98. Regroup

It was bright and early, and Kiara got out of bed. She felt light. Happy. Relaxed. She enjoyed that feeling of warmth that now flowed through her entire body, and it came from a warm fire in her belly and crotch. She felt strong. Healthy. Maybe she would have Edmund's baby.

That thought made her feel warm. She touched her belly, and her womb, and wished she would have a strong baby. She wished she could help her mother, and free her family from their unfortunate circumstances.

"Maybe I am not that unlucky after all." She said to herself as she looked out the window. She used to think that she was so unfortunate, but as it turned out, fate wasn't so cruel to her. The sun was slowly peeking over the hills, and she looked out the window. Northengard, one of the many fortress cities. Edmund must've returned to Natar. She got dressed, put on her armor, and picked up her sword.

Breakfast was just bread and some milk.

She waited for a moment, and then realized Sofia was still asleep. She briefly recalled what happened last night, and then blushed to herself. Count Edmund's desire for women is so strong that he was trying to tempt Sofia as well. She felt a little bad for the soldier, and so, Kiara decided she'd stop getting Sofia involved.

So, she took to practice first, and helped with training.

***

It was around midday when she felt a familiar presence. The hero. And also the rest of the party. Sofia, also woke up and joined her at the field.

"They're back?" Sofia said, surprised. The hero was already talking to Wynn and Hannah. It seemed that something had already happened.

"Have you discovered the demon lord's keep?" Kiara quickly approached the returning party.

"Yes." The hero Aman said. "But it's not going to be an easy approach. It is located on top of a cliff, and unless we can fly, we're not getting up that cliff by air. Come, let's head back to the inn and I'll show you."

Kiara's attention, however, focused on the rest of them. All of them looked battered and bruised in some way, even if there was nothing truly serious. "Are you all alright?"

They mumbled a reluctant yes. Raven groaned. "We've been fighting so many undead, and they keep coming. It's insane. It doesn't help that none of my weapons work for very long! And I'm not using magical arrows on stupid skeletons!"

It was a fact that Hannah agreed with. "Crushing weapons work to some level, but to truly bring them down we need magic, or holy power."

Then her tummy growled loudly.

"Actually, let's eat."

Then, Kiara's eyes wandered to Nysta, looked uncomfortable and pale. "You look terrible."

"I got cursed by an undead knight. I'll need to visit the temple and use an altar."

Then, her eyes stopped on Ethan. There was something strangely familiar about the man, but Kiara couldn't quite be sure what it was. Still, she put those thoughts aside and taunted the man. "You look alright. It almost seemed like you let the girls did all the fighting."

Ethan shook his head and laughed. "Not at all. I was stuck with guard duty. Hannah and Wynn did exploration while I protected Nysta."

"Protected?" Kiara squinted with suspicion.

"Yes. I did nothing." Ethan swore.

"Good." Kiara then turned to the other party. Raven and Bianca. "You two look like you've been through hell too."

Raven pointed to all her damaged gear. "I'm going to see a blacksmith and a leatherworker to fix all this stuff."

Bianca sighed. "I ran out of potions. There were way too many undead. I'll need to make new ones."

Kiara blinked. "Don't you need to hear what Aman has to say?"

"Later." Raven and Bianca both walked away. The knight wondered what even happened in the woods.

Aman sighed. "Yeah, actually they're right. We been through a lot of fights. Let's just rest, and do what we need to do. We can meet later in my room after dinner."

***

It was later that evening when the full team gathered once more in Aman's room. There was a map.

Ethan looked around, and noticed the girls all looking somewhat fresh, except for Nysta. "Are you alright, Nysta?"

She frowned. "The demon's curse was quite strong. I managed to weaken it so that I can use some of my healing abilities and blessings, but I'm not at my best."

"Hmmm." Ethan shook his head. "That's not good."

Aman clapped his hands. "Alright. The Demon Lord Silber's keep is located here. on this cliff edge. They built it on top of this vertical stone outcropping, and the only way up there is through the inner chambers. It'll be a big battle to get there."

Ethan remembered the Demon Lord Silber in the game. Silber took many forms, but he was mainly a necromancer-demon that turned bones into monsters. In the game itself, if any of the team members 'died' in battle and was not revived in time, Silber could reanimate them into zombies and turn them against the hero. He also had strong life-draining and shapeshifting abilities, and his bone-dragon form was rather fearsome. But if the main hero was strong enough, his golden holy sword could cut through most of the gimmicks.

Magical attacks or holy attacks were key. Physical attacks weakened the demon lord, but he could regenerate his wounds and reattach bones easily.

So, Ethan had to pose the question. "Aman, I believe the key to this battle is how much of the goddesses' power can you use."

Aman looked at Ethan. Everyone else turned as well.

"Can you use your powers to create a holy blade?" Ethan asked.

Aman picked up his sword, and then, as if by sheer instinct, he knew exactly what to do, and the sword lit up in golden flames. Everyone else blinked in shock. Some, like Nysta, had their jaws drop. "Wow."

Ethan internally cursed how overpowered Aman was. Damned harem game made the hero too OP. But he knew that in the game itself, Aman would learn it along the final attack to the demon lord's keep. Even if he said nothing, the hero would learn what he needs to learn.

"Thanks!" Aman immediately said, impressed with the new ability. "This is a great idea! I owe you one."

Ethan had no choice but to smile. He prayed that sword was not turned against him, but then, the hero now owed him. "Good. If you owe me one, come, let's have a drink tonight. Just you and me, man to man."

Aman blinked at the offer, and the girls looked in surprise. The hero's eyes blinked a few more times, until he finally processed the request. "Uh, sure."

"Good. Now let's get back to the meeting, then we can go and have a drink later."

Aman's plan was pretty much the same as the story. A big push towards the keep with the entire army, and then the heroes will fight their way into the keep. With Aman's holy abilities, it should not be much of a problem to win. The question that mattered more, was how Ethan could use this moment to set up more personal moments with the girls.

"Should we really charge there with a large army?" Ethan asked. "We know where they are. They don't know that we are coming. Surely, we can do something more subtle. Or just sneak in there with a small team."

"But what if we get ambushed." Sofia countered. "A large army also keeps us in good form."

Kiara sat and thought about it. "It's either we fight with the army, or use the army as a distraction. Fighting with the army is preferable, since it keeps unnecessary deaths down. The army wouldn't be able to do much without us."

Ethan thought for a moment. An army could be advantageous, since the heroines could be spread out throughout different squadrons of the army to help them out. Only a few would stay with Aman.

Edmund could easily sneak into the rest of the army to cause trouble, and muddle the waters. Especially if one of the squads was replaced with Edmund's enthralled loyalists.

After thinking for a while, he nodded. "Very well. I concede my point. An army does sounds like a better idea."

***