NOVEL NEXT 192 – Proper Impressions
“Not bad, your coordination with each other clearly had each other, even if it’s yet to become second nature to you. I guess it’s passable considering some of you have only trained for months in total,” said Sir DelVillar – once more looking like a frail, gaunt old man without his armor of stone – to the group after their spar was done.
To call it a spar was a bit of an overstatement, as it was more about the entire party getting thrown around or beaten black and blue by the old knight. In terms of power and offense, the old knight might be rather lacking and even some of the party’s members could match or exceed him, but when none of them could break through his defenses, that became an entirely moot point. There was nothing they could do other than to get beaten up.
Compared to when the party sparred against Sir Inolet in the past, it was a completely different experience, a far more helpless one. Sir Inolet possessed skills that allowed him to deliver widespread damage or concentrated powerful blows, but his defenses were limited to the armor he wore and his own reflexes. In comparison, Sir DelVillar was the polar opposite, where he lacked offense but had what was for all intents and purposes a nearly impenetrable defense.
“Leon here’s considered one of the three strongest in the Kingdom, since in a fight with him, everyone else would simply be exhausted without being able to seriously hurt him,” explained Sir Inolet to the group in an appeasing tone. “You’re all still youths, there is no shame in not being able to overcome this old bastard’s defense when even us old ones could only barely do it, and even then that’s only when we were at our best.”
“One of the three?” Alissa asked. She had not learned all that much about the strongest people in the kingdom other than about the ones she had already met directly. The locals like Nadine and the rest also knew them mostly by reputation, and little else, which was one reason they were rather caught off guard by Sir DelVillar’s abilities.
“Old Leon here, the scumbag that calls himself the King’s Sword, and the previous High Priestess of the temple. They’re the strongest three people in the Kingdom,” replied Sir Inolet with a nod. “There’s no consensus about which of them are the strongest because the three of them were at an impasse. They could not do anything to each other even if they fought. Their skillsets just happened to nullify each other’s advantages and reduce them to a state where neither side could do a thing to the other.”
“Pretty much what he said. I could never catch Ferrel since he’s too slippery, and no matter how much I beat up that old hag, she would just heal it off like it was nothing. On the other hand, neither of them could get through my defenses either, so we were always at an impasse,” said Sir DelVillar in confirmation of Sir Inolet’s words. “As such people just called us the three strongest these last few decades. We could beat everyone else in the Kingdom but each other.”
“And by coincidence your positions also formed mutual restraint between the bickering sides, with Ferrel firmly on the Royal Family’s side and Karen being the fanatical old bitch that she is,” said Magus Drummond with a shake of his head. “Things would’ve probably been different had Svetlana or Tomas survived the war back then, but alas…”
“They’re old friends of ours from the previous war,” explained Sir Inolet with a wistful tone when he saw the questioning look on Alissa’s face. “They passed away in the final stages of the war under circumstances that were rather… suspect. They were also just as talented as we were, so had they lived they would likely be as strong as us or even stronger. We never found any proof, but always had some suspicion that they were… removed because their existence was discomforting to certain people.”
“Messy politics like those were responsible for why we failed so badly in the previous war, I feel. How can we fight properly if those behind us couldn’t even agree on whether they should send us reinforcements or not a week after we requested it?” said Sir DelVillar rather heatedly. The old knight seemed to be talking from experience. “It was incidents like those that disappointed so many of us who were fighting at the front to the point that we refuse to be associated with the Royal Family or the Temple in any direct way, as most of you should be aware of by now.”
Everyone in the party nodded at the statement. While only a few were aware of the deeper details, all of them were aware of how the Kingdom’s political scenery was roughly divided between the Royal Family and the Temple, with the veteran knights and other powerful warriors forming an unattached third side to the equation.
Typically the knights kept themselves neutral, their stance more that they refused to be involved in the political clashes between the Royals and the Temple, their unity and strength being their asset to stay uninvolved. However, they also placed the defense of the Kingdom as their top priority, and would not compromise on it just because one of the other sides wanted to muddle things up for political purposes.
The war with the demons made the position of the knights both stronger yet also allowed the other two sides to interfere more, so it was arguably the most volatile time of all. Alissa knew that even the party was divided in the same way, with some of them having clear loyalties to one side or another, and only a few remaining neutral while trying to do their best to salvage the war situation.
