Vaguely observing Dream Avenue's movements from the mountain base, Shorty knew they must have discovered something. He also spread new commands. The troops coming from the south and the north increased their pressure, binding as many of the defenders down as possible. Earthquake's return was greatly delayed. The warriors couldn't take the risk of being stabbed in the back.
Meanwhile Ogy was racing through the streets, escaping towards the nearest patrol team. Behind his group were the twenty red figures he had discovered earlier. Stained by the red powder those players have been sacrificed by Fried Wings so they wouldn't give away the position of the rest of the group.
"Ogy! Why don't we fight them? They are only 20 people!"
"No! Orders have to be followed! Run until we find reinforcements!"
Ogy's comrades were annoyed but they didn't dare to take the responsibility for ignoring orders. They had no choice but to keep escaping.
"We can't let them find help!"
"We're doomed anyways! Let's make at least some contribution!"
"Does someone have a way to stop them?!"
The twenty red figures were conscious of their situation. They knew it was only a matter of time for them to die. If they could take a few enemies with them, they would at least earn some points for the guild. Right now, the points were at 485/5000 and 821/10.000, which was slightly in Dream Avenue's favour, mainly thanks to the situation in the north. Although the catapults in the south were still doing work, killing players rewarded more points than damaging structures.
Knowing all this, the 20 stained players were ready to use all they had to kill the patrol team in front. One of them, a human woman fighting with a similar bomb launcher as Braag, urged one of their healers to give her a speed buff. Thanks to the spell she sped up and overtook Ogy's group even after taking a slight detour. Once in front, she wore an excited grin as she activated a skill and scattered a few inconspicuous metallic cubes in front of her.
Ogy clearly saw the enemy's movements. He didn't know what skill the woman had used, but suspecting a trap he was forced to signal his team to stop. Glancing left and right Ogy's stomach sunk. There was no other path for them to escape to.
"F*ck it! Take formation! We fight it out!"
Left with no other choice Ogy finally gave the order to fight. His comrades didn't show any fear, only excitement for the battle. And their enemies didn't hesitate knowing that reinforcements could arrive any moment. The two sides clashed fiercely. Ogy's team only had two tanks. They barely held on supported by their healers. However, what caused them a lot of trouble was the woman who had laid the trap and was now positioned behind their backs. Her explosive fighting style delt strong AOE damage even if the tanks blocked some of it.
"My skills are on cooldown!"
"I'll use my ultimate!"
"Hold on, guys!"
Ogy's team was under great pressure. Their resources were almost used up. With their healer out of skills, they would soon fall like flies. Just as Galaxy's players thought they were about to win, a shadow fell on them. Shocked, they looked to the right and saw a basilisk gliding through the air, puncing on their healer.
"Protect them!"
"Tanks!"
"Hold him back!"
The red-stained players were frantic, trying to react to the newcomer. But Liam wouldn't give them the time. He pushed Reen to land right next to one of the three healers. His swords flashed with multiple skills, and the healer fell despite the protection of a hastily erected shield.
"It's Bleary Mirage!"
"Quick! Kill him! The boss will definitely reward you!"
"I can't, I'm aggroed on the tanks!"
"Let me!"
Instantly the players were greatly excited, their sparkling eyes focusing on Liam. Two mages and one warrior turned towards him, rapidly throwing out their skills. Liam didn't panic. Reen spread his beautiful wings wide. The mount's skill was activated and a colourful light protected mount and rider, reducing incoming damage by 30%.
Liam's eyes were fixed on the enemies. He dodged stronger skills and tanked the weaker ones. His discernment and reaction time were incredible, almost causing the enemies to despair. With incredible control over his mount, he danced at the edge of the fight, making himself difficult to hit and even threw in one or two attacks.
However, the enemies were certain that even Liam wouldn't be able to fight like this forever. But why would this be necessary? Liam didn't come alone.
Five second later a team of nine turned the corner and joined the fight. They appeared behind the woman who had trapped Ogy and the others. Nine against one they almost overran her. Thanks to Ogy's warning they carefully allowed their tank to pass through the traps enduring a big explosion before they joined the fight.
Now that the numbers were nearly even the fight got incredibly intense. Galaxy's players were like a cornered beast with nothing to lose. They took whatever chance they could get. If they spotted a possibility to take down one of Dream Avenue's players, they would grab it tightly even at the cost of their lives.
After the dust settled Ogy's team had lost seven players, while Liam's team had lost two. And this was after another patrol team joined them midway. Now the nine players were waiting to be revived in five minutes.
With a team reduced to three players Ogy couldn't continue to go on patrol. Thus, the three players joined Liam's team and they continued scouting the streets in an area around the western core.
There was a reason why Liam had suddenly left his previous post next to Callida. It was due to his proficiency in detecting stealth. Callida and Liam had sent all their stealth experts on patrol, which also included Bloody Edge for example.
They were scouring the area around the western and northern core, trying to spot all the invaders. However, Galaxy's group remained undetected. It was incredible that with so many players searching for them the group could still hide, all thanks to Sunny Death and Fried Wings' caution. They were, however, pushed back towards the wall. Fried Wings knew that it was only a matter of time before their traces would be discovered. Soon, they had no other option but to take a risk, pushing towards the western core.
Liam was leading his team through a broad street. Most of the houses to the left and right were still not rebuilt since the last territory war. Thus, there was a lot of room to hide. While the players following behind him scattered red powder, Liam scanned every single stone with squinted eyes.
Soon, the team reached a corner where some houses had already been reconstructed. Liam's teammates didn't pay much attention to this place, thinking that there was so much space to avoid them that Galaxy's fighters would certainly not choose this corner to hide. Liam had similar thoughts, but he certainly wouldn't lose his vigilance. He carefully scanned the surroundings and suddenly stopped at a window not far away. A small, peeking head immediately hid away.
Liam smiled lightly and approached the house, knocking against the window. There was no movement for a few seconds but then the face of a young boy appeared. NPCs belonging to the territory automatically recognised Dream Avenue's players, feeling a great trust towards them.
Thus, the boy didn't show any fear towards Liam. He carefully opened the window and stuck his head out.
"Big warrior. Are you hunting the bad guys?"
"Yes."
"Good, good. I have seen something strange. Over there, in the old park. I'm sure some rubble has moved and now there comes less water from the old fountain."
"Well done. You have sharp eyes! I'm sure this will help us a lot. But now you better hide again. Do you have a secret room under your house?"
"Mhm."
"Good. Please hide there, alright?"
The boy nodded his head lightly. He followed Liam's directions, closed the window and disappeared from sight. Meanwhile Liam turned around and looked across the street. There used to be a small park here with lush trees and a tiny fountain. However, the wood and stone were used during the last territory war and now the park was in chaos. In its centre the water was still flowing but only a few pieces of rubble were left from the fountain.
Liam signalled his teammates. Instead of going straight towards the park they carefully moved around it, so as to avoid alerting the enemy. As they reached an obscure corner they sent one of their own thieves ahead. The man sneaked into the park.
"Ouh!"
"What?!"
"Enemies!"
Before the thief could even reach the centre of the park and scatter some red powder, he ran into an invisible wall. He immediately realized that there was someone standing right in front of him, hiding with an advanced stealth skill, nearly impossible to detect without moving.
But as the two stealthed players collided, both were revealed and chaos broke out in the small park.