The Hollow Instructor

by NoNameBecauseWhy

Based on the game Re:Hollow Fragment. After reaching the 76th floor of Aincrad, the Assault Team is in disarray. There are too many issues to handle: Heathcliff's secret identity, a huge system error and new, inexperienced players arriving at the frontlines, even from outside the game! Help arrives in form of a player who's experienced in training other players.

55. Siege of the Goblin Capital II

So, I'm back. Yes, it sure took me long enough - more than a month, actually - to complete this chapter, but what shall I say? I recently finished my degree, and now my job keeps me occupied. The fact that I have to take care of moving to a different town due to work doesn't help either, so...

Anyway, even if writing/finishing this story will take longer, I certainly won't give it up, and neither will I stop the series I've planned to the point that I already have a plan after finishing it... which might take me few years, but at least I won't run out of things to do that way.

On another note, as many times before, I've decided to split the current part of the story into more chapters than initially planned. In other words, the siege will be covered in four chapters instead of three.

So, at the end of the last chapter, the Assault Team has just got ready to start their strategy meeting for the raid on the goblin's HQ on the 95th floor, so let's see how that works out.

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Inside the large tent the lizardmen had put up on a hill directly outside the goblin HQ, there was nothing but an enormous conference table. There were no chairs, no flip chart or anything like that… It wasn't even possible to hang up a map anywhere. This wasn't a place that gave the impression that people would hold a military strategy meeting there, but that was what was happening.

To be fair, the tent was spacious, and despite the large table taking up a lot of space, there was more than enough room for two dozen people, so the place met the most important criterion. Well, two dozen was still only a fraction of the number of people in attendance. Having an orderly discussion with all of the players who had gathered wouldn't have been possible anyway, though, so that wasn't a problem.

As customary, one representative of each party participated in the strategy meeting. Well, the DDA was represented by Lind and Sunny Tzu, and the KoB by Max. Asuna led the discussion, and Kirito was there as her advisor. Most of the other participating parties belonged to their own respective guilds, and they were usually represented by their leaders. There were exceptions if someone other than the leader was either chosen by the party members themselves or explicitly invited to come along. For instance, Sinon joined this meeting even though Akinym normally was the only member of their two-players-party who attended the strategy meetings.

The rest of the players who were present could still watch since the tent was open on one side. Thanks to that, the players also had a good view of the castle from inside the tent. It was one of the reasons why the tent had been chosen as the command post for this battle until the players would reach the interior of the castle: Using special items that extended the visibility range (such as Asuna's binoculars), it was possible to observe the battle from here.

Long story short, about twenty people had gathered around the large table inside the tent, and Asuna, who was standing at the head of the table, opened the meeting.

Asuna: Alright, let's get this meeting under way! First of all, I'd like to thank all of you for coming today. I know that many of you have mixed feelings about this war, but that only makes your contribution all the more commendable. In the end, while even I don't like to admit it, we have no choice but to keep walking forward. Sometimes, it's hard choices like this that will lead us on the path back to the real world, so let us take the next step to the one-hundredth floor: Let us end this war!

The other participants acknowledged Asuna's speech with a nod, albeit some of them did so rather reluctantly.

Asuna: Now then, with that out of the way, let's talk about our battle plan! For starters, we need an overview of the battle site.

She turned to Kirito, giving him the signal to put a Mirage Sphere on the table. When he activated it, a preselected hologram appeared. It was a holographic 3D model of the goblin HQ.

Asuna: Thankfully, the party that had been examining things on the side of the goblins could explore the area thoroughly. You will all receive the complete map data once the meeting is over. For now, let us focus on the most important insights we've got! For starters, the central part of the stronghold is the large building right in the middle of the complex. We don't know its exact size, but its definitely larger than any of the fortresses you've cleared so far.

Before she continued her explanation, Asuna opened some kind of detail view of the interior of the dungeon by entering a control sequence on a panel at the side of the Mirage Sphere. While she was explaining their intel on the structure, Asuna pointed at the various key areas and outlined the path they'd have to take.

Asuna: The only entrance we know is this large gate on the ground floor. Our first target will be the stairwell on the other side of the building. The corridors form a grid, but many of them lead to dead ends, so it's a bit of a maze. Fortunately, since we have the map data, we could determine the right path beforehand. For now, just let me make it clear that taking the seemingly straight path won't work! Let's proceed: On the second floor, we have to reach another stairwell on the north side of the building. Once we're on the third floor, our destination is the access point to the castle keep in the centre of the top floor. Based on the outline of the castle, I presume that the target of today's raid, the general of the goblins, is located in a large hall at the top of the keep.

She paused for a moment to give everyone at the meeting time to give some thought to the plan. Since nobody seemed to have questions or objections, Asuna continued.

Asuna: However, before we get to talk about this part of the raid, there are other things to discuss. Before we can make our way through the inside, we have to break through the external defenses. As I said, our point of entry is the gate right here at the front of the building, but we have to get there first.

By pressing a certain key sequence on the Mirage Sphere's control panel, Asuna turned the hologram by ninety degrees so that the others at the strategy meeting could see the holographic model from a bird's eye view.

Asuna: As you can see, the area between the outer wall and the main building is divided into eight sections, which are separated by inner walls. There are smaller gateways through these walls, so we can go from section to section until we reach the gate to the main building. The biggest issue is that there are countless small buildings and walls everywhere. Unless we can find a way to climb these structures, we have to go around them, but there are numerous bottlenecks we'll have to get through. It is likely that the defenders will put up a strong resistance at these specific points.

Guild Leader 1: Sorry for interrupting, [slightly confusedly] but is that actually our biggest problem? You're saying this as if we can even make it this far. I've been wondering about this since we arrived here, but how are we even supposed to get past the wall?

Asuna: For that purpose, we've found an item that should help. Akinym-san, would you explain the situation, please?

Akinym [nods]: A few days ago, a carpenter in Arc Sophia got a special tip from an info broker that the Assault Team might need siege weapons for this war campaign. He also got a clue as to how he can craft a battering ram.

Guild Leader 1: A battering ram?

Guild Leader 2 [slightly upset]: Hey, how come that you know about this but only tell us now?! Isn't this important for this battle?! Why didn't you inform us beforehand?

Akinym [slightly sternly]: Crafting this ram required wood from the ninety-fourth floor and a large number of other materials, all of which can only be found on lower floors. All the small clearing guilds were busy on the ninety-fifth floor. When would you have even had the time to worry about this? Besides, I discovered this fact just yesterday when I was looking into the matter.

Guild Leader 2: Even so, couldn't you have done something about this sooner? Talk about putting this on the shelf for way too long! What if there hadn't been any…

Asuna [clears her throat loudly]: Could you discuss this later!? We're in the middle of a strategy meeting, so focus on the matter at hand! Right now, the important thing is that we have this ram.

The guild leader who had started this argument nodded and kept quiet, figuring that it would be better not to bother Asuna because of something like this.

Klein: Speaking of which, does that mean this carpenter managed to finish the ram, and he sold it to us?

Agil: Yeah, the Two-Handed Builders picked it up before we came here. We can't say for sure if this item is what we need before testing it, but it seems to fit the bill.

Asuna: Normally, walls are classified as immortal objects, but we've seen countless times before that such obstacles might still be destroyed by certain items. The fact that the system gives us access to a battering ram right around this time would be a huge coincidence if we weren't supposed to use it here and now.

Kem'Pal: It's true, such a war machine is a necessity of a siege. Unfortunately, we lizardmen can't build anything like that. It's a lifesaver that you scaleless ones could obtain such a device.

Lind: Actually, about that, there's also another…

Lind paused when Sunny Tzu put a hand on his shoulder. His subordinate gave him such a demanding look that Lind couldn't help but hesitate to say another word.

Asuna: What is it?

Sunny Tzu: Nothing at all! We can bring this up if need be. For now, how about we get back on track? We should discuss how to use that battering ram.

Guild Leader 3: About that: Do we even have to break through the wall? Wouldn't it make much more sense to use the main gate?

