After spending some time searching inside Delphoia, Ronald was sure there was no hidden army. Everyone inside the city was just commoners. With a disappointed expression, Ronald reported his findings to Master. Master then had Linda organize scouts to search for Aldryth's missing army.
It was impossible to hide such a large army for long. Eventually, Master received news of Aldryth's army movements.
"They were heading to Messephyria?" Motherboard asked.
"From the direction they are heading, it is safe to assume so," Linda answered.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go," Ronald said. His hands were getting itchy. There were no more native combatants to massacre and the prey they were supposed to do battle with had turned out to avoid a direct clash with them.
"They have at least two days' head start," Linda said. "They also didn't carry any siege weapons. It won't be easy catching up to them even if we use our army haste scrolls."
"If they don't bring siege weapons, then they are fools to attack the capital," Ronald said.
"Not necessarily," Linda replied. "We never truly repair the damage we did to Messephyria. All the funds had been used to build our army for further conquest. That large gap in the capital wall was still there."
"The one caused by Suzaki?" Ronald asked.
Linda nodded.
"Heh, I never truly understand how you, top executives, think. Well, whatever. Are we going to chase them or not?" Ronald asked with impatience.
"We are. Move out!" Master ordered.
"Shouldn't we make camp inside the city and head out tomorrow morning? It is about to get dark," Spring Crown protested.
"What's the matter? Afraid of the dark?" Ronald mocked.
"We have no time to lose. We will camp at midnight. Move out!" Master repeated.
As they marched, Master sent a message to Gridhacker, informing him about the incoming enemy. He had left some troops in the capital aside from the draconian soldiers. These troops should hold Aldryth's army long enough in case they couldn't catch the enemy before they reached Messephyria.
*
Aldryth's force moved at high speed toward the capital. Without any siege weapons, they could move fast. They didn't worry about how to breach the capital's defense. They knew that the gap in the wall the Liguritudum army had caused the last time was still there. After the massacre in the other settlements, they had almost every draconian's support. These draconians happily reached out to inform the resistance, which eventually reached Aldryth's ears.
They were around two days away from the capital when the scouts who watched their tails informed Aldryth of enemies who were fast approaching.
"So fast?!" Aldryth exclaimed in surprise.
"How many are they?" Zoikod asked the scouts.
"I can't tell for sure… I think their number is around the same as us," one of the scouts answered.
"The same as us? Then we should face them head-on, my queen!" Dytess, the sole surviving Lord Dominator, exclaimed.
"Are you sure they have the same number as us?" Zoikod asked again.
"Uh…," The scout was lost for words. Didn't he say he couldn't tell for sure?
"Their number doesn't look like they outnumber us," His friend came to his rescue.
"Can you tell their races? Are they of the elven race?" Aldryth asked.
"No, they are the ethereal race," The scout answered.
"Which meant the Aurebor's army might be in Messephyria, waiting for us," Zoikod said.
"We didn't get news from our allies that there were elven troops stationed in the capital," Dytess said.
"They might be hidden," Zoikod argued. "If we continue to Messephyria, we might get hit from two sides. We won't be able to shake the enemies on our tail now that they are so close."
"That's right! We should hit this one on our tail before we resume our advance to Messephyria," Dytess declared.
Aldryth considered her options and looked around at the terrains they were at. They were in hilly regions filled with grasslands. No place to use for an ambush, but those small hills provided high grounds.
"Everyone, battle formations! Prepare for a battle!" Aldryth announced. "Zoikod, take our range units and occupy those hills. Dytess, form a defensive line to prepare for the enemy and protect our range units. Arthur, Megan, please help lead the outworlders and coordinate with our army."
"Yes, my Queen!" They all replied.
Everyone went to prepare. Arthur and Megan went and relayed the order to the player's community who formed half the bulk of these two million troops.
Inquisition, the number one guild in Hydrurond, also joined Aldryth's side, but it was Megan who was appointed their leader. Many members of the Inquisition felt dissatisfied with this appointment, but their leader, Herald, wasn't so troubled by it. Despite being a prideful person, he also couldn't stand Master's genocidal act. He already decided to oppose Master after what happened at the convention. Master's indiscriminate killings of the native combatants further strengthened his resolve. So, he didn't mind who took charge in this war as long as it was against Master.
Megan told everyone about the incoming battle and everyone took positions. Out of the eleven guilds in Hydrurond with Headquarters, eight had joined Aldryth's side, two joined Master's side, and one chose to not involve themselves in this war.
These eight guilds prepared their guild summoning platforms on the hills with the range units. They were now waiting for the enemies to arrive.
Not long after, they saw the dust clouds. There was not much sand in this grassland but the sheer number of incoming troops still managed to cause that many dust clouds. The enemy came into view then.
The enemy was mostly composed of the ethereal race, both natives and outworlders. A decent number of draconian outworlders and the rest were outworlders with a little bit of every other race. From the looks of it, the enemy was the same as them. Half of their bulks were also outworlders.
Both sides appeared to have the same number of troops. The one at the lead of the enemy army was an elven female. Aldryth recognized her as Liguritudum's chief strategist. She gave a sign for everyone to stop before they came into attacking range.
Aldryth watched the enemy from afar. Her draconian eyes allowed her a long-distance view.
"… I don't see the Liguritudum ruler, and none in that army are zombies," Aldryth uttered.
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