Chapter 457 - 457. Retreat?
'It was a native summoned by using a Companion Token,' Peniel explained to Jack. 'It was a very rare item at this stage. I am surprised she managed to get one. One needs a long process to gain the trust and respect of a native adventurer before one is presented with his or her Companion Token. Once one did, he or she could summon that native to aid them in time of need."
'As expected of a top guild, they also have their trump cards,' Jack commented.
The native in front of him was only a level 35 elite grade. But still, such a native possessed a ton of HP compared to players. He would not have the time to hack the native to death before he got surrounded again by the other experts.
The native was advancing at him, but Jack retreated instead.
"Hey, where are you going?" Princess Purple called out..
"Not playing with you anymore. See you!" Jack replied.
"Hey, come back here!" Princess Purple uttered in frustration, stomping her foot. She had always thought that her combination with Knight class was perfect. The knight protected her while she healed the knight, keeping him alive. But now she realized the weakness of such a combination. Both were slow-moving classes. If an opponent wanted to flee, they could do nothing but watch.
The only ones that could chase after Jack were the Rogues, spearheaded by Lustful Elly and Slim Blade, the Archers following behind closely.
Jack threw several Disruptive Bombs at them as he retreated. He no longer bought more Disruptive Bombs when he went to the Magic Associations shop but he still had some leftover stock. After the inflation, the cost-performance ratio of this tool was no longer beneficial. In addition, with players leveled up higher, the damage caused by this Disruptive Bomb was not anything to write about. Its only saving grace was its stopping ability, which was what Jack relied upon to stop these advancing experts.
He then used Charge to put more distance as he dived into the enemy formations and culled the weak.
Scarface, Manager Steelhand, and Queen Magenta looked from afar with grim faces. This was like the repeat of the Battle of Crestfall Plain. They then looked at the wall which they had been trying to breach. Although they had thrown everything without reserve, the defense was still standing. They continued to suffer casualties as the Bandit Archers and ranged players bombarded them from above while the Squires and melee players hold the line below.
If they were allowed the peace to organize a siege, things might have been different. But with Jack creating havoc inside their formation, they felt like they were the ones getting besieged from two sides.
"This can't go on," Manager Steelhand said.
"Wait, I still have something that might tip the scale," Scarface told him.
"What do you have in plan? Are you doing something behind our backs?" Queen Magenta asked.
"I had one of my best infiltrated inside," Scarface said. "She will let me know when…"
Scarface went quiet.
"When what?" Queen Magenta said with impatience.
"The infiltration failed," Scarface said.
"Failed?"
"A strong expert is guarding their Guild Core inside," Scarface explained. "Unless we go in with an army. It's unlikely we can destroy the Guild Core."
The three went silent for some time, contemplating the situation. They were unwilling. The defeat last time at Crestfall Plain had already hurt their reputation and cost them difficulty in recruiting new members. If they failed again this time, their influence in Thereath would truly go down the drain.
Although they had made contact with the other cities and joined back with many of their past members, they also found that this capital provided more facilities and services. So the capital remained the most lucrative place to develop. If they were forced to retreat to backwater cities to develop, people would look down upon them.
Yet, looking at the situation, a victory was rather unlikely.
"I want to use that item," Manager Steelhand suddenly uttered.
Scarface and Queen Magenta turned to him. Their faces showed confusion at first, but then a realization dawned. The two of them knew what item Manager Steelhand was referring to.
"If you use that, nobody will get this Guild Headquarters," Scarface said.
"Better than leaving it to them," Manager Steelhand replied.
"I agree. I would prefer this place get razed to the ground instead of letting these country bumpkins think that they are better than us," Queen Magenta said.
Scarface thought for a bit before saying, "okay. It is your item after all. If you want to use it, so be it. Let's make the preparation."
The three then started sending messages to the other coalition leaders in their Party system. Who then gave their command in their respective guild chats. The ones that received the message were confused at first. They tried to read the message again to make sure that they did not read wrong.
