Second World

The sea of soldiers was even more impressive compared to when they went for the expedition in the past. It was not strange considering the numbers were ten times that time. The soldiers stood orderly as they waited for orders.

A distance from there, Jack saw a similarly impressive sea, but much more rowdy and messy. Jack could hazard a guess that those who gathered there were outworlder troops.

"Where are you?" Jack asked Red Death.

"I'm here with the guild leaders. Your Star Bowler is also here, he is leading your guild," Red Death replied. "Things are a mess here, no one is sure of what to do here."

"Wait, I am going to the army base first," Jack said.

A very large temporary tent had been erected in the middle of the reinforcement army. Jack figured that should be where Duke Alfredo and the rest of the army commanders would be located.

The soldiers stopped him from approaching at first, but after showing his Earl status badge and the soldiers confirming his identity, they let him through.

When he entered the tent, he saw lots of people crowding around a war table. Several familiar faces were amongst them, Duke Alfredo, Captain Salem, Lieutenant Bailey, Lucia, Nicholas, and high priest Laurent. The duke saw Jack and gestured for him to approach.

Jack greeted the ones he knew. To Laurent, he asked, "Aren't you with the Church of Creation? I thought league factions are not allowed to involve themselves in this war?"

"They are not, that's why I quit the faction," Laurent said. "I can't just desert my best friends in their time of need."

"Isabelle and I are in your debt," Duke Alfredo responded to his remark. Laurent just waved him off.

"So, how's the situation?" Jack asked.

"Let me introduce you first, this is Lord Commander Armstrong. He is appointed by the Royal Advisor as the commanding general of this reinforcement army," the duke introduced. "And this is Lord Commander Ahab. He will be the second-in-command."

Armstrong was a large man garbed in full plate armor. He carried a large greatsword on his back. His armor was black and full of cut marks. There were also scars on his face. His hairs and beard were white. He wore an eyepatch on his left eye. His one remaining eye was blue and carried a steady gaze that projected steadfastness. With one look, Jack could see this was a man that had gone through many conflicts.

Ahab was a leaner man yet almost as tall as Armstrong. He wore a functioning robe with lavish etchings. The etchings glowed periodically. He held a long staff in one of his hands. His face was calm and composed, yet his eyes seemed impatient.

Jack used Inspect on them both.

*

Armstrong (Rare Elite Human, Lord Commander), level 75

HP: 890,000

*

Ahab (Rare Elite Human, Lord Commander), level 70

HP: 780,000

*

From their attires, Jack could deduce that Armstrong was a melee type while Ahab was a magic type. Jack greeted both of them politely.

"You must be that outworlder the Royal Advisor had mentioned," Armstrong said.

"I don't see the wisdom in letting this outworlder commands a regiment of our troops," Ahab said to Armstrong, not responding to Jack's greeting. "It is one-tenth of our army. We are already low on manpower as of now. Giving such a large portion to an untested outsider will be a waste of resources."

Duke Alfredo hurriedly said, "I assured you, mister Storm Wind here is more than capable of leading an army. He had done so during a military expedition with me in the past."

'Um… with the help of my friends,' Jack thought. He didn't know squat about leading an army. He was rather nervous about this himself.

"Nevertheless, it is a request from the royal advisor," Armstrong said.

"But you are the commanding general, you have the final say about the arrangement of the army," Ahab argued.

"Hm…," Armstrong's one eye stared at Jack, who returned the gaze. Jack was indeed nervous, but the thought of the possible exp bonus from leading a regiment made him determined to get this commanding post.

"I promise you, Sir Lord Commander Armstrong. I will not disappoint!" Jack uttered.

"… I see the determination in you. All right, I will follow Mason's request. You will be in command of a regiment of three thousand soldiers. Bailey and Miller will serve under you."

Jack looked to the man beside Bailey. Maybe that was the man Gruff mentioned yesterday? He used his Inspect.

*

Miller (Special Elite Human, Knight Lieutenant), level 65

HP: 290,000

*

'Great! With this high-level native at his command. His regiment should perform well,' Jack thought.

Jack inspected Bailey as well. As he thought, Bailey's level had also increased. Jack assumed she was another individual who Prince Alonzo had selected to receive the Council of Virtus' blessing and training. She had even received a better breakthrough compared to Duke Alfredo. She was now at level 55. Not only that, but her grade had also increased to Special Elite.