A legitimate question, and one Asuna had pondered over herself. There was a single, large gate which served as the normal entrance to the castle yard. From there, a straight path led to the gate of the main building – even without any static obstacles blocking the way. If they could break through the gate just as they might through the wall, it would seem ideal… but that is exactly what made Asuna (and some others) wary. Especially on the upper floors of SAO, "too good to be true" meant "not true" almost every single time.

There were some more feasible concerns, but in order to bring them across, Asuna would need to describe the site in a more detailed manner than she could. She regretted not foreseeing this matter. If she had, she would've asked Kirito or Silica for more details. Right now, the best she could do was to leave the explanation to them, so she threw a quick glance at Kirito, which signalled him to get ready, before turning towards the guild leader who had brought up this topic again.

Asuna: I understand your idea, and I acknowledge its advantages: We could avoid fighting our way through small gaps between buildings in the courtyard, and we might even avoid most of the archers on the outer walls. We also don't know if the gates might be easier to burst open than the walls. However, I doubt that choosing this option is actually better. I want you to get the best insight, so I'll let Kirito-kun describe the passage first.

Asuna stepped aside, allowing Kirito to take the stage… which he did quite reluctantly. He usually discussed the situation with Asuna beforehand and let her handle the talking – for a variety of reasons. Alas, since she passed the baton on to him, all he could do was to focus on the task at hand.

Kirito: Okay, so… [contemplatively] maybe I should start with the scale of the passage, I guess… [slightly contemplatively, points at the path on the holographic model] As you can see, it's surrounded by walls on both sides, and the path between them really isn't that big. Maybe about…

Kirito began thinking about how wide the passageway from the gate at the outer wall to the gate of the main building was. He had a pretty clear image of it in his mind, but he had never considered measuring it explicitly. For starters, he usually didn't have to ponder about it. Even wondering if a full party could walk side by side wasn't something he'd had to do often – or maybe even at all. His thought process about the size of an area normally came down to whether or not two players could fight/operate freely. The only real exception had been times when he had gathered information for Argo.

While he was wondering how to describe the size of the passageway, Kirito's eyes wandered around a little until he caught sight of Agil. This gave him the idea to contemplate how many people of Agil's stature would fit into the space he was thinking about. Kirito was about to estimate that the passage was four or five Agils wide… when a question occurred to him: Who in their right mind would measure length in Agils?!

On the other hand, he knew that he had to say something, so…

Kirito: Well, there's not much space. Let's say you send three or four tanks as a vanguard: There won't be much place on either side to go around them, so there aren't many options to advance.

Guild Leader 2: How so? Am I missing something?

Kirito: Well, let's say you want to let a wave of monsters crash into your line of defense and then send a unit of fast players with a DPS build circling around to attack them from the sides or back. That won't work if there's no gap between the tanks who have to hold the line. Basically, the whole issue is that there's no space to manoeuvre in order to switch from defense to offense and back to defense while advancing through the pathway.

Guild Leader 2 [slightly grumpily]: Well, I guess that's true.

With that explanation out of the way, Kirito could continue… to do what, actually? He was wondering about that himself. What was next on the list of things to mention?

Kirito could actually be thankful to the person who made that decision for him:

Lind: I still don't really see why a narrow path would be a hindrance to our advance. Naturally, we can't operate freely, but given that the goblins' biggest strength is their agility, shouldn't the same apply to them, and to an even greater effect on top of that?! It should be possible for us to push forward slowly but steadily.

Kirito: Well, maybe that's an option, but I'm also worried about traps. Especially here…

Kirito pointed at the fortified gatehouse at the outer wall. The gateway was actually even narrower than the passage that followed, but there was something else that had caught Kirito's attention much more.

Kirito: I'm not entirely sure why, but there's a strange hole in the ceiling right at the gate. It easily makes up for half of the ceiling, and it stands out way too much. I'm sure that it's important.

A moment of silence followed. Kirito wished that Lind would just say anything to show if he concurred or not. Instead, he just stared at the 3D model of the castle pensively. In fact, those next to him did the same, which made Kirito wonder if there was anything unclear.

That wasn't really the case, though. It was just that they were wondering how substantial Kirito's input was. Okay, a giant hole in the ceiling right above the path they would have to take sounded extremely suspicious, but what was supposed to happen? Would a bunch of random monsters jump down to launch a surprise attack from above? The players probably could've handled that.

Meanwhile, there was a completely different issue that Kirito wasn't even aware of. Basically, the problem was that he had only been looking at the people to his right so far. Unlike Asuna, who – once this issue had been brought to her attention by other KoB executives who had more experience at giving presentations – had learnt how to let her gaze wander naturally among all participants and to observe their reactions while she was speaking, Kirito wasn't used (let alone trained) to deal with this many people at once. Frankly, he hardly knew how to deal with many of them in the first place, so focusing on just a few helped him to focus. In fact, Kirito had been looking at Lind for the most part since the DDA had often been the participant who had been the hardest to convince at strategy meetings like this.

Due to that approach, however, Kirito had completely missed the incredulous looks that were thrown at him from his left side. The fact that Kirito hadn't even looked at them since Asuna had given the floor to him was one reason, but there was also the fact that Kirito's demeanour felt off in their opinion. Admittedly, he was giving his report calmly and seriously, but the way he acted was still nowhere near Asuna's unwavering aura from before. For instance, this made Kirito's supposedly matter-of-fact description of the area sound almost like a vague proposal.

In light of that, Kirito's next move didn't exactly help.

Kirito: Um, sorry, could it be that you can't see it well on the model? [mutters] Maybe that's the issue… I would have to turn it for others to see… and also… [says aloud] Give me a second, I'm sure I can zoom in on that section!

Kirito began to tap on the Mirage Sphere's control panel, carefully pressing the right key combination, only to be interrupted.

Lind [slightly annoyed]: Could you just continue? I think we get the picture.

Guild Leader 4: Actually, could you please not? Honestly, is this even going anywhere?!

Everyone turned to the person who finally spoke up at the other side of the large conference table.

Kirito: I think that I've brought up quite a few important problems we have to discuss if anyone is seriously planning to charge through the main gate, haven't I?

Guild Leader 4: So you think you did, huh? That's exactly the problem! There's nothing but a vague outline of the area and speculations about traps or problems that may or may not be there. Frankly, I'm still not sure what kind of battle site I have to imagine, so could we start to lay down some concrete facts first?!

Asuna figured that this might be the best moment for her to take over and to talk in more detail about the points Kirito had touched. However, someone unexpectedly beat her to the punch.

Silica [determinedly]: I can help with that!

Just like that, the small girl, who was raising her right hand while closing a note with her left hand, caught everyone's attention. Incidentally, that note was a list of information Silica had gathered about the walls, the ward and the inside of the goblin HQ. Ever since she had noticed that Kirito didn't seem to remember the exact outline of the area he had to describe, Silica had been preparing to come to his aid.

Now she was walking around the table, passing by a few other members of the assembly, on her way to the head of the table. There, she hoped to use the Mirage Sphere to illustrate the data she had at hand.

Silica: For instance, the passage through the outer wall at the gate is a space of roughly three times three metres, and the hole in the ceiling Kirito-san mentioned takes up about half of it, being a perfect circle with a diameter of roughly two and a half metres.

At this point, Silica reached the point where she stood the closest she could get to the Mirage Sphere. She tried to point at the walls that surrounded the path from the gate at the outer wall to the main gate of the central building, but the combination of her short stature, the height of the table and the position of the Mirage Sphere on the table (which was relatively far away from the edge) made this… difficult, to say the least. Even when stretching, Silica couldn't reach the holographic model. That didn't stop her from trying, though.

Silica: And these… walls Kirito-san mentioned: They… are less than four metres apart from each other… and at least five metres high!

Silica was basically hopping up and down in an attempt to get a little bit closer to the Mirage Sphere on the table. It was an awkward scene for anyone who was watching. Frankly, most of her "audience" just felt sorry for Silica or wanted her to stop.

Pina had its own idea of helping its master. Naturally, the feathered dragon figured out what Silica attempted to do, so it tried to push the Mirage Sphere closer to her… almost knocking it over in the process.

Silica: Ah! No, Pina! Leave it be!