Not long after, the coalition army started to disengage from the wall and started retreating. The Knights used their shield to provide cover to the others when retreating.
The Man with his human and new orc underlings chased after the retreating force. Jeanny sent messages multiple times without success for him to not chase the fleeing enemies. She had to head over directly and knock the guy on the head before he listened.
Jack, who was in a frenzy of slaughtering the enemy ranks, found that their numbers thinning. It was a while before he realized they were retreating. The top experts he was evading, now placed themselves in between Jack and the retreating army.
"They are retreating?" Jack asked in bafflement.
The others also state their skepticism in the guild chat.
"Doesn't make sense, they still have many members."
"Be careful. They might only feint a retreat while readying themselves for a sudden attack."
"Do we have scouts outside? We should find out what they are up to. Maybe they are sending teams to attack from different sides."
John, who was watching the hologram on the Guild Hall's platform, said in guild chat, "they do not send teams anywhere. They are truly retreating."
The hologram on the platform was one of the perks for the defending guild, it allowed the planner in the hall to see the whole situation from a bird-eye view.
"But I too feel that their retreat is too premature," John added. "Maintain vigilance. I will monitor their movements. Stay in your position and be prepared for instruction at a moment's notice."
"How about I go and disturb their retreat?" Jack offered.
"Stay in your position and be prepared for instruction at a moment's notice!!!" John repeated, adding the exclamation marks.
Apart from monitoring the coalition, John was also watching Red Death. She was no longer using the Invisibility scroll, so he could see her clearly in the hologram image. He couldn't have her stabbed their defense from the back while she made her escape, so he had instructed four Squires and Pointy Tip to engage.
But when she came into their view, she disappeared again.
"Did she use Invisibility scroll again?" John asked Pointy Tip.
"I didn't see her take out any scroll," Tip reported.
"Probably a rare skill then, stay alert. Don't let her backstab you," John said as he controlled the four Squires to surround Pointy Tip, protecting him. But even after a while, nothing happened.
In the end, John surmised she had made her escape as well following her guild. Scarface must have contacted her and let her know that everyone was leaving.
As John continued to monitor the coalition's retreat via the hologram image, he saw one red-marked figure separated itself from the retreating army. The figure came back in the direction towards their Guild Headquarters.
"Be careful. One person is coming over," John warned the others.
"One?" Jack said disappointingly.
"They must be planning something, stay on your guard!" John advised.
"I will go meet the guy," Jack said.
John was about to ask him not to, but then decided against it. If that one person had something up his sleeve, Jack should still be the most likely person to survive against it. It was better than having the entire group at the wall face the same risk. He looked at the hologram. The rest of the coalition army was still retreating.
Jack ran ahead. He could also see the one red dot coming their way. He then saw the person. It was a man in light armor, probably a ranger or rogue.
The man stopped when he saw Jack. He appeared surprised. Jack also stopped. The two stared at each other from a distance. Jack used Inspect and found out he was a member of Corporate United.
"It really is just one person. He stopped after seeing me. What should I do?" Jack asked in the chat.
"He is probably asking for instruction from his leader. He might have planned to get closer to us but your presence has deterred him," John replied. "Go at him. Finish him before he does anything!"
Upon the command, Jack rushed forward. Seeing Jack's approach, the guy panicked. He lifted his hand high. Only then that Jack realized the guy was holding something. Peniel suddenly came out of her hidden dimension and flew forward to where the person was.
Jack saw the person's hand flared with black light. The guy acted as if the item he was holding had turned into a lump of hot coal, he dropped the thing he was holding. The thing on the ground was still exuding black light which increased in intensity, then black fogs started to come out of it. The person then turned around and… ran?
'Huh?' Jack was puzzled. Then he realized Peniel was flying back to him in haste. Her face was panicking.
"Run!" She shouted.
Jack stopped advancing after her warning.
"Run!" Peniel repeated. "It is a disaster item!"