Ahab showed a disappointed expression for Armstrong's decision but otherwise didn't express any more objection.

"Now, let us bring you up to speed," Duke Alfredo said. On the map was a 3D projection of the Themisphere map. It was now zoomed in to the region around Theneward city. Particularly a structure that looked like a classic medieval fort. "This is fort Garadhor. Prince Alonzo and his troops are now settling inside this fort as we speak. They are hiring blacksmiths from the city to repair the fort's defenses. But with such limited time, it is questionable how many of these defenses can be brought back to life before Therribus' army attacks. From the intel we have gathered, they will have only five to six days top before Therribus' army arrives."

Jack knew about this as well. Aside from hiring native blacksmiths, Jeanny had also summoned their guild members with high blacksmith skills to help with the fortifications. Jeanny informed them that several catapults and ballistae were there and might be able to be repaired as long as they had enough time. Some Death Associates and Corporate United members had tried harassing the players en route there. But fortunately, Jeanny had put security details on them.

"They are also bringing supplies to the fort in preparation for a siege battle. However, many merchants are limiting their wares. It seemed that Therribus' influence was rather strong in Theneward. They would only be able to secure supplies for around three weeks' worth. If the siege goes longer than that, it will be a problem."

"We should arrive before their supplies run out, right?" Jack asked.

"We will, but the situation doesn't look too good even if we arrive," Armstrong said. "From the intel we have secured, Therribus army would be around 100,000 strong. They were further reinforced by around 10,000 outworlders."

Jack understood several guilds had still decided to support Therribus. Mainly because they were following the two top guilds, Death Associates and Corporate United. Of those guilds supporting Therribus, four possessed guild headquarters inside this country, Death Associates, Corporate United, Warriors of Solidarity, and Jackal Crew. Jackal Crew had invaded a guild headquarters owned by another guild and claimed the headquarters as their own. These four guilds had the potential of raising Therribus' army count when they summoned their troops.

"On Alonzo's side, they only had 10,000 soldiers, added by a few hundred outworlders that had chosen to join them there after the war summon quest," Armstrong continued. "They should be able to resist the siege as long as Therribus didn't go all out, which I suspect he won't. He will lose lots of soldiers as well if he did. But as in any siege battle, time is against the defenders. The fort doesn't have any natural supply. They can only last as long as their prepared supplies."

The quest posted by the reinforcement quest had requested the players to join the reinforcement army. Some had still opted to join Prince Alonzo to defend against the siege. But the army had advised against it. Mainly because players' capability was still the low-tier soldiers at this stage. All they did by joining the siege was suck up the supplies required by the natives. There was no teleportation device on the fort, so they couldn't teleport to the cities to get more supplies.

"On our side here, we are barely 30,000 strong. But the outworlders that had gathered outside have reached 30,000 as well," Armstrong said. "Although the outworlders have doubled our man count, their battle capabilities, won't match Therribus' army's average level. In other words, we are still grossly outnumbered by the enemy."

Jack was making a count of their produced soldiers on his guild page. At the moment, they had a total of more than 2,500 trained soldiers. He figured that the other guilds' number wouldn't be too far off. Out of the many guilds and independent players that had joined this army, seven guilds had guild headquarters, Everlasting Heavenly Legends, White Scarfs, Black Cloak, Crowd of Sins, Dogs of War, Gluttonous Despot, and Six Rings of Prosperity. This meant there was a potential of around 17,000 native troops for one day if all seven of these guilds summoned their troops at the same time.

Wicked Witches had joined them but their guild headquarters had changed to the Aurebor Dynasty. So, they couldn't summon their guild's trained troops in this war. Same case as Saint Edge who also had members joining this reinforcement army, their headquarters was inside Sangrod Empire.

Saint Edge's members initially wanted to join Therribus' army, considering Everlasting Heavenly Legends was still holding their Guild Hostage Token. But their leader, Saint Jonathan, had ordered the guild to help Alonzo's side instead. Jack didn't know if this was because John struck some kind of a deal with his father? Perhaps releasing their guild hostage token? But as he had said to John, that token belonged to John, he won't argue about what John was doing with it.