Chapter 423 Party Crasher
The world was closely following the events of the East. It was, obviously only natural, as many of the players could not stand the fact that they were actually raiding the East without anyone else knowing about their heroic exploits.
The fires of war raged high and mighty. Most of the world's entertainment TV Stations had handsomely paid for some of the footage. Each showcased their own intake about the war that was happening. The reporters gave their own opinion on the major events, some commending Warlord's great effort in fighting against an army alone, while others complained or debunked the complaints toward the powerful Skill that the Mecha had revealed.
However, among all of the world's entertainment companies, only CCN had declined to release any news regarding their own cash cow Skeletal's whereabouts. Not only was he proclaimed missing, but some had also accused him of fearing the Devastators to the point that he would not appear in the East.
One of the reporters spoke up, \"Skeletal might be a great player, but he is just one man. He cannot fight against the might of the strongest Guild in the world of Conquest. Warlord, as an American, is bringing us a great honor by claiming the East as his own and adding it to his conquests.\"
Others criticized the comment as being too radical. As a matter of fact, Skeletal himself was an American and there was no need for discrimination, as this was just a game and all should play for the fun of it. They also criticized him for 'conveniently forgetting' that the East was supposed to go to European Might, who, after all, had won the auction for the Right of Conquest.
Some reporters came to Skeletal's aid, but with the lack of active appearance of the world's most famous Draugr, their opinions had little to no impact on the virality of the current events.
Only one thing was for sure, without Skeletal's appearance, the Devastators were going to claim the East with ease.
Another reporter from an eastern TV company came to view, reporting the fact that the Heaven's Dawn and the Blood Ragers Guilds had agreed on a truce and were currently headed directly toward the frontlines. Not only did they hate the fact that the Devastators had cheated them and gone for the East on their own, but they also seem to have realized that it was due to the Devastators that their initial conflict had ensued.
Now hand in hand, the Heaven's Dawn and the Blood Ragers were headed toward the East, cruising through the Wilds. They knew full well that they would not make it in time to stop the Devastators from taking the Qin Kingdom if they kept the massacre at this rate. But even if they did capture it, the Korean and Chinese Guilds were determined to break the Devastators in the Qin Kingdom, nullifying their plan in taking the East while the two were fighting.
Due to the great coverage from the massive and worldwide companies of entertainment, a small bit of footage of a certain Draugr riding on a Ghost Shark-Chariot went unnoticed. And even for the few viewers that had watched it, they claimed that it was probably fabricated by a Skelly-Fanatic, to safeguard his appearance.
Little did they know, that Mr. Skeletal was riding to the East with the largest army the world of Conquest had ever seen…
***
\"Warlord! What's the situation?\" Valentine screamed his lungs out, the Four Generals had began moving and were slaying the players left and right. Their damage output was clearly out of the player's league as they struck in the millions of units of damage. Killing anything that came into their field of view.
\"Mercy's infiltrated the Palace. We don't have eyes so we are forced to wait for her updates.\"
\"Then if you can't do anything there come and help us! At least shake these fuckers a bit. We're being culled!\" Valentine cursed.
\"I'd love to, but there's a shit ton of Elite Soldiers right around us. Hell do I know where those fuckers appeared from, but we're stuck inside a house near the palace. If we try to get out we'll be killed.\"
\"Didn't you just fight a goddamned army of those Elite Soldiers on your own?\" Demetri's panicked voice came from the party chat.
\"COOLDOWN! Ever heard of that?\" Warlord shouted back. \"Once God's Fist and God's Stomp are available again, I'll come meet up with you. For now just hold back. Where's Satan Slayer?\" Warlord asked.
\"I thought he was with you,\" Valentine sounded surprised.
\"No, we split off once Mercy went into the palace.\"
\"I'm near the docks. They chased after me for a good while, but I seem to have shaken most of them off. I'll need to wait until the rest of the Elite Soldiers are off my back. How's the situation at the gate?\" Satan Slayer asked.
\"Jeffery's doing a great job holding off the soldiers. The only real issue for our army are the Four Generals. We can't do shit against those.\" Valentine answered with spite as he watched more of their members getting destroyed. It was as if they were mere lambs in front of a butcher.
\"Just avoid them for now. Try to use players who have summons to leech them if they get too close to our ranks. We need time, Mercy should be done shortly.\"
\"I doubt that,\" Mercy's strained voice came from the party chat.
