Chpater 41: Black Parade (1)

Let’s rewind to just before Sion went underground to rescue the twins.

“Okay, let’s go over everything we’ve discussed so far.”

The three of them, having finally completed their strategy meeting, began to review their plan from the beginning.

“There are about 300 people currently imprisoned in that underground facility called Tartarus. Obviously, we can’t just march such a large group out through the front entrance, so we need a way to move in and out undetected.

The best way to do that is for me to create a dimensional gate that connects directly from the prison to this forest.

But right now, the underground area is protected by an anti-teleportation barrier, making it impossible to open such a gate. Are we clear so far?”

“Y-yes, yes….”

 Chik nodded repeatedly.

Isabella turned toward Sion and said, “This is where you come in, sister. Your job is to sneak in alone, as stealthily as possible, and destroy the orb that’s generating the barrier.

It’s a tough request, but I trust you can do it because you’re the best. Think you can handle it?”

“Of course. I’ll show you the hide-and-seek skills I honed in the slums as a child.”

Sion replied with a confident smile. Isabella smiled in return, reassured by Sion’s confidence.

“Good. I never doubted you for a second. Once you’ve neutralized the anti-teleportation barrier, summon this [Isabella’s Spellbook].

That will be the signal for me to open the dimensional gate below and get everyone out. Got it?”

“Got it. To summon the spellbook, I just say the name of the book, right?”

“Exactly. Just clearly say, ‘Summon Isabella’s Spellbook,’ and it’ll come to you.”

The most annoying challenge of this operation was the lack of a clear way to communicate to Isabella and Lancia on the surface that the orb had been destroyed.

Tartarus was located so deep underground that no matter how much chaos occurred down there, no trace of it would reach the surface.

So, even if Sion managed to destroy the barrier, there would be no way for the two above to know.

Waiting for Sion to return was also not an option, it was uncertain when she would come back, and countless variables could arise in the meantime.

To solve this problem, Isabella came up with the idea of using the “Nameplate of Recall” attached to her magic spellbook.

The function of this tool was simple.

By writing the object’s name and the owner’s name on the nameplate, the recorded owner could call out the object’s name and have it teleport directly into their hand, regardless of its original location.

It was essentially a magical tool to prevent losing important items.

For this operation, Isabella decided to use the nameplate on her spellbook as a signaling device. The method was straightforward: she would add “[Owner: Isabella de Salem & Sion]” to the nameplate, granting Sion the authority to summon the spellbook.

After destroying the orb, Sion would call out the name of the spellbook. If the book that Isabella held suddenly disappeared, it would serve as a signal on the surface.

No complicated system was needed. All that was required was to convey a simple message: “The book has disappeared = the orb has been destroyed; you can come in.”

“After that, we’ll proceed with the original plan to open the dimensional gate to the underground prison and get the slaves out,” Isabella continued.

“But evacuating around 300 people will take some time, so we need to ensure that we aren’t discovered during that period.

That means, after destroying the orb, you should stay inside and cause as much disruption as possible. Keep the guards distracted, so they don’t notice the mass escape. Got it?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Great. Lancia, your role is to handle any guards who might approach us, just in case…”

Isabella surveyed the overall plan once more.

It was possible.

While it wasn’t a perfect plan, if everything went smoothly, they could save everyone suffering below. They would become heroes—heroes who exposed the reality of the Demon King’s army and saved 300 lives.

She clapped her hands and smiled.

“Alright, let’s get fired up! Let’s do this—go, team~!”

“Let’s go!”

 The three of them shouted, their voices echoing through the forest.

“Most likely, this plan will fail.”

Moments later, while Sion was walking towards the entrance Chik had indicated, away from the others, she suddenly muttered.

-“Huh? What do you mean, fail?”

“Their plan,” Sion clarified. “If things continue like this, there’s a high chance it will end in a spectacular failure.”

She crossed her arms thoughtfully.

“The flow of the plan isn’t bad. Logically, it’s a sound strategy, and the idea of using the Nameplate of Recall is very clever.

However, there’s an undeniable lack of experience here. It reveals the classic, critical thinking error that beginners in strategic planning often make, across all eras.”

-“A critical thinking error?”

“It’s ‘over-optimism about the enemy.’”

According to Sion, Isabella’s plan was overly dependent on things going “well.”

Assigning a massive responsibility to the Hero was understandable—one could see it as an expression of trust.

Given Sion’s abilities, it wasn’t unreasonable to think she could manage infiltration and even demolish the base with ease.

But the real issue lay in what came next: opening the dimensional gate and extracting the slaves.

Isabella’s plan was a typical diversion tactic. The idea was to have Sion draw attention and disrupt the guards while achieving their objective quietly from behind.

But would the enemy really take the bait and focus all their efforts on Sion as they hoped? What if the guards didn’t react as drastically as expected?

