‘There was more information on those texts?’ Edmund again crossed his arms.

  ‘The text dismisses what the soldier said because he looked out of his mind; he said it was the demon lord army.' Ariadne looked at Edmund with a calm expression.

  The young man was confused by what he had just heard. How would this man know what the Demon Lord Army was like? More questions clouded his mind, and he wondered how long this had been going on.

  ‘How old are these texts?’ He looked at her, confused.

  ‘The librarian told me that maybe it is from when the Shafran first came to this continent and fought against the remnants of the demon lord army.’ She held her chin, trying to remember.

  ‘I heard the Shafran came beyond the mountains to the east from a vast empire; those who tried to return never came back or talked about the ancient beast that guarded it, anyway.’ Alon tapped the table two times.

  'Well, let’s assume that there are unknown monsters inside, but the golems need to be there because the dungeon has a condition for conquering it; there are rules to it.’ Alon pointed at the center of the city on his map.

  ‘Rules, I thought it was just like a monster cave.’ Alon scratched his head.

  ‘No, in the middle, there is a dungeon guardian; from reports, the hero is a golem in the format of the last hero.’ He gave a quick look at Ariadne.

  He noticed she had her hand next to her chest and a worried expression; it was understandable; fighting against the last hero would not be a simple task.

  ‘Are you alright, duchess?’ Edmund said in a worried tone.

  ‘I’m alright; just the fact that we are going to do this is sinking in. Continue, peasant.’ Her gaze returned to the map.

  ‘Well, there we will find the hero's sword; the only way to kill the dungeon guardian is to use that sword or be the hero.’ Again, he pointed to the center of the city on the map.

  ‘At least we have the hero's sword; that is a good sign.’ Alon tapped the table with his index finger.

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  ‘But there is a catch; honestly, I don’t know if the duchess will get the sword. I could try, but I don’t know if I can.’ Edmund stopped speaking because Alon’s voice was interrupting him.

  ‘Wait, wait, what?’ Alon looked at Edmund, confused.

  ‘It is a weapon only for the hero to use, and the books said that the hero knows he is the hero. Our best bet is the duchess because of her white hair disease; I did this to myself; we are not the same.’ Edmund shrugged his shoulders.

  ‘So we need a fallback plan in case you guys can’t use the sword.‘ The captain scratched the back of his head.

  ‘Do a fallback plan in case we die; I will use that sword.’ Ariadne spoke in a cold tone.

  ‘Yes, your highness.’ Alon nodded to her.

  ‘Well, ok, I like your confidence, duchess. You don’t need to worry about her, Alon. If we need to fall back, I will give my life for her. It's over anyway if we can’t conquer this dungeon.’ Edmund gave a quick laugh.

  ‘What are you talking about, peasant? We can defend ourselves from the kingdoms.’ Ariadne looked at him with anger in her tone.

  ‘We can, but against the Demon Lord? The sword of the hero is the only thing that can kill him.’ He spoke in a serious tone.

  Ariadne sighed, followed by Alon. She doesn’t care about Edmund's demon lord story; she only goes inside the dungeon because of the lack of resources. Alon, too, knew this, which is why he always found Edmund’s talks about the demon lord absurd.

  But they started to plan. Edmund continued pointing out all the information he knew about the place, such as the high ceiling and the same energy-powered light source as the golems. Everything was connected.

  ‘The hero just passed through all of this alone and fought the dungeon guardian while, at the same time, dealing with the surrounding golems.’ Edmund crossed his arms.

  ‘Impossible… ‘ Ariadne spoke to herself with a shocked expression.

  Alon looked at the duchess, confused by her reaction. Although he thought her reaction impressive, he was a hero, and of course, he could do that much.

  ‘Yes, impossible indeed; there is no way we can do that, so the army will fight the golems and continuously advance, killing the golems in the way. With that, the dungeon will replenish the golems instead of powering up or healing the dungeon guardian.' Edmond spoke in a sad tone while looking at Alon.

  ‘This is bad; how do you know this, Edmund?’ The captain looked at the white-haired young man with concern in his eyes.

  ‘Because that is why the hero’s party was created for later dungeons; it is an easier method, even though the hero could have cleaned all the dungeons alone, my opinion? He just wanted friends.’ He looked at the table with a saddened expression.

  ‘Yes, unfortunate peasant. Alon, why did you say this was bad?’ She started to walk around the table.

  ‘This means we must constantly attack; we can’t hold positions. That is how the dungeon works; I doubt the golems will be attacking us but just defending and holding their ground.’ Alon put his two hands on his head and sighed.

  ‘Is this true, peasant?’ Ariadne looked at Edmund, puzzled.

  'Well, yes, why did you think I made those weapons, the protective gear, rail cannon, the mortar, and now the heavy automatic magic rifle, better known as A-HM1, which I know is a long...’ Edmund stopped talking as Ariadne raised her hand.

  ‘Why can’t you say yes and stop?’ The duchess shook her head.

  ‘My initial plan is to divide this into 4 and have one platoon in charge of one of them and one mortar platoon on the back, giving it support with the trucks going back and forward and getting the wounded, providing supplies and reinforcements as they get healed by Eliza and the medical team.’ Alon pointed one by one at his idea on the map.

  ‘You are a good general, Alon; excellent ideas.' Edmond gave him a pat on the shoulder.

  ‘When he returns, he should get a promotion; the next rank on our next structure is Lieutenant Colonel, yes?’ She smiled at the captain.

  ‘Thank you, Your Highness; tomorrow, I will pass this plan along to the other captains and platoon leaders to iron out any flaws.’ He nodded at her.