Second World

"Where do all those troops come from?" Frorryntiar asked. Her eyes were glued to the 3D projection above them. She kept on making sure that it was not a glitch from the projection.

Once their force laid eyes on the enemy, the enemy numbers were shown in the projection. The combined force of Liguritudum and Aurebor was indeed around five million. According to their intel, the enemy's combined force should only be 2,700,000 after the two battles in the west and the north.

"Did their countries send them a reinforcement army?" Frorryntiar asked.

"We have people in Liguritudum and Aurebor. They didn't report any big movement from the army left behind there," Bowler said. Jeanny stationed him inside the war room so he could send the queen's messages instantly to Jeanny when needed.

"Even if they did, their reinforcement can't have arrived this fast," Grombi, one of Frorryntiar's aides, said.

"How do we not see such a big army on their way?"

"The scouts we sent to monitor their army were killed. They had good scouting groups that prevented us from tracking their movement."

"They even ignored the nearby settlements on their way. They only took down a few settlements near the border where they fought our two armies. They must have come straight to the capital after that."

"How arrogant! They come without bringing their siege weapons and only conquered some settlements far away from here. Do they think they can defeat us without siege weapons and supplies?"

The draconian officers around Frorryntiar kept on making one remark after another.

"Even so, they have caught us by surprise," Aldryth said. "Our people thought we still have more time. Many of our defensive preparations are not yet ready. Even some flaws found in our defensive wall's rune diagrams are not yet properly fixed."

"There is no need to worry. If their entire strategy relies on catching us off guard. They will regret it. Without siege weapons, they won't break through our defenses!"

Aldryth hoped that was all the enemy had in store for them.

*

"How do they have so many troops?" Megan, who was watching from the capital's defensive wall, asked.

No one could answer her, they were speechless as they watched the large number of troops covering the horizon.

"Why do they abandon their siege weapons?" Jeanny muttered.

"They did? Maybe the weapons are hidden behind the troops?" Megan asked.

"They didn't bring them. The kingdom's scouts have confirmed it," Jeanny said. She received the updates from Bowler. "Also, they won't be able to arrive so soon if they bring any."

"They truly catch us off guard, we are not yet fully prepared," Arthur said. He was also up on the wall next to Domon and the others from Everlasting Heavenly Legends.

Down there, many players and natives were running back into the city. They were outside working on the pitfalls and barricades and were repairing the outer wall when the enemy showed up. Once everyone was back inside, the gates were closed and barricaded.

"We are not too ill-prepared," Sturdy Serpent said. "This city might not be a true fortress, but it still has decent defensive structures. If they truly didn't bring any siege weapons, they will be the ones that suffer even if they outnumber us three to one."

"They still have guild armies. We don't," Megan said.

All eleven guilds of Hydrurond had already suffered a massive defeat in the previous battle, they couldn't spare any more guild army. As for Liguritudum's side, the ones with massive losses were the six subordinate guilds from Liguritudum. World Maker only suffered a little loss from the battles. From Aurebor's side, only two guilds joined the war, World Ruler and Death Associates. The two's guild armies were still largely intact.

"Don't worry. We don't need to win. We just have to defend until Themisphere arrived with a reinforcement army," Jeanny said.

"Are they going to attack tonight?" Paytowin asked. "It's already starting to get dark. Maybe they will wait until tomorrow morning?"

"I don't know, but we have to treat them as if they are attacking now," Jeanny said.

"I have been wondering," Paytowin said. "This city wall is considered inside the capital, right? So, if we die here, we will be considered dying inside a safe zone, won't we?"

"Unfortunately, when a settlement becomes a battlefield, its safe zone status is suspended," Carnelia, who floated beside Leavemealone, answered. "Until the battle is over, anyone who dies within this capital will be considered to die in the wilderness."

"Ah… Crap," Paytowin uttered.

"Everyone, spread out!" Jeanny ordered. "This capital is big. The wall is long. We need to make sure all sides are defended. We can't let the enemy create a gap that allows them into the city."

Everyone did as Jeanny instructed. They also sent this command to the other players. Jeanny had organized and distributed the players' positions on the first few days, so no one was confused about where they should be. Jeanny, Megan, Paytowin, and Arthur remained on the wall above the main gate.

After some time, while everyone was still organizing, the enemy army started to move. Because the sun had set, all the people on the wall saw only shadows moving toward them. It was now clear that the enemy wasn't going to wait until tomorrow.

The commanders started to give out orders for everyone to be ready. Another horn was heard.

The main generals of the native army were the two remaining lord dominators. Both were mythical grades. One was a level 85 draconian named Dytess. The other was called Balzrim, a level 82 draconian. These two generals positioned themselves on opposite sides from one another.

As everyone waited with bated breath for the opponents to arrive, they saw a small light appearing at the enemy's back line in the distance. The light had an eerie purple.

The light floated up into the air before intensifying. Those with the eagle eye skill could make out the outline of a person directly under that source of light. The light itself seemed to originate from something that looked like… a book?

This purple light then spread to the advancing army. Each of the soldiers on the front line now had the strange purple light enveloping their heads.

"I… I know now how they get so many troops," Carnelia, Leavemealone's fairy companion said. Leavemealone had moved to the other side of the wall following Domon. Jeanny didn't bother to try separating him from Domon. She knew that was a futile act.

"What do you mean?" Domon asked.

"The enemy is using a legendary artifact. The book that emits the purple light is called the Necronomicon," Carnelia said. "This army that is coming to us… They are the fallen soldiers from the previous battles."

As she said the words, the frontmost enemy soldiers came into view, illuminated by the lights from the capital. These soldiers were all draconians with pale scales and lifeless eyes. When someone used Inspect on them, they discovered these draconian soldiers were classified as undead.