Chapter 31

The war room was a suffocatingly tense chamber of polished oak and heavy tapestries, dominated by a massive topographical map of Melromarc.

King Aultcray stood at the head of the table, flanked by his highest-ranking generals and the Grand Inquisitor of the Church. Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki stood around the map, looking far more serious than they had a month ago. The anonymous letters Maya had sent had done their job; the three boys were standing slightly apart from each other, their eyes darting suspiciously toward the heavily armored Church guards lining the walls.

Maya stood obediently behind Myne's chair, the perfect picture of a silent, loyal retainer.

"The Dragon Era Hourglass points to the Riyuza Valley," the King announced grimly, tapping a carved wooden marker on the map. "It is a major trade hub nestled between steep cliffs. The civilian population is dense. This Wave will be catastrophic if the vanguard falls."

The King gestured to the Grand Inquisitor. "The Church has generously offered its elite Paladin division. Three hundred heavily armored, magically warded knights. They will form a solid phalanx directly behind the Sword, Spear, and Bow at the epicenter. You will strike the boss together, with the Church's holy magic reinforcing your backs."

Motoyasu nodded slowly. "Sounds like a solid wall."

Maya stared at the wooden blocks on the map. If three hundred Church Paladins were stationed directly behind the Heroes during the chaos of the Wave, "friendly fire" wouldn't just be a risk-it would be an absolute certainty. The Church would use the monster horde as a perfect cover to assassinate the Heroes and claim they died in battle.

She had to stop it. But if she openly accused the Church, she would be executed for treason on the spot.

Maya took a small, hesitant step forward, nervously wringing her hands together. The heavy silver of her Gauntlet clinked softly.

"Um… Your Majesty?" Maya spoke up, her voice small, timid, and entirely devoid of malice.

The King frowned. "Speak, Gauntlet Hero."

Maya pointed a trembling finger at the dense cluster of wooden blocks representing the Church knights right behind the Heroes' markers.

"I am just a complete novice when it comes to grand military strategy," Maya began, looking up at the King with wide, innocent eyes. "But on our travels, Princess Myne and I fought monsters that could spray blinding venom or cast area-of-effect panic spells. Looking at the map… if the Church Paladins are packed so tightly, directly behind Sir Ren and Sir Itsuki… what happens if the knights get blinded or confused?"

Maya gasped softly, covering her mouth as if a terrible thought had just occurred to her. "Oh goodness! I would just be so utterly terrified that a confused knight might accidentally thrust his spear into Sir Ren's back during the chaos! The Vanguard would be crushed between the monsters and their own panicked allies! Is… is that safe?"

The war room went dead silent.

Ren's eyes snapped to the wooden blocks. The anonymous letter he had received weeks ago burned in his memory: *Check the necks of the beasts blocking your paths. Trust no priest.* Maya hadn't accused the Church of treason; she had merely pointed out a "clumsy tactical flaw." But in Ren's paranoid mind, the puzzle pieces instantly clicked together. *A tightly packed formation directly behind me. Perfect cover for an 'accidental' stab in the back in the heat of battle.* "She has a point," Ren said, his voice dropping to a dangerous, icy register. He glared at the Grand Inquisitor. "I work best alone. A massive phalanx of slow knights behind me will completely ruin my footwork. I demand the Church Paladins hold a secondary perimeter at least a half-mile away from my vanguard."

Itsuki, his own paranoia flaring wildly, slammed his hand on the table. "I agree! As the Hero of the Bow, I require absolute, clear lines of sight. I cannot risk 'friendly fire' from undisciplined troops. Keep them away from us!"

"Now see here!" the Grand Inquisitor sputtered, his face turning red. "The Church's Paladins are elite-"

"I don't care," Ren interrupted coldly, resting his hand on his sword hilt. "Keep them away from my back, or I won't fight."

King Aultcray massaged his temples, completely baffled by the sudden hostility of his prized Heroes toward the Church, but he couldn't afford to lose them right before the Wave. "Very well. The Church Paladins will be reassigned to the valley ridges."

Maya exhaled a tiny, silent breath of relief. She had completely stripped the Church of their assassination opportunity, and Ren and Itsuki thought it was their own brilliant tactical foresight.

"Since the brave Sir Heroes will be holding the epicenter," Maya continued, quickly pivoting to her second objective with a radiant, admiring smile, "Princess Myne and I should take the rearguard! The valley has a massive gorge that serves as the only civilian evacuation route. Princess Myne's fire magic is absolutely perfect for defending a choke point. We will ensure every last innocent soul escapes, just as she did in Lute Village!"

Myne's chest puffed out. The idea of standing safely at the back, reigning fire down on a narrow gorge while thousands of terrified, weeping refugees praised her name? It was intoxicating.

"Maya speaks the truth, Father," Myne declared proudly. "The Vanguard requires brute force, but the evacuation requires the delicate, protective touch of royalty. Leave the refugees to us."

The King nodded in agreement. The board was set exactly as Maya wanted it. She was miles away from the Church's gaze, positioned perfectly to control the flow of civilians… and to link up with the one Hero who wasn't invited to this meeting.