In light of her newest problems, Silica began to consider her options. There was one thing she figured she could do, but it wasn't something she'd normally resort to. Alas, she was at her wits' end otherwise, so…

...she used Acrobatics to boost her jump and leapt onto the table. There, she could just walk up to the holographic model.

Silica: Okay, so these walls are also about three metres wide and connected to the outer wall through corridors, and…

While Silica was explaining various defensive structures, Pina seemed to take a certain interest in the sections she was pointing at. The feathered dragon flew up to that part of the model… blocking the line of sight of almost everyone at the table.

Silica [flails her arms around]: Waaah! Pina! You can't just hover right in front of the map! How are the others supposed to see anything like that?!

Guild Leader 1: In all honesty, it doesn't even matter if your pet is in the way or not. This is only becoming weird! I mean, why did you even climb onto the table?!

Kem'Pal: Huh… I've been wondering about this, too. And here I thought you scaleless ones might have a habit of jumping onto the conference table during such meetings.

Klein [slightly taken aback]: No, Kem, I'm pretty sure that's just Silica-chan…

Silica [insecurely]: U-um… Is it that bad? Or maybe I'm standing in the way, too?! I'm sorry!

She hurriedly took a somewhat wide step back.

Guild Leader 1: No, that's not it! But… [exasperatedly] For crying out loud, just get down the DAMN TABLE!

This outburst startled Silica even more, and she instinctively backed away further… which was about the worst thing she could've done. When Silica took another step back, her foot slipped on the edge of the table, and she toppled down with a shriek.

Well, at the very least, this snapped everyone who had been taken by surprise by Silica's blunt actions out of their daze. In fact, Asuna immediately helped her up, although she came too late to even have a chance at saving her friend from ridicule. There were quite a few people who averted their eyes awkwardly. In particular, the scene had become too painful to watch for Lisbeth and Philia. In part, this was because there were those who had to muster all their self-control so as not to burst into laughter… just as there were many – especially in the background – who failed to contain themselves.

Asuna: I think that's enough, Silica. I'll take it from here!

Silica nodded meekly before going back to her own spot at the table while muttering how embarrassing this situation was.

Guild Leader 4: That went straight from little facts with too many ideas to too many facts with little ideas. Geez, what a let-down and waste of time…

Asuna [sternly]: I don't think so!

The sudden, immediate shift in tone that came from these words admonished everyone to calm down and keep quiet. All eyes were drawn to Asuna, who took matters into her own hands again.

Asuna: You were asking about a more precise outline, and I think Silica did a good job at that. For instance, she made it clear that the inner walls surrounding the path between the outer and the inner main gate are just as big as the outer wall, not to mention that they are connected, which would allow the archers to move there and to open fire if we tried to push through.

This possibility made those who had initially favoured a charge through the gate wary. They had actually hoped to circumvent the archers, but they couldn't deny what Asuna said: If the wall system was structured as Silica had explained, that might not be an option.

Asuna: In fact, I presume that the archers would pressure us even more if we take that path. As stated before, there are no structural obstacles whatsoever on that path, but that also means that we can't take cover anywhere. There was a proposal to push forward steadily, but we can't do that if a never-ending hail of arrows rains down on us! To make things worse, we might even be halted… If I'm not mistaken, there are goblin monsters with a much more formidable defense, aren't there?

Guild Leader 3 [slightly hesitantly]: Well, yeah… [slightly doubtfully] Goblin Champions. They're bulky and tough, kinda like the goblins' tanks. But they are extremely rare. I think my party has fought only one during the entire campaign.

Asuna: I get what you want to say, but that's not important right now! In this battle, we should be prepared for the goblins throwing everything they have at us! We might be able to fight our way through any narrow passage if our opponents are essentially pushovers who rely on manoeuvrability, but these special monsters would be perfect to slow us down or even to stop our advance completely in such a space. As Kirito-kun pointed out, we couldn't switch between offense and defense well enough. There's also the potential trap right at the entrance gate.

Klein: Hm, so you're agreeing with Kirito in that regard?

Asuna: I can't say for sure that there's a trap, but it's certainly suspicious that there's a seemingly random opening in the ceiling. Even if no enemies jump down through it, it could at least be used as an arrow slit.

Agil: Hm… I don't wanna deny that we should be cautious here, but wouldn't this be an awfully oversized arrow slit. If it's that big, our own long-ranged attackers could definitely fire back, couldn't they?

Guild Leader 2: On that note, couldn't we do the same with the archers on the inner walls? I mean, we would have to anyway, whether it's on the inner or the outer walls.

Asuna: There's still a difference considering the shooting angle. For example, if you try to shoot at enemies on the other side of that large hole at the outer gate we were talking about, you'd pretty much have to aim straight up. Maybe that wouldn't be such a problem, but there are even more problems when fighting archers on the inner walls. They could simply fire down and retreat behind the battlements, only popping up randomly for a split second during which they'd be vulnerable, but only to shots at a very steep angle. After all, judging from Silica's data, even the best angle we could get would be about…

Asuna quickly made a calculation based on trigonometry and an approximation of the arctangent that came to her mind.

Asuna: ...fifty-two degrees. Honestly, it might be doable, but I can't even judge that. I'll leave it to those of you who have more experience with this – each one for themself – to make a guess if you could make such shots continuously.

To be honest, not many of those with long-ranged weapon skills who were present were enthusiastic about this.

Guild Leader 4: Okay, so that would be a problem, but I'm still not sure what to think of this weird hole in the ceiling. I took a look earlier, and there seem to be similar holes in the outer wall more or less right beneath the battlements. No clue what this is about, but what are we going to do about them if we assume that it's some sort of trap? That is, if they really are one.

Asuna could understand the uncertainty in this statement. She wished that she could say more about this – to give the leaders of the different parties a clear picture of the potential threat, not to mention something more convincing – but she had little knowledge of the defenses of a castle, which would've proven extremely useful provided that the goblin HQ was based on actual medieval strongholds. She could only assess this fortress as an SAO dungeon, so she always considered the existence of hidden or obvious traps, but beyond that…

Sunny Tzu: About that, I think that we're on the right track as far as these traps – which they indeed are – are concerned. You see, just as Asuna-kun has speculated, they are basically a special type of arrow slit. Judging from my studies and some strategy games I've played, I'm sure that those are so-called "murder holes". The defenders can not only fire arrows through them, they can also throw or roll other projectiles or even just heavy rocks through them. They might even pour boiling oil or tar on us if we try to pass through under them.

Sunny Tzu cleared up pretty much all the uncertainties about this particular trap just like that. Everyone at the strategy meeting believed his explanation, which might seem strange, but this kind of trust and confidence in his advice was merely the result of numerous other times when he had assessed an obstacle that was based on real world warfare correctly.

Sunny Tzu: In the end, it's only natural to bolster defense where it's weak. Thus, while this route seems easier, the defenders just make up for it by installing additional traps and other tricks. The original proposal to break through the wall and secure the ward little by little may very well be favourable.

One after another, the representatives of each party at this meeting agreed to the plan, some more hesitantly than others.

Asuna: Good, now that we've come to an understanding, the general outline of our attack is clear. Now we can discuss the different stages of the assault, starting with the first step, which we actually have yet to address: First of all, we have to secure the way to the wall so that we can use our battering ram! As some of you should already know, there is a group of more than thirty Goblin Guards waiting outside the castle.

Guild Leader 4 [flatly]: Hm, sounds like a simple battle to me if we can just confront them in the open field.

Guild Leader 1: Yeah, each party takes a few of them, and we're done in no time.

Guild Leader 5: I don't wanna charge in just to get surrounded, though. With that many, there could always be a few that suddenly jump on us.

Guild Leader 6: I'm actually wondering how many each of our teams can take. My tank needs to be able to deal with them, maybe with one more to help him, but the rest has to be ready to switch in and kill the targets.

As various leaders of the smaller groups were throwing around ideas and thoughts like this (which they kept doing for a short while), Asuna couldn't help but notice the biggest problem: They were all thinking only as the leaders of their respective parties… which was to be expected, to be fair. Alas, this was still a large-scale battle, and the individual performance of each participant meant little without proper coordination. For instance, the plan they were currently discussing could quickly lead to an all-out brawl – coordinating each parties' actions would be a major issue, and the players might easily get in each other's way.