“But I digress, enough with the politics. That shit would only give any honest person a headache,” said Sir DelVillar with a shrug. “As August or Henri might have told you, you were all sent here in order to join in on our planned offensive against Arh-Getlam, which is currently used by the demons as their main base in this region. The place is too far from here to reach quickly so any large-scale movement we make will likely be detected prematurely, therefore the plan is to attack using a smaller group of elites and dismantle their defenses before the main army follows. Now that I have seen your mettle, I would like to include your party in the assault if you are willing.”
“How many people would the… smaller group be?” asked Joshua with some evident worry. He clearly still remembered the battle back at Fort Silvia and knew all too well how even their greater individual power would eventually fall before too many weaker enemies. He had seen it with his own eyes on several occasions, after all.
“Around two hundred of us. One of the fourth tier subordinates I have could hide that many people from the senses of others as long as we do not move too fast, so we cannot use more than that number. I do admit that it is a tall order to conquer a base with just that number, but if we use our personnel in a clever way, we should be able to do it,” stated Sir Delvillar. “Of course, I myself, Henri, and Murdock will come along. We and several others will play the distraction that should lure most of the enemies our way and allow the rest of you to attack from an advantageous position.”
“That would be risky for your group, then, since you are playing the bait,” said Ethan as he stated the obvious.
“Obviously, Mister Greene. That is why it will be a voluntary thing where only those of us who were most confident in their skills would do it. While we attract the attention of the demons in the base, the rest of you are to spread out and pull off decapitation strikes on the enemy force. Some should help us too, of course, but you should do so in ways where you maximize the advantage you could get from the distraction.”
“Around how many demons are situated in Arh-Getlam if we have that information?” asked Alissa.
“Approximately twenty thousand presently, Miss O’Connor. Double that if you count the non-combatants as well. Arh-Getlam was a city so it is built as a place to live and a fortification second. They have plenty of people to take care of the soldiers stationed there like we do,” explained Sir DelVillar. “Of course, of those twenty thousand there’s probably only twenty or so fourth tiers, which is the reason I dared to propose this bold plan.”
“How many of our own are we bringing there, then?” queried Alissa some more. “Also, would there be reinforcements?”
“There will be forty fourth tiers or equivalent, counting each of you as equivalent to one. I already confirmed that each of you can indeed match a fourth tier without much trouble,” said Sir DelVillar lightly. “The rest will be the best combatants out of our third tiers who were close to their maximum level. Luck willing, they might get the last bits of experience they needed and add another fourth tier to our number.”
“As for reinforcements, our main army will be stationed a couple hours away from Arh-Getlam. We will make our presence known first, but then simply camp there for a few days until their vigilance starts to drop,” added the old knight. “Once that happens, we will initiate the assault, open the gates, and allow our army to enter the base without having to deal with the walls and other defenses.”
“So we will have to fight for at least a couple hours or more on our own then,” noted Alissa as she thought about the situation. Given their individual power, it should not be too difficult for them to stay alive for that period of time even within the enemy base, unless the strength of their enemies were far greater than what the report indicated.
“Exactly. We feel that it should be feasible for the elite strike force to persevere for that long even inside the enemy base. As for signaling those outside of the assault, that is also taken care of, so there’s no worry in that department,” replied Sir DelVillar. “That said, of course I cannot directly command you given your status. I can only ask for your cooperation instead, as you are the [Heroes]’ party. Would you like to join us in this attempt to reclaim our home?”
The party looked at one another, many unspoken words communicated through sights and gestures, while others murmured in low voices. It had not taken them long, maybe just a couple minutes at most, before Nadine and Bronwen gave nods to Alissa, as representatives of the Royal Guards and Temple Guards in the party. Alissa had also already discussed it with Ethan and Joshua and returned their nod with her own.
“We will help, Sir DelVillar,” said Alissa to the old knight, which caused a smile to form on his wizened features.
“It is a weight off my shoulders that we will have your aid,” said the old knight honestly. “The assault itself is still in preparation, and we will not depart until another couple of weeks at the earliest. In the meantime I would like to invite all of you to enjoy what hospitality our fort could offer. Please be warned that we do not have too much in terms of luxuries here, however, so I hope you can find satisfaction in what amenities we do have.”
“Deena will be your guide around the town should you have a need for one. I have arranged for her to stay at your dormitory as well for the time being, so you can find her there at your leisure,” he added. “Until then, I wish you and yours a pleasant stay, [Heroes], and thank you again for your willingness to help us.”
