Chapter 2190: Immediate Reinforcements
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Roar! Roar!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A crazy and chaotic battle broke out in multiple regions surrounding the Oath City. Both the low-level and high-level maps were currently under invasion by the Demonic Players, which was a sign that they were initiating an all-out war.
In response, some of the hot-blooded players immediately jumped into the fray and started fighting back.
This might not align with the decision that the Titan Guild had passed down to everyone, asking them for restraint. But the Demonic Players had provoked them quite enough to stir some serious trouble, especially to those famous adventurer teams and mercenary groups, who also had quite a lot of influence.
Along with their rallying power, quite a lot of people had joined them in battle, returning the chaos caused by the multiple battles.
"This is not good," said Poseidon after hearing a series of reports that gave him quite a lot of headache.
Anyone with enough experience could tell that his situation was most orchestrated by the hidden powers behind the demonic players, most likely Dragulia himself.
Poseidon knew that this action was most likely because of some plot that they were scheming in the dark. He might not know what exactly it was, but he could at least tell that it might be related to the so-called Grand Sacrificial Ritual that they were trying to conduct.
"Are they planning to sacrifice the lives of the players to trigger something?" he mumbled, trying to guess what the opposing side was thinking.
This was the ideal case that he could think of, given their current circumstances.
"But a reckless assault like this will only provoke the NPC Forces of the Oath City," he added along with a deep frown.
Oath City might not be as strong as the capital cities of the larger and more powerful kingdoms and empires, but their forces were not something that could be ignored either.
They had quite a lot of Level 210 Elite Guards, which were powerful enough to intimidate any people who would dare to provoke them.
Anyone who would dare to set their sights on the treasure of the Oath City would have to face such an army, which was something that any player’s guilds or organizations could not withstand.
After all, a Level 210 Elite NPC was much more troublesome when compared to any Level 210 Elite Monster in the wild.
This was mainly due to NPCs being more sentient and intelligent when compared to the monsters, which gave them the ability to learn some techniques and skills.
They also had their respective classes, which further augmented their strength. This was what made them more troublesome to deal with in comparison to monsters.
This was also the reason why Poseidon was confused at the actions of the demonic players. Once they had fully provoked the Oath City with their actions, then the City Mayor would most likely make his move and order his knight commander to slaughter them all.
None of the players could deal with the above Level 200 NPCs yet, much less the ones that were more powerful than them.
Of course, this was just the Aurora Continent, so the monsters and NPCs in this place were not as powerful as the ones from the Awakened Continent.
However, their strength was still something that the players could not overlook, especially when Level 200 was another breakpoint of the power scale of the game.
Even though it was not as important as the power breakpoint when someone was transitioning between Tiers of each class, it was still an important breakpoint within the game.
Moreover, NPC Forces of those from the cities at Minor, Major, and Capital Ranks could use something like battle formations, which the players were already familiar with.
These Battle Formations had been fully revealed and greatly utilized at the Dark Cloud Kingdom, which was the current center of the war between the two major factions of the game.
The Oath City might not be as big as the other cities from major Kingdoms and Empires, but it was still a strong NPC Force, so they should have a battle formation of their own.
Poseidon could not help but frown deeply when he put all these into consideration. He could not shake off the ominous feeling that he currently had. "Just what are those lunatics trying to pull?"
"Don’t tell me, they are targeting the NPCs themselves?" he mumbled.
This might sound absurd, but he could not overlook it either, since it was something that those lunatics from the Demonic Churches would do. "But if that is truly the case, then they should have a bunch of Demonic NPCs on their side as well."
Reaching this point, he could not help but further furrow his brows even deeper. "But if they directly target the NPCs, then they will be provoking the NPC Forces as well. This will force the Righteous Churches to make their move and dispatch a crusade force."
The more he thought about this, the more absurd it sounded. But at the same time, he also felt that it was becoming more convincing if he took this route, especially with the current situation where all the teleportation channels around the Oath City were sealed.
"If that is truly the case, then they are most likely targeting the Oath City as well!" he mumbled, feeling even more troubled.
He felt that more issues were starting to rise whenever he thought about this route.
"When it comes to these instances, it is better to conserve our strength and take a more defensive approach, especially when we are constantly losing our forces and unable to replenish them."
"On the other hand, those lunatics have those Demonic Monsters that could turn our people into those strange demonic undead."
He understood that they would only be facing a losing battle if they continued to engage with those demonic monsters and players head-on. This was also why they constantly warned those adventure teams, mercenary guilds, and minor guilds to avoid a huge conflict and conserve their strength.
Unfortunately, those cunning demons seemed not to be letting them rest and took the initiative for a direct war.
Taking all these into consideration, Poseidon had become more convinced that it was better to concentrate their forces in the city and took a more conservative approach, trying to prepare for a siege.
"Eh!?"
However, when he thought about this, he could not help but pause and think about something else. "But if we gather our forces within the city, then it will give those lunatics more space to do whatever they want outside!"
"They will be free to construct more of those altars and further strengthen the grand formation that they are trying to build!"
"Even if with Diablo’s team constantly destroying them, we will have a smaller number of scouts to look for the locations of those altars, which will also make it harder for us to find the main and core altars."
"It will also make it harder for the strike team to move around if those demonic players started flooding their way due to them being free from fighting our main forces. This will hinder them from fully stopping them."
When all of these were laid before him, Poseidon could not help but feel extremely troubled. No matter which choice he made, he felt that it was a checkmate for them.
He started to wonder who the person behind all these schemes was. He started to feel scared the more he thought about this.
He was starting to feel that he was currently facing Zeus and Odin in a strategic war.
Regardless, all these problems came down to a single issue. They truly lacked manpower at this point.
They were continuously losing people while the opposing side was replenishing their numbers with demonic monsters.
The only saving grace that they had right now was the number of elite players and top experts that they had on their side, who were also holding the fort.
Unfortunately, even these players were still not enough to fully solve their current situation.
While Poseidon was having serious problems, a voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
"It seems like you are in quite a problematic situation, huh?"
Poseidon immediately sprang into action right after hearing those words, taking out the [Divine Trident] and thrusting it straight at the owner of the voice.
Swoosh!
Clang!
However, the trident was stopped by a two-pronged spear that entangled with its tri-pronged tips.
Poseidon swiftly retrieved the trident when he saw who it was and said. "Hades? How come you are here already?"
Hades also retrieved his weapon before shrugging his shoulders. "I’ve just heard the report as well and realize how troublesome it is, so I leave the job of leading the army to Hecate while I rush here as fast as I can."
"It seems like we are against quite a tricky enemy this time, huh?" commented Hades, indicating that he had also read through the reports, while taking a seat.
Poseidon then watched him take a random seat before asking. "Who else did you bring?"
"Loki has come with me as well," answered Hades nonchalantly before continuing. "You should know that guy, he is not someone to sit idle. He is already out there playing with the others."
"So, what’s your job for me?" he asked, seemingly expecting something.
Hearing this, Poseidon could not help but smile and said. "I am originally having quite a headache due to our lack of manpower. But since you and Loki are here, then everything is going to be much simpler."
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