Second World

Chapter 915. The Price for Patriotism

Umeza started shouting for his army to chase after the separating human army. Those at the back immediately turned around and followed the command. But as they did, they found that a part of the separating human army stayed behind. This part blocked the orc army from chasing their comrades who were after the supply carts. Nilrem also stayed behind and cast her spells to prevent the orcs from chasing Jack’s forces.

The ones that stayed behind were the native human soldiers. They were led by Duke Alfredo and commander Quintus.

All that Jack brought were the seven guilds’ guild armies and players, which had decreased significantly after the long battle. The ones that Jack brought in his charging force were 15,000 guild soldiers and 5,000 players. The rest remained behind still fighting around the supply depot.

When Umeza was about to join the chase, he heard Abasi’s voice, “Destroy their guild command platforms! They must be inside the supply depot. Leave those outworlders to me!”

Abasi was already on mounts bringing his soldiers to chase after Jack. He was furious when Jack left the Ice Demon Fiend to deal with him. He left the battle and went in a roundabout way to chase after Jack. He had seen Jack gathering with the human force at the edge of the battlefield. That’s how he was the first to react when Jack charged out.

Umeza looked again at the force Jack brought. A majority were guild soldiers. If they destroyed the command platforms, those forces would automatically shrink. The supply cart was protected by the 10,000 soldiers he had left behind. They should still be fine as long as he destroyed the command platforms before Jack hit them. Additionally, Abasi also brought around 10,000 soldiers to chase after Jack.

With that thought, he returned his attention to the supply depot.

“Out of my way…!!!” He bellowed and charged toward Arthur who was still standing in his way. The other orc soldiers also understood that it was now not only about reclaiming the supply depot. Time was also an important factor now. Hence, they redoubled their effort.

Inside the supply depot, the seven guild leaders or co-leaders were watching their map projections with grim faces.

John had purposefully instructed all the native soldiers to stay behind and block anyone chasing after Jack and for Jack to bring a majority of guild soldiers. He was manipulating the enemy to still put this supply depot as the main target, that if they managed to come in and destroy their command platforms, then their supply carts would be safe. Thus, preventing as many as possible from chasing after Jack and giving Jack the best opportunity to destroy the supply carts.

This was a gamble. It was either Jack who destroyed the supply carts first or the enemy breached their defenses and destroy their command platforms first. This was also the reason why he still did not destroy this last supply depot. He needed it to be bait until the end.

If he had chosen to destroy this last supply depot, the enemies would ignore them and escort those supply carts to the main armies in Themisphere. With such a large escort, there would be nothing Jack could do. The orcs would lose the military rations as those rations couldn’t survive the entire journey without being refreshed in the supply depot, but they would be able to bring the other supplies, such as recovery potions, equipment, and materials for equipment repair. These supplies had piled up since Jack’s force started their blockage, so their number was substantial. One delivery could help those armies at the front line to survive a lot of days. They just have to fight with hungry stomachs.

This was not what John wanted. He wanted to destroy those piled-up supply carts, prolonging the time that the Verremor’s main armies getting no supplies by another four to five days. He estimated those Verremor armies should be close to their last legs by now. Even adding one day in delaying the supplies could be the key between victory or defeat.

However, even if their plan was successful and they destroyed the supply carts, those who were inside this supply depot would not be spared.

“You all already wear the Amulet of Rebirth, right?” John asked the other guild leaders.

“You only tell us about this suicide plan minutes ago. We all still think that we were fighting to win then. If any of us didn’t bring one, we would have thrown you out to the enemies outside,” Silverwing said.

“I did tell you to prepare one before we depart, didn’t I?” John replied.

“I don’t appreciate getting sacrificed like this,” Prideful Josh said.

“It is the best chance for our country to win this war. I agree with this plan,” David said. Then he added to John, “But still, it will be better if you tell us from the start.”

“I can’t take the chance if any of you disagree,” John replied. “What’s done is done. Let’s focus on controlling the guild soldiers to make sure the supply carts are destroyed before we die.”

“Hmph. I hope the rewards are worth all this,” Prideful Josh grumbled.

“It’s not about the rewards. It’s about our contribution to our beloved country. This is the price for our patriotism!!” John declared.

“Screw you…!” All six others in the room uttered at the same time.

Abasi was not the only one who paid attention to Jack. Four Winds similarly thought that something was amiss when Everlasting Heavenly Legends players disengaged from the fighting en masse. Hence, Four Winds had brought his force to keep an eye on their movements. When he saw Jack rush out from the encirclement, he was ready.

Abasi’s team had to run in a roundabout way because of Nilrem and the native human soldiers’ blockage. But Four Winds already had his team in the periphery when he was monitoring Everlasting Heavenly Legends’ movements. So, he was already on the move before the blockage took shape. His force was the closest to intercepting Jack.

He didn’t bring many with him, though, because he never expected Jack to aim at leaving the battlefield. Only around 5,000 were with him. A combination of players and guild soldiers from his guild as well as native orc soldiers who happened to be at the periphery and wished to join the chase. His guild guardian, Hellion Panther, and guild hero, Kishale Trueaim, were with him.

Jack saw the incoming force on their side.

“Cipher Flight!” He said after seeing the majority that made up that force.

“Go! We will handle them,” Giant Steve said. He was better at a defensive fight than an offensive one. Blocking this force was right in his alley.

“Let me join you!” Domon uttered. There were many martial art experts in Cipher Flight, so he found fighting that guild much more interesting. Leavemealone and Mohmed of course followed Domon.

“All right, be careful,” Jack said.

“Be careful of the Hellion Panther’s Consume Soul skill!” Peniel warned.

Most of the 5,000 players broke off to engage Cipher Flight while the rest continued.

Four Winds wanted to continue chasing since he understood losing the supply carts would be a disaster for the main armies. But unfortunately, he didn’t bring enough force. Giant Steve and the others put themselves in a position where it was impossible for his force to continue chasing without engaging them.

The two forces soon collided.

The Hellion Panther spearheaded Four Winds’ army. Leavemealone volunteered to be the one engaging the large demon beast. He transformed into White Tiger Emperor form and activated his Fire God Suit before using White Tiger Charge on the panther.

Even though the panther was larger, the collision force threw both of them back, which showed that Leavemealone’s White Tiger Emperor’s strength didn’t lose to the large beast.

Leavemealone followed up by using Fire God Barrage, but he didn’t direct his twenty fireballs at the Hellion Panther. He instead spread them around to the lower HP players, trying to thin them down for his friends.

Kishale, seeing the fireballs, took a low stance as she gathered her energy. Freezing cold mana swirled around her as the energy filled her bow. The air around her dropped to a freezing point. Ice formed around her.

She then fired her arrows rapidly. Twenty large ice arrows sped toward the twenty fireballs. Each one collided with the fireball, and each one was incinerated. Before they were completely consumed, the ice energy within them exploded and tried to envelop the fireball, but this ice was burned to nothingness in an instant. However, all fireballs appeared slightly smaller after the encounter with the ice arrows.

When the fireballs exploded, Leavemealone saw that the produced damage was less than it should be. Many of the players had also used defensive spells and skills to protect themselves when they saw the incoming fireballs. So, many survived the divine skill.

Even though the effect was largely diminished, Leavemealone’s first strike had given the others a good initiative. Domon and the others charged into the enemies while the enemies were still standing at the same spots after defending against Fire God Barrage.