PW Chapter 280: To Turn the Tides (Patreon)

“Ruth,” Astrid raised her eyebrow, “I’m sorry, but do you recognize that Purcell is literally the furthest away of your cities from the capital?”

Astrid couldn’t help but notice the Duchess’s perfectly sculpted eyebrow raising at Astrid using her name, and she felt heat crawling up her neck. Ruth didn’t react beyond that, but Isaiah’s masked face couldn’t hide the widening of his eyes. For the first time, Astrid saw his eyes change color, becoming a sickly green as they evaluated her.

“Yes, Astrid, I do know that,” the Duchess replied. “That’s a part of why this plan will work. The rebel army already showed us a way to get close to the capital while almost entirely within the Dungeon proper and without sustaining casualties among the Iron and Steel tiers.”

“You found the entrance to the Dungeon proper that they used for this attack?” Skandr asked. “Wait, does that even matter? Because wouldn’t wherever they came from be under heavy guard?”

“I would be amazed if it is not,” the Duchess shrugged, a smile curling her full lips. “However, we have an Arcanite tier Dungeoneer on our side. She knows everything that’s happening within the Dungeon, and can scout dozens and even hundreds of kilometers ahead without even moving. If she knows where to look, she can trace a path even further.”

“Oh, I can see much more than that. I can hear the blood in someone’s veins if I want to,” Isana said in a sing-song voice. She shrugged after saying it, as if it wasn’t a terrifying thing to say. 

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t you restricted from being able to help us?” Benedict asked, disregarding what the Dungeoneer had said. “Something about Arcanite tiers being restricted from interacting with the upper world or something? If she does this, this will get her killed or put her in jail or whatever the Council decides needs to happen.”

The others had better control over their faces, but Aleksandr’s eyes widened as he whipped towards the Bard. His face calmed unnaturally quickly, but nobody cared to have a conversation about the fact that they knew things he hadn’t told them. Instead, the Duchess waffled her hand back and forth.

“Surveillance is, at best, a gray area,” she explained. “The Council has no laws regarding how much Arcanites can communicate with people on the surface. It would be an untenable rule at best if they attempted it, so Isana telling us what she can see through the Dungeon is completely fine. There comes the knowledge of where to go and how to get there, and then, while within the Dungeon, the rules concerning what the Golden Fist can do are loosened. No, they won’t be able to go on the warpath against everything that stands in our path, but, if nothing else, they’ll be able to use their Arcanite tier Skills. Though I haven’t seen them myself, I’m told that the change is astounding. That freedom will be immensely valuable for us.”

The Golden Fist who stood nearby nodded, smiling.

“What’s this big difference?” Astrid asked.

“The details regarding evolving to Arcanite are hidden from anybody under level 186,” Alexander shook his head. “Suffice to say, it is a question of an order of magnitude difference. At least, at their utmost, the Skill difference is like that.”

Astrid rolled her eyes as she turned her attention back to the Duchess. “Leaving that aside, why are we going to use Purcell as a staging ground? We can’t get all of our people together without alerting the entire country. You’ve spread your army wide in order to maintain the siege, now, to break it, we’re going to need the entire army. We send everybody here, it’s going to be obvious what’s happening.”

“Only if they have to march,” the Duchess countered.

“Or fly, run, swim, or dance,” Astrid shook her head. “We won’t be able to move anybody quick enough for this to be able to work. So, for this to be your plan, there’s gotta be something I’m missing.”

“And there is. How well do you understand what Saul is capable of?”

“All I can reliably say is that he’s a Wizard,” Astrid shrugged, looking at the rest of her party. Everybody turned to look at Skandr, who was the only one who had any prolonged interaction with the man. He blew out a long breath as he shrugged.

“I know that he wasn’t at all focused on developing killing spells, even though he had them. Talked more about supportive malleability than anything. He spoke to me a lot about flexibility in my casting, making sure not to limit what I was capable of doing in the long run. Talked about specialization, but never really about himself.”

“That’s him,” Aleksandr said, a smile on his face. “Forgive me for taking over here, your Grace. However, there are various things that you know of Saul that he refuses to share with others, and I’m confident that I can make sure not to betray his expectations.”

The Duchess waved off his apology and motioned for him to continue the explanation. With that permission, the leader of the Golden Fist continued, “Saul’s specialization is something he has kept secret. I will tell you that his path started as a Shadow Sorcerer, though he quickly cast off the limitation of bloodline purification in pursuit of study. That initial Class’s inclinations, though no longer his focus, has brought him to understand a method of mass teleportation. We have spent the past several months traveling between all of the different cities under the Duchess’s command and have laid the groundwork for teleportation nodes in each. With Leah and Miriam going to get everybody in position, it won’t take more than a couple hours to teleport the most important soldiers to where we need them.”

