“I don’t need to see your face to know that it’s bad news you’re calling us for. You’re such a stickler for schedules that you wouldn’t call us at night like this if it was good news,” said Sir Inolet as he led Alissa’s party into the meeting room in Fort Gurzil, where they had been summoned by Sir DelVillar at a suprisingly late hour of the night. “Spill it, Leon. What gives?”

“Here, see for yourself,” said Leonhart DelVillar with a tired sigh as he tossed a roll of parchment over to Sir Inolet. The one-eyed old knight easily snatched the roll out of the air and unfurled it without missing a beat. He read its content quickly, and his eyebrows scrounged up noticeably in concern as he did so, something that Alissa next to him had not missed.

“Fort Levenrook was taken? The same sort of tactics they used to take Fort Gurzil, at that?” asked Sir Inolet with evident worry in his voice. Fort Levenrook was another bastion on the kingdom’s frontline, rather distant from their present location but still close enough that they would be able to reinforce it within a week.

“Also Fort Publis, Edensborough, Nacerola, and several others further west,” stated Sir DelVillar as he covered his eyes with one hand. “All fell to the demons at roughly the same time. We just received the news late due to the distances involved. The demons are hitting us hard all along the frontlines, Henri, and while their plot is right there in the open we have little choice but to play along.”

Alissa listened to the names of the forts mentioned by Sir DelVillar and looked for their locations on the open map on the table. She quickly noticed a pattern, in that the forts struck by the demons had been roughly equidistant from one another, as if the demons were dividing the frontlines into several sections and making an attack in each.

Then she looked at the location of other fortifications near the struck forts and superimposed the distance between Fort Levenrook and Fort Gurzil before applying them to the other recently struck forts. Without fail, each of them had another fort within that range, with variation not more than a day’s travels at most, for some.

“They’re… trying to force us to divide our forces and take us down that way? Wouldn’t that cost them greatly as well though?” she asked as she thought what such a strategy would aim towards. If the demons struck repeatedly all over the battlefront like that, it would put great pressure on the kingdom’s side to fight them off, constantly having to shift their troops to match the demons. Losses would be horrifying in the long run as the fighting continued on.

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“They could care less about that. They have more people to spare than we do, and the same naturally applies to combatants as well,” said Sir DelVillar with a shake of his head at Alissa’s doubtful query. “Like I said, it’s an open plot. They’re forcing us to split up and continuously chase after them, tiring out our troops and whittling us down over multiple battles until they decided we’re soft enough to go for the kill.”

“Surely we’re not letting them have their way, no?” asked Joshua from behind her.

“We will not, but even so, a majority of our forces would be forced to face the demons in this manner, since we cannot afford to lose the frontlines either,” said Sir DelVillar. “That leaves us with few choices, and while I have my own ideas about what to do in return, I would like to hear what the rest of you think as well on this matter.”

“We will not be able to afford sending out too many people for whatever course of action we choose, so that pretty much means it will have to rely on an elite team,” stated Magus Drummond thoughtfully from where he was seated. “That further narrows down our options, in some ways. The majority of our forces will have to keep chasing after the demons while trying to resist their assaults.”

“If we can only use a group of elites, then we should take the fight to the demons,” said Mother Magdalene firmly. “We burn their villages and salt the land as we leave. Let nothing remain behind for the demons to use in our wake. I would volunteer myself and my people for this task if you feel this is a reasonable course of action.”

“How many of the other fourth tiers from the temple do you think will follow you on this, Magda?” asked Sir DelVillar to the matronly nun.

“Hard to say, to be honest. Edrigo came from my monastery, so he will likely follow after me along with his people. I can’t be certain about any of the others, so worst case just the two of us, as well as around a hundred or so of our subordinates in the third tier,” admitted Mother Magdalene after a moment of thought. “Many of my so-called peers these days worry too much about worldly things or are too cowardly for this sort of task.”

“That’s too few. Too much risk of annihilation if the demons went searching for you. Most of their cities tend to have at least a few fourth tiers on guard,” noted Sir Inolet before he gave Alissa a questioning look, which he then extended to the rest of the [Heroes]’ party. Some didn’t quite catch what he meant by the look, but others clearly did and gave it some thought on the spot.

“Would you like us to join in on this task, Sir?” asked Alissa, voicing it out for those who had yet to grasp the old knight’s meaning.

“Only if you want to. This would be a way to get yourselves those last levels you need to hit the fourth tier faster, though it is not without its risks as well,” replied the old knight openly to the question. There was a massive difference between a hundred-something strong force with two fourth tiers and one with fifteen, after all. “Of course, Murdock and I will accompany you as well, should you feel you’re up for it.”

Alissa looked towards the other members of the party, querying their opinion silently. Some met her in the eye and firmly nodded, whilst a few looked undecided – especially Joshua – for a while before they did the same. Sir Inolet had not missed the silent exchange, and a grin formed on his lips as he saw the decision the party took.

“I think we’re up for this challenge, Sir,” said Alissa a moment later with a matching, determined grin on her face.