Draco and Riveting Night appeared in the Throne Room of the Aether Hall, in the very same spot in which they had chosen to exit. Without talking much, the two walked down the hallways to the entrance.
Most of the members of Umbra had already begun constructing their lots in the City-State, but for now, they were still more comfortable with the Rank 7 Guild Hall in Cario City.
Besides, the location for the gathering was the Assembly Room of the Guild Hall. It was very likely that all other members had come before it was time, except for the two of them.
Draco checked on the status of the Portal Center, but it was only 20% done. It wasn't something that could be rushed, and Draco was already thankful that the best engineers and runemakers were on the job.
As such, the Evil Duo chose to blink away and head to Cario City manually.
Draco left Hikari and Roma behind because they were pregnant. Even if their help would be tremendously useful during this Guild War, he wasn't going to risk anything.
If something unpredictable happened which might cause Roma or Hikari to miscarry, tears would not be able to turn back time.
The two appeared in Cario City after some time and were surprised to note that the city was quite empty. The few players that were around and about looked like they were in a hurry to go somewhere else.
Draco belatedly noticed that the level of the average player had risen to level 18, which was surprisingly quick given their trash level skills compared to NPCs of the same level.
The two shared a look and decided to head to the Guild Hall. Upon reaching the majestic skyscr.a.p.er, they entered the building and were once again greeted by the familiar receptionist.
They went up the elevator and entered the Assembly Room, which was active since every member of Umbra was already present. Their guild emblems shone with vigor and might, and their faces were full of excitement.
Umbra, a guild with only 2,500 combat players, was going to battle against two Legendary guilds with slightly more than 500,000 players. They only had 0.5% of their enemy's number, yet they were the ones excited.
Draco gazed at Riveting Night with pride and worship on his face. Her ability to train and condition subordinates was unparalleled under heaven. She had made these elite players aware of their status, while managing to tamp down on their foolishness.
Even though they were horrifically outnumbered, they still looked forward to the coming engagement with glee. It wasn't due to arrogance, but the knowledge that they could experience battle and grow from it.
Their mindsets had greatly changed from the day Riveting Night had accepted them into the guild, especially the first 108 members. Even though they were spread across many ranks in the guild, the members of the first 108 acted as captains to the various other members within their specific guild ranks.
This is what Draco and Riveting Night wanted. They wouldn't always have the time to painstakingly train up members of the guild, neither would they have the time to always be around the guild.
Draco wasn't the only one with the ability to activate Unique Quests this early, Riveting Night could verily perform some feats to earn herself a few as well.
They both had different tasks to complete in a short amount of time. Day by day, the changes from this timeline and the previous one were growing.
If Umbra could become a self-functioning monolith, they could leave it to run itself while they used their time to handle other matters.
Draco and Riveting Night climbed on top of the podium, where Sublime Notion, the Five Generals and the other core members of Umbra stood. Draco nodded at them with a smile before facing the other members of Umbra.
"You have all heard a lot about this Guild War, to the point where you were gruesomely drilled by Eva. For the past week, it seems to have been the talk of the town, but only we know the truth."
"After sacrificing so much and using so many of our hidden cards, we managed to kill the Metal Dragon and successfully completed the Dragon Slaying event. We left the area to recoup from our losses and calculate our bearings."
Draco's eyes narrowed suddenly, and his voice became dark. "However, some rats who had fled when it was time to fight dared to try and find some scraps, thereby stealing an event which should have been rightfully ours."
The members of Umbra looked indignant. Very few knew that the battle with the Metal Dragon wasn't Umbra one-sidedly beating up the serpent with many hidden cards, but that it was a narrow contest.
They had been THIS close to being wiped out. If it weren't for the many items and powers Draco, as well as Eva, had displayed, they would have lost everything.
After going through all that, those fools wanted to profit from their hard work and expected to get away with it scot-free? How was there such a good thing in this world?
"If it wasn't for the timely appearance of Update 1, we wouldn't even have been able to claim the Abyss Key from those thieves before it was used."
Draco placed a hand on the sheath of his sword, which he had placed at his hip for the duration of the war. Other players had to wear them, but the Evil Duo as optimal classes didn't need to.
However, he had gotten used to it in his past life, so he decided to place Dragorugio and Fragarach on each side of his hip.
"We shall use this war as a platform to show the world three things."
"First, your unmatched prowess!"
"Second, the punishment for crossing Umbra!"
"Third, indefatigability!"
The members of Umbra roared at that, feeling their emotions rise with Draco's words. They really wanted to finally enter the battlefield, slaughtering all before them, and it showed on their faces.
Draco smiled at their determination and nodded his head with satisfaction.
Then, he flung his hand out to the side, sending his black Herald's Cloak flapping with majestic grace.
"Move out!"
With another roar, the members of Umbra filed out of the Assembly Room to march along the roads of Cario City in an organized manner, which caught a lot of eyes.
