Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

By the time Kalliope had infiltrated the academy, the guards and soldiers had more than enough time to launch a counter-offensive to retake the walls and the school. Their numbers far exceeded that of the insurgents, but they had one thing that kept them from making a move and that was hostages.

Not only was the academy the location where most of the city's mages stayed to perform research and teach, but it was also home to a large concentration of the heirs of many of the country's noble families. There was no way to know how many noble children were alive, but if they made a move too rashly, it could result in more deaths.

They were paralyzed into inaction. After Kalliope's infiltration, the enemy had tightened their defenses and spread their barriers to encompass the entirety of the walls around the academy. Infiltration of any kind moving forward would be nearly impossible.

Thunder rumbled in the distance and the wind began to whip at their faces. A storm was rolling in, however since the fire barriers were made from magic and were maintained through mana, winds and rain from natural sources would do little to impact them. All this storm would do was make fighting harder.

Thomas was aware of all of this. Trying to think of a solution had him chewing at the fingernail on his thumb. It was not behavior befitting a noble of his stature. However, this was not the time for him to be concerned about such trivialities.

When Kalliope first appeared, Thomas recognized her immediately. He almost did not want to let her into the facility out of spite, but given the state of things, there was no reason for him to turn her away. Similarly, he had no choice but to dedicate resources to healing her because she was a strong fighter and had made her way past the enemy forces.

It was likely she came here for a reason other than freeing the students and staff, but now that she was stuck here too, she would have no choice but to help them sort this situation out.

Kalliope started to stir to consciousness and Thomas was able to observe the visible wincing in her face as she attempted to move. The healers in their group had spent nearly an hour trying to heal the horrible wounds on her back. They were mostly gone, but the residual pain would last for some time.

Luckily for her, the spell that hit her was not so powerful that the healers couldn't overwhelm the residual mana left in the wound. So after all was said and done, her skin would look as good as new. Not that Thomas really cared about that of course. As long as she was in fighting condition, that was the only thing that mattered.

"Lady Kalliope of the Gray Wolf Clan, right?" He asked to confirm her identity.

If looks could kill, then Thomas would likely have been dead several hundred times over. Kalliope's face was morphed into a mixture of pain, anguish, and hatred. She did not seem to be his biggest fan.

"I am." She finally said. The fur on her ears and tail were bristled, but she made no indications she would hurt him.

"I take it you don't like me very much?"

"No."

"Because of the tournament?"

"No."

"Then…"

"Shut it, you vile Petra worm." She spat. Though she was baring her teeth which made his men grip their weapons, she was still making no moves to attack.

"Well, strongly though you may feel about me, it seems that you are aware that in-fighting is not something we need right now." Thomas sighed. "We are surrounded, cut off, and buying time. We can thank the gods that they don't have anyone capable of magic other than fire. Since this building is stone, we should be mostly fine.

"A storm is brewing outside. It might make them more cautious of us since we have magic users with Compatibilities for Wind Magic and Water Magic. Though the storm will do nothing to inhibit their fire spells, it will strengthen ours."

"You have none with Thunder Magic?" The woman asked.

"No." His answer was curt, mostly because Lucius was currently the only student with Thunder Magic. And though it would be helpful, he was not present. Even if he was, Thomas's pride would not let himself ask Lucius for any kind of assistance.

Kalliope grumbled something about if anyone had seen any beastmen, but their answers were in the negative. Other than students, staff, and the enemies attacking them, no one else had been seen on the grounds. Their answers seemed to upset her, but she did not press further.

With her question out of the way, everyone set about putting together a plan for counter attack. Playing defense alone would accomplish nothing. If they wanted their best chances of survival, then they had to make a play to push back.

The enemy's numbers were finite and there was no way for them to get reinforcements, so if they could push back…

"Wait a minute…" He mumbled to himself.

Realizing the enemy was surrounded and that their numbers were limited, made him realize something he hadn't thought about until this very moment.

"What is it, Lord Thomas?" Briene asked.

"They don't intend on surviving this. Whatever their plan is, it involves dying here."

His words hung in the air like rocks. Everyone could feel the looming threat of death, like a dozen daggers were pointed at their necks. Facing off against an enemy was dangerous. However, facing off against one prepared to die was infinitely more so.

"It's fine. If they want to die, then let's just help them." Kalliope said, her voice firm.

Everyone began to share as many aspects of their abilities to each other as they felt comfortable. If they were going to fight together, then they needed to know who would work with who.

In the end they separated everything out the way they did before, except now Kalliope was tasked with taking over for a small group of students who excelled at guerrilla tactics.

She would use enhancement spells on them to increase their speed and they would launch hit and run attacks from behind their shield wall. The first attack they would be in charge of was the blitz attack that would open space directly outside the building so the rest of the students could assemble.