After receiving permission from Rupert to move, I fell back to the camp. It was not that far, but ever-present was the notion and knowledge that people were constantly dying behind me. When I arrived at my pavilion, Sasha immediately set about removing parts of my costume.

I had planned to simply go as I was; the dress I had given the speech in was designed such that it could be fought in, and in a worst-case scenario, the skirt could have been simply cut off and discarded. A pair of pants underneath, made of the same material as my assassin uniform, would then preserve my modesty. But that was in the event that Sitri was found.

Now that I was going to hunt for her, it would behoove me to bring my full kit. Not for dealing with Sitri; I had everything needed for that already on my person. But rather for moving through the battlefield and responding to unexpected circumstances.

And if she’s not the only demon there, I’ll have to fall back and find Henrake, Duke Claurence, or call Ferdinand to help me.

The fact of the matter was, Sitri should not have the ability to create and control Husk. With her skills and talents sealed, she should only have her Blood Magic and attributes. Though we didn’t know exactly how they were created, it could be reasonably assumed to be something that was beyond her current ability. In a sense, my outing was more for scouting than anything else.

But I’m going to do it myself. Nobody else would be able to do it safely.

Sasha had finished changing out my outfit by this point, and I took a moment to look in the mirror. The crimson dress I had been wearing had been replaced with a much shorter skirt that terminated at my knees. Not just possible to fight in; this one was outright designed for combat and made of a much stiffer fabric than was normal for a lady’s clothing. The black leggings underneath it had not changed; they were made of the same material as my assassin outfit, though forwent the stealth-related effects for durability and a mobility boost.

My top was largely unchanged; the flared wrists had been removed, and something like a bodice had been added over it. It was a darker red than the dress itself, and I knew it was lined with a very small amount of Orichalcum. The opposite effect of Mythril, Orichalcum would enhance any magic I cast. Or was hit by. For that reason it was seldom used for combat armor, being relegated to a material component of high-end magic tools or ceremonial sets like the kingdom’s Golden Knights. My hair had been swiftly braided and then fixed behind my head. It might make more sense to have cut it, but I had actually grown rather fond of having longer hair.

There was a small chime signaling that someone was requesting entry. Sasha, seeing as I had already finished changing, went to check who it was and promptly returned with Rupert.

As far as I could tell, there was no reason for him to be here right now, we both had our roles to play, “Should you not be overseeing the battle?”

“Yes, but with Gustav remaining in the capital, there was no one I could trust enough to send. Here.” He held out a small item in his hand, “To replace the illusion.”

It was a ring box, and upon opening it I saw a ring that perfectly matched the one already on my finger, “…And this is?”

“Unenchanted. Gustav will affix something to it at your own discretion, but it has the same capacity as the one I’ve already given you.”

So it’s ridiculously expensive. But why give it to me now? If it has no effect, then what’s the point?

“Thank you, though I do not see why this could not have waited.”

“You need to focus to prevent your mana from feeding into the illusion ring. That creates a risk, however slight, of you being distracted. This will remove that.”

“Yes, but I could likewise have simply removed the old ring when in a battle. Still, thank you for the thought.”

Rupert grimaced a bit then shook his head, “You are correct, it would seem my brother’s actions have thrown me off balance to some extent.”

Well, at the very least, it does let me avoid having to make any excuses if people see me without the ring.

I took the old ring off my finger and replaced it with the identical counterpart, placing the old one into the box and offering it back to Rupert, “Here.”

He made no move to receive it instead addressing Sasha, “Sasha, keep ahold of that ring for your lady, it might prove useful at some point.”

I shrugged and handed the box off to Sasha instead. My thought had been that he might be able to recoup some of the extreme cost, but I suppose even that much money was a pittance when looking at the resources he, or rather we, had access to. The fact that I could tap into those same resources was a thought that threatened to leave my head spinning.

“I need to return to the general staff and assist Henrake.” Rupert stated abruptly before turning and exiting. My eyes followed his back for a moment before I directed my attention to Sasha.

“Well, I’ll be off. With any luck, I’ll be able to put a stop to some of this.”

“My lady…” Sasha’s voice called after me, hinting at something she was unsure wether or not to leave unsaid.

I paused in my tracks and turned. It wasn’t like her to speak up after I’d made a decision, and her tone indicated that she was not entirely at ease with what she was about to say.