Both players and NPCs marveled at the sight, feeling their hearts bubble with excitement as they witnessed this marvelous scene. NPCs watched with amazed expression while many players activated photo mode and captured images of this amazing march.
Many were sad that they couldn't take a video of this, but there was nothing to be done about that.
Umbra entered the Portal Center and chose to move to the location of the Guild War, which was set in the Fleeting Forest, a level 40-50 Field Zone.
Draco naturally chose a forest area due to the passive benefits of the Heart of the Woods he possessed. With it, he could display 150% of his peak combat power, which was quite horrific for his Rank.
Umbra arrived in the Fleeting Forest Zone, noticing that the Field Zone was heavily populated. The area, which was as large as the current Vita Capital City, was swarmed with players who stood on the side with excited expressions.
When they noticed that Umbra had arrived, the area became silent for a few seconds before millions of players erupted in cheers. So many voices crying out resulted in quite the crazy cacophony, but it was muted thanks to the help of the system.
Why were so many people here?
Was it because the First Guild Umbra and two legendary Guilds Myriad Card and Lorebinders were about to fight in what was dubbed as the First Guild War?
Of course, that was one aspect of it. Many players would stop what they were doing to come and witness such a momentous event in person, but the numbers would not be this exaggerated.
The reason why people were here was simple.
｢The First Guild War – World Event
Description: The First Guild Umbra and the two guilds, Myriad Cards and Lorebinders are vying for the right to possess the Abyss Key, which is a crucial element to the progress of the Abyss Event. Spectate this magnificent event to win free prizes!
Rewards: 70 silver, 3 Common Treasure Chest and access to the betting arena｣
They were being given free stuff for just lounging about while watching a Guild War. Who wouldn't participate? They got to watch this great event, with the extra motivation called freebies.
Naturally, the players had come in full numbers to watch.
The AI had redesigned the Field Zone a bit for the purpose of this event, allowing the millions of players to acquire individual seating with a screen in front of them that showed the battlefield from multiple perspectives in real-time.
Since they were present, they also received access to the betting arena, which was a function that allowed them to use items, money or any property they owned that possessed any quantifiable value to bet on either party.
What shocked them was that the betting arena had detailed outlines of the levels, power and trump cards of either party that had been shown before, and even those which had been speculated about.
All of this factored into the betting arena's odds for the victory of both sides.
Players could not use PMs or leave the Field Zone once they had accessed the betting arena, otherwise wouldn't some freaks try to profit by selling information at the last minute?
When players saw what Umbra was packing, they weren't surprised as they had all predicted this. Most of the analysis regarding Umbra contained question marks or was kept extremely vague, not giving players much of an idea.
Heck, to be frank, what was written there would be only known to players who didn't visit the forums but spent their time gathering every little scoop on Umbra.
However, the information for Myriad Cards and Lorebinders was extremely detailed. Everything, from their acquired and provided weapons, funding, and manpower from the Hidden powers was shown.
Nothing the Myriad Card and Lorebinders had was hidden to the players, which made them marvel and gasp in shock.
Many of them had come here expecting to watch Umbra beat these two guilds until they begged for forgiveness, but those all felt their opinions change after reading through.
It couldn't be helped, Umbra had great stuff and a great reputation, but they couldn't understand the true value or the true power of this stuff, while the rest were hidden behind question marks.
However, what they could see of the 'underdogs' in this fight showed that they had a really good chance of winning if Umbra didn't have anything exemplary.
What hammered the nail in the coffin was that the odds for Myriad Cards and Lorebinders was 1.8 while Umbra was 4.6.
The AI felt that Myriad Cards and Lorebinders had a 2.5x better chance of winning over Umbra.
The AI - as the controller of the game - couldn't be wrong, so it meant that Umbra was likely to lose. As such, many players bet safely, choosing to go with Myriad Cards.
They placed all of their silver or bronze coins into the betting arena, eagerly awaiting the free bonus they would be getting.
However, there were a few who had sharp minds that were able to see beyond the veil. They smelled something fishy in the whole matter and felt like this was a trap.
Since when was gambling so simple and easy? If bets were so straightforward, wouldn't everyone just bet their life savings on safe bets and make millions?
Most of them either didn't bet or bet a little bit on both sides. That way, they would still earn something no matter who came out on top.
The members of Kamisuo, Desecrators, and Meiren wholeheartedly bet every single penny they had acc.u.mulated so far on Umbra. If they hadn't given their Aether Crystals to Draco, Gentle Flower, Noble Soul and Yui would have bet them as well.
Noble Soul even began stripping his armor to bet it away, but his Vice-Guildmasters were able to restrain him in time.
However, the moment Noble Soul turned around, they bet their own armors away without even batting an eye.
These three guilds had experienced the true power of Umbra. Even though only their Guildmasters had survived long enough to see it all, the rewards they received and the descriptions of the events told them of how omnipotent Umbra was.
They had faced the Metal Dragon and understood its strength thoroughly. For Draco to defeat it with only 12 people remaining was truly amazing.
