Second World

1879 Chapter 1879. The Twenty-three Reunited

After Horatio perished, his regal outfit returned to the wardrobe inside the royal chamber in Vacharest palace. These regal outfits were now presented to Arlcard.

Arlcard looked at the aristocratic coat he wore. He was rather fond of this coat, but this coat was only a super rare grade. Furthermore, his coat was only level 70. He needed to spend coins to commission a master blacksmith if he wanted to improve this coat. The regal outfit didn't need leveling up. It followed his level.

All in all, the regal outfit was better. He rose from the throne and went to check the outfits. Unlike players, a native could wear any type of armor. The drawback they suffered for wearing heavier armor was a speed penalty.

Arlcard stopped when he stood before the regal outfit of the cloth armor type. His aristocratic armor was also considered cloth armor. Although he preferred close combat, he chose speed over higher defense stats. He picked the cloth armor regal outfit.

Arlcard ended up staying another three days to discuss the country's issues and socialize with the nobles. Unlike Jack, Arlcard was silent but aggressive. If he didn't like a certain way of doing things, he would insist on changing it. Nothing the advisors said could change his mind.

For example, the slavery in Sangrod. Horatio had begun to trim down slavery in many cities, but he still allowed a limited number of nobles to continue the possession of slaves. He applied higher taxes to them. He didn't outright abolish slavery because he didn't want the nobles to rebel.

Arlcard did just that. Caleb tried to persuade Arlcard to take a softer stance against slavery. The other advisors also gave a lot of reasons to explain to Arlcard why he shouldn't be so hasty about this decision. Many of these reasons made perfect sense, but Arlcard would have none of it. He told his advisors to announce that slavery was abolished. All slaves were to be freed. Anyone who still owned a slave would be considered as committing a crime and would be punished.

Arlcard took the chance when socializing with the nobles to announce this decision. He gathered everyone into the banquet hall and made the announcement. A commotion ensued as expected. Arlcard let them make noises for a few minutes before he did the same thing as the day before.

He intimidated them into submission.

He asked the soldiers to lock the exits. He then used the Dark Lord Incarnation. He demanded the nobles swear a vow that they would release the slaves they possessed and would no longer take any slaves from that day on. If they refused, he would cut them down right there in the banquet hall.

Jonathan was rather astonished to learn this usually quiet vampire was so forceful. He now wondered if Sangrod would be okay with Arlcard as the sovereign.

But during a turbulent time, many flocked to a strong leader. Even though Arlcard's action caused many nobles to fume, many saw the strength in his character. Combined with his high level and grade, they saw someone who might protect them from the underworld forces. If they had to pay for their survival by relinquishing their slavery practice, so be it.

Hence, even though their anger was apparent, many nobles submitted to the decision. When those who were more stubborn found that their voices were a minority, they had no choice but to submit as well.

As a result, no one was killed out of defiance. Caleb was genuinely surprised by this result.

After those three days, Arlcard left with Jonathan. He brought with him the soldiers originally tasked to keep order in the capital and other settlements. Their duty was taken over by the recruits Arlcard drafted several days earlier. With these troops, Arlcard headed to the border where the defensive line had been prepared.

*

Two more weeks passed. The defenders continued to battle the demons. However, they found that in the past two weeks, the pressure was slightly less than before. The demons' march was slower, and their number wasn't as staggering as before. Thus, the pace by which the defenders had to retreat also decreased.

Little did they know they had Master to thank for this. Sizhad, with the top players from the State of Galhana, had been secretly running around the border zones between Aurebor, Hydrurond, Palgrost, and Liguritudum. They used the Mana Purifiers from Master. This caused the corrupted mana to thin. Weaker demons had a problem crossing these purified zones. This caused the reinforcement of the underworld forces on the front line to be late.

It would be easier if Sizhad used the mana purifiers inside Liguritudum. But if he did, the demons would quickly turn their eyes to World Maker and its allies. That was because Liguritudum was almost a dead zone by now. Only the demons and World Maker's members were still roaming the country.

