Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

All of the members of the organization began to move as if they were returning to the capital, but soon they began to turn around in a wide arc toward Tristan. A group of two hundred soldiers was with them, and they would lead the charge.

Still, everyone around knew that a surprise attack with that number of people wouldn't last for long… the enemies camping behind Tristan numbered around five thousand. It wouldn't be a decent fight, and since everyone knew that, the atmosphere was getting quite tense.

"The commander of this battle… is he trying to screw us over?" Jori asked. "I can't think of anything else."

"Maybe, maybe not," Rain said. "A larger army couldn't leave the camp without looking suspicious; a larger army also couldn't cover this much ground and attack the enemies from the back before sunrise."

Although Rain said that, he also didn't like the odds of the battle they would soon face. No one knew what the enemies stationed outside the city could do since they had never been put to fight in three and half years… so it felt like they were being sacrificed to learn what they could do.

In any case, at least they had some Healers with them, so it wasn't like the commander sent them to their deaths. Rain imagined that Branden went against that plan with all his might, and that was why it took him so long to talk with the commander, but in the end, he didn't change his mind.

He might have had an influence on the capital to some extent, but he didn't influence the battlefield… he might gain some if his soldiers were to accomplish something there.

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In any case, the mood of the group was troublesome… if they wanted to have any chances of winning, they would have to fight with all their minds while not even thinking about death. It will be hard to rally the soldiers and the mercenaries in such a situation.

Rain wasn't the kind of person who could do that, he was also an unknown member of the organization, and he was only eight years old… so he didn't know what he could do.

Still, while he was thinking like that, Rain realized that the atmosphere of the group ahead slowly began to change. Some groups made some noise for some reason, but soon they went silent again. However, Rain could easily feel their fighting spirit…

"I guess some experienced captains managed to rile up their friends…" Rain thought while rubbing his chin. "I should try to talk with Jori and see if he can motivate the girls. It seems that Reca will be the easiest for him since they are birds of a feather, but the others aren't that bloodthirsty."

"You guys are a lot more quiet than I expected," Branden suddenly said. "This is the chance you all have been looking for, so why are you all so gloomy?"

The group looked around since they didn't expect to hear Branden's voice, and soon they found a hooded figure on the side approaching them. He made the gesture to stay silent with his index finger and slowly revealed himself. Branden was truly there.

"My lord," Jori said, visibly surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to increase our chances of winning," Jori said. "The lord commander of this operation is a moron that thinks that my organization is only good for a petty distraction, so I am going to prove him wrong."

Now it made sense why the atmosphere changed ahead. For one reason or the other, Branden had a lot of charisma, and the people of the organization had absolute faith in him. So, his presence could really rile up everyone's spirits.

"We don't have much time to talk since I have to tell every group what they will have to do," Branden added. "Your group is more balanced than most, and that would be ideal if we were in a long battle, but we need to defeat the enemies as soon as possible and take down the western gate. With that in mind, you guys will have to charge ahead with all your might once the time comes.

Just focus on causing as much damage as possible while staying within Terra's range for her to heal you all. That is the strategy; make good use of the chance when the time comes."

"When the time comes?" Rain asked while furrowing his eyebrows.

"You will soon understand what I mean by that," Branden said while smirking.

Rain expected a better strategy coming from Branden; just charging ahead was something that even a kid could tell them to do. Still, maybe that was truly the only thing they needed to do… Branden was plotting something, but he didn't want to reveal details for one reason or the other.

That was suspicious, but maybe he was considering that there were some people in the organization that joined the enemy's side in the last few months. Spies are really good at that kind of thing, after all.

Branden soon left the group and then went to talk with the others; at the same time, the formation of that small army was starting to change.

It was a bit too soon for that, but it seemed that everyone wanted to work as hard as possible to make the plan work… their leader was there with them, even though he didn't have to, so they felt that they had to do their best to make it work and protect Branden at the same time.

"That is one crazy level of charisma," Rain thought.

Two hours later, the group realized that the sky was starting to get a bit brighter. At the same time, they could see the shadows of Tristan ahead, they also could see some torches in the walls, but their numbers were much smaller if compared to the other sides… the enemies truly weren't expecting an attack from that direction…