Hearing the arrival of winter, Ella woke up to another day.
“Hu…mm?”
Such a quiet room.
She could understand being unconscious until the next day—after all, being double-teamed was exhausting—but to sleep so long and not even have the two girls who returned later check on her was strange.
But also a real relief.
Ella wriggled on the bed a few times, struggling to sit up, then put on her clothes and walked outside.
Outside the bedroom was a corridor.
Crossing it and going down the stairs led to the dining room, where a girl with icy blue hair sat by the table.
“Ella,”
Celes looked a bit surprised,
“You’re up so early today?”
Actually, the pink-haired thunder girl usually went to bed early and woke up early too, but only when there was something important during the day.
If not, she’d sleep in as much as she wanted, just like these past few days.
“Is it early?”
Ella forced a smile.
“I guess so.”
Seems she really didn’t notice yesterday.
She came over and sat down, flipped through the breakfast menu, and ordered a sandwich—not for any particular reason, just because she wanted to try it.
It should taste good, right?
Otherwise, why do Leah and Zero love eating it so much?
She pressed the bell and passed on the order.
After it was prepared in the first-floor dining area, it would be brought up.
The first and second floors of the Tower were service areas, including the kitchen and various staff.
In the past, they served officials here.
Now, they cooked for the girls living in the Tower.
Simply put, the jobs were still there. Congratulations.
After a while, another girl who wasn’t as much of an early riser arrived—Leah.
Seeing Ella eating breakfast, she deliberately walked over to examine what was on the plate.
“A sandwich, huh? Doesn’t look very nutritious.”
The Saintess said seriously.
“You should eat something with more nutrition, you know. Lately, you seem a bit…mm.”
She’d fainted after a simple indoctrination last night.
She was never this frail before. Time to take better care of her health.
Ella kept her face stiff, unable to say a word for a long while.
This girl probably thought she’d been taken down one-on-one yesterday.
After a while, Zero and Vina also arrived, one after the other, as if they’d run into each other on the way—or maybe even come together.
But the latter seemed unlikely.
Ella thought that after the little witch was hit by the assassin girl’s Death Spirit Escape Technique yesterday, she must be pretty mad.
“Good morning, everyone.”
Vina greeted as soon as she sat down.
“Was yesterday a happy day? And today?”
Damn, what composure—a person destined for great things.
To keep her companions from discussing “yesterday” and “happy” any further, Ella took the initiative to speak:
“Although we’ve taken the city and helped the Free Demon Army establish a new regime, this isn’t a time for peace yet. Only after another battle can Bright Cross Star City truly stand firm.”
This was an entirely businesslike statement, successfully drawing the girls’ attention.
She continued:
“Such a big event in the South—there’s no way the current rulers of the Demon Race will sit idly by. They’ll definitely try to take back the city. This battle is both a test and a probe. If we win a crushing victory, we can discourage them from invading again, at least for a while.”
Vina clapped her little hands.
“Truly a genius, Little Ella.”
“Just a prediction, that’s all.”
But it was probably eight or nine parts accurate.
Ella thought of those old noble families among the Demon Race. How could she not understand?
A bunch of traditional Academy Faction types—they acted dark and ruthless, but it was all just standard procedure.
“In that case, let’s prepare for the battle first.”
Celes said.
“I actually had something to do back in the Capital.”
Now, she’d have to wait until after the war.
Ella already had a clear idea of both sides’ strength, so she didn’t stop her from raising the flag.
Raise it all you want.
Since they’d brought it up, she simply led everyone back upstairs to the hall and spread out the Demon Race’s map.
“Look. We have three advantages in this battle.
First, timing.”
Winter was coming.
The Demon Race’s unique geography led to unique climate. Or more accurately, there was a very special area within their territory.
First, as a country at high latitude, its southern border was already the Snowfield—logically, it should get colder the further in you went.
But thousands of years ago, an Ancient Dragon fell in the south-central region of the Demon Race—there were no Demon Race then, just barren wasteland.
The massive corpse of the Ancient Dragon crashed down, permanently altering the landscape for kilometers around.
The impact fractured the rock layers and piled the earth into mountains, and its bones became the framework supporting those mountains, like steel rebar in concrete.
The Ancient Dragon, a treasure even in death, had its heart shatter, and the Heartblood—hotter than magma—burned through the earth.
The blazing heart fell into real magma, and by a stroke of fate, a “man-made” living volcano was formed, creating a stable heat-emitting furnace with the surrounding mountain structure.
“Monsoon winds carry this heat northward, which is why most of the Demon Race’s territory is warm.”
Ella slapped her small hand on the map.
“They absolutely hate fighting in the cold Snowfield, so they’ll definitely march in haste, trying to catch us before we can retreat. Impatience is the greatest enemy in warfare. That’s timing…”
Vina raised her hand.
“I think this is terrain advantage.”
“…Then let’s count it as both timing and terrain.”
As a wise and mighty leader, the Demon King is willing to accept advice with humility.
“Second, no—third, in terms of personnel, our advantage is even greater.”
Ella crossed her arms beneath her large bunny chest, pushing it up a little for emphasis.
“They don’t know—we’re far stronger than they imagine!”
It had gone smoothly attacking the two major tribes, but since Wolfshead Feng Lie and Bloodslaughter King had long since fallen, the enemy had no high-level combat units, and their own high-level forces never got a chance to show off.
So Ella believed those great nobles in Dark Star City had no idea that the Human Hero Squad from the Human Kingdom was now on their side.
In targeted decapitation missions against high-value targets, they were the most professional.
She wondered which unlucky fool would come this time.
She couldn’t wait.
She had to make them taste the pain she once endured!
“So, I suggest we launch a preemptive strike—while they’re marching in a rush, assassinate the highest-ranking commander directly.”
Ella declared boldly, giving her little silver tooth a bite.
She’d heard from Gu Mu and the others that after the great nobles of Dark Star City took control, they spread stories everywhere about how Demon King Ai Ao was taken down by a few little girls from the Human Race, even making up all kinds of tales.
At every banquet or party, they used them to mock her.
Mock her!
After this battle, let’s see if you can still laugh!