Chapter 305: War (1/2)

“The hordes will arrive in our designated War Zone in eight days. We expect the second horde to come in contact with the coalition of Port Atwood and the Sino-Indians two days later,” Mark said as he looked down at the map.

Mark was a distant uncle to Thea, and he was assigned as her primary advisor for the upcoming war. The middle aged man was a seasoned veteran of the Royal Air Force and a decorated general, so it was no surprise that he would be calling the shots in the battle against the undead. Officially he was only here in an advisory role though, with Thea being the figurehead.

Still, she wanted to understand as much as she could even if she might not be the real strategist of the war. A lot of people would die in the upcoming weeks, some as a direct result of her commands. She owed it to them to do everything she could to keep that number as low as possible.

“Why don’t we immediately fight them?” Thea asked with a frown. “We’re giving them free rein over hundreds of miles of land.”

“For one we want them as far away as possible from the Incursion,” Mark explained as he pointed toward the edge of the Dead Zone. “The geeks have surmised that these hordes are large enough to affect the area, changing the Cosmic Energy into miasma at a rate higher than they consume.

“But our goal is to splinter the horde and whittle them down, turning the horde into smaller groups that won't have this benefit. If we can bring the units beneath the critical mass needed to maintain the transformation we can starve them out. Even if they turn back at that time they will have a week’s travel before they can resupply on miasma,” the general said as he scratched his beard.

“But they will destroy all the towns in their path,” Thea muttered.

“Small price to pay. Besides, we have evacuated most of the people living in the path toward us,” Mark said.

“How long do you think this war will take?” Thea asked, her thoughts heading to Zac.

“At least a month,” Mark said with some hesitation. “Problem is we can’t tell how many elite warriors they have, and that will affect the speed at which can dismantle the horde. They have a thick layer of trash out at the edges, and the cloud of miasma blocks our vision of what hides in the core.”

“How many Incursions do you think their team will be able to close in that time?” Thea asked, interested in hearing the opinion of a war veteran.

“I wouldn’t know, girl. You know his strength better than me. But it seems they want to keep the land they claim, and that will take far more time than the battle,” Mark said with a snort. “Port Atwood is about to get a real headache on their hands.”

“You know, you will need a better strategy than simply running interference,” Ilvere’s voice said as he walked inside the tent.

“What?” Alea said with confusion, once again looking down at the map detailing the progress of the undead horde.

“Lord Atwood,” Ilvere guffawed, drawing an even stare from the poison mistresses. “I heard about your little stalking over in that human town. You even sent the little blue one to ruin the mood, no?”

“That is none of your business. Besides, it was to avoid letting that woman taking advantage of us,” Alea said.

“I’m sure,” Ilvere snorted as he walked over to the table. “You should know that our cultures are different. I could simply beat up the others to court Lady Alyn, but that sort of approach seems to make the humans angry.”

“I don’t understand what you see in that bloodthirsty lunatic,” Alea said with a shake of his head.

“Perhaps I simply like living on the edge,” Ilvere smiled.

Alea rolled her eyes before she looked down at the table in silence a few seconds, as if in deep thought.

“Am I a fool for pursuing this?” Alea suddenly asked.

“Following one’s heart is never foolish,” Ilvere said.

“When did you become so wise?” Alea said, some humor returning to her eyes.

“Well, I wasn’t blessed with a rich daddy nor a pretty face, so I had to use my head for my conquests,” Ilvere grinned before once again looking down at the map. “So what are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that we will have to work a lot without pay. These things will barely bring any money per kill,” Alea sighed. “At least it will temper this pathetic excuse for an army.”

“If you think ours is bad you should see the ones from that other force,” Ilvere said with disgust. “It’s no wonder their countries became food for the undead.”

“What do you mean?” Alea asked with confusion. “Our reports say their armies are almost three hundred thousand men strong, with more joining every day.”

“A large group of trash,” Ilvere said. “Armed with pre-integration weaponry. Most are below level 10. They will probably just turn into even more zombies to kill. And all that energy and money being left on the table. I’d say that only fifty thousand or so are proper warriors, though their levels aren’t anything impressive.”

“What about the two elites that are on the ladder?” Alea asked.

“They act like they’re gods, but I’d be able to fight them both to a draw with my restrictions in place,” Ilvere said with a shake of his head.

“About the restrictions,” Alea slowly prodded. “Did you…?”

“Yeah, I got the quest. As did Janos,” Ilvere said. “But completing our mission comes first.”

“Agreed, but if we see the opportunity,” Alea said, drawing a nod from the demon general.

“And if those two get in the way?”

“Then they can join the Undead General in hell,” Alea said with equanimity.

“If you were only this assertive with your private life,” Ilvere said with a final laugh as he left the tent, holding his breath to avoid the wave of poison that followed him out.

“Thank you as always, Miss Sui,” Ling Tian said as he stood up.

“You should rest some more,” Sui said as she looked at the back of her new team leader with worry.