SSG 226
by CristaeEpisode 226
“Still haven’t broken through yet?”
Apollo asked. His tone appeared no different from usual, but Asclepius could tell.
That he was feeling particularly displeased right now.
“The enemy’s resistance is fierce. But we’ll be able to break through soon.”
“……”
No answer came back. That meant his mood had become even worse. Asclepius kept his mouth tightly shut. At a time like this, it was wise to stay silent.
“How are the other guilds?”
“Ah, I’ll find out.”
Asclepius hurried off. Still, for a moment, he felt relieved. In this cold, desolate atmosphere, he thought he might freeze to death, but at least he had something to do and could catch his breath.
However, he ended up even more frozen than before.
As if Apollo had been waiting for the order to be given, a report had come in at a perfectly timed moment.
It was news that Apollo would absolutely not welcome. He could clearly picture an even more enraged Apollo upon hearing it.
But he couldn’t dare lie to Apollo.
“O-other guilds are still struggling against the enemy’s resistance like us, but….”
Apollo’s gaze turned to him. Asclepius tightly shut his eyes and spit out the rest.
“Calamity has broken through the defensive line and is heading for city hall.”
Bang!
Apollo stomped his foot irritably. Asclepius flinched.
“Calamity? Of all people, does it have to be that Calamity?”
“Yes!”
Calamity was a guild about which Apollo had agonized over whether to ally with until the very end. If there had been another option, it was a guild he absolutely wouldn’t have allied with.
But given the operational security of this plan and the fact that, even as an alliance, there were very few alternatives among the powerful guilds of Ark who were capable and brash enough to start a war at will—and above all, the completely untrustworthy reputation of C.O.T.S., which was even less reliable than Calamity—Apollo really hadn’t had many options and had been forced to take their hand.
Of course, since Calamity was a smaller guild than C.O.T.S., he was also overconfident he could handle them.
But what if they ditched the other guilds and took over Mordin’s city hall by themselves? There was no guarantee they wouldn’t develop other ambitions.
‘No, they definitely will!’
Apollo was convinced.
Because he would have done the same. It takes one to know one; there was no way he would have missed the strong scent of a kindred spirit emanating from Vesuvius.
Since nothing had been revealed about the war yet, there was no way to predict what those ambitions would result in.
Maybe nothing would happen, but in the worst case, the entire city of Mordin could be snatched away.
‘Of course, if they fear our retribution, they won’t do something so foolish…’
But people, when blinded by greed, are capable of anything.
“What will you do?”
Asclepius asked about the direction moving forward. Apollo didn’t deliberate long. He smiled.
It was a very cruel and cunning smile.
“If we don’t want to get stabbed in the back, isn’t it better to hit them first?”
“Of course.”
In this situation and atmosphere, how could anyone dare object to Apollo’s words? Asclepius nodded vigorously.
“Push onward! We’re almost there!”
Vesuvius shouted loudly. His voice was full of strength, as much as he felt good.
‘At this rate, we’ll be able to take over city hall!’
And with that, they could have a voice in this alliance. No, it might not end with just having a voice.
‘We might be able to swallow this Mordin whole.’
Just as Apollo suspected, Vesuvius’ mind was full of rosy ambition.
Of course, if that happened, Apollo or C.O.T.S. might retaliate. But he would find a way if necessary.
‘First, we need to take city hall.’
Mordin’s forces were being pushed back. He wondered if this might be a trap, but no matter how reckless someone might be, they wouldn’t dare do such a thing with city hall right in front of them.
‘They must have deployed more forces to the other guilds.’
Most likely, it was C.O.T.S.
If so, that was even better for him.
“Take city hall!”
“Waaaghh!”
Calamity’s troops let out a mighty cheer and pressed Mordin’s forces more fiercely. Now the city hall was clearly visible in Vesuvius’ line of sight.
The resistance was getting fiercer, but in the current situation, that wasn’t odd. He thought of it as their final desperate struggle.
‘We just have to break down that wall.’
But his hopeful future was shattered by footsteps coming from behind.
“Enemy?”
The vice guild master beside him turned around in surprise. But after checking the identity of the newcomers, he let out a sigh of relief.
“They’re Cots’ guys. Scared me, I thought it was the enemy.”
“Idiot.”
“Yes?”
“Do those look like allies to you?”
At Vesuvius’ rebuke, the vice guild master looked at C.O.T.S. again. His face hardened. The way C.O.T.S. was rushing at them was nothing short of menacing.
“Why do you think they’re coming this way? Don’t tell me you naively thought they’re here to help us?”
“Of course not. Why would they help us? It’s not like we’re at a disadvantage. Besides, there’s no way those guys are so nice.”
“At least you grasped the situation eventually. If you hadn’t, I’d have demoted you from vice guild master on the spot.”
But now wasn’t the time to be pleased that the vice guild master wasn’t a complete fool.
‘I was too careless. I should’ve expected those guys to stab us in the back if we pulled ahead.’
He’d been blinded for a moment by the golden mountain that was Mordin.
