480. Regroup

We arrived at Lunaris soon enough. It was the northernmost city of the Inoria Empire. Peris Dolonia, the Crown Prince of Dolonia, had captured this place five days before we arrived. It had been the location of one of the sub-rituals, so the earth was made of a white rock, and the sky had the vestiges of a crimson paint mixed with the blue.

I could scarcely see the sun overhead amidst the oppressive red. It peeked through, crawling over the sky like a bead of sweat slowly making its way down my back. Without the ritual here, the sky would eventually return to normal. It just hadn’t reverted back yet.

We saw an encampment right outside of the city. The tents flew the banners of various countries. City states, to be specific. A coalition that had already existed before the United Coalition of the Human Lands had been formed. The armies of the Helbir League.

Their soldiers looked ragged and worn down. As if they had just been through a hard-fought battle. It looked as though they had been pitched here for at least a week. And their numbers weren’t exactly as large as I had thought they’d be.

I expected an army well into a hundred thousand. Maybe even two hundred or three hundred thousand soldiers. But there had to be just under a hundred thousand here. They must’ve suffered quite a few losses to capture Lunaris.

But pitched right next to the first encampment was a smaller encampment. And it made the losses Peris Dolonia and his forces suffered look pathetic in comparison.

There was only a single banner being hung from the tents there. The banner of Mavos Academy. I recognized it immediately, but I saw the people gathered around in the encampment. And I realized— those weren’t students.

They were adventurers.

These were Laux Lionfist’s forces, and they had been reduced to a tenth of what they had originally been.

“Huh. What happened here?”

I wondered aloud. Edithe walked up next to me, shaking her head.

“Apparently Laux Lionfist and his forces suffered a major defeat at Wilford. That’s why we’re here. To regroup and take Wilford with our combined forces.”

“I see.”

I narrowed my eyes. I looked around at our army. I watched them begin to set up camp around us. A voice cut through the ruckus, calling out for both Edithe and I.

“Edithe, Salvos!”

Daniel walked up to us, accompanied by his trio of [Crusaders]. They were like his bodyguards, accompanying him wherever he went. Or… his prison guards. Whichever was more apt.

“We’re heading out to meet Peris and Laux Lionfist. You coming?”

“Let me just find Hadrian and I’ll be with you guys!”

Edithe nodded, walking off to find her company leader. I hesitated. I glanced at the redhead, then towards Daniel. The young man gave me a confused look. Finally, I spoke.

“I can’t go.”

I shook my head.

“I have to look after…”

I gestured towards the baby Wyverns. They were playing right behind me, wrestling with each other. Little bundles of energy. I was concerned about them. But also— I could feel the heavy gaze of Willy bearing down on my back, and I didn’t want to set him off at me again.

So I bowed apologetically.

“Sorry!”

Daniel rolled his eyes.

“You only use them as an excuse when it’s convenient for you.”

“I am not!”

I protested. But he just shook his head.

“It’s fine. Headmaster Skyshredder of Mavos Academy is here too, and after that stunt you pulled, he might not be happy to see you anyway.”

“Whaaat? Nooo. Clayton loves me!”

I fluttered my eyes innocently at Daniel. He started away as Edithe came back with Hadrian.

“I’ll just brief you on the details later. Make sure she doesn’t get into too much trouble, Willy.”

And they left. I watched them go. Sighing, I slumped over on the ground, lying down. I looked up towards the fading red sky, and I wondered what to do.

It was difficult. I had far too many responsibilities now. It was not easy trying to find the right balance between everything I had to do. If only I had more of me…

“Wait, actually—”

I sat up, narrowing my eyes. I glanced over at Novis, Bellum, and Oriur. Novis and Bellum paused what they were doing, noticing that I was staring. Oriur was a moment slower, tripping and falling before looking up at me. They watched me curiously, and I rubbed my chin.

“What about this?”

I snapped my fingers. There was a flicker of golden flame. A figure emerged next to me, created from the fire. She looked exactly like me. Except… golden.

It was [Salvo of Vanity]. My clone smiled as she stepped forward. She bent down, holding her arms wide to hug the trio of baby Wyverns.

“There you go— she’ll take care of you! She’s me, so it’s fine, right?”

I clapped my hands together happily. Willy just sighed next to me. I glanced at him.

“What? This is a genius idea!”

“No it isn’t.”

The [Will O’ Wisp] retorted. I scowled, turning to face the baby Wyverns. I watched as they stared up at my clone. For a moment, they didn’t react. My clone just held her arms open, smiling.

Then Novis and Bellum cried out, running past the clone.

“Mama!”

They made a mad dash towards me and threw themselves at my feet. I paused. I looked back at Oriur as he just gave my clone a confused look. Then he followed after Novis and Bellum and hugged my leg as well. My clone’s shoulders sagged.

“Told you.”

Willy snorted. I glanced back at him, before rolling my eyes.

“They know it’s my clone. They just want to be with me since I’m here right now.”

I looked down at Novis, Bellum, and Oriur as they stared at me with round eyes. A smile slipped onto my face.

“You guys are so cute.”

I spoke as I patted them all at the same time, using [Faux Limbs]. I turned to my pouting clone and waved a hand off.

“Since you’re here anyway, you can go help Daniel or whatever with what they’re doing. Here, let me write you a note…”

My clone pouted even harder as I passed her a note. She then dragged her feet behind her as she slowly made her way to the encampment ahead.

