Alros give the Spirit a week berth, not doing anything except for sending some of his monsters and clones to do some scouting.
Unfortunately, they could not get to close due to the power of the Spirit, causing trees and vines to wrap around his scouts. Even his Phantom Wasps could not do anything as the Spirit seem to consider anything coming in close to be a possible danger.
The paranoia, while made it harder for him to get valuable intel, did help him in one way. Namely, allowing him to get the Spirit to make mistakes, one he will push her into doing so.
-x-
The Spirit gaze at of 5 miles from the Spirit Tree. She did not see anything unusual lately, but she could not get herself to be worried. She knew the demon was still inside, and have some designs for her and the Spirit Tree.
She will not let him do as he please. Unfortunately, her opponent have the advantage in terms of number, in both regular force and powerful combatants. If they attack her in full force, defeat is the only result.
While her 10 remaining guardians are powerful in their own right, 3 of his strongest are the one captured. Saving them should be the priorities except she did not know where they are keep at, and sending monsters there might resulted in them being captured as well, so sending her A-ranks would be suicidal at best.
And so, she was force to be on the defensive, waiting for the demon to make a move. As she wait, the anticipated attack occur around noon.
Groups of Goblins with abnormal coloring appeared, throwing flaming spears towards the line of trees that is used as the first defense.
Some of her guardians quickly spray large amount of water, but unfortunately, there is no effect. The Spirit quickly realize the flame is the one that she had seen through the memory of the Forest Drake before.
A silent order was given. Group of her Mage began to cast spells towards the flame, causing it to dissipate. When the fla,e dissappear, the Spirit is not happy, as she prepared for another onslaught.
Except, the awaited second wave did not happen at all, the day ending with very minor damage to her defense.
-x-
However, it did put her in a bit of a dilemma. Namely, what is her next move? With her being on the weaker side, she is the more passive side, while the demon could attack when he wish for it to happen.
The only good strategy would be to create a powerful defense, foregoing offense completely. That's the only way for her and the Spirit Tree to survive the coming attack.
After giving it a thought, she like the idea, as creating a powerful defense could help repelling the coming intruders.
The only thing she need to do now is creating the perfect defense, and hoping it would not fail.
She then sense another group of monsters. Giving the order to stand down and take cover, the Spirit watched calmly as she could feel the existence of something as powerful, if not more powerful than her.
-x-
"They have a good head on their shoulders," Alros commented, with people with similar tactical abilities in the room right now.
The fact they go for the defensive, instead of the regular combat, showed how smart they are. If they for the offensive, then, they will face defeat in widj a short amount of time.
"Should we keep on the attack?" Lira asked, the former captain of the White Raven asked.
Alros shook his head,
"They will be on the defensive for the entire time so there is no need to do so," he exclaimed. They basically fortifying inside their prison cell, likely in preparation for such thing.
From how things turned out, it may turn serious pretty soon. So, letting them holed themselves up will cause no problem for him, even if it will make things difficult for him.
However, they will be forced out soon. After all, the real attack will began soon.