Chapter 43
Each unit coordinated all information among the participating members as the East Lazurus and Devil Guilds started their main mission. The monsters he captured in the city of Lúthien were large enough to cause panic and fear in any group, but the two guilds were distinct from one another. The plan was straightforward: it was to destroy enough enemies without endangering the evolved drake. This was similar to what most guilds had done in the past, when everything was just a virtual game. The main attack force of the two guilds was told to save mana so that the other members could fight the weaker monster.
The biggest invisibility spell on the first floor of the tower was cast by the mages who belonged to the two guilds. According to the assault team, the city structure was a major obstacle on their path; as there are many areas where an enemy can hide and ambush them, an almost unknown number of residents went missing as ogres, chimeras, goblins, and other mythical creatures roamed the abandoned city, cried blood, and the foul stench of human decay overpowered them. The walls surrounding the city were long gone, and the nobles who kept watch over it left the safety of the populace to chance.
The prosperity these cities gained was now gone. The vast open farmland to be the third largest supplier of grain was no longer seen. The farmland near the city was carved with brute force , remnants of the Drakes anger.
The small patches of trees in the burnt grassland were weirdly twisted and contorted, as if they were reaching out in agony. The once bustling marketplace was now eerily silent, with only the distant sound of crows cawing in the distance.
The sound of birds was the only sign of life in the desolate landscape, their calls echoing through the empty streets. The city's once vibrant energy had been replaced by a haunting stillness, a stark reminder of the devastation that had befallen the once thriving community.
Roaming monsters were hunted down by the Lazarus members as they were renowned for their hunting skills , while the White Devil guild used cunning to kill the ogres that separated from their group. The sun was finally setting down; trap scrolls were placed in the abandoned buildings and homes. The hunting party members held their mouths as each house they secretly entered was filled with decapitated body parts. Torn apart, mutilated bodies of children were seen inside those broken, ruined homes. Dire wolves roamed the place and were seen eating corpses—dead people.
The city that was once a small town that grew bigger through the noble's hard work was the envy of many once. The wasteland was cultivated with dedication and perseverance, turning it into a thriving community. But now, all that remains are the haunting remnants of a once prosperous town, overrun by death and destruction.
The guerrilla tactic the two guilds agreed to use was slow and eats a lot of time and resources. An all-out frontal attack was too risky, as the enemy had superior numbers and defenses. The hundred eighty-plus players under the two flags were coordinating their attacks and now seek to overstep their boundaries as getting killed was real. Each team per guild is made of ten members; the rules were simple: kill as many monsters but do not engage directly and not expose their positions. The guild leaders knew that patience and strategy would be key in reclaiming the town from the enemy forces.
The team is composed of seven attackers, one healer, and a mage with a portman with enough equipment to assist the team. Each member carries expensive scrolls to escape the area and relocate at the hidden campsite 100 meters from the ruined city. The tall wild grass was very useful for the players strategy; the four scouts that went toward the city a day ahead were spreading enchanted wild grass seedlings in the four paths each player team would use upon entering the city while under the invisibility spell.
The high-level mages were delegated to attack when the evolved drake finally came out; dealing with the other monsters was a huge task, the quest in real life would last them a few weeks, and backup support would leave their respective guild stronghold after a predetermined time. The knight representative from the empire of Solnara, Cererindur, is only a witness as they report their quest mission by using a visual transmitter bug, a magical artifact similar to a flying drone video camera. It was a big marble.
That transmits actual visuals at the two locations: the open central market, where a huge mirror was placed on the wall, and the other one was at the throne room, where King Deryth Cererindur and his entire family and nobles were patiently watching as the hunt went on.
Many residents of the empire of Solnara Cererindur watched as the hunt progressed. The hunt was time-consuming and tedious; the tactic was both guilds were coordinated because they could afford to lose manpower until the main target.
One hundred eighty-plus members on the join operation wasn't nearly enough to finish this task, and because the East Lazarus guild was known to be the best at hunting, the Devil guild agreed to follow their lead, and it was effective as the monster following the evolved drake was slightly bewildered as their numbers were getting lower. These creatures assumed most of those monsters left to hunt for food as the evolved drake wasn't keen on protecting those that followed it out of fear and desperation. And because most monsters have low intelligence, most rely on their instincts.
Nevertheless, the hunt was going on smoothly; many of the monster corpses were removed by guild members who were strong, or they just used potions to dissolve the dead remains, leaving only their mana cores. No monster that was part of a ground was killed; each monster was killed simultaneously. The players incorporated different bird sounds to relay various information and coordinate their movements, making the hunt efficient and successful. The evolved drake continued to lead the way, its sharp instincts guiding the group towards their next target.
Jacob, who has a skill, Magna Lava; Oliver uses poison; and lastly, Farrah has a skill for manipulating and controlling plants. The entire city was surrounded with many different plants. With her skill and knowledge, Farrah made a potion to make the tall weed grass as their cover and expand its growth even inside the city.
