The door of the guest room opened up, and Merlin walked in, surrounded by several of Lucy’s maidens. They were helping her carry the maps, research papers, and scrolls. She had prepared a whole lecture about the topography of the land, the native monsters, and the ways to deal with the orcs’ technology. At first, she had an entourage of ghostly mage hands floating around to help her work, but since Lucy is scared of ghosts, the maidens came to help instead.

Even as a divine goddess who always deals with souls, monsters, and disgusting horrors that a kid her age shouldn’t, she was still just a kid, and ghosts terrified the living hell out of her. If she heard as much as heard a strange sound in the hallway, she wouldn’t get a lick of sleep and would stay up all night, terrified of the horror outside her room.

Of course, she always had the maidens taking care of her in the room with her, but to her, they weren’t there to protect her. She knew that she was strong, so she wanted someone stronger to protect her and had always ended up sleeping in Gojo’s room when terrified. Even though Liliana didn’t appreciate that, she still didn’t blame her.

Of course, there was a day in the past when an actual ghost appeared, and Lucy almost burned the entire castle to the ground to get rid of it. But since Gojo was there, he showed the ghost what an actual terrifying monster can do.

Merlin pulled a massive map and gave everyone a stern look. "This is the region’s map, and it’s a new one that Gojo bought from Kinryuu two months ago. It should be up to date, except for the terrain deformation caused by yesterday’s fight." She drew a massive circle in the middle where the clash happened.

"This entire place is burned to the ground and covered in ash." She drew a large X on it. "Avoid it at all costs since the death curse is deadly to almost all living beings." She knew that Kayden and Kali wouldn’t be harmed, but that didn’t mean everyone else should risk it.

"The possible locations of the smaller rifts are here, here, and here. Those are the three major points, but there should be at least five more. The rifts were already closed from the other side, but only officially. The orcs’ royal family had sided with us, but that doesn’t mean the nobles would just obey their orders. Some still carry out secret skirmishes to forage for food or just because they assume the war didn’t end." She smacked the map into the wall.

"We need to capture those orcs alive; if they resist, kill them. The main goal is to secure the explosive batteries and bring them back here." She pointed at where the city they were in was on the map. "I’ll take the explosives from here and feed them to Arad, who is recovering in the capital under his brother’s and mother’s watchful eyes."

This time, Arad’s condition wasn’t that bad. First, his human soul was stabbed, unlike when Vorvadoss sliced it cleanly in half. Then, this time, he has a third soul, the Nymph, which helps maintain the balance. Arad’s entire power worked like a large tank of water that now has three spigots. He usually uses the smaller one, the human soul, which has the lowest output and can be easily controlled and adjusted for a gentler flow. But with that broken and sealed off, he has to either stay asleep all the time or use one of the other, much bigger ones.

The problem with the dragon and Nymph’s souls is that they are big and naturally release a lot of power that is hard to control. For example, if Arad were to only use his dragon soul, the entire Arctic would be drawn in radiation, and if he only used his Nymph soul, then the fabric of gravity would crumble, and anyone who looks at him would die.

This was the exact problem Neil imagined when he heard that they intended to feed Arad the explosive. A creature that feeds on such things is far too powerful to exist in the mortal world; its mere existence would kill everything around it.

So, in a sense, Neil was right. Arad is just as terrifying as he imagined, a creature that would erase everything by merely showing up. This entire operation was now carried out for the sole purpose of allowing that creature to recover, so it can hold its own power and keep everyone safe from its existence.

"The first one is the forest of The Dead Woods? That place is deadly, filled with nothing but A and B class monsters, and we’re talking about tens of them coming all at once. I once saw a whole pack of great silver dire wolves, and all of them were A-class; the alpha pair was S-class." Neil pointed at the map. "I doubt the orcs would have survived long there. It isn’t just about strength but about understanding what you’re dealing with."

"The orcs aren’t just strong; they are smart, well equipped, and most importantly, tenacious. Even if they were weak, expect them to fight to the last breath and cause a lot of destruction." Merlin pointed at the large circle of destruction. All of that damage was caused by just three orcs; granted, they were elite troops, but that doesn’t change the fact that they were absolutely nasty.

A Death Void wielder, a Nuclear Sniper, and a Mech angel... each of them was terrifying. That is why Merlin had Kayden, Kali, and Alcott get involved. She doesn’t want another disaster to happen, so she pulled the three won’t don’t play around.

No matter how cute Kali’s little girl form looked, she was still a horrifying demon that only knew violence and massacres. Kayden is just as ruthless and relaxed as Alcott is; he is probably the most reliable adventurer in the entire mortal world with a stellar track record.

"Don’t give them any chance to cause another disaster. For our sake, and for their kingdom’s sake. The more destruction they cause, the worse it is for their kind. We’re trying to get the orcs to start a new page, and the actions those soldiers would take are going to be recorded in history." She threw a glance at Alcott, and he smiled.

"So, we kill them before they mess up, got it." He then pointed at the map with his sword. "Where are we going to start? That Dead Wood forest?"