"What exactly is the strategy you've instructed for those mbers of the Gambler's Club? And which of the two White Nights have you chosen to target, and how do you plan to defeat them?"
Lucas asked cautiously.
"We have one week left until the next defense battle. Shouldn't you start giving us instructions too? What exactly is the plan?"
I smiled slyly.
Now that preparations were more or less complete, I was indeed planning to share the strategy for the upcoming defense battle with all my subordinates.
But first, I gave Lucas a hint.
"Okay, I'll tell you first, Lucas... it's a 'party'."
Lucas blinked his innocent, large-dog-like eyes.
"...Excuse ?"
"A party, Lucas, a party. The strategy to confront White Night. It's literally a party."
Lucas's face showed he couldn't grasp what I was saying.
I chuckled with glee and uttered the na of the operation.
"Operation Surprise Party! In this defense battle, instead of fighting, we're going to throw a surprise party!"
"...So, you an..."
Lucas, desperately trying to interpret my words, asked cautiously.
"Are you using the term 'surprise party' as a taphor for a surprise attack on the monster legion...?"
"No? We're actually going to throw a real party."
"...?"
Lucas's expression turned to one of disbelief, and then he shuddered.
Right. He's finally realizing it.
That I've always navigated this war like a madman!
***
Zone 8. The Mage Tower.
As I entered, Soya - the White Night from the cyber world who appeared on the magic panel - cringed imdiately.
"What do you want this ti?! There are no more dungeons in the area that can be cleared!"
"Hey, don't be so harsh. Soone might think I've only ever asked you for unreasonable favors."
I might have worked her to the bone (figuratively, since she doesn't have any), but to dislike so much at first sight aren't we still in a cooperative relationship?
I comfortably sat on the sofa in front of the monitor and gestured with my chin.
"Soya... Ahem! White Night."
I corrected myself quickly after using the Crossroad's na and grinned.
"Let's work on a task together, you and ."
"We've already done plenty... What is it this ti?"
"I've devised a plan to kill the other version of you. It's a strategy to trap and eliminate her. Everything else needed for this operation is ready, but there's just one thing missing."
Soya frowned.
"And that's ?"
"Yes."
Crossing my legs, I grinned mischievously.
"Hey, White Night."
"What."
"Pretend to be dead."
"...What?"
The face of the skeleton in the screen looked perplexed.
"Pretend to be dead?"
"Yeah. It's to deceive the other you. And not just a simple act, but a very convincing performance would be even better."
"How convincing are we talking?"
I explained to Soya how convincingly she needed to pretend to be dead. Her face then hardened with dismay.
"Stop talking nonsense. I've cooperated with all your insane requests so far, but this is just too much!"
"Why? To deceive the enemy, you have to deceive your allies first. Let's do so serious thod acting, shall we?"
"Stop kidding, Ash! There's a limit to what I can tolerate-"
"Hey, we've worked hard to kill the other version of you, right? Then let's finish it properly."
I began to smoothly persuade her, starting my real pitch.
"To completely and cleanly eliminate the other you, everyone in our front, including myself, has been working tirelessly. It's all been for you! But now, are you saying you're going to stop here because this last effort is too botherso?"
"It's because our interests aligned that..."
"No, hey! Frankly, we could have sided with the other you. She has a lot to offer! But we chose to be on your side, to keep faith with you. Faith!"
I pounded the table as I argued vehently.
"And now you're going to break that faith with ?! Were we just a shallow relationship to you? I'm disappointed. Then maybe I should switch sides now..."
"Wait, wait! Hold on! Alright, I get it, I get it!"
Seemingly nauseated by my gaslighting, Soya let out a long sigh and stared at intently.
"...Explain. Why do I have to pretend to be dead? And through that, how are we going to kill the other ?"
I grinned broadly. She's bought into it.
With that, all conditions were cleared.
Preparations for Operation Surprise Party were complete.
***
A few days later.
Zone 8. The Grand Theater.
"..."
A Jiangshi in a crown and robe, the legion commander White Night.
Thinking deeply, Black Night - her na in the Crossroads - was reminiscing about sothing from a long ti ago.
- Aspire to ascend, sorceress! Attain divinity and rise to the Throne of Stars!
Divinity.
It was the title needed to stand alongside those foreign gods.
And... her current self could not achieve divinity.
'To attain divinity, one must be the only one.'
Otherwise, one cannot be sealed in the Throne of Stars, where the gods sit.
But as a duplicated being, White Night couldn't attain divinity in her current state.
'To beco the only one, I must kill the other .'
It was fate that either she or her other self had to die. One of them had to disappear from this world.
Upon realizing this, Black Night resolved to kill her other self.
And also to kill the Demon King who had taken her in, to seize his divinity.
This was the easiest and surest way for her to attain divinity.
'Kill the other to secure uniqueness, kill the Demon King to snatch divinity, and rise to stand alongside those Outer Gods.'
This beca Black Night's purpose.
She continued her research to reach out to the foreign gods.
Thanks to the power of the other world given by the Demon King, she was able to contact one of the foreign gods.
That foreign god delighted in this ant's 'rebellion' and agreed to lend power. This was the identity of the giant eye that Black Night used.
