Chapter 997: Battle of Wits (1/2)
Nearly 2000 Dragonlight Cavalrymen rushed out of White Rose Fortress in a cacophony of horse hooves. The sun was setting, and the dying rays reflected off our weapons and our armor made us look like snowlight from an elevated point of view. Everyone’s mount was surrounded by Dragon Soul Protection. I rode at the forefront of the party, surpassed only by the Phantom Wolf King.
The earth in front of White Rose Fortress shook. A sea of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls cavalry was pouring out of the right side of the fortress. Together, we formed a pincer that could potentially crush God’s Domain in one go if the latter chose to remain and fight. If we managed to take out this army, the battle would be more or less half-won.
I kept praying in my mind, ”Fight us if you’re a man, Red Maple! Don’t disappoint me!”
Just like how Red Maple’s massacring Floating Ice City and tormenting the low-level players was a mark of shame to the entire China server, Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls’ dominating victory over God’s Domain in the WEL was a mark of eternal shame to Red Maple as well. We both had a compelling reason to hate one another and duke it out right here, and if Red Maple was Gui Guzi or Xu Yang, this battle would’ve happened for sure. He wasn’t though. In fact, if Red Maple chose to avoid this fight, then I would have to change my evaluation of him completely and treat him as a vicious, intelligent man who could endure a temporary setback for a greater, permanent victory!
……
It was at this moment Red Maple raised his sword and shouted, ”Halt! Vanguard, you’re the rearguard! Rearguard, you’re now the vanguard! We will withdraw full speed into Frost Forest and stand by until further orders!”
The dust clouds slowly subsided. God’s Domain numbered three hundred thousand at least, but they had escaped before Xu Yang’s army and my army could pincer them. We could only stare at their backs with slack jaws as they vanished into Frost Forest as if they never existed.
After God’s Domain retreated, Xu Yang rode up to me and stared at the forest Red Maple had retreated into. He couldn’t stop himself from spitting on the ground and saying, ”Pooh, Purple Gr.a.p.e City's number one guild my a.s.s, the only thing they know how to do is to run like rats! Do they really deserve to be our opponent?”
I looked at the dissipating dust clouds and said solemnly, ”Don’t underestimate them. An enemy who knows how to weigh the scales and not be blinded by a moment’s glory is the most terrifying opponent. Red Maple might even be scarier than Vienna’s Sorrow!”
Heaven’s Rain blinked once before asking, ”Is Red Maple really that scary, big brother Lu Chen?”
I nodded affirmatively. ”He is. First, he used the Northern Alliance and the two main cities of India to pull our eyes away from him. Then, he wiped out Floating Ice City with lightning speed. Now, he avoided a direct engagement most likely because he has another use for his forces. No matter how you look at it, Red Maple is not an opponent to be underestimated. Those who do will suffer greatly in his hands.”
Xu Yang nodded. ”I see. Well, boss did tell me to leave all the strategizing to you and just focus on managing the people and charging, so I’m going to do just that. What should we do now, Lu Chen?”
”Got it!”
And so Xu Yang led the two hundred thousand strong army into White Rose Fortress and filled it to the brim. The good news was that this was virtual reality, and players didn’t need to build tents, prepare food, cut wood, feed their horses and so on like in real life, so we didn’t need even 10% the space real armies did. White Rose Fortress wasn’t big, but it could fit at least a million people without trouble.
After our army entered the fortress, I finally found some time to check out the NPCs. I was gladdened to find out that White Rose Fortress was a fairly neutral territory with equally neutral-aligned NPCs, meaning that the potion shop, repair shop, bread shop and more would happily trade with us. This meant that we wouldn’t have to worry about running out of supplies anytime soon.
Xu Yang met up with Gui Guzi on the eastern wall and looked toward the ground. Already, a sea of Purple Gr.a.p.e City players was gathered outside. Japan had a great economy and a massive amount of people who played Heavenblessed. According to the official forums, about 20% to 25% of the population of Japan played the game, meaning that Purple Gr.a.p.e City easily had over 30 million players!
Of course, that number was still much lower compared to a big country like India. India had a total population of 1.4 billion, and while their economy wasn’t as developed as Japan’s—resulting in only 5% of their population being able to get their hands on the game—that was still a whopping 70 million players. It was why they claimed on the forums that they had sent a total of 50 million players to attack Sky City. Personally, I thought that that number was suspect. If I were to factor quality into the equation, their forces were probably equal to a 20-million-strong army at best. Our forces at Black Coast wouldn’t have been able to hold out this long otherwise.
I stood on the eastern wall and stared at the Purple Gr.a.p.e City players below me. I didn’t say anything for a while.
”What are they waiting for, Boss Broken Halberd?” Gui Guzi asked.
”For their siege weapons, duh…” I replied with a frown.
Xu Yang clenched his fists tightly. ”Are we just going to wait for them to attack us? Once their siege weapons arrive, White Rose Fortress will be turned into rubble. Without the walls, there’s no way we can hold out against an army ten times bigger than ours.”
”Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Gui Guzi said and tried to jump down the walls.
”Stop right there!” I rolled my eyes as I said this. ”Don’t be so impatient. Now is not the time. Our numbers are inferior, and to succeed we need an army of a hundred thousand at least. Did you forget that Red Maple is lying in wait to our west, or that communication is instantaneous inside the game? The second we march out to intercept their siege weapons, Red Maple may attack the fortress and retake it. If that happens, it’ll truly be GG for all of us.”
”What should we do then?” Smoke started pouring out of Gui Guzi’s ears.