“Smash,” Lucas affirmed, nodding. “I’m going to have those men”—Lucas pointed at half of the soldiers, dragging his finger around to make sure the Grobendiss and the soldiers knew exactly which ones he was talking about—“stand in front of this door. I need them to organize into two groups of four and get their halberds ready. When the doors open, you’re going to attack whoever is standing there. Then, these soldiers here are going to defend your flanks.”

“My flanks?” Smash asked. “I’m not fat. I don’t have flanks. I’m thin,” the obviously fat Grobendiss stated. No one argued.

“No, he means your sides,” Dennings said from the back. “Darling, can you explain it to your pet? He’s always so dense.”

“‘Cause muscles are dense,” Smash quickly shot back. “Not fat. Fat not dense. I have many muscles. I’m strong man.”

What is it with monsters and being worried about body image? This guy would be a perfect fit for pairing with Saba’a.

“What about us?” some of the guards in the back asked. “What do you want us to do?”

“Ah, that’s easy,” Lucas said. “You four are going to defend me, and you six are going to split up into two groups of three. As the main group gets assaulted, they’re going to get pushed back.” He turned to Smash, the only one that might be able to hold his place and added, “Which is fine. Let them push you in. While they push deeper into the throne room, you six need to come in from the sides and make sure that you don’t let them surround us. This room is huge. If they are allowed to just pour through, we’ll be attacked from all directions. If you six fill in the gaps on the side, it’ll actually work to our benefit. It’ll create a concave formation, and we’ll have the advantage.” Lucas knew from experience that weapons such as halberds that had a longer reach were always at an advantage against those without it.

Most of you are going to die, and I only expect Smash to have a chance at living, depending on how thick his skin is. Without a shield against wave after wave of peasants, Lucas knew that they wouldn’t last long. What he really needed them to do was stall long enough for him to launch as many spells as possible. Having Smash, every single guard in the place, and the bosses in the same room was going to make this an incredibly difficult encounter for the rebellion, likely much harder than anyone was expecting.