On August 7, preparations for war continued at a frantic pace on Hell Mountain.
The Ratfolk had yet to appear, but nearly a third of the time Orr's Empire had given them had already passed.
At noon, the Portal opened on schedule.
Femi and the others focused on the cold-looking young woman who stepped out. Belial focused on the Portal.
"Where is the Fourth Legion?" the young woman asked, looking noble and aloof.
Her luxurious Sapphire-blue skirt gave Femi an inkling of who she was. He pointed toward the Goblins building fortifications. "They're over there."
As soon as Illymoyas walked away, Belial came over and asked without preamble, "Do the Ratfolk know?"
"Know what?"
"About a Portal that can open across thousands of miles."
"They don't." Even Jerry had never seen one.
"Then what are you standing around for? Dig a basement, and don't let the Ratfolk see the Portal!"
"Why?"
"You don't think the Ratfolk are idiots who can only surge forward like a tide, do you?"
Femi had dealt with the Ratfolk for years, so he certainly wasn't going to say, "Aren't they?" But given their strength, the closest they had ever come to the Ratfolk's higher-tier troops was when the Ratfolk besieged the Blackwatch Legion.
"Do you know how the Ratfolk take a city?"
Belial began describing what he had seen before and after the fall of Brunmando Fort... or rather, what he had lived through.
Brunmando Fort had another name: the Shield Against the Ratfolk. At least, it had until the shield broke.
It had gathered and sheltered Professionals and ordinary people from hundreds of miles around. To those it saved, it had once been a true Northern Great Wall. The Mage Tower, the Mercenary Hall, the Street Sweepers... a Fortress like that was not much