179 Chapter 179 (2/2)
”Regroup.” James called out, looking up at Rue as he did. The pixie was back to her normal size and appearance, though she was still clad in her pixie battle armor. She had a plastic bottle in her hands, and she raised it up towards her mouth and squeezed. The liquid that flowed into her mouth was blue, and James figured she was drinking some sort of electrolyte drink. Something that was rather stereotypical for fight movies and scenes.
”Seriously, that Spartan class is dangerous.” She said after she took a long swallow, her eyes lingering on the fading image of The Candied Queen. ”That cooldown was complete and utter bullshit.”
”I told you to be careful.” James whispered to Rue. His emotions had calmed at seeing her and hearing her voice. When she had died, his mind had simply blanked. For a moment, he thought he had lost her. He had completely forgotten this was a game, and that she would come back. He shivered as the feelings resurfaced for a moment. With them, his resolve to win doubled.
”Yeah, well.” She pointed a finger accusingly at him. ”Maybe you should have done a better job keeping Monty alive.”
”Hey now, you know you could actually help the healer by not taking damage.” James was well aware of all the players around him cleaning up any enemy forces, and going about respawning players they could. Many of them were glancing at each other, and then up towards James with concerned looks on their faces. He didn't blame them, he was currently staring up at the sky and holding a conversation.
”How about I help the healer next time by killing the enemy faster, so they can't hurt me?” Rue offered up, flashing a smile as she took another drink. She was acting carefree, but James could see the fires burning in her eyes. She was pissed that she had lost.
”Sounds like a plan.” James looked back across the battlefield. The forest was filled with large craters, burning, broken, and shattered trees, and a lot of flickering orbs from both sides. James wasn't sure what the numbers were, but whatever they were, there had to have been a large number of casualties on both sides. Which meant both sides had just gained even more essence to pump back into the war.
James didn't know when BLANK and their forces would return. He also didn't care. A full-on war on the battlefield like that wouldn't make sense to continue. Exodia from Grandma Jenkins had helped turn the tide, but that just meant she was likely going to be targeted early on if they clashed again. Plus, the next time, depending on how quickly another attack was launched, would see them engaging without Rue, without either of their world bosses, and just with Grandma Jenkins. As Old Man Jenkins had fallen in the battle. BLANK, on the other hand, didn't have any of their bosses left, but they had a 1st floor world boss still, and both their Avatars.
He didn't like the idea of a clash like that. From a pure numbers standpoint, he would lose. From a level standpoint, he would lose, considering BLANKs Avatars had a level of research on him, which meant they also had another multiclass buff. Which meant, James was going to need to figure out how to tip the tide of battle into his favor. First though, he needed to do something to help boost the energy and moral of his forces. His players were tired, he was tired. They needed to rest, regroup, and prepare for something that could take BLANK by surprise, and bring them down. Even more than that, they needed to avenge Rue, and bring down one of, if not both of, BLANKs Avatars. And, most important of all, he and his players needed the experience from this. Because while everything that happened on this day was important, James knew the most important part of the battle was yet to come. For it was truly on Day 5 that he needed his players to overwhelm BLANK, and bring him victory.
That thought helped push some of the drowsiness from his mind, and he felt a little more energized as he began making his way back towards the respawn area. Day three was not the important fight. It was the time for him to test out plans. The time for him, and all of his players, to get used to what it would be like in Dungeon Wars. It was the time for random, crazy shenanigans. And if there was one thing he was good at, it was exactly that.