Second World

Chapter 690. Secret Pathway

Jack was taken aback again by her outright willingness but was otherwise glad. He even sent her a guild invitation in the middle of the battle. She accepted the invitation promptly.

Having an elven race member, their guild could now set up the teleportation link to the Aurebor Dynasty, getting access to the elven country. Jack just hoped that Jeanny didn’t use this chance to attack Wicked Witches’ headquarters. He was not too fond of these guild wars things. He preferred to spend his time continuing to explore the rest of this game world.

With Grace’s help, Paytowin managed to collect decent kill counts, but not yet enough for one thousand kills before they were supposed to head over to the golden knight’s side. Without Jack focusing on killing enemies, it would be difficult to get the required kill counts again unless they invite more people to join.

Jack gave them the cue when it was time. He didn’t want to miss studying the mana manipulation combat. They fought through the masses and were about to reach the golden knight group who was just about to make their suicide charge.

As they approached, Grace asked, “Which golden knight groups should we follow?”

“Which groups? There is only one before us here,” Paytowin said.

“There is another one over there,” Grace pointed.

The two looked over. It was hard to see with all the chaotic fighting around, but after Grace mentioned it, they did see a glimpse of some golden armored knights heading elsewhere in speed.

“Wow, you can notice that in the middle of all this? If you take the archer class, won’t your vision be Godly then?” Jack remarked. He then asked. “Where do that other group of golden knights go?”

Paytowin shrugged. “I don’t know. Never realized a group breaking out all the time I spent inside here.”

Jack didn’t blame him. On the second day when they entered this ancient battleground, they had gone to this golden knight group immediately once the battle started. Even then he didn’t notice a group breaking off from the main. It was all thanks to Grace’s eyesight that they noticed this small detail.

“We should follow them,” Jack said.

“They are too far already. I don’t think we can make it,” Paytowin said. “That splinter group’s speed seems to be faster as well. With all the surrounding enemies, we can’t chase them while fighting.”

“… All right, we will do that on our next run. Let’s stay with this main group for now.”

So, the three did as they originally planned. Jack went and use his Dragon Eye skill to study the leader’s battle again, while taking out his swords this time and trying to copy the way the leaders channeled their mana to their weapon.

When they were defeated and came back out into the hall, Grace expressed the impossibility of getting any scores. The same sentiment as Jack and Paytowin had on their first run.

Before re-entering, Jack said to them, “All right. This time, I will focus on killing as well. We will get the one thousand kill counts early and then we will head to the golden knights’ group early and looked for that splinter group. We will then follow them.”

<br/>”You think there is something about that splinter group?” Paytowin asked.

“I don’t think a game is designed for people to fail. A proper game, anyway. I think there should be some secret way for us to gain the scores needed for a reward. That splinter group can be the answer.”

“All right, I am game!” Paytowin raised his fist to the two of them.

Jack and Grace both glanced at each other before bumping their fists as well.

Once they entered the ancient battleground, they headed directly to the frontline and made preparations. Jack brandished his sword and staff now, he would focus on getting kill counts this time. After the last run, his Therras had also increased to level 42. His pet didn’t have the problem of multi-class that sucked up exp points. Additionally, he continued feeding it high-grade pet food. He figured as time passed, this pet of his would eventually become higher level than him.

With Jack serious about killing enemies, they raked up kill counts swiftly. Grace was amazed as Jack displayed all the skills of his three classes. The fight between players in the tournament matches was too short for Jack to display all his prowess. In this battleground, there was no end to the enemies, so Jack’s skill was unleashed one after another.

Grace was especially shocked when Jack released his Lightning God Barrage. Their kill counts immediately shot up with that move.

“What skill was that?!” Grace asked. If Jack had used that skill in the match against her team, the match would have ended in an instant.

“Divine treasure…? You are truly full of surprises.”

Jack and Paytowin fought well together as they had been doing it for days. They had known each other’s skills and abilities well. Although Grace had a problem following them at first, she quickly adjusted herself to their rhythm. Even though this was a different game than the ones they used to play with, they had been playing games together for a long time in the past. So, it was easy for her to cooperate with them.

Jack took point as the two supported from behind. Grace and Peniel were in charge of healing so they could fight more recklessly. They ended up completing one thousand kill marks a little faster than Jack and Paytowin’s past record. They hurriedly went to where the golden knights were fighting.

“Pay attention when you see the splinter group,” Jack uttered.

“They are already separating,” Grace said as she pointed in a direction.

“What? Hurry, let’s head over!” Jack said.

The three immediately went in that direction.

There were indeed some golden knights moving away from the main group. They numbered around one hundred. The main group of the golden knights seemed to be drawing the enemy’s attention to cover this small group’s split.

The three players sneaked into amongst this small group rank. This smaller group was led by a female golden knight. She had long golden hair complementing her golden armor. This group moved swiftly as they sneaked into a narrow path by one of the mountainsides that formed the choke point.

There were no enemies in this path, but the terrain was difficult to travel. It had lots of steep elevation and some parts could only be traveled in a single file. The three players followed at their tails. Jack and Paytowin had unsummoned all their minions to allow for easy travel.

“Where are they going?” Paytowin asked.

“They are not escaping, right?” Grace said.

“No way, they are the knights directly under the God of Courage. There is no way any of them will dishonor their God by fleeing the battlefield,” Paytowin replied.

“I also don’t think so. The main group seemed determined to cover this group. Furthermore, the direction they are traveling to is actually to the other side where the enemy is,” Jack said.

“An ambush? What good will an ambush do when the base they are defending is already overrun? They will still lose,” Grace asked again.

“At this stage, I don’t think this war is about winning or losing anymore. Most likely they are trying to at least cripple the enemy even if they lose. They must be targeting something at the end of this path,” Jack said. “But aside from that, why the heck is this so-called choke point has so many secret paths? No wonder the enemy finds some of them and used them to ambush the defending base from the rear.”

After a long walk through this secret pathway, they finally came out at a wider path. The golden knights proceeded forward by creeping. On their left was a range of hills. Jack estimated from the sound, the battle was still ongoing behind these hills.

They proceeded forward for a longer time. The three hours mark had already passed. This period was when they were usually getting overrun and killed. The main army should have collapsed at this moment as the attacking army proceeded in hunting and slaughtering all those that were still alive.

Jack saw the group of golden knights gather at the front. The female knight appeared to be making a brief speech before the group suddenly uttered battle cries and rushed over the hill. Jack, Paytowin, and Grace looked at each other before they ran forward and joined these knights.

When Jack went over the hill, he saw that the golden knights were rushing towards a group of black soldiers. Many tents and carts were seen nearby this group. A man in ceremonial black robe surrounded by a group of black knights was seen sitting behind a low table overlooking the battle that was going on in the distance.

It was the enemy’s command center and the army’s supplies!

The sitting black-robed man, who should be the commander of the black army, turned in direction of the incoming golden knights. His bodyguards around him started shouting. The soldiers that were guarding the supply carts came forward to block these golden knights. These black armies looked to be around five hundred in number.

The golden knights’ advance didn’t slow. They were not fazed even when facing enemies five times their number.

Jack saw the enemy commander turning his attention back to the battlefield in the distance as if this ambushing army didn’t deserve his attention.