Making their way through the city stealthily, Shiro examined the locations that Cert and Liam had discovered.

  The first one was located near one of the low classed districts as the buildings here were very cl.u.s.tered together in order to fit more in a small amount of space. It featured tall buildings with small alleyways which made for a great place to hide due to the fact that it was hard to access. The narrow spacing also allows them the option of setting up traps for later use.

  The second location was similar but was located closer to the heart of the city. Here, the buildings are clearly in better shape as the materials used to make them are better fundamentally more durable.

  With quite a few of the civilians evacuating the city, this left quite a few of the houses here empty and made for a great location for a camp.

  As for the third and final location, it was actually right next to the barracks where most of the families had stationed their soldiers to protect the city walls.

  Liam had actually found an old building that was now used as miscellaneous storage. In addition to this, there was even a large underground area that seemed to be a training facility of sorts that was abandoned for unknown reasons. Thick layers of dust could be seen with no signs of recent use at all.

  While this seemed like one of the better spots due to the fact that most of the soldiers wouldn’t be bothering to look near their barracks, it was also quite dangerous for the exact same reason.

  "Hmm…… all three of the locations have their own risk but I think the third one is the best in terms of efficiency. Sure there are problems with staying next to the city guards but great risks lead to opportunities with great rewards. If we act carefully, it is actually the best place to sabotage everything since we won’t need to travel as far. Not only that, it stops the guards from just raining hell on our location since it’ll damage their defences." Shiro muttered while looking around the old building.

  "Indeed. Hence why I deemed this spot suitable for camp. However, with us being so close to the guards, we’ll need to be careful of using our energy since we may be discovered. Even with the situation in our favour, we can’t predict what they will do once they’re in a bind." Liam reminded.

  "Very well. In that case, the first location is probably our best bet in terms of safety. For now, we need somewhere secure so I’ll teleport them to the first location and if we need to change places, we’ll do so when everyone is here." Shiro suggested as they nodded their heads in agreement.

  Making their way over to the first location, Shiro closed one of her eyes and checked to see if Kuromi and the others were doing fine. Seeing that they were safe, she looked for a decently large space so that she could transport all of them here.

  After looking around for a while, she managed to find a decently sized living room that should be able to hold quite a few people as long as they move the furniture aside.

  Cleaning up the place a little, she activated her portal and could feel her energy drain rapidly. Emerging from the portal, Shiro could see that everyone arrived without a problem.

  "Fu…… I welcome you to my humble abode." Shiro joked with a grin.

  "Whatever. Anyways, good job lil sis." Kuromi rolled her eyes with a smile.

  "So where are we in terms of location in this city?" She asked while looking around.

  "We’re currently in one of the poorer districts. It’s a little far from their defences but in terms of safety, this is probably one of the better locations." Shiro replied while sitting down to rest. Teleporting all of the guards to their location had taken more energy than Shiro had expected so she wanted to take a breather.

  "I see…… In that case then I’ll have Kali take me to the other locations. I’ll have a look at them and see if they’re suitable for camps. In the meantime, why don’t you have a quick nap to recharge some energy. It would be bad if we had to fight and you couldn’t join in." Kuromi suggested with a smile.

  "Mn, alright." Shiro nodded with a smile.

  While Kuromi and Kali made their way to the other locations, Shiro rested up and had Prim set up some traps around the area. Specifically the alleyways since they were harder to detect.

  While this was all happening, the remaining soldiers of the royal family, including Rialin, finally arrived at the camps outside of Teriu. Rialin was not exactly in the best of moods since several soldiers died for nothing including her younger brother. While he was not the best type of person, he was still family.

  "Glad to have you join us princess. With this, I believe we can start the battle already. The 5 main families or rather, four now after one was destroyed, are bunkering down in the city and most of the civilians have already evacuated. They seemed to be quite insistent on keeping the spell to themselves despite all of the evidence that we have gathered." A man said as he bowed to Rialin.

  "I see. In that case then just send some attacks to weaken their defences for now. On my way here, I ran into a rather despicable group of people and I have a few concerns. If they join the battle, there will be a lot of casualties in a short period of time." Rialin frowned.

  "Oh? Are you able to describe them to me? I may be able to track them down with the help of our information gathering team."

  "It’s a young woman. I couldn’t see her face since she had a mask. She had white hair and was quite adept in using a spear. As for her abilities, it seems like she can use a portal of sorts to transport people." Rialin said as she took a deep breath to calm the rage inside her.

  "A white haired woman you say? And one that is talented with the spear. Hmm…… understood. I’ll have my people search for some information right away." The man nodded.

  "Oh before you do that, it seems like she’s managed to procure the Celestial Spear that was handed to Teriu city in order for them to hold off against the beasts from the forest. You might want to start your investigation from there." Rialin added on.

  Pausing for a moment, the man furrowed his brows as one person came into mind. When his spies had invaded Teriu, they collected quite a bit of information in regards to the battle between two behemoths, a third party and the Teriu city guards. Within the third party, there had been mentions of a white haired woman that moved like a phantom through the battlefield. She was proficient with daggers and a type of shadow magic that allowed her to teleport away on command.

  "You seem to know a person?" Rialin narrowed her eyes.

  "Indeed princess. My spies had actually obtained a bit of information from Teriu a while ago and it had mentions of a woman that seems to match your description."

  "Oh? Tell me everything you know." Rialin ordered.

  As the man explained all of the information he had gathered, Rialin’s frown deepened.

  "Tch, that portals a problem. Is there anyone that can stop body movement in the army? If there is, I want you to form a team and have them come with me to find her. I’m sure that we’ll meet again since she might be interested in the weapon I hold." Rialin commanded while glancing at the back of her arm. There was now a golden marking of sorts that resembled the symbol used by the envoy back in the capital. Understanding that this must mean that the Celestial Empress was helping her, Rialin had confidence that she’d finish that woman off once and for all.

  "We have a few people that can meet your requirements but it may take a bit to convince them since they’re prized members of the different families that have gathered. And as you know, people who can halt a person’s movement is quite rare." The man replied.

  "I don’t care. Promise them riches from the royal armoury to get them to form a team. Right now, my biggest priority is that woman. If we don’t deal with her, she can very well shift the tides of this battle by herself." Rialin narrowed her eyes.

  "Understood." The man nodded after a moment and left the room.

  Sighing softly, Rialin closed her eyes and thought back to the fight she had with Shiro.

  ’I won’t let you escape that easily this time.’