Everything happened too fast for Fried Wings to react to. Suddenly a thief ran into one of his players and chaos broke out. As everyone was startled, even if they could stop themselves from talking, they still moved involuntarily. The simultaneous movement of 400 or so players at once couldn't be hidden even by the strongest stealth skills. For Liam's team it was too obvious that they were looking at an army of players hiding in the park.
However, Fried Wings was perplexed. He had chosen to advance through a large open area because they could avoid the red powder this way. And the patrol team didn't show any signs of discovering them. So how had Liam figured it out? The player could have never expected that it was a young boy who spotted some movements. The only NPCs fried Wings paid attention to were the town's army. The civilians were mostly in hiding, so why should he fear them?
Fried Wings still couldn't figure it out. His confusion cost him and the other Galaxy players a few precious seconds. Meanwhile Liam reacted way faster. He instantly led his team to escape. Even the thief managed to slip away.
[Bleary Mirage: We found the infiltrators. At least three hundred players!]
Liam's announcement caused the tension to explode. The blind search was over, and everyone gathered towards Liam's location. With Callida's delicate control Dream Avenue encircled Galaxy without suspending the defence of the cores.
Fried Wings knew they were screwed. His thoughts raced as he tried to come up with any countermeasures. An idea came to his mind.
[Fried Wings: Split up! 250 players follow me. We rush towards the western core, attracting attention! The rest goes with Sunny Death towards the northern core! Let's go!]
Finally, Galaxy's players woke up. They followed Fried Wings' orders and split up. A large group of 250 players sprinted together with Fried Wings towards the western core. Their bodies were revealed without Sunny Death's stealth and most of Dream Avenue's attention fell on them. Callida remained calm. She told a few scouts to have an eye on Fried Wings' team while organizing a strong defence at the western core.
However, as the reports from the scouts came back, Callida quickly noticed the inconsistencies. There were only about 250 players while Bleary Mirage was sure there had been at least 300 players in the park. Coupled with the fact that they had given up on the stealth, Callida had a pretty good guess what Fried Wings was planning.
The large group of Galaxy's players were running through the streets. As they advanced unobstructed, Fried Wings wasn't elated. Instead, he knew that a big, most likely unwinnable, battle was waiting for them. But he steeled his heart rushing towards the western core.
Soon, the 250 players reached a large district with many workshops. This was an important place for the town as the mined ores were refined here. When Greypine Town was at its peak even people from other towns came here to have their ores refined, causing this district to flourish greatly. There were many open stone squares where ores and the refined metal were being stored.
And above one of those squares a mysterious white crystal was floating, lighting up a region around it. This was one of the five cores. Some of Galaxy's players were full of anticipation as they were getting closer to the core. They still hadn't comprehended the situation. But as they finally saw the core, which was protected by rows and rows of enemies, reality dawned on them.
Fried Wings was not surprised at all. He puffed out his chest and put on a confident mask as he led his group onto the square, facing around one thousand enemies. He locked eyes with the man standing right across from him. With a tall, burly body and carrying a hammer and shield surrounded by a heroic air who else could it be but Radiant Shield?
"Listen! Galaxy, The Only Way, TwinThieves! If you are willing to lay down your weapons and surrender right now, we are willing to spare your lives.", announced Radiant Shield with a righteous expression. But Fried Wings could only laugh upon hearing this offer:
"Do you think we are stupid? Should we let ourselves be captured? If we die here, we will simply revive. There is no downside to it!"
"Exactly, boss! Tell them!"
"We don't fear death! We are here for a good fight!"
"Galaxy! Galaxy!"
The players behind Fried Wings suddenly started shouting chaotically to hide their own uneasiness. They knew they were looking death in the eye. There was no chance to survive now. But if they fought valiantly, the second group might stand a chance.
Radiant Shield saw this and let out a sigh. As someone fond of heroism he would have preferred avoiding a fight. Of course, it would have been a great side effect that the players wouldn't have revived, effectively being removed from the battlefield. There was never really any chance that Fried Wings would accept the offer.
"You leave me no choice. Friends! Attack! Throw these infiltrators out!"
"Charge! Kill as many as you can!"
"Dream Avenue! Dream Avenue!"
"Galaxy! Galaxy!"
Suddenly both sides began to charge. A huge percentage of the players were melee. Thus, the battle swiftly became a blood-boiling, intense brawl. The warriors belonging to Force of Nature were exhilarated. They were fully in their element. Fighting with heavy weapons they pushed back the enemies, forming an overwhelming force in the battle.
Of course there were no doubts about the outcome of the battle. Not only did Dream Avenue's side have an advantage in numbers, they also had the more suitable composition. They had some healers who were provided with mana and revitalization potions, easily outlasting the enemies. It was only a matter of time until Fried Wings' group was eliminated.
Meanwhile the second group was sneaking through the streets. They moved extremely carefully, now led by Broken Leaf. Perhaps the diversion tactic had indeed worked as the group only came across a few scattered patrol teams. They were able to avoid being detected until they got closer to the northern core.
Since the north was closer to the mines, it had suffered the most during the territory war. There was almost no intact building left. Even the northern core was situated within an empty field. During the few days since the territory war Dream Avenue had only managed to clean the place up. This environment was great for Galaxy. In order to conquer the core, they only had to defend a certain range around it, preventing Dream Avenue from entering for ten seconds. This was not impossible!
Broken Leaf's breath quickened. He was already imagening the scene of his success. The contribution points he would earn would be immense. Converted to money it might be enough to guarantee a comfortable life for five to ten years.
Calm down, calm down. Don't get carried away! Steady!
The warrior had to forcefully adjust his emotions. He carefully observed the area. They were already rather close to the core, able to study the defence arrangements. There were about five hundred enemies, a mix of players and NPCs. If Broken Leaf was asked to win a battle he would simply give up. But conquering a core at these odds was not impossible.
After warning his group to ready themselves, Broken Leaf finally went into action. He pulled out a spell scroll Fried Wings had passed him shortly before they split up. With a thought the scroll began to shine brightly, and the spell was activated. Broken Leaf's body was instantly revealed.
"Enemy!"
"Careful! A spell scroll!"
"Get out of the way!"
"Stop him!"
The scene instantly turned chaotic, especially amongst the NPCs. The players at least followed Silver Blade's lead and rushed towards Broken Leaf in an attempt to stop him.
However, they were already a step too late. As the spell activated, a magic circle appeared right above the core. A storm began to surge and gathered in a large sphere swallowing up the core. It gathered power for three seconds before finally erupting in a violent explosion. An inescapable shockwave spread, lunging away everything in its way. The players and NPC had no way to resist. They were grabbed by the storm and thrown in all direction.
Broken Leaf proved his solid judgment. The surging storm lost its power two meters in front of his feet.
"Charge!"
While the enemies were still recovering, Broken Leaf called upon his allies. 250 players rushed forward. They didn't care about stealth anymore, only trying to occupy the area around the northern core. And to Dream Avenue's shock they actually succeeded. A timer was counting down in front of everyone's eyes.
"Stop them!"
Dream Avenue's players quickly became frantic. One of Nest of Flame's warriors, playing a class which required a high intelligence attribute, was the first to sprint towards the core. He didn't directly engage the enemies. Instead, he performed a beautiful flash step, appearing right amidst the crowd of Galaxy players.
Silver Blade felt relieved as the ten second cooldown was reset but the brave player was obviously doomed. Attacked from all sides he fell within a couple of seconds.