Well, they were used to this kind of problem arising at the strategy meetings. Asuna, in particular, knew all too well that it would fall to her – the raid commander – to make sure that the players would apply proper raid party tactics.

Asuna: Everyone, can I have your attention again!? I understand that you want to make plans for your respective parties for the upcoming battle, and there will be plenty of time to think about that and to make suggestions, but right now, I want to make a proposal.

Guild Leader 4: Well, sure. So, is this about who will take part in the first attack?

Asuna: No, actually not. For starters, I advise against a head-on attack. If a large force tries to hunt the defenders down… [thinks] Hm, what would be the most convincing argument in this situation? Let's go with… [says aloud] ...they'd be met with volley after volley of arrows. Don't forget about the archers on the walls! We shouldn't fight within their shooting range needlessly!

Klein: Well, yeah, I get that, but why "needlessly"?

Asuna: You said it yourself: The Goblin Guards outside attack on their own, so I say we let them take the fight to the battlefield of our choice!

The proposal piqued many people's curiosity, although it also raised a variety of questions.

Klein: Whoa, what do you have in mind?! Hey, I know I said they'd attacked as when we tried to get close to the walls, but I think it should be obvious that they stopped chasing us as soon as we made a run for it! [slightly doubtfully] Didn't I even say so?

Asuna: I know, Klein-san, but don't worry, I've taken that into account. Even if the monsters don't follow us up the hill, we might set up a line of defense at its very foot, just outside the archers' range. Speaking of which, we should clarify how far they can fire. Sinon, you might have the most insight into this matter, and I'm sure you've fought Goblin Archers on this floor. Can you tell us anything about their abilities?

Due to being addressed so suddenly, Sinon was somewhat startled for a moment. She quickly regained her composure, though, and she thought about what she could tell Asuna and the others.

Sinon: Well, it's hard to say. I've fought them mostly in somewhat confined spaces, usually when they were guarding a passage inside one of their fortresses. Compared to a battle on an open field like this, they probably couldn't fire at their maximum range. Hm…

Akinym: Sinon-san, there was one time when we fought a group of archers on an open plain, remember? It was on Monday this week.

Sinon: Oh, you're right. Well, it was only a small clash, but now that I think about it, I remember that we spotted them early due to our extended visibility range, and I managed to hit them with an AOE Sword Skill before they got close enough to return fire, so their range is definitely below fifty metres. [contemplatively] Hm, let's see… I'd say it was somewhere between thirty and forty metres.

Asuna: Thank you. I think this shows that setting up a proper defense would work. Now I'd like to talk about how exactly that might look like. My idea is to establish a line of about a dozen players who specialise in defense to hold off the initial charge. We can use Switching to let a secondary line of attackers take over and rout the goblin monsters. Maybe we'll have to repeat this once or twice, but it should be a safe and efficient way to clear the first obstacle. As for the defenders, I recommend to let the Two-Handed Builders and the DDA's defense unit do that job. Any thoughts?

Agil: We're up for that task.

Lind: I'm sure that Schmitt and his former party won't have any problems.

Guild Leader 5: What about the attackers? Perhaps the lizardmen should do that since they deal additional damage. It would be the best way to do away with the monsters outside.

Kem'Pal: My men are certainly up for the task if you send them into this battle!

Klein: Hey, take it easy, Kem! I think it would be a little bit too early for you to enter the battle, especially since this sounds more like a job for a group that specialises in swift attacks. I mean, we'll have to face a pretty large group, and taking them out with nothing but ordinary Switching will only work if the attacks come quick and surprising.

Guild Leader 2: Yeah, and we won't be able to attack all monsters simultaneously anyway.

Guild Leader 6: Well, maybe if we send out players with strong AOE attacks?

Asuna: The defending players will need to keep the majority of the monsters in check right until the attackers can take over. They'll probably have to charge through gaps the defenders leave in their formation. That way, the attackers will come too close to the defenders to use AOE Sword Skills. They'd hit friend and foe alike.

Sunny Tzu: That is true, but aren't you mentioning yet another problem? If we leave gaps in our ranks, our own players won't be the only ones to slip through them. The goblins are bound to do the same.

Agil: I hate to admit it, but he's right. When we leave gaps in our formation on purpose, my guys and I won't be able to defend the area between us. Certainly not while fighting off several goblins. Not to mention that it will be difficult if each of us has to fend off several of them at the same time.

Asuna [slightly worriedly]: That is a… Hm, give me a moment…

Guild Leader 4: That's why I keep saying: Why don't we just split the enemies into groups and fight numbers with numbers, each party taking on one group?

Guild Leader 7: Haven't you listened? What about the archers?!

Guild Leader 4: If we don't get too close, there's no problem, is there?! Seriously, don't just assume that I'm too retarded to remember that!

Asuna [very sternly]: Hold it right there! We don't need that kind of argument during a strategy meeting! If anyone has a proposal, it's okay to present it, but do so in a civilised fashion, got it!?

Guild Leader 4 [slightly grumpily]: W-well, okay… Anyway, what I wanna say is that we should have more than enough space to operate outside the archer's reach if their shooting range is less than forty metres.

For a moment, everyone gave the suggested plan some thought.

Guild Leader 5: Actually, I still don't like the idea. I mean, we would have to be quite careful, or we might accidentally chase some monsters into the dangerous zone around the wall.

Guild Leader 4: In that case, just don't.

Guild Leader1: Well, I, for my part, would prefer a plan like Asuna-san's, which allows us to preserve our strength. During the last raid, my party had to fight all the time, and we were totally beat halfway through.

Guild Leader 3: That still doesn't tell us what to do about our formation.

Guild Leader 6: Well, maybe our second line can close in and push any monsters that slip through the first line back?

Guild Leader 3: So we're closing the gaps? In that case, why leave them in the first place?

Guild Leader 2: Good question, actually. We are supposed to charge through the gaps in order to attack, right? But aren't there plenty of other options? For instance, we could set up a solid defensive wall, and once the goblins are attacking our tanks, the rest of us can bypass their flanks and encircle them.

Guild Leader 1: We'd need too many players for that! Seriously, how about trying to preserve our strength as much as possible? You've heard what we'll have to go through, so we'll need it.

Guild Leader 4: And I don't see why we cast aside my idea if we'd go with that instead.

Guild Leader 7: Why do you insist on grouping up and hitting them till they die?!

This chaotic argument raged on for a few minutes longer.

For instance, someone put forward using the idea of supporting melee combatants with archery like the goblins. In other words, they suggested to form a defensive line just as Asuna had proposed, but instead of forming a secondary line of melee attackers, Sinon should just snipe down monster after monster. It had been reasoned that this was basically Akinym and Sinon's fighting style, so it should work – supposedly.

At first, the plan had received endorsement by many of those at the strategy meeting, but Sinon had voiced her doubts. She could only use her archery when she had a free field of fire, and it would've been extremely hard to shoot at her targets safely while several players had to keep them in check – several players who would've likely got in the way.

Many weren't convinced that the archer who had hardly ever failed an important shot in any of their major battles would struggle so much with that, but Akinym and Sinon made it clear that the plan they were suggesting now would require a level of coordination – one that would give Sinon confidence that she wouldn't accidentally hit an ally – the two of them had established only relatively recently themselves, so pulling this off when working together with random Assault Team members simply wasn't an option.

After discussing a few more ideas such as this, no significant progress had been made. It was a frustrating situation… and one a certain someone had been waiting for.

Sunny Tzu [clasps his hands together]: Okay, I think it's safe to say that we won't get anywhere like this, so how about we approach this from a different angle? So far, we've only discussed what we could do, and how the goblins would react to it. Let's look at the problem the other way around: These goblins are still monsters, moving according to algorithms, which we can use to determine the best way to act in order to get the most suitable reaction. In other words, let's trick our enemies!

Klein: That's easier said than done, dude! These goblins have pretty tricky fighting mechanics. They even coordinate their actions to act as a team, which could be a major issue. I mean, one of our main problems so far has been that having gaps in our front line to leave enough space for an attack unit to charge through would give the goblins an opportunity to attack the second line first. They can do that because they'd sic a part of their unit on our tanks while the rest can attack the more vulnerable players.

