Second World

In the projection above the war table, John saw the neutral force rush to the battlefield. They charged directly into the side where the Cult of Phobos was decimating the Themisphere army. Once they did, this force turned into green dots.

John exhaled a huge relief breath upon seeing that. He couldn't handle additional enemies.

He saw that the dots representing the Cult of Phobos completely stopped their offensive once this new ally made contact with them. The two forces were now fully engaged with one another, completely ignoring the Themisphere army near them.

The more surprising thing was, this ally could hold its ground against the cult, even when the cult outnumbered them. This cult had made short work on the Themisphere army but was unable to do so against this new ally. This showed the newcomer was not simple.

John sent an instruction for the Themisphere army nearby to move to the opposite side of this ally and hit the cult from the back, causing the cult to face assaults from two opposite sides.

With the cult fully occupied, the Themisphere army could now fight on more equal ground with the Liguritudum army.

The Liguritudum army still outnumbered them but this was the only advantage they had. In terms of average quality, the Themisphere army was better. This was because the Themisphere army had four advantages.

Firstly, the enchantment of level 3 Arcane Armor and Weapon. This enchantment gave all soldiers a boost on their damage and defense. Hence, a Themisphere soldier overpowered the Liguritudum soldier of the same level.

Secondly, better maneuvering and tactical positioning. With Linda taken out of the board, only the Themisphere army made tactical movements. The Liguritudum army simply stay in the same formation and just fought relying on their number.

Thirdly, Each of Themisphere soldiers had basic martial arts. The entire army had routinely followed drills designed by Domon and Jet, making them more efficient combatants at the individual level.

The last advantage was the army's morale. All the army's divisions had native leaders who had been a long time comrades with their troops. The morale was high since the army started marching to Hydrurond's territory. Even though they lost during the first half of the battle, the native leaders managed to keep the morale from decreasing too much. Hence, the army could still fight effectively.

As such, the battle which had been heavily favoring Liguritudum from the beginning was slowly turned into a stalemate. John believed if he could maintain this situation for a longer time, the scale would subsequently tip in Themisphere's favor.

With such hope, he redoubled his effort.

*

Near where the Cult of Phobos was, Mihos cut through the Liguritudum soldiers and charged in the cult's direction.

Paytowin had warned him and called him back, but the champion wasn't listening. Mihos continued barging through the enemies, knocking them down, slapping them to the side, and maintaining a steady pace toward the cult.

Paytowin's brave techno suit was still on cooldown, so he lost access to his flying ability. He was now riding on Brave King's back while providing support using ranged attacks for Mihos who was still charging at high speed.

Paytowin gave up asking Mihos to stop, so he was doing his best to not let his companion die from a blind urge for revenge. He didn't understand why Mihos became as if possessed all of a sudden.

He then saw, from the sky, the cult busily fighting a large group of golden armored troops. He identified these troops at first glimpse. He knew then why Mihos charged over here. Mihos wanted to join his brethren, the warriors from the Council of Virtus!

*

In the past few months, Mihos had been working hard to gather his scattered comrades as mandated by Callan. Many had heeded his call and joined his quest in looking for the other lost members of the council.

They built a temporary base in the wilderness where they brought the members they had found and bided until it was time to either rebuild the council or exact their vengeance.

When Paytowin summoned Mihos to fight in the defense of Messephyria, Mihos fought the dread knights. From the aura he felt from the knights, he knew Liguritudum had a close connection with the Cult of Phobos. The outworlders commanding the Liguritudum army were also ones who were there when the cult destroyed his faction. Hence, Mihos knew the time for vengeance might come first before the rebuilding.

After the fall of Messephyria, Mihos had called his brethren over to Hydrurond. The war had not ended, and he knew the longer it lasted, the bigger the chance for the cult members to show themselves. He was right.

The council's warriors had departed immediately once Mihos sent them the call. It took them some time to arrive. Luckily, they managed to arrive at the time when they were most needed.

Leading the council's warriors were two figures. One of them was someone Jack knew, Pallas. This divine champion survived the fall of the council. During that past battle, he was wounded after getting surrounded by many enemies. His wings tool was damaged and he was thrown from the edge of Daminos Square Garden. He fell from a great height but survived.

Mihos was extremely happy when he found Pallas. Pallas could be said to be his mentor. Mihos asked Pallas to be the leader of their gathered brethren, but Pallas refused. Pallas knew Callan had entrusted this role to Mihos. He acted as Mihos' second in command and led the other members when Mihos was not around.

The second figure who led the council's warriors alongside Pallas was a level 85 mythical elf named Animus. He fought using claw weapons. His ferocity intimidated even the cultists who sent many of their members to deal with him.

Animus used Beast Form when surrounded, transforming into a werelion with dazzling golden furs. His roar shook the battlefield, stunning the enemies and rallying his allies. His fighting style turned even more feral after transforming. The enemies couldn't retain their formation when he came rampaging.

Strah and Korku who led the cultists engaged Pallas and Animus. After the first few clashes, it was apparent that Pallas and Animus were the stronger combatants.

The same could be said between the golden warriors of the council and the cultists. The Council of Virtus' warriors was a class above the cultists.

Without the surprise ambush and the support from World Maker's tools, the cultists were not the golden warrior's opponents. Furthermore, the council's warriors were fueled by the thirst for vengeance which made them fight even fiercer. Even when the cultists had twice the number of the council's warriors, they still had difficulty defending against the golden warriors whose frenzy was fueled by an avenging zeal.

To make matters worse, the Themisphere army was harassing them from the rear. The cultists now experienced a situation that was completely opposite from when they first entered this battlefield.