I climbed the steep stone stairs leading to the top of the outer barrier.
The harshly cold wind instantly bit into my exposed skin. Just the freezing temperature alone made this place a torturous deployment. Having to fend off waves of monsters on top of it? It was no wonder the soldiers treated this place like a living hell.
I sighed, pulling my coat tighter, and walked to the edge of the battlements to check the state of the barrier.
It wasn't good.
The physical wall looked like a beggar's patchwork coat. There were hasty repairs everywhere. Where the original reinforced stone had been smashed, they had used regular rocks; if not rocks, then hastily chopped wood; in a pinch, they had even jammed frozen scraps of metal, broken carts, and hardened trash into the breaches.
But the physical wall wasn't the real problem.
...The mana barrier is fading.
I narrowed my eyes, looking at the faint, shimmering blue dome that arched over the fortress. It was flickering weakly.
