V2 C21Just before the war

The army had been assembled for the battle, orderly ranged behind the walls and energy barriers.

Emilie and Eloise happened to be appointed in the same location, together with Cleppe's soldiers. As for Alain and Rodolphe, Eloise guessed they must have been in another place, maybe to stop them from running away. They seemed to have done that with a lot of people.

"It seems even Grusel is here; they say she would have the strength of a Paladin while being a demoness," said Eloise

"Who?" Jean asked, having just arrived.

"Grusel, a -"

"No, Who asked?"

Jean asked, looking serious. They didn't burst out laughing. He did.

"Come on, come on, you need to relax!" Jean puts his hands on their shoulders.

"Wouldn't it be better to be a little more serious?"

"But I'm always serious." He laughed, "In times like these, you ought to laugh."

"In this situation?" She asked in amazement.

"Keep your cool, Eloise. By laughing, you're resting your much-needed concentration."

"Thanks for the advice." She said half coldly, with no idea that Alain had died of this man. Emily remained static, always trying to keep a little distance between her and him.

"How about a bet?" Jean asked.

"Which one?"

"About whether we can survive, how long, and who will win."

"It all depends on what you call winning... going back to Nirl will be enough for me."

Jean held up a finger. "A reasonable favor each." Said Jean. "And one point for each correct answer. Whoever has the most wins the other's favor."

Eloise sighed in exasperation. "Well, then, I'm betting on our survival."

"Then I'm betting on the other way around." Jean laughed; "Well, for the rest, who do you think will win the war? The humans or the demons?"

"The humans, then." They were unlikely to stay alive if they didn't win; demons naturally allied themselves against common enemies whose only losing living fate didn't seem bright.

"And for time, between the following scales: 0 to 10 minutes, 10 to 30 minutes, or over 30 minutes."

Eloise looked at him like an alien, "You want to lose so bad? I choose over 30 minutes."

"Deal!" Said Jean. "And I choose 10 to 30 minutes!"

Jean seemed to think of something, "Oh, and if we get one all around, and the fight lasts less than 10 minutes, that will be a favor each! Now, if you'll excuse me."

Jean went to one side, talking to others: Cleppe's members, Cleppe's affiliates, or even random fighters. From the fragment of conversation she heard, Jean was changing the asked choices, perhaps to increase his chances of winning.

"He does it to increase morale, to get them to fight for the cause, incentivizing the humans' winning being the right choice, as is exhausting prolonged fight." Says Emily. "He gets them to enter his objective without them realizing it; he's quite a good commander."

Still, Alain hadn't come out... she held back from saying so.

'Corrupted liar,' she thought, 'another one.'

"I guess so," Eloise nodded. "By the way, have you seen Alain? Ahh... I should have asked him..."

"I haven't seen him. Well, I have something to do; I come back soon."

Emilie came to see a wounded person. The person was motionless on the ground, sweating as she struggled from a bad dream.

"The war will start soon," said Emilie, mopping her forehead with a towel.

The person struggled to open her eyes, letting out a small cry of pain; her wound had awakened.

"W-Why did you come to me?" She gasped at her every word.

"I think we're the same," said Emily.

The patient looked at her strangely.

"I don't think you can survive this." Emilie continued. "Your injuries -"

"I know."

There was a moment of silence.

"You should understand me, right? You said we were alike."

Emilie energized her hand with an energy that was a mixture of liquid white and black, with blue energy in the center. She put her hand over her own face, and a small sign appeared on her mouth.

"I... excuse me, but I have to be sure. Are you okay with that?"

Emily nodded.

The body gradually turned into particles that floated towards Emily.

'Tenebre, eat her.'

Seeing Emilie absorb it, the wounded woman's doubts were extinguished. She tried to say, despite the pain:

"Go to the protector Kusnt in the capital, and tell him the letter H after explaining our meeting."

Emilie said nothing, waiting for the absorption to end.

She thought back to her words said inside the ancient zone:

"They haven't stopped human nature by making sure no one would lack the most fundamental resources or by heavily punishing crimes; they just move it, hide it so that most would live a peaceful life. [...] men die to riches! [...] You just can't stop it as riches means life, and life is the ultimate goal of all!"

She looked at the body she was assimilating with tenderness.

Exceptions were rare. Even she had to lie.

'Your life may end here, but your higher purpose was assimilated with mine. I won't forget it.'

She returned to the battlefield, where two Paladins had flown in, encountering two Demons.

They had created a sound energy barrier and were chatting quietly. She could see some of them laughing like friends before returning to their army.

Then the middle barrier - facing the demons - opened.