\"What the hell is going on now?\"
\"You should have invested in the blueprints of this place. The palace… it's even more fortified. There is one of those General Ranks right next to the King along with twenty Elites who look fiercer than their companions. Must be the Royal Guard or something.\"
\"Just execute the king and get this over with!\"
\"I can't. There's a giant True Sight lamp lighting the whole goddamn palace courtyard. If I get any close, I'll be immediately revealed and my Legacy Skill won't work. I need a distraction to get the King away from this True Sight Chandelier.\"
\"Shit, think of something, we don't have time. The Ragers and Heaven's Dawn are on their way here, they'll not like what we're doing.\" Warlord hurried.
\"I'm on it. Just let me think of something,\" Mercy countered.
\"Damn, this is not going well,\" Warlord spoke in frustration.
Despite their current predicament, the situation had gone pretty good for the Devastators so far. Not only were they inside the city and slowly grinding its forces, but they were also actually an arms reach away from taking over the East. However, the stress from seeing your target right in front of you without being able to take it only worried Warlord more.
Not only would this conquest cement his future and collaboration with the European Guild, it would also remove the stain that Skeletal had smeared along Warlord's gamer career.
For that Warlord needed patience, something he usually lacked, but even more so at the moment.
Several hours went by without any significant development. Within these hours, the Heaven's Dawn Guild and the Blood Ragers had traversed immensely through the Wilds. (Un-)Fortunately, they had missed Urburg completely as they had opted to take the road they had used before.
Due to whatever god was smiling upon them, they had encountered no creatures of the Wilds. It was as if the Wilds feared the player's existence… but in reality that couldn't be farther from the truth. the Wilds feared not the weak. They were simply benefitting from a lucky coincidence. Not too long ago most of the Wilds Dwellers had followed Skeletal hundreds of miles away from their territory as he rode on the back of the Worm Emperor the Minghocao.
The creatures had simply opted to take new residence in the area where they lost the Draugr and were currently still fighting for supremacy amongst themselves, fully ignoring the army that moved through the Wilds unhindered.
The advance of the two guilds was spectated by many of the world's viewers. They were hoping for them to arrive before the Devastators could finish the job and cause pandemonium. Everyone loved seeing chaos ensuing and as a matter of fact, the one who loved to create a scene the most was on his way to do just that.
Back at the Eastern Kingdom, the Four Generals within the city began splitting up. Each of them went into a different direction. One headed directly to the Gate to relieve the stress on the Qin Soldiers. Another headed to the palace. Even if there was no cause for worry, the General had probably deemed it would be safer for his king if he was nearby.
Another headed to the residential areas to suppress the Mercenaries who began plundering the resources inside the city, while the last one headed toward the docks.
\"Warlord, the situation is becoming more and more crucial, we can't hold these guys off, how much longer until you can move?!\"
\"In a bit. I just need fifteen minutes and I'll be ready. Hold on for now, Mercy, what's the situation?\" Warlord asked.
\"Still no updates. I've gone through all scenarios I could think of, but I have nothing on me that might help without me getting killed instantly. They're just standing there like god damned statues. It's as if they know I'm here.\" Mercy cursed.
\"Update me, as soon as you notice something new or strange then,\" Warlord sighed.
\"Speaking about strange things…\" Satan Salyer's voice came from the party chat. His quietness after he spoke gave a lot of worry for everyone within the party chat.
\"What's going on?\" Demetri asked.
\"Well, the weather just changed.\" Satan Slayer stated bluntly.
\"That's nothing strange, it's a game, give us something critical or crucial!\" Demetri shouted. His nerves were already fried from all the tension happening due to this raid.
\"Well, the weather changed too abruptly for it to be normal. Even if this is a game, it shouldn't happen just like this.\"
\"It's probably nothing important,\" Warlord replied.
\"Hold on, what do you mean the weather changed? It's still sunny up here at the city center.\"
\"Well, the docks are darkened as if it was evening. There is a lot of fog coming from the sea side, yet the sea seems as calm as a mirror surface. The birds, seagulls, and small critters have all escaped too,\" Satan Slayer explained.
After a moment of silence, Satan Slayer spoke once again, \"There's movement…I see something in the fog…\"
\"Show us, share the feed,\" Warlord demanded.
A small screen appeared in front of all the players in Warlord's party.
The screen showed a gust of fog great enough that it covered most of the sea side on the docks.
And in the distance a shadow of something was approaching fast.
Soon, the sound of growls and water splashing came rushing through the video feed as what appeared as shadow in the distance became clearer the closer it moved.
\"Is that a boat?\" Warlord wondered.
\"It's a bird,\" Demetri guessed.
A moment later, three white sharks came into clear view and behind them was a chariot with a person riding. With an enormous wide grin appearing on his face…
\"NO! THAT'S SKELETAL!\" Jeffery's squeaking voice broke the silence.
\"I HOPE I'M NOT LATE FOR THE PARTY!\"