"What? Army? Why? Are they coming to save us?" Stefan asked. He and the others didn't quite catch the situation. He still saw Master as a teammate from Euphosine's game.
"How do you know?" Jack asked Grace.
"Spring Crown told me," Grace answered.
"Spring Crown…? Hey, where is that guy?" Jack looked around. He just remembered there was still this enemy from Master's camp.
"He left when the forest reappeared," Freddie answered.
"Left? So, how do you…"
"He sent me a message," Grace answered before Jack completed his question.
"Sent a message? Do you mean…"
"Yes, he is on my friend list," Grace again answered before Jack finished his question. "I received a notification of a friend request from him right after that big earthquake. I accepted the request not long ago."
"Can he be trusted?" Jack asked.
"I think we can. I don't think he is a bad one," Grace replied.
"Hm… Well, I don't want to just take his words at face value, but I think it makes sense. Master must have prepared an army nearby to assault the Council of Charites. He hadn't begun the attack because none of his scouts came back with a report. Now that he returned with a clear knowledge that this faction is vulnerable, it's time to attack."
"Spring Crown just explained to me. It is roughly like what you said," Grace informed. "Master's scouts just happened to find out about this faction's location after conquering Hydrurond. Hence, Master took a portion of his army to raze this place. He has been keeping the army back until he has a clear picture of what awaits them. But… Why is he still coming here? He has already gotten the divine heritage."
"I am here," Jack said. "Plus… Talia and those other natives from her faction serve as a rich pool of exp points and loot. I don't think Master would let them go."
"What about us?" Stefan asked. "He was still bewildered but he roughly understood the situation after hearing the conversation."
"I don't think he cared about players, but it is still best to avoid his army. If any of you have Town Return Scroll, you better use it. How long do we have?" Jack asked Grace.
"I'll ask," Grace went silent for a while. She then said. "He said he isn't sure. He isn't with the army. He has used a Town Return Scroll. If the army was waiting in its previous position, then we should only have around two hours."
"I will go warn Talia," Jack said and ran to where Talia was.
Talia saw Jack running to him with a serious expression. She asked, "Something's the matter?"
"Yes," Jack said. "The outworlder who has stolen your faction's divine heritage. He is on his way here with an army. We must leave at once."
"Hasn't he already gotten what he came here for?" Talia asked the same question as Grace.
"He probably thinks there are more treasures here," Jack answered. He didn't feel that mentioning the exp points and loots to these natives was appropriate.
"We only have two hours at most. Are all of you good to move?" Jack asked the natives who were with Talia. These natives instead turned to Talia for a decision.
"We don't need to move," Talia said. She lifted her hand and a glowing orb appeared. Jack remembered this was the same orb that floated to her after Euphosine was defeated.
"This is our faction's legacy. Euphosine seized it when she came into power," Talia explained. "Now that all my sisters are gone, I'm the sole proprietor of it. Inside it is the control board for our base. Our base might be in ruin, but it still has enough power to teleport itself back to where it was originally located."
Jack didn't see anything that looked like a control board but Talia's hands were dancing in the air. This was probably only visible to the user, like the monarch system.
"All of you will be teleported following this base?" Jack asked.
"Everyone who is within the mansion and this garden will be teleported," Talia informed.
Hearing that, Jack said. "In that case, give me a moment before you start the teleportation process."
Jack cast the Soar spell and floated up so everyone could see him. He then used mana manipulation to enhance his voice. "Everyone, listen up…!"
Everyone turned to him upon his shout.
"I know all of you are still confused but know that your time in captivity is over. The host of the game you are forced to play is no more. You are free! However, you are not safe yet. At this moment, Liguritudum's army is heading here. They might leave you alone, they might not. If any of you want to leave, you have better do it now. In a few minutes, this base will be teleported somewhere else. I can see that most of you are ethereals, draconians, and elves. Your countries are close by. Once we teleported, you might find yourselves far away from home. So, leave now if you wish to do so. Use your Town Return Scroll or go out of the confine of this garden."
One of the players down there shouted back, "Who the hell are you? Why should we listen to you?"
Another loud voice that was also powered by mana manipulation, resounded in the air. "He is your savior, you ungrateful toad! He is the one who defeated the host of this game and free you from captivity!!"
Everyone turned to the voice and saw Freddie. A large portion of the players knew him. He was the reigning champion of the game so most have crossed paths with him during the battle royale match.
Upon the declaration, many now saw Jack with different eyes.
One of the players slapped the head of the one who had shouted back at Jack. "Don't you see his outfit? That is the Themisphere King, you dolt."
Seeing that everyone is more agreeable, Jack declared. "You have two minutes. Afterward, you will have to follow to wherever this place takes you."
Jack floated down back to Talia's side. "Give them two minutes," Jack said to her.