It was past midnight. Yet, the battle didn't appear to end anytime soon. What's more, the demon horde started appearing out of the multiple exits on Mount Sedgebare's foot.
These demons took no time to pounce at the Liguritudum army.
After seeing the situation inside the capital, Master knew this was inevitable. He came back outside and informed Linda. Linda had rejoined and rearranged the army manually to prepare them for the attack from the rear. Without the war table, this took great effort.
Master stayed behind his army and used the Necronomicon to revive the dead that was within range. The troops protected him while he did that.
John didn't give them a good time doing those. He knew full well about the demon horde. He expected the demons to only come out near the disaster item's final hour. But because of the demons' high movement speed, they came out sooner than expected. John was glad about this. He adjusted his army position and made sure the Liguritudum army was boxed in so they couldn't escape the incoming demon horde.
Due to this, the Liguritudum army was suffering what Boron's army inside the capital was experiencing, getting pinned by two enemies from opposite sides.
*
Inside the capital, the battle was also still raging. While the Liguritudum army outside was still strong despite being beset by two sides, Boron's army was at the edge of defeat.
Most of the siege weapons were already destroyed. The few remaining were close to collapsing. They had long stopped firing at the diamond gate. The rune diagram on the gate was now slowly replenishing its HP.
All the guild players on Boron's side with the summoning platforms had been killed. The Dogs of War members made sure of this as they sneaked through the enemy's ranks and assassinated these players. There were no more guild armies at play.
The zombie army continued to reduce in number as the demon horde came at them non-stop. They were now less than a quarter of their original number.
Boron's army also suffered greatly. They had fallen to around 300,000 troops. Thelgrun's army now outnumbered them more than three times.
Boron had been fighting Thelgrun and Jeanny. He was not doing too well. Under the two's punishment, he had lost a substantial number of HP. He now had his soldiers covering him while he moved away. Even with his conceit, he knew defeat when he saw it.
He wanted to escape, but the enemies were everywhere. There was nowhere to go. Thelgrun's army was in front while the demon horde was at his back. In his panic, he called for a squad of his army to punch through the side. He had to get away from this place!
He saw Sizhad then.
Sizhad was also not having a good time. Many of his members had been killed. He was currently fighting multiple opponents at the same time. With a skilled move, he grappled one of these opponents around the throat and used this opponent as a human shield while he fired at the other opponents.
He sensed a killing intent again, but he was slightly slower this time. A bullet struck his side. He turned and caught a glimpse of Serpent Boss disappearing amidst the crowd.
"Sneaky bastard…!!!" Sizhad cursed.
A group of native soldiers came then. They beat back Sizhad's opponents.
"Sizhad, we have to get out of here!" Boron was the one who led this native squad.
Sizhad looked at Boron with a complicated expression. He said, "Follow me. I know a secret way out."
He called for his nearby guild members who were still alive. They quickly regrouped while fighting through the enemies.
Leaving the main battlefield, Sizhad led the group to an alley near the edge of the cave hall. Thelgrun's force stopped chasing them but there were still plenty of demons.
They fought their way, losing a good number of people in the process. When they reached what looked like a noble's house, Sizhad broke the house's door and rushed in. Boron asked him what they were doing entering this house but Sizhad ignored his question.
Sizhad went down into the basement. In the basement was a door. He opened it and behind it was a long underground tunnel.
"What is this place?" Boron asked again after seeing the tunnel.
"I used to work with the noble who owned this house," Sizhad finally answered. "He secretly built this tunnel as a means to smuggle things from the slum district. Let's go. We should be able to sneak out using the exit from the slum district."
The group entered the tunnel. They numbered fewer than one hundred. They abandoned their entire army to save their hides. This army was still dying up there as they continued to fight, unaware that their leaders had left.
*
After going through the tunnel for some time, they climbed out into a house in the slum district. They came out of that house and made their way to the exit. They heard the sounds of the demons roaming around. They traveled in silence to avoid attracting those demons.
The official exit from the slum districts was crawling with demons. Sizhad led them to another path. They climbed to the roof and then entered a small secret cave that took them outside the mountain. They came out into the cold air of the night.
"Damn! F*ck!! This is shit! How can this happen?" Boron started cursing once they were outside.
"Lower your voice. There might be demons out here as well. You will attract them," Sizhad warned.
"I will shout as I like!" Boron yelled defiantly. "I'm supposed to be the president by now. Not waddling through secret tunnels and caves to escape like a common criminal. This is not my fate! I refuse to–"
Boron's words stuck as a dagger stabbed into his throat. He was then pulled to the ground when a rapid shot was fired point-blank on his face.
Boron hit the ground with eyes that stared at Sizhad. He didn't believe this outworlder turned on him.
"You are never going to be the president," Sizhad said. "After we defeat Thelgrun, the plan is to get rid of you and I will replace you as the puppet president under Liguritudum. You are never meant to be anything!"
Sizhad unleashed Bulletstorm. All the shots were directed at Boron on the ground. Boron's HP was already low to start. He died after the barrage of bullets.
The native soldiers who followed Boron only numbered ten. The rest were Sizhad's guild members. These native soldiers were also attacked when Sizhad made his move. These native soldiers quickly followed their leader to the grave.
"What should we do now?" Giddo, who was among the players, asked.
"We will regroup with World Maker," Sizhad answered. He took one last look at Boron's body on the ground. His guild members were picking up loot from the fallen natives. He spat at the corpse and left.