One should note that the guilds that decided to face off the Dragon were wiped out before they could deal 1 point of damage.
That meant that the few trump cards Draco summoned were able to beat a boss with almost 8,000,000 health, absurd defense, limitless mana, and high offense.
How could this rabble hope to match them?
To put it another way, could the army gathered by Myriad Cards and Lorebinders - even with the help of the NPCs they had - kill the Metal Dragon?
The question now was, what was this scheming AI up to? It might not know all of Draco's secrets and skills, but it should know - more than anyone apart from Riveting Night - of Draco's full power.
It should know that the stacks were tilted towards Umbra so badly that it was more like the Myriad Cards and Lorebinders were the oppressed and Umbra were the oppressors.
It had displayed all Joker and Happy Scholar had for this war without exception, giving the public a clear idea of their power. Yet, the cards Umbra had been largely hidden, leaving inconsequential ones the public already knew about.
Even those were left vague and unexplained, so one felt that Umbra wasn't as impressive.
Make no mistake, it wasn't that players thought Umbra was weak. They were lauded as the First Guild, and their accolades were mind-boggling.
Many had thought Draco was a cheater or a beta-tester, but there was a current upheaval in the outside world about Boundless that revealed startling facts.
(Author's Note: It's the plot development you've all been waiting for. It's the world's response to Boundless as a game that allows abuse and violence. However, that will be dealt with during the period where Draco grinds to upgrade his items.)
Due to these facts, many realized that it was impossible to cheat in this game in any way. Essentially, everything Draco had done was proof of his talent concerning this game.
However, talent and power were two different things.
Whether it was the NPCs, monsters or players, anyone with sapience agreed that Draco was a bright star that would reach the top. Many either tried to stand beside or behind him and very few wanted to stand before him.
However, what one man could do against 100,000 was a different ball game altogether.
Saying 100,000 people sounded simple, as if it was just a number. But even 1,000 people in one place was a lot to take in, much less 10,000 or even 100,000.
Then there were the half-million players Myriad Cards and Lorebinders had brought to fight. On top of that, they had around 50,000 NPCs that were at the limits of Rank 1 supporting them.
All this against 2,500 extreme elites was very unfavorable. Umbra didn't have a 100% losing chance based on their prowess, but it would be hard for them to win.
The players here could be forgiven for their ignorance though. They had only played this game for barely over a month in game time, so it was natural that they couldn't recognize Mount Tai with their dog eyes.
In essence, the AI had a devious plan for the players, yet most of the poor fellows though that the AI was giving them great boons by giving out 70 silver and 3 Common Chests beforehand.
Why did it seem like the AI took pity on players and gave those items out so that people wouldn't have to walk buck n.a.k.e.d around town due to poverty…
Joker and Happy Scholar stood at the back of their armies. As the commanders, they were not allowed to die under any circ.u.mstances, otherwise, the army would collapse that instant.
They had formed a voice chat group for the Guild, but the NPCs could not be added because they weren't part of the group. Thus, they had each assigned one of their members to relay orders for quick communications.
Beside Joker and Happy Scholar stood a few NPCs of varying age, s.e.x, and race, but one thing they all had in common was the sharp glints in their eyes. Unlike their progenitors, the representative commanders were less arrogant and more thoughtful.
After researching everything about Umbra, and then comparing that to their side, they came to one conclusion.
'Extremely Difficult.'
The NPCs were not ignorant like players. They understood the little Draco had shown so far was supremely overpowered to the point that he was a person who would be undefeated within his Rank in almost every battle.
This was not even taking into account that he had definitely collected some hidden cards they would have to experience in this battle.
As such, the NPC commanders began discussing strategies with Joker and Happy Scholar as equals and they found that their contributions were very viable when done like this.
As for Umbra and Draco…
"Hup! Sho!"
The members of Umbra cried out as they placed three large thrones down on their side of the battlefield. Draco sat in the middle one while Riveting Night sat to his right and Sublime Notion sat a bit further than her companion to his left.
Their faces showed the supreme confidence and unconcernedness of the number 1 guild and the crowd loved it. Even though they felt like Umbra might lose, but goddamn did they act in a way befitting the true apex players.
What confused the onlookers was that the members of Umbra stood behind the throne, as if they were rather there as something like the reserve team. If that was the case, then who was expected to fight against the armies of the two guilds?
Draco smirked. "For the opening salvo, you guys can watch and learn from how battles are supposed to occur. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Guildmaster!" The members of Umbra shouted out with excitement.
Draco nodded with satisfaction. "With that out of the way, let us begin."
Camelot's Might!
Nature's Call!
｢Camelot's Might: Summon the full army of Camelot right before the catastrophic Battle of Camlann. Duration 1 hour. Cooldown: 7 days.｣
｢Nature's Call: Activating this skill allows the user to summon an army of Wood-type monsters that are of the same Rank as the user for 3 hours. Cooldown: 21 days.｣