“Okay, you skipped a few steps there,” Benedict raised a hand. “How was this supposed to work? Are we just going to appear outside of the city gates? Inside of them? What’s the point of having the Dungeon proper entrance and path? Can’t we just all teleport to the city?”

“Technically, we could just dump everybody outside the city and hope for the best,” Aleksandr shrugged. “However, that’s a stupid plan for a couple reasons. The main reason I can share is that the teleportation isn’t instantaneous. It may take about thirty seconds of wildly fluctuating mana before people arrive at their destination, and each node has to be summoned independently. That’s not a lot of time…”

As he trailed off, Muti bared her teeth. “But it is more than enough time for the enemy to prepare themselves.”

“Which is the primary reason why we won’t be doing that,” Aleksandr confirmed. “There are other reasons, but those will remain secret. Regardless, having the army appear piecemeal and with a thirty-second warning would be a recipe for devastating losses, if not an immediate overwhelming defeat. Instead, we’ll stick with the Duchess’s plan.”

“And that plan is to... bring everybody here, go through the Dungeon proper, and then hope that they haven’t set up defenses on the exposed vulnerability?” Benedict cocked his head to the side. “Forgive my doubt, but that seems like a rather unlikely possibility.”

“I’m inclined to agree with him,” Greely said, sitting so quietly that Astrid had almost forgotten he was there.

“On top of that,” Astrid added, “I’m guessing getting an entire army out through an entrance to the Dungeon proper will take too long. They’re too narrow.”

“Many of us are familiar with the particular entrance through which we’ll make our attack,” Miriam said. “It isn’t a secret to anybody within the capital, but Ginnastadt was established above the largest known entrance to the Dungeon proper. The tear to enter there is nearly one hundred meters across.”

“It opens out into the city?” Astrid confirmed. “That means that this will absolutely be their most protected position! It’s their back line, if it’s left exposed, they might as well just roll over onto their backs and tie themselves up!”

“The Dungeon proper is constantly changing,” the Duchess answered. “The area surrounding the entrance will undergo a massive shift in two days, instead of the usual gradual change. What has been a swamp that isn’t particularly dangerous to anyone above level 40 but is difficult to pass through due to toxic mana and sludge monsters will become a mostly flat plain. We’ll be able to run right across that, and if we’re able to arrive at that expanse directly after the change occurs, we can charge across when the defenses aren’t prepared to deal with a massive army.”

“We’re still going to need…” Astrid shook her head. “Every argument I bring up is going to have something you’ve already thought of, isn’t it?”

“Almost certainly, but I would never attempt to silence your questions. In fact, any questions from any trustworthy people with whom I can speak are more than welcome. Your thoughts may broach a topic which has been neglected by everybody who has assisted in planning.”

At that invitation, the Wanderers offered a flurry of questions about potential defenses, traps, what would be waiting on the other side of the entrance, and more. Most of the questions had satisfactory answers, while some of them could only be replied to with, “I believe this is the best chance we are going to get.”

“What are you going to do about the hundreds of prisoners you have taken?” Greely asked. “To field an army that will be able to push through the defenses the Marchioness mounts, you will need to take all of the strongest soldiers from their posts maintaining control over the prisoners.”

The Duchess’s face twisted at that. She nodded slowly, and, after seeming to argue internally, she spoke up.

“I don’t know how much control over the prisoners we’re going to be able to keep immediately before, during, and after the decisive fight. The Marchioness hasn’t given orders for complete destruction to her people until now, and we can only hope that that remains to be the case. If we reduce the watches on them, they should attempt to escape and return to the capital. We’ll beat them there, and have finished the war before they can arrive.”

“That seems like a pretty big loose end,” Astrid said.

“The biggest one we have,” the Duchess agreed. “However, we can only take this opportunity for what it is. The contracts and compulsions that the prisoners are under should largely fall apart with the Marchioness’s death.”

“Her death is just as important as making sure all of her supporting nobles are put down as well,” Miriam said. “Not every contract will be with her.”

“True, but all of the strongest people will. I am less concerned about the Iron and Bronze tiers causing havoc in a short time.”

“People will die for this,” Greely pressed.

“We’ve all always known that would be the case, that doesn’t come as a surprise to me. I wish fewer were in danger, but I’m making decisions and I’m standing by them.”

“So long as you are aware, that is all I ask.”

Astrid’s stomach turned as she thought of Ahna in her home, her child that Astrid hadn’t met because she was off trying to bring the refugees back and then she came here. Had she had her child yet? What would their name be? Would they both die as Astrid lost herself in the pursuit of finishing this war fast?

