Looking at the situation in the center, it appeared the alliance's plan to work together and dominate the area was going smoothly. After taking and equipping his weapon, Emery proceeded to go and join Julian again.
Another hour had passed and the southern entrance guarded by Emery's team, which was led by Julian, seemed to run wonderfully. Naturally, there were some awkward moments at first, due to their unfamiliarity with each other. However, the group cooperated well after going through a few skirmishes and fights together.
Inside the group Emery was currently in, there were 36 acolytes. Besides his team, which consisted of 5 people, the others within it were Okoye's all girl team and Dopa's team.
Surprisingly, Julian was able to lead the team effectively, despite the stark diversity between leading a group of acolytes and leading a group of Roman soldiers, whether because of the two sides' extreme difference on attack patterns, method and formation.
The Roman legionnaires were known for their flexibility in battle. They tended to have multiple tactics prepared in each of their fights. This versatile perspective towards battle was what Julian thrived for.
Julian clearly knew and understood the alliance's main objective was not defending the center, but to kill as many acolytes as possible for points and reach the top 50.
To accomplish that, it did not matter if the acolytes were the elites or regulars. If they were not members of the alliance, there was only one conclusion for them.
To complete this objective, the group needed to make sure the 'prey' would dare to approach the area. Therefore, Julian divided the 36 acolytes into three groups.
First group consisted of 12 acolytes, who were assigned to stand guard in front of the entrance. Their position was thoroughly arranged, so that they were visible in the plain sight. This group would become the bait. Their numbers were few enough to make sure the opponent dared to fight them, while also large enough to make sure they would hold on long enough until reinforcements came. Naturally, the acolytes who were assigned to this were the ones with good defensive skills or great close combat prowess, such as Thrax, Okoye and her Akamba warriors.
The second group, 12 acolytes chosen from the acolytes, who had great mobility spells in their repertoire, like Emery and Chumo. They were placed away from the first group and scattered in the treeline. This group would be in charge of intel about the incoming acolytes. Emery with his [Hide in Shadow] and [Nature Sense] spells was very much suitable for this role.
The third, and last group was hidden inside the center building and would act as the strike team, surprising and subjugating the opponents with their attacks, when the battle with the first group was ongoing. As the one who threw spells the best among the five of them, Klea naturally was part of this group.
Julian himself, being the leader of the group, stood unwavering in the front of the first group. He needed to be in the open area, in order to see the perfect timing to give the signals to the others.
When a group of six acolytes approached the southern entrance thinking they could break through the first group, they quickly and unknowingly became a fish in the net.
The 12 acolytes of the first group against 6 acolytes could be said as an easy fight, but it was a mistake to underestimate the regular acolytes. After all, everyone who managed to join the second game was an accomplished and strong fighter. These acolytes always had unexpected spells that needed to be handled.
[Cyclone - Tier 4 Wind Spell]
The spell immediately materialized gusts of wind, which then formed into a typhoon. It caused the guarding acolytes to be pushed back and created an opening between their ranks. Immediately, all five acolytes rushed into the opening. There was also an elite acolyte, who thought it was a good idea to sneak into the building during the chaos. However, regret quickly engulfed them, as they saw another group of acolytes had waited for them.
A few of the rushing acolytes had a life-saving spell and were able to retreat out of the building quickly. Alas, the second group, who had prepared and waited in the treeline, swiftly pounced on the retreating acolytes like a predator did to its prey. In the end, all 7 acolytes were defeated and ended up into the same light particles.
This was how Julian set the strategy for the group and how he received the acknowledgment from these prideful acolytes.
Seeing the dissipating elite acolyte before him, Emery briefly checked the symbol on his hand.
[Regular acolytes: 192/320]
[Elite acolyte: 37/50]
[Your total point: 10.000]
[Your current rank: 22]
Unfortunately, the main problem of the alliance plan was the scarce amount of opponents they had to share among themself. The past hour of victory only ended up with 12 acolytes worth of points shared among the 36 acolytes stationed in the southern entrance.
There were just not enough points to share among them. Sometimes the group wondered if they could get more points by going solo rather than camping together like this. Currently, they were dependent on the bonus points they would receive when they managed to get into the top 50, a whopping 10,000 points. That would exceed the amount of point they got from killing an elite acolyte. However, that would mean each of them need to survive until the end.
To make sure himself and all four of his friends would have the needed points, they shared their allocated points. Emery pocketed 10,000 points, Thrax had 6,000 points, Chumo earned 4,000 points, Klea netted 7,000 points, while the busy yet poor Julian only had 2,000 points.
Other than Emery, only Klea was able to defeat one elite acolytes and receive 5,000 points. As for Julian, he had been very occupied organizing the group, leaving him no time to fight at all. Hence, his low points.
Another hour had passed and the situation still kept in its status quo. When Emery rubbed his eyes, a notification suddenly popped up, startling him. The sudden screen before him almost made him fall from the tree he was on.
[6 hours till the game ends]
[Arena border will get smaller in 5 minutes]
This notification meant the game had reached its mid point. The 20 kilometer radius of the arena would be shortened to 10 kilometers. Emery understood that, from this point onwards, the fights would be more frequent, as the chances of acolytes meeting each other increased due to the reduced area.
When the notification announced to everyone, Roran called out the leader of the teams for a briefing. Emery, Dopa, Okoye as well as Julian, due to his position as the co-leader of the alliance. Meanwhile, Roran came and was accompanied by his two co-leader and the leaders of the teams in the north group: Lymord, the guy with a scar in his eyes and Malara, the red hair beauty.
Scanning his eyes through everyone in the room, Roran said, "Guys, we have done pretty well so far. However, if we don't make it to the top 50 later, all of our efforts will be for naught."
He then proceeded to explain the next three hours would be crucial on whether they would get into the top 50 or not. He believed the appearance of their alliance would lead to a creation of an alliance among the elite acolytes as well. He was sure they would come for them, sooner or later.
After saying his piece and deciding the strategy to welcome the incoming acolytes, the leaders quickly split up into their own team and continued the strategy to the other acolytes.
Half an hour later, just as expected, the acolytes began to come in groups, increasing the difficulty of the battle. Hence, casualties started to appear on the group guarding the southern entrance. After three hours, there were only 32 members left in the group, while the others were quite exhausted by the fights. Then, the next notification arrived.
[3 hours till the game ended]
[Arena border will get smaller in 5 minutes]
With the radius of the arena slowly shrinking into 5 kilometers, Emery could faintly see the glowing barrier in the distance, surrounding the center from all directions.
[Regular acolytes: 122/320]
[Elite acolyte: 32/50]
There were only around 150 acolytes left and about half of them are the alliance. Emery could feel the big battle would arrive anytime now. And, as if the notification was its cue, a dozen figures came out from the treeline. All elite acolytes.