Chapter 181: Plan and Execution (1/2)
Until she had exhausted the reasonable limits of resistance training with the Hand and had at least spent her ash class’ third tier skill points she wouldn’t even start to think about going after the Golden Lily. Finding another dungeon that would help her gain some class and skill levels wouldn’t hurt either.
Edwin had spent over five years plotting and didn’t seem sure he was ready to face his father yet, Ilea wouldn’t be running into her own doom unprepared. From beasts and dungeons she could flee, her skills allowed as much, reducing her risks by quite a bit. From people hunting for her though? She wasn’t sure she could hide forever. People who managed to hunt and kill Eve nonetheless.
She sighed, leaning her back on the sturdy tree trunk behind her. Separating her tasks into smaller, at least somewhat manageable bits was the first thing she could think of after going through the work she had cut out for herself.
First she would help Trian, then Edwin and then she would start her preparations. At least if everything went at least somewhat well. Even if any of their goals failed, Ilea was somewhat confident to her own survival. Her team was good at running away. She wasn’t so sure about Edwin and Maria but they were of little concern to her.
“Brooding in the treetops.” Kyrian said as he floated up next to her. “Doesn’t suit you.” he added.
“Are we going then?” Ilea asked, ignoring the comment.
“Trian is ready to explain the details. We’re just waiting for you.” Kyrian said and flew down again, Ilea following behind with a blink, her wings spreading right after to stop her fall as she rushed behind her friend.
They reached the hideout soon after and joined the waiting group, Ilea sitting down on one of the chairs, looking at the ground plan of the Birmingale estate.
“We can start then. First, we’ll strike tonight. The tension in the city hasn’t lessened as far as Maria could tell in her various visits throughout the week. The estate is guarded the same as it had been before, either they bought that your brawl was just an accident or it’s a trap.” Trian said.
“They could just not have the resources.” Maria added.
“Of course, I was generally planning with the worst case in mind.” Trian answered. “We’re going in and out quick. There should be guards at all the entrances, inside the gardens and the mansion itself.” he said, marking spots on the map. “Maria will leave earlier to check on their movements but as we know they shouldn’t be above level one fifty. Likely not much of a threat with their low numbers. Still, it’s paramount that we stay silent and get to the targets before they can group up. They used chaos against my family and we shall do the same.” Trian explained.
“Edwin and Maria will take out the guards at the northern gate. I’ll store the corpses in my ring before we move into the mansion.” he said, showing the item. Edwin and Maria looked at each other but didn’t react further. It was a necessary part of the plan to get the corpses away before a squad of guards or soldiers stumbled upon them.
“As soon as we get closer, I’ll use my lightning magic to disable any defensive or alarming runes. We’ll have a minute or two at best for this and should I fail, all the people who can teleport will go inside regardless and spread out in the mansion. From the entrance, Edwin and Maria to the left, me, Ilea and Kyrian right. Move and kill together to make sure the target is dead before you move on to the next one. If their resistance is overwhelming, we flee but otherwise I want to deal as much damage before we get out again. It will be difficult to find and attack any surviving members afterwards.” Trian explained before he pinned sketched paintings to the wall.
“These are the main targets. Ronan Birmingale. He’s supposed to have surpassed the mid two hundreds and is likely one of the most dangerous targets. The current head of the family and trust me, he has enough blood on his hands that everyone here has a good reason to take him out of the picture.” He said, pointing to the first picture he hung up. It looked like a man in his fifties with long black hair. “We don’t know anything about his abilities other than him being a warrior. Anybody who challenged him directly in the past ten years has vanished without a trace, both in the family or outside.”