A well-organized force wouldn’t fall into disarray over a single intruder.

Usually, each soldier would stay in their assigned areas, while a separate pursuit team would be dispatched to handle the intruder. If the discipline of the Demon King’s army was anything like Sion remembered from the old days, they would have at least that level of organization.

“Moreover, if the distraction fails and the plan falls apart, it won’t just end there—it could put the lives of those two in danger.

They are certainly talented for their age, but they’re still just two young girls. If the enemy overwhelms them with numbers or sends out officers, their defeat is inevitable.

And there’s no way 300 starved and weakened people could assist in a battle against armed soldiers.”

If that happened, the only outcome would be death.

This wasn’t a training ground. There were no safety nets to guarantee their lives.

“That’s why I believe there’s a good chance this plan will fail. It’s a detailed plan for a young person, but that’s all. Her strategy lacks a decisive factor that leads to success.

It’s the classic mistake of an inexperienced strategist, who’s good at thinking but has never faced real combat, assuming that the enemy will act according to her own expectations.”

-“Uh…”

Exia hesitated, taken aback by Sion’s blunt analysis.

-“What… what should we do, then? And why didn’t you say this earlier? If you’d noticed all of this, it would have been good to let them know.”

“Well, even if I had told them the solution, they likely wouldn’t have listened.”

-“The solution?”

Sion shrugged.

“In my opinion, there’s only one way to fix the problem I just mentioned.

That is to use Karma, the man we recently brought over to our side. As a former officer of the Demon King’s Army, he knows a lot and has considerable authority within the base.

By calling him out to gather detailed information about their security system and secretly coordinating with him to direct the soldiers in a certain way, we could dramatically increase the chances of success. Don’t you agree?”

-“Uh…”

Exia tilted her head.

She had a point, a very good point.

-“So why wouldn’t they listen to that idea? It seems like a perfectly reasonable plan.”

“Well, to do that, we would first need Karma to come back up to the surface,” Sion explained.

“We would need him to devise a plan to gather information and coordinate. But since we have no way to communicate with him, we’d have to stay here for the remaining two or three hours he is expected to be away.”

-“So what’s the problem? We just wait, right?”

“Yes, we wait… but I doubt they’d be willing to do that.”

Sion sighed.

“Did you not hear what was said earlier? It takes an average of 10 minutes to create one Bloodstone. That means, at the very least, 10 to 20 lives will be lost while we wait for Karma.

If you were Isabella or Lancia, would you agree to that kind of waiting?”

-“Oh…”

Exia finally started to understand.

Indeed, with the strong sense of justice that Isabella and Lancia possessed, they would never accept such an approach. Even if there was some risk, they would argue it’s better to act quickly.

They were different from Sion, who, calculating and pragmatic, was always willing to make ‘small sacrifices’ if necessary.

But still…

“Hmm, but isn’t it too hasty to assume they’d outright refuse? They both respect you a lot, Sion. Using that respect, you could have pushed them to wait for two or three hours, don’t you think?”

Sion’s suggestion wasn’t unreasonable, nor was it a cowardly stance.

Given that they were up against a vast organization with only the three of them, urging caution was a perfectly valid request for a hero to make.

So why didn’t she bring it up earlier? Why had she, uncharacteristically, let it slide?

To Exia’s surprise, Sion didn’t deny it. Instead, she nodded in agreement.

“You’re right. If I had scolded them to distinguish between boldness and recklessness, I could have silenced any dissenting voices. The reason I didn’t is simply that… there’s no need to.”

-“No need?”

Exia repeated, puzzled. Sion gave a faint smile, the kind of unsettling smile that made anyone who saw it uneasy.

“The best outcome is that we don’t have to wait for two or three hours, and the plan doesn’t fail either, right? As long as no innocent people die, that’s the best, isn’t it?”

Exia’s eyes widened as she realized what Sion was hinting at.

-“Wait… are you saying you have a way to make that happen?”

Sion’s smile grew a bit wider, and she nodded.

“Yes, indeed. I’m going to make sure everything goes perfectly… without any unnecessary waiting or sacrifices.”

-“Uh… well, that makes sense, but do you have a good idea for how to do it?”

“It’s simple logic.”

Sion replied, raising her index finger.

“If you’re worried about the guards chasing after us and the plan failing, then just eliminate the guard system entirely. If there’s no one left to pursue, those two won’t be in any danger, right?”

-“……”

For some reason, Exia felt a deep sense of foreboding in that moment.

The person before her seemed to be contemplating something incredibly reckless.

-“H-How do you intend to accomplish that?” she asked, already guessing the answer.

Sure enough, Sion’s lips curled into a sly grin as she replied.

“Why, by killing them all, of course. Every single one wearing the Demon King’s insignia, down to the last ant.”

A decision that could be seen as the worst catastrophe for some, yet Sion spoke of it with complete calm.