“Yes?” When she still hesitated, I added on, “Speak freely, though you will not change my mind in this.”

Sasha took a deep breath, “Of course not, but… I have been informed of what happened the last time you met this demon. Both times… Please, be careful.”

I paused momentarily then nodded, “I plan on it. I won’t make the same mistakes again. Not this time.”

Turning once more, I left and made my way toward the battlefield.

The city’s geography made it impossible to attack from more than one side, though that likewise made escape difficult for the defenders. Those same restrictions did not apply to me though; an army might struggle to cross the wide river that formed a natural barrier around the North, East, and South walls. But a lone agent would face no such restrictions. Especially not when the bulk of the defense was focused on the West.

Getting caught up in the tunnel fighting was not something I was eager to do, and since the ground assault had yet to get the gates opened there were few options left. Not that it would be easy. Just because it was difficult did not mean an attack from the river was impossible; there were certain to be guards about to watch for something like that.

My main advantage is that I’m only one person… There might also not be very many actual defenders, depending on how far the undead play has gone…

Though grim, the last thought was unlikely to be the case; if the undead were really out in force, the army assaulting the wall would have reported them before the tunnelers. If I had to guess, they were probably a fall-back plan, a sort of countermeasure desperation play to help cope with how outnumbered Duke Febligi’s men were. Another thought struck me as I came up to the riverbank on the North side.

Or, this is the opening act. We know Asmodea advented. Sitri is one of her followers. These Husk may have been provided as a force with which to start the attack on Drakas itself. If that’s the case, things are going a lot faster than they should.

Rupert and I had really thrown the demons for a trick, so it was possible that this was a scramble to regain at least part of their original plan.

If I hadn’t gotten involved, Rupert was going to hand Drakas to Five and side with the demons for the upcoming war. They would have started the war in possession of the single largest power on this continent… The wrath king Satan and the sloth king Belphegor were the only ones to survive the last war, and the former devoted all of his attention to taking Drakas…

“I really messed things up for them, didn’t I?” There was nobody around to hear the surprise in my voice.

I felt like an idiot for not realizing it sooner, but obviously they were going to scramble to try and regain at least some of their investment. As for the other kings, we knew were here, Asmodea was too new to have done much, while Leviathan and Beelzebub had seemingly kept a low profile. Though it was entirely possible they weren’t even on this continent.

Either way, it remains the case that we can’t fail here, so this doesn’t change anything.

My thoughts had carried me around the periphery and I was now looking over the river to the city’s wall. Too small for a warship to sail down, and too large to be easily forded. Crossing it was going to be a bit of a chore. Especially given that my mana needed to be conserved for the fight with Sitri, or the flight from any additional demons she might have with her.

Ok… I don’t see any lookouts, but I can’t be hasty.

My trip around the city had taken nearly an hour, even moving far quicker than should have been possible through applied enhancements. Waiting a bit longer was not going to hurt anyone; in all likelihood, it would in fact kill a good number. But without disrupting the Husk at their source, a much larger number of people would die. So, to be completely certain it was safe for me to cross the river, I waited.

While outright invisibility through magic wasn’t possible, I could change the color of something using a Black Magic. This would hide the red of my clothes, which stood out a great deal in the various greens of the forest. While waiting, I used the minimum amount of mana possible to activate my divine eyes. I hoped that seeing their mana would make it easier to spot any patrolling watchmen quickly.

I briefly considered testing out my new [Divine Usurper] title and its purported effect of making Divine Element easier to handle. But the battlefield was no place to run experiments, so I decided not to.

Especially given that my mana control is still a bit off as-is. Making myself even more efficient might cause some rather unforeseen problems.

In part to pass the time, I plucked a blade of grass and attempted to appraise it. Doing this wouldn’t consume much mana, and I would fully recoup it in just a few minutes. Predictably, the blade of grass glowed for a moment before crumbling to fine-powdered snow.

“Crystalized Ice Element – Organic”

No matter what I tried, I could not seem to prevent my mana from fully permeating and then destroying an object whenever I attempted to appraise it. The annoying thing was that my enhancements still worked; I could even improve the durability of a sword just fine. But if I tried to appraise the sword, it would briefly coat in flame, then disintegrate into a snow-like powder. If I made no attempt to control the mana flow and just appraised, it would be more like an ice sculpture.

