[quote=@Claw2k11] "That would be Darkstalker." he says. "Though, it's in the hands of Midnight the Eternal, death's right hand man, so fighting it will be like fighting Sssalivan, except that Midnight can summon hordes of undead." the high elf says to her. "Though we have Anna, maybe one of us could use her to defeat Midnight and get Darkstalker, the strongest the universal weapons." "Don't worry about Anna, I'll take care of her!" the young knight said. "Don't worry, Anna, I'll protect you from all the monsters out there." he said to Anna, who only proceeded to only hold onto his arm even tighter. [/quote] "Anna is the reason we can proceed. I don't plan on disobeying the Grand Marshal's orders; if we can at least locate Midnight and Dark Stalker, that'll be enough. Although we can't have her engaging in battle against Ssalivan. Therefore, on our way there, Rookie and the Avian will be dropped off at an appropriate safe house and protect the child, preferably someplace out of Gabriel's reach. We would then return once Ssalivan has been defeated." She looks over everyone present, a strange silence permeating the air. "That... is what we do should we choose to follow the path of the Grand Marshal. However, I have another... idea in mind." She gives everyone time to comprehend what she was saying - to affirm that they were attentive to her words. "The Grand Marshal's forces, although great, are nothing compared to Ssalivan. No doubt the use of Anna [i]could[/i] help sway the tide of battle, but... something tells me there would still be a great many losses, and the prospect of defeat..." She clears her throat. "So... I propose we do as follows: we continue our investigation within the Death Marshes to locate Dark Stalker, making sure each of us are healed to tip-top shape. Once located, Anna eliminates the enemy hordes with the light-magic imbued within the bow. Something tells me that Midnight's creations won't be able to use magic, and if they are, they'd further drain him. With the hordes dealt with -- perhaps thanks to our marksman bird-friend -- we can effectively focus on taking down Midnight. Dark Stalker is a powerful blade, yes, but Dark Vibrance is my trusted sword -- my Durandal -- which is strong enough to channel the same amount of dark magic through it. Which means, I can fight him effectively and cancel his magic prowess whilst the rest of you attack. Perhaps our Orc and Gnoll friends could switch with the Avian for a short time whilst the Elve, she and I deal with Midnight?" "Regardless, what I'm trying to say is we can kill two birds with one stone. By retrieving Dark Stalker, we gain an unparalleled advantage in the battlefield, not to mention our dragon friend Knight can take us there much faster than horseback. And who's to say we couldn't retrieve another of the two blades out in battle, too? We would be completing half our mission whilst aiding the fight against Ssalivan - our time would only be delayed a fraction, but the end result is well worth the wait." "So, what do you think?" Maryvale asks with crossed arms. "Do we disobey the Grand Marshal out of his best interests, or do we follow through with his orders? I leave it to you to decide."