Later that day, Horatio and his additional army arrived, further bolstering the Allied forces. Jack met the vampire emperor and told him about the situation. Horatio agreed to wait for Jack's signal before summoning his country guardian.
Aside from Sangrod's additional force, Emris was also back with the army. He brought with him several resurrection potions the palace alchemists had concocted.
The bombardment continued as the previous days, albeit at a slower pace. Master, Azzarilth, Zorvis, and other capable players or natives used their defensive abilities to block the bombardment. They couldn't cover every assault, though. The wall's HP continued to decrease.
On the second day since Azzarilth showed up, John sent a message, "They are buying for time."
"Buying time for what?" Jack asked.
"I don't know, but I prefer not to find out," John answered. "They are too diligent in slowing down the wall's decay. They don't look like people who are doing it out of desperation for the inevitable. There is a sense of hope in their action. They are waiting for something."
"Can't you interrogate Gridhacker to find out what he knows?"
"I already did. He didn't know what plan Master and Linda prepared to defend against our force. He didn't even know about Azzarilth. He just knew that Master had secured a new country guardian and that Master was confident that he could win."
"What do you suggest?" Jack asked.
"I suggest we go full force," John answered. "The parts of the wall we are assaulting are already low in HP. If we keep like what we are doing now, we should be able to destroy the wall in two days, or three days top. But if we charge now and focus on one, we can destroy a part of the wall by today."
"We will lose men…," Jack said.
"I know. But if my deduction is correct, we might lose even more men if we wait," John said in return.
Jack was hesitant. This was the time when he hated being a leader. He had to make a decision based on assumption and limited information which could cost the lives of his people. Everything would have been much simpler if he was still an independent player. Either pick left or right. A bad decision was still better than no decision. That philosophy was easy when the life at stake was his own, which would not even die a permanent death. It was much heavier when they involved the lives of natives who died permanently.
Jack took a deep breath. He called Arther, Four Winds, Jennifer, Thelgrun, Horatio, and Dytess to his command base. They were representatives to each of the armies within the Allied forces. He relayed John's suspicion to them.
"Do you want to take a vote?" Four Winds asked.
"… No," Jack said. "Unless any of you have a strong objection, I will take the responsibility. We charge the wall."
Jack looked at the faces of the six. None of them showed any objection. They couldn't tell if this was the correct decision or not because they didn't have sufficient information.
"To express my responsibility, Themisphere army will act as the spearhead," Jack said.
"My country's special units, Black Shields, are one of the best defensive units. They will follow the vanguard force you send for the first wave," Four Winds offered.
"So are our Armored Busters," Thelgrun said. "I will have them follow your vanguard force. In addition, my Cannoneers will follow closely from behind to contribute to the wall's bombardment."
"Thank you very much," Jack said to the two. "Please go and tell your people. We will commence our assault two hours from now. Please get everyone ready."
After the six left, Jack sent a message to John informing him about the decision. Jack also called the representatives from the players' community and told them the same news. He asked them to prepare for the assault. The guild leaders with the guild army summoning crystal readied themselves inside the mobile fortress. Native forces with war tables also did the same. The mobile fortress was currently the best defensible place to operate from.
John stayed with the fleet. He wouldn't be operating the war table. The task was given to Tip. After commanding the guild army for some time, John considered Tip ready to take greater responsibility. As for their guild army, it would be given to Richard, the player whom Jack recruited during the incident with the Council of Charites.
Richard turned out to be a fan of real-time strategy games. He had many experiences playing such games in the past. He had been following and studying from Tip all this time. Today would be the day he put his practice to the test.
After giving everyone the command, Jack went to the mobile fortress' battlement and waited as everyone was getting ready.
"Are you ready?" Jack received John's message.
"I've given the command. Everyone is getting into position. We will advance soon," Jack answered.
"Good. One more thing I want you to know," John said. "I tasked the Dog of War to infiltrate the capital. I originally had them do that in preparation if we need to go full force on the wall like we are about to do now, to have them disrupt the enemy from the inside."
"Originally? So, you are not going to have them do that when we attack?"
"The number that managed to infiltrate the capital covertly is too few. The security around the wall is tighter than expected. Even with their expertise, they have difficulty infiltrating. Only around fifty of their guild members are inside. With such a small number, they won't make a difference. They will just be sacrificing themselves."
"I see. Have them wait until we break the wall then, they can join the battle once that happens," Jack said.
"No, I've altered their mission. They are to map a safe path to where Jeanny and the others are imprisoned. You said they are at one of the palace's balconies, didn't you? Can you make sure they are still at the same place?"
"I will use my staff's Eye of Surveillance again to make sure," Jack said.
"Good. Hopefully, they are still there. It's better to save Jeanny and the others while we still know where they are. Even if we win this war, Master might prepare an escape route and take them away. We better save them before that."
"I agree. I prefer they aren't held captive a second longer," Jack said.
"The Dogs of War will work their way there. They will let you know the path. Once you have the chance, try to sneak over. I doubt Master leaves normal guards to look after those captives. The Dogs of War will wait for you before they make their move. I'm sure Master will run back once he hears someone try to free those three. We will only have a short time to save them, so we will need someone with the highest firepower. You are the best candidate with the highest success chance for the task."
"Leave it to me!" Jack exclaimed.
"Just make sure Master didn't see your intention," John reminded.
