The order for a retreat had been given, but both the Themisphere and the Sangrod armies weren't just letting the enemies go. They continued to chase and kill the enemy soldiers, forcing Linda to sacrifice a majority of the remaining zombie army.
Jack, Therras, Arlcard, his royal agents, and the two dragons joined in the pursuit. Linda had no choice but to break the fleeing army into many small divisions while the zombie army continued to sacrifice themselves to cover the escape.
The Liguritudum army continued to suffer casualties as the pursuit continued for the remainder of the day.
A bare-chested young man with white hair was watching all this while sitting casually at the top of a mountain near Messephyria. His eyes were able to see the battle down there with detailed clarity despite the great distance.
"If you want to watch, this is a better spot. Why hide back there?" The young man, who was the God of Greed, called out.
Someone who wore both a robe and armor materialized behind him. This person wore a helmet but he had no face. He was the God of Pride.
"Why are you here?" Pride asked.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm enjoying the show. Why are you here?" Greed asked back.
"I'm here to make sure no divine beings interfere with what is happening down there," Pride answered.
"Oh? Why do you want to do that? I thought you were an ally to the Liguritudum ruler. They are losing right now. Aren't you going to do something?"
"I'm not that outworlder's ally!" Pride exclaimed. "I'm here to carry out Brother Hope's last wish. I will keep any divine beings from interfering with mortals' affairs."
"So, you know the truth about Hope," Greed said.
Pride didn't say anything in response.
"Still, it is rich hearing about you honoring his will, considering you were the reason for his demise," Greed mocked.
"I know," Pride didn't appear hurt by the statement. "I'm carrying out his will as my penance. I know this won't absolve my sin, but honoring his will is now the purpose of my existence."
"Hehe, then you should probably pay attention to one of your sisters," Greed said. "She is mixing in with the outworlders."
"She is just trying to understand the outworlders, these so-called creators of our world. She doesn't use her divine power to aid them. If she does, she will have me to answer to."
Greed chuckled.
"Well, in any case, you have nothing to worry about from me. I have no intention of interfering… for now," Greed said. He stood up. "The show is over. Catch you later."
Greed vanished from there, leaving Pride who continued gazing at the scenery below.
*
After the Liguritudum army fled, the army returned to gather at Messephyria. Most players continued roaming the country to hunt for enemy soldiers who happened to lose their way when the army split. For every enemy soldier killed, they gained war contribution points. Not to mention there were also exp and loot gains. Now that the enemy army was broken, hunting down these divided soldiers could be done in small groups.
The native army left this matter to the outworlders. Considering the outworlder's passion, they believed the Liguritudum soldiers would completely be chased out of Hydrurond by the end of the week.
After returning from the chase, the Themisphere army, the Hydrurond army, the Sangrod army, and the Palgrost legion reviewed their losses.
The legion of 20,000 Palgrost soldiers that Jack brought with him only had a few hundred survivors. Their leaders, Broban and Jobreak, were among those who survived.
The Hydrurond army was left with a little below 100,000. Dytess was now organizing these soldiers to help clear the rubbles and help the civilians in the capital, as well as hunt down any zombie that happened to be trapped inside the capital when the rest of the enemies fled. Messephyria was close to becoming ruins after suffering two sieges.
The Themisphere army Jack led from Palgrost also lost quite a number. His one-million-strong army was reduced to only 200,000. Arther also fell. Luckily, the lord marshall was among those protected by the Revival Pool.
The resurrection effect from the Revival Pool took place one hour after Arther's death. This one hour was to give someone on the field the chance to do the resurrection, either by spell or potion. If no resurrection was conducted, then the wonder building took action.
Arther should now be back in Themisphere. Particularly Thehemburgh, the city where the revival pool was constructed. It would take him some time to return here.
As for Hydrurond and Palgrost players, around 80% died.
Most of the casualties, whether natives or outworlders, were the defenders inside the capital. The Sangrod army that came later didn't suffer heavy casualties like those defenders. Out of the 1,600,000 Sangrod troops, they lost only half a million. They still had more than a million troops ready to continue the war campaign.
As for the one million Themisphere players John brought, 30% fell. Most of the fallen ones were also players who were still rookies in war. They hadn't joined any previous war in the past. The experts from guilds all survived the battle.
Broidrireg was still hanging around. His one-day time limit was not yet over. He was chatting with Tiemezzys by the main gate of Messephyria. This intimidated the natives and players who went in and out of the capital. The two dragons ignored those people, though.
Jack spared his time to come and thank Tiemezzys for his aid. The yellow dragon only grunted for a response. He still didn't feel good about Jack. He made his feelings known. He said he was only here because Broidrireg asked him to.
Broidrireg explained that he asked Tiemezzys to fly here once he received Jack's warning to be ready two days before the siege began. Tiemezzys was a guest in Broidrireg's lair at the time. He had come to check the truth about Jack's words and truly found Broidrireg to be Themisphere's new country guardian.
Jack asked Tiemezzys if he was interested in becoming Hydrurond's country guardian, to which Tiemezzys rejected outright. He said he had no interest in getting tied down again.
Jack didn't push. He instead asked Broidrireg if he knew where Eoranth was. Perhaps if Eoranth learned that Aldryth was now the sovereign of Hydrurond, Eoranth might be willing to return.
Broidrireg told Jack that he knew not of Eoranth's location. He also told Jack to not count on Eoranth's willingness to return. Eoranth's pact was with Aldryth's ancestor, not Aldryth. His act of helping Aldryth during her escape was simply him honoring her ancestor. He had no responsibility to continue the pact, especially if the descendants had proven their incompetence by losing the throne.
