Second World

Even with their unique-grade steeds, it took the five almost three hours before they arrived back at the plains beside Daboga marshland. The place where Hope had taken the other Gods was apparently rather far away.

Jack saw the Liguritudum and Aurebor's armies some distance away.

"Hey, since we know Hope is no more. Should we resume our attack when the enemy is unaware?" Paytowin asked. "We were winning, weren't we?"

"We were, but our winning momentum was too short," John said. "We didn't cut down their number enough. We had already suffered major casualties in the first half of the battle. Our two main advantages are Broidrireg and Jack's archdemon lord. Both are now no longer available."

Once the battle ended, Broidrireg left. Jack needed to wait for one week before he could summon the country guardian outside of Thereath.

As for the archdemon lord, it only lasted one hour. At the time when Hope appeared and stopped the war, the archdemon lord had almost run out of duration.

"Without those two, we are actually at a disadvantage. Look," John pointed to one side.

They saw a bunch of people there. Those with better vision saw that leading the group was Master. He was lifting an ominous-looking book. It glowed an eerie purple and the fallen bodies around him stood back up.

"Maybe if we struck them right after the Gods left, we might still win," John said. "But it has been a few hours since then. Master started reviving the dead soldiers using his legendary artifact once the battle ended. By now, their number is back to outnumbering us."

Jack sighed. "The Gods truly picked an awful time to stop the war."

"So, what should we do now?" Grace asked.

"Let's regroup with Armstrong first and study our army's situation before we make any decision," Jeanny suggested. When they were unceremoniously teleported away by Hope, the army was still compiling reports of their losses.

Everyone agreed. They rode to the field command base of the Themisphere army. The army made way for John and Grace who were traveling by land. At the command base, they saw Emris, Armstrong, Alfredo, and Isabelle convene there. Queen Aldryth from Hydrurond and Pointy Tip were also there.

Emris and the others saluted when they saw Jack.

"At ease, everyone," Jack said and then asked Emris, "Do we have the battle report yet?"

"Reporting, Your Majesty. We have tallied our losses. Out of the 1,000,000 troops we brought into this country, only 300,000 were left."

"We lost so many…?" Jack asked dejectedly.

"The enemies focused their assaults on us," Emris answered. "We also lost eight high-ranking officers. Six knight lieutenants and two knight captains."

Jack was pensive hearing that. He would have to appoint new officers to these ranks when he returned to Thereath.

"Our guild army also suffered major losses," Tip informed. "We lost almost half of our guild army. Luckily, a majority of the loss is from the standard units."

"What about our guild heroes and guardians?" Jack asked.

"They all survive," Tip answered. "But we also failed to take down any of the enemies' guild heroes and guardians."

"As long as we don't lose ours, that's fine." Jack then turned to Aldryth. "What about your force, queen Aldryth?"

"My army only has the Aurebor native army to deal with," Aldryth informed. "All outworlder forces had gone to hit your army. My loss isn't as high as yours, I still have around 500,000 troops left."

"Do we know about the enemy's losses?" John asked.

"We can only estimate," Emris answered. "From what we can gather, the enemy lost more troops than us. Their biggest losses are on the last part of the battle thanks to our country guardian. Even so, they outnumber us originally so even with more losses, they still have more troops left compared to us."

"Our estimate put the Liguritudum army's loss at 600,000. Their number when the battle ended was 400,000 troops," Isabelle informed.

"Their number has increased again by now," Armstrong added. "The enemy's zombie army was completely obliterated by God Hope, but their leader has been busily using the Necronomicon to revive the slain soldiers to form another zombie army."

"Even before they used that artifact, they already have more numbers than us," Jeanny remarked.

Jack turned to Peniel and asked, "Can we do something to stop Master from reviving the dead? Like destroying the dead bodies? Or burning the bodies or something like that?"

"No. This is different from the high priest's resurrection spell where a complete body is needed. For the Necronomicon, it can still resurrect the dead even if the body is destroyed. The difference is that the resurrected zombie has only a skeleton for a body. It was only slightly weaker than the one revived with a full body."

"I see. This means we can't prevent Master from growing his army," Jack sighed. He then asked Isabelle, "What about the Aurebor's force?"

"The Aurebor army didn't lose much," Isabelle answered. "They only lost around 200,000 soldiers. They still had one million troops ready for battle."

"It is clear then. Resuming the battle is not an option," Paytowin said. He was disappointed. Mihos and the others were in the middle of carrying out their vengeance during the battle. They had been winning before Hope interfered. When he learned that Hope was no more, he thought they could resume the battle so the Council of Virtus' warriors could complete dispensing their justice onto the Cult of Phobos.

"Of course, it isn't an option. God Hope has declared that there is to be no conflict between us and the enemy for one week," Emris said.

Only Jack and his four friends knew that Hope was no more. The five kept that secret to themselves. The enemies also won't dare do anything to them during this one week.

"What is your plan, King Storm Wind?" Aldryth asked. This might be her country but Themisphere was now her lifeline.

"We are in no shape to continue fighting. Let's retreat to Lefkauselis. We can plan our next move there," Jack said.

"I'm about to suggest the same thing," John nodded.

With that agreement, Jack asked Emris to relay his order to prepare the retreat. Aldryth did the same.

While they did that, Jack went with Paytowin. The Council of Virtus' warriors stayed with the Themisphere army after the battle. Paytowin told Jack that Pallas and Mihos would like a word with him.

"Sir Pallas! I'm very glad that you are safe!" Jack exclaimed once he saw the draconian champion.

"Your Majesty Storm Wind," Pallas greeted with a nod. "I'm both surprised and thrilled that a champion of our world tournament is now the sovereign of Themisphere. I represent my faction in extending our congratulation on your ascent."

"Thank you, Sir Pallas," Jack replied. "Is there anything I can help you with? Paytowin said you have something that you want to discuss with me."

"I do," Pallas uttered. "I've discussed with Mihos and my other brethren. We've paid attention to your rule after you became Themisphere king. We've seen your loyalty to your allies and bravery against a stronger enemy. Because of that, we agree that planting the root of our rebuilt faction in your country will be the right choice."

"Do you mean…"

"We would like to rebuild the Council of Virtus in your country, Themisphere. Do we have your permission?"