Andrea’s enemies saw her as a selfish woman willing to sacrifice anything for her own personal gain, but they couldn’t have been more wrong. She had simply been raised in a household that valued pragmatism above all else, a family where results mattered far more than intentions, and where the strong were expected to stand above everyone else.
She never truly fit in.
No matter how hard she tried, she was always compared to her older brother. The perfect heir. Cruel, calculating and willing to do whatever it took to get what he wanted.
Sometimes she wondered what her father would think if he could see her now. She had become everything he admired.
The only difference was that she was cruel for the right reasons, calculating to condemn the enemies of her people instead of serving herself, and unlike the man who raised her, Andrea had long accepted that she would gladly die for what she believed in.
"I’m going to fight the Chief inside the camp, but I’ll need your help to draw him in first. Once he and the Eidolon army storm the camp, you and everyone else will leave. He’ll be too occupied trying to kill me to care about anyone else."
Ryan was momentarily taken aback, then he finally realised what Andrea was trying to say, but he didn’t admire her for her sacrifice, instead he was further enraged.
"Are you insane, you’re going to die...". He struggled to put his thoughts into words, so he stomped his foot in frustration. "Why? Why don’t we figure out another way, the Eidolon chief isn’t invincible, we have so many high level awakened now, together we can definitely pull off a decisive win against him".
Andrea stared straight into Ryan’s eyes, unblinking. She’d never once lost control of any situation since entering the Tower, until now, for a moment. She even doubted the effects of her status, she knew there was a way to nullify its effects, after all, it wasn’t controlling minds, but only influencing what already existed, particularly the recognition of admiration towards her.
She closed her eyes and cleared her head.
"Ryan. The numbers won’t make much of a difference, we’re all still at the dormant rank, we might be able to beat him, but at what cost, the Eidolon chief isn’t some random low-IQ creature, he’s just as intelligent as any of us, and that makes him a hundred times more dangerous than ordinary awaken rank creatures in this world".
Andrea released Ryan’s hoodie.
"Believe me, I’ve considered countless ways we could defeat them and reclaim the ruins for humanity. This is the only plan I believe gives us the greatest chance of succeeding.... So Ryan, stop fighting me and do as you’re told".
Ryan went silent, it wasn’t that he wanted to argue, he just couldn’t see a future for them without Andrea, he wished Damien was here, he was sure that he would have something in mind, some way they could win without sacrificing their leader.
But Damien wasn’t here, and he clearly couldn’t convince Andrea, but he still wasn’t willing to follow blindly anymore.
"Why don’t we tell everyone the plan? The people fighting have made friends, found love and even accepted the tower as their home. If they are being sent to fight a losing war, then they deserve to know Andrea".
Andrea was tired of Ryan defying her, she preferred the old timid Ryan, which was why she initially allowed him into the round table.
"Fine, go tell them". Andrea said quietly.
Ryan’s face immediately lit up with joy, just as he was about to turn, Andrea suddenly spoke again.
"Tell them that their trusted leader is deceiving them, and sending hundreds of them to die in a war they never had any chance of winning".
Ryan’s steps instantly halted.
"Tell them, their leader is planning to die so that they may have safe passage towards a very slim chance that they might return home".
Ryan gradually turned, but Andrea wasn’t done talking.
"Tell them, I have no idea what I’m doing, and that conquering the ruins of the city might not be enough to return home... go ahead and break whatever unity and faith they have built in the round table, and watch everything fall apart".
Ryan’s mouth opened and closed several times. He was genuinely speechless, frankly speaking, a little terrified.
The reality was that Andrea had made the right decision keeping everything a secret. Not just from everyone else, but from him as well. He had honestly believed he had grown after spending time with Damien, believing he had become someone capable of standing beside the Round Table as an equal.
Instead, all it had taken was a single conversation for him to realise just how naive he still was.
He had been so focused on saving Andrea that he never once stopped to think about what would happen after the truth spread through camp.
Most would refuse to fight, some would panic and break down, while others would insist on staying behind with Andrea, throwing away the very future she was trying to buy for them.
And just like that, everything she had spent months building would crumble before the battle had even begun.
Ryan lowered his head.
For the first time since entering the Tower, he truly understood what it meant to carry the weight of leadership.
"...I’m sorry."
Andrea silently let out the breath she had been holding.
She couldn’t afford a rogue Round Table member tearing apart the unity they had fought so hard to build, not when the battle was already at their doorstep.
Thankfully, Ryan had come to his senses before it was too late. "Go help them prepare the advance force. We leave in thirty."
Ryan nodded without another word.
Andrea watched him disappear into the crowd before finally allowing herself a brief moment to close her eyes.
In thirty minutes, hundreds of people would begin marching towards what they believed was humanity’s greatest chance at victory.
If only they knew It was actually the first step towards a carefully orchestrated defeat.