Kapitel 518: Strategize Your Assault
Akiol viewed the horde of allies. Making a mental calculation of who arrived he nodded in satisfaction. This was acceptable.
< Unparalleled Dimensional Magician greets you >
"Unparalleled Dimensional Magician?? What a mouthful.", Akiol shook his head at the name.
< Star Driven Sword returns the greeting >
Upon reaching Third Stage, Akiol was stunned to see what seemed like the return of the system. It took a moment before he realized that this wasn't the same as the player's system, but rather The Framework. Unlike other players who received a list of the benefits they obtained, Akiol was only made aware of his Epithet. After all he was still apart of the Stages, even without the system. His existence was similar to that of the NPCs than a player in this regard.
Akiol noticed something strange about his Epithet, but without understanding The Framework he was unaware of what it was exactly. Instead he accepted the title, it was better than Sword Saint at least.
A Magic Concatenation appeared at his feet and Akiol was teleported into a tent. His gaze examined the individuals inside the tent, and he had a varied set of emotions. Jarvis had already reached Third Stage, but still held a mysterious feel. Next was Opportunity, her bloodlust was barely contained despite the lack of battle. Anyone without a strong will would find themselves fearing her presence. To this Akiol raised an eyebrow, but praised her nonetheless, "You've obtained Third Stage."
"Just in time too.", Opportunity nodded.
The leaders and their vice leaders of the top ten Guilds were also in the tent. Akiol greeted them as well, "I appreciate your assistance."
Reverence was the one to return the greeting, "This is an opportunity for us as well, as you said. Our assistance was more of a forced move than a kind act."
"You have my thanks nonetheless."
Next was Kan'na. Truth be told in Akiol's eyes she was almost unrecognizable. The way mana flourished around her being, and the depth of her gaze. It was like she was someone else entirely. So Akiol asked a question in a cryptic manner, "You've reached it?"
"You've noticed."
"Hard not to."
"What about you? You're showing a. . . surprisingly ordinary feel."
Akiol smiled, and Kan'na felt her gaze sharpen. The original Third Stage feeling Akiol was radiating suddenly vanished without a trace. Despite her sensitivity Kan'na found herself unable to pierce this mysterious depth. Each time she felt she was on to something, all her gaze found was innumerable stars. Others in the tent reacted in a similar fashion, it was like Akiol's presence vanished, but yet was still so great?
Torch, who had been leading against a support pole of the tent spoke in a mechanical tone, "I seem to have gained the short end of the stick. My battle data is now short."
"I'll fight your next ace when you've reached Third Stage."
"I'll hold you to that."
Akiol tilted his head in a thanking manner, "Your army is a huge help Torch, I am glad you're here."
Looking towards Igneel, Yuto, and Ninn he nodded in their direction, "You've all arrived yourself."
Yuto harrumphed, "Obviously. I wasn't going to miss out on something this large."
Ninn held a similar sentiment, "Likewise."
Igneel remained silent, seemingly deep in thought.
"Is Determined Souls and Bakery Basics not here?", Akiol asked.
Kan'na answered with a shake of her head, "It seems they're preparing themselves. They mentioned that they already had their goals and didn't need to participate in the strategy meeting."
"Very well."
Akiol moved towards the center of the tent. It was large enough to need solid beams to support the heavy cloth. Occasionally a magic circle would faintly appear in the cloth, Akiol assumed it was basic privacy spells placed by Kan'na. In the center lay a long stone table, currently clear of anything. Everyone in the tent surrounded this table, and there was enough room to prevent a claustrophobic feel. Akiol himself took one end of the table and placed his palms against it, "Alright first, I need a review on our equipment for this raid. Tilia, how are we looking?"
Tilia shook her head, "Third Stage equipment takes time, we didn't have enough time to make a proper set for ourselves. I think the only exception here is Kan'na, who made her own adjustments to her cloak."
"I see, Yielya. . . where is Yielya?"
"She hasn't arrived yet.", Kan'na answered.
With a frown Akiol took note of this but continued, "In that case, Torch. What's the combat capabilities of your units?"
"Aside from my standard battle units and support units, I have raid units available. Such as artillery. My ammunition in this regard is limited, for the rounds were too heavy to move in bulk without a proper supply chain."
"If you could estimate?"
"About twenty volleys of rounds before it's useless."
"We'll use them wisely. As for the Guilds?"
