Chapter 430 Let's Play a Game
A few dozen miles away from the Qin Kingdom, the two armies of Heaven's Dawn and Blood Ragers were charging their way through the Wilds, unhindered by the World Class Bosses that were fighting each other for territory in their new home.
This might be the only time where players were actually able to ride through the Wilds safely. All thanks to the absence of the Black Dragon of Terror, and the ignorance of the beasts to the invaders.
The Dragon Expansion hadn't caused much trouble to the players on the way. Even evil dragons were reluctant to assault this massive army. Not because of fear, but due to the Wilds territory still being considered the resting place of the Dragon of Terror. As a sign of mourning all dragons refused to fly over the area… for the time being.
At the head of the armies, Heaven's Dawn guild master Wan Yi was leading. They had learned from their previous experience and prepared mounts this time around. Even regular horses were much better compared to walking on foot. Since their first setback, they had tamed as many creatures as they could and now used them to move through the Wilds quickly.
On their journey, some of these mounts got killed by monsters, others had outright thrown their riders away due to getting frightened of the Wilds. However, the majority of the mounts safely led Heaven's Dawn forward and ahead of the Blood Ragers.
"Move faster! Don't let those weak ass Ragers steal our kill!" Wan Yi shouted from the forefront as loud as he could. "I still can't believe that idiot Warlord would lose to Skelly, Ha!" Wan Yi laughed at the misery of the former number one player.
"You also lost to him once," reminded White Ghost, who rode next to him.
"That was just an accident. Besides, I didn't lose to him. He didn't even damage me, it was the Death Knights that killed me when we raided the Underworld's First Raid Zone."
"But in the end, you still died. Sigh, just be careful. If he has managed to beat Warlord, he has a good chance of kicking your ass."
"Nah, Warlord's Class is specialized for Warfare, mine's for dueling. Also, you saw Skelly. He used many of his super long cooldown Skills. If I fight him now it'll be an easy win." Wan Yi stated confidently.
"You just want his sword, don't you?" the While Ghost accused him.
"I sure do. As long as I kill him in his monster form, I bet I have a great chance of getting it as a Drop Item."
"I doubt it. But for argument's sake, let's suppose you do end up getting it, so what? You're a war-ax wielder. A sword is totally different. You neither have the skill nor experience using it."
"I don't care, did you see how big that sword is? That's a Manly weapon! I gotta have it!"
"Ugh, man sometimes you can be so strange about the weirdest things.."
Wan Yi ignored the White Ghost and continued to revel in his daydreams of when he would obtain Durandal.
Behind them, the Blood Ragers had opted to run. It was of course less costly, but it would take them more time. Not that Zhang Shi as the leader of the Blood Ragers particularly minded this caveat. He was more than happy to use the Heaven's Dawn Guild as cannon fodder for his own army to swoop in and take the kill.
The ride to the East took a bit longer than two hours. Once they arrived at the first city, Nora, which Dave had raided clean, they decided to make camp.
"The city is clear," The White Ghost concluded.
"Too bad, we can't use the Gates. Otherwise, we could get supplies and reinforcements from our kingdom," Wan Yi lamented.
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean this isn't a golden opportunity," Zhang Shi added. "Skelly must definitely be low on numbers after fighting against all these players. According to our intel, it seems that Skelly has to return to the Underworld if he wants to resurrect his guys. But if he leaves the surface world, we will get notified about the Sovereign title passing to somebody else restarting the counter. Although the video of the clip shot in the war was too dark to see, I also have solid intel that the mercenaries hired by Demetri have killed a great number of Undead. The Devastators didn't reveal how many exactly they killed, yet some of our sleeper cells confirmed that Skelly lost at least two-thirds of his forces."
"That sounds like a huge estimation. I wouldn't dare enter into Skelly's stronghold not knowing the facts. This could all be a ploy, or more likely, some of the players are just exaggerating their exploits." White Ghost pragmatically replied.
