"Why does it feel like whoever is leading these monsters planned this specifically around our portal reach?" Lina said suddenly, her voice cutting through the murmurs of the faction leaders. "They are targeting the gaps in our armour."
Lara nodded grimly. "I thought the sa. It’s too precise to be a coincidence. We are being played by an intelligence that understands our geography as well as we do."
"Then we must send our forces imdiately!" one of the faction leaders shouted, slamming a fist on the table. "We can’t just stand by and watch the continent burn while our enemies grow stronger!"
"That is a noble sentint, but impossible," a new voice joined in. Ellina had been invited to the eting as the head of the entire forging operation. Her face was smudged with soot, and her eyes were bloodshot from exhaustion.
"We don’t have the ans to arm a continental expedition," Ellina stated flatly. "We only finished training your faction’s forging masters a few hours ago. The current stockpile of spears is barely enough to defend our primary walls. We can’t arm a mobile force yet. We need ti—ti we don’t have."
Her words landed like a bucket of ice water, dousing the fire of the commanders’ bravado.
"What about the local forces in those regions?" another faction leader interjected, his voice tight with desperation. "We’ve already disseminated the secret of the spear production through our intelligence networks. By now, the lords and masters of those territories should be forging them as we speak!"
"That is a reasonable assumption, but a dangerous one," Anjie replied with a heavy sigh. She glanced toward Ellina, acknowledging the master smith’s expertise before continuing.
"Even we, with all our resources and direct access to the creators of these weapons, haven’t had enough ti to stockpile an adequate supply. We had experienced masters teaching our smiths the precise techniques, and even then, the failure rate was significant.
As you have witnessed, knowing the theoretical secret of the spear and actually manifesting a battle-ready weapon are two entirely different matters. We cannot rely on distant, uncoordinated territories to arm themselves in ti."
"Which leaves us with no other choice but to wait," Lara concluded, her voice echoing with a finality that signalled the end of the debate. "As William predicted, more tides are appearing. Today, they erged in the distant reaches of the continent; tomorrow, they will be clawing at our doorsteps.
Our priority must be to channel every ounce of our collective power into mass-producing these spears. We must be prepared for the inevitable. Right now, we have no way to help the outliers—no way at all."
The eting adjourned on a sombre note, the leaders departing with the weight of hundreds of thousands of lives on their consciences. However, Lina was far from finished. She moved with a predator’s grace through the bustling corridors of the command centre, eventually cornering Berry in a quiet alcove.
"You’re telling this is a great chance for ?" Berry blinked, her brow furrowing in confusion. "How? The situation seems more hopeless than ever."
Lina had anticipated this scepticism. She knew that to get Berry to commit to an insane plan, she had to fra it as the only path to the recognition Berry so desperately craved.
"Think about it, Berry," Lina said, her voice a low, persuasive hum. "If you take the initiative now, you change the ga entirely. My suggestion is simple: you should aim to send your people to the ’blank’ regions—the places where Lara’s portal network cannot reach.
Establish your own portal centres there and link them to the areas where the next monster tides are most likely to manifest. You won’t just be defending; you’ll be intercepting."
"Interesting..." Berry murmured. The audacity of the plan was starting to take root in her mind. "So, we circumvent the existing network entirely. We establish a secondary grid to cover the blind spots where the next waves will strike. Is that the core of your plan?"
"The ones behind these tides aren’t composed of idiots," Lina added, sensing that Berry was beginning to question her motives. She needed to ground the plan in strategic logic.
"You saw the map yourself. Even with the city’s vast network, more than two-thirds of the continent remains unreachable by any portal there.
The leaders of the monster tides exposed their strategy with this move; they are specifically targeting the areas where we cannot project power. If you plan this correctly and move now, you can foil their expansion and earn rits that even Lara and Anjie couldn’t dream of."
Berry went silent, her gaze intensifying. She stepped closer, closing the distance until she was looking directly into Lina’s eyes, searching for a flicker of deceit. "I see the logic. But what I don’t understand is what’s in it for you, Lina. You’re putting a lot of effort into making a hero. What is your real play here?"
Lina was montarily taken aback. She hadn’t expected Berry’s instincts to be quite so sharp. A cold sweat threatened to break across her brow, but she maintained her composure.
"N-nothing," she stamred slightly, playing up a sense of bashful sincerity. "I am simply a mber of the guild who wants to help a kind sister. We all serve the sa master, don’t we?"
Berry’s intense expression suddenly lted away, replaced by a brilliant, trusting smile. "Hmm... I suppose that makes sense," she said, her voice warm. "You truly are a kind sister, Lina. In all our ti together, I’ve never seen you act with anything but grace toward . Thank you for the guidance."
Without another word, Berry turned and sprinted toward the courtyard where Sara and Ro were waiting. "I’ll repay this kindness one day, Lina! I promise it in my spirit and my family’s na!"
Lina watched the girl disappear around the corner, finally letting out a long, ragged sigh of relief. The tension left her shoulders, leaving her feeling montarily drained.
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