Abyssal Awakening

Resting as much as they could, night soon fell without a single ambush by the strange beasts.

Both Alice and Selen were worried about the upcoming operation since there was a high chance that a lot of the Warriors may change their mind halfway through.

Selen noticed that some of the captains were protesting this choice, Bo included but Olivr was firm on his stance. He refused to go back without any results, not when they've already lost so many.

Now that night fell, they began splitting up the groups.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" Selen frowned as Alice laughed.

"Don't worry about it, I prioritise my own survival over everything. I won't kill myself over a small battle like this." Alice reassured as Selen had no choice but to nod.

Even though the stalling group and the vanguard was going to entire the port together, the stalling group are not allowed to fight.

They're expected to sit back and let the vanguard do everything until the beasts appear.

With the groups now formed, Olivr went over the plan of attack.

The port stronghold could be split into four main areas. First was the wall. Each section of the wall acted as a node for a ritual that blocks out large scale attacks.

After wall was the watch towers spread along the inner border. Third was the residential circle and finally, the main hub where the Grandmaster ranked Warrior resided.

The plan was for the captains to first sneak through the side and into the ocean while the vanguard prepares to take attention front the front. If at any point a signal flare is shot into the sky, they're expected to charge in and grab as many guards as possible.

"Use the civilians as hostages if you can. See if the guards hesitate since their lovers or family will be among them. Try to cause them to fight one another because of their different values and stall for time. Whatever it is, as long as you get enough time it'll be fine.

You can even burn the buildings since that'll have most of the guards trying to put it out." Olivr explained while everyone had a sombre expression hearing his plan.

Once again, they couldn't say no to it.

After finishing to explain the plan, Olivr planted a node on everyone. If they tried to escape, take it off or even sabotage, he'd kill them with a snap of his finger.

Now that a literal guillotine was above their heads, the Warriors gave up on the thought of survival, and their eyes lost their vigour. Whatever they do, it'll just result in their deaths.

Playing around with this node, Alice wondered if she was allowed to infiltrate the city ahead of time since staying with the main group was practically asking for the enemy to bombard them with a large scale attack.

She wasn't deserting nor was she sabotaging.

However, just in case Olivr misunderstood and randomly decided to try and kill her, Alice shuffled over to Bo.

"Pst, Captain." Alice called out as Bo glanced over.

"Do you think he'll mind if I go into the city ahead of time? Get myself into a more favourable spot ya know?" Alice whispered as Bo raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"Why would you even want to go in early?"

"Do you seriously think I'll be helpful in a head on suicide charge? If I was in top condition sure but right now I'm just gonna get hit by a random fireball and die." Alice rolled her eyes.

"So I want to go in ahead of time and see if I can take out a tower or something." She suggested.

"You realise that to take down the towers you'll have to kill the guards anyway right? How do you plan on doing that?"

Alice's choice was truly baffling to Bo. One moment she's saying she didn't want to die randomly and the next she's saying she wants to enter ahead of time which brings her more harm.

"I don't need to kill people in order to take care of the node holding the barrier together you know that right?" Alice persuaded as Olivr walked over, overhearing the conversation.

Thinking about it for a moment, a smile crept up on his face.

"Sure, I don't see why not. Don't you agree Bo?" Olivr patted his shoulder as Bo furrowed his brows.

"However, I'll only agree if you attack the west tower."

Glancing towards the city, Alice understood what Olivr was planning. The west tower was the furthest tower from the main hub where the Grandmaster was. If she was to f*ck up, all the guards will rush towards her instead.

But she didn't mind that.

"Got any supplies for me then? I only have a crossbow and some daggers after all." Alice shrugged. If he was agreeing on this mission then she might as well ask for some supplies.

"Go find Frida for some explosives and traps. Use those to your advantage to take out the tower or make some noise along the way. I'll keep an eye on you." Olivr laughed, patting Alice's shoulder before walking away.

Looking at Alice in disbelief, Bo couldn't help but sigh and hold back the thought of wanting to smack her across the head.

"Why are you this reckless? Can't you just sit back and wait like everyone else?" Bo asked, unsure as to why Alice even wanted to go on ahead in the first place.

"Like I said, it improves the chances of my survival." Alice laughed.

Everything she did was for the sake of survival. And so far, this was the best option she could think of. Joining the main charge was absolutely off the table.

Plus, there was another reason as to why she suggested this.

Compared to the Zenia prison, the guards here were simply too lax!

Reassuring Bo one last time, Alice looked for the captain called Frida and asked for the supplies. Five explosives, two fire traps and lastly, a set of wires.

On top of everything, Alice asked for some more daggers that she could fit into her pouch. Seeing as how Alice was essentially going on a solo mission, Frida gave her a set of 10 throwing knives.

With everything packed into her pouch, Alice was about to make her way to the port stronghold when Selen stopped her for a moment. She handed Alice a small orb flickering with a blue energy.

"Break if it things get tough. It should give you a cast of my acceleration though the effects might not be great. It's a bit of a gamble since I haven't used it on anyone else nor do I know if you can withstand it or not." Selen explained.

With Alice's current body, she had avoided using her skills on her if possible but with this kind of mission, they needed a trump card or two.

"Thanks." Alice smiled, accepting the orb before making her way to the city.

'So what's the plan then? We can't go through the main gate which is a given and I'm not sure if your body can survive circling around through the ocean.' Alyss asked curiously.

'Well, there's only one choice duh~ We climb.' Alice chuckled.

She was going to scale the walls surrounding the city.

'Or are you getting cold feet?' Alice smirked.

'Hah??? Me? Get cold feet? As if.' Alyss rolled their eyes.

Why would she be getting cold feet from such a loosely guarded place? For every guard they have patrolling, the Zenias would've had 5 or 6 in that same area.

All of the guards worked in groups to keep her contained yet Alice was still able to force her way out at certain moments during her imprisonment.

Of course, the difference was that she was empowered by beast blood back then and fought her way out. However, it didn't change the fact that the Zenia prison was far more guarded than this place so getting in or out should be a piece of cake for Alice.

Reaching into her pouch, she changed her attire into one that could hide her better.

A black hooded jacket with a face mask that covered most of her face except her eyes and a full black attire that covered every inch of her body.

After getting down from the mountains, the snow that covered the ground was mostly melted away, especially near the main road.

Hiding herself behind the trees, Alice observed the guards on rotation and above the wall.

'The best way to go would be to begin climbing up the main gates. They keep scanning along the walls but not along the gate. Though… Seems like they're ready for us.' Alice muttered inwardly.

She could see that none of the guards were taking their job lightly as they would constantly keep an eye out, covering any blind spot they might have.

'It's to be expected. After all, they should've been notified by the Zenia's that we're going to attack.' Alyss shrugged as though it was a matter of fact.

However, that was not the case since the Zenias had no obligation to the city. But that's not something they knew and so, Alice kept her guard up while slowly approaching the city.

The key was to keep on the edge of their peripherals and stop the moment they turn to look towards her. For that, she needed to plan a proper route towards the main gate.

There was a river leading to the city from the side with some trees. There were more guards but the trade off was more hiding spots for Alice.

Curling her lips up into a grin, Alice began her infiltration.