"I trust my subordinates. If you're too scared then sit back tight and relax, I'll get the kingdom anyway." Zhang Shit proudly declared.
"So what's the plan?" Wan Yi asked.
"We'll move in an hour, wait until it gets darker," the White Ghost spoke.
"I agree, it's better if we come at them at night, it will surprise them."
"I doubt Skelly has enough resources to accurately know when we'll charge him. He is but one man."
"He may be but a man, but he has one of the biggest NPC armies in the whole of Conquest. Even if he incurred losses, what about that powerful-looking woman who one-shot players? Or what about the Undead Giant he summoned? Can you be sure he has not held some things back to deal with us? I wouldn't underestimate him if I were you," White Ghost cautioned.
"Wise words. You guys should listen to him more often," the low, and horrendous voice of an infamous Draugr sounded all over the area where the players were camping.
Zhang Shi, White Ghost, and Wan Yi, immediately drew their weapons.
"Show yourself, if you are a real man!" demanded Wan Yi.
"Come on man, has that line ever worked on someone? I actually can't show myself, because I'm not there. I'm currently speaking to you via one of my underlings. Bud, show yourself please."
Suddenly, in the middle of the tent, the enormous Shadow Ghoul emerged.
The players took a step back from the creature. It had appeared out of nowhere, they hadn't even accounted for Skelly to have underlings that could turn invisible.
"Anywho, so you guys came to my new crib without an invitation. That was quite rude of you. I still have to clean up after the last guest. Buuuutttt because I'm such a nice host I've come up with a nice little game you can play while I tidy up the palace."
After a second's silence, he continued "The rules are very simple. Do you know these old games, where you try to prevent the enemy from reaching your base? It will be like that, a game of waves. Your only goal, Survive. Good luck!" Suddenly, the Ghoul disappeared and left the party unsure of what was going to happen.
"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" the sound of a player disturbed their moment of stupor.
Zhang Shi and Wan Yi immediately exited the tent they had discussed their strategy in.
"What's happening? Attack from where?" Zhang Shi ordered someone from his guild to explain their current situation.
"The Teleportation Gate! The Undead are using the Teleportation Gate to come here! We're getting reports from the scouts that there have been sightings of thousands of Undead monsters coming toward this city."
"Then go kill the Bastards! I want everyone stationed around the gate. HURRY!! Relay the order!!!"
"As you command!" the player saluted and rushed to the gate.
"Ghost, you'll have to take care of the monsters attacking from outside!" Zhang Shi said.
"Damn it!" the White Ghost cursed. "Zhang Shi, wait! We need to come up with a plan ASAP!"
"Why are you so flustered, they're just Undead, and the gate is small, how many can come at us anyway?" Wan Yi wondered.
"All our plans are in disarray. We never accounted for Skelly to take the initiative and tip the scales. Heck, he should not have been able to use the Teleportation Gates with his troops before visiting them. SHIT! He must have done something when he fought his way through. Don't you guys understand? We can't leave the city right now. We're trapped like rats. And he gets to attack us while we need to defend. This is seriously the worst-case scenario. He is buying time until his Kingship is fully established and at the same time withering our forces. As if that was not bad enough, if he can use this Teleportation Gate, he should be able to also use the others from the cities he had stomped. In other words, any enemy we don't kill right here, can simply teleport over to the next city and get into our way. So, even if we come out of this, and by some goddamn miracle reach the city in time, we won't be able to fight Skelly. He'll probably have more troops stationed at the capital, not to mention the Qin NPCs that should listen to his orders by now." White Ghost gave the group a detail of the consequences of Dave's move.
"So, basically…" Wan Yi left the rest of it unspoken.
"Skelly has us in Checkmate." the White Ghost finished it for him, though.
"Yeah, that can also be interpreted as we're fucked." Zhang Shi summed it up nicely.
"Yes, for vulgar people like you, we're fucked"…