Second World

Jeanny informed Thelgrun about Jack's approach. The president expressed his delight in hearing the news, but Jeanny could see from his eyes that he didn't put much hope on this reinforcement.

She couldn't blame him. Thelgrun had lost his country guardian, his capital, a portion of his army, and was now forced to hide inside his palace. He even lost one of the two admirals who were still loyal to him.

Thorack Groundbreaker, a level 85 mythical dwarf who was also the strongest admiral in the Palgrost military, fell when he was covering for the army's retreat when the third layer of choke point defense was breached. Thorack was brave, but he was also overconfident. He fought against Liguritudum's high marshall, Oberon, and Master himself.

In the end, he was unable to retreat with the rest of the army and fell.

After all these losses, Thelgrun had the right to be depressed. These several days of fighting had thinned out whatever flame that was left inside him. No one could blame him, including Jeanny. She was disappointed, though. She believed a leader should be more optimistic. Yes, his losses had been great, but the news of an allied reinforcement arriving should be something Thelgrun could use to rally his people's morale. Yet, his pessimism rendered him unable to inspire hope in his failing army.

Even the only admiral left, Helga Flameforge, a level 80 mythical dwarf, sat by the side with her head hung low. All the native dwarves seemed to have lost their will to fight.

Jeanny could only rely on the players at this time. When the gate broke, the players would be the main defending force. She called the guild leaders to meet so they could discuss their defensive plan.

When the guild leaders assembled, she noticed that neither David nor Serpent Boss was present.

"Where are the representatives from the Dogs of War?" She asked.

Everyone looked around. Bluedaze, who now replaced Silverwing as acting leader of White Scarfs after he was killed, said, "Actually, I haven't seen any members of the Dogs of War around here."

The others nodded. They also hadn't seen Dogs of War's members after they barricaded themselves behind the diamond gate.

Jeanny looked at his friend list. David's name indicated he was still alive. He was also nearby, not in Themisphere, meaning he hadn't been killed. She sent him a message, "Where are you?"

"Outside," David answered.

"Outside where?" Jeanny asked. She was peeved with David's vague answer.

"Outside the palace. In Balgadur."

"You are trapped outside? How did you fail to retreat? Why don't I see any of your members here? You can't be all trapped outside, can you?"

"We are not trapped. We stay here out of our own choice."

"Why?"

"So we can hit the enemies where it hurts," David answered. "Don't worry about us. We are used to urban warfare. This capital is huge. Lots of buildings for us to hide in. They won't find us easily. In the meantime, we will do guerilla warfare to slow the enemies. Just for your information, they are transporting siege weapons through the capital as we speak. We are planning to ambush these siege weapons. Wish us luck."

"Be careful," Jeanny said.

"I'm happy for your concern," David replied teasingly.

Jeanny shook her head. She hoped those guys out there were okay. In the meantime, she had to organize the defenses here to prepare when the gate was taken down.

This gate could be said as the final choke point. There was only one, so they could focus all their firepower here. They had the ex-members of the Council of Charites who were now their companions. Even when their number was very little compared to the army they would be facing, they should be able to defend this one choke point for some time.

Still, Jeanny hoped Jack's force outside could drive the enemies away before it came to that.

*

Outside, Linda arranged the 1,600,000 Liguritudum troops and the 600,000 zombie units. She organized them to cover the capital's entrances and placed them in a pattern that gave their army the most advantage. The enemies had to come to them. They didn't need to move. This gave them an advantage. If the enemies decided to stay back, that was even better. They just needed to wait until the troops inside stormed into the palace and took control of the throne room.

Master also came outside to join the army facing Themisphere. Beside him was the newest addition to his zombie unit, Thorack Groundbreaker, the level 85 mythical-grade admiral he had slain earlier. Oberon was also with him.

Boron's admiral, Odir Goldhoarder, who was a level 82 mythical dwarf, stayed inside to help Boron defeat Thelgrun's force when the diamond gate was destroyed.

Long, Spring Crown, and Ronald were out there with Master. Linda stayed inside the capital's lobby cave hall to operate the war table. Beside her was the Liguritudum guilds who had submitted to them. These guild players were preparing to use their guild army.

They didn't use the guild armies when fighting against Palgrost because Palgrost was of no menace. The problem they had when fighting Palgrost wasn't the number of troops. It was the time it took to breach the choke points. Even if Palgrost's guilds who supported Thelgrun summoned their guild armies to bolster the force defending the choke points, those guild armies didn't make much of a difference.

But against Themisphere, against Everlasting Heavenly Legends, it was different. They had fought Everlasting Heavenly Legends' guild army during the Hydrurond war. As much as Master hated to admit it, Jack's guild army was a notch stronger. That guild army was able to hold its own even when the two guild armies of World Maker and World Ruler were working together.

Once they heard their Sangrod ploy failed, they had been saving the guild armies in case Themisphere arrived. Today would be that day.

As the army was organizing, Master received a message from Linda, "Enemy players are hiding inside Balgadur. They have just attacked the siege weapons on transport."

Master frowned upon the news. "Use the zombie army I leave behind with Boron and deal with them," he said.

"I already did. They fled before our army arrived. They destroyed several siege weapons. These players are experts. From the coordination, I say they are ex-military. My guess is they are the Dogs of War's players. They must have chosen to not retreat into the palace with the others."

"Hmph," Master harrumphed. "I will send Ronald inside to track them."

He called Ronald. He gave the gunslinger a regiment of Liguritudum troops and sent him back into the capital. Ronald was happy with the assignment. Hunting down soldiers was his favorite sport.