After Therim's resounding speech, the momentum reached its peak. The fortresses' gates swung open and following Therim's command the vast army finally left. The players also received their first instruction, which was to wait until all the NPCs had left the fortress.
"Hey, are they looking down on us? What is this?"
Cyclone sounded somewhat annoyed, eager to advance together with the army. Just now she had been one of the players who shouted the loudest. She was completely caught up in the excitement.
"Why are you complaining? We are receiving points just for standing around. Isn't this a good thing?", said Silent Acacia. His opinion was shared by many players in the surroundings. The friends weren't isolated. There were thousands of players assigned to the fortress. Just within their immediate surroundings there were a few familiar faces. Some members of Dream Avenue and their allies, some well-known guild leaders, but also Mountain Lord and Silken.
Mountain Lord appeared to be in a great mood as he pushed through the crowd, starting a conversation with the friends. Although his questions seemed random, he was actually fishing for information. Silver Blade didn't think the dwarf could be that sly. However, it didn't matter. It wasn't as if Hotpot possessed any super-secret information.
While the players were conversing, they watched the mighty army marching out of the gate. Heavy armours shone in the sun and mana gatherer around the staffs. Although the steps were not entirely uniform, they still created a sound which reverberated through the mountain pass like the roar of a beast, striking awe in the onlookers.
It took quite a while until the tens of thousands of soldiers left the fortress. Finally, the players received a new command. They were to follow behind the army for now. Immediately the situation turned chaotic as everyone rushed for the gate.
"Idiots! Keep order! Slow down!"
Chieftain Ogruz bellowed angrily as he tried to tame the mass of players. An oppressive aura spread from the orc standing on top of the wall. Inwardly he cursed Therim for assigning him this job. However, his intimidating presence achieved some results. The players stopped rushing ahead without consideration for others, passing the gate with at least some hints of discipline.
Once outside the fortress the large crowd had no choice but to slowly march behind the NPC army while observing the barren surroundings. In the distance at the foot of the mountain they could see the Southern Wasteland. A faint, dark fog rolled in the air. There was not a soul in sight as if even the monsters hid, feeling the incoming storm.
"Haha, it's like a big school trip!"
Some players, like Balm, weren't impressed by the atmosphere. They were filled with excitement and anticipation enjoying being part of such a big event.
"Guys, don't lose your vigilance. We are now at war. Something unexpected might happen any moment.", warned Silver Blade. Next to her walked Watchful Eye scanning the mountains.
"I agree with the young lady. There are shadows scurrying in the mountains. They should be scouts of the chaos faction."
Silver Blade rolled her eyes but didn't complain. It was impossible to make Watchful Eye call her something else but 'young lady'.
"Scouts? Hmm, you're right. Should we chase them?"
As Cyclone said this, she spotted a few players at the edges separating from the crowd and approaching the mountains. However, they didn't come far before realising that their already slow accumulation of points came to a complete halt. Chasing the scouts didn't align with their current orders. Thus, the players swiftly returned and marched with the crowd.
"Such a big movement can't be hidden. The chaos faction is already prepared. What good does it do to capture a few scouts?"
Someone analysed the situation and the opinion quickly spread among the players. Anyways, they just had to follow the command and accumulate points. In the end it didn't even matter that much whether the order faction emerged victorious or not.
Liam was one of the few people who knew that it was indeed important to win this war. Otherwise, the future story would change, and certain opportunities wouldn't appear. Most notable of all, he wouldn't be able to change to his preferred class Chaotic Tempest and would have to go with a backup-plan.
Fortunately, it was the order faction who was first able to gather the 10.000.000 points in preparation for the war. This provided them with a solid advantage. Now the red bar indicating the faction's resources was filled with eleven million out of eleven million points. Otherwise, the limit would have been nine million points. According to Liam's experience the faction with an advantage was greatly favoured.
Minutes passed as the two large crowds marched through the pass. The NPCs shut their mouths, silently preparing for war while the players chatted away, very much to the indignation of Chieftain Ogruz. Similar scenes could be seen in various locations within the Southern Chaotic Mountains. Armies, both big and small, marched in parallel followed by crowds of players and led by mighty figures of the order faction. Their target was the Southern Wasteland, or rather the portal deep within which connected the core of Crunaboul with hell.
After a while Liam saw the army in front finally reach the Southern Wasteland. They spread over a large plain, dividing into three groups, one bigger and two smaller. Subsequently a new command reached the players. They were assigned to one of the three divisions, ordered to follow their assigned group. Together with the command arrived a short explanation stating that the massive army would take too long with traversing certain terrain and was thus split up for now.
The players didn't question the decision. Eager for points they followed the command and split up as well. Liam and his friends were assigned to the biggest group at the middle.
"March on!"
A loud command came from Therim. The three divisions continued marching towards different directions, slowly separating. Therim stayed with the main group while his vice-commanders took control of the smaller groups. Soon they lost sight of each other.
Liam and his friends followed the main group through a hilly landscape. Everyone was hit with a strange feeling as the landscape seemed to fly by. Seemingly this was C's doing, speeding up the journey, just like it did when traveling the ocean. The players naturally welcomed this change. They couldn't wait to finally start the battle.
Soon, a new wave excitement rose as a city came into view. However, when the players scanned the NPCs on the walls they were hit with disappointment. In their vision those NPCs were marked as civilians and killing them would be met with harsh punishment. Some players thought this was stupid, but they were the order faction's army after all, they couldn't wantonly kill innocents.
Thus, the army passed cities and towns. Thanks to C the long march lasted less than three minutes. Soon, a menacing fortress like a black beast came into their view. It blocked a path downwards between two cliffs. The roaring of a river could be heard in the distance. Studying the surroundings it became obvious that to cross the river one would have to pass the fortress.
"Slow down!"
Therim's voice echoed through the air, quickly issuing various commands. In order to be more efficient, he had called up two generals who made sure that all his orders would be followed. Under their lead the army spread out, preparing for a fight.
"Finally!"
"Haha, my fingers area already itching!"
Excitement spread among the players. They were also assigned to the various units. Thieves separated from the army, acting as scouts. They were the first to receive a task. They were ordered to make sure if the information the order faction had about the fortress still matched with the current situation.
"Hehe, let me be the first to earn generous rewards."
Bloody Edge grinned at his friends. With his comparatively low points he was quite eager for the task. He went into stealth and separated from the army, running ahead. Bloody Edge could sense that many other thieves were spread through the surroundings. They all crept towards the fortress.
Suddenly an arrow engulfed in darkness shot through the air. A startled shout could be heard. The arrow pierced the ground and only afterwards was the body of a thief who had died to the arrow revealed. Everyone felt a chill run down their spines. They forcefully stopped themselves from making any sounds and increased their caution by two levels. The thieves slowed down and crept towards the fortress from three directions, carefully scanning the walls.
The fortress was not that big, but it had thick, black walls. Bone and blood served as decorations to intimidate enemies. There were two main towers equipped with siege weapons. The walls were mainly manned by skeleton archers and mages in black robes.
In front of each thief floated a panel showing information on how many soldiers should be stationed in the fortress. It was the task of the scouts to compare this information to reality. Of course it would be difficult to come up with accurate numbers, but it only took little time until many came to a certain conclusion. There were definitely not enough soldiers in the fortress!