Sooner or later, the demons would still throw their suspecting eyes at them, but Master promised they didn't have to wait much longer.

Due to this interference, the other defensive fronts were still within the original countries. Only the Sangrod front had to retreat to Sangrod. Even so, it didn't mean the defenders could win. They had lost a substantial number of troops from the repeated battles. This only helped them lose at a slower pace.

All five defensive fronts were at their last lines. If they retreated, they had to retreat to the next country as the Sangrod army did.

Thelgrun, who led Palgrost Southern Front, was unwilling. He would have to retreat to Sangrod the next time he called the retreat command, but he knew he had little choice in that matter. It was either retreat or sacrifice everyone in the glory of a final battle.

Aurebor's and Verremor's armies fighting in Aurebor would have to retreat to Verremor the next time they retreated. While the Themisphere, Hyrudond, and the league factions defending Hydrurond would have to retreat to Themisphere.

Once they retreated to those countries. That's it. That was where they made their last stand. There was no other country to retreat to unless they planned to flee to the sea. Even if they did, they somehow knew the underworld forces would chase them into the sea. No, everyone decided it was in those three countries that they would do their final gamble.

During this time, the twenty-three who went to Chris' secret garden finally reunited. Giant Steve and Handsome Joe returned almost two weeks ago. Giant Steve's class had become Eternal Guardian. Handsome Joe became Eldritch Knight. The last to return was Will Corner, who returned just today. His class was now Angelic Conductor.

"You, useless sea dog! I know you are doing this intentionally just to spite me!" John was giving Will an earful.

"Come on, boss. The trial is so difficult. It is already a miracle I finally managed to pass," Will protested.

"What use are you to us like this? You are still level 82. How can you help us fight the devils?" John scolded.

"Uh… How about I don't fight the devils? That can be a solution, can't it?" Will said.

John pointed his magic staff at Will's face.

"Whoa! Chill out, dude! No violence!" Paytowin exclaimed. He and those near John hurriedly grabbed John and pulled him away from Will. Will scurried over to hide behind Jack.

"… You know. I actually want to beat you myself," Jack said to Will.

Jeanny clapped her hands to draw everyone's attention. "Okay, everyone. Stop getting angry with the situation. We'll just have to deal with the cards we are dealt. Everyone gets ready. We are leaving in five!"

"You have all truly made up your mind, eh?" Chris asked. "Let me say it again. I think it's not wise. Some of you are still below level 95. It will be ideal if all of you only leave after reaching the maximum level of 99."

Jack was currently level 97 for both his Void Sword Saint and Time Sage. He was very close to level 98. If he stayed another day, he believed he could level up, but everyone agreed to leave now. His Beast Monarch stayed at level 94. It no longer received any exp points after Jack set all the exp points for his two pinnacle special classes.

The others might not kill the monsters inside Chris' training dungeon as fast as Jack, but they didn't have to feed three classes. With only one class to level up, their leveling speed was still slightly faster than Jack's. Most of their levels were lower than Jack's when they started using Chris' training dungeon, but a few caught up to him, even when they started using Chris' training dungeon later than Jack.

Two people even reached a higher level than Jack. Those two were Spring Crown and Grace. Spring Crown used the training cave for almost as long as Jack, while Grace's level was already high before she entered the training cave. Their levels were 98.

The ones who reached level 97, the same as Jack, were John, Jeanny, Paytowin, Leavemealone, Four Winds, and Red Death. Jet was level 96. Wilted had two classes, but she set so all the exp points went to her Grim Reaper class, so her leveling speed wasn't slower than the others. She and Anotherday were level 95. Fierce Flame, David, and Badass were level 94. Arthur Bagrat, Purple Mist, and Blackhole were level 93. Nameless was level 92. Freddie was level 91. Joe was level 88, and Giant Steve was level 87.