*Three Days Later. The Riyuza Valley.*

The evacuation of Riyuza began at dawn, but the sheer volume of merchants, carts, and panicked civilians clogged the narrow gorge leading out of the valley.

Maya stood at the mouth of the gorge, her **[Iron Gauntlet]** equipped. Myne stood on a high, rocky plateau overlooking the pass, perfectly safe and ready to cast.

Then, the timer hit zero.

The sky didn't just tear this time. It shattered like a stained-glass window hit by a cannonball.

The sky above the valley bled from blue to a sickening, bruised purple, and then to a terrifying, absolute black. The sound was deafening-a screech of tearing reality that brought civilians to their knees in agony.

Instead of a single dimensional rift, three massive, jagged portals ripped open simultaneously across the sky.

And the monsters that poured out weren't mere gargoyles or zombies.

Maya's eyes widened in genuine horror as the first wave hit the ground. They were *Abyssal Crawlers*-massive, heavily armored centipedes the size of transit buses, their mandibles dripping with caustic acid. Alongside them fell *Obsidian Minotaurs*, wielding axes larger than a grown man.

A quick check with her HUD made Maya's blood run cold.

**[Monster: Abyssal Crawler. Level: 45]**

**[Monster: Obsidian Minotaur. Level: 48]**

*Level 45?* Maya thought, stepping back as the sheer scale of the horde registered. *The first Wave capped at Level 20! The difficulty curve hasn't just spiked; it's practically vertical!*

The vanguard in the distance was instantly overwhelmed. Flashes of light from Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki were swallowed by a sea of black armor and roaring beasts. The royal army's frontline disintegrated in seconds.

A dozen Obsidian Minotaurs broke from the main horde, their glowing red eyes locking onto the thousands of screaming civilians trapped in the gorge bottleneck.

"Myne! Suppressing fire!" Maya roared, abandoning all pretense of the sweet maiden.

"I-I'm trying!" Myne shrieked, her voice cracking with pure terror. She launched a massive volley of fireballs from the cliff. The flames washed over the Minotaurs… and did absolutely nothing. The monsters walked right through the inferno, their thick obsidian skin absorbing the heat. Myne's magic was completely out-leveled.

"They're too strong!" Myne screamed, backing away from the edge of the cliff.

Maya cursed violently. She was Level 35. She was under-leveled for this fight, and she couldn't rely on Myne for chip damage. She had to hold the gorge alone against enemies ten levels higher than her.

**[Equipping: Granite Gauntlet]**

Maya slammed her stone-clad fists together, bracing herself at the narrowest point of the rocky pass. "Onyx! Cripple their legs! Don't go for the kill, just slow them down!"

The shadow wolf erupted from the darkness, a blur of fangs and claws, tearing into the Achilles tendon of the lead Minotaur. The beast stumbled, roaring in pain.

Maya leaped forward, putting every ounce of her Level 35 Strength into a flying knee strike right into the Minotaur's chest plate. The impact echoed like a bomb, but the beast only staggered back a few steps, its health bar dropping by a mere fraction. The Minotaur swung its massive axe in a wide, horizontal arc that would have cleaved Maya in half.

Maya dropped flat onto her back, feeling the wind of the blade pass inches above her nose. She rolled to the side, equipping the **[Spider-Silk Gauntlet]** mid-roll, and shot a web at a jagged stalactite above the Minotaur, pulling the massive rock down onto its head.

It was a desperate, exhausting game of survival. For twenty minutes, Maya fought like a cornered demon. She used every trick, every weapon form, and every ounce of real-world martial arts she knew just to hold the line, while Onyx darted in and out of the shadows. But she was taking hits. A glancing blow from a Minotaur's fist sent her crashing into the canyon wall, leaving a deep gash on her arm.

Her stamina was draining rapidly. The horde was pressing closer to the terrified civilians.

Suddenly, the lead Minotaur raised its axe for a devastating overhead strike, aiming right at a wagon full of fleeing children. Maya was too far away to intercept it.

"AIR STRIKE SHIELD!"

A massive, glowing green barrier materialized in the air directly above the wagon. The Minotaur's axe slammed into the shield with a deafening crash. The barrier shattered, but it completely absorbed the blow.

"SHIELD PRISON!"

A cage of interlocking green shields erupted from the ground, entirely encasing the Minotaur and trapping it inside.

Maya whipped her head around. Standing on top of a ruined merchant cart, panting heavily but his green eyes burning with absolute, unbroken defiance, was Naofumi. His Wyvern-scale armor was scorched, but he held his ground perfectly.

Raphtalia darted past him, her blade glowing with a sharp, piercing light as she used the distraction to seamlessly decapitate a wounded Abyssal Crawler that was trying to flank Maya.

Naofumi looked down at Maya, his expression grim. "You look like hell, Gauntlet."

Maya spat a mouthful of blood and dirt onto the rocky ground, a savage, adrenaline-fueled grin breaking across her face.

"You're late, Shield," Maya yelled back, her silver Gauntlet clicking as she shifted forms. "The King's army is dead, the vanguard is drowning, and the monsters are Level 45."

"I noticed," Naofumi grunted, raising his shield as three more Minotaurs charged their position. "Looks like it's just us protecting the rear."

"Then let's send them back to hell," Maya growled.