The two sides clashed into each other. Locusts flashed around the battlefield, delivering fierce strikes to the warriors led by Earthquake. But at least the locusts died rather quickly. The same couldn't be said about the assassins accompanying them. They were mostly players from TwinThieves delivering surgical strikes at the enemy. However, warriors in heavy armour have always been the natural counter to assassins. Thus, Earthquake's side clearly held the upper hand. If it weren't for the locusts the assassins might as well escape.
"If I see one of you die to some flimsy dagger, I will personally put you through hellish training!"
Earthquake had his own way to motivate people but for those comrades who had worked with him for years, it was highly effective. Everyone dreaded the guild leader's personal training. They gave it their all, keeping highly vigilant of the surroundings.
Right at that moment three locusts suddenly had the same idea. In the blink of an eye, they arrived right next to Earthquake, their sharp blades posed to strike.
Boom!
An oversized, black shield struck two of the locusts. The insects crashed into the ground, receiving a stun. Earthquake easily dodged the third strike while grinning at Immortal Boulder who had arrived in front of him.
"Haha! Nice one!", laughed Earthquake.
"You attack, I defend! As always!"
Earthquake nodded. It was great to have someone like Immortal Boulder. A skilled and reliable tank. The duo had been through thick and thin together, their teamwork close to perfection.
But right at that moment everyone felt a strange sensation. Earthquake frowned and tilted his head towards the sky. A massive magic circle had appeared at some point. Earthquake's chest tightened as the magic circle absorbed a massive amount of mana. Thick clouds formed. Suddenly a booming noise spread through the battlefield as a lightning bolt erupted, striking at the group of warriors.
"Careful!"
"Boss… I don't think I can defend that."
"And I can't attack it…"
Earthquake and Immortal Boulder both wore wry smiles. The first lightning bolt had killed three warriors at once. They knew that without help they might lose a life here.
[Balm: Oh no. Was that attack a bait?]
[Callida: Possible. Quick, we need something to protect the warriors! Whatever Galaxy plans, we can't allow them to succeed!]
Cyclone was standing on the southern wall, but she could still see the dark clouds in the north.
"When will my spells look like that…"
The blond mage murmured to herself while giving a signal to Lekraxc. The old troll shaman had claimed his favourite spot at the top of Greypine Tower. He flourished his heavy staff before pointing it towards the north.
Another magic circle formed in the sky. Immediately the air became humid, increasing the activity of the thundercloud even more. But before another bolt of lightning struck, a wide, surging river was conjured covering the sky.
A moment later lightning stuck the river. The electricity spread through the water and thick steam rose, but the warrior below remained safe.
"Phew. Just in time…"
Earthquake pretended to swipe the sweat from his forehead hidden behind a helmet. Next, his eyes went back to the assassins and a grin formed on his face.
"Men! Charge!"
The situation on the northern side was back under control. Earthquake's warriors cut down their enemies, winning clearly. On the southern side the mercenaries were advancing slowly under the constant bombardment of the mages. They were about to reach the wall, prompting Dream Avenue to block them with burning oil.
However, there were no news on the east and the west. The scouts returned in regular intervals, reporting that they discovered no enemies. Although this sounded strange, the defenders couldn't act without information.
What they didn't know was that there was a group of about 500 players advancing from the western side. At its centre walked an NPC assassin garbed in white with blond hair and a righteous expression. No one would expect him to be a ruthless killer going by the nickname Sunny Death when seeing him on the streets. The NPC had a powerful ability to hide allies within a certain range from view.
"They will never see it coming!", snickered Broken Leaf. He was a prominent dwarven tank in Galaxy, walking at the front of the group.
"Yes. This effect is so much more effective than mere stealth. We walked right by those scouts, and they didn't discover us!", agreed one of The Only Way's warriors.
"Dream Avenue won't know what hit them! This time we will conquer at least two cores! Our contributions will be through the roof."
"And while we cause trouble from the inside, the others will join the mercenaries to create pressure from the outside. Really, it is a blessing for our guild to have someone like Shorty."
"Hmpf. Don't get cocky. Shorty might be clever but without the powerful NPCs recruited by our Galaxy all his strategies would be useless."
"Do I hear jealousy in there?"
"I will show you jealousy!"
"Shhh!"
Suddenly a fierce sound instantly shut everyone up. It came from Fried Wings, one of Galaxy's warriors and the one taking charge of this infiltration mission. He made sure everyone fell in line as the group got close to the town.
A few more steps and Galaxy's troops had really made it to the wall without being discovered. Although Dream Avenue didn't have a lot of players stationed here in the west, it was still a miracle that so many people remained undetected. Even Galaxy's players were amazed by their NPC's unbelievably powerful stealth.
The ones standing in the front swung their arms and threw hooks towards the top of the walls after making sure that there were no enemies around. Instantly the group began scaling the walls. They used the ropes attached to the hooks to climb towards the top of the comparatively small town wall. With a few points in agility even the light-armoured mages didn't have much struggle climbing up.
[Fried Wings: Hurry, hurry! Now is not the time to laze around!]
Fried Wings urged his players. Every time one of the stationed enemies came close, Galaxy's players would carefully stay away from them, remaining undiscovered thanks to the NPC's ability. Because of that everyone made it on top of the wall and silently back down on the other side.
Fried Wings could barely hide his elation. They had indeed managed to silently infiltrate the town. And all of it was thanks to Sunny Death. The NPC was one of the reasons why Galaxy felt confident enough to challenge Dream Avenue.
Ogy was a dwarven warrior belonging to Force of Nature. He led ten men and women through the streets of Greypine Town, forming one of the patrol teams designated by Callida.
Although Ogy, like many of Force of Nature's warriors, was eager for battle and would have loved nothing more than to followed Earthquake out of the town, he didn't dare to shrink his duty. Everyone in the guild respected Callida greatly, knowing that she sometimes could be scarier than Earthquake.
Thus, Ogy didn't complain as he followed his boring job. Together with the rest of the patrol team he sauntered down the street, throwing some plain, red powder around. This was a cheap but effective method to discover stealthed enemies. Knowing that they were facing a guild like TwinThieves which had a high percentage of thieves, the alliance had naturally prepared countermeasures.
Still, Ogy didn't really expect to find something after Earthquake clashed with a group of TwinThieves players outside. He was rather leisurely as he turned another corner and threw a handful of powder in front of him. A light red cloud spread and stuck to whatever it touched.
Ogy had just raised his foot for another step when he suddenly froze. He rigidly turned his head to the left and right. Red figures lined the street, standing with their backs to the wall. Without the red powder Ogy would have passed through, oblivious to the danger.
"Enemies!"
Suddenly Ogy woke up, alerting his team members. He quickly came to a decision. With one wave of his hand, he had discovered about 20 players. There was no way his patrol team stood a chance in a fight. Thus, the best option was to turn around and escape while reporting to the higher-ups.
[Ogy: Boss! Enemies towards the north-west! At least twenty, possibly an even larger group.]
[Callida: Got it! All patrol teams in the north, south, and west, gather at Ogy's position!]
Callida's thoughts raced. According to the report it was highly likely that Galaxy was trying to attack the western or the northern core. She swiftly made the necessary arrangements to protect the two cores. The shift could be observed immediately. Patrol teams from all over the town congregated to the north-west. Even Fried Chicken could feel that the room to move was shrinking. However, thanks to Sunny Death they were still inching closer to the western core.