'That's right!' Makubwa thought. The useless third army.
"Prepare the messaging device!" Makubwa ordered. "We will give the responsibility of reestablishing the supply line to the lord chief who led the third army. This is his time to prove his usefulness in this war."
The aides hurriedly prepared the device for the war chief. A message scroll was transmitted via the black hole created by the device. This scroll soon fell onto the table inside a room in Thesewal. A soldier who was stationed there immediately took the scroll and brought it to the lord chief.
*
Abdu was standing atop Thesewal's wall as he gazed into the direction of the Slaughterer Plains. All his army did now was simply positioned themselves near the forts of the two passes without doing any meaningful assaults.
This was even more so the past few days. Supplies had stopped coming in so troops had been pulled back to this temporary base to save its consumption.
They fared much better compared to the first and second armies because they didn't have any large-scale conflict. Hence, their supplies were still well-stocked. But the matter of the missing supplies concerned him. Was it the same for the first and second armies? Or they simply didn't get any supplies because the supplies were distributed to the other two armies? He had no problem with that. He knew the other two armies needed the supplies more than his army.
An orc soldier was running towards him. He frowned. What's the rush?
The orc arrived and handed him a scroll. It bore the mark of the first army. Abdu received the scroll and read it. His furrowed brow turned deeper.
At this time, Abasi came. He had just returned with the army who laid the siege on the fort in Slaughterer Plains. Beside him were his trusted aides, Badu Thicksull and Hubesi Loudroar.
"Father, is something wrong?" Abasi asked after seeing his father's furrow.
"Here," Abdu handed the scroll to his son who received it with his one remaining hand. They would need to return to Verremor before they could request the Church of Creation or the Healer Society for treatment to regrow the missing arm. It won't be cheap, though.
Abasi read its content. It informed them about the destroyed supply depot and the suspicion of a human army sabotaging their supply route. They were ordered to send their army to secure the route and make sure the next supplies reached the fighting armies here in Themisphere.
"These conniving humans!" Abasi uttered with anger. The scroll was crumpled in his hand. "Should have known they will use a cowardly move like this."
"What I'm wondering is where did they get so many soldiers? They should be stretched thin dealing with our three armies," Abdu said. "Unless…"
"What insight do you have, father?" Abasi asked.
"Unless the human troops guarding these two passes are not as many as I first assumed them to be," Abdu continued. "We have been avoiding full assault on those forts as we don't want to suffer heavy casualties."
"Then shouldn't we attack now if so?" Badu asked. He had been so eager for a full assault on Slaughterer Plains fort because he had heard that the outworlder who was responsible for his son's death was there.
Abdu was silent for a while. He then said, "The supply line matter is more urgent. We will do as Makubwa requested. We will send a part of our army to intercept this human force who has sneaked behind us."
"How many should we send?" Abasi asked.
"350,000 natives and 50,000 outworlders," Abdu replied.
"That's almost half our army. Do father think the human force that attacks the supply lines has that many troops?"
"No. But we still need to send out a number that guarantees success in protecting the supplies. Otherwise, we will lose this war. We depend on those supplies to be able to stay here."
Abasi understood his father's reasoning. He didn't argue anymore. "Who will lead this interceptor force then?"
"You," Abdu replied. "And once you deal with these sneaking human troops, you are to return to Verremor and seek treatment for your arm."
"But, father! I need to see this war to its end!"
"Your future is more important! The longer you let that wound stays, the harder it is to heal. Even the Church of Creation or the Healer Society won't be able to heal you then. Do not worry about this war. You make sure those supplies are returned to the front line, and I promise you we will win this war."
"I… Yes, father…," Abasi conceded.
"Badu, Hubesi, you two go with him," Abdu ordered.
"Lord Chief, no!" Badu uttered. "I have to stay here. I need to find that outworlder!"
"This is an order! Unless you want to be court-martialed and expelled from the army, you do what I command!"
Badu's face turned dark, but he didn't dare to rebut the lord chief. He could only silently bow his head with unwillingness and anger.
