418 had been built the staircase to the source of the necrotic energies until it was about 30 ft. from the aforementioned location. Mainly due to the fact that 418 had sensed a lot of moving presences in there. So now there was a strategy meeting. It was held in a war room built in the staging area, and in the room, there were 2 maids, a butler, a commander, and a dungeon.

“So we are here to formulate a strategy that helps with the coming battles. As I have confirmed there seem to be a lot of presences in the area above, so it would be wise to look before we leap.” Stated 418 “So in order to better formulate a plan, we need a breakdown of our troop numbers. Silvanus, if you would.”

“Thank you, great dragon. As it stands, the breakdown of the new recruits weapon usage is as follows: 15 who wield swords and shields, 10 bowmen, 2 longbowmen, 8 pikeman, 5 who wield maces and shields, 5 halberdiers, 5 who wield twinned blades, 5 who wield axes and shields, 3 who wield mauls, and 2 pugilists. That is the current breakdown of troops.” Replied Silvanus.

“That is a good amount of troops with shields but a lot of them use weapons that require some space to swing.” Aurora stated.” Given that fact I think it best to have the spread out and armor them in medium armor save for pike man who we will arm with heavy armor and light armor for the archers and like.”

“That is a good idea. Though with that I will need to focus on creating the armors and armaments for our troops. So while I’m doing that I will not be able to weigh in much on strategy. Although I will still be able to hear.”

And with that the high kobold wished 418 well on their endeavors. While 418 was working they heard some details on the plan like having the pikeman protect the archers or having Alfred and Persephone join the troops. So over the next 4 days, 418 created the required items. The weapons didn’t take too long because a lot of them could just simply be created already. It turns out that the chest loot system has quite a few templates for what to spawn so it was as easy as 1, 2, 3. The only thing that took were the battle gauntlets for the pugilists. Though In the end all 418 did was modify some iron gauntlets. Speaking of iron that is what most of the weapons were made from save for the obvious like bows. Shields were just as easy to make. Those wielded axes were given iron banded shields. Likewise targes and heater shields were to sword wielders and mace wielders respectively. And the pikemen had been given Scutum Shields. Armor was probably the most time consuming not because of their difficulty but because of how many pieces needed to be created. Though the upside is the armor always seemed to fit. 418 learned this is because dungeon made armor needs to be able to be used by those who loot it. A few other things happened while all of the weapons and armor were crafted.

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First Phyllis basically begged 418 to allow her to join the operation so they could study the source of the necrotic energies and after a while of her begging they relented and allowed her to join under a condition. Secondly, quite a few researches were completed like basic carpentry, metallurgy, alchemy, arboreal research, and fungal research. Also, quite a few trap researches such as: pressure plates tripwires, dart traps spear traps, flamethrower traps, and water producing traps. This is because the condition that Phyllis had to meet was that they had to do some research before 418 finished the equipment. Lastly, Cerus came and asked for a significant amount of ingredients. He said he wanted to do a banquet. 418 pondered for but just a moment before agreeing. Their rationale on this was an army marches on their stomach. 418 didn’t really see much of it though because they were finishing the last of their work. Once all that was taken care of and the last set of armor was finished 418 had Silvanus gather everyone who was going to help on this operation.

There were sixty-eight beings in total in the staging area. Once the all gathered Silvanus started a speech to the new recruits:

“My fellow kobolds, we are gathered here to help the great dragon deal with that which threatens them. I’m sure you can smell it, that horrible stench of the walking dead. Well the great dragon has decreed that this threat must be purged. And so here we are on the eve of battle. I can’t say that all of you will make it back and for that I'm truly sorry. Though the great dragon has decreed that all who make it back from this operation shall be bestowed a name. So live my recruits. Live for that honor. For a taste of Cerus’ food again. For the Great dragon!”

“For the Great Dragon!” the recruits roared

“They’re quite excitable, aren’t they?" joked Yaga.

“Indeed.” responded Alfred.

“This is gonna be fun.” exclaimed Persephone

Prometheus just crackled in the air.

418 had never expected that they were gonna go to war so soon. After all, it was the eve of the beginning of their fourth week in this world. But this would be good practice for their eventual confrontation with Ouroboros. So they opened the way up to the area with the source of the necrotic energy. As 418 built those final stairs, they watched their army go, unaware of the pandemonium that would soon follow.