Time quickly ticked by, and the day of the beast siege soon arrived. There were only two more hours left for the big event to officially start.
The chaos and the commotion about the rumored legendary item had also died down by now, and all guilds were busy making their preparations. The elite teams had gathered front and center, fully ready for the event.
However, in Crimson Abyss, all the big shots were still missing!
No one in the guild had seen any of the top players for whom the guild was famous. But unbeknownst to everyone, some of the core members had spotted the big boss in the guild residence.
"Boss, I heard the guild leader is here. Would he be joining us?"
"Ya. I also heard this rumor. Is big boss Liam back?"
"Fuck. If that is true, we are going to really kill it!"
Alex rolled her eyes at the bunch of core members who were immediately getting very excited. "So… who all is happy that Liam is going to be here? Can I get a show of hands?" She smiled and said out loud in the room chalked full of the guild's main roster members.
Naturally, a bunch of hands went up the next instant. However, little did they know that this was a trick question.
"Alright. Everyone who raised their hands would have their guild contribution points reduced by 100."
"Noooo!" Several gasps echoed across the big hall.
But Alex sternly shook her head. "If you are looking for an easy way out and for someone to carry your ass across to the finish line, then you are in the wrong guild."
"Yes, our guild leader is strong, but he is only one person. If we always put all the burden on him, what are we doing here?"
"Do you want to be truly useful, fighting for our guild and all our friends and family, or do you want to be a side character who is always dependent on the guild leader? Make up your mind soon!"
"No one's position is permanent! There are thousands of inner guild members who want to take your place and your position. They are all gaining contribution points at a rapid rate. So if you snooze, you will lose. Don't blame me later for not warning you guys."
"This beast siege event is going to be huge. All our positions are in jeopardy. If people in our guild manage to get more contribution points, our whole roster might have to change. So good luck! Let's all do our best!"
"Oh! And if I don't see some of you, here again, it was nice knowing you!" Alex gave a wicked smile and walked away.
There was pin-drop silence in the guild meeting hall after she left. Everyone was both inspired and nervous. No one wanted to be left behind, and worse, no one wanted to lose their position or rank.
So the group immediately dispersed at lightning speed to make even more preparations and ensure that everything was in perfect condition. There were only a couple more hours left for the beast siege event, and the tension was running very high.
"Ok. I am done with the guild meeting and have assigned everyone their respective positions for the beast siege." Alex checked off each item on her list when she walked into the special room in the guild residence for high council members.
"Done with getting all the potions from the alchemy division."
"Got all the gear repaired."
"Switched out most of the core team's items."
"About 50% of the core members have combat mounts."
"Got the extra NPCs and mana tanks from the Garrison. Also paid for the Garrison upgrades."
"Set up the defenses for the guild residence. Arranged for the mana cannons on the guild residence wall and also paid for their upgrade."
She continued going through all the items in her checklist one by one in detail and then made sure to double-check if they were finished. It had been a jam-packed couple of days but she was finally through it.
"Right, I should also give better items to that little twerp." Alex reminded herself about her new follower as she lay on the table tiredly.
"You forgot about Madam Ning's group."
"Huh?" Alex immediately recognized the voice. She looked up to see Liam standing at the doorstep. He waved his hand and started walking in.
Here she thought that she was tired, but Liam looked even more tired and exhausted compared to her, with huge dark circles under his eyes.
"You should give Madan Ning some funds to upgrade their items. Otherwise, those people wouldn't even bother with it." He chuckled and walked over to stand in front of her.
Alex instantly became flustered and quickly replied, "Right. I almost forgot about that special group."
If she didn't force some things onto them, the old granny and the group of players would probably end up fighting bare-handed! They were after all an extreme case of relying on one's skill and nothing else.
She made a note in her list right away and quickly sent out a few messages to make sure that this gets done. Only then did she sigh in relief.
"Sorry. Sorry. My bad. I overlooked that one part."
Liam smiled at the woman and patted her. "Don't worry about it. You are doing everything that you can. But you are clearly stretched thin. Delegate your work to some more people. We have some reliable members in our group."
"Right." Alex nodded and then, in a low voice, mumbled. "If Mia was there she would have told me the same thing…"
Liam sighed. "Rey told me about what happened with your uncle. Don't worry about that group. He will be taken care of soon enough, and we will also get everything that belongs to you and Mia back. If he wants a face-off in the real world. Heh. I am more than happy to give it to him."
Alex nodded, and tears started falling out of her eyes. She then unexpectedly lunged forward and hugged Liam tightly.
