In Messephyria, all the inhabitants were busy with defensive preparation. Although the civilians were wary about the coming conflict, they also kept calm and order and tried their best to aid the soldiers. They truly showcased the pride of the draconian race.
Blacksmiths and runecraft specialists inspected the wall's durability and its rune diagrams. If there were parts that needed fixing, these specialists fixed them. Since the capital was very large, the wall encompassing it was also very long. It took a lot of manpower and many work hours to check all parts of it. Both the kingdom and the civilian specialists took turns doing the chores.
Small siege weapons like the ballistae and scorpions were mounted atop the wall. As for larger siege weapons like the catapults or trebuchets, there were only a few empty fields inside the capital that were situated near the defensive wall, so only a few could be set up.
The capital was large enough to house the 1,500,000 soldiers. Some civilians willingly shared their living quarters with the soldiers. Many military camps were erected on the larger streets. The commanders organized so that these soldiers knew where to defend and also prepared a communication network within the capital so it was easy to send the orders to all divisions.
The cavalry units were grouped near the side gates. If needed, these cavalries could serve as shock troops to ambush the enemy soldiers outside.
Some traps were also prepared around the field in the capital's vicinity. Some pitfalls were dug and then covered with leaves. Sharp barricades were also built to slow the enemy's advance.
Unfortunately, these traps were not part of the game system. They were mostly players' ideas who applied the real world's defense to this world. These traps won't cause any damage or status effect, but they should still slow the enemies somewhat.
Many players came to the capital to join the defense, both independent and guild players. They were all going after the war contribution points. The players who joined were more than during the field battle between Liguritudum and Hydrurond. This was because many players felt it would be easier to score a contribution from the safety of the defensive wall. The risk was less, or so they thought.
These players didn't truly add much to the military power, though. Even though their number was substantial, many were at a level where they won't make a difference.
Currently, players' levels were much more varied than they used to be. Many had abused the usage of Amulet of Rebirths and no longer could afford them. A majority of the players were those who either had died many times or those who played it very safely. These players all had levels below level 50, which was lower than the average native soldiers
Some who had died fewer times and managed to stay alive long enough were around level 50 to 60. Only a minority of experienced players were above level 60. These experienced players probably comprised only around ten percent of the player's population.
As for the top players, they were even fewer. These were normally top independent players or above-average players from the top guilds. These top players could have a level up to level 68.
Many Everlasting Heavenly Legends members fell into the category of the last group, especially their core members. This was because of their high survivability rate. Their bloodlines, equipment, and martial expertise all helped them survive better than the others. With the Resurrection Chapel thrown in the mix, it was as if giving wings to tigers.
Many Hydrurond guild players watched the number one guild from the human country with envy. They had suffered heavy casualties during the field battles. Lots of their members were unable to continue joining this war because they had fallen back to level 1. Their numbers had been severely culled.
The one person most unhappy was Herald. As the leader of the number one guild in Hydrurond, his guild should have been the one leading the players. But instead, an announcement had been broadcasted that Evil Breakers would be in charge of the players, with Everlasting Heavenly Legends as the second in command.
This vexed Herald greatly. He wanted to protest, but he didn't have access to the kingdom's high-ranking officers. He was also a Hydrurond kingdom faction member, but his rank was not high enough. He wondered how Megan managed to get herself appointed by the queen. Based on the last info, her kingdom faction rank was not higher than his.
If only he knew that it was because Megan had selflessly saved many kingdom soldiers to escape the enemy's pursuit, while he had selfishly chosen to not lend a hand because he wasn't willing to take the risk.
Some guilds tried to goad other players to not acknowledge Megan's authority, but they then learned from another kingdom's announcement that if they refused to follow Megan and Jeanny's orders, they would receive a penalty for their war contribution points. On the other hand, following the girls' orders would give them extra war contribution points.
Hence, they reluctantly obeyed.
Queen Frorryntiar also assigned a few high-level rare elite soldiers to accompany Megan and Jeanny when they were making their rounds. This helped to intimidate the other players into obedience.
And so, everyone worked together to help in the defense. The estimation was that they had two weeks to prepare at least. If they were lucky, they would have three weeks before the enemy arrived.
However, on the dusk of the fifth day. Horns were sounded. This was because, on the horizon, the soldiers on the wall saw a large number of troops approaching.
At first, they thought this was the enemy vanguard army, sent in advance to keep watch on the capital while the rest of the army traveled with the siege weapons.
However, the scouts who patrolled outside the capital came back with surprising news. There were indeed no siege weapons with this army. However, this army was not a vanguard army. Their number looked close to five million troops. A number that was even many more than the combined forces the enemies initially brought into this country!
Both Jeanny who watched from the wall and Queen Frorryntiar who watched from the projection in the palace's war room were deeply shocked by this revelation.
They couldn't understand from where the enemy got this reinforcement.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel