By the end of day4 the fort was built completely and all the traps and defensive structures were put in place.
The soldiers were finally starting to set up camp and build tents as they enjoyed one last night's meal before the real battle started the next day.
The news that the light faction had lost 27 orbs even before the fighting began from traitors became common knowledge by this point, but thankfully after the first round of traitors backstabbing their organisations, there were no more surprise attempts in the subsequent days.
With the defence strategy sorted out, it was finally time for Max to think about offence as the role assigned to him aside from guarding the orb was to bring the fight to enemy grounds.
The problem was that without crossing the center line, it was difficult to scout what the enemy was upto and hence difficult to formulate an attack plan.
For now Max had no idea as to who the enemy was, what race he belonged to or what was the tier of the guardian of the orb.
Even Though he was told that he could take on average tier6 god's, he did not want to stretch his luck right at the start and was hoping to fight opponents in the same realm of power.
With all these unknowns preventing him from making a proper strategy, Max decided to take advice from one old man as to how he would tackle this scenario.
*********
( In Rudra's tent )
" Old man, can I enter? " Max asked while being in the guise of Lord Ravan Bloodfall as his presence in the soldiers quarters caused quite the stir amongst the troops.
" Sure " a calm voice sounded from within as Max entered his tent.
Rudra's tent was simple, a single bed with white sheet and a bag full of supplies and essentials and that was it.
There was not even a chair as furniture inside which forced Max to talk while standing.
" How can I help you, Lord Ravan? " Rudra asked with his wrinkly smile as Max proceeded to unfurl the map of the battlefield on the bed beside where Rudra was sitting.
" I have an attack strategy, I was wondering if you have any suggestions" Max said, as his words made Rudra realise that because of the last meeting, his brother had began to take his opinion more seriously.
Rudra looked at the map then shook his head and said " You know, tomorrow's battle won't be about fighting. Tomorrow will be about scouting.
There will be discreet clashes all along the central line amongst scouts and the ones that successfully manage to sneak-in and then sneak-back will be the ones that give their side the biggest advantage in war "
Max sighed as he said " I know that, I've already spread some troops of the second legion further into the forest, upstream and near the mountains.
The coward legion will not let them slip "
Max pointed out the spots where he had deployed troops to intercept the enemy scouts and Rudra could not help but be impressed.
The areas where he had deployed scouts were the precise points from which one could spot the Fort over the horizon.
Max was smart this way, he was not going to let the enemy know that they had an entire fort built around an orb to protect it.
" That's great my lord, but there's still the sky.
If I'm not wrong there will be some major scouting done from the skies " Rudra said as he reminded Max that he was not only dealing with scouts that could not fly this time.
There would be all sorts of scouts on mounts, those that could fly or even god's that take up the task themselves.
" I'll personally cover the sky " Max said as he reassured the old man that he had not forgotten about the sky.
" In my understanding Lord Ravan, the best case scenario that we can hope to create is to spread misinformation.
If only we could put the scout under mind control spell or trick him with illusion magic, we can bait the enemy into moving their legion into an extremely unfavourable position and rout them to reduce their strength.
Once we know who went after us and eliminate their offence unit, we can take up the counter offensive and make an attempt at their orb.
But whether or not the Bloodfall clan possesses a mage or an individual with the capability to cast illusion magic, I don't know ….. " Rudra said as he smiled softly at Max.
Rudra knew Max had advanced mastery over the spell ( Brainwash )
If he wanted to he could control the scouts and spread deliberate misinformation about the location of the Bloodfall clan's orb and its defences.
Although it wouldn't be enough to just brainwash one scout, if he could brainwash 3-4 of them and they reported the same thing back to their base, their leader was bound to believe it to be true.
He had done his job to nudge Max's thinking in the right direction, but figuring out the intent behind his plan was not upto him.
" Your words make sense old man, I'm glad to have you as a counsellor " Max said absentmindedly as his brain was already preoccupied with thinking scenarios to make the old man's words possible.
Although he did not know anyone capable of casting an illusion spell, he himself was capable of mental manipulation.
If he played his cards right and created a scenario like the old man suggested, he could make the enemy walk into a bloodbath and create an opening to counterattack as well.
He had to admit, the old man was a genius strategist.
*********
( Meanwhile Sebastian )
" It's always me Anna… Max knows I'm a coward, yet I'm always the one who is forced to head into enemy territory before everyone else.
I'm just a dwarf with little legs, why am I one of the advanced scout for the clan? " Sebastian asked as he ranted before Anna as to why Max ordered him to go on a scouting mission.
Anna secretly rolled her eyes, this was basically Sebastian's routine now.
Before every big mission he would rant about how he was just a dwarf and how the world was too dangerous for him, but having spent years together Anna had figured out just how to handle him.
" Im sure Max chose you as the advanced scout because of your sexy charm " Anna said as she flirtily flashed her white teeth at Sebastian.
Dumbfounded by her reply, Sebastian said with a blank face " What do you mean? "
" I mean, Imagine you are going on a scouting mission and you encounter a sexy hot dark elf scout.
If it were someone else she would instantly kill him, but if it were a handsome dwarf like you, she would hesitate after seeing your handsome face wouldn't she? " Anna said seductively as Sebastian's face turned all red.
" Well..err…that… yes "
" That's why he chose you I think, because you are a man's man, someone who can charm all women but fall for the charms of none.
You will seduce the dark elf scout and then when she's ready to surrender to you, you would kill her wouldn't you? " Anna asked, her face only a few inches away from Sebastian's.
" NO!.... I mean, yes, yes, no mercy for the enemy scout " Sebastian replied all flustered.
Anna pulled away and said with a smile " So won't you go on a scouting mission for us? "
" I guess it can't be helped, the most charming man has to do the job " Sebastian said with a prideful smile on his face as his nose seemed to point towards the heavens.
Anna had given him a confidence boost of a lifetime, he now felt ready to completely obliterate tomorrow's scouting mission.
The time for preparations was over.
Come tomorrow it was war time.
—------ xxxx —---------
End Of Volume 7 - The Ranks Of Immortal
Hope to see you all in Volume 8 - The Return Of The God King
—----- xxxx —--------