“This is Bale Birmingale, Ronan’s wife and possible matriarch of the family. The sources differ but she definitely holds a lot of influence and she’s the first I would blame for my family’s murder. She was a high ranking officer in the imperial army with a lot of pull. Make sure to take her out or we’ll have specialized military units hunting for us before the night is over. She’s a mage, a fire one at that. Prisoners of war isn’t her thing and back in her military days she was known as the melting demon. If Ilea’s perception ability works, she will point out those two targets so we can focus on them first. I would count the operation a success if we get them.” Ilea looked at the picture of the smiling woman, a middle aged motherly type, not someone she’d associate with a melting demon. Then again, appearances can be deceptive.
“The rest are more notable members, just read through the notes on their abilities. Depending on how many of them are present tonight, we might or might not have an easy time fighting and escaping. Take your time, I want everybody to be prepared.”
Ilea looked at the pictures and the notes underneath. She was a little reminded of the wanted pictures she’d seen in movies and comics back in the day. Billy the kid, gunslinger class. Focusing on the task at hand, Ilea started reading through the papers. Different people of differing ages and abilities. There was a lack of information about many of them, including even their possible levels.
If the assumption that the Birmingales had hired a lot of high level and specialized mercenaries turned out to be wrong, then they might have quite a problem on their hands. While their group of five was certainly strong, Ilea doubted they could stand against Trian’s family at full power. The goal was to take out the two leaders and as many of the others as possible, which at least seemed somewhat possible. The consequences for both success and failure were difficult to grasp but success seemed the safer bet.
Other nobles would take over the diminished influence of the Birmingales, just like it had happened to the Alymies. Though the latter was nearly completely wiped out and Ilea doubted they’d be that successful, neither did she sign up for killing babies and kids.
Trian continued explaining the plan after they all had checked out the roster of notable nobles in the family. Possible escape routes, plans of regrouping in several different places both in and out of the city. He had really though through a lot of scenarios and with Ilea’s experience in combat she assumed the end result would look different still. Preparing as best as possible was paramount for a situation like this but she definitely liked hunting for monsters more. Perhaps some of the people in the Birmingale family could be considered as such after reading through the notes but they were of the human species still. Smart, adapting and unpredictable. Some of the things Ilea thought to be the reason for their race’s survival in Elos thus far.
To Ilea’s surprise, that wasn’t it. Not at all. Listening to Trian’s continued explanations made her realize that he didn’t just want the Birmingales to pay with blood. He wanted to remove them from the picture entirely.
Night came and the weather was in their favor, huge clouds hanging over the city of Virilya and the surrounding area. Flying in from above while avoiding the individual flying squads patrolling around and over the city was made much easier. Ilea was surprised none of the guards had spotted them but perhaps they simply didn’t want anything to do with a squad of Shadows.
The tension in the city was tangible as the five landed. Rain was falling lightly and the streets were deserted compared to just a couple days ago. An attack from Baralia was expected and feared, as much was clear to Ilea but she didn’t know the specifics. Edwin’s operations combined with their own tonight wouldn’t help anybody feel any more safe.
They rushed silently through the streets, vanishing into houses or side streets whenever they saw light approach. Some of the patrolling groups were soldiers but few of them were higher than level one twenty. ‘No scouts or whatever other special units they had…,’ Ilea thought. Their target lay quite a distance away from the governmental center of the city, which was the actual center of the city as well. A place Ilea hadn’t yet visited.
They waited in their hideouts until the group of guards slowly passed.
“Fuck night patrols.” one of them said and spat on the ground, adding little to the already wet cobble.
“And the rain and fuck the soldiers too, with their bloody arrogance. Who’d they think ey are?” the man said, giving Ilea the impression that he was at least a little drunk with the sound of his voice.
“Shut the fuck up you dumb idiot.” another of the four replied.
“Call me an idiot one more time, I dare ye.” the first one said and turned around, pointing his finger towards the man who had spoken up.
“Guys we’ll be in trouble if you fight. Do that after the shift.” a third one said which didn’t help much with defusing the situation.
“You dumb fucking idio…,” the second guards said when he was punched in the face hard. He stumbled back when a fifth man landed near them.