"Most of our force is First Stage, designed to take on the horde of the undead. We were hoping to use this opportunity to power level our lower members. We lack any siege equipment, but our mage group can provide substantial firepower at a range. Additionally we brought Guild Flags."
"Guild Flags?"
"They serve as temporary respawn points. They have a limited usage, and have a long cooldown. With it we can continue fighting even if most of us fall during battle, but we still suffer losses."
"What are we looking at for air units?"
Torch shook his head, "At most I can provide Anti Air, but none of my units are capable of sustained flight."
Opportunity added, "Ryolu's authority in the sky is second to none. I am sure Givale would be of the same opinion. I'd dare them to contest against two Dragons."
"That I cannot argue. I simply felt it would be better to not rely on two individuals to keep the sky in check."
"So we're a bit short in air superiority. Bo and To could assist as well.", Jarvis offered.
"Four then, including Torch's anti-air, I think that shall suffice. Very well, we shall move onto our main strategy. Jarvis, if you don't mind?"
Placing a palm onto the table Jarvis pushed the mana together to create glowing lines. Very rapidly a map was drawn onto the table. The Guild leaders watched in interest as it finished. Removing his palm Jarvis waved away the air and an arrow formed and pointed towards the center of the map, "The undead castle lies here. This, and including the area around it, is a deadzone we mustn't enter. Death lingers around the area, and if you aren't strong enough it could suffocate you."
"If we cannot assault the castle, how is this raid to succeed?", Uranium pried.
"Our goal isn't the castle, but rather an area out of its walls.", Jarvis answered simply while controlling the arrow to move, "The lich resides in a tower, surrounding it is simple defenses and guarded by his own army. The generals train the army in a camp, but overall it lacked any defenses aside from a standard wall."
Kan'na made a separate colored arrow and pointed to a specific point, "Can you make the map in three dimensions?"
Jarvis raised a palm and the map turned more detailed. Pleased with the change Kan'na adjusted her arrow a second time and pointed to the center of the tower, "They don't need heavy defenses due to a power magical device located in the tower. It'll notify them of intruders in an instant and provide a powerful barrier."
"How do you know of this?", Quake was quick to speak his doubts.
"I understood its simplicity at a glance. The barrier itself I can handle, its when the barrier is down that we should worry."
Jarvis moved his arrow and pointed to a ravine, "The only way for us to access the tower is through this ravine. However if we fail our initial push to the tower, we will be quickly surrounded."
Akiol took over the simple explanation with his own control of mana. Several directions formed, and boxes representing the various forces began to repeat steady movements to mimic direction.
There was a large ravine separating the space between the undead castle and the tower the lich resided in. If the main force was spotted traversing this ravine before reaching the entryway to the tower, they would quickly be swarmed by undead from all sides including above.
Herons, the leader of Amber Embassy, pointed to a cliff edge, "Is it not possible for us to traverse this?"
"Not in large number. The cliff is very brittle and won't support thousands attempting to climb it.", Jarvis shook his head.
Akiol raised a finger, "How brittle?"
"I'm surprised it's still standing."
Snapping his fingers Akiol changed the directions on the map, "Then what about something like this? Instead of taking a dangerous route that could get us wiped out, we instead send an Elite force. We line the cliff with powerful enough explosives to cause it to crumble, with it the tower and the army at the top. Once we cause a landslide, the rest of us swoop in the rubble and surround the numerous undead."
Seven Vows shook his head, "That wouldn't work either. Something that drastic would undoubtedly attract the attention of the castle. Our window to defeat the lich would be short, and we wouldn't be able to pull out all of our forces at once."
A heavy debate began to spark in the tent. As several ideas were pitched to be rapidly shot down. All to tackle the problem regarding the tower. Its location was simply too well defended.
After several minutes of heated debate, another figure entered the tent. Glancing at the table she sighed, "You all are thinking too narrow."
Akiol turned his head, "Yielya, you've arrived."
"Sorry for being late, I got caught up."
To Akiol's surprise, Yielya hadn't ascended to Third Stage! It almost seemed like she hadn't played at all in the time he last saw her, considering the severe lack of changes. Regardless he did not complain, and instead moved aside for her to approach.
Yielya brushed away the current instructions on the map and rapidly created her own. Akiol watched and shook his head, Yielya was always the better strategist. He was silently ashamed to not have thought of such a simple idea.
Opportunity pinched her chin while looking at the instructions, "This. . ."
The Guild leaders were of a similar opinion:
"This could work."
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein