Tristan stopped before Alexander first, bowing. "Your Highness."

"Commander Tristan," Alexander greeted. "How are the lines?"

"Holding," Tristan said. "Barely in some areas, comfortably in others. The reinforcements helped."

His gaze shifted toward Elion. "And your arrival will help more."

Elion rubbed the back of his neck. "No pressure then."

Aeron leaned closer to Maya and whispered loudly, "He says that like he doesn’t love being dramatic."

"I heard that," Elion said without looking.

"I intended you to."

Zenovia’s lips twitched faintly.

For a short moment, despite the tense camp and the heavy atmosphere, things felt almost normal again.

Alexander spoke.

"We were attacked at the second checkpoint last night."

The mood changed instantly.

Tristan’s expression hardened. "Demons?"

"Yes. A coordinated force. They had a caster and a stronger commander-type demon with them."

Aeron’s brows drew together. "That far behind the lines?"

Elion nodded. "And they somehow knew I was a hero, and that we there at that particular moment in time."

Maya’s face paled slightly.

Zenovia’s eyes sharpened. "That means information leaked."

"Possibly," Alexander said. "There were signs suggesting someone may have guided them through a hidden route."

The silence that followed was ugly.

Tristan’s jaw clenched, and Yakuza’s gaze darkened.

Aeron muttered a curse under his breath.

Maya looked toward the surrounding camp, suddenly seeing every passing soldier and messenger differently.

Alexander lowered his voice. "This stays between us for now. We have no proof, and spreading suspicion without evidence will damage morale."

Zenovia nodded. "That is for the best."

Aeron clicked his tongue. "This whole situation is annoying, though."

"Very," Elion agreed.

Tristan exhaled slowly. "Then we should move this discussion inside."

Alexander nodded.

The group began heading toward the command tent, but as they walked, Zenovia fell into step beside Elion.

For a few breaths, she said nothing; she sniffed the air subtly.

"You smell different."

Elion looked at her. "That is a weird thing to say."

She ignored him. "You have a new sword, new aura, and..."

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Perfume?"

Elion blinked.

Aeron, who had been walking ahead, immediately turned around curiously.

"Perfume?"

Maya looked between them.

Elion clicked his tongue. "Don’t start."

Aeron grinned. "You were in the capital for a week. Don’t tell me you spent the whole time training the prince."

Alexander, walking nearby, looked like his soul briefly left his body.

"How do you know I was training the prince?" 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Zenovia’s gaze sharpened further. "Who was she?"

Elion looked ahead calmly and sighed. "Well its a palace, plenty of women in there, perhaps a beautiful princess," he said casually, and even though it didn’t sound like he was admitting to anything, everyone went silent nonetheless.

Aeron, Maya, and Zenovia all stopped walking and stared at him with wide eyes. Even Tristan, who had been pretending not to listen, missed a step.

Alexander slowly turned his head toward Elion with a deeply annoyed look.

"Why would you say that so casually?"

Elion smiled faintly. "Well, because it’s true."

Aeron pointed at him, his mouth opening and closing in disbelief. "You... you..." Then he burst out laughing. "You absolute menace!"

Maya looked flustered. "Did you?.... A Princess? Truly?"

Zenovia’s expression was unreadable for a moment before she snorted softly. "Of course."

Alexander covered his face with one hand. "What were you thinking, Father?"

Elion only walked forward with his hands in his pockets and a faint grin on his face. "What can I say, when it comes to women, I’m just built like that."

Every single person facepalmed and sighed deeply; it hurt that none of them felt that they could refute his claims.

...

This command tent was busier than the one Elion was familiar with, with more maps pinned onto the walls, more markers scattered across the central table, and far more people moving in and out with grim expressions.

A few officers were already present, but Tristan dismissed most of them with a curt instruction, keeping only those who absolutely needed to hear the next discussion. Of course, Alexander’s retainers had to be left outside as well.

Once the flaps closed behind them, the noise of the camp dulled into a distant murmur, leaving only the weight of the battlefield between them.

Alexander did not waste time; he took a familiar talisman, but differently colored and he let it burn. The noise from outside immediately faded completely, and an absolute silence settled over the tent.

’A sound concealing formation?’ Elion thought quietly, ’These things are too damn convenient, I need me some samples.’

Alexander walked to the table and placed both hands against its edge, his expression calm, but his eyes sharper than they had been during the journey. "What I am about to explain does not leave this tent," he said, looking across Aeron, Maya, Zenovia, Tristan, Yakuza, and then finally Elion. "The council has agreed on the operation. Its broad outline may already be known among command-level officers, but the specific movements, timing, and roles of the heroes remain confidential."

Aeron leaned against one of the support poles with his arms crossed, though his usual casual grin had already disappeared. "Sounds serious."

"It is," Alexander replied.

Alexander gestured toward the map. "The operation will begin in phases. The first phase has already started. Reinforcements have been deployed across the eastern and central lines, and false movements are being made to suggest that we intend to push hard from the main fronts."

Aeron frowned. "A distraction."

"Yes," Alexander said.

Elion slipped his hands into his pockets and looked at the map quietly. He already knew this part, and even though the details still sounded ridiculous to him, hearing Alexander explain it to the others made everything feel more real.

"While the demons focus on the obvious pressure," Alexander continued, "smaller strike groups will move through less direct routes. Our purpose is not to win another field battle. We have done that enough times over the years. We take ground, they pull back, they return, and the war drags on. This time, the objective is to cut through the body and strike the heart."

Aeron’s gaze sharpened. "The Demon King?"

Alexander nodded slowly. "Yes."

Maya drew in a soft breath.

Zenovia did not look surprised, but her eyes narrowed further. "That is ambitious."

"That is putting it lightly," Elion muttered.

Alexander ignored him, though only because he probably agreed. "The Saint-level forces will move separately. They are too easy to track, much more likely to draw direct retaliation. Their task is to break open the way, disrupt the strongest demonic formations, and hold the enemy’s attention long enough for the smaller teams to get where they need to be."

"And us?" Aeron asked.

Alexander looked toward the heroes. "You will not all be together."

Maya’s expression changed slightly. "We’re being split up?"

"Yes," Alexander said. "Aeron, you will move with one of the main assault wings. Your strength and presence will help reinforce the illusion that the heroes are being used as battlefield weapons."

Aeron nodded calmly. "Fine."

"Maya," Alexander continued, "you will remain with the support formation near the rear route. Your healing and barrier support will be essential if the retreat path collapses or if wounded are extracted from the deeper strike groups."

Maya nodded quietly, though her fingers tightened around each other. "I understand."

"Zenovia." Alexander turned toward her. "You will move with the infiltration unit."

Zenovia’s expression did not change. "Expected."

"Your role is scouting, silent elimination, and removing variables or hidden powerhouses along the route. You will be operating closest to Elion’s path, but not beside him."

Elion glanced at her.

Zenovia’s gaze moved to him briefly, then away again.

"And Elion..." Alexander paused, "Your role remains the most critical."

Aeron pushed himself off the pole. "What does that mean?"

Elion sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "It means these lunatics decided that I should be the one to slip through whatever hellhole they point me at and strike the most troublesome part of the whole operation."

Alexander gave him a flat look. "That is one way to describe it."

"That is the correct way to describe it."

Aeron stared between them. "You’re joking."

"I don’t think so," Zenovia said quietly.

Maya looked toward Elion with open worry. "What exactly do they want you to do?"

Alexander’s voice lowered. "Elion’s task is to enter through the inner route once the Saint Mages open the first breach. He will not be fighting the Demon King alone. That is not the point. His role is to destroy the core mechanism sustaining the demonic domain around the King’s fortress."

Tristan’s eyes widened slightly. "The domain core, as we call it, or whatever object they are using to power the corrosive effects of their territory..."

Yakuza, who had been silent the entire time, finally looked up. "That is one of the reasons why we have not been able to fully commit to the war all these years, despite our numerical advantage, since we are weaker in their territory. If that falls, their battlefield advantage collapses."

Alexander nodded. "Exactly. The Demon King’s territory is not merely protected by soldiers and fortifications. The land itself is corrupted and reinforced. In some places, space even bends strangely there; mana behaves differently. Reinforcements can arrive too quickly. Retreat becomes difficult. Scouts lose direction. Entire units have vanished trying to move through it."

Aeron’s expression grew grim. "And Elion is supposed to walk into that?"

"Not walk," Elion said lightly. "Sneak, probably, besides, last time I was there, nothing of the sort happened to me." He shrugged lightly and laughed, but no one laughed with him.

He clicked his tongue, "Tough crowd."