Akinym: Yes, but I have to agree with Sunny Tzu-san this time. The goblins may have basic teamwork, but it's still very predictable. This fact might actually make them even more vulnerable to attempts to provoke their AIs than the average monster. A large unit such as ours should be able to fool them into making a move, only to prepare a countermeasure against exactly that move. So, yeah, I think setting up a trap might work.

Sunny Tzu: I agree, and I already have a specific idea: Let's set up our defensive line using only our biggest and bulkiest players, preferably also all players with large shields – in other words, all players who can create the best visible barrier. As we know from the general reports, goblins rely heavily on senses such as sight and hearing to spot enemies, so they shouldn't react to players who lie in hiding. We leave gaps in our defensive wall, just as previously suggested, but with the explicit intent to lure the goblins through them, and when some unsuspecting enemies pass by our defenders, our hidden forces jump into action and make short work of them!

Asuna [slightly contemplatively]: That sounds like a good idea, so for now, let's focus on the one question the outline of this plan leaves open: What exactly would draw the attention of the Goblin Guards the most?

The representatives of the smaller guilds, who had fought against the goblins on this floor, thought about it. It didn't take some of them such as Akinym or Klein long to come up with the perfect decoy, but they hesitated to bring it up, so they tried to figure out how to bring the point across without causing further disputes… which took them too long.

Guild Leader 3: Hey, we should just use the lizardmen as bait! Wouldn't that be the perfect solution? The goblins usually go crazy about attacking them whenever there's a chance!

Asuna (among many others) understood the idea, and she agreed that it would probably work – even better than anything else they might've come up with – but she also saw the same issue Akinym and Klein had already considered. She threw a sideways glance at Kem'Pal, and just as they had feared, the general of the lizardmen glared at the player who had proposed to use its men as a decoy.

Kem'Pal: "Bait", you say? Is this supposed to be what you think of us?!

The man Kem'Pal had addressed was about to retort – intending to speak more to the other players than to the NPC – that the lizardmen were exactly that: mere NPCs. Thus, it shouldn't even be a question if they should use them however they saw fit.

Someone else spoke up first, though, effectively stopping the guild leader who had put forward the latest proposal from saying anything else.

Guild Leader 2: Seriously, do you guys hold some kind of grudge against the NPCs?! Why are you all so quick to resort to using them for your battle tactics and needs? Has butchering Goblin Villagers not been enough for you?!

Guild Leader 3 [taken aback]: W-what's your problem? If this is gonna be another "NPCs are people, too" plea, do us a favour and don't waste your breath!

Kem'Pal [sternly, slightly angrily]: You're still owing me an answer! If you scaleless ones want the lizardmen's full cooperation in the upcoming battle, you also owe me yours, so explain yourself!

Asuna: Kem'Pal, it's not as bad as it sounds. We used some of our own forces specifically in order to bait and lure out enemies many times before. Even when we send lizardmen into battle like this, it's not as if I – or anyone for that matter – intends to just sacrifice any of them.

Klein: Yeah, she's right, Kem! You remember how much trouble we had because those Scaleless Turnips have always kept charging straight at you and your men? Well, now we just want to turn the tables on them and use that nasty habit against them!

Kem'Pal: Hm, so that's how it is. This is just a ruse. In that case, I have no objections!

Asuna had to suppress a sigh of relief so as not to give away how glad she was that this had worked out well enough. This was hardly the time to celebrate, though. Not yet. They had hardly touched the vast majority of the challenges that were to come…

---

Settling on the last proposal for a plan against the Goblin Guards in the field was actually easy at that point. Most of the guild leaders simply wanted to tick off this issue after the slow, tedious dispute.

There were many more after that, though. It usually started with Asuna making a specific proposal and asking for opinions or suggestions regarding open questions and details, which led to a discussion that often resulted in chaotically throwing back and forth ideas… which were often hardly related to the initial proposal. It usually ended with Sunny Tzu making decisive additions to Asuna's ideas, which led to plans that would convince the majority of the other participants.

The discussion became less wild over time as those who held it grew more and more tired of the constant fuss over details. Alas, the strategy meeting still took half an hour – after finishing the previously presented talk about the very first stage, that is.

Once basic battle tactics had been established for the upcoming mission, putting the plans into action actually went incredibly smoothly. Oddly enough, it was quite common these days for the strategy meetings to be tougher than the actual battles.

Anyway, dealing with the outside defenders of the goblin HQ went off without a hitch: Just as proposed, a front line of tanks awaited the Goblin Guards at the foot of the hill. Several other players hid behind them, trying to stay out of view as well as possible. Behind that line, a few lizardman soldiers took position facing some gaps the players had left in their defensive formation.

The attacking goblins were quick to take the initiative. About half of them engaged the players' defenders in battle while the other half seized the opportunity to circumvent them and to go straight after the lizardmen. Once the goblins had passed by, the players in hiding went after them, launching a surprise attack on the monsters, which could hardly react before the players wiped them out. The remaining half of the Goblin Guards didn't last much longer.

---

Well, and now they had entered the next stage: the assault on the outer wall.

For that purpose, the Two-Handed Builders had brought out the battering ram. It was actually just a heavy, thick pole, which was attached by ropes to a small wagon that was about two metres long and one and a half metres high. Both the wagon and the actual ram were made of sturdy wood, and the tip of the wooden pole was reinforced with steel. Some players had expected something more impressive, others were actually impressed that the system had given them more than a simple oversized log of wood for this job.

Well, regardless of their thoughts on this matter, this was what the Assault Team had got, so they were currently wheeling the battering ram towards the castle wall. Agil and two of his guildmates were pushing it from behind. Their combined strength was enough to move the actually quite heavy wagon, but the uneven, cracked desert ground was ill-suited for such clunky vehicles, so they advanced slowly… much more slowly than they liked.

There was a supporting unit advancing alongside the wagon on both sides. This unit consisted of players of various parties, which were chosen because they had special skills. First of all, there were users of large shields, which could be used to block even a hail of arrows, so they were capable of protecting the second group from the counterattack of the defenders. Said second group was made up of all those who could use ranged weapons. Since they weren't that popular, each party usually had only one user of long-ranged weapon skills who could use them for support or if there was any need for it, so there weren't that many people in this group. Not that their number mattered that much...

Right now, Kirito was seeking cover behind Max, the leader of KoB's Team A, who was leading this attack on Asuna's behalf. He peeked out from behind the KoB's second-in-command's large shield, which was actually modelled after Heathcliff's, with a throwing pick in his hand. He threw another look at the area between their group and the wall, gauging the distance. Slowly as it may have been, they had got somewhat close by now. The small detachment was only about ten metres away from the wall. With that in mind, Kirito figured that he was close enough to start using his Throwing Weapon skill.

After retreating behind the safety of Max' shield until the next barrage of arrows had died down, he glanced up at the top of the wall. There were more than enough targets. The one that caught Kirito's attention the most was an archer that got ready to shoot at the players right when Kirito was getting into position to use one of the Throwing Weapon Sword Skills. He threw the small projectile in his hand at the Goblin Archer…

...achieving little that way. The goblin was hit, and to be fair, it was startled and stopped in its tracks, not loosing its arrow. However, it hardly lost any HP, and after a mere second, it got ready to shoot once more. It was a bit disheartening, but Kirito wasn't actually surprised. His throwing picks weren't made to deal considerable damage – they were only good when hunting small fry or distracting or luring monsters.

As if to make the overall insignificance of his attack even more obvious, Sinon used Wide Area Shot against the same enemy to a much greater effect. As she had expected herself, two arrows hit the wall, but three of them hit two Goblin Archers. The goblin Kirito had attacked before while only lowering its HP by ten per cent was struck in the head and in the shoulder, which cost the monster all of its remaining HP.

