“Nervous?” asked Nadine towards Alissa at the army camp that evening.

It had already been three weeks since their spar against Sir DelVillar, and the [Heroes]’ party had spent much of the time since then training to work together with some of the fourth-tiers from the fort. They knew that chances were good that they might have to work together during the mission, so while it was not much, honing their teamwork a little wouldn’t hurt either side.

The army had set off from the fort towards Arh-Getlam just a few days ago, and had since camped out around a couple hours away from where the city now turned into a frontline base by the demons were situated. The demons had not looked too alarmed by the movement, as according to Sir Delvillar, they made such maneuvers, both big and small, on a regular basis to incite the demons to fight over the years.

After a few years the demons had caught on that such maneuvers were mostly bait, and other than to heighten their defenses, they no longer paid too much heed to them. Sometimes younger demons who were newly assigned to the base might be rash and lead out their units to be devoured alive by the waiting ambushes, but otherwise, typically nothing serious happened.

In fact, the last time Arh-Getlam itself saw a serious attempt from the human side to retake it was over twenty years ago.

All those factors combined made the demons less alert than they should be, confident as they were in that even if the humans really attacked, they had a solid fortification to protect themselves with. As it was, they assumed the army was there to posture and try to lure out some unsuspecting young fools like usual. Not even the size of the force worried them that much, as forces that size weren’t even a rare thing in the times past.

Sir DelVillar had clearly planned out the retaking of his hometown for a long time, probably since the failed attempt twenty years ago. It was just the lack of manpower – specifically on the higher end of the scale – that prevented him from enacting his plan until Alissa and the rest happened to be summoned. As it was, the old knight had practically set up a feint that lured the demons into a false sense of security for twenty years, which must have taken a great deal of patience and perseverance on his part.

He probably even intended to pass down the opportunity to his successor should no such chance come during his lifetime, which said a lot to his dedication.

“A little bit,” admitted Alissa with a shake of her head. “This will be the first time we really took the fight back to the demons, won’t it? Last time the base we took was just a temporary setup much like our own right now. Arh-Getlam on the other hand is one that’s truly fortified and prepared for war…”

“Mostly because they took it from us. The demons don’t really bother to build fortifications to the same level that we often do, as they place less value in them, but they’re still smart enough to make use of what’s already there,” replied Nadine with a thoughtful nod. “I’d wager that in the years since they took the place, the demons had only repaired the damages they did to it at most instead of reinforcing the defenses.”

“I can’t tell that the wall was once damaged, to be honest. I know we’re pretty far off, but my eyesight’s one of the best amongst us, and I still didn’t notice such signs,” commented Alissa.

“That’s because we’re on the north side of Arh-Getlam. The damages would be mostly to the south of the place, since that’s where the demons assaulted it from. By comparison the north side mostly made it out unscathed,” noted Nadine. “I know you’re worried for us, since it is a rather risky endeavor to attack the enemy base with just a couple hundred people like this, but have some faith. Sir DelVillar isn’t the sort to waste his men’s lives unless he believes that there’s a good chance of success in the plan.”

“I can’t help it, you know. Me, Ethan, and Joshua, if we happened to die, we’d just [Respawn] back at Fort Abernal,” admitted Alissa with a sigh. “None of the rest of you can do that. If you die, you die. No takebacks or retries. Honestly, I’m more surprised that you aren’t anywhere near as nervous as I am considering what we’re about to do.”

“In some ways, I am nervous,” said Nadine with a shake of her head. “On the other hand, this is also exactly what I have trained and dedicated most of my life for. When I chose to pursue a path as a knight in order to avoid being used as a political pawn and most likely married off as is common for people in my situation, I always dreamed that I might be able to do something that could make a difference one day. Something like this… is pretty much my dream come true, Alissa.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Alissa nodded at Nadine’s explanation. It was true, Nadine had pretty much abandoned a luxurious lifestyle that she would be granted without any conditions given her status as the Fifth Royal Princess, a status that would remain with her even if she was later married off to secure some political backing for the royal family or the like.

Instead, she shed her blood and tears and underwent grueling training to forge herself into a warrior, leaving the life of comfort behind. While she did still possess part of her privileges – she remained a Princess no matter what she did, after all – the difference between her and the rest of her family was a palpable one even to outsiders.

