The fires of war had officially erupted but the first battle was not exceedingly fierce. Although the chaos faction had their tricks, they were overwhelmed by pure numbers. The order faction's army only suffered a few casualties while decimating the fortress's garrison. Finally, a change occurred. Some movement came into the army. A few people were escorted from the very back of the army to the front. They were dwarves and goblins. Wearing clothes and toolbelts instead of armour and weapons they looked more like craftsmen than soldiers.
As soon as the newcomers reached the wall, they suddenly retrieved all kinds of wooden planks out of nowhere. Next, they took out strange metal cubes which had surfaces densely engraved with thousands of tiny runes.
The leisurely players watched with great curiosity. Most of them had never seen something like this before. Only a few who completed some related quests had their eyes light up, proudly telling their friends about these metal spheres.
It turned out these spheres were some of the most ingenious products in the world of Crunaboul, the peak of craftsmanship. They were actually magical blueprints, also called a Blueprint Core. As the craftsmen activated the spheres they suddenly began to revolve in the air. A white light shone from the Blueprint Cores at an empty space in front. The light took the form of a battering ram.
Next, the craftsmen used magic crystals to infuse mana in the Blueprint Cores and the prepared wood materials covering the ground began to float and miraculously approached the light, arranging themselves in the correct position. Within seconds a perfectly usable battering ram was created. Afterwards the Blueprint Core turned dim and unresponsive, requiring a great deal of mana to recharge.
"Wow, so awesome!"
"How convenient, why don't we have those in real life?"
"What are our explorers doing? Haven't they discovered something like that in the ancient ruins yet?"
"Hey, if you think others are doing a bad job, why don't you become an explorer yourself?"
"Haha, brother, no need to get angry. I was just rambling…"
While the players were still exclaiming in amazement, the army didn't waste time. A few soldiers manned the battering rams and began to strike the walls. As most of the defenders had either escaped or died there was now not much danger for the battering rams. It was only a matter of time until the thick wall would crumble.
And yet, despite evacuating in advance the infernals didn't make things too easy for the order faction. A deep voice sounded from the centre of the fortress:
"Barrier!"
Suddenly a magic circle engulfing the entire fortress lit up devouring mana voraciously. A black light shot into the sky transforming into a dome which protected the entire fortress. One of the battering rams didn't stop in time and struck the dome. Instantly they were hit with a terrifying backlash. Multiple soldiers were heavy injured or even dead.
"Stop!"
Therim's voice rang through the air. His eyes narrowed as he scanned the barrier deliberating if there was a need for him to attack. But at that moment the experienced mage suddenly noticed something. There was strange movement in the mana. Although it was quite some distance away, he still felt it.
"Is this… teleportation?"
Furrowing his brows Therim's thoughts moved swiftly. Suddenly a new task was generated for the players.
"Quickly, accept it!"
Liam let out a shout to remind his friends. The task could only be accepted by 2000 players, first come first served. Liam was always on high alert. Thanks to his timely reminder his friends also managed to snatch a spot.
"Nice, we finally get something to do!"
"Yeah, just following the army is quite boring."
"Why are you two complaining? You can at least attack. What am I to say?", lamented Quickstep. Cyclone and Balm could only answer with wry smiles. However, so far there really was not much to do for the players. Although most people enjoyed watching the show, they were quickly getting restless.
[Current Task: During the siege of Ash Fortress, Commander Therim Riverbell perceived the activation of a large-scale teleportation. Player, find out what the chaos faction is planning and stop them.
Current level of completion: -
Current reward: - ]
The task's content quickly spread among the players. They didn't delay any longer. Summoning their mounts they rushed towards two areas to the left and right marked on their maps. However, surprisingly there were close to three thousand players who set off. There were many who were so bored, they disregarded the current orders and followed the others into battle despite knowing that they would earn no points doing so.
Therim didn't necessarily look happy, but he also didn't brand these adventurers as deserters. He had known beforehand that adventurers weren't entirely reliable. But in his mind the advantages of hiring adventurers outweighed the disadvantages.
Liam and his friends were riding at the front of the crowd of players. Thousands of feet of various mounts shook the rough terrain. It was indeed an impressive sight. Among the players present none was ordinary. They possessed no common mounts. Gracious deer spreading magical light, menacing wolves striking fear in one's heart, even exotic mounts like mechanical vehicles could be seen. Fortune felt quite excited as she recorded the scene. This was definitely something a large number of viewers would want to watch.
However, there was not that much time to admire the mounts. A short time later the enemies could be seen in the distance. A large number of chaos faction players and NPCs were arranged in a defensive formation, protecting strange beasts behind them.
The beasts didn't look like real living beings. They stood on four legs, overshadowing the players around them. They had strange, green, gooey skin which was patched with violet streaks, which gathered towards the place where the beast's head was supposed to be. However, instead of a face the beasts only had a large, cylindrical maw which looked like the barrel of a cannon. Void energy was unmistakenly gathering in and around the maw.
At the front of the chaos faction players was a tall demon player in dark armour. A heavy halberd laid in his hand, the red blade thirsting for blood. This was Vow of Valor, the vice-leader of the prominent guild Spear of Doom. His reputation was of about the same level as Earthquake. Earlier, he had accepted the current task without much thinking especially after the commander stressed the rich rewards. However, now that he stared at the incoming enemies he couldn't help but gulp.
Now it was already too late. Their mission was to defend the strange cannon beasts behind them, and it was too late to turn back now. The beasts could only produce a limited number of attacks. If the players worked together, they might hold on until the end, after which they would be teleported back.
"Get ready!"
Vow of Valor didn't show his emotions on his face. He was a pillar of support for the players around him. He raced his halberd high, preparing for the impact. The enemies approached swiftly. Soon he could make out more details. But when he clearly saw the group in the front he couldn't help but curse inwardly. Who wouldn't recognize these ten players on their basilisks? Why was he so unlucky to face Hotpot?
While Vow of Valor was still complaining inwardly the order faction players already arrived in range. The first projectiles shot through the air. A lightning bolt struck a guild member right behind Vow of Valor. The skeleton was paralysed, unable to dodge other attacks.
"Tanks! What are you doing?!"
Vow of Valor shouted angrily. However, in this chaotic situation how could the tanks protect everyone? Furthermore, the lightning came from the sky. It couldn't be body-blocked. Vow of Valor was not the only one complaining. But the tanks endured. Grumbling away, they readied their bodies. The enemies were just about to reach them. Five metres, three, one…
"AHH!"
"For order!"
"Die, you order losers!"
Shouts and cries spread everywhere as the two sides clashed. The sound of weapons crashing into shields could be heard. Explosions and shockwaves rocked the ground.
Vow of Valor had a chill run down his spine. Just now the tanks to his right and left used spells to draw the aggro in a large area. But one nimble basilisk miraculously weaved between the spells, even jumping over them. Bleary Mirage arrived in front of Vow of Valor unimpeded.
"Come on!"
With a valiant shout the demon swung his halberd, imbued with dark magic. Spears were shot towards the front, striking at the enemy. However, the basilisk moved nimbly like a cat. Vow of Valor almost didn't believe his eyes as Bleary Mirage stood in front of him, his swords dancing in a blur.
Vow of Valor didn't understand. Bleary Mirage had just dodged, how could he attack not even one second later? He didn't realize that Bleary Mirage had started his combo with a [Cross Slash], which bought enough time for his normal attack to reset. Thus, a rain of skills slammed into the demon.