"That's why we will wait for them to strike what they believe to be an empty castle."

"Isn't this simply wasting the time that we moved in so much hurry to secure? It couldn't be that this second stage isn't so hard to clear, wouldn't it be okay if we added a certain number of elites to clear them?"

As another faction head unknowingly questioned, I kept a calm face on as I shook my head deep inside. Though we did mention the stages before, we didn't mention the exact details so that we could get done with the first phase as soon as possible, so it was quite expected for them to react this way.

"The point is, the second stage which is in some cases the first stage is some sort of test conducted on the mental level, its process is quite similar to how the 'Tower of Trial' of the Elemental Blade Sect, but the main point is that one can only enter alone."

It was true that last time, the trio consisting of Sean, his sister and mountain had managed to enter the trial at the same time, but after considering the conditions at which they entered and what happened after, I came to an assumption that was likely to be very close to reality.

'It's not the norm to enter as a group."

It would have been another thing if I wasn't separated from them, but with that in mind, it was pretty obvious to me that their 'cheating' and taking the trial as a group could only be attributed to the influence of the 'Ancient Marks'.

Thanks to the mental signals of the gluttonous bugs that were in control of their mind being almost identical, the trial identified them as one person and thus they managed to enter as a group, otherwise, it was technically impossible.

Following this sort of mindset, if the number of sect members was just distributed around with the goal of having a force enough to crush the demons within their bases using numbers, the individualistic nature of the trial would render the numbers into nothing as the trials weren't stuff that could be solved easily. Not only did it have certain requirements, but without the correct skillset getting stuck for over a month was definitely possible, which was even less than the time we had till the 'Wave' commenced.

Not to mention that the fate of those who would be able to pass these trials would be even worse, being thrown into a base full of demons alone or only with a few comrades was like sending the talented for slaughter.

Although the other factions didn't all necessarily have a 'Tower of Trial' or something similar to it, they at least had a basic idea of the concept, it wasn't hard to reaffirm that seeing that most of the faces had stiffened after hearing the name. They understood that flaunting numbers wouldn't be possible.

"Then what if we make a few elite teams that are sure to pass these 'Tests' and massacre the demons in the base before repeating the process?"

"That's sadly another option that is too late to implement. According to what we found, they had already managed to link communication within all bases, once one base is attacked, we risk the chance of demons gushing out of gates like a stream…"

If the situation hadn't reached its current stage and the communication was as limited as it was back in the first base, then such a tactic would have worked, but that wasn't the case.

"So we can only station forces at the entrance of the gates and wait till they come out?"

"That also can't be done, while we did take care of the big shots hiding within the top factions, there are still eyes hidden within the low ranked sects."

Once again, Crane's memories and experiences didn't hold everything in it, he did have the details pertaining to his fellow seeds on the top of the list, but when it came to those at the tail of the list, he barely knew they existed and paid them no heed.

Even the system notif mentioned that what was done was a 'Preliminary Cleansing' and not a total one, hidden acts like getting rid of their superiors might have escaped the eyes of those small fries, big actions like stationing forces in big numbers was bound to catch their attention and get reported to the demons' command center.

"So… You are saying that we can do absolutely nothing? If that is the case, then why the hell did this meeting come to be?! If they know they know, we at least get to be ready for their early strike!"

The Supreme Sword's face was already full of frowns by now, he was obviously waiting to head down there and thrash some demons to calm his anger, but I just shot down all suggestions that would allow that.

"I'm not saying that we should do nothing at all, it's already established that the invasion wave is likely to take place much sooner than decided since the demons' commanders aren't completely stupid, they will surely realize something is wrong and go with what they have at the moment."

Losing contact with the seeds was something that happened naturally to the special circumstances that they had to operate within while holding their normal positions, but such occurrences usually never lasted that long or in that number, the higher-ups such as Crane's 'Lord' and the 'Commander' would probably deduce a few things and hasten the eruption.

"Alright then, what do you have in mind? You have only been turning down suggestions and speaking in riddles, everything you said does indeed make sense but you never got into the details of your plan… I trust you have something worthwhile since even the Elemental Blade himself didn't say anything as of yet?"

As the crazy cult master finally opened her mouth which usually wouldn't have closed till this moment, I nodded my head in response…

"Of course, this part was very necessary so that everyone would understand the main reasons behind my plan, in fact the very first step of the second phase relies heavily on help from the Cult of Elements…"