They didn’t speak for several moments. Malissa broke the silence with a heavy sigh.

“Belmont, what are the chances we actually make it through this?”

Belmont didn’t respond immediately. He drummed his gauntleted fingers on his thigh, sending up a series of clinks. “It depends. If the B ranked team make it early enough, they might be able to divert a large portion of the attack. All we can do is delay it. If we delay long enough, we’re likely to survive. If we don’t…”

He didn’t need to finish the sentence. They only had a few minutes to think over his solemn words. Valea returned shortly after, several papers clutched in her bony hands.

She handed them to Arek, who spread them out on the ground before them. He had to unfold the first paper, which turned out to be a large map of the city. It wasn’t the most detailed, but it gave information about all the roads and the general shape of the city’s layout.

The city seemed to twist as it grew closer to the center, with the buildings nearest to the wall the most spaced out while those at the center were densely packed together. Belmont leaned over the map, examining it closely while the others inspected the other papers that Valea had given them.

There were four of them – each with a picture of an adventurer’s face on them. There were two women and two men. The two women looked strikingly similar, with the only difference being their hairstyles. Arek recognized all of them aside from one of the men. They were the same people that had competed with him and Vell all those years ago.

“This is their leader, Ox,” Valea said, kneeling and pointing to the first man. His face looked stocky, with a coarse beard and a square face. “He’s an earth mage. The two women are twins – they go by Ash and Ice. Ash uses fire magic, and Ice uses water magic.”

“Creative,” Malissa muttered.

“Who’s this guy?” Arek asked, pointing to the last remaining adventurer. He was pale and thin, with a large wizard’s hat that covered the upper half of his face. Arek was pretty sure that defeated the purpose of a portrait, but high ranked adventuring teams tended to get what they wanted.

Ming picked his picture up and squinted at the man, the corners of her mouth curling down in a frown.

“It’s Null,” Valea said. “He’s a new member on the team, but it’s very possible that he’ll get promoted to A rank. He’s a very powerful mage.”

“Do you know his real name?” Ming asked, an uncharacteristically grim expression on her face.

“I’m afraid not,” Valea said. “Why? Does it matter?”

“No,” Ming replied, pressing her lips together and putting the paper back down. “I guess not. If they’re this strong, they can probably defend the city once they get here, right?”

“Most likely,” Belmont said, tearing his eyes away from the map. “I recognize several of these adventurers. I didn’t know they were on the same group, but Ox and the twins are strong. They should be able to route a D or C ranked monster horde – we just have to keep the city in one piece until they get here.”

“Then we don’t have any time to waste,” Malissa said. She gathered everything other than the map and offered it back to Valea. The councilmember shook her head.

“Keep them. We’ve got more than enough.”

“I’ll take them,” Ming said, plucking the papers from Malissa’s grasp and tucking them into her extradimensional bag.

The Happy Sunflowers rose to their feet. Belmont held the map out in front of him and pointed at a spot near the edge of the wall.

“We need to make sure they attack a certain spot. If the walls all go down at once, there won’t be a way for us to stop the horde,” Belmont said. “If we intentionally weaken part of the wall, it’ll break first. The monsters will funnel through it and we’ll be able to corral them better that way.”

“You want to break our walls?” Valea asked in disbelief.

“They won’t last long anyways, will they?” Belmont replied. “If they aren’t enchanted, the wyrms will destroy them in hours. If we can force everything through a choke point, we can take away their momentum and bait them into thin alleys where they can’t move as well.”

Valea pressed her lips together. “I need to consult with the other council members. Start setting up those traps you talked about in the area that you want to destroy the wall. If Rovin or Lucille accept your proposal, we’ll send guards to help you.”

“Think quickly,” Belmont said. “Time is not on our side. Do you have any enchanters in Red Mount? If so, we’ll need their help to make more traps.”

“I’ll send for them,” Valea said. “They’ll meet you at the wall.”

She turned and walked off towards Rovin and Lucille. The Happy Sunflowers exchanged a glance, then headed out of the council building and made their way towards the wall.

It took them a few minutes to reach it. Several guards stood atop the wall, pacing back and forth nervously. A man armored in the traditional Red Mount style with a short plume on his shoulder spotted them. He approached them, his eyes cold.

“You the adventuring group working with the council?” He asked. “The ones that want to blow up the wall?”

“Yes,” Belmont said. “Did we get permission to do it already?”

“No,” the guard said, pressing his lips thin. “They’re still debating it. I think it’s a lunatic’s idea, but the decision is theirs. However, I’ve been instructed to help you with preparing defenses within the city walls. What do you need?”

“Well,” Belmont said, cracking his neck and looking the guard in the eyes. “That depends. What do you have?”