The white devil was known for their weapons and straight forward approach , but based on the actual information they all saw , the monster that followed the Evolve Drake was vast and had many variation , Jacob was worried that their tactics wont last long, so they asked the white Devil guild to conserve their energy and until they face the main target Natasha Sokolov agreed to this , as it was a very reasonable request , but she openly admit the moment the evolve Drake shows itself her guild will prioritize the assault on it.
Charlotte Lazarus, older sister of Jacob, told the others that the possibility that this scenario might happen was a probability, as they too wished to gain acknowledgment and help from King Deryth Cererindur. Their camp was highly secured as each guild placed an illusion and sound barrier artifact on their campsite and made sure to follow strict protocols when moving in and out of the temporary base. One hunt went on as planned. After every successful kill, each hunting team would come back to the designated location opposite of where the camp was located.
A mage will cast a wide cleansing spell to remove all remnants of the teams kills, scouts were tasked to monitor the movements and activities of nearby creatures to ensure the safety of the campsite. The hunters would then regroup and strategize for their next target based on the information gathered by the scouts. The only time would return was after their physical trace were remove from the area, each player that joined the hunt had to remove foot prints on the ground and leaving no other evidence of their presence to maintain stealth and avoid detection by potential threats. This meticulous attention to detail was force upon by the East Lazarus guild
But they also knew these tactic has a limit, killing nearly half of the current force will eventually result in retaliation and exposure. The risk of losing their advantage in stealth was a constant threat, pushing the guild to strategize carefully and strike swiftly to minimize casualties.
On the third day the people watching from the open market place at Solnara Cererindur when losing audience and many returned to their normal daily activity, some were a big disappointed it the war the hunt was happening , many assumed the hunt will be epic in scale and devastation the two guild were taking their time , if a players get slight wounded these player will rest until fully healed , heling potions and healing skill usage were limited and controlled .
Casualties from both guild was zero while the number of monster the have eliminated were around two hundred, as each team with five members would eliminate ten a day , ten team with mixed members from the two guilds were thinning the monster army with efficiency.
Until the fifth day , the reserve team, led by Charllote Lazarus with Mary Kaye and a few of the High Strategy guild members, reached the location and slowly went toward the campsite with caution.
Charlotte saw that Jacob was leading the team with the tactics they agreed to follow. Jacob and the rest on the East Lazarus Guild greeted her and asked the reason for coming late. Charlotte looked around and spoke to Jacob in coded sentences.
"nest of murders, has a white marble"
"Huh! A white marble in the nest?"
"Indeed, better ask the elders about this then."
Jacob casually walked toward the White Devil guild's main tent and asked Natasha Sokolov if she was available for a strategic meeting while the 10 teams were out hunting. As she was coming out to officially greet the leader of the East Lazarus and the High Strategy guild for reaching the gathering point and joining the hunt, but seeing Jacob's face, Natasha knew something was wrong.
"Greeting vice captain Natasha of the white devil guild,"
"What's going on?"
"As soon as the ten teams come back from their hunt , we, the Lazarus Guild, will conduct a quick isolation and detention as we might have a traitor among our own ranks."
"So please order your guild members to refrain from using or consuming anything that a member of our guild gives to them."
"This is a serious matter, Jacob. We have been hunting for five days now. The limit of this strategy is nearing its end. We can't afford to lose any players on both sides."
"That is why I am asking to temporarily separate the joint team so Charlotte can identify the traitor among our ranks."
"Are you guys sure the traitor came from your ranks?"
"What if we have a traitor in our guild too?"
"We can't assume that you have the same problem, but based on the moment we gathered at the empire's open market, Charlotte was the only one who suddenly left without reason, and the detail I secretly obtained was already sketchy. "
"But just the same, I will conduct the same investigation within our guild to ensure there are no traitors among us."
Charlotte casually entered Natasha Sokolov's main tent; she was accompanied by Mary Kaye and conducted a simple meeting. The two guilds were longstanding rivals in gaining dominance in reaching the second floor, but they both knew waging war among each other was a foolish act knowing they would lose many lives in this manner of thinking, so both guilds just exercised their competitiveness that wouldn't result in losing a member's life. And because the first floor had countless quest tasks being offered, there were no shortage of opportunities for all guilds to prove their skills and earn rewards. Despite their rivalry, they often found themselves working together to complete challenging quests and ultimately improve their standing .
These two guilds establish a love-hate relationship , constantly pushing each other to be better while also acknowledging the strengths of their rival. This dynamic not only kept both guilds on their toes but also fostered a sense of camaraderie and mutual respect among members.
