[Unedited Chapter]


    The following morning arrived and as the sun was rising Leo had already put his uniform on and was heading to meet with Commander Anders.


    ''I need to get this meeting over with quickly so Iwe can send the necessary people to the city. If we take too long to act then both the citizens of the city and the Infernai currently stationed there will be killed if another group of monsters appears.'' Leo stopped just in front of a door with the name te ''Commander Anders'' on it.


    He pushed the door open and entered the room. At the same time, on the other end of the room, the door opened and Snythe entered the room as well.


    "Commander" Leo and Snythe said simultaneously as a greeting before sitting down in their respective seats in front of Commander Anders'' desk.


    "I''m assuming this is important since you asked for the meeting immediately after returning yesterday. Let''s not waste time and get straight to the point." Commander Anders said with a stern voice while looking at Leo.


    Leo quickly exined what had happened with Connor and Cains sqauds the previous day, as well as his encounter with the Elite tier monster.


    "That''s certainly worrying. Did you encounter anything simr to this?" Commander Anders asked as he turned his attention to Snythe.


    "No. We met a few monsters and took care of them easily but none were grouped like described." Snythe answered with an almost monotonous tone.


    "The reason I asked for this meeting was because I wanted to put forward a potential solution to help prevent the problem from escting." Leo said with some urgency in his voice.


    "What do you suggest?" Anders asked.


    "We need to send more support to the Infernai already protecting the city. The majority of those that are there are some of our weakest fighters and won''t be ale to hold off against a group of monsters."


    "Sending more Infernai of simr strength won''t do much in the way of improving the situation. It would be best if we sent some of our Captains and their squads, some from each toon." Leo looked at Snythe as he said thest part.


    "I do agree that sending some more people, with morebat power, would be a good idea. If more monsters attack they would be I''ll equipped to handle it." Anders said, agreeing with Leo''s deductions.


    "If we send two squads from each toon, it should be enough to fortify the defensive power of Drom until we can investigate the strange monster urrences."


    "We will still have two squads from each toon to do other missions and tasks, as well as the reserve troop made up of Private ranking Infernai." Leo exined.


    It looked like Commander Anders was thinking hard but was nodding his head as he did, seemingly finding Leo''s n to be agreeable.


    "Commander, if I may pose an objection." Snythe said.


    Breaking away from his deep thoughts, Commander Anders looked at Snythe and gestured for him to continue.


    "One of the four squads each toon controls is made up of supporters. Healers and other non damage dealing abilities. Sending two squads from each toon will prove to be a problem in the long run because of this."


    "How so?" Commander Anders asked.


    "We would be sending too many supporters or too many fighters no matter how we select the squads that should go to Drom. I suggest that we send three squads in total."


    "I will send one of mybat squads, while General Rune sends onebat squad and his support squad. Because all of the best supporters from toon one will be away, I will be happy to lend some of our best during missions to join toon one''s squads when needed to help keep bnce."


    "We can also add some of the Privates to the reinforcements to help fill the gaps created by only sending three squads. This way, we keep a good amount of support andbat power here while also helping to increase our power in Drom." Snythe finished exining and sat back in his chair to wait for a response.


    " Hmm... I do think this will help to keep some of our power here while helping Drom... "


    "If we send the reinforcements in this way then my toon will have a third of itsbat strength and all its support power elsewhere. We would be forced to rely on toon two for all our healing and defense, which will severely weaken my toon." Leo said with an indignant tone.


    "toon two will be losing just as muchbat power but will keep its support power, this is the best way to maintain a bnce between offense and defense. Relying on toon two for support is just something that you''ll have to deal with as ites." Commander Anders replied.


    ''Is he doing this on purpose to weaken my toon? I don''t have any solid reasons to decline this n...''


    "I believe it would be best so send the Privates from toon two rather than toon one, to help bnce the power difference between the two toons that this will create." Leo said, trying to do anything to prevent himself from losing more people while Snythe keeps most of his.


    "That seems reasonable. If that''s everything then I suggest you select the squads you''ll be sending and which Privates will be joining them. Dismissed." Commander Anders said.


    Leo left the meeting concerned about its oue, the smile on Snythes face as he turned to leave the room didn''t improve Leo''s suspicions.


    ''He hasn''t done anything directly, but he''s gone out of his way to help Trent get out of trouble before. He could be involved with the cult somehow, trying to weaken my toon for to assist them with fighting us in the future.'' Leo thought about this possibility as he walked to the War Room.


    Everyone was already inside waiting for him. He had asked them to gather here so they could speak as soon as his meeting with Commander Anders was over.


    "How did it go?" y asked as Leo entered the room.


    "Good... Bad... Depends how you look at it." Leo said as he sat down.


    "What''s that supposed to mean?" Connor asked with a confused expression.


    "We are sending reinforcements to Drom, which is good. The problem is that most of the reinforments will be from our toon."


    "Snythe convinced Commander Anders to send two squads from our side, one of them being our support squad, while he sends only one of his squads." Leo exined.


    "That doesn''t sound so bad, the only issue is our supporters will be gone." Connor said, still confused about what the problem is.


    "We are supposedly going to be receiving supporters from toon two when needed." Leo said.


    "So what''s the problem?" Connor asked.


    "We are suspicious of Snythe and have been for a while." y said.


    "Why? What has he done to warrant suspicion?" Connor asked.


    "His cousin is Trent Zemor, someone who''s now a leading figure inside the Cult of Umbra. We have personally seen Snythe defend Trent from the repurcussions of his actions by throwing around his families power."


    "If he was willing to help Trent then, who''s to say he wouldn''t do it again. He might even be a member of the cult himself and is trying to weaken us." y exined with an ominous tone.


    "I agree that we should be suspicious of him, but this isn''t a bad n overall." Leonard suddenly said "It makes sense to divide our forces this way so I don''t see anything particrly nefarious from his current actions."


    ~Sigh~ "Yeah... You''re right. I just can''t help but feel like something else is going on here. First there''s a strange urrence with the monsters that only happened where our toon was sent."


    "Second, now that we''re trying to defend the city, Snythe argues so that we have to send more of our people for reinforments. If you add that with his potential involvement with the cult..." Leo exined.


    "I understand a bit better now but there''s still no proof yet... We will just have to wait and see what happens." Connor said


    There was a silence in the room for a few minutes until Cain suddenly asked a question.


    "Which squad are you going to send?"


    "Obviously Rene and her squad will need to go, since we have to send our supporters. Thebat squad we''ll be sending..." Leo thought for a moment while looking around the room.


    "Connor. We''ll be sending your squad." Leo decided.


    There were no objections and the meeting ended after Leo made some more detailed arrangements with the others.


    While leaving the War Room, Leo was suddenly stopped by Cain. "Would you mind helping me with something?"


    "Sure, what do you need?" Leo replied.


    "I''ve been having some trouble involving my ability. Could you help me with some training and see if you can think of any solutions?"


    "Alright... We can go to the training fieldter today." Leo suggested and Cain nodded in agreement.


    "Ill exin more when we meet there." With that said Cain walked away, leaving Leo standing alone at the entrance to the War Room.