Ever since Jack's existence was known, Abdu had been trying to keep Badu in Thesewal or send him to the troops that fought at Themisphylae pass. But Badu insisted to head to the Slaughter Plains because he wanted revenge on Jack for his son.
It's a good thing that Jack didn't show his face during this time, so Badu was still in control.
Abdu always liked Badu, because he used to be a calm soldier. Abdu had personally picked Badu as his son's right-hand man to keep his son's impulses in check. But ever since Badu lost his son in a skirmish with the human army at the Fulgur region, this calm orc had become a shadow of his old self.
Abdu was concerned with Badu's increasing agitation. Especially when he couldn't get to Jack who was rumored to be inside Slaughterer Plains fort. There had been instances where Badu persuaded Abasi, who led the army there, to make a forceful assault on the fort, despite Abdu's order to stay out of range. Luckily, Abasi kept a cool head.
If this kept going on, Badu might charge with his regiment on his own. Abdu believed a leader needed a cool head because a mistake in decision-making might cost the lives of the soldiers under that leader. Badu was no longer such a leader. Abdu thought this was the perfect chance to get Badu away from where Jack was rumored to be.
"Prepare the army. You will leave at first light tomorrow," Abdu ordered.
"Yes, father," Abasi replied.
A portion of the armies from the two passes was pulled back to Thesewal before being reorganized. The reorganizing of the army took the rest of the night. After a few hours of sleep, the four hundred thousand strong troops were ready to depart when the sun was up.
Abasi and the others were at the head of the army. He also brought several high-level officers with him in case the enemy was stronger than expected. Among those officers were Lubanzi and Bishara, who fought with him at the Slaughterer Plains against Jack's army.
Abdu came by to send them off.
"Go. You hold the key to the victory of this invasion," Abdu told his son.
"I will bring victory to our people," Abasi replied.
Abdu nodded. He put his hands on Abasi's shoulder. "You are my pride, son. Know that. Don't ever doubt yourself. You are meant to achieve great height, but you have to take care of yourself for that."
"Thanks, father. I understand," Abasi replied. "I will return and seek healing once we are done routing the sneaking humans."
"Good. Go!" Abdu uttered.
The army started to march toward the Fulgur region. Abdu watched them as they left.
Among the players arranged into this army were three guilds that had guild headquarters. Two among the three were Cipher Flight and Warsong Rising. Despite Cipher Flight's tense relationship with Abasi, the guild volunteered to join this intercepting army. Other than the first battle on the Slaughterer Plains, the rest of the days had been extremely dull. The siege they did are all half-hearted attempts. There was no real effort to occupy the forts. If they continued to stay here, they won't get any contribution points.
"Sorry, master. It seemed that you don't have the chance to fight this player I mentioned," Four Winds said to an elderly female orc beside him. "I am not sure if there will be a battle at all if we stay here. We should follow this interceptor army to collect war contribution points."
"It's my fault to arrive late. If it's not my fate to meet the person who had troubled my best disciples, then so be it," the old orc woman said.
As for Warsong Rising, Abasi was the guild's benefactor, so it was only appropriate for the guild to follow the warlord. Their leader, Phithion, had just ridden through the desert from Verremor to here with other players who had died. He wore the amulet of rebirth when he died but still lost a level. He had just arrived back here a few days ago, only to be told to return to the desert again.
"Boss, you just passed through the Fulgur region, right? Do you not see this human army that we are going to hunt?" One of his guild members, a battle monk named Gerion, asked.
"I am just focused on getting here. I ain't really following the route we took the first time we came here, so I don't see any army," Phithion replied. He then sighed, "Damn it. I have been rushing here to get my revenge on that blasted player who killed me. It is such a pity that I won't get my chance now."
Gerion was baffled by the statement. 'Dude, did you forget he killed you using a heaven-defying explosion that also slayed so many natives? If I am you, I will run the hell away when I see him again.'
Phithion, on the other hand, didn't think that the explosion Jack caused was due to Jack's own power. He believed Jack had used a very rare consumable, which was a one-time use. The next time they met, he trusted that Jack won't be able to do the same again.
