Chapter 445: Prisoners

“Twelve hours?” Orchid whispered. A terse silence swept over the town as everyone stopped what they were doing to stare up into the offending words stamped into the sky. The seconds ticked away above them.

“This can’t be right,” Mite stammered. “We — there was just a wave a little while ago! Surely we should have had a few days at the very least!”

“I would have thought the same,” Rhyss said. There was an exceedingly rare note of surprise in his voice. “This is incredibly abnormal. The System is not unfair. To have a second wave come so quickly after the first…”

Orchid’s eyes narrowed as she wrenched her thoughts back into motion. “Could it be because we have two towns bundled into one? Is there any way that could be accelerating the speed of the waves?”

“It should slow them if anything,” Rhyss replied with a shake of his head. “The only possibility is that the speed of waves somehow depends on the way we complete the previous one.”

“You’re kidding,” Mite said. “You mean because we didn’t kill Vil?”

“It’s possible,” Rhyss replied. “I cannot say what the System thinks.”

“At this point, it doesn’t matter,” Orchid said sharply. She took one last look at the words in the sky before tearing her gaze away and spinning to Rhyss. “Update me on our readiness for another battle.”

“Given how easily the last wave was dealt with, everyone is at full fighting capacity,” Rhyss said. He interlaced his fingers. “The town’s structural integrity is undamaged and the moat is fully active. We can have the majority of our teams back from the Mirrorlands and ready to fend off forces in both versions of Mirrorwane by the time the next wave arrives.”

“The Labyrinth?” Orchid asked.

“Brimming. Mostly Adept Tier monsters,” Rhyss reported without a moment of hesitation. “And the Mists are prepared as well. The town is objectively in good shape.”

Orchid nodded sharply. She turned to Mite. “And you?”

“Me?” Mite stammered. “What can I—”

“The Endbringer Culverin,” Orchid said. She raised a hand and looked to Rhyss. “Get Vil. We’re going to need her. Now.”

Rhyss popped out of existence without a word.

They didn’t have to wait long at all. Vil hurried over from where she’d clearly been a few houses away, Rhyss floating alongside her.

“What’s going on?” Vil asked, looking worriedly up at the sky. “The last wave just happened! Does this crown thing you have mean there’s a wave every single day? Isn’t that completely impossible to—”

“It doesn’t matter,” Orchid said. “We can worry about what it means later. You said you wanted to prove yourself. This is your chance.”

Vil blinked. Then she swallowed, her eyes narrowing. “What do you need?”

“You,” Orchid replied. She pointed at Mite. “He wants backup and says you’re the one best suited to do it. So, congratulations. We’ve got a use for you.”

“You’re kidding,” Vil said.

“No,” Mite said with a shake of his head as he gathered himself. “I am not. I’ve recently become painfully aware that I can’t do everything on my own. I have limits, and you’re the only one here with any experience in an adjacent field.”

Vil grimaced. Then she nodded. “Well, I can try. It’s not my specialty, but if you’re sure.”

“Perfect.” Orchid nodded, then looked back to Mite. “If Vil helps you with it. How long do you need to finish making the weapon?”

“I think we can do a day,” Mite said after a moment of thought. “We need to get up to speed.”

“I can’t give you a day,” Orchid said. “Alex and Claire aren’t here, Mite. We’re down two of our most powerful combatants. We need firepower, and we need it by the time this wave starts.”

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“What, in twelve hours?” Mite exclaimed. He shook his head firmly. “That’s impossible. There’s absolutely no way. This isn’t the same as the other structures I’ve built. That isn’t to mention its the first time I’ll be working with someone. I have to fill Vil in on how I work. Then we have to make the individual components and figure out how we’re going to link them together. This is an incredibly complex undertaking. It isn’t something I can just throw together.”

“Seriously?” Orchid asked. “Now is when you decide to start being humble and underselling yourself? We don’t have time for this, Mite. You have twelve hours. After that… well, you’ve got as long as we can hold the wave off. We don’t know what we’re going to be up against.”

“You don’t understand,” Mite said with a firm shake of his head. “This is an unfinished Blueprint for an incredibly powerful building! I can’t just follow instructions to create it. I’ve got to fill in immense portions entirely on my own. I’m confident I can do the calculations and balance all the magic, but I’m not nearly high enough level or experienced enough to rush through—”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Orchid said. She clapped Mite on the shoulder. “And maybe you’ll have the extra time. Maybe we’ll be able to clear out the second wave as easily as the first. Then we won’t need it at all.”