Seeing how much more Sinon contributed to this stage of the battle, Kirito wondered why exactly he was actually there. He really wasn't that good at long-ranged combat. For starters, even among the usually not-so-strong throwing weapons, his throwing picks weren't particularly useful. Aside from the low damage, their range was lower than that of other weapons such as chakrams. Sure, this only applied to Sword Skills, but ever since he and his little sister had – out of boredom – tried their hands on darts on a vacation during their childhood, and he had been brutally crushed by Suguha – not because she had been so good at it, but rather because he had been abysmally bad – Kirito knew all too well that his chances of hitting anything without the help of the system assistant were beyond slim.

While looking around, Kirito's gaze got caught on Philia, who, at this very moment, was throwing the weapon of her choice, a boomerang, at one of the Goblin Archers. While the attack wasn't as strong as Sinon's archery, the impact still knocked the target over for a moment. Kirito watched as Philia swiftly caught the boomerang again before scurrying behind the shield of the person in front of her again in such a fluent way that it almost looked like a part of the catching motion.

Kirito [thinks]: They seem to be doing fine as it is. Seriously, why did Asuna send me with them? Sure, at the strategy meeting, we agreed to send all players with Throwing Weapon, but was it really necessary to stick with the decision so… thoroughly? Makes me wonder if I should've said something about it after all…

As if to distract himself from these (as he admitted to himself) actually pointless thoughts, Kirito focused on another detail of the battle. Their damage dealers got hit by a few arrows during the brief moments when they were unprotected while opening fire themselves. It wasn't a serious problem, though. A single arrow didn't deal much damage. They may have sustained several hits while not even using any healing items so far, but nobody's HP had dropped below seventy per cent yet.

Regardless, upon noticing this, Kirito wondered how the Two-Handed Builders were doing. Unlike the support unit, the players who were wheeling the battering ram were basically exposed. Well, actually not really "exposed" since the wagon itself provided some cover, but Agil and his friends been hit by more arrows than the entire rest of the attacking players nonetheless. On the other hand, their massive Defense, which was another reason why they had been chosen for this task, was doing work, so they still weren't in a tough spot.

While thinking that the wagon had certainly shielded them from many shots, Kirito realised just how many arrows stuck in that wagon. The last time he had thrown a glance at it, it hadn't been anywhere near this much. The vehicle started to look like a hedgehog that had arrows for quills. It was only then that Kirito took another frantic look at the Goblin Archers on the wall. It became obvious in an instant: Most of them weren't aiming at the players anymore. Their target was the ram.

Kirito [yells]: Hey, watch out! They're attacking the ram! Listen, we're not the archers primary target! It's our weapon to destroy the wall!

In the midst of this battlefield, hardly anyone paid enough attention to Kirito to register what he was telling them. Some of them – the present members of the Two-Handed Builders, for example – noticed it, but there was little they could do, so they turned to their current leader, Max, to see if he would make a decision regarding how to deal with Kirito's observation.

Thanks to standing right next to Kirito and making sure to provide cover for him, Max was among those who had heard Kirito's warning. His gaze jumped back and forth between the siege machine that was sustaining heavy damage and the archers on the wall that were causing said damage. He grasped the issue… and was painfully aware of the difficulties in solving it.

For instance, he considered ordering the defenders next to the wagon to shield it from further damage as much as possible, but that would expose some of their ranged attackers to the never-ending rain of arrows instead, not to mention that it was unclear how well the players would be able to protect the overall quite massive vehicle.

In the end, Max opted to deal with this situation differently.

Max: Keep pushing! We pull this attack through!

Kirito: Are you sure? We only have this one ram, don't we? If something unexpected happens, shouldn't we at least pull back?

Max: Normally, I might agree, but we're basically already in position.

That was true. With one final push, Agil and his two comrades placed the ram right in front of the wall. The actual battering ram was tied loosely to the transport cart, which made it possible to swing it back and forth in order to ram the wall. The walls of the wagon had protected the ram from the arrows, so that mechanism was completely intact. Thus, Agil and his guildmates hurriedly began swinging the ram at full force.

At the same time, the Goblin Archers began to fire through the murder holes, scoring just as many – if not more – hits as before. Watching that, Kirito couldn't help but worry if this would work out in their favour at this rate.

Kirito: I still don't know… If we can't finish this quickly, our ram will break first. This actually calls for thinking this plan over!

Max: As I said, I get your point, but what do you suggest? If we try to drag this oversized crate on wheels back to the camp at the same pace as we dragged it here, it would only end worse! I doubt that we'd get another chance to come this far no matter what we tried.

That was something Kirito couldn't deny. In the end, he had no other choice but to hope that Max had made the right call, so he watched Agil and his friends trying to tear a hole through the wall. It seemed to work as several cracks appeared on the surface of the wall. These cracks deepened and widened with every hit of the ram, but it remained unclear how much it would take for the wall to cave in.

Another twist shook and startled Kirito and a bunch of other onlookers when the goblins suddenly threw a somewhat heavy rock through one of the murder holes. It fell straight onto the battering ram, and the ceiling of the wagon cracked. This clear damage seemed to answer Kirito's question regarding what would break first: the wall or the ram…

...and it came even worse for the players. All of a sudden, Agil and his comrades were attacked from behind by some Goblin Guards.

Agil: What the…?! Where did these guys…?

Max: Dammit… These must be the respawned monsters from earlier!

Given the sudden assault, the Two-Handed Builders had trouble fighting back, so defending the ram was out of the question. Some Goblin Guards rushed past the players and leapt onto the wagon before striking it repeatedly with their swords.

In the middle of this chaos, Agil took out his weapon again.

Agil: Guys, when I'm ready, quickly jump aside!

His two long-time comrades-in-arms understood the command, so when Agil used an AOE Sword Skill mere seconds later, they dodged to the side just in time to avoid getting hit. Agil whirled his huge axe around and hit five Goblin Guards, even though he hit most of them with the shaft rather than the axe head. Regardless, he repelled the attack for now, but he had inevitably hit the wagon as well, damaging it even more himself.

The goblins on the wall threw another heavy rock down at it, and this projectile completely smashed the wagon and broke the battering ram. As their trump card shattered into pieces, the players had to admit defeat…

...which was actually the least of their current problems. The Goblin Guards from earlier had respawned in great numbers, and the players were ill-prepared for fending off an attack from the rear while also defending themselves against the Goblin Archers on the wall. One of the players fell into a slight panic and tried to run back to the safety of the camp, but as soon as he came out from behind the shield of the player next to him, several Goblin Archers focused their fire on him. While each arrow on its own dealt little damage, so many shots brought his HP down rapidly. It was only thanks to the shield bearer quickly catching up to him and giving him cover that nothing bad happened.

Witnessing this, Max immediately addressed the rest of the group to keep their formation in order.

Max: Everyone, don't panic, or you'll be shot down by the archers! The players with shields know what to do: Keep protecting everyone as before! We have to retreat cautiously, so no running! As long as we keep that in mind, the archers won't be a problem. The other players prepare to cut their way through any monsters that might attack us from the other side! Got that?! One player defends one side, one player defends the other side, and we'll get back to the camp without a problem!

This was enough to keep anyone else from panicking, but it was still easier said than done. Basically, they were already surrounded. Their opponents may have been mere Goblin Guards, but those were quick on their feet and used hit-and-run tactics to slow down the players' retreat.

The situation was rather dire for the three players from the Two-Handed Builders in their group since they had no one to protect them from the archers. At this rate, the continuous volleys would spell their certain doom.

And that wasn't even the end of it. A second wave of Goblin Guards respawned, doubling the numbers of monsters that would hinder the players' retreat. Seeing this, Kirito threw a worried glance at Max after swiftly fending off an attack by a Goblin Guard. He wondered if the leader of their group had some idea as to how to deal with the increased number of enemies in store.

However, Kirito hadn't expected to see that Max was quite relaxed. Well, relatively speaking. He was focused, but not visibly worried. Oddly enough, he didn't even seem to look at the new wave of Goblin Guards. When Kirito followed his line of sight, he realised that Max was looking at the hill. There didn't appear to be anything there, but Kirito figured out almost instantly what he had in mind… and sure enough, just as both of them reckoned, a large group of players came into view.

The reinforcements took position at the foot of the hill, and that alone was enough to draw the attention of about half of the Goblin Guards. Instead of attacking the players who were already under great pressure, they went after the newcomers, who could defend themselves rather easily.

