"We can have whatever kind of fun tomorrow; I think I'm about as spent as it gets," Kyoya sighed.

An escape from this day would yield comfort in even the most minimal result. That though was accompanied by relief, compounded by any downtime to be spent in the company of Lyric and Brynn. The girl's softened eyes spoke sympathy to him as she pocketed her hands and nodded.

"I'll buy it. It's close enough to eight, and I'm sure we'll be up later talking, to boot. Think you need anything while we're still out here?"

"Hells no. I've been waiting all afternoon to head back."

"…Good point."

She hopped up the steps without much thought. Kyoya had to take a less dramatic approach to avoid waking the sleeping Brynn. After reaching the top, they progressed through the North hall, which passed by the Pinnacle. Finally, it forked in two, with the Seraph making a left turn and standing before the first door to their right.

"Wait… Is that it?" questioned the Miscreant.

"Yeah, why?"

"You're telling me you made a warp when it wasn't even a couple minutes' walk down the hall?"

Cheeks flushed, Lyric hid her stare amongst the floor.

"…It's for convenience."

"Convenience? You said you had to replace the nodes!"

"Sometimes convenience is inconvenient later on, so what!? We're here!" she huffed, barging the door open and leaving him in the hall. In the commotion, Brynn was promptly awoken. The feline swayed her head around before jumping down from his shoulder, then followed Lyric inside as the door swung to a close.

He was left to pull it back open, revealing the girl upon her bed, taking off her armor. It was laid at the bedside, next to her shoes, and parallel to his spare clothes. The Miscreant was swift in his conversational segue. "It really didn't take long for things to start ramping up, huh?"

She pulled one knee in, the other leg stretched freely down the length of her bed. As the outside light grew ever dimmer, what little remained managed to shine off of her auburn locks, casting a warm, radiant glow. Whatever found itself privileged enough to be within the comfort of her personal space seemed almost thankful.

"I was hoping to see some action sooner than later, but a same-day delivery wasn't something I'd expected."

Kyoya walked around to his side of the room. Brynn had taken up residence between the two in a makeshift cot on the floor, made from a pair of pillows and a spare sheet neither of the pair found any use in. She laid contently, curled into her own little world of napping bliss.

"Chances are we'll have an even crazier day tomorrow; Ace made it seem like they were pretty close to figuring out what was up. If Fate isn't too moody, we might have some kind of plan by the end of the night."

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Kyoya's reply didn't come, though; his mind was elsewhere.

Truthfully, Lyric's suggested ploy of a bait-and-switch tactic from their enemy seemed as sound as they came—but his gut insisted otherwise.

He was far from against idea of playing on the assumption that they'd have to act one way or the other. It'd be the fuel for any result, but he also wondered just what the enemy would have to know, should they have a scheme planned out. Though, in that, another consideration began rearing its head.

"If our hand would be forced, what could we possibly do?"

Scenarios flew through the boy's head as he pondered any given thought to the brink of extinction. Eventually, he reached an especially potent possibility. "Regardless of what we choose, we'd be rolling the dice if they've already got a plan in mind..."

His only moves were to pose the ideas of cancelling the ceremony and preparing for a conflict, or call the enemy's bluff and proceed. Both of which shared plenty of immediate risks with the chance of more Demons appearing.

Lyric's words echoed in his mind.

"A reverse bait-and-switch..."

Kyoya weighed his options.

Should they amass any sort of force to combat the threat, Lyric's suggestion of a much more powerful enemy lying in wait sounded all too dangerous. Even still, if they were to take any measure to keep Altaire's citizens at home, they'd run the risk of multiple threats emerging. Such a possibility would render their current force far too few.

It was the possibility of one, versus that of many: an ultimatum that left no avenue through which to approach the matter without demonic intervention.

Though, even if neither one would be preferred, the former option seemed to carry more forgiveness, should they misstep.

If one enemy were to emerge at a particular point, the threat would at least be concentrated. Coordinated battle tactics on a single target could still be employed, and potentially minimize damage with what little available arms they had... A stark contrast to that of the latter, which would easily leave them powerless to contend with multiple enemies of such a caliber.

In that regard of their ability, Kyoya was certain.

However, he still hadn't settled.

"Picking either of the obvious choices is a death sentence." The Miscreant made a hidden frown while he thought on. "Any Demon that could pull itself into the Overworld had to think ahead to some degree," he noted. "But, if they came with a plan, that'd mean they've only accounted for so many options…"

Kyoya laced one piece of this puzzle to the next. Because their enemy had already acted, it was likely their intention to have incited a reaction. Then, that reaction would be the basis upon which a counter would be formed to ultimately finish Altaire off.

Yet, in that same vain, this would mean they'd be restricted... Namely, to whatever circumstances the Kingdom's choice in the matter allowed.

Through this, he found his golden ticket. "Our bogey couldn't possibly go in on predictions alone; they'd be too careful... so they've gotta be waiting to counter our move."

The Miscreant set his sights on enacting a ploy that allowed them to proceed with both options, while feigning a full-send into only one. He could effectively control the outcome by forcing their adversary to make a move in reaction to the one he'd fake.

Now, gears were really beginning to turn… and if it would be a ploy he'd need, there was already a prime option in mind.