When morning came, Natalie was back, and she announced that she had told everyone that could move to head to the Temple city. Felipe and Beatrice were okay with that, and they were moving their people to the temple since it probably could withstand the attacks of hydras. As for the barbarians, they were spreading the word to head to the same place slowly and leave the defenses to the groups that Billy left behind until the last moment. It seemed that things weren't moving as fast as planned, but it couldn't be helped due to the severity of the situation.
"We will need four days until the preparations are complete…" Natalie said. "Will that be too long? Can the enemy recover faster than this?"
"It certainly is possible… he should have a power that basically grants him semi-immortality," Meryl said. "Moreover, he is a from a tribe that also grants him the chance to revise once every few days."
"That is…" Camilla said while frowning. "Quite hard to believe… Then again, some of the guys who showed up had weird abilities."
"To be honest, he wasn't supposed to take this long to recover," Meryl said. "I suppose something behind the scenes is keeping him busy, and that is probably why he used such a roundabout method to lure us to his base."
"We can't worry about what we know right now," Natalie said. "Until the time comes, you three should stay put."
Icarus, Lucyna, and Meryl weren't used to receiving orders, so that was a bit troublesome. Nevertheless, their forces were on the demi-humans continent, and they had been spread to survive the chaos. It would be realistic to come there and hope that everyone would follow their lead when they remained in the shadows until now.
After three days of waiting and training in secret as much as they could, those three were starting to get impatient. There were no signs of Billy's return, and they could feel that the mana in the world was starting to change… it was hard to say if they were part of the cause since they had dungeon cores that could drain tons of mana from the surroundings. Still, they decided to assume that it was because Zenis was about to move…
At that point in time, Natalie noticed that as well and told them to move to the temple city. Despite the oddness of the situation, the number of attacks caused by demi-humans that were teleported to that continent didn't change. Unless Zenis automated the process, he was still conscious and ready to move…
On the night between the third and fourth day, everyone working on that operation aside from the armies had showed up at the temple city. They had heard things from Natalie, but they still didn't believe that they had found three strangers in its place of Billy. Kate, who was usually so calm, was having a hard time keeping still… she was moving her fingers in a weird way like she was about to use magic on them.
"Calm down…" Sarah said. "While massaging her shoulders. "Even Natalie is calm now, so you can't lose your cool."
"We will talk about this comparison later," Natalie said.
"Are you guys absolutely certain that Billy is alive?" Kate asked.
"The fact that Zenis isn't destroying the world right now is a good proof that is the case," Meryl replied. "The enemy can absorb the skills of those he defeats, so with Billy's skills, he would be unstoppable and wouldn't have the need to stop and rest."
"That is a suspicious power to have… but I can see your point," Kate said. "Regardless, everyone is here, but half of the barbarians are on the way and about to show up tomorrow. Unfortunately, we can't wait any longer since most of the other cities are unprotected, and the enemy's soldiers are too strong for ordinary soldiers. With that in mind, we will have to make our move before sunrise."
"That will be us, right?" Icarus said.
" Indeed… based on what you said, the enemy wants to kill you three more than anything else," Kate explained. "So, you will show yourselves here, and we will stay hidden until the enemy comes. After that, we will join the fight, and you three will retreat. The walls provided by the temple are strong but not impenetrable. We need to near it to prevent the enemy from stealing the relic. It is one of those that he can absorb its powers, right?"
"... Indeed," Meryl said, feeling a bit conflicted since she was the one who invaded the temple and stole the relic before.
"Tomorrow will be a difficult day, so let's rest for a couple of hours," Sarah said. "Svan and his men needed as much as rest as possible since they hurried after all."
"We will help with that," Felipe said.
Felipe and his soldiers could use magic to relieve pain and some fatigue, so their skills would come in handy during the night. From what they heard about the enemy, the battle will most likely be a battle of endurance, so they would be a key factor in the result. Regardless, although they told the others to do so, Natalie, Kate, and Sarah couldn't rest. One person can be as strong as possible, but they can only survive for so long without food and water. Four days have passed since Billy was sent away, and he was probably in a critical condition thanks to that… the enemy was probably counting on that to kill or at least weaken him.
The same thing could be said about Icarus, Lucyna, and Meryl. They couldn't afford to make any more mistakes… and if things came to the worst-case scenario, they would die. Even if things don't reach that far, they might die anyway. So, the wait was more than nerve-wracking… They fought in many difficult situations, but only now they think that they might not survive.
