Planning the Counterattack

Aayla sat on a plush chair with a fluffy blanket wrapped around her arms. Freshly cleaned, she sighed in contentment. She hadn't taken a decent shower in ages. So much time had passed that Aayla nearly forgot what being clean felt like.

The team was placed in the mayor's house. Though it looked more like a mansion rather than a simple house. The Halcyon Guards patrolled the grounds alongside the mayor's security detail. Unrest has started to bubble up in the city. Safety was taken much more seriously these days.

Servants brought the members to their own suites. With other important guests residing in the mansion, the ladies shared a suite while Chris and Daren moved in with Stallesso Forolan. After bathing, they met downstairs for a warm meal in a private lounge.

The flavors were intoxicating. Savory, sweet, bitter and sour. Food had become bland at some point. Now flavors had returned. Aayla happily ate bite after bite. A maid drew the curtains after serving the meal then left the room.

When the door clicked shut, only the team, Daren's grandfather and the captain of his personal guards remained. The food disappeared in minutes. The former City Lord patiently waited for the young students to calm down before asking any questions.

"What happened after you all left Forest Waypoint? The True Order seemed to know roughly where you were."

"Corrine Bilton was a traitor and stabbed us in the back," Chris said through gritted teeth. "Let me correct that statement. She still is a traitor."

"At first, we ran with the rest of the Nafriton students. Magical beasts kept chasing us, so eventually the main group split into smaller groups. Then the True Order found us while travelling in that smaller group. That's when you appeared, grandfather."

Stallesso thoughtfully rubbed his beard. A flash of anger glimmered in his eyes. Those rotten apples somehow kept finding their way back into the barrel. His hand gently patted Daren on the head.

"That girl is how the True Order managed to track you? Do you know how?"

"No, sir. She got away. With the enemy so close, we had no choice but to flee."

"Captain, did we pick anyone up after the battle in the northeast?"

"We did not, my lord. After you killed that vile kidnapper who put his hands on Daren, we fled from the tide of magical beasts."

"Keep an eye out for her just in case. Report her defection to the higher ups immediately. She is a noble, but the Biltons serve the Landriennes, so no one should be that surprised."

The team sat up in their seats. Jacki cautiously raised her hand.

"My lord, what do you mean by no one should be that surprised? Did the Landriennes really defect to the True Order?"

Grandfather Forolan nodded his head. Chris and Jacki glanced at each other. The defection of a major family would have serious ramifications on the stability of the nation. How could they have missed such large ambitions?

Daren clutched his grandfather's sleeves. That family name gave him the chills every time that he heard it. Vanessa had left a scar on him that would last for a very long time. Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

"Wait, the Biltons and the Landriennes… Corrine's family served the Landrienne City Lord and the main family right? The second family that Vanessa was from treated the vassal families like trash. Could Corrine have taken revenge against the second family by murdering Vanessa and Enid Heriot?"

Silence fell over the room. Daren thought a bit more. Corrine seemed to be an incredibly patient and rational person based on how long she had remained hidden.

"Or perhaps they knew something that they shouldn't have?"

Chris nodded his head. "That sounds more likely. Corrine was rumored to be in a relationship with Marc Lupton, who is Jerome Foryl's student and probably a True Order agent. Perhaps there was some substance to those rumors."

"Then Professor Foryl and Marc Lupton are probably members of the True Order." Jacki pondered. "Since the Foryl family is compromised, is the Sarrasak family compromised as well?"

Aayla racked her brain to remember who the Sarrasak family was. They should be the clan of the City Lord of the nation's capital city and strict conservatives. Professor Foryl should be from a Foryl family branch. If she remembered right, the Foryls and the Forolans didn't really get along that well for some reason.

"No," Stallesso interjected. "The Sarrasak family is too prideful as nobles, and we've confirmed their deaths and imprisonment along with the main Foryl family. Alright, enough with the speculation. What happened after you all fled after I intercepted your pursuers?"

Chris and Jacki took over the narration. They talked about their flight into the foothills, the refugee camp, climbing the Glacier Mountains, their stay at Craigmyle Point and their trip down south in the Sail Crane. What really caught Stallesso's attention was the newly discovered fairy ring.

Even the captain couldn't maintain his composure. "What?! How come it wasn't discovered sooner? If you could arrive so close to the city undetected, then the True Order could as well. Excuse me, my lord, but I must inform our defenses."

Stallesso motioned for the captain to leave. He burst through the door and ran to find the mayor. Daren eagerly described how the team had found the fairy ring, not forgetting to share the credit with Aayla and Deputy Heston.

Aayla would have preferred to remain an anonymous benefactor, though. Stallesso's scrutiny was intense. The fairy ring should have been found after the energy spike, but the university hid the discovery. Somehow a first-year student knew about it. He had many questions.

"And that's how we ended up in Cuoq City. Oh, and I kind of borrowed some materials from the headmaster and Deputy Heston to fix the fairy ring. I might need some help replacing them."

"That's fine. I'm sure proper compensation can be arranged. About the fairy ring. How fixed is it exactly?"

"It's barely functional, and can only take a few more uses before more repairs are needed. When completely fixed, that fairy ring might be able to reach all the way to Halcyon and deep into the Ferreus Empire. The closer ends of the Leistung Empire might be reachable as well."

"How large is it?"

"The outer rings stretch tens of meters in diameter. However, no more than thirty people could travel at one time based on the innermost ring size."

"Then large-scale sneak attacks are not possible. Good. My trip wasn't nearly as eventful as yours, but there are some major changes on the horizon. The military has decided to go on the offensive."

The True Order has amassed a fearsome army of enslaved wizards and magical beasts. It was growing larger by the day as wizards and magical beasts were forcibly recruited. Any remaining resistance could be easily wiped out once the Prophet of Terra finished consolidating his power.

The military decided to strike before the enemy's size grew out of control. A counterattack on a massive scale had been in the planning stages for weeks. The Prophet had never been so visible before, presenting the best chance to destroy the group once and for all.

The counterattack involved a multipronged approach to occupy the hordes of magical beasts while an elite team took out the prophets and broke the hold over Sarrasak. Each main city would either send reinforcements or distract the enemy.

In the northwest, Odala City was currently sieging Dor City. Cuoq City would send aid to quickly take down Dor City. From the northern end of the Havrevel River, North Beti Town would send two units. One would reinforce the attack on Dor City while the other would aid Craigmyle Point's harassment of Forest Waypoint.

Down south, Fort Kast would reinforce Halcyon City. Port Vilskameau and Port Altalon would attack Landrienne City, the bastion of True Order power in the southern provinces. Landrienne City occupied a critical chokepoint for the nation's main supply route. If it wasn't taken back, the nation was crippled.

Though Stallesso would lead the attack on Dor City, he would send an elite team to help stabilize Odala City and another to investigate Halcyon City's situation. This team should arrive before Fort Kast's forces. If Halcyon City had fallen, then the team would need to investigate how it fell and find the city's current weaknesses.

Coincidentally, the True Order had been planning with a similar goal in mind. They would finally take firm control over the nation. With Sarrasak City and Landrienne City under control, they began to focus on Halcyon City. The city was uncontactable and surrounded by a large army.

As the battle dragged on, neither side could afford to lose. International curiosity and pressure were mounting. If the other nations learned of Chinebar's weakness, they would swoop in for the kill. The Ferreus Empire next door had wanted an excuse to invade for ages.

The final battle crept closer and closer every day.