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“We can’t advance any further. The blast radius is too big,” Pyre said and shook his head as he sucked on his pipe. The halflings lying on their backs were either sleeping or groaning with sweat pouring from their bodies. Even the archangels had exhausted their mana reserves for the second B.F.G. assault, and the mountain was crawling along at a child’s walking pace.
“Then what’s the plan?” Mathias asked. After the mountain passed through the wall, Pyre had ordered them to stop. “You do have a plan, right?”
Pyre snorted. “Everyone knows the plan always crumbles upon first contact with the enemy.”
“Then…”
“I have a backup plan,” Pyre said and rolled his eyes. “I thought of it just now. Have all the halflings who haven’t had their mana extracted scatter. Take the orbs, group up, and kidnap as many angels as possible. That should buy us a little bit of time.”
“But the only ones who haven’t used their mana aren’t even greater halflings,” Mathias said and furrowed his brow. Was it a mistake to replace Solra with Pyre? No, Solra hadn’t even explained how they would enter the capital. Pyre did that at least.
“That’s what the orbs are for,” Pyre said. “Disable the angels’ powers and beat them with numbers, then bring them back here.” He paused. “And pray they don’t encounter any archangels. As long as we can gather enough angels, we can fire the B.F.G. again. If we can hit the central tower, the majority of the capital will be wiped out from the explosion and it’ll be our victory.”
Mathias scratched his head. “Why didn’t you hit the tower with the one you fired just now then?”
Pyre smacked the centaur with the back of his pipe. “You think I didn’t try?” he asked. “Do you know how hard it is to aim this thing? I designed it to maximize power, not accuracy!”
“…Which means it’s possible to miss again?”
“Anything’s possible! Hurry up and gather those angels,” Pyre said. “I don’t know how fast those freaks will recover.”
Two figures dropped from the sky and landed beside Pyre. He inspected them and nodded. “You two don’t look too exhausted. It seems like you wiped out one of the families?”
Two scaly hands popped out of Danger Noodle’s jaw. Cleo climbed out of the snake and shook herself off. “It was the Ingel family,” she said. She took out the Ingel family’s necklace and kicked it. “Stupid glowing bird.” Palan and Raea wouldn’t have been discovered if it weren’t for the necklace triggering an alarm system. Cleo hoped Palan didn’t realize that; otherwise, he’d definitely leave her behind next time. Luckily for her, Palan was a bit absentminded after fighting with the lightning avatars.
“Sariel’s body will be destroyed if you follow through with the plan, right?” Palan asked and furrowed his brow.
“Uh, probably?” Pyre scratched his head. “I haven’t heard any rumors of her being sturdy enough to survive something that can destroy red metal.”
“Is there another plan?” Palan asked. Mathias had already run off to inform the troops about kidnapping angels. “I need Sariel’s head.”
“It’ll take a while to gather all the angels,” Pyre said and bit down on his pipe. “You can kill her before then, and we’ll fire the B.F.G. when you come back. Do you think you can do that? A lot of options are no longer viable after finding out the lightning avatar can come back to life repeatedly.”
“Then I guess there’s no other choice,” Palan said with a frown. “Though I’m only interested in killing Sariel and returning to Eljiam.”
“Will the portal be destroyed?” Raea asked. “It’s in the basement of the tower.”
“Bah,” Pyre said. “That doesn’t matter. If you want a targeted portal, I can build one. It might not be as efficient mana-wise, but we have enough archlings to power an inefficient portal.”
“You can build one?”
“Of course,” Pyre said. “Who do you think I am? I’m a genius.”
“It’s also in the books,” a slurred voice said. The headmaster was approaching the group with an open bottle in his hand. “There are step-by-step picture books on how to make a portal. It’s just difficult for the populace to gather enough mana to activate one, not to mention illegal if you don’t have proper authorization.” He took a swig from the bottle. “I couldn’t help but overhear, you wanted to kill Sariel?” His eyes twinkled.
Palan glared at Pyre. “I thought you locked this guy up,” he said and crossed his arms. “Why’s he look so free?”
“He’s my teacher,” Pyre said and shrugged. “He wouldn’t sabotage me. He’s also voluntarily filling up orbs for us. There’s no reason to torture him and keep him locked up.”
“Let’s make a deal,” Headmaster said and sat on the ground, tossing his empty bottle over his shoulder. He waited for Palan’s response, but neither Palan nor Raea said anything. A sigh escaped from his lips. “Look, I know Lady Caelum might have a teensy grudge against me for those puzzles I gave her, and I’m fairly certain I left a bad impression on the demon and his lizard, but—hear me out—I’m useful.” He thumped the ground with his fist. “I’m useful, dammit. None of you have been to the capital. I have. You’re looking for Sariel? I know where to find her.” He glared at Palan and hiccoughed.
“I’ve lived in the capital for the majority of my life…,” Raea said. Headmaster shushed her without turning his gaze away from Palan.
“What do you want?” Palan asked. Even if Headmaster demanded something outrageous, Palan could always torture the information out of him. Besides, bribery and deals were second nature to residents of Eljiam—and backstabbing of course.
“I’m not going to ask for much. I just hope you can leave Hailing Academy intact,” Headmaster said. “And spare my family. I have two grandchildren living there.”
“You’d sell Sariel for your academy?” Palan asked.
“There’s no reason not to,” Headmaster said and lowered his head. “If you lose, Hailing Academy stays intact. If you win, then the academy stays intact. What do you say? You don’t have anything to lose from this deal.”
“We accept,” Raea said, answering for Palan. He frowned, but didn’t refute her.