Chapter 217 Marching Orders

Astrid didn’t wait to accompany the rest of the refugees before sprinting ahead. Muti could have easily gone faster, but she seemingly decided to stay back as Astrid made her way to find out what was happening.

As she already knew, everybody was preparing for battle, but the specifics of it were unknown to her until she got close. When she finally did, there was nothing so convenient as somebody standing out to convey instructions, shouting exactly what was happening. Instead, she glanced around until she could see somebody who was issuing commands. The first person she found was a quartermaster, passing out pieces of equipment and potions to representatives from different parties in a rush. Obviously, she wasn’t a good choice. Instead, Astrid found someone else who looked like they knew what they were doing and grabbed them briefly by the shoulder.

“What’s going on? I just got back. I have several hundred Bronze-tier villagers I just brought as refugees.”

“The city of Purcell is under attack, with more people coming to assault it. Anyone who has the ability to travel at least fifty kilometers an hour for an extended period is being made to go to their support. Any more information will need to come from your commanding officer. For the refugees, bring them in.”

Then, the man shook off her hand and resumed running to wherever he was going. Astrid felt herself blink rapidly, realizing she hadn’t thought about what the other cities the Duchess had set up headquarters in were. Considering Purcell was built around a Dungeon branch that had mid- to high Bronze tier monsters in it, it was a great place for the training of the lowest-level people to take place.

She didn’t wonder about it any further, instead running through the camp into the city, where the frantic movement was even more concentrated, constrained by the streets there. Astrid didn’t take the time to speak or apologize as she dodged around people, moving so quickly that nobody around could see much of anything more than rushing wind passing them by. When she arrived at the Viscount’s mansion, she pushed her way in, where the Duchess was standing in the center of the front room, issuing commands.

“Astrid, you’re back,” she nodded. “Do you want to accompany the army? Or do you want to keep yourself hidden as a potential trump card?”

“I think this is a good time to reveal ourselves,” Astrid said, sneaking in words where she could as the Duchess continued giving quick commands to people who walked through. Evidently, she had some sort of Skill for this, or her mental attributes were even more prodigious than Astrid suspected.

“Then I would like to thank you for your willingness to help. Greely has remained in Purcell, and he should be able to make sure that the city doesn’t fall immediately. However, he is surrounded on every side, and I would imagine there are no small number of the Marchioness’s hidden cards there as well. If she can strike down one of my seats of power before we can get there, it will completely turn the tide of battle against us before the war begins raging in truth.”

“If he’s having to hold against the enemy and they were prepared for him, that means they have, at least, two Adamantium tiers there to pressure him,” Astrid said, blinking rapidly.

“Four,” the Duchess answered, her voice grim. “Greely isn’t the only person of his tier there, and the Marchioness has sent a large contingent.”

“Then is Greely stretching himself to try to defend the city? Protect the rest of the army while the strongest people try to pierce his defenses?”

“That will probably be their plan,” Ruth shrugged. “We don’t know what’s happening there, and were only able to learn that this attack existed in the first place because Isana happened to have sent out a thread of mana into the Dungeon proper that intercepted the passage of this army. The siege probably shouldn’t have begun yet, but there won’t be much time until it does. They’ll be blitzing as hard and as fast as they can, because if they can take over the city and reverse the wards there to their own purposes, then it will become a secondary stronghold for the enemy, where they can fortify themselves while they bring reinforcements. It would be impossible to stop if we hadn’t lucked across deeply hidden information, and it still might be hopeless.”

“So we need to hurry. Who all can go?”

“We need the fastest people we have to leave as soon as possible,” she answered, staring directly at Astrid. “The rest of the army is moving in the hopes that, if we win, we can take a lot of prisoners. The Golden Fist can’t do anything in this fight. If they do, that’ll be them getting forced into the Dungeon or killed. 

“Instead, we’re sending information to the other Adamantium tiers, but there’s only so much movement we can risk among the Adamantiums. The plan is to pull Isaiah from here and use him to support Greely and Pauline as best as he can. We know that there are more Adamantiums being held back by the Marchioness, and if we overcommit any of our strongest people to any single battlefront, she’ll be open to sweep out to destroy or capture a different holding. Being centrally located is perfect for that…”

“This would be a lot simpler if we just sent the strongest people to fight each other, with the survivors taking everything,” Astrid grunted, though she was already preparing to leave.

