"A hundred thousand?" Jack was amazed. When they went on the expedition to Temple of the Divine Squall with three thousand soldiers, the army already seemed like a lot.
Duke Alfredo misinterpreted Jack's reaction, thinking that the outworlder thought the number was few. "He was not yet king, so he can only summon a fraction of the country's army. The ones that come to his summon are mostly those under the commanders and nobles who support him."
'A hundred thousand is just a fraction?' Jack thought. He was even more amazed now.
"Therribus must have expected the news of Rhemos' death to be known soon, so it is unlikely he can ambush Alonzo as he did to Rhemos," Mason said. "That's why he is assembling this army. He is planning for a direct battle to deal with Alonzo."
"How many troops does Prince Alonzo bring with him?" Jack asked.
"Including the outworlders that joined, their numbers are around ten thousand," Mason answered.
"That's too few if compared to Therribus' army," Jack said dejectedly.
"Alonzo is only going for royal visits, taking that many troops are already impressive. No one is expecting a war will break," Mason said. "It will still take Therribus several days before their army arrived at Theneward. We will do as we have discussed, we will gather the available army here before marching there to provide support."
In the discussion they had, they reviewed the number of troops they could gather. It was thirty thousand. Jack complained about how come the capital could muster only so few soldiers compared to Therribus? Mason answered that many officials in the army were loyal to Therribus, or at least didn't want to offend him. That's why they couldn't muster too many numbers.
Even combined with the troops at Alonzo's side, their total number was only forty thousand. Not even half of Therribus' army. Considering the situation, Mason said he would issue a public summon for the war effort. The royal advisor explained this summon would allow outworlders to join. The summon would be broadcasted from both the Guilds Association and Adventurers Association in the form of a quest. Guilds Association targeted the guilds while Adventurers Association was for the independent players.
Guilds would be able to summon their headquarters troop to join the battle when it happened. But Peniel explained that the summon troops would only last for one day and it would have a one-week cooldown. So, guilds couldn't just summon their troops anytime they wanted. They would require good timing to allow the guild troops to be effective.
Jack asked a non-related question, what if a guild took advantage of this feature not to help the war effort but instead to summon their troops in monster-infested areas to help them level up? Peniel answered that any guild who utilized the troops for anything other than the war effort would receive a penalty. Additionally, guilds couldn't just summon their troops anywhere. They could only activate their Guild Army Summoning Crystal near the main banner of the army they supported.
Royal Advisor Mason and Duke Alfredo estimated if the outworlders and their guilds joined, it should cover most of their disadvantage in number. Still, this summons only bulked up the number, since most outworlders were only as good as the regular soldiers at this stage. Not to mention, Outworlders' HP was low. They would die like flies if they didn't have decent enough expertise. Therribus' army that had more elite soldiers would still be at an advantage.
They concluded that this was the best they could do at this time.
"The force in Theneward will protect Prince Alonzo while waiting for our reinforcement, right?" Jack asked.
At this time, a messenger arrived and whispered something to Royal Advisor Mason. Mason's expression turned to a scowl after hearing it.
"Something's wrong?" Duke Alfredo asked.
"The city of Theneward had just informed that they didn't wish to get dragged into this civil war. They won't close their door when Prince Therribus' army arrived," Mason answered.
"How can they do that? Isn't that the same as sacrificing Prince Alonzo?" Duke Alfredo complained.
"They are quite adamant about it. I don't think there is anything we can do to change their minds," Mason said. "In that case, the only choice Prince Alonzo has is to go here."
There was a large table in this meeting room. It could generate a 3D projection map just like the platform inside the Guild Hall, but the map here showed the entire country. Mason had zoomed in to the area around Theneward. He was now pointing at a structure that looked like a fort.
"Tell Prince Alonzo to head to Fort Garadhor," Mason said. "It was an old fort, but it has fortification to defend against a siege. It should buy them enough time until our reinforcement arrives. Ask them to buy enough supplies before heading out. The fort has been mostly deserted so no supply is stocked there."
Jack immediately sent the instruction to Jeanny, who relayed it to Prince Alonzo and his retinues.
"Hopefully, they can hold out until we arrive," Duke Alfredo said with concern.
"They have Duchess Isabelle. She should be able to keep everyone safe inside the fort," Jack said. "She is a Mythical grade. She has also fully recovered. If Therribus wants to force his way into the fort, he will have to sacrifice lots of his men."
"I'm afraid it won't be that easy," Mason said. "In the reports I have received, General Arther Pendrake has taken up arms to join Therribus. He is one of the three Themysphere's Lord Marshalls, a war hero who guarded one of our borders and had seen many conflicts. He was also a level 80 Mythical-grade, same as the duchess."
"What's a war hero like that do joining Therribus?" Jack asked.
Mason simply shook his head in silence.
"Still. He is a melee type, while Isabelle is a magic user," Duke Alfredo said. "As long as she cast her spell from within the fort, Arther won't be able to get to her. But that also meant that she needs to concentrate on Arther to prevent him from breaching the fort, she won't be able to help with the other fortifications."
"After all is said, we still need to get there fast!" Jack said. "How soon can we leave?"
"The request for summons has been issued. The call should have reached every outworlder by now," Mason said. Jack also heard the notification an hour before. "As for the native army, tomorrow will be the soonest when we can gather everything."
"How long will the journey take?" Jack asked again.
"With the speed of the army, I will say around twelve to fourteen days," Mason answered.
'That long…?' Jack thought. He could just teleport and arrive there today, but what could he do alone?
"Then we leave tomorrow," Jack said.
"By then, we might not have many outworlders joining yet," Alfredo said.
"Don't need to worry about the outworlders, they can teleport to Theneward and join us from there. Speaking of which, can the army teleport themselves directly to Theneward using Zone Portal?"
"I'm afraid that is not possible," Mason said. "You outworlders are special that you can use the teleportation features without any cost. For us, natives, every time we use them, we need mana cores. The number to transport an army will be astronomical. There is no way we can afford it. The army will have to travel by normal means."
Jack nodded an understanding. That's why in the past, the army didn't just teleport to Thesewal during the expedition to the Temple of the Divine Squall.
"If everything is decided, the two of you take some rest. I believe you will be joining the army tomorrow?" Mason asked.
"Yes," Duke Alfredo answered.
"Aye," Jack confirmed.
Mason nodded. "I will deal with the preparation of the army. You two just make sure to have enough rest before departing."
The royal advisor then left. Jack heard him calling for his aides as he headed somewhere.
"I will send words for my personal troops as well and then I will rest for tomorrow's departure," Duke Alfredo said. "You should take a rest as well."
Jack nodded. He was indeed tired. He had not slept since yesterday.
Jack and Red Death left the palace. Jack decided to go to Amy's bakery for a short shut-eye before preparing for tomorrow. Jack offered Red Death to stay there as well, but she refused. She said she would look for her own accommodation. She would meet him tomorrow morning before departing with the army. Jack sent her a friend request so they could communicate. She finally accepted it this time.
When Jack entered Amy's Bakery, Amy was delighted to see him come during the day. Jack had a short chat with her. When Amy saw how tired Jack was, she understood and told him to go rest. Jack slept until the sun was about to set. He was still tired but he decided to wake up as he needed to make some preparations. He could rest again later.