Natasha Sokolov asked Charlotte concerning the white marble. She explained the details related to these suspicions. As Jacob gave Charlotte the list of the participating members of each of the ten hunting groups out in a field today, Charlotte pointed to the seventh group and stated this person was her suspect, as he was a new member, and considering he was just a six-month-old member, his accomplishments on the quest he took were all accomplished in a manner that was tooskilled for a beginner. Natasha nodded in agreement, noting that the new member's success seemed too good to be true for someone so inexperienced. She suggested they keep a close eye on him during the next hunting expedition.
And planting spies into a guild was a common play, Charlotte agreed, recognizing the importance of gathering more information before making any accusations. She decided to discreetly confront the person with a discreet approach and see if they could uncover any suspicious behavior.
The meeting was held lightly to remove suspicion and accepted that this information wasn't taken lightly, as it might create a chain reaction that will ruin their mission. While this was happening, Dane was already at the mountain ridge separating the Solnara Cererindu as he used the skill he was able to gain from Siglorr Bouldergrove; the mana he consumed that day was relatively huge; he would need to wait for a few hours. Dane even saw Charlotte and the High Strategy guild battle wagon running nonstop to reach their target day as the hunt had already begun three days ago..
If Charlotte was right, they will reach the location. On the fifth day. Locating the temporary campsite won't be an issue, as Charlotte herself personally selected the location based on the map both guilds obtained from the chancellor from the empire.
Dane was delighted to know that the skill he gained was effective, but the only issue was the sudden appearance above the area he wanted to appear at. The skill was created to avoid any structures that might harm or injure the caster, so the spell language was created so the user would merge a few meters above ground. Sadly, Dane appeared on the mountain ridge cliff overlooking the main entrance toward the other side. Without Ward's help, Dane could have fallen from the cliff edge, and the spell language had a protective fail-safe upon use. The caster's mana consumption will activate the protection contingency, allowing the user to recuperate and recover the mana as it temporarily puts the user to sleep.
Dane was aware of this and wanted to remove the protection contingency, as he had already recovered half of the mana he used, but even with this, he was still sleepy. So with this, Dane had no choice but to secure a location where he could sleep. But even before he could move, he already fell asleep, warding with his ability. He moved Dane's unconscious body to a nearby tree and changed its appearance to become a net and hang above the tree lines away from any possible creature roaming around and looking for food.
"Miko tried desperately to remove or lessen the protection contingency of the spell language, but the person that wrote it is the only one that could change it. As Siglorr Bouldergrove mentioned, he learned it from an elf as a bet a few hundred years ago. Siglorr Bouldergrove was able to gain resistance from the skill , but like what Dane was experiencing now, Siglorr also fell asleep and woke up after three days.
Luckily, Siglorr Bouldergrove used the skill transfer toward the location of his home, so his clan was able to secure his unconscious body until he woke up. While Dane had to rest for a few hours , he plans to just run toward the location. While he was sleeping, Miko made aerial patrols around the tree where Dane was located while Ward assumed his protective role. A net-like hammock was securely tied to the thickest tree branch that emanated a flickering light and moving smoke.
Dane wasn't that concerned, as it's a rational response toward gaining a new skill; changing it now will be another anomaly waiting to be discovered. By the tower's main system. Dane knew gradually his body would adjust to these minor inconveniences, so the moment he felt sleepy, he just mentally commanded the Miko and ward to do what they were supposed to do, as he trusted them completely.
The creatures lurking in the mountain ridge were mostly remnants of docile creatures that never followed the Evolved Drake, unlike those who were born with malice and hunger for killing. Nearly eighty percent of the wild and savage creatures ventured toward the Evolved Drakes calling. Some with resistance from taunting skills remained on the mountain ridge, which was a massive wall that divided the lower half of the central continent toward the far west. .
Compared to the eastern and central sides, the west was much longer and more hazardous, with hazardous terrain and erratic weather patterns. Beyond the expansive Rithakwood forest lies a large ten-mile radius of sand desert, home to numerous sand tribes and teeming with desert scorpions, sand worms, and jackals. This is where a karion resides, a place dominated by beastlings and halflings.
So most creatures that came down and joined the Evolve Drake came from the nearby mountain next to dwellings. The canyon is known for its treacherous landscape, making it a challenging environment for those who dare to venture there. Despite the dangers, many seek out the carrion in search of rare resources and valuable treasures hidden within its unforgiving terrain. This was not the case before, as the region of Karion was flourishing, ruled by a benevolent family of beastlings before the time of Naeron Varynn, the ruler of the divine kingdom of Tyriarn Isssëa.
While other regions were gradually gaining power and influence, Karion was already a powerful and rich land , known for its abundance of resources and thriving economy. However, a single mistake would ruin the far region. And become the notorious Empire of Graves. As 4 million residents lost their lives , as they became soulless creatures.
As the night consumed the third day, Dane waited until he gained full control over the transfer skill protection contingency. He just rested while the two guilds at the city of Lúthien were tirelessly conducting a strategic hunt of the monsters in the area, waiting for the arrival of their captain and reserve armaments and supplies .