Still no changes… Ah, there’s the guard.

Sure enough, a small swirling light had crossed the wall some distance away from me; the mana of the patrolling watchman. Despite the distance between the two of us, I still held my breath instinctively. He paused and looked out over the forest, his eyes passing right over me. Of course he was looking for medium and large groups, not a single woman. A moment later, he continued his rounds. Now I had to wait just a bit longer; I wanted to know the timing of the guard patrol.

This time, I did my best to prevent my mind from wandering off; I needed to be ready to move immediately, and it would be best if I were as clear-headed as possible. The downside of trying not to let myself become distracted was that I could hear the distant sounds of battle from the other side of the city. Distance might have muted them, but that was all; they were still distinct. It was all I could do to remind myself that this was all necessary.

About two and a half minutes after I first saw him, the same watchman made another pass. Part of me, the rational part, wanted to wait for one more rotation and make sure the timing was consistent. But the greater part was tired of waiting and wanted to go immediately, to reduce the casualties as much as possible.

What will I do when killing Sitri doesn’t stop all of this? Kill Antonio as well? Duke Febligi?

It didn’t matter. For the time being, I had my job to do. As always, my head was doing its best to distract me. I squeezed my eyes shut, and took a deep breath. Exhale.

All right, let’s go.

The river was wider at this point but narrowed a bit at a bend just downstream. Breaking from cover, I sprinted towards that spot while pumping my enhancements up to their safe maximum Then, I jumped. Even with my abilities stacked like they were, a roughly twenty-meter gap was a bit much. I would fall short, and land in the water.

That was fine though, hitting the shore would probably injure me at this speed. I tucked my body in a way to prevent myself from skipping like a stone and prepared for splashdown.

Oww!

Hitting the water hurt a lot, but at least nothing had broken. There was still a couple of meters from dry land, and I was up to my waist in the water. Not that it took very long for me to swim the distance, and I was out of the water in less than half a second. There was of course a risk that the watchman had heard my splashing, but there wasn’t a convenient way across the river on such short notice.

If only things had gone to plan, I could have just gone through the gates with an escort, or used the tunnels…

Scaling the wall would be much harder, given that any contact with it would instantly drain the mana from my limbs and undo the enhancements. Blood Magic would last only a scant moment longer than a chanted spell, so there wasn’t much time for me to work with. But it would be enough.

I set up a short sprint from the wall at a slight angle and began bouncing on the balls of my feet while preparing. After taking a few moments to size up my target, I took off running towards the wall. Jumping to clear the wall this time, the height would be hampered by gravity directly. There was no way I would be able to fully clear it in one go.

After making it about three-quarters of the way up, I grabbed a slightly askew brick in the wall with both hands and, in the fraction of a second before my enhancements failed, pulled myself upwards. The added height allowed me to clear the remaining distance, and I landed on the battlements. Right in front of a very startled watchman.

“H-hello?”

Time seemed to slow down as my [Kinetic Perception] kicked in. I didn’t want to kill him, but I couldn’t afford him to sound the alarm.

If I knock him out, there’s the risk he’ll wake up…

I lunged at him, bringing the both of us down onto the wall’s walkway, “Where is the demon?”

“T-the w-what!?”

Right, of course he wouldn’t know that… Damnit! He can’t be more than fifteen or sixteen, no wonder he’s on guard duty and not part of the defense.

“I’m looking for a young woman, she would be friendly with the traitor Antonio.”

The man froze up and shook his head, “I don’t know! The duke’s castle maybe!?”

No fucking shit… But it isn’t like I could expect a random soldier to be familiar with Antonio’s company. Shit, he looks barely fifteen, only just an adult… I might come to regret this, but I’m not going to kill him.

“I see. Sorry about this.”

“About wha-” My enhanced fist cut him off before he could finish the question, and he slumped forward.

His unconscious body slumped over and then fell to the ground in an unceremonious heap. He’d probably have a few broken ribs from that, seeing as I’d delivered an enhanced strike right to his solar plexus with enough force to get an instant KO. But it was a lot better than dying, and he couldn’t very well be left to his own devices after seeing me.

Of course, I am on a time now, though that would also be true if I’d killed him. Yea, this way is better.

I turned and set off toward the “duke’s castle” near the center of the city.

Sitri… I’m coming.