Chapter 1658 Chapter 1658. A Third Party
Abasi was baffled by Four Winds' remark, but he didn't let this disturb his focus. He was not an amateur who was rattled simply by the opponent's words. His assaults remained strong and fierce, but then he heard a commotion from the Southern part of the forest. At the same time, another healing light fell on Four Winds. The two things finally caused his concentration to falter. His movements paused.
Four Winds didn't waste the chance. He capitalized on the opportunity by activating Royal Barbarian Blood. His blood veins bulged as all his attributes increased. His Power Strike blew Abasi back. He then followed up by using Titan Blow.
Abasi had no choice but to defend when the illusory fist slammed into him. He was thrown further back.
Four Winds didn't charge over. He stayed in his position and issued orders for everyone to solidify their barricade around the war table. Now that a third party had shown up and taken the Aurebor army's attention, they had more latitude in working their formation.
*
This third party was none other than Themisphere's second army that departed from Themisphere. While everyone thought this army followed John into Hydrurond, John sent them elsewhere instead. John only marched with the Outworlder army and the mobile fortress.
Just like how Linda predicted John's strategy, John also somewhat predicted her mother's attempt at countering him. He knew Linda would be preparing a trap to deal with the Verremor army coming into Aurebor. What it was, he didn't know. Hence, he sent this second Themisphere army to meet up with the Verremor force as reinforcement.
They didn't expect Verremor's army to be attacked the moment they entered Aurebor's border. Luckily, the second Themisphere army wasn't far off. This army departed earlier than John and his outworlder army. When John was still installing siege weapons onto the mobile fortress, this army had set out. Hence, they arrived in Aurebor which was further than Hydrurond the same day that John's force reached Messephyria.
Fierce Flame and Life Runner followed this second army. They were the ones communicating with Four Winds. From their messaging, this second army knew about the Verremor army's position and situation.
This second Themisphere army numbered 1,500,000 troops. With such a number, the Aurebor army couldn't just brush this force off.
Mistress had been yelling non-stop in her command base, expressing her dissatisfaction on how her army couldn't take down the Verremor force even after so long. Lead Designer was also astonished by the orcs' persistence even when Verremor was losing. Now, a disadvantageous factor had presented itself and he was even more at a loss for what he should do. Mistress was also stunned speechless when she saw so many enemy forces suddenly appear at their flanks.
The Aurebor army was still more advantageous in terms of terrain, but they didn't hold the number advantage anymore. The morale of the Verremor force also improved once they learned that their allies had arrived. Additionally, there was also the secret tech that had been learned from research, Coordinated Strike: Verremor, rank: 1.
This tech put a debuff on the Aurebor army because they were facing both Themisphere and Verremor's armies. The elven soldiers suddenly found themselves slightly weaker.
Another important point from the reinforcement was the addition of two high-level mythical-grade officers, Emris and Duchess Isabelle. Both were veteran magic-class combatants who possessed many AOE offensive spells. While the human army hit the unsuspecting Aurebor soldiers in their flanks, the two rained spells down on the enemies.
The battle continued. An hour after the Themisphere army showed themselves, Four Winds and the others finally managed to secure a better barricade around the war table. They lost some siege weapons. The ones they could save were brought to this secure position.
Four Winds gave the signal and the guild players used their Guild Army Summoning Crystals. Soon, even more reinforcements appeared and the battle further tipped to Verremor's side.
All eleven Verremor guilds with headquarters joined this war, but only ten of them summoned their guild armies. The one that didn't summon their guild army was Cipher Flight. Four Winds didn't explain but the other guild players didn't ask. They all knew Cipher Flight's prowess. If the guild didn't call their guild army, that meant more war contribution points for them. They didn't complain.
Emris, who was casting his spells to aid his army below, had his attention taken by the two figures that battled high up in the sky. Duchess Isabelle, who saw Emris stop attacking, came to his side.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"That is the Eldritch Beholder," Emris answered.
"The great brood mother of the Beholders?" Isabelle said with a surprise. "I thought that creature was just a myth."
"That creature deserves its mythic legend. The eldritch beholder was a monster that could fight on equal ground with the strongest of the true dragons. The myth even said that it took the combined might of all the true dragons to take her down when she still had her broods with her."
"What's the creature from that myth doing here?" Isabelle asked.
"From the look of things, that Eldritch Beholder is Aurebor's country guardian."
"What…?!" Isabelle found it hard to believe. The last intel was that Aurebor had lost its country guardian after Mistress ascended. "Can Quetzalcoatl win?" She asked.
"They appeared evenly matched for now, but I predict Quetzalcoatl will be in trouble as time passes. If Quetzalcoatl lost, the Eldritch Beholder can turn the tide in the battle down here."
"Can we do something?" Isabelle asked.
"We will have little impact dealing with that creature. Its anti-magic ability is the bane of us magic class, but someone might be able to keep the stalemate between those two behemoths long enough until we defeat the Aurebor's army."
"Who?" Isabelle asked.
Emris signaled for Isabelle to follow him.
*
In the battle near Verremor's command base, Makubwa was still trying to chase Ashira, Aurebor's lord protector. He had little success in the endeavor. This frustrated him greatly. He released his frustration on the nearby elven soldiers every time Ashira escaped his assault.
Ashira also couldn't deal much damage to Makubwa despite her constant kiting. Samuhn continued to cause interference that caused Ashira to be unable to focus her attacks on Makubwa.
When Makubwa was about to make another charge at Ashira, he saw a giant ice coffin that suddenly encapsulated Ashira's body. Ashira was greatly surprised by this ambush but she was responsive enough to use Vanish. She escaped before the ice coffin trapped her.
Makubwa recognized this spell. He was the target of this spell in the past. He looked up and saw the one who had cast the spell.
"Greetings, friend," Emris greeted as he floated down to where Makubwa was.