Riches and Bitches: I have a gate to an isekai and leveling-up system!

The first step of my plan was all about passively keeping Irene ignorant.

The second step was about actively showcasing how we were focused on anything but her potential presence.

The third point, though, was simple only on the surface.

The third step was to take the initiative. To be the party that put things in motion rather than the ones who simply reacted to the developments around them.

But what exactly did it mean to claim the initiative?

Did it mean to press ahead with our other plans as if my encounter with Irene didn't take place? Or maybe it meant to be the one setting up the terms of confronting her, be it here or back on earth?

In all honesty, I didn't have the answer. I simply followed the dogma stipulating that making even a stupid move would always be better than not doing it at all because, again, not doing anything at all only served to surrender the initiative to the other party!

"We are about to reach the forest's edge," a voice of one of Makary's soldiers filled the insides of the armored cabin. Right after that, the side panels of the commanding center lit up, as the video feed from the cameras of the truck leading the convoy came online, enriching our outlook on the situation.

Even with how quickly the convoy could cut a path through the forest, it still took us roughly fifteen minutes to travel all the way to where the woods thinned out and turned into an open plain.

'Right on time,' I thought, watching how the reformed imperial army already formed into its new battle order.

The first battle of this war was pretty much a siege of the mercenary camp. The second battle took place deep in the forest, with all the mess and chaos that the location enforced on both sides.

In both of those times, the imperial forces fought differently, proving that they were not a static force only capable of following the rules of the military handbook.

And right now, just by a single glance at Etaria's new formation, I couldn't help but silently praise the girl for adapting to the situation so quickly.

"Should we begin?"

Makary looked at me after taking a moment to analyze the formations displayed on the birds-eye view of the forest's edge on his holodesk.

I shook my head in response.

"I think we should try talking with them one last time, you know, not to kill our prospective cheap labor." I took another look at the scene displayed by the projectors of the holodesk. "And I don't think this battle will be as easy as we expected."

Etaria truly learned her lesson from the fight in the forest. Most likely, it was all thanks to her cat-and-mouse chase with the Maglev's tracking fire that gave her a pretty deep insight into what my forces were capable of.

And right now, despite the limited means she could access to counter our strong points, she turned her army from a scattered mess of destroyed and demoralized units into a cohesive and well-organized force.

All in all, the most basic idea behind Etaria's formation was to keep her men hidden. Some would advance with hastily constructed mobile shields made out of several layers of cloth, damp rags, and wood. Others hid in trenches that somehow appeared all over the open space and seemed to extend all the way over the crest of the local incline, to where the logistic camp of her army stood.

With a quick look at the camera feed from the front of our convoy, I failed to notice a single target worthy of activating any of the bigger guns. And while picking up heads poking out from the ground would be easy…

There no longer were any groupings of men that would make wasting the precious ammunition worthy.

Etaria's army scattered across a vast distance and then entrenched itself in the embankments likely prepared by some sort of aura users. The same aura users that I could now see dug seven different ditches directly from the core of Etaria's army and towards the edge of the forest.

'They are moving rather slow… but if we let them do as they please, it will be only a matter of time before the situation will turn from bad to worse…'

Gritting my teeth, I took a moment to absorb all of the information I could catch from the video and the map displayed on the holodesk, rushing my mind to come up with any sort of a valid plan.

"If you want to talk, I believe you need to hurry up," Makary pointed out, raising his eyes from the map and to my face long before I could form any even remotely realistic plan of action.

"Hurry up?" I repeated after the man, taking a second to switch back from my analytical state to a normal, conversational state of mind. "Is it that bad?"

So far, the progress of the ditches Etaria's men were digging was concerning, but not worrying. Judging by the speed of their progress, it would take them at least half an hour before reaching the middle of the open area, and likely another hour before they would dig all the way to where the trees began.

"Given how quickly they can dig those trenches…" Makary hesitated for a second while casting a quick glance back to the map. "We should be able to operate freely for twenty more minutes. Anything beyond that and the battle will turn into a massive drag."

There was no doubt that if we were to be determined enough, the entire imperial army would meet its end here. No amount of preparation, entrenching, and aura users could stop the advance of nearly a thousand modern soldiers supported by a hefty contingent of battle vehicles, armored half-trucks, and air support from the Maglevs.

The one thing that all of Etaria's preparation could affect was the cost of eradicating her forces. And with every second she had to keep expanding her network of shallow trenches, that cost continued to grow.

"We need to set up the negotiations quickly, then," I pointed out before taking a step back from the holodesk and crossing my arms on my chest. "But for obvious reasons, I no longer can be going to a meeting in person."

"And why is that?" Makary looked over and raised one of his eyebrows in a look of curiosity.

"Because by now, she should realize that I'm somewhat connected to the gate," I pointed out the obvious. "The fact that she realized how to make things harder for us, how she instinctively figured out what took a few hundred years for our ancestors…"

I shook my head.

"Makary, I know that it's easy to underestimate those people… But that princess isn't stupid. And, from the looks of it," I glanced over to the holodesk where small, red dots continued to slowly pull away from the main concentration area of the imperial force, leaving a shallow ditch that would be extremely hard to shoot into in their wake.

"From the looks of it, she still has a considerable number of ascenders."

"Ascenders?"

This time it was Makary's turn to ask for clarifications.

"People that are more than just people. People that are stronger, faster, smarter, more perceptive…"

For a second, I entertained the idea of trying to explain the concept of ascenders to the man.

But after said second, I sighed as I gave up and moved back to the holodesk before resting my elbow on its surface and reaching out with my hand towards the former military officer.

"It would be a pain to explain, so let me show you. Try me," I requested, wiggling my hand a little.

Makary gave me a long, slightly confused glance, before ultimately mirroring my position over the holodesk and reaching out to grab my hand while resting his elbow down.

"On three. Ready, set… go!"

Despite being the one to count our duel down, I refused to let my hand even budge. On the other hand of the table, though, Makary's entire, muscular body tensed up. He grabbed the nearby edge of the holodesk with his free hand as he attempted to use the strength of his entire body to make my hand budge.

Yet, no matter how much the man tried… I simply failed to seriously notice his attempts at bringing the outer palm of my hand down on the table.

"I'm about to pull, so get ready."

As someone aware of just how far my attributes removed me from the limits of the human body, I gave Makary a warning not out of arrogance, but rather a genuine concern for his well-being.

It wouldn't make a good press if he were to come out from the truck with a broken arm, after all!

And as I announced, I took a deep breath before slowly starting to pull my hand down.

Bit by bit, I increased the strength of my pull… Only to slam Makary's hand down into the holodesk with enough force to make its the projected map flicker.

"I'm not saying this to humiliate you, but I hardly used any of my strength," I revealed as I let go of Makary's hand, only for the man to quickly retract it and massage the slightly bruised area. "That's the power of ascenders. They are better than even the best-trained humans. And some of them might invoke abilities that are pretty much magical."

"Okay, I get it," Makary announced before going back to his position of slightly leaning over the map as if our short, small bout never happened in the first place. "But what does it have to do with anything?"

I took a deep breath to buy myself some time during which I gathered my thoughts.

"That princess isn't stupid. It's too risky for me to go and meet her in person," I announced, only to cast my eyes all over the truck, only to have my sights locked on a certain item displayed on the plaque marking the content of one of the equipment shelves within the truck. "Tell me," I turned my eyes back to Makary before stretching out my hand in the direction of the shelf I took notice of.

"Are those in a working order?"