“Simpler, yes,” the Duchess shook her head. “It would also leave tens of thousands dead. As much as I hate the rebellious witch, it is a credit to the Marchioness that she doesn’t want to rule over a waste of land. If she’d wanted to, she could have destroyed cities with focused attacks of her strongest people as I was trying to survive. But if she had, what do you think would’ve happened?”

“Anybody on the fence about supporting her would leave?” Astrid guessed. “Then, you would get all your strongest people together to destroy whatever you needed to to make sure she didn’t keep destroying everything?”

“Warfare, I’m told, was simpler centuries ago. Before the appearance of the Great One and the advent of levels and tiers, there was no one soldier whose presence could determine the fate of an entire battlefield. Now, there’s a constant balancing game to take into account, to make sure that no Dungeon branches go unattended for long enough if they start to spawn monsters onto the surface while also not escalating things to the point of no return. If one side starts pushing their strongest people to rampant destruction, there’s nothing left worth keeping at the end, regardless of which side wins. To have an Adamantium or Arcanite tier loose their most powerful Skills near a city would lead to thousands of innocents dead.

“A war is now fought through constant, subtle escalations that eventually lead us to the final, inevitable conclusion. It’s better for both sides to slowly whittle away at the other’s power without deploying their strongest forces until they can be guaranteed not to destroy all life to be found within a dozen-kilometer radius.” 

“Now, if this plan’s successful,” Astrud nodded along, “our enemies would, before long, have narrowed the gap between our own highest-tier combatants in total by four. That’d allow them to better take the lead in the war. It would still be a lot simpler if these things just got sorted out without the slow escalation. Be a lot easier for me, at least.”

“The next time I’m dealing with a revolution against me,” Ruth replied, her tone dry, “I’ll make sure to keep that in mind.”

“It really is the least you could do,” Astrid laughed. “Now, I think I’m going to get my party and go.”

“Go with my blessing, for what it’s worth,” Ruth smiled, though the expression didn’t reach her eyes. “Get everybody all together and outside of the manor in a few minutes. Isaiah is the Adamantium tier we’re able to pull out of here, and it’s best that you all go together.”

Astrid just nodded in response to that, stepping forward and embracing the other woman quickly. Then, she ran out of the building. Felix was already there, his equipment on, with Skandr behind him. The Wizard looked sleep-deprived, large bags under his eyes, but there was also a wide grin on his face.

“It’s been a while since I made a gamble like this,” Skandr said, rolling his shoulders. “It worked, though. Did I beat Benedict? Has he evolved yet?”

“Actually, I don’t know,” Astrid answered. “He was thinking that he probably would finish his last quest on this trip he went on, but I haven’t actually asked him. Now, it’ll probably be better for you to call them here in the usual way. We might have an assignment to get moving on.”

Skandr nodded once, then ripped his right hand through the air in one quick movement, a series of three sigils glowing in the air as he did so before he then pointed up. A singular bolt of lightning arced into the sky, crackling as it spread through the air. Even with it being lightning, Skandr had learned how to keep the sound down, so it merely sounded like a loud applause that burst into being in one quick second before dying off. Of course, it was bright and loud enough to draw quite a bit of attention, but that was also the point.

“Was that how you communicate with your party from far away?”

Astrid turned around, staring at the source of the voice. The man who stood nearby had been walking past at a brisk pace, but there were hundreds of people just like him on the street, so he’d avoided Astrid’s attention. Now, though, she realized that she was looking at Isaiah. From his equipment, Astrid wasn’t sure what kind of Class he might have. He carried a staff, but it was almost more of a two meter long cudgel. Runes patterned up the entire thing, and from the butt all the way to about two handspans from the top, it was a relatively regular staff. At the top, though, was a clubhead three times as thick as the rest of the staff. Obviously, going off of the signs of wear and tear on the top, Isaiah used the staff to smash things. Hard.

