After the Elder and Elizabeth left the tent, Kumo turned the small box in her hand. She opened it and Wane leaned over to look as well.

Inside, a knife lay. It was a small thing, barely bigger than a steak knife, but Wane gasped when he saw it.

"It's coated in some type of poison Aether. A very potent Aether. It looks almost like it's slick with oil to [Omniscience]."

Kumo nodded idly before snapping the box shut and placing it into her [Expanded Pocket]. She stood and Wane followed suit if a bit shakily.

"He wants you to kill the human Emperor," Wane said.

"Seems that way."

"Will you do it?"

Kumo considered it for a moment and then shook her head. "Removing an obstacle from Gi that he's unwilling to get rid of himself is appealing, but I trust the Progenitor and I don't trust the human. I'm about to go find Gi and tell him what was said."

Wane nodded as though he imagined little else. "If you help me, I will come with you."

Kumo threw her arm over her brother's shoulder and the two of them left the tent. Sanya called out to them from her own tent, but Kumo just waved and the two them left their section of the camp.

It wasn't long before they stopped in their tracks as everyone in camp felt a spike of Aether. Even some of the young who'd never felt a drop of Aether were able to perceive the insane amount that was being channeled.

Wane looked out towards Harlond. Kumo couldn't see anything from where they were, but his eyes were wide.

"It... looks like a wave crashing against the city. All of the wild Aether is turbulent. It's the Demon Emperor. It has to be."

"We should hurry," Kumo said. Everyone around them was already tense, moving about among themselves and grabbing their weapons. "Can I carry you?"

Wane nodded so she picked him up just like she'd carried him the entire time that he was incapacitated. She jogged in the direction of Gi's tent, but an otter interrupted her search and pointed her closer towards Harlond.

They finally reached Gi to find him already talking to the King and Ellen.

"First One's ass," Ellen said with a sigh. "We're fucked."

King Rellington scratched at his stump. "Taking down a wall couldn't have been cheap for the Demon Emperor either. We should try and convince Veritas to recover his Aether so he's there when we finally confront him."

Ellen frowned. "If he's weak, why don't we just go kill him now?"

Gi stroked his chin. "I don't think weak is an appropriate term, but either way he's in the middle of his army. I think that's too big of a risk without dealing with the heirs."

"There is no way he lets us pick apart his heirs without retaliation."

"The army," Wane began and Kumo set him down so he could approach the debating leaders. "You have to find some way to neutralize their numbers advantage first."

Gi and the humans turned towards Kumo and Wane as though just realizing they were there. "That's a good point. We can't take out the Emperor, the heirs, or the army without another getting involved, but now is the time for a big return assault that draws the heirs out."

Their group fell into silence as they all considered what the best strategy should be. Eventually, Ellen broke the silence. "Let me take the army. I might not be able to kill as many as the King, but I can tie them down and make them less effective. I should also be able to survive a counter attack by an heir."

Commands must have been given before they arrived as their troops were busily getting formed up in the background. Kumo spoke up for the first time.

"If the army will be weak, we should take advantage of that confusion to do more. My Hunters can do so and escape before they even realize anything is wrong."

Most of Kumo's strength had come from killing humans in their beds. Even the towns that had mustered a resistance were disjointed and easily put down. Surprise was a powerful weapon.

The others quickly agreed and after a quick discussion they plotted out a three prong attack to be executed immediately. Gi flew off to try and deal with the human Emperor while Kumo and Wane returned to their Hunters. Sanya had already gotten them all organized and ready to kill.

Their group slinked through camp past the others that would remain in reserve and made their way up the small rocky cliff that protected Harlond's flank in the south side.

Like much of Veridia, trees swarmed the small cliff that aided their stealth. It also housed a handful of demon scouts, but they were quickly taken out before they could raise an alarm.

Once they finally made it to the edge, Kumo saw the sea of demons for the first time. It was one thing to know you were outnumbered but another to see such a horde arrayed against you. It made the battles on Igna seem mild by comparison.

"There," Wane said, pointing out into that red sea. "Those must be their healers."

Kumo followed his claw to a group a little further out from the cliff. They were perhaps halfway along the outside of the army, but it should prove doable for a quick attack in and then out.

"Now we wait..."

It was difficult to see from the forest, but the human Emperor had left at some point and the charging demons eventually slowed to a stalemate outside the broken wall of Harlond. Kumo could see that the Veridians had finally managed to man their own walls and had recovered their defense somewhat.

Frankly, Kumo was surprised the city hadn't already fallen.

"It's happening." Wane said and Kumo looked to the opposing army.

