Allen finished pulling on the simple yet sturdy clothes given to him. The rough-spun tunic felt scratchy against his skin and it was a far cry from the soft fabrics he was used to. But it was at least in one piece and offered better protection than the shredded remnants of his sweatshirt.

He walked back to the table with the heavy silence of the tent pressing in on him. Luna gestured to the empty chair between herself and Eunice and he took it, the simple wooden stool creaking slightly under his weight.

"Alright," he said, looking across the table at Lishia whose face was etched with weariness in the flickering lamplight.

"Explain the situation. What's exactly happening right now and what's the current state of things?" he asked, getting to the point straight away.

Lishia leaned over the map again with her finger tracing the edges of the massive and glassy crater that now dominated the center.

It was clear that the crater wasn't originally on the map and had only recently been made with some of the ink still being moist around the edges.

"The explosion which was caused by the highlander was much more than anything we'd seen before. In fact, we didn't even know they were capable of that," she began, her voice grim.

"Our remaining forward battalion, Captain Rach's men were all wiped out in an instant. I saw it myself as the explosion was just that big that it was visible from the distance."

She paused, taking a slow breath. "But thanks to you we somehow managed to come out of that alive and not take multiple critical losses. While we did lose a good number of our troops, the reports coming back from the few scouts who survived on the flanks indicate the enemy took heavy losses too."

"Not just from the highlander's initial blast, but from the chaos that followed. Their formations broke and many were caught in the crossfire or simply fled in terror."

"So, it evened things out then?" Allen asked curiously, looking for the tactical bottom line. "I'm guessing we are on equal footing then?"

Lishia let out a long and tired sigh, the sound heavy with frustration. "Equal?" she repeated as she shook her head. "No. Not even close. We were outnumbered nearly two to one from the start, even with their losses today they still have significantly more men than we do. The balance of power hasn't really changed. We just bought ourselves a temporary reprieve, and at a terrible cost."

"I say we should attack now," Luna said immediately while slamming a fist lightly on the table.

Her red eyes that were usually calm were now bright with a fierce and almost desperate determination. "While they're disorganized and not expecting us. With me, Eunice and now Allen leading the charge I'm sure we can hit them hard and fast and break their lines before they even know what's happening!"

"No," Eunice objected immediately, her voice sharp despite her obvious exhaustion. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair, wincing as the movement pulled at the fresh bandage on her arm. "That's reckless, Luna. We can't afford to be reckless right now."

She looked at her sister, then at Lishia, her expression pleading for reason. "Think about it. We've already faced two major surprises today we hadn't accounted for at all."

"First those knights using that sacrificial magic and turning into mindless berserkers, and then the highlander showing up out of nowhere. We charged in once thinking we knew the situation, and look what happened." Her gaze drifted towards the tent flap and towards the silent camp outside where hundreds of men were now missing.

"Who knows what other surprises they have waiting for us? And other than that as much as I hate to admit, I'm not in a condition to fight right now. We should pull back further, regroup properly and call headquarters to request reinforcements."

Lishia's expression tightened with her lips thinning into a hard line. "Reinforcements aren't coming, Eunice," she said flatly.

"I already tried while you were out there. The situation in Lestredan is escalating. Every available Knight is being diverted there and that situation currently has the council's complete focus. We're completely on our own here."

The tent fell silent again. The weight of their situation with them being outnumbered and facing unknown enemy capabilities and being completely cut off from support pressed down on them.

The three of them racked their minds, trying to come up with a solution but for the moment, silence was the only thing that remained.

Allen listened and was taking it all in and processing everything about the situation at hand. Attacking seemed suicidal while retreat seemed pointless if reinforcements weren't coming.

It was a stalemate, a slow bleed which they absolutely couldn't afford. He looked at the map and then back at Lishia, with his analytical mind searching for a different approach and some sort of weak point.

"This enemy army," he asked, breaking the silence. "They follow a command structure like yours, right? Is there one single person in charge? I mean the one giving the orders?"

Lishia frowned as a flash of pure and unadulterated hatred crossed her face as she thought of the enemy commander. The man responsible for this mess, for the deaths of her soldiers.

"Yes," she spat, her voice dripping with venom. "Randolf Weinchester. A bootlicking coward who cares more about pleasing his highlander masters than the lives of his own men. He's the Spearhead leading this battalion."

Allen nodded slowly with a plan clicking into place in his mind. It was a high-risk and high-reward option. "Then that's where we'll strike," he said.

The three women looked at him and were a little confused.

"We assassinate him," Allen stated simply. "Tonight."

"What?" Luna gasped, shocked at his outrageous suggestion. "Go into their main camp? Now? After everything that's happened?"

"Exactly," Allen confirmed as he leaned forward a little with his gaze intense. "Luna's right about one thing and it's that they are vulnerable right now. Just like us they've taken heavy losses while what was probably their ace card, the highlander, just got taken off the board."

"Their commander, Randolf, has to be panicking if you think about it. They'll be disorganized and confused, maybe even arguing amongst themselves. And they absolutely will not expect us to attack again tonight after the beating we just took."

"After all, their scouts probably would have reported it as well that our entire battalion got wiped out. If Lishia was able to see it then I see no reason to believe that the enemy wouldn't be aware of it. They'll think we're busy tending to our wounds."

He looked at each of them. "And that's precisely why we hit them now while they're off balance and while their guard is down. If we take out this Randolf guy then without their commander the army will crumble on its own. Especially now since their morale has to be low after losing their people and a highlander."

"From what I saw in the little interaction I had with their soldiers, it doesn't seem like they're here fighting for a cause either. I wouldn't put it past them for them to simply drop their swords and give up once they stop getting orders from above telling them to fight."

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