In the Battle of Chara, a quarter of a million people died. Never before had there been battles so terrifying and so great— and so many decisive. Even the bloody defeat of the Lord in the Ancient Forest took half as many lives. For the Black Squad, hard times began. They no longer have anywhere to wait for help from. Fate itself forced them to switch camps and settle within the Plain of Fear, inhabited only by snakes and lizards, scorpions and spiders, wild dogs and ground squirrels. Only in this silent wasteland could the fighters feel relatively safe. But peace is deceptive. Rumors reach the Black Squad that the world is now threatened by even greater evil. And all the great battles that took place before will seem like innocent amusements when the Lord rises from the grave.