Second World

"Do you know how many troops that Master brings?" John asked Zoikod.

"My contacts estimated the enemy's army numbered around three million," Zoikod answered.

"Crap… That's three times our number," Jack said. "Even if we join forces with Aldryth, they still beat us by almost two to one."

"I expect as much," John said. "They still have a decent number out of their original armies from Liguritudum and Aurebor. Adding the zombie soldiers revived from the capital battle, it is almost like they didn't have any loss from that battle. That's why if they ended up getting the Hydrurond army when Master took up the throne, it would have been a disaster for us."

"So, what should we do? It is too late for us to call more soldiers from Themisphere. We should have brought more from the start," Jack lamented.

"More soldiers meant a slower pace and the need for more supplies," John countered. "We are inexperienced in warring outside our territory. It is not wise to bring all our force for a learning experience. Plus, we thought we needed speed at the time."

"Well, what's done is done. I will send a message to Jeanny to have her tell Aldryth to no longer visit any other settlement and head directly here," Jack said. "This should put their army's movement at the same speed as the enemy's."

"I won't count on it. Master had a method to increase his army's movement speed. He probably has a runestone of marching like you," John said.

"It will at least save them some time before the enemy catches up," Jack said. "Enough time for us to arrive and assist them."

When Jack was about to contact Jeanny, John interrupted him, "Wait! Tell them to head here instead."

While talking, John had been surveying the map between Lefkauselis and Aldryth's army. He was now zooming into a region roughly in the middle between those two places.

It was a complicated terrain where half of it was marshland while the other half was tall cliffs. There was a wide road that went along these cliffs. The road went irregularly around the cliffs. They also climbed up and thus separated from the marshland below.

"Be careful of that marshland. High-level monsters dominated that place," Zoikod said. "Some can reach as high as level 80."

"They do? That's great!" John exclaimed.

"It does?" Jack didn't quite catch John's excitement.

"This winding road around the cliffs allowed for poor visibility, they won't know if enemies were hiding in a corner," John said.

Hearing John's words, Zoikod added, "If you think poor visibility is good, do know that the marshland is usually covered by mists. Those mists extended to those roads around the cliffs."

"Beautiful! This place is a perfect ambush point," John uttered.

"Why do you think they will be taking this road?" Jack asked.

"If Queen Aldryth passed through this road, then they had no choice but to follow," John explained. "The marshland covered a large area. The hills that formed the cliffs also spread a large distance, forming a natural wall. The enemy would have to go through a long circling trip if they didn't want to take this road. At this place, their number advantage will be nullified. They had to travel in a long column along this road. We will ambush them here."

John pointed to a part of the road where it made a sharp turn of almost one-hundred-eighty-degree.

"They won't see us hiding behind this turn. We will catch them off guard here. Additionally, with them positioned at this corner, their backs will be facing the chasm."

The 3D projection also showed the height of the sharp turn that John was pointing at. It was situated rather high from the marshland below.

"Due to the sharp turn, they will have only a little number to hold their ground," John continued his explanation. "We can easily push them and make them fall to the marshland below. If the fall doesn't kill them, the high-level monsters down there will."

Jack nodded. "All right! I will send Jeanny the coordinates of this place."

When he was sending the message, John asked Zoikod, "When will the resupplying be completed?"

"We have known about the likelihood of you passing through here. The rations have mostly been prepared before your arrival. By tomorrow, your army can depart," Zoikod answered.

"That's great to hear," John said.

"Thank you for everything," Jack said to Zoikod after he finished telling Jeanny about John's plan.

"It's the least I can do after what you did for my daughter, my queen, and me," Zoikod replied.

John excused himself. "I will go and inform Emris to have the troops take a full rest today. We will be marching at full speed first thing tomorrow."

Jack couldn't rest like normal people. His idea of rest was doing game activities. So, he rode Pandora to a nearby grinding spot and killed the monsters there.

*

The next morning, the army resumed their march accompanied by the first ray of sunlight.

Zoikod watched the army getting farther away into the horizon. He pitied the fact that he couldn't provide more help. He wished he could also join the army and head to his queen's rescue, but he had his duties here. All he could do now was pray for their success.

"Are you sure we shouldn't go and look for other nearby cities?" Dytess asked.

"I have confirmation from a credible source that all nearby cities had submitted to the enemy. The nearest one that still considers Queen Aldryth as the sovereign is Lefkauselis," Jeanny explained. "That's where we should be heading."

"Then why are we not taking a straight route? Why go to Daboga Marshland?"

Daboga Marshland was the name of the marshland where John planned his ambush.

"Because like it or not, the enemies will catch up to us," Jeanny said.

Dytess didn't deny that. After learning that the enemy had sent an army to chase after them. He had sent her scouts to keep tabs on the enemy. The enemy was closing in. The enemy was one day away from them at this time.

"Then shouldn't that be more reasons to head directly to our destination instead of taking a side route?" Pagram asked.

"We will have to engage our enemies before we reach Lefkauselis. We can't outrun our enemies," Jeanny said.

"Considering how they surprised us by arriving at our capital much faster than we expect, I say that is a high probability," Aldryth said. "We will do as the outworlder suggested. Lord dominator Dytess, please have the army change course to Daboga marshland!"

"Yes, my queen," Dytess responded.