Twilight Manor, inner courtyard.
Finn stood with Fortia Spear planted at his side, straight as a pine, his gaze sweeping the battlefield like a hawk's. His expression was calm, but deep in his eyes, cold calculation churned.
"Captain! Evilus's mage corps is preparing the next bombardment!"
At the messenger's report, he narrowed his eyes slightly. His sharp gaze cut through the smoke, studying the Evilus mage units across the street as they began preparing their magic and Magic Sword barrage.
He didn't give the order to return fire immediately. Instead, he turned to his "magic consultant" beside him.
"Riveria. What do you think?"
The fully armed elven royalty likewise leaned on the long staff that marked her station, Magna Alfs. She kept one eye closed, not even bothering to glance at the Pallum beside her, and let out a cool scoff.
"Zero threat. Their so-called magic bombardment is nothing but a smokescreen to create chaos. With that pathetic level of magic output, they'd need at least three... no, five volleys before they could even scratch our walls."
She finally opened that emerald eye and looked down at Finn with a hint of frost.
"But I imagine... whatever scheme you're cooking up, you're not about to let them fire off three volleys unopposed, are you?"
Finn's lips curved slightly, neither confirming nor denying Riveria's words. His gaze shifted to the other side.
"Gareth. You good to handle this?"
The dwarven warrior hefted a double-headed greataxe taller than himself onto one shoulder and let out a booming laugh.
"They're cannon fodder, nothing more. Level 1 mages with bargain-bin Magic Swords? Maybe good enough for mowing grass on the Dungeon's upper floors, but they think that's gonna cut it against the Loki Familia?"
He gave a heavy snort. Beneath his helm, his eyes blazed wide with fighting spirit.
"Not a chance!"
Gareth slammed his visor down and swung his axe forward.
"Come on, boys! Let's crush 'em!"
A thunderous war cry erupted behind him. The Loki Familia's elite vanguard, already coiled to strike, surged through the gates like a flood of steel unleashed behind the charging dwarf.
The next instant, with Gareth at the tip of the spear, they poured out of the gates and drove into the enemy formation like a blade.
Watching his forces lance into the opposition, Finn licked his thumb out of habit. A faint, indescribable sense of wrongness crept into his mind.
"Something's off..."
He murmured to himself, brow furrowing slightly.
"By all rights, a surprise attack while our guard was down should have created a real crisis. Valletta Grede's no amateur."
"But this...?"
Watching his forces engage the Evilus soldiers and cultists head-on, Finn couldn't shake the feeling that everything was going too smoothly.
And that smoothness left a strange itch in his gut.
"What's she really after? Why isn't my thumb giving me any warning...?"
Finn muttered his doubts aloud.
And just as the battle shifted from long-range artillery exchanges into the brutal, bloody chaos of close combat...
A Ganesha Familia messenger, stumbling as if death itself were chasing him, broke through the Loki Familia's perimeter and threw himself at Finn, voice shredded raw:
"Lord Braver! We... we've all been played by Evilus!!"
"Hm?"
Finn and Riveria whipped their heads around. The sheer, undiluted terror on the messenger's face sent a jolt of shock through both First-Class Adventurers' eyes.
Riveria flickered to the messenger's side in an instant, her expression grave.
"What do you mean? Evilus's main force is clearly right here..."
Before the words left her mouth, a terrible realization struck like lightning. She recalled her own dismissive assessment of the enemy mage corps, and a chill raced up her spine.
"Finn!"
For the first time, the elven royal's voice carried a barely perceptible tension.
"The forces besieging us... they're not Evilus's main force at all!"
"You're saying these are just fodder Valletta sent to lure us out of our base, so she could send her real forces to encircle us..."
Finn's pupils contracted sharply. His lips pressed into a thin line, the skin beneath his eye twitched, and he drew a long breath.
Feeling the familiar, faint sting pulsing through his thumb, he let out a self-deprecating smile.
"Outplayed..."
He exhaled slowly, his voice low.
"The enemies outside are cannon fodder, yes. A feint, yes."
"But... it's an empty fortress ploy! There are no ambush forces behind these fodder at all!"
"Their all-out bombardment was nothing but a bluff to deceive us! The real goal was to buy time!"
Riveria's brow knotted, her gaze turning cold.
"Meaning... the enemy's target was never the Loki Familia. It was..."
Their eyes met, and the words left their mouths in unison:
"The relief supplies distribution site!"
The instant the last syllable dropped, Finn launched forward with his spear, rocketing away at a speed almost too fast to track.
Simultaneously, his voice, amplified by his Command Howl skill, reached every member's ears in an instant.
"All units, follow me! Smash through the encirclement and crush every last enemy as fast as you can!"
"Then we reinforce the Ganesha and Astraea Familias!"
"Yes!!!"
...
...
By the time the Loki Familia finally realized they'd been played by Evilus...
Leon's squad had already reached the vicinity of the plaza where the relief distribution was being held.
They crept up the staircase of a concealed bell tower, silent as shadows, making their way to the top floor.
Just as they were about to round the corner to get a high vantage point on the situation below, Kureha's eyes sharpened. Her slender hand settled quietly on her sword hilt, then she turned back and pressed a finger to her lips, signaling everyone to be quiet.
Leon and the others froze, then held their silence.
Jeanne gave everyone a nod, then made a series of hand signals. The group split up without a sound, slipping into the blind spots around the attic ahead.
Once everyone was in position...
Jeanne raised her left hand.
Three.
Two.
One.
The next second, they exploded into action and burst into the attic.
A series of wet, muffled impacts. No suspense at all. The Evilus scouts, who'd been observing, taking notes, and preparing to relay intelligence via familiars, had their throats slit by Kureha before they even knew what hit them.
"Easy money."
Leon was the last one up to the bell tower. Seeing the enemies crumpled lifelessly on the floor, he squinted at the messenger birds Jeanne had taken out on the way.
Rose bent down and picked up a small parchment scroll that had fallen to the ground, unrolled it, glanced at it, then passed it to Jeanne and the others.
"It's coded intelligence. We don't have the expertise to decrypt it."
Leon leaned in next to Jeanne, took a look, then turned his gaze back down toward the nearest cluster of Evilus soldiers below their position.
"From this vantage point, his job was probably monitoring for Order Faction reinforcements. The second he spotted incoming support, he'd fire off a signal."
He patted down the body, and quickly found the signaling magic device.
"Well well. A smoke bomb. Red one, too."
[Read 50+ chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/NiaXD]