“You need a first-tier adventurer to wipe your ass for you?” Allen sneered at his junior. “Don’t tell me you still got cold feet.”
“!”
“You heard that prum asshole’s speech, right? There’s nothin’ left to lose. Those bastards took it all from us.”
Allen’s words were far from a typical pep talk, but they did their job all the same. He leveled a sharp gaze at his animal girl junior, and she snapped to attention.
“Y-yes, sir!”
The other defenders threw themselves back into the battle once more. Allen, meanwhile, paused and looked around. For a few moments, his gaze drifted in the direction of West Main Street and a certain tavern that stood there.
“I got nothing left to lose…” he repeated. “But if you’re gonna try to steal from me anyway, then you’ll get what’s comin’ to you.”
Then a moment later, he put that thought behind him and once more dashed off in the direction of the enemy lines.
“Look at ’em, actually puttin’ up a decent fight. Finn had to know this was comin’.”
With a gentle tap, a pair of boots landed on the rooftop. Her fur-lined coat swept around her legs as Valletta surveyed the city up close. She had descended from the walls into the trading district in the southwest and set up a temporary forward base atop the largest building in the area, allowing her an unhindered view of the city, and the war zone it had become.
“What a shitty little hero… I put all this work into surprisin’ him, and he doesn’t even blink!”
Valletta beamed with a malicious grin while two of her subordinates came running over to her.
“Ma’am!” one of them said. “All units are now engaged! We have a report to make regarding the enemy formation!”
“They seem to have concentrated their forces in five key locations!” the other piped up. “We haven’t spotted any adventurers or civilians anywhere in the streets!”
Valletta Grede raised a puzzled brow. “Eh? The hell’s that supposed to mean?”
“We believe the civilians are being kept in those five strongpoints, ma’am!”
“But even there, we’ve encountered only a handful of first-tier adventurers! We believe the remainder must be waiting somewhere in reserve!”
Ankusha of Ganesha Familia, Perseus of Hermes Familia—all these top warriors were conspicuously absent. Even of Freya Familia, only Vana Freya had been spotted in the wild. The stress was clearly getting to the two cultists as they continued their report.
“Plus, we’ve spotted a great number of enemy scouts—even more numerous than our own! We believe they must be trying to locate Lord Zald and Lady Alfia!”
Valletta pondered the matter for only a second before exploding into laughter.
“Ha-ha-ha-ha! So that’s your game, Finn! You rotten bastard!”
“L-Lady Valletta…? Is something the matter…?”
“Finn doesn’t give two shits about protecting the people! He’s using them as bait!!”
Valletta stared out across the city once more.
“North, northwest, southwest, south, and east! Five strongholds, equally defended, making us divide our forces!”
The northern point was Twilight Manor, in the northwest, Guild HQ, in the southwest, Iam Ganesha, in the south, the Casino, and in the east, the Amphitheatrum. Some of Orario’s troops were putting up a perfunctory defense, but the bulk of Finn’s forces were lying in wait. It stank of an ambush, and there was only one thing Valletta could guess they were after.
“They’re comin’ after our trump cards!”
“You mean…Lord Zald and Lady Alfia?!”
“Exactly. That cocky bastard! He’s sayin’, ‘Take as many rooks as you want, ’cause I’m comin’ for your king and queen!’”
Valletta drew her crimson tongue across her lips and pointedly looked at the heart of the city.
“The rest of their forces must be in there! That wall of ice ain’t for keeping us out; it’s for keeping them hidden!”
“The barrier is made up of ice. It encircles all of Central Park.”
“Not a magical barrier, but a physical one. Our enemy seeks to furnish its keep with walls, it seems.”
Valletta thought back to what Olivas had said when the barrier first appeared. Shards of ice, like petals of a cactus flower, surrounded the base of Babel.
But the purpose of that barrier was not, as Valletta first expected, to reinforce the tower while the adventurers fought elsewhere. In truth, the bulk of Finn’s armies had not taken a single step out of Babel’s shadow. The wall of ice had been constructed to obscure that fact.
“I—I see…” said one of the soldiers after Valletta explained all this. “It’s true. The scent of helpless civilians sheltering inside the strongholds is drawing all the monsters away from Babel.”
“W-was this Finn’s plan all along?! To use people as bait?! Wh-what do we do now, Lady Valletta?!”
The strongholds were relatively close to the city gates. In all likelihood, Finn had chosen them for precisely that reason. As soon as the monsters set one foot inside the walls of Orario, they would catch the whiff of fresh meat and be drawn to the battlements, where bands of adventurers were waiting to dispatch them. This left the Evils unable to rally enough forces to seize Central Park.
The Evils soldiers could scarcely believe how much the enemy commander had seen through their plans. They looked up at Valletta for guidance.
The woman was silent. Her laughter had disappeared into the wind, and she now wore only a steely scowl, like a chess player pondering their next move.
If all their top dogs are waitin’ at Babel, then a half-assed strike force ain’t gonna cut it. Even if we ditch the monsters and send our whole army there, those strongholds are perfectly positioned to encircle us no matter which direction we come from. We march in there, it’s gonna be a bloodbath either way, and not the good kind.
The battle of wits had begun. Valletta almost felt as though she could see her opponent, standing far away on the rooftop of Guild HQ, across the intermediary streets that served as their board.
But if we go after the strongholds first, we’re playin’ right into Finn’s hand. That’s why he set up the board like this. It’s exactly what he wants…