“Yeah,” Mite muttered. “That—”

“Or maybe we’ll need the tower,” Orchid continued. She gave him a mirthless smile. “Then we’ll all die and it’ll be your fault. Or, worse, some of us die and the rest blame you.”

Mite stared at her. He threw his hands up. “Seriously? That’s how you motivate me? By saying it’ll be my fault if everyone gets killed? You realize that’s not going to accomplish anything but stress me out, right?”

“It’s not the most convincing strategy,” Vil put in.

“Not helping, Vil. And it’s not motivation,” Orchid said flatly. “This is all just the cold truth. There is a very damn good chance that this town is going to need you. I just need you both to understand the stakes. Or would you prefer I lied?”

“Maybe Alex and Claire make it back before the wave starts,” Mite offered. “And we’ve still got you and Derek and everyone else. I wouldn’t say we’re pushovers.”

“Far from it,” Orchid said with a snort. “But Alex and Claire definitely aren’t making it back. The trip to Valley Ford is at least a day. This wave is going to be finished by the time they return, one way or another... and none of us know what the System will throw at us. Maybe it’ll be easy. Maybe it won’t be. But I’d rather be in a position to deal with the latter.”

Mite’s jaw worked. He exchanged a glance with Vil.

“We could maybe try to buy some of the pieces we need from Finley,” Mite said, chewing the insides of his cheeks. “Or we could buy a building from the System and take it apart for its components. We’ve got some Legendary boons left, right?”

“We do,” Rhyss confirmed.

“Do we have permission to use them?” Orchid asked.

Rhyss inclined his head. “Given the situation that we are in, I believe that Alex and Claire would approve it. So long as the purpose is justified, I will approve the request.”

“It’s gonna be tight,” Mite muttered. He paused for a moment. Then he shook his head and set his jaw. “But we’ll try to get it done in twelve hours. It might be possible.”

“Good,” Orchid said. “Thank you both. Don’t fail.”

Mite grunted and shook his head. “Don’t thank us yet. I have no idea if this is possible. There’s a chance we just blow the whole thing up because I was working too fast. Or maybe Vil screws it all.”

“Hey,” Vil said. “I’ll have you know that I am perfectly competent.”

“Not competent enough to get a bomb out of your own giant,” Mite countered, a smirk flashing across his face for a brief moment before his features turned serious. “But I’m not joking. Putting two new people on a project with so little time...”

“Not the ideal position,” Vil agreed. A thin smile crossed her lips. “But I’d rather not the town I just moved into get blown up. I’ll play nice.”

Mite’s eyes narrowed. Somehow, her reassurance seemed to have made him even less confident in her.

Orchid shook her head.

I’m honestly surprised Mite asked for Vil over anyone else. He clearly doesn’t trust her. I guess he’s just that confident her abilities will make up for any other potential shortcomings.

I just hope he’s right.

“I’m sure the two of you will figure it out,” Orchid said. She clapped Mite on the shoulder. “Show us what you’ve got. There might not be another chance.”

Then she turned on her heel and strode toward the milling crowd gathering in the center of town. Alex and Claire weren’t here, but they’d left her in charge. And even if they hadn’t… Mirrorwane was her home. They couldn’t rely on one or two people being the lynchpin to their defenses every single time there was a powerful enemy.

“Gather everyone,” Orchid told Rhyss as he floated alongside her. “Three fourths of our forces to the Mirrorlands. The remainder up here.

The town would have to become powerful enough to survive without Alex and Claire. That was the only way it could truly thrive and grow. And Orchid planned to do whatever it took to make sure that the town was still standing when they got back.

“Understood,” Rhyss said.

“Oh, and Rhyss?” Orchid asked before he could vanish.

“Yes?” the Advisor asked.

“Tell them not to plan to take any prisoners this time,” Orchid said coldly. “We might not have the liberty. And for the love of all the gods — when this is done, I’m going to need you to figure out a way to see when the next wave is coming. I don’t want to get surprised again.”

Rhyss gave her a sharp nod.

Then he vanished.

Orchid’s grip on her staff tightened. They did have some rather considerable forces to draw on. Against pretty much any normal enemy, she wasn’t concerned at all. Alyssa, Derek, Wess, herself, even Aaron and May. That wasn’t even counting all the townsfolk that had been training as hard as they could against Mirrorlands monsters.

Everyone in Mirrorwane was ready for a fight.

Orchid’s only concern was that the System knew that too.