“We’ll leave a few people behind in Stahlstadt specifically, because that is where the highest tier prisoners are, but otherwise, this is what is going to happen.”

Astrid felt her stomach loosen just a little as the conversation had continued while she was distracted, but there was still that cramping sensation, a genuine fear that threatened to steal away her bravery. Instead of considering that, she thought of not having to have any more battles like just a few days earlier.

“I’m in, then,” Astrid said, looking at her party. “We’ll just need to get this done with quick. I have a new niece or nephew to keep safe, after all.”

“To cut out the sickness from within is the greatest solution that I could think of,” Muti bared her teeth. Her eyes seemed to flash as she inclined her head to look at Felix.

“You already knew that I would follow you,” he smiled. “In addition, I believe this is the right choice to make. Even if we could guarantee that we are slowly pulling ahead in terms of strength, which we can’t, we would be subjecting our people to greater injustice by the Marchioness. Plus, taking her by surprise might be the only opportunity we have to make sure that all of her hidden cards can’t be brought to bear against us.”

Astrid looked at the two men who hadn’t spoken yet, and Benedict answered her gaze first.

“Let’s get this finished already,” he said. “It’s gone on long enough, if you ask me.”

Skandr let out a long breath, but didn’t disagree. He shrugged as he looked at Astrid. “It’s dangerous, but I think we should.”

“Then I’m glad you are in,” the Duchess said, turning towards Greeley and Isaiah. “And yourselves? Will you march at my side?”

“Of course, your Grace,” Greely bowed his head. “I couldn’t dream of being so callow as to neglect my liege when she needs me. Further, there’s a certain bloodsoaked bastard who ran away from me last time. Not again.”

The fury with which Greely spoke of Gregor took Astrid by surprise, but she smiled at the depth of his emotion.

“You certainly can punch above your level,” the Duchess nodded. “I have every confidence you’ll be able to take care of him. Perhaps you cannot overcome a level difference to the same degree as these monsters, but I don’t know if there are any who can.”

“I chose to stay at level 139 for that long, I wasn’t stuck on an evolution quest,” Greely said. “The backstabbing betrayer will be reminded of what it’s like to be a child.”

“This isn’t the first time we’ve heard something about Gregor being a traitor,” Benedict said. “Something about Pauline training him?”

“Pauline was one of my first bodyguards,” the Duchess explained. “At that time, she was high Mithril. Gregor was trained by her to join my guard. He decided otherwise.”

“Then it will be all the sweeter to take revenge on him,” Muti nodded.

“I only regret that I can’t do it with my own hands.” Just like Greely, Ruth’s voice was tinged with more than just dislike. Astrid hadn’t thought to ask her about the man, but she knew enough about him now to realize how terrible he was. Then, the way that the petite Duchess’s hands were clenching, Astrid could see the knuckles go white.

“I can make sure to keep him bound while you hit him,” Isaiah offered. His face, covered by the wooden mask, somehow seemed to communicate some measure of teasing.

“I wish,” she shook her head. “No, it’s better to just kill him as soon as possible. The more bloodshed there is, the stronger he’ll be, and in a war, there will be too much blood for him to take. He’ll be one of our first targets to focus on.”

“How does somebody get a Class like that?” Astrid wondered.

“Bloody betrayal, mostly,” the Duchess answered. She didn’t offer any more information, and Astrid didn’t feel the need to press. The bad blood was obvious, and she couldn’t say that she had anything but loathing for the man herself, so she didn’t need more reason to want to make sure that he lost this fight.

“If I cannot hold him for you to deliver justice, perhaps I can help ensure his head is removed,” Isaiah said. His face, hidden by the mask, was impossible to read, but Ruth just nodded.

“Then you all are in. Now, Miriam, Leah, go. There’s much to do and very little time.”

Both women nodded before disappearing from where they stood. Astrid could feel through the ground that it wasn’t that they became invisible, but that they had moved so quickly that, even with her attributes, she couldn’t see their passage. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering the massive level difference between them, but Astrid had hoped that she’d at least be able to see their movement.

“For now, it’s time to get ready,” the Duchess said, pulling Astrid’s attention back towards her. “There’s so many things that need our attention and so little time before we have to get into the Dungeon proper and start journeying.”

“What will you be doing during all this?” Astrid asked as she stood up. “I can’t imagine you’re going to accompany us to battle.”

“Oh, there will be plenty for me to do,” the Duchess answered, a little smile on her face. She didn’t give any more information than that, but Astrid stopped pressing. Instead, she walked out. There were people to get together, things to do.

And in just a few days, there was a war to win.