Reidar opened his eyes, the connection to the Sky-Hunter fading into the back of his mind while still being there.
He leaned his head back against an oak tree, letting out a breath that he had been holding for too long.
"We have a situation," Reidar said.
Lena and Jake looked at him. They were sitting a few feet away. They saw the tension in his shoulders and the way his jaw was set and got immediately worried.
"What is it?" Lena asked. "Did they spot the bug?"
"No," Reidar said. "They didn't see it. But I heard enough."
He looked at them, meeting their eyes.
"Is it because of Silas?"
"Partially." He paused. "He is trying to reach level 400, and if he does, we lose. It doesn't matter how many summons I have or how fast you are. A Level 400 mutant will wipe us out before we can draw our weapons."
He rubbed his temples, trying to massage away the headache forming behind his eyes.
"The man who just walked in, Deacon Drecht, is Level 365. He's taking the elite forces out to hunt. They need to power-level their troops to break Highmont's Vendors' barriers. They are on a deadline."
Reidar picked up a stick and drew a rough map in the dirt.
"Here is Ashwick. Here is Highmont. Silas is somewhere around here, since it is the only place that came to mind with caves." He tapped an area away from the city but not too far.
"The armies are gathering, but they aren't ready yet. Drecht is going to take them out into the wilds to grind. He thinks he can shave a week off their preparation time."
He looked up at Lena.
"But at this point, the situation changed. The threat to Highmont is secondary." He paused. "The real threat is Silas. If he ascends, nothing else matters. We need to find that cave and kill him before he finishes his breakthrough."
"And the city?" Jake asked. "The army?"
"We don't have time to lose, Jake," Reidar said. "Drecht is strong, but he's barely stronger than me. I'm at Level 358. He's 365. That's a fight we can win. But Silas... Silas is the endgame. I think we should go for him first."
Lena stared at the map in the dirt. She didn't look at Reidar. She looked at the line representing Highmont.
"You want to ignore the army," Lena said.
"I want to prioritize the threat that kills everyone," Reidar said. "If we get bogged down fighting Drecht and his elites, Silas finishes whatever he is doing. He comes out at Level 400, and he kills us, and then he takes Highmont anyway. Probably alone."
"But they are not going to attack Highmont soon, based on what you said." Lena looked at Reidar. "You said it; they are going to grind for levels. If we go chasing Silas in some random cave, who stops Drecht from marching to Highmont?"
"We can't be everywhere," Reidar said.
"Those bastards are going to slaughter a city!" Lena stood up. She paced away from the tree, then spun back to face him. Her hands were shaking from anger. "You're talking about sacrificing fifty thousand people on a gamble that we find a cave in time."
"I'm talking about survival!" Reidar stood up too. He stepped toward her. "Do you think I don't care about Highmont? I do. But look at the situation! Silas is almost at the level of a sub adjutant from the Aegis Phalanx. Do you have any idea what this would mean? The Church is not focusing on monsters like the Aegis Phalanx is doing. He can, and he will wreak havoc that the Aegis Phalanx won't be able to stop. If he's alive, the Church wins. Always. We have to kill him."
"We promised the survivors we'd stop them. We told those people in the cages we were going to burn the Church down. Leaving now, sneaking off to find a cave while an army marches... that's cowardice, Reidar. That's hiding."
"It's not hiding!" Reidar said. "It's winning! You want to die on a wall in Highmont, fighting a losing battle? Because that's what happens if Silas shows up at Level 400!"
"We can stop them both, Reidar! With your army!"
Jake stood between them, looking back and forth. He looked terrified.
"Guys," Jake said. "Stop."
The two tried to calm down, but then Lena looked at him. "You're acting just like them. 'It's just numbers.' 'It's just strategy.' When did you stop caring about the people?"
Reidar froze.
"I never stopped," Reidar sighed. "I'm trying to do my best, Lena."
"It's not enough."
"Then do you have any suggestions?"
"Let's just level up," She said. "If we get strong enough, we will be able to stop both Silas and Ashwick. We can do this; we have the time."
He looked at Lena. He saw the fire in her eyes. He knew that look too well. She wasn't going to budge.
Reidar took a breath. He forced his muscles to relax. He looked down at the map in the dirt, at the lines representing Ashwick and the wildlands where Drecht planned to hunt.
Logic. He needed logic.
"Okay," Reidar said.
Lena stopped, surprised by the sudden concession. She crossed her arms, waiting.
"But we can't ignore Silas," Reidar said.
He pointed to the area outside the city.
"Drecht is taking the elites out to hunt. He wants to level them up. He's going to be in the wilds, away from the fortress defenses, away from the main bulk of the Zealots."
Reidar looked up at them, a plan forming in his mind.
"We don't go to Highmont. And we don't go straight to the cave yet, as we need to find it anyway. We go hunting."
"Hunting?" Jake asked.
"Yes," Reidar said, his voice gaining confidence as the plan crystallized in his mind. "We take some time to farm C.L.A.S.P. points and build our strength a little, and then we intercept Drecht before he can complete his mission. We track down his hunting party while they're vulnerable out in the wilds. We deny them the mana they need to break through Highmont's walls and protective barriers, and in the process, we kill Drecht himself."
He looked at Lena.
"If we kill Drecht and his elites, the attack on Highmont stalls. They lose their commander and their vanguard. It buys the city time."
He paused.
"But we have to find Silas, because even if we kill Drecht, when Silas reaches level 400, then the fact that we killed the man won't matter at all."
He kicked dirt over the map, erasing the lines.
"We sabotage their leveling session and turn it into ours. We get stronger; they get dead. And once Drecht is gone, we find Silas, and we finish this."
Lena was silent for a moment. She looked at Reidar, searching his face for any sign of hesitation.
"We will also need to sabotage the army."
"Then you take care of it," Reidar said. "We will hunt Drecht, but I can't stop to search for Silas. So if you want to do this, you are on your own."
Lena nodded.