War Grounds

[ A new guild has been created - WisDOOM! Congratulations to its founder! ]

Just from what they had planned the night before, Al started WisDOOM via the 'Guild' option on his interface, beginning with five members, including himself, Bertran, Harvy, Jack, and Patrick.

However, among the flood of numerous notifications, updates, and news in the World Chat, the creation of WisDOOM was just like a droplet of water in the vast ocean. No one paid any attention. After all, numerous guilds were created every day as it did not cost anything to create one.

[ Shrine Portal is now available in Alistor City!]

What caught everyone's attention the most was the restoration of Alistor City. Highlighted in bold letters, the long-awaited announcement sent everyone into a frenzy, especially the curious players.

Alistor City's plaza was immediately filled with high-level players coming from the allied and neutral race: Divine, Elf, Dwarf, Murloc and Orc. However, to their dismay, they did not find anything special aside from the fact that the city has now a shrine portal and new overlord - Eternal Vespers.

"We just wasted our merit points, dude." A level 60 Murloc grumbled.

"Have some patience, mate. Titans would surely retaliate any minute from now." His buddy reassured. The two Murloc players came to Alistor, hoping to witness a retaliation from the previous ruler - Titans.

"You're crazy. Why would you not listen to me? Lidar's already gone. What can Titans do? They were totally annihilated in the last battle."

"You're the crazy one. That battle was not decided. There was an intervention from an unknown third party!"

"Dude, it was pretty obvious that it was a one-sided slaughter from the Six Purgatories. I'm not wasting more than 10 minutes of my life in this place."

"Fine. We'll wait for 10 minutes."

Meanwhile, in the sewer of Alistor City, just beneath where the shrine portal was placed were four figures. The first one was a Level 200 Human Scout-Mechanic named Socrates; his long white beard dangled over his crimson leather vest as the foul air passed by.

On his left side was a Level 200 Human Sorcerer-Swordsman named Plato. His white hair was braided like a valiant female general, and his cleanly shaven face was that of an angel from above. The light-build character was geared in crimson armor and swordstaff.

The other one was a Level 200 Human Vanguard named Aristotle. He was geared in a crimson cuirass covered in orange spikes and wielded a pair of two round shields in the shape of the sun.

"Where's Bertran, Al?" Socrates, who was Solomon in disguise with the help of the Cape of Anolis, asked.

"He said that he's already inside the city with Patrick," Al responded.

"What about Harvy and Jack?" Sol followed with another question.

"They're just waiting for the signal."

"Good. Let's begin." Socrates gave a thumbs up.

[ WisDOOM has declared a war against Eternal Vespers. Prepare to defend your territory. ]

The system announcement blared in red catching the still dazed players in Alistor off guard. Although Eternal Vespers was long-prepared for this time, they did not expect that an unknow guild would be the first one to invade.

"What? Who's this WisDOOM guild?" The Murloc player that previously grumbled asked.

"I don't know. Never heard of it. Might be crazy new players who accidentally clicked an invasion." His fellow Murloc player responded.

"Fool! That's no one-click button. Let's see how this war will play out."

"Fvck! The Shrine Portal's being shut off. We won't be able to get out of here if we choose to stay!" Another one from the crowd cried out.

Chaos immediately ensued as players became vigilant for their lives, moving around in a frenzy, hoping to find a safe spot to watch the battle unfold. Meanwhile, the others immediately chose to teleport out of the city.

"Where are you, folks?" Patrick worriedly waited for Jack and Harvy to come out of the flickering Shrine Portal. "Where are you, Bertran!?" To make things worse his should-be partner was nowhere to be found.

The first stage of Sol's plan was to have Al create WisDOOM's guild in the game and declare war against Eternal Vespers. However, the five members were all low-level, so he handed each of them a blue circular device that allowed players to share the experience from the source. To avoid any loose ends, they did not form a party and relied on the tool that Sol had crafted instead.

In that way, Sol, Sophia, and Fred could help power level the other five in the fastest period possible in the condition that they'll be able to defeat the players from Eternal Vespers.

Amidst the ensuing chaos, a black stallion suddenly appeared out of the purple shrine with a goblin who immediately hopped on his back. The two arrived just in the nick of time before the portal totally shut down. They were no other than SwitchFoot and Macca.

The two both belonged to a hostile race, so their presence in Alistor would mean their death, the longer they stayed.

"Pat!" Jack immediately saw the dwarf. "Quick, hop in!"

"What about Bertran? Where is he?!" Patrick shouted as he rushed to meet the galloping SwitchFoot.

"There's no time! We'll be found soon! Hurry!" Jack urged.

"A Savage and Goblin Race? What are they doing here?" Those who were stuck in the Shrine Plaza immediately noticed SwitchFoot and Macca's arrival.

"They must be the attacking guild!"

"Haha! Are you crazy? These are measly Level 10 to 12 players! What can they do against Borascca and his men?"

CancerIsLife quickly hopped on SwitchFoot just as what they have planned, except that Bertran was nowhere to be found.

"Damn. The enemies are coming! Harvy, activate your stealth now!" Jack made a hard choice; they're leaving Bertran behind.

The reason why other guilds preferred not to build a shrine portal in their ruled cities was that it was an equivalent of opening a door in the middle of your territory for your enemies. Shrine portals were a double-edged blade. They can increase mobility for both yours and your enemies' troops.

At the sound of invasion, Borascca and his troops immediately checked the Shrine Portal as a safety measure. The crowd scattered upon their arrival, afraid that they would be mistaken as enemies.

"I saw a Savage Player disappeared with a Goblin and Dwarf!" The Murloc player was not able to stop his mouth as he blurted out what he saw towards Borascca.

"Is that so? Why did you not stop them?!" The Demon Sorcerer sneered, and with the flick of his bone staff, the Murloc turned into a puddle of silver slime.

"They're not here. Man the gates!" Borascca commanded after effortlessly slaughtering the remaining players in the shrine.

The spectators gasped at the brutality shown by the Demon Sorcerer. Harvy, Pat & Jack were also watching from nearby. The device that Sol had given to them required that they should be within 200-body units of the EXP-sharer.

Borascca was just about to turn around towards the South Gate when a menacing figure shouted from the nearby building as it jumped and appeared in front of him. It was the Top 1 Orc Player, Ogni.

At the same time, the floor near the portal also cracked as three figures emerged: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle!

Borascca ran out of words after being surrounded by four figures, but he immediately saw the Level of the one named as Ogni - Level 12.

"Fool! Do you think you can trick me?!" The Demon Sorcerer shouted as he prepared to defend himself from the three figures behind him and to turn the Level 12 Ogni into a puddle of silver slime.