Max: Look over there! The Vice-commander has sent help! Now, all we have to do is to use the opportunity to get back safely, so stay on guard and wait for an opening in our enemies' ranks! That's all we need!

Sinon, however, decided that there were better ways to handle the situation than just waiting for that opening. Rather than that, she was creating one herself. After giving Agil a quick signal, she used Area Shot against the Goblin Guards in the centre of the line of monsters, right in front of the Two-Handed Builders. The attack threw the goblins there for a loop just long enough for the Two-Handed Builders to charge in and break through their lines with heavy attacks. The other players followed them through that gap as fast as they could without exposing their backs to the archers or their sides to the rest of the monsters.

---

Back at the main camp, some players wasted no time to reunite with their regular parties, who were relieved that their comrades had made it out unscathed. Kirito, Agil and Max, however, went straight to Asuna, who was waiting for them in front of the large tent. Most of the party leaders had gone to look after their comrades, or they had yet to return there after helping the attack unit retreat, but Akinym, Klein, Kem'Pal, Lind and Sunny Tzu were standing right behind Asuna.

When the three "returnees" gathered in front of her, Asuna couldn't help but breath a sigh of relief.

Asuna: Good, you're okay…

Kirito: Yeah… Thanks for the reinforcements, by the way. They really arrived not a second too late…

Max: That's true. The diversion was a big help. Without them, breaking through the encirclement would've been an issue.

Asuna: Well, that's why I've sent them. [slightly exasperatedly] Some people actually wanted to charge right in as soon as I told them that the Goblin Guards had respawned and trapped you. As if entering the shooting range of the archers would've done any good… [calmly] But the least we could do was to keep the second wave of respawning monsters occupied. [seriously] Now, on a related note, [turns to Agil] I'm especially glad that nothing has happened to you. [slightly worriedly] You didn't have defenders with shields backing you up, so I was concerned that not even the Two-Handed Builders would survive such an intense barrage of arrows. The same can be said about the rest of your guild… They were so worried that I had a hard time keeping them from entering the fray headlessly.

Agil [casually]: Hmph, sorry that my guys caused you trouble. I'll go and check on them afterwards, [seriously] but right now, I can fairly say that we're fine. We had to use our Healing Crystals, though, and if we're not careful, this might come back to hunt us.

Asuna: I see. I'll keep that in mind.

Asuna's expression showed clearly that she was pondering the changes she'd have to make to her strategic decisions. The Two-Handed Builders were an important unit of tanks in many battles, but if they ran out of substantial healing items, their task became so much riskier… Asuna couldn't help but lament the fact that one of their major defensive units had to approach fights much more cautiously now, which might limit the tactics she could use. Well, sending Agil or the other two out against the archers again was more or less out of the question…

This wasn't her biggest concern, though. Asuna glanced worriedly at the various parties that had gathered nearby. Now that the initial plan had failed, they would certainly turn to her, expecting a plan as to how they could make up for the loss of the ram… which had been such a vital part of the siege that Asuna had no idea how to work around the arising issue.

As if sensing her concerns, Max took a step forward and bowed in an apologetic manner – not just to Asuna, but primarily to the leading figures who were standing behind her.

Max: I'm sorry, Vice-commander! I completely failed to notice that the goblins began to attack our ram as a countermeasure against our attack. In fact, if Kirito hadn't pointed this out to me, I wouldn't have noticed anything before it had fallen apart due to all the damage. Even when it was brought to my attention, I simply decided to trust that the high Durability the ram had would make it last long enough to finish the mission. The way I led this attack was quite careless…

Asuna [taken aback]: W-well, it's not as if anyone thought of this possibility in advance. In hindsight, it should've been obvious that the goblins, including the Goblin Archers on the wall, would do anything to stop us, so I don't think this is your fault specifically.

Max: I only want to say that it's not your fault, either.

Asuna: Um, th-thank you…

Klein: Man, you're making such a big deal of this! We've just overlooked something, that's all. It happens to the best of us. Heck, sometimes you're so occupied with all the complicated stuff that you overlook the simplest things ever. I don't think there's anyone to blame!

Kem'Pal: I'm inclined to agree with you on some points, even the last one, but I think the actual problem is what we're supposed to do now. You scaleless ones had only one of these… What did you call it? A ram? Well, we lizardmen certainly have no equipment for a siege, so if there's nothing you can do either, we're in a major pinch.

Akinym: Well, in that case…

Everyone turned to Akinym. He had a calm – almost strangely undisturbed – look on his face, which made it even weirder when he assumed a downright reproachful, demanding expression before turning towards Sunny Tzu.

Akinym: ...don't you think it's time to tell everyone about the second ram? The one you got?

Now everyone else turned towards Lind and Sunny Tzu, at first with expressions of surprise, but a certain degree of anger got mixed in quickly.

Asuna: What is this about?!

Lind: Well, as he says, the DDA has the exact same battering ram, too. Our intel officer got this information from an info broker, and we managed to gather the materials for one of them.

Asuna: Why didn't you mention that during the strategy meeting?

That was something Lind would like to know, too. He wanted to bring it up, but Sunny Tzu had stopped him. Now, he was turning to the subordinate who had got them into this situation, expecting an answer just as much as everybody else did.

Meanwhile, Sunny Tzu wore a slightly troubled expression, as if he was facing a minor inconvenience.

Sunny Tzu: It wasn't all that important, was it? We already had one, and the one we've got is still there, so I figured we could keep it in case it would be needed, but if not, that would be okay as well. [slightly determinedly] I mean, imagine if we had revealed that information, and it had been decided to use both rams at once! We would've lost both of them, but now, we've learned something important and can use the second one better! I'd say we made the right call! [slightly upset] Besides, [points at Akinym] Akinym-kun apparently knew about it and didn't say anything, so why would it be a problem if we kept quiet about it?! I was about to bring it up, but why didn't he say anything?! [suspiciously] If nothing else, I'd like to know how he even knows about our ram!

Well, that was a pretty long story that involved how Akinym had found out about the existence of the battering rams and where the Assault Team could get one, but said story adds little to the argument they currently had. What Akinym thought about Sunny Tzu's "explanation" is much more relevant.

Akinym had expected that Sunny Tzu planned to keep the DDA's battering ram in reserve until the Assault Team would desperately need it. The reason for that was simple: If the DDA had provided the ram for the Assault Team from the start, and Asuna had proposed a successful plan to attack, the merit for using said ram to achieve a victory would've gone mostly to her. If, on the other hand, the DDA kept their ram a secret for the time being, and Asuna's initial plan failed (as it had by now), the DDA could use their "auxiliary ram" to present themselves as the saviours of the raid. All they had to do was to make keeping it a secret look like a wise precaution… just as Sunny Tzu did now.

It wasn't just the ram… Sunny Tzu had used the same tactic at the strategy meeting: He stayed in the background while the others struggled to figure out how to go about the raid. Once they had fruitlessly argued back and forth so much that everyone was getting tired, Sunny Tzu stepped up and presented his solution, which was accepted with little to no resistance simply because all the guild leaders were already happy to have any working plan.

Sunny Tzu hadn't done that only today: It was a regular occurrence at strategy meetings. Sometimes he even brought up questions he already knew the answer to just in order to incite a fierce, stressful discussion, so that he could create the impression that he contributed more to the strategy meetings than anyone else, especially Asuna.

Akinym knew about this kind of trick. It was something that was apparently applied in negotiations, too. A book he had read put it like this:

Knowing that negotiating is the art of compromising rather than asserting one's will is a key to success. However, if both sides are about equal in negotiating power, it is wise not to offer a compromise to easily. Rather than that, you would do well to hold up a defiant position at first, even if you know that it's untenable. If you do that, it will limit the other side's options to tip the negotiation in their favour. That's because it makes it clear that there won't be any deal if they aren't willing to meet some of your demands.

For instance, assume that you're presented with a proposal for a deal that seems unfavourable, but you notice that there's still room between that offer and your own initial expectations. You might realise that you have to meet the other party half-way, so knowing the necessity of a compromise, you might want to do just that.

However, it is likely that the other side will view your proposal as a negotiable asking price – something that is still subject to further compromise – and they will make use of that to make even more demands, so you'd have to meet them half-way again from where you are at that point – making it a meeting at three-quarters instead.

