"Could you explain the final version of the plan, Master Leonardo?"
While the noon sun wandered over the Balsici Castle, the meeting hall illuminated by the feeble light of candles was experiencing a heated day. Even though a group of people barging in shouting and yelling could find some peace while sitting around the round table and eating their meals, the moment the plates were emptied, the sounds of talking began to be heard again.
"Bookworm, we will proceed the way we went over last time. While drawing the enemy's attention onto our advancing army, we will slip from the back and raid the research facility whose location we have determined.
Dimitri will be at the head of the army, but the responsibility of the general order belongs to Hammerstriker. Don't lower your eyebrows and look angrily like that my friend, there is no one more experienced than you for this job. When you wear your armor, no one will be able to tell you are an orc, and since you will advance together with the foot soldiers anyway, the possibility of you standing out is almost zero!"
Hammerstriker, upset by the news he received, was completely devastated when he also learned he would hide among the foot soldiers. Even though Master Leonardo was speaking, he knew perfectly well that Bookworm was the one who made the plan, and whatever he said wouldn't change anything, it would only make him angrier.
"Everything is for the secrecy of the operation my friend, I will also take my place next to Dimitri and his assistant along with my apprentice so that our enemies can think this move is made entirely for revenge. We will appear as if Dimitri is going to demand an account from the Golden Leaf Guild, and I from those who rule my homeland from which I was exiled.
Our speed will be lower than normal; since we are taking enough provisions with us by means of transport-purpose mechanical devices, our movement will not cause any trouble to the army. By Michelangelo's prototypes scanning the road for us, we also reduce the possibility of falling into an ambush to zero, and our only expectation is for the other group's operation to finish successfully!"
Leonardo, explaining the situation on his own front, settled into his chair he had been squirming to sit in for a while and swallowed the last fruit left on his plate in a single move. Obviously, the Great Architect was completing his speech here; the job of explaining the rest of the plan was left to its true owner.
Bookworm adjusted his hood he almost never took off. While his long purple caftan swept the floor, the poison energy trying to leak from his body could be restrained thanks to it. After pouring a glass of water from the crystal goblet right beside him, making sure he gathered everyone's attention on himself, he started speaking.
"The Nameless Ten, Chief Alyon, and I will go to the place my master said, to the center of evil where our compatriots are tortured. Even though we determined its location, we stayed away just in case and could only draw a rough outline of its inside.
If our enemy was another civilization it could have been much easier, but we are no longer fighting the Mercenaries, but the Empire of Machines. We will enter with a small strike team, plan to save our compatriots we can save, punish those responsible, and return to your side."
The details would be discussed among the teams divided into two, but there was an important point not spoken of, and Hammerstriker's impetuousness ensured it too was brought to the table.
"What are we waiting for? Let's set out tomorrow at sunrise, why does it have to be a week later?"
"Without a movement in the other two regions, it's impossible for us to advance alone. When you look at it, we are only ten thousand people, if the attention of the Four Major Merchant Guilds is not turned elsewhere, they can all come upon us together and finish us off.
Therefore, we will wait one more week, I am sure during this time my older sister or my master will make the move I expect of them!"
Bookworm, despite the principle of not being aware of each other, had sent spies to all four corners of the continent to learn what the others, that is the enemies, were doing. Thanks to Gulag's elixir, orc spies who could take the disguise of any kind of human were delivering him news from the Mercenaries' Lodge.
All that was needed was patience, and the wisest of the orcs had plenty of it. Even if they set out a week later, he would advance the army so slowly that they wouldn't be able to cover a barleycorn's length of distance until the others' movements started.
Actually, his plan couldn't be considered flawed; Nafız, leaving Alator behind, had already crossed south of the border, into the lands of the Hell Realm, along with her nine druid warriors. They were a few vagrant orc warriors hired by Jashua, and now, after clearing the entire border region, it was perfectly natural for them to be supported by his forces again.
"Welcome, Ma'am!"
The size of the army gathered by the Hell Realm was reaching twenty thousand, and they had set up their camp at ground zero of the border. Tents clad in red, the color of the Holy Blood Sect, were everywhere, but Nafız knew very well where to go.
After greeting the leader of the team standing guard with a nod, she quickened her steps; the druids coming from behind couldn't keep up with her anymore, and within ten breaths, the Blood God had reached where she wanted to be. Coming in front of the faded tent in the far corner of the camp, she smiled; slowly opening its almost completely shattered door, she entered inside.
"Who would say the Hell Realm King Jashua is staying in such a ruined place."
Even if the outside showed it was the most ruined place of the army, the inside perhaps housed people more powerful than the whole army. With Nafız joining them, their power levels shifted abnormally, and it was impossible for an enemy entering by mistake to get out.
"Where are the beautiful people next to you? Don't tell me they all died in that place!"
Even though Nafız called out to Jashua, whose attitude she admired once while inside a small cave, the response came from the man with skin white as powdered sugar. This young man, who left his beautiful black hair to its own devices, was undoubtedly none other than the Holy Bone Sect Leader, Hueso.
"The Head of the Hell Realm Fossil Department is also here, but after seeing you, it doesn't seem surprising at all that he is here!"
Two people were sitting on the side of the tent that didn't receive sunlight, and when Nafız addressed them, they stepped forward without feeling the need to hide themselves anymore.
"Did you think I would stay behind and watch because you didn't let me know you were going to war? This is the war of the Hell Realm as much as the Orc Steppes', and it's impossible for you to keep us out of it!"
The young man, whose hair was half white and half charcoal black, drew attention not only with his words and this interesting feature but also with his unconventional dressing style. Pulling the beautiful girl he grabbed by the hand to his side, he gripped her waist; Nafız knew this person very well too, just like the other.
"Wow, well done! Hueso, I want to congratulate you, but what kind of a wife-guy has ours become? Look at this, it hasn't even been five years but he has already accepted the Hell Realm as his homeland. Now you'll also insist that my child will be the Holy Bone Sect Sheikh!"
Alis, placing that mischievous smile on her face, took two steps towards the person she formerly belonged to and hugged her tightly as if hugging someone she hadn't seen for centuries. How could she not act like this? Even if Nafız set her free, her existence relied on her human memories; they knew it was impossible to sever ties no matter how much they wanted to.
One step behind her was the granddaughter of the Holy Bone Sect Leader, and she displayed an embarrassed stance, bowing her head. The rapprochement between the duo had started after the last and great war on the Hell Realm, and continuing rapidly, it had extended to marriage and even having a child.
"Of course my great-grandchild will be the new sect sheikh; you should see how talented he is, he is already managing bone manipulation!"
Nafız, turning to Hueso, couldn't help but laugh. The change she saw in Alyon, she was now experiencing in the grave-robber man too. Truly, being a grandfather turned the male sex into a complete monkey. The environment had turned into the warmth of a house visited for a holiday rather than a battlefield, until an icy cold voice cooled the inside of the tent to minus one degree.
"Please take your seats! We need to talk about the war awaiting us!"