The demons surged upward, looking as though the metaphorical sea was an actual sea with the swell of a typhoon forming in the middle. That wave peaked and then rolled through the rest of the army.

Shouts turned to screams as those in the center were raised up and then dropped back into a lake of mud. It formed a small dome on top of the water and impossibly stayed still without losing its fluidity.

The newly spawned mud only went up to about the enemies knees, but many of them had fallen over in the initial swell and it slowed all of their movements.

Wane's head flicked quickly to the wall following something that Kumo couldn't see, but he muttered under his breath.

"So fast... That's her emergency Skill down."

"Better her than us," Kumo said and Wane nodded along.

She leaned just out of the trees and looked up to the sky to see the Fighting Drakes flying over the trees as they moved into the chaos for their harassment.

"That's our cue." Kumo motioned to the rest of the Hunters and they all activated their stealth Skills and moved out onto the plain. Wane was left behind unfortunately as he didn't have the Skills required.

The clamor of the army only got louder as they crossed the open plains, keeping low to the grass and trusting their Skills to keep them hidden. They snuck close to a small copse of trees that should give them some cover on their escape and after a few minutes, they were most of the way to their targets.

Their healers were hard to tell from the rest of the demons without a Skill like Wane's, but they weren't equipped with the standard dual short swords of the rest of the army nor any Aether specific accoutrement like the water gourds for the demons' shields.

Speaking of, they'd already raised several large domes of water to cover their army against the Fighting Drakes incoming assault, but it wasn't enough to cover everyone especially with the mud hindering all of their efforts.

With all eyes on the Fighting Drakes, Kumo was just about to unstealth when she heard Sanya whisper.

"Wait. There's something coming out of the trees on the far side."

Kumo raised her gaze and it didn't take long to see what Sanya meant. There was a myriad of colors coming out of the trees and taking to the air. As more and more of the creatures rose up out of the cover of the trees, she finally recognized them as what they were.

"Toucans... They're Toucans."

"I thought those were Igna monsters."

A contingent about three times the size of the Fighting Drakes swarmed towards them. Powerwise, there was no way they were on par with the Fighting Drakes, but their numbers and aerial nature had effectively clipped their greatest asset in this battle.

"We need to finish our mission while they're distracted and get out of here," Kumo said.

She readied her mace and unstealthed only to be stopped by a voice.

"That's far enough."

Kumo spun. A company of demons was nestled into the trees that marked their escape route with a very familiar demon at their head.

"I've been waiting for this reunion for a long time." Her voice was both haunting and ethereal, but despite her strange manner of speech, a smirk spread across her features.

If Kumo had been unsure, the roman numeral eight on one side of her forehead gave her away.

This was Auraco, the Fate reader, who'd hunted them across the frozen mountains.

"FALL BACK!" Kumo yelled and her Hunters obeyed instantly. With the army on one side and Auraco's company on the other, it only left a path straight across the plains back towards the forested cliff near Harlond.

It was a straight shot and they were fast, but they weren't the only ones that were fast. Kumo motioned Sanya to lead and Kumo sprinted at the back as the demons gave chase.

They nipped at her heels and Kumo leapt in the air, spinning around to release a barrage of [Phantom Strikes] as she ran.

Auraco was waiting as she landed though and booted her directly into the stomach. Kumo crashed into the ground, but with her C Agility, she turned the fall into a roll. Before she could pop back up and keep running, Auraco was there with a sword slicing straight towards her face.

She brought her mace up to block, but Auraco changed the angle at the last second. Kumo tensed expecting the blade to cut into her arm, but the demon's eyes suddenly widened.

Auraco yanked her head out of the way just as a [Piercing Light] passed through the space her head had just occupied and bit into a demon behind her.

Wane!

Kumo cheered in her mind and took the opportunity to scramble back to her feet. Most of her slower Hunters had already made it a good distance back to the cover of the cliff's trees so Kumo could run all out.

Cover fire from Wane kept Auraco from gaining on her, but Kumo knew that she couldn't keep this up. While she might not be the most powerful heir, her ability to read fate could singlehandedly change the entire battle.

This was an opportunity.

If Kumo couldn't stop her here, they might not get another chance.

Having made enough distance from the army, Kumo slid to a halt and turned to face Auraco and her company.

Unlike usual, her paws shook with a mace in each hand. Kumo had no concerns about throwing herself into a stronger opponent, but one that knew what you were going to do before you could even do it?

She'd be lying if she didn't say she was scared, but her family was depending on her. Gi was depending on her. She'd have to not only face her fears.

She'd have to win.