And... the tedious life continued.
The two split White Nights kept colliding in attempts to kill each other but always failed. Knowing each other too well, neither could be killed.
In this endless antagonism, ti passed inexorably... Then suddenly, Ash appeared.
Ash, who had already killed seven Nightmare Legion Commanders, could surely kill her other self. She approached and tried to win him over, but...
'Damn him... Just using ...'
With the next invasion imminent, Ash had only been using Black Night to his advantage. He showed no intention of fulfilling her request to kill her other self.
Thinking even for a mont of an alliance with Ash was foolish.
'If you're going to act like this, I have no choice.'
Black Night bit her lower lip tightly.
In the upcoming human world invasion, she would utterly annihilate Ash and his forces.
The thod to kill her other self could be figured out anew, but she couldn't forgive that human who had mocked her.
It was at this mont of silent fury for Black Night that...
Boom Boom Boom Boom!
Suddenly, the entire Zone 8 vibrated violently.
Having dwelled here for a long ti, she had never experienced such a phenonon. Black Night was startled and sprang to her feet.
"What's going on?!"
Boom, Boom Boom...
The ground, trembling as if struck by an earthquake, eventually cald down. Black Night wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. What in the world was happening?
After the vibrations had completely ceased, a short while later.
Bang-!
Soone burst through the doors of the grand theater.
"White Night!"
Beaming brightly and fearlessly entering the lair of the Nightmare Legion Commander, it was none other than Ash.
Unaware or indifferent to the fact that this Great Sorceress had been fuming over him just monts ago, Ash grinned broadly and dashed towards Black Night.
"I did it, I really did it!"
"What? What did you do?"
Confused, Black Night asked, and Ash gestured outside with a wide smile.
"I kept my promise!"
"Promise? What promise...?"
"To grant your wish! I've taken care of the other you!"
"...?!"
Hurrying outside to see for herself, it was indeed true.
Boom, Boom Boom...
In the distance, the mage tower was engulfed in flas, collapsing.
The mage tower, boasting the strongest defenses in all of Zone 8 and even the Lake Kingdom dungeons, was now completely in ruins.
"Then the vibrations earlier...?"
"Exactly. It was ! The aftermath of blowing up that mage tower!"
Ash shrugged nonchalantly, bragging about his feat. He then briefly explained how he deceived the owner of the mage tower, bypassed the firewalls, planted bombs inside, disabled the magical defenses, and collapsed the central pillar.
Black Night stared in awe at the crumbling mage tower.
With such damage to the tower, the other self that had uploaded her consciousness into its chanical system couldn't possibly have survived.
"I've blown it to smithereens, but just to be sure. You can thoroughly search and burn the remains."
"I shall do so."
With the external defense system of the mage tower now compromised, it was sufficient for Black Night to finish off her other self, should she still be alive.
Having fulfilled one of her life's goals, Black Night's face betrayed emotion akin to being moved. Ash, smugly confident, shrugged his shoulders.
"I told you, I'm a man of my word."
"Ash..."
"I couldn't tell you before because I had to conduct the operation in secrecy, but how about it? Do you trust now?"
Black Night nodded vigorously.
"I'm sorry for doubting you."
"You suspected , huh?"
"Honestly, who wouldn't? Look back at what you've done..."
"Well, I admit, I might have been unreliable. But in the end, I did it, right?"
Chuckling, Ash extended his hand.
"So, we're allies now, right?"
"Of course, Ash."
Black Night reached out and firmly grasped Ash's hand.
The hands of a human and a Jiangshi clasped each other and shook firmly.
"The Lich Legion and I will be your allies, cooperating until the day we defeat the Demon King."
"That's really reassuring. So, you're not going to attack us on the invasion day, right?"
"Of course not. There's no reason to turn our blades on our allies."
Grinning.
Ash's lips curved into a long smile.
"Then instead of an invasion, how about dropping by for a visit?"
"...What?"
For a mont, Black Night blinked, not understanding Ash's words. Ash grinned and pulled sothing out of his pocket.
"Here, take this."
"What is this...?"
"An invitation!"
Grinning innocently like a child inviting soone to a birthday party, Ash handed over a luxurious invitation.
"The next defense battle is actually on the exact day of my second year anniversary in this city!"
"Uh... So?"
"Additionally, there's going to be a party to welco our new allies in the alliance. Won't you grace us with your presence?"
Black Night's mouth fell open slightly.
She was stunned, unable to process this turn of events that defied all norms.
"Wait, hold on a second, Ash. You seem to have forgotten, but I am a monster."
"Huh?"
Ash looked puzzled, his innocent eyes twinkling.
"So?"
"You're inviting , a monster, into your city? Are you in your right mind?"
"What does being a monster matter? We're allies now, aren't we? Standing shoulder to shoulder, together we'll defeat the Demon King and save the world, fellow mbers of the World Guardian Front!"
Ash, with an incomparably pure and radiant smile, pushed the invitation forward again.
"So, co on! Don't be shy, co and join us!"
"..."
Black Night's hand, sweating profusely, ended up holding Ash's invitation.
Ash's lips, shining bright white, curled up in a mischievous grin that no one else could see.
"Let's be real friends, White Night!"
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