So, he engaged in melee combat. The rest of his equipment was similarly strangely multipurpose. His boots and greaves were armored with a conglomeration of metal and wood, and he wore a half-plate suit of armor that was similarly made of wood and metal. However, he also had a hooded cloak with plenty of inscriptions and enchantments on it that seemed to be less protective than magical. He didn’t wear a helmet, but instead, the hood of the cloak had scale armor along the outside with thick woolen padding underneath. Finally, strangest of all, was a wooden mask that covered everything from his hairline down to his lips. It was entirely featureless but for eyeholes, though Astrid could tell by the mana emanating from the man that the mask was his strongest piece of equipment, and it was, if she wasn’t mistaken, constructed of Living Wood.

“Yes,” Astrid said, stepping forward and extending a hand. “Astrid Warrior, and these are two of my party members, Felix Guardian, and Skandr Wizard. Am I right in assuming you are the Isaiah we’ll be accompanying?”

“Yes, Isaiah Ranger. At least, that’s the name I go by, but I would like to request a greater measure of intimate understanding between us, if at all possible. Once the rest of your party arrives, I would like to invite you into the building that has been my home recently, where I will share my Status with the rest of you, and would appreciate you all doing the same in return. A description of your Skills and equipment would be greatly appreciated as well, so that way I can best coordinate with you. Of course, if you do not wish to do so, I will not fault you. Even so, I will give you every bit of information that I can to ensure that we are successful. I’ve been told that, although I outlevel you all by quite a bit, as a party, you will be able to keep up with a single Adamantium tier. It will give me greater confidence if I can see that is true.”

Despite his wildly inhospitable appearance, Isaiah’s voice was earnest. As soon as he was done speaking, he went still, suddenly becoming something that looked much like a statue.

“I think I’d say I’m willing to share my Status with you,” Astrid said, glancing back and forth at her two party members. “I can’t speak for everyone, but, given that we will be going into a situation where we’re expected to be fighting somebody 50 levels higher than ourselves, perhaps that information will save a life.”

“Great,” Isaiah said, nodding once before, then, resuming his strangely wooden stance. It wasn’t more than a few seconds after that when Muti and Benedict both appeared, Muti flowing into existence from Astrid’s shadow while Benedict hopped from rooftop to rooftop before he landed with a somehow musical flutter of his tailcoat.

“What’s up?” Benedict asked. “I’ve heard generally that the army is moving, but don’t have any specifics.”

“We’ll fill you in as we walk,” Astrid said, turning towards Isaiah, and gesturing for him to lead the way. With that same uncanny suddenness, he started moving, turning and leading the way towards what he apparently called Home. As he did so, Astrid gave Muti and Benedict a quick explanation. Of course, the Barbarian literally vibrated with excitement, her eyes wide at the prospect of fighting somebody so much higher level than herself. Benedict nodded along, his joviality draining away to a clenched-jaw emotion that could be fear or denial or something else entirely.

“—so it’s up to you if you want to come,” Astrid finished. “Have you evolved yet, by the way?”

“Yes, during the recovery from the fight up in the north,” Benedict answered. “And of course I’m going to come. I don’t like that this is a war going on, but from what I hear, we are the best that we can spare for this, and if there’s a failure, that might very well signal us losing the war.”

“Then I’m glad to have you all along,” Isaiah said, turning back and smiling at everyone. It was disconcerting, nearly impossible to see what was happening on his face, but his lips tightened while his eyes narrowed under the mask. “Here we are.”

Whatever Astrid was expecting to be the man’s house, it certainly wasn’t this. According to the Duchess, this was the primary resident Adamantium tier. Going off of the numbers she had given before, there was probably another somewhere around here, though. Ruth had explained that, because she had taken control of the vast majority of the land in the country, she had to sacrifice some of her manpower to keep surges and other such threats under control. Many of the highest tier people were constantly moving around, working to keep the country as stable as possible.

Regardless, Astrid expected some good treatment for the strongest people supporting the Duchess, with the exception of the Golden Fist. Isaiah, however, apparently lived in a shed.

He stood outside of a lean-to up against a wall of the manor and happily walked in. As he did so, Astrid shook her head, but followed him in. Inside, camping gear was set up, with a single bed, a shelf of items, and a simple bench.

“I’m sorry, I’m not used to having people around,” Isaiah said.

“It’s no problem, we’re not here for long,” Redd shrugged. “I assume this is a safe place, where we can share some of our private information?”

“Of course,” Isaiah nodded. “Yes, I am happy to share my Status with you.”

Then, for the first time, Astrid saw the complete Status of an Adamantium tier.