Chapter 31: Strategizing

The entire Rose Cruce Order got worked-up once they heard Tamie’s tale. Edmund gathered a council immediately, consisting of himself, Tamie, Lord Nick, Tamie’s ‘sisters’, Goatee Bill, Shiba and Diana, and Olivia’s sister – Nora Tinder.

“The situation that befell us is no joke,” Edmund adjusted his glasses and began after everyone got acquainted with the details. “They want to steal Tamie’s body, and, according to the information I’ve gathered from you guys, Jan von Drachen, who disguised himself as Johan Schneider, has already been here and even attempted to raise Tamie on a high enough level for him to seize her. Fortunately, the Byakuya guy alerted Tamie in time, and now, as I see, Johan Schneider, who is, in fact, Jan von Drachen, has vanished. At least that is a good thing – for now, we are safe. The enemies will have to review their plan”.

“But, doesn’t that mean we must strike them before they come up with a new plan?” Nora frowned.

“Precisely, but for that, we need to make a plan too. It is a good thing that after fighting Lord Marvin I’ve finally raised a rank and now I am a Sage, so we’ve got two Sages in our group,” Edmund smiled at Nick, who was worried inside, but showed calmness outside as the situation demanded it. “I think we’ll make it”.

“First, we need to learn as much as we can about the enemies’ powers. Here we have some experienced Fire signs who can tell us about Erik von Drachen’s abilities,” Nick glanced at Cherrie, Nora, and Riza.

“Well, since Erik von Drachen is a Leo, as you’ve said, and a Battler Class final rank – the Emperor, I can tell much about his powers,” Cherrie said. “I am only the Queen rank for now, but I know a lot about my zodiac sign and my Class. First of all, the information Tamie’s given is true – the Leo of the Battler Class indeed have strong illusionary powers, so I attest that Erik could create his illusionary replicas. Second is that the Leo of the Battler Class, especially if their spirits amplify the powers (such as my Tiger and Erik’s Dragon), can use large amounts of fire – create fire typhoons, tornadoes, lava tsunamis, and so on. The strongest power would be the Blast of the Sun, which Erik might have since he claims to be the Sun Lord, which, apparently, he is not. But I doubt he’d be simply boasting – he might actually have a basis to claim such a thing. So, the best way to beat a high-rank Leo of the Battler Class with a powerful offensive spirit would be to use the Water element against them, and preferably, of the Defender Class of the same rank”.

Everyone looked at Rianna and Nick.

“What?” Rianna grew frightened, “I’m only the Medic rank of the Defender Class! I’m nowhere near the eighth rank!”

“I might be able to stop him,” Nick frowned. “But that illusionary system bugs me. If I beat his illusion, will he be defeated or will he be able to reappear?”

“You must not beat him. If you do, he will simply recreate a replica, as you said. You must make him run out of energy. Then he will completely disappear, unable to create any more replicas,” Cherrie explained.

“Hmm, that might be a problem… Erik might have a larger reserve as a Dragon spirit than I do as an Ox spirit. Plus, I am only capable of mimicking the Defender Art because I am a Keeper”.

“We also have a bigger problem,” Edmund cut in, “Jan. He, as far as I’ve understood, has the ability to enter bodies. But if he does it once, he won’t be able to do it anymore, for his Ghost Clone will run out of energy and disappear forever. That is how Ghost Clones work. So, he has only one chance at unlocking Erik’s seal. We must make sure not to give him that chance”.

“Or rather,” Nick grinned, “give him a chance he will regret he obtained”.

“Huh?”

“As far as I’ve understood, Jan, as the Bearer of the Soul, needs either a potential Bearer or a true but weakened Bearer to take the body of, in order for his Bearer Craft to work and unlock the seal. If it weren’t the case, they wouldn’t be searching for a strong Libra. They chose my sister since we both are talented, so they counted her as a potential Bearer, which might actually be true,” Nick smiled at Tamie. “I say – we give them a body that they consider to be the right one, but in fact, it doesn’t work. Make them enter a body that is unable to fulfill their plans”.

The friends widened eyes – that was actually a pretty good idea! But Edmund frowned:

“That is not possible, Nick”.

“Why?”

“Because… if Jan enters a body, uses the Blast of Judgment, and leaves, the body won’t survive”.

“No way! How cruel…” the girls were astounded.

“Ugh, those jerks!” Nick almost sprang in rage, “I won’t forgive them!”

Goatee Bill’s special Star-gadget, which he had made on his own, beeped.

“Huh? What’s wrong, Goatee?” Edmund asked.

“Magister, we’ve got amazing news”.

“What news?”

“Erik has a weakness,” Bill smiled, “A dire weakness – if we kill his Illusionary Clone, there will no longer be the need for a seal. He will be no more. Someone is already aiming to destroy his real body, and he’s working with us”.

“Huh?!” the friends were astounded.

“For real, Goatee?” Edmund even adjusted his glasses, not believing his ears.

“Yes. It is a trustful source. However, there’s one problem…”

“What problem?”

“There are actually four Illusionary Clones, and they need to be killed simultaneously”.

“But we don’t have so much power yet!” Nick said, “Erik can take out whole armies. Only people of the final rank can deal with him!”

“The same source also states that Jan has given up on Tamie since we already know of the circumstances, and is heading for Georg Braun now. They believe that since he’s old, he won’t be able to resist Jan’s power”.

Tiger gasped:

“Oh, no, grandpa!”