The Villainess is the Villainess [LitRPG]

Book 2: Chapter 36 - The Dragon Turtle [Part 1]

"Invincibility lies in the defence; the possibility of victory in the attack."

- Sun Tzu.

Seraphina's party ran at a light jog, it would do them no good to arrive to a potential fight tired. Only the blonde girl wore a full harness of brigandine and platemail, her ridiculous Strength and Constitution making the ensemble as cumbersome as an evening dress. However, without horses the men had chosen to wear half plate or simple mail.

The party found Desdemona looking listless and bloody, surrounded by quite a number of broken, dead bodies. Some of which, Seraphina wryly observed, had more than a few chunks taken out of them.

Desdemona really did look like she was in an almost post-coital daze. It was of note that she was also not naked, her red dress just stained and sticky in parts with a different crimson.

The rest of Seraphina's party felt, quite justly, a bit out of place and horrified at the spectacle.

But Seraphina had already seen her fair share of horrors, her strong mind capable of compartmentalizing anything and everything. And, when faced with a beast you could only show strength.

She lifted her chin proudly and addressed the de Savant girl. "Have you had enough fun? Got it out of your system, darling?"

Desdemona blinked, growling for a moment before she coughed in embarrassment and gave her friend a small nod.

"Where are the rest of the villagers, my dear?" Seraphina asked, coming closer and placing a firm hand on her shoulder.

Desdemona looked up at her, eyes slowly focusing on the blonde girl. "They all ran away while these were distracted," she answered pointing to the bodies of soldiers clad in eastern-looking armor.

Seraphina breathed an internal sigh of relief. If the de Savant girl under the throes of her transformation had killed or injured some of the villagers it might have affected their completion rewards.

"You did very well, Desdemona. I just knew you had it in you," Seraphina replied with a pleased smile.

She really had done exceptionally well. Desdemona, having dealt with this initial encounter in such a lightning-fast fashion, gave them some float time to clear the trial early without bothering to protect the other villages.

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This would be over before even her best predictions. It was time for a speed run clear.

Were this a game, Seraphina would have been tempted to target the mini-bosses before going for the head honcho of this Trial. But she was the leader and responsible for this group; she would not risk even her pawns needlessly.

She would have Ibn do that instead.

The time now was for a deception. Eloise, upon whom the next part of her plan hinged, had to have sufficient Charisma to pass a few checks coming. Seraphina hoped that the added bonus of her being in the same party would be enough.

"Collect as much of the usable gear as possible. We are now going to be Lady Eloise's, now Lady Mingtian of the Seventh Circle of Earth's prisoners. Boys, you are to be her auxillae escort. Lady Mingtian has strange, eccentric tastes that way. Do not do anything more than a surly grunt," she ordered, addressing her group.

"That's all well and good, milady, but if we are her auxillae, then surely we don't need to don these poor people's gear?" Sir Frest asked annoyingly, losing him a few points in Seraphina's eyes.

She frowned. He did have a point, but the young noblewoman did not like being second-guessed. And more importantly, did not like admitting her mistakes. "It is to add some veracity to the whole thing," she replied airily. "Now, get changed and see if you can wrangle us some horses," she suggested to Giles and Krayton.

Dutifully, the brothers wandered off.

"Lady Seraphina, I understand that to conquer this Trial, we must ultimately defeat the Empire's general. But you told us it would happen on the battlefield—after we rescue a few villagers from the Empire's brutal chevauchée tactics. That's when King Elidion I is supposed to arrive, just in time to force the Empire into open combat—and compel the general to face him directly. Then we basically do something you called a 'kill-steal,' correct?"

"Yes, but thinking on it again, all of that sounds rather messy and I fear will take up far too much time. I would rather be back in time for tea, wouldn't you?"

"Well, yes…"

"And, participating in a battle is much more dangerous than this plan. All sorts of things can go wrong you know," Seraphina said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"And… you do know all we need to do is get Desdemona or I within throwing distance of the General's tent one way or another. According to the histories, he was quite the collector of foreign concubines; he simply will not be able to resist."

Desdemona frowned at this.

"Not you, darling, me," Seraphina stated proudly, slapping at her breast. "That's how we will get into camp. Men can overlook all sorts of gaps in their logic when they are faced with the objects of their desire. And… the men of his camp will know well of their leader's desires…"

"You are betting quite a lot on your beauty there, Lady Seraphina," Frest quipped.

"Shouldn't you be helping the brothers wrangle some horses. You used to be good at that, weren't you? Especially the ones you didn't own," replied
Seraphina icily.

Frest instead of replying just gave her a quick salute before running off to join wherever the brothers had wandered off to.