at her sides. She bowed her head slightly before speaking.

  "My lord, I found tracks leading to the next camps," Daraena reported. "Some of the snow goblins have escaped."

  Leah exhaled through her nose. "It’s fine, we have what we need."

  She then turned her gaze to Ibbi. "Come here."

  Ibbi hurried over, her excitement barely contained as she stood before Leah. Leah opened her evolution panel and, with a single thought, spent one hundred evolution points.

  The change was immediate. A crimson glow engulfed Ibbi, illuminating the camp with an eerie light. Her body trembled as her frame stretched taller, her limbs elongating. Her clothes loosened and stretched, struggling to accommodate her shifting form. The intensity of the glow made it difficult to see, but Leah could sense the surge of power flowing through her.

  As the radiance faded, Ibbi’s new form was revealed. Black marks, resembling Leah’s own, coiled along all over her body. Her once compact frame had become lean and muscular, her body exuding strength. Her white hair spilled further out from beneath her bandana, and her ears had grown longer, taking on a more refined, elven-like shape.

  Leah glanced at her panel. 'Blood Hobgoblin'.

  Leah looked at Ibbi. "How do you feel?"

  Ibbi smirked widely, her crimson eyes glinting with uncontained excitement. "Like I could do anything." She clenched her fists before looking around. "I want to test this out."

  Before Leah could stop her, Ibbi crouched low, her muscles tensing. Leah’s eyes widened. "Wait—"

  With an explosive burst, Ibbi launched herself upwards. Snow erupted into the air, billowing outward in a thick cloud. Leah raised an arm, shielding herself from the blast of icy wind that followed.

  As the snow settled, Leah lowered her arm, her gaze flicking in the direction Ibbi had vanished.

  Daraena stepped forward, her crimson eyes fixed on Leah. "What now, my lord?"

  Leah glanced at her, then without a word, spread her wings and shot into the sky. The cold wind howled past her as she ascended, her glowing red eyes scanning the snowy landscape. In the distance, through the snowfall, she spotted another camp further ahead.

  Without hesitation, she angled herself forward and shot toward it. Within moments, she landed, balancing effortlessly on the tip of the wooden wall. She expected to see the usual chaos of battle—but instead, the entire camp was eerily silent.

  Her gaze swept over the scene, and to her surprise, hundreds of snow goblins lay sprawled across the ground, their bodies brutally smashed and torn apart.

  At the centre of the destruction, Ibbi emerged from the haze of falling snow, holding two severed hobgoblin heads in her hands. Her devilish grin stretched wide, her crimson eyes glowing with exhilaration. She came to a stop beneath Leah and lifted the heads proudly.

  Leah’s lips curled into a fiendish grin of her own. Ibbi had been gone for mere moments—and in that short time, she had utterly obliterated an entire camp.

  Movement flickered in the corner of Leah’s vision. She turned sharply, her eyes narrowing. Through the falling snow, more snow goblins were filing out of a nearby camp.

  Leah exhaled, her grin fading slightly. They had made enough progress for one day. There was no need to waste more strength.

  She looked down at Ibbi. "We’re heading back to base camp," she said. "We’ll continue the assault again on another day."