-Just outside of Lonely Strife Town, in a tent-
"Alright, everyone." Mayo looked around the small table while wearing a stunning silver armor. "It's great to see that everyone arrived quickly."
"Are you sure that the armor won't slow you down?" Richen asked Mayo. Richen wore a small chestplate, armguards, shin guards, a shield on his back and a stunning sword on his hip.
"You should know that I'm capable of this much, seeing as you're an Advanced-rank too." Mayo smiled.
Spear and Phina wore little to no armor. Spear, ironically, wielded a pair of longswords, while Phina had the two daggers she got from Tekker on her hips. Both were cloaked in black, though Spear's cloak had no hood. The only thing on his head was his white mask.
"Alright, let's go over the plan one more time." Richen sighed.
"Very well." Mayo chuckled. "The Beasts' Wave is approximately five hours southeast of Lonely Strife Town. We will intercept the Wave in two hours. The Intermediate-ranks of the Lion Hunting Team and my personal guard, Fin, will hold back the near thousand Adult-rank Beasts and Elites. Our strike force, which includes Spear, Richen, Shira and I, will move forward and wipe out the Adult-rank Lords before the Beginner-rank Lord can take notice. Then, we will move behind enemy lines and attack the Beginner-rank Elites. According to my sources, there are two Elites and one Lord. Richen and I will hold down the Elites, and Shira and Spear will kill the Lord and help us kill the Elites after."
"What if your info is wrong?" Richen asked. "Mayo, you know I trust you with my life, but I can't put my men's lives at stake with your sources being the only guarantee."
"If I'm wrong, we retreat. No matter if it's one extra Elite or a thousand extra Lords. Simple as that, my friend." Mayo assured.
"Alright. Let's start moving." Spear spoke as he walked out of the tent.
No one spoke much as they moved out, especially Phina who said nothing from the moment she met up with everyone. She was currently thinking, 'Should I tell them? Sure, it might be safer for me, but aren't Richen, Spear and Mayo throwing their lives away?'
Phina had her Intermediate-rank Skill, Mirage Illusion, which would blur the Beasts' vision. If used in combination with Flashing Steps and Hidden Movements, she could easily escape a Founder-rank Humanoid, let alone the less intelligent Lords. The only threat to Phina was the Royal, but the Lords and Elites shouldn't be too close to the Royal. She can probably kill one and escape quickly.
"Can I speak with you for a moment?" Spear approached Phina as they were walking.
"Ah...o-of course." Phina was pulled out of her thoughts.
"You know about the Royal, right?" Spear whispered after putting up a barrier of World Energy around himself, cutting off all sound from within. This was one of his Skills, Soundless Domain.
Phina's eyes widened in shock. "How do you...know?"
"You think I would just trust that old man with my life?" Spear scoffed. He then sighed. "Don't tell anyone, we can probably gain a lot of profit if we stay quiet. We probably won't even see the Royal."
"I...understand." Phina was thinking and hesitating, yet someone had come forward and told her to stay quiet, so that had pushed her into silence.
"Come to think of it, we don't know much about you. Where are you from, Shira?" Spear asked. "If you don't mind answering, of course."
"..." Phina looked into the distance. "It's...a long story."
"Are you McKnight? Maybe Seraphina Ender? Or Silver Lightning Montica?" Spear started naming off a bunch of wanted women.
"Maybe. Who knows?" Phina tried to play it off, yet her anxiety sky-rocketed.
"As if." Spear chuckled. "All these criminals are at least Apex-rank fighters."
"I bet I'd beat them with my pinky." Phina scoffed, though she was elated on the inside. 'They think I'm an Apex-ranker! That means I shouldn't be suspected of being Seraphina Ender. They might think I'm some other criminal, but at least I won't be hunted by Law-rankers.'
"..." Spear paused his walk. His eyes trembled with shock.
"Are you alright? If you need rest, we can stop for an hour at most." Mayo suggested.
"N-No! I'm fine." Spear replied. 'I hit the damn jackpot! I found her!! I need to play it cool...if I can use her against the Demibeast-Orc-Demon faction. I'll keep this to myself for now, if the monarchs found out, they'd kill her immediately. I need to make sure the Demibeast-Orc-Demon faction suffers enough to be destroyed after we leave.'
After a two hours of marching, they could see a dust cloud approaching. It was the Beasts' army.
"Everyone, into your positions!" Mayo commanded. "Let's do this!!"