‘What should I do? Fighting isn’t the best option.’
In front were Mordin’s troops, behind, C.O.T.S.’ troops. They’d essentially been surrounded on both sides. Both Mordin and C.O.T.S. were not easy enemies; without exaggeration, they were in a very perilous situation.
‘No room for negotiations.’
Seeing the face of Asclepius, Apollo’s right hand, leading the charge for C.O.T.S., he affirmed this. That face was not one open for negotiation.
He hardened his resolve.
‘First, we have to break through the encirclement.’
And right now, Mordin’s side was the easier target.
Just moments ago, they had been pushing hard, and if they could break through Mordin’s forces to take city hall, they might be able to land a blow on those damned Cots bastards.
Others also noticed their former allies, now enemies, charging from the rear. Of course, their expressions were grim. Especially the NPC soldiers.
“Break through Mordin! We have to get out of here before those Cots bastards arrive!”
“Break through Mordin!”
“Advance!”
At Vesuvius’ command, Calamity’s forces once again mustered their strength and attacked Mordin’s troops.
But Vesuvius could feel it.
‘Not good.’
His subordinates’ movements weren’t right. The players were still okay, but the NPC soldiers were noticeably more passive. It seemed like they were terrified.
‘Maybe their morale’s dropped because they’re surrounded.’
Ark might very well have such a system in place.
‘This really sucks.’
C.O.T.S. was closing the distance rapidly. He wished the front would break open soon.
‘We’re screwed.’
Unlike before, Mordin’s troops now felt like a wall of steel. No matter how much they struck, there was no opening.
On top of that, fresh forces could be seen coming from behind Mordin’s lines. Probably reinforcements who had been holding off C.O.T.S.
‘Damn Cots bastards.’
He could only curse C.O.T.S. internally.
‘It’s started.’
Watching the battlefield from a high tower, Yoo Sung nodded as he saw C.O.T.S. and Calamity clashing.
‘With this, the first plan succeeded.’
The battle between the two guilds wasn’t sudden; rather, Yoo Sung had carefully orchestrated it.
He had intentionally had the troops facing Calamity feign a retreat. It might have been difficult with any other players’ city troops, but with well-trained Mordin soldiers, it was possible.
Thanks to that, Calamity was able to approach right to the vicinity of city hall, unlike the other guilds.
‘And there’s no way C.O.T.S. would just watch.’
He already knew all about their temperaments and strategies through strategy guides. Yoo Sung devised a plan with the guide—in fact, relying entirely on the guide—to trip up the invaders.
As a result, the alliance between those two guilds was completely shattered.
‘But those two guilds actually managed to cooperate, huh.’
Neither C.O.T.S. nor Calamity had any relationship with trust or reliability. The fact they joined hands meant that, even had Yoo Sung not manipulated things, those two would eventually turn on each other anyway.
‘Those two are settled. Now, the others…’
Yoo Sung turned his gaze to other locations where enemies lurked.
Rather than doggedly defeating enemies, Apollo chose to steal his allies’ achievements and watched leisurely as his subordinates battered Calamity’s forces.
‘How pleasant.’
C.O.T.S. had suffered much damage from enemies blocking the front and unexpected attacks from within buildings. But this spot targeted by Calamity was clean.
For sure, the troops who had been blocking them would come to reinforce, but with most of the buildings adjacent to city hall already cleared, it was certainly advantageous to fight here.
‘First, wipe out the Calamity punks, then break through Mordin’s forces, seize city hall, and end the war. No matter how strong those reckless guys are, if we’ve made it this far, it’s impossible for them to stop us….’
Apollo’s gaze darkened. As if searching for something, he whipped his head around. But he couldn’t see what he was looking for.
‘…Where did the reckless guys go?’
The sight of the reckless players leading the charge, slaughtering allies, had vanished.
While C.O.T.S. stabbed their allies in the back and the betrayed Calamity struggled to survive, Ark College was diligently attacking their assigned area.
“Push forward! If we just break through here, we win!”
The guild master cheered them on, but Mordin’s solid defenses showed no sign of breaking. Still, he didn’t give up, swinging his own sword and boosting the soldiers’ morale.
Then, something strange happened.
“G-guild master!”
Someone rushed up to him in a hurry.
He was a person of quite high rank even within Ark College. He was also the mayor of Diris, one of the towns Ark College owned.
“What’s going on!”
“D-Diris!”
“Diris? What about Diris!”
At the mention of Diris, he too became tense. The importance of a guild-owned city in Ark went without saying. Yet, the player bringing up Diris was acting very nervous.
“A declaration of war has been made on Diris!”
“What?”
The guild master’s mind went blank.
But that wasn’t all. Three more guild members rushed over to him.
“O-our city just got a declaration of war!”
“Our city got a declaration of war…!”
“D-declaration of war…!”
The newcomers stared at each other in surprise. They hadn’t imagined that the others’ cities had also been declared upon.
But none of them were as shocked as the guild master who received the reports.
“H-how….”
All four cities owned by Ark College had been drawn into war.