“A Primeval Demon, huh?”

Amanda listened, keeping her head low as the room murmured in worry. A Primeval Demon had defended Wilford and defeated Laux Lionfist’s force in battle. It was the same Primeval Demon that had killed Lofus— that had bested Orgaf in battle.

The former assassin scanned the room. There were a plethora of important people gathered. Orgaf himself was present with his lips pursed, and Helena Warshade had her teeth gritted. The conversation continued, with Clayton Skyshredder himself taking the lead role.

“So we are aware that the Demon invasion is not lacking in Primeval Demons. There could be more showing up in the future as well. And each one is powerful— far stronger than we anticipated.”

“That’s not just it, either.”

Helena spoke up. She glanced over at Daniel Song who nodded. The [Hero] stepped forward, and Amanda lowered her head even more.

“We encountered a Primeval Demon in Ertos, too. A wild Primeval Demon.”

“What’s a wild Primeval Demon?”

Peris Dolonia asked, frowning. Daniel shook his head.

“I’ll explain it later. But there is a distinction between Primeval Demons like Ira, Belzu, or Levithus and the [Archarachne] or the [Hellabomination] we’ve encountered so far.”

“I wouldn’t exactly use those examples, but Daniel Song is right.”

Mori Gladius nodded in agreement. Peris glanced over at the Champion of the Human Lands, eyes narrowed. Daniel spoke, drawing all eyes in the room.

“Point is it is highly likely that the Demon King is getting desperate if he is sending all these Primeval Demons over. We have already sabotaged seven of the sub-rituals. All that’s needed now is to put a halt to the rest of them. Then there is nothing they can do to follow-through with their grand ritual.”

Amanda watched as he gestured at the map laid out on the desk. He pointed at the remaining five sub-rituals, moving the various pieces meant to represent the Human armies all throughout the Inoria Empire.

“We just have to tread more carefully now. Assess each sub-ritual site so we do not rush in recklessly unprepared. If necessary, we regroup and retake these sites later. We do not want to suffer a major loss again like today.”

When did you become such a [Hero]? The former assassin wanted to scoff. But it looked like Daniel was in his element here. It annoyed Amanda somewhat. She was used to seeing Daniel be… well, for a lack of a better term, she was used to seeing him be incompetent.

There were murmurs of agreement throughout the room. Scarlet Vermillion nodded as she tapped a finger on her chin.

“That is true. The Demon King can’t have that many Primeval Demons lying in wait, right? We can work on this tactically and win.”

Amanda herself thought that was a good idea. It made sense to her. But someone disagreed.

“Or perhaps not.”

Clayton Skyshredder spoke simply, his arms crossed. Helena turned to him, deferring.

“Why not, Headmaster?”

He ran a hand through his flowing beard.

“During the Demon King’s last invasion of the Mortal Realm ten thousand years ago, it was said that the Immortal King Alexander slayed 50 Primeval Demons in battle. And not just that, but there were over a hundred other Primeval Demons seen throughout the ten years of war.”

Daniel blinked. He opened his mouth, gaping.

“Seriously?”

“We don’t even have a hundred Elites…”

Scarlet paled. Amanda herself felt her heart sink. But Orgaf stepped up, shaking his head.

“Our problem isn’t that we cannot take down a Primeval Demon. It’s that we do not know how to pick our battles. These Primeval Demons are smart and cunning. They must’ve been sent here into the Mortal Realm for a reason. They know when to fight and when to retreat. Meanwhile, we are mindlessly barreling ahead to stop this grand ritual. It is only expected that we face these defeats.”

Mori glanced over at the Thief of the Golden Scales.

“What are you suggesting, Orgaf?”

The Elite [Rogue] simply scoffed.

“It is wasteful for us to send an army down to Wilford to deal with Ira. That will only result in significant losses which I am sure we would rather not lose. I’d say we send a team of Elite Ranked adventurers to hunt down and deal with Ira.”

Amanda thought that made sense. But Daniel folded his arms across his chest.

“Isn’t that what happened the last time around? When Lofus perished at Ira’s hands?”

“We were wholly unprepared for a Primeval Demon back then. Now we know better.”

Orgaf shrugged simply. Daniel looked like he wanted to argue, but Clayton Skyshredder spoke out, interrupting the [Hero].

“It is a risk. But for now, I believe it would be prudent for all of us to capture Wilford together. It is unlikely that Ira himself would remain guarding the city when he knows we will return with a force greater than ever.”

“That is true…”

Helena Warshade nodded. She glanced back towards the exit of the tent.

“Then it is best for us to make haste and prepare to leave now.”

“Agreed.”

Daniel spoke up as the rest of the room voiced their agreements. It was odd to Amanda, seeing the young man like this. He was really different from the man she knew. She closed her eyes and felt her racing heart as the room began to clear out.

Maybe Saffron was right. Maybe Amanda was really—

“What’s this?”

Amanda blinked, hearing the shuffling pause. She looked up as a golden figure stood at the exit of the tent. Edithe took a step forward, frowning at the Salvos clone.

“Salvos? What’s going on?”

The Salvos clone handed Edithe a note. The redhead blinked as she read it. Daniel peered over her shoulder.

“What’s it about?”

Edithe showed it to him as she sighed.

“I can’t read this at all…”

“Oh.”