On the other hand, if you insist on your own position, stubborn as it may seem, you will make it much harder for them to assert theirs. As long as the other side has to gain enough from this business, they will still try, though. If you can drive the negotiations to a standstill, the other side will eventually be much more willing to accept the compromise you truly desire simply because it will lead to any deal at all, which won't be self-evident if you go about the talks like this.

Frankly, Akinym hated this way of doing things. In general, he advocated viewing any conflict of interest or even social situations as a matter of negotiation, but that didn't mean that he endorsed any "negotiation" that came down to mind games or rhetoric instead of sound, rational arguments. The long years in SAO, which had also led to his time as the "Hollow Instructor", had taught him that he often had to rely on a certain level of trickery to bring his points across, but he was only doing this – sometimes actually begrudgingly – where the end justified the means in his opinion.

For example, he had already stopped counting the number of times when he had had to come up with some kind of scheme or plan to counter another scheme or plan the DDA (usually Sunny Tzu) had thought up in order to gain more influence. There was, for instance, that one time when he and Asuna had to feign a fierce argument in front of the leaders of the smaller guilds just to create the impression that they weren't "always on the same page" as the DDA had tried to make some people believe, as laughable as this claim had been. In fact, even Akinym had thought that all of this (including their own little act) had been such a farce.

Honestly, Akinym wished they could just settle their matters as it should be in his opinion: by calmly and rationally considering the objectively best course of action to clear the game with the right combination of quickness and caution to save as many players as possible. If they could do just that, all of this trickery would be pointless.

For instance, Asuna usually made extremely good suggestions and proposals at the strategy meetings, and it was rare for any plan other than hers to be brought to fruition, which was the result of sharp thinking, a lot of experience and careful preparation on Asuna's (and, as was less commonly known, her supporters') side. But still, there was almost always a huge debate about what the raid party should do. Everybody threw in their ideas without an overarching plan, and sometimes based on not much more than a gut feeling or a just vaguely similar previous experience. More than often enough, players would make the same proposal (at least) twice instead of focusing on how to work out the details of more promising ideas. It was just tiring…

Anyway, these were the thoughts that were going through his head. Well, there was also a certain level of concern because Sunny Tzu had tried to shift the attention towards him, trying to make him look like some sort of spy.

It was a worry that was overall unnecessary as everyone else around him – even Kem'Pal – understood perfectly that Sunny Tzu was just trying to make himself look better. Even Lind couldn't see his subordinate's behaviour as anything other than making excuses. Well, and Asuna had neither the time nor the wish to continue this farce.

Asuna: Let's keep that aside! The raid is still ongoing, so rather than bickering about how we got this second ram, we should focus on how to use it. It's good to have a second chance, so let's make sure that it will become a success!

They all could agree on that without any need to confirm it with words… but that didn't help them solve the much bigger issue: They still had to figure out how to actually "make sure that it would become a success".

Asuna began to mull over the problem. What they had learnt was that the Goblin Archers would start to focus their attacks on the battering ram once it got close enough. Furthermore, while observing the Assault Team's advance from the camp, Asuna had noticed how ineffective the players' counterfire had been, so it seemed wiser to focus completely on defense until they could breach the walls. In light of that, the most logical and natural solution would've been to just shield the battering ram with everything they got while moving it up to the wall.

However, that didn't mean that it was the only option anyone considered.

Kirito [contemplatively]: Actually, I wonder if we need that other ram at all.

Everyone Else: Huh?!

Klein: Oi, Kirinoji, what are you talking about?

Lind: That's what I wanna know, too! I think that it's been made clear that we need a weapon to break through the wall, so it should be obvious that our ram is essential for this battle!

Kirito: Well, at first glance, that's what it looks like. I agree with you that far…

Lind [mutters, frustratedly]: God, what's the… [says aloud, sternly] What do you even mean by "at first glance"? Is there something in particular you have in mind or not?!

Asuna: Please, let him finish! Kirito-kun, what do you have in mind? Explain it [looks at Lind warningly] calmly and thoroughly.

Kirito: Okay… There has indeed been something specific on my mind since seeing the battering ram in action. How should I put this? I… Well, frankly, I wasn't sure if the ram would actually work at all.

Kem'Pal: Why would you think that a siege weapon that was created for that exact purpose wouldn't work?

Kirito: That… [thinks] Urgh, how am I supposed to explain this to an NPC? Well, maybe I should copy what Klein did earlier and play it off as some kind of military terminology… or I'll just keep it to a minimum. [says aloud] Well, basically, walls like the one surrounding the goblin castle are normally an immortal object. Well, that's an obstacle that can't be destroyed by normal means such as our weapons. The assumption that the ram could damage the wall was based on experience from other battles we fought. However, whenever there were special items to deal with a specific task, there was usually a hint towards it in the lore behind the quest… well, mission. This time, on the other hand, we were just given a ram. I wasn't sure that the ram and this final battle were truly connected.

Klein: Well, I get the idea, but isn't that concern off the table by now? I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but the ram did work, right?

Max: That much is certain. It definitely damaged the wall.

Kirito: Yeah, but that makes me wonder why exactly that worked. As I've said, I would've expected a… flashier background story behind our most important siege weapon. So… What if it's not the ram specifically that can be used to break through the castle wall?

Asuna: Okay, I'm not sure to what extent I can agree with that speculation, but let's just assume for a moment that you're right. In that case, what would it be that we really need to get into the castle yard?

Kirito: In the end, isn't the assault with the ram just a massive Blunt attack? Maybe any attack like that would work. Even if I'm not entirely right about this, as long as this siege hasn't been designed to be fought specifically by using such a ram, there's still a chance that Cardinal will treat a similar attack the way I've described it, so I think there's a good chance that it will work.

Asuna: Hm… [mutters] We only have one more ram, and given our previous difficulties, it might not be enough… which would be such a huge problem. I kinda want to try it, but… [says aloud] What exactly could we even use as an alternative to the ram?

This was indeed a tough question, and not one Kirito knew an immediate answer to, so he had to ponder over it, too. He considered using regular Blunt weapons like Lisbeth's maze, but it was questionable how much progress they could make with just that. Keeping aside that not that many Assault Team members specialised in Blunt weapons, even Kirito acknowledged that they probably needed something out of the ordinary to finish this stage of the siege.

Honestly, just what were they supposed to use? While Kirito kept thinking about that, the first ones of the remaining guild leaders began to gather around the tent. One of those who walked up to them was Silica.

Silica: Asuna-san, are there any news regarding… [slightly worriedly] Oh, you all look really serious. Especially you, Kirito-san! [worriedly] Has anything really bad happened, or what is going on?

Kirito looked up and focused on Silica for a moment. The girl looked every bit as concerned as she sounded, but that caught Kirito's eye only for a second. Pina landed on Silica's shoulder, and the feathered dragon instantly drew Kirito's attention, purely instinctively at first. However, Kirito's gaze rested on Silica's familiar for a while longer, and he didn't turn his eyes away from it until he put his right fist onto his left palm.

Kirito: That's it.

Kirito's seemingly absent-minded, unrelated response did nothing but confuse Silica, but not as much as his next action did. He rushed up to her and put his hands on her upper arms while staring at her in a strangely excited manner.

Kirito: Silica, you're exactly who we need right now!

In response, Silica blinked a few times while staring back at Kirito awkwardly.

Silica: Eh?

---

So, just like Silica, you'll have to wait for the next chapter to see what exactly Kirito has in mind.

I wasn't sure how much content I should put into the strategy meeting. I considered covering their tactic against the outside defenders as it is executed, but instead, I opted for the option to show how they discussed it. In case it hasn't become obvious by now, the political/administrative aspect of the late stages of SAO (the game, that is) is one of the key elements of this story, so I really wanted to add at least one strategy meeting with a certain degree of details.

What Akinym states about negotiation tactics isn't something I've actually got from a real book, so don't quote me on this. The idea behind it was inspired from an actually rather casual conversation in a story I've read.

Well, that's all for now, so I'll see you for the third part of the siege... and hopefully in less than a month this time.