Second World

Linda watched the situation unfold both from afar and from the projection above the war table. She saw the yellow dragon descend from the sky and start tangling with Eurdrasill.

She couldn't wrap her head around how this could have happened. The intel mentioned that Tiemezzys was full of wrath when he quit his post. The reason for his fury was that the current Themisphere King had killed the previous one. In that sense, even if Tiemezzys appeared here, he should have directed his aggression on the Themisphere army instead of theirs. Why would he aid the army led by his sworn enemy?

While Linda was still trying to think of a reasonable explanation, a large group of red dots appeared near her position.

"A surprise army…," Linda muttered.

She was not that surprised, though. When the Sangrod army arrived, she figured they would take an opportunity to send a small detachment to look for the enemy's command base. She had placed scouts all around the place so any approaching foreign force would immediately be detected.

"They are fast…"

Linda told the native troops around her to prepare for an engagement. The surprise army coming her way numbered around 100,000. It was roughly the number of troops she had with her.

When the enemies came into view, she saw that they were all comprised of the same units. They wore dark light armor and rode atop creatures that looked like large dark wolves.

"Death dealers," Linda identified the incoming army. She knew these troops were one of Sangrod's special units. These troops were also the ones attacking them in Palgrost. The difference was they didn't have a good look at these death dealers the last time because it was nighttime.

Linda looked at the time. It was still a bit more than an hour before sunset. It was better to deal with these death dealers before then. She set up the troops into a defensive formation that faced the incoming army. Troops with shields and long weapons like spears and pikes were positioned at the front while archers and mages got ready behind.

When the death dealers came closer, they spread out. They were going to surround the enemy's command base before attacking. Linda had expected this. She rearranged the troops into a square formation with her at the center.

Arrows and spells flew at the death dealers when they came into range. The death dealers responded by jumping down from their rides. The shadow wargs became even faster without the burden of their rider. Their charge brought them to their enemies in a blink of an eye. They immediately pounced at these enemies.

Their riders weaved their way through arrows and spells. Though they couldn't dodge all the attacks, they were very fast. Once they arrived, they joined their pets in melee. They used bladed tonfas for weapons. They possessed several skills from the Blade Dancer class. Once they got into melee, few could resist their ferocity.

The soldiers forming the defensive perimeter were all regular units. As time passed, it was clear that the death dealers were getting the upper hand. Yet, Linda didn't seem concerned. She continued working on the war table. She had been maneuvering the army around the gap in the wall to look for a breaching point, but the enemies were very persistent. It was only a matter of time, though. The enemies had gone all out to resist them, but this wouldn't last for long.

After some time, the first death dealer finally cut his way into where Linda was located. When he lunged at Linda, she vanished, together with the war table. A glowing rune diagram was the only thing left where she had been.

It was the Field Teleportation rune diagram. She had now moved to a location far away. Her guild members had been preparing many of these Field Teleportation diagrams all around the landscape surrounding the capital.

At the place where she appeared, a small army was on standby. Nearby was another unused Field Teleportation diagram. She had the people move the war table right above the diagram. She then resumed control over the army. She didn't worry if those death dealers came again. She could teleport several more times if needed.

The only one she needed to worry about was if an invisible and undetectable enemy approached her, the way Jack did previously. She doubted there were more people with such an ability. Jack was stuck on the battlefield. She had people on the battlefield pay attention to Jack's whereabouts, even his clones.

Hence, Linda resumed guiding the army without any worry. As she did, she received a report. Her guild member had found the command base of the Sangrod army.

Unlike the Themisphere and Hyrdurond whose base was inside the capital, the Sangrod army was outside. This army also brought their war table. Guilds from Sangrod summoned their guild armies when the Sangrod army stormed into the battlefield to aid the defenders. They all had their guild army command platforms near the war table.

While the defenders went all out after the divine earth titan broke the wall, the Liguritudum army still had the luxury of keeping a reserve army behind. Linda was now issuing an order for this reserve army to head to the Sangrod army's command base.

The Sangrod army sent a majority of their force to the battlefield while keeping only around 100,000 to defend their command base. When they saw Liguritudum's 500,000-strong reserve army headed to them, they could only curse.

The guild leaders pulled their guild armies back to defend the command base. The native commander operating the war table did the same, but this caused the pressure on the Liguritudum army to lessen. Linda could now refocus her attempt to breach the gap in the wall.

Linda looked at the projection. At several spots, the zombie army had climbed through the wall and entered the capital. They were now working their way to harass the defenders from the inside. She believed victory was just a matter of time. The only ones who could affect the victory were those eternal combatants on the field.

By now, the divine earth titan had run out of its duration and disappeared. Suzaki was now fighting Broidrireg alone. Even though that seemed discouraging, Jack's Strength of Hope and Therras' Elevate Beast had also ended. Without those buffs, they were unable to stop Uddroth. Eurdrasill was still tussling with Tiemezzys who arrived not long ago.

This meant Uddroth had free rein.