While Alissa had yet to meet most of Nadine’s family – she had met the King and the Crown Prince on formal occasions a couple of times and that was about it – it was obvious how despite the family resemblance, they were clearly not cut from the same mold. For the lack of a better word, the King and Crown Prince were soft. If someone with bad intentions came at them the most they could do was likely to scream and flail about ineffectually.

Nadine on the other hand trained herself until her body was a weapon in itself, which spoke of dedication and hard work. The system in Ephemera might have balanced things out a bit between men and women – the initial bit of physical differences already shown in their stats and became irrelevant as people grew more and more powerful – but to toil so hard despite being born into privilege was still something praiseworthy.

“Part of the reason I’m not as nervous is because I know you,” stated Nadine all of a sudden, looking Alissa straight in the eyes. “I’ve only known you for a few months, and I know you probably never asked to be summoned here or interested in being a [Hero] of all things, but I feel that I’ve gotten a decent read of you as a person, Alissa. You would be there for us and do your best to keep us alive because that’s what you feel to be the right thing to do, won’t you?”

“I guess I can’t say anything but plead guilty to that, heh,” said Alissa somewhat amusedly. Nadine had the right of her in that statement, in that despite her many doubts, Alissa did consider the Princess a friend and would indeed strive to keep her safe. “Thanks for the chat, I think that helped my nervousness a bit, at least.”

“Happy to help. Take it easy for now, all right? We might make the strike in the next few days, so it’d be best if all of us are prepared for it,” replied Nadine with a smile.

******************************

Three days after Alissa had the conversation with Nadine, it was time for them to enact the daring operation. The group of two hundred had gathered, amongst them forty-two fourth tier combatants or equivalent, as well as one hundred and fifty eight third tiers who were near the level cap of their tier. It was a deadly force to say the least.

It was deep in the night, just a couple hours after midnight, in fact. Sir DelVillar had chosen the time as by the time they reached Arh-Getlam and began their attack, it would be the time when most people slept the most deeply. Their own army had slept in earlier in the day in shifts to avoid suspicion from the demons to prepare themselves for the night assault to come.

The group themselves would depart ahead of the rest of the army and strike first. The army themselves would only begin marching around the time the assault group reached Arh-Getlam and began their infiltration. Sir DelVillar’s intention was to use the movement of the army as an additional distraction to help mask their covert strike, though it also helped the army reach the target location earlier.

One way or another, though, the assault group would still be on their own for at least two hours deep within enemy territory, so they would have to rely on themselves to survive that period of time while also accomplishing their mission. It was a risky and daring attack, though hopefully it was also an unexpected one. Alissa also understood why the kingdom would spend so much effort in sending lookalikes that pretended to be the [Heroes]’ party all over the frontlines, as it helped disguise their presence and allow them to strike by surprise like this.

As it was, the demons likely had yet to realize that Alissa and the rest of her party was already at their doorstep.

It only took the infiltration group – all hidden from sight thanks to the skill of a fourth tier [Scout of Shadows] – around half an hour to reach the northern walls of Arh-Getlam, without the notice of the demon sentries stationed atop the walls and the towers. In fact, on a closer look Alissa could see that some of the demons in question were dozing off or otherwise failing to pay attention to their work.

Typical behavior of the complacent who probably thought that there would be no true danger headed for them, which Alissa realized was what Sir DelVillar had fomented amongst the base’s guards with the constant false alarms they had to deal with for the past decades. Even if the group had not been cloaked and hidden from sight, Alissa felt that the demon sentries might not have noticed them anyway.

The sleepy and dozing ones on the walls were bad enough, but Alissa saw that the ones in the towers actually took advantage of their more secluded position to do things that sentries would have probably been flogged for if caught. The sentries in the north-western tower of the town were likely playing cards or something from the way they were positioned, while the ones on their opposite tower… were probably having an affair.

Alissa turned her eyes away from that tower with a slight blush on her cheeks.

“All right, here we are,” said Sir DelVillar with a low voice. The stealth skill that hid them also muted their voice and scent to an extent. “We’ll need those of you with the personal stealth skills to go up there and take care of the guards before they can raise any alarm. Anyone got any place they’d like to handle personally?”

“Uh, I’ll take the north-western tower if nobody minds,” said Alissa quietly as she raised her hand. “My stealth skill should allow me to get there without alerting anyone, and I believe I’ll be quick enough to take care of the sentries there,” she added.

“Somehow I get the feeling that there’s something more behind your request, but I have no reason to deny it either. All right then, Miss O’Connor. The north-western tower is yours to handle.”