Chapter 323 Premature Start
Sighing in relief, the party smiled when they saw the dead boss.
With the second boss slain, Shiro had managed to level up to level 79 while the rest of the party also gained a level.
[Lisandra LVL 79 Soul Bound Arch Angel]
[Yin LVL 75 Dark Star Calamity]
[Silvia LVL 70 Healing Saint]
[Lyrica LVL 66 Ascended Blade Dancer]
[Madison LVL 66 Demonic Shield Berserker]
[Chen Yu LVL 68 Phantom Blade]
[Aarim LVL 64 Apocalyptic Battle Mage}
With Silvia reaching level 70, she was able to equip one of the armours that they had collected.
"Do we want to continue? I'm not sure my mana can keep up the pace after two bosses." Silvia frowned since her mana count right now wasn't optimal.
"Hmm… you're right. Let's head back. The main problem is that you're the only support. Having another would be helpful. While I can somewhat double as one, my healing isn't that great." Shiro shook her head.
"Same with me. Most of my skills buff but they're inferior to Silvia's since she's a proper support." Lisandra agreed. Her class gave her support skills which boosted attack speed and attack damage, of which she cast at every opportunity, but a single use of Silvia's skills could potentially be twice as potent.
"Let's end it here then. The risks would be too big if we continue." Lyrica nodded her head. As one that had been overlooking the party for the entire time that Shiro wasn't with them, she understood that sometimes it was better to call it quits. They can't respawn like in quests after all.
Death in a dungeon and raid was permanent.
Making sure that they've collected everything, the party left the raid before the final boss could even spawn.
Upon leaving the dungeon, the party made their way back to the castle.
They received a few curious gazes from the overseers since the time they took to come out meant that they had managed to kill at least one boss. For a small party like this, one that was almost the same level as the raid, it was an impressive task.
"Say, have we seen these girls before? I think they might be newcomers to the city." One of the overseers muttered.
"Hmm… you're right. But with how things are right now, it might not be the best time to come in eh? The princes seem to be on the verge of fighting each other."
"Mn, if not for the protection given by the guild, I would not be doing this job right now. Who the hell would actively go to a city that is literally on the edge of a civil war?"
While the overseers talked amongst themselves, Shiro and the party made it back to the castle.
Upon entering the castle, they were greeted by the sight of frantic staff and maids running around in a panic.
"What's happening?" Shiro pulled one of the maids aside and asked curiously.
"The princes are about to fight! A notice has just been sent out and all the staff are ordered to evacuate so that we're not pulled into the conflict. You should evacuate too!" The maid replied quickly before rushing off again.
Shiro furrowed her brows since this was clearly a little faster than she had anticipated. She had hoped that she'll reach level 80 before having to fight but it seems like the situation doesn't allow for it.
"Everyone follow me. We're going to be meeting up with the elders and the princesses." Shiro said seriously before dashing towards the elder's hall.
*BANG!
Pushing the door open, Shiro clicked her tongue when she couldn't see any of the elders.
"Damn, where the hell are they." She muttered. Scanning for any clues that may help in the room, she left empty handed.
'Hmm… seems like we'll have to group up with the third prince first. That way, we can keep an eye on the situation. If not for the fact that I had puppets made previously, I wouldn't even know where to look for them right now.' Shiro thought to herself in relief.
{My queen, you might want to be a bit careful since that third prince may have something up his sleeve as well.}
'I know. Everyone has trump cards and the third prince will definitely have one as well. For now, I'm just thinking of acting as support since I've already had the other two princesses support him. That way, we'll be less suspicious. After all, he can think that Lyrica is showing her support.' Shiro replied while turning to the party.
"Since the elders aren't here, we're going to meet up with Blythe. We'll help him for a short period but remember, since we're not technically on the same side, hold back a little and only show the strength of an average adventurer that's at your level. That way, we can have some upper hand in the situation."
"Are you sure we want to meet up with the prince? Wouldn't spectating by the side be better?" Aarim suggested.
"That is what I would normally say but we need to provide extra pressure in order to corner the other princes more. Once that happens, the third prince is bound to let his guard down and that's when we'll strike. With all three princes weakened, we'll be able to kill them. Even if they're B class adventurers." Shiro smiled.
"It's still quite risky but I'll follow you." Aarim nodded in acceptance.
Making sure that this was ok with the rest of the party, Shiro focused her mind to find where her puppets are.
'Hmm… they're outside of the castle. The prince might wonder why I was able to find them…' She frowned.
However, if the prince does ask, Shiro planned to just say it's a secret.
'I suppose it doesn't matter much even if he doesn't allow me in. The main thing is for all three princes to fight each other.'
"Follow me, I know where the third prince is." Shiro said as the party followed behind her.
Walking through the city once more, they could see the residents packing up quickly in order to take shelter since they've just received the warning about the fight.
"How things can change so quickly with a single announcement huh?" Shiro asked with a smile.
Just a few moments ago, everything was still calm. But with a single announcement, it had become a fight for survival.
"Well there's going to be a battle between level 100's. It would be stranger for them not to be packing away. After all, despite us just being a few levels lower than 70, we can do quite a bit of damage to the surroundings already. Think about what a big group of level 100's can do." Madison replied with a shrug.
"True. Hopefully, they'll drag the fight outside the city. I don't want them to ruin what mum and dad had built." Lyrica sighed while looking at the soon to be empty streets.
"Don't worry. What is broken can be rebuilt. Plus, since they want to be a king, I'm sure they know that they need to avoid damaging the main city." Shiro smiled.
"Mn."
Making their way through the city, Shiro noticed that the signals seem to be getting further and further away.
"Girls, it seems like the third prince is making his way out of the city. Since they're moving quite fast, I'd say they're about to fight soon. Let's hurry up and rendezvous with them."
Crouching down slightly, Shiro leapt up to the roof and started to dash towards where her puppets are.
Looking at each other for a moment, the party nodded their heads and followed behind.
Since Silvia wasn't as fast as the others, due to the fact that she was a support, she had Chen Yu carry her in order to keep up with everyone else.
But before they left the city, they saw a giant explosion in the distance that sent debris flying into the sky.
"Oh f*ck… they're starting the fight in the city!?" Shiro's smile faltered as she quickly thought of some ideas.
"Here are some communicators. We'll be doing some guerrilla warfare instead since we can't exactly tell who is our friend and who is our enemy." She said while giving each of them an ear piece.
"Silvi, Chen Yu. You two stay together while Madi comes along. Chen Yu you'll be the main damage dealer in your small group. Aarim, you'll be with Lyrica and Lisandra. Your group will be an assassin type group where you kill people then leave immediately. Yin, you come with me. We'll be observing the situations from the air. Got it?" Shiro ordered quickly since things were progressing much faster than she had thought.
Even if they don't kill a prince, they're bound to suffer some casualties.
"Understood." The party replied seriously and put on the ear pieces.
Gesturing for Yin to shift into her phoenix form, Shiro hopped onto her back and flew into the sky.
Camouflaging the two of them, Shiro created a sniper. She was going to take out some of the executives while the other party members took care of the grunts. Since this was the first fight, she wanted to deal as much damage as possible without revealing too much.