SSG 225
by Cristae“Things are progressing smoothly.”
Asclepius, checking the constant stream of reports via messages, spoke to Apollon beside him.
“At this pace, we should be able to break through the inner citadel soon.”
“Our casualties?”
“I can’t say there were none, but they’re not significant. Exact details will have to wait until after the war, but I don’t think it will differ much from our predictions.”
“The enemy’s casualties?”
“Reports say not that many. If they look like they’re losing, they pull back immediately, so it’s tricky to inflict real losses. It must be the difference in command and troop quality.”
“Mordin used to be a national capital, and it’s well-known they handpicked top talent for all their cities from the start. That can’t be helped.”
“They’re really lucky. Who would’ve thought even the refugees were tiered? But that’s it for them. We’ve already predicted that their casualties wouldn’t be significant. Even if that’s a headache now, once we capture the city, all those elites will be under your command. Thinking about it that way, I almost want to praise the Wild Ones for their management.”
“Hmm.”
Apollon nodded at Asclepius’ confident words.
So far, almost everything was going according to plan.
Numbers, quality, the flow of the battle—all as expected.
When they first made their plan, the alliance analyzed the Wild Ones’ strength.
Yuseong had two cities—Mordin and Prochenhau—and each of the other seven Wild Ones members had their own city.
When it emerged that a tiny guild of only eight people was holding nine cities, everyone at the planning meeting was left speechless. That’s how extraordinary the Wild Ones’ power was.
Most of their intel came from videos of Wild Ones members introducing their cities. Recent clips were rare, but even the old ones gave enough information for a good estimate of their power.
Of course, some fretted about the lack of new info. But most dismissed those concerns.
How could their population have increased if unidentified city maps weren’t dropping at all?
Even if they did miraculously get a new city map, it was unlikely to make a difference in a single war.
Basing their plans on all this, the alliance analyzed the Wild Ones’ strength and started the war. And up till now, their predictions were right.
“Of course, if you get down to the fine details, there are minor differences, but nothing that counts as a real variable.”
“If everything fits too perfectly, we should wonder if we’re actually walking into a trap.”
So far, it was only minor deviations.
If things kept going this way, it looked like they’d soon have Mordin.
“But don’t get complacent. The real battle begins now.”
“They’ll really start resisting now.”
So far, whenever Mordin’s forces were pushed back, they retreated in good order, preserving their troops. But once pushed back to the inner citadel, there was nowhere else to go.
“It would be nice if they surrendered…”
All those troops would become theirs once the city was taken.
But neither Apollon nor Asclepius really expected a surrender.
“These are some of the best troops in Ark. They’ll almost certainly fight to the last.”
“What a shame.”
But there was no helping it. They couldn’t call off a siege just because they pitied those troops.
“Don’t regret it—just keep up the pressure. Absorbing their forces whole is a secondary issue. The top priority now is conquering Mordin.”
“Yes, understood.”
“And keep an eye on the other guilds, too.”
Apollon glanced in the direction where the other guilds would be fighting.
“I’m not going to let the others walk away with all the benefits.”
“Of course.”
Asclepius agreed emphatically.
The battle at the inner citadel was much fiercer than the outer wall clash.
Because the area was smaller, a smaller number of Mordin defenders could hold out more effectively.
Furthermore, as Apollon and Asclepius predicted, with nowhere left to run, the defenders seemed to fight even more fiercely.
But perhaps the alliance’s relentless assault was simply too much—
Boom!
The gate broke.
“The gate’s breached!”
“Charge!”
“Just a bit further and it’s over!”
The alliance, led by players, poured through the gate like a tidal wave.
But the Wild Ones didn’t go down easy.
“Hup!”
Thud!
“Guh!”
A Calamity guild member staggered back from Lucky Guy’s thrust. Even though he’d blocked with a shield, the overwhelming stat difference sent him reeling.
“Hya!”
Another Calamity member tried to take advantage and attacked Lucky Guy from the side, but his blow was blocked by Lucky Guy’s shield.
Clang!
“Argh!”
Once again, the Calamity member was overpowered.
Lucky Guy, not considered one of the strongest even in Wild Ones, had crazy stats thanks to his luck—he was still more than a match for a typical guild member from another team.
If Lucky Guy was this strong, what about the real powerhouses?
“You bastards, you think you can barge in this far?!”
Crash!
Barbarian, guarding the same gate as Lucky Guy, sent a Calamity member flying with his axe.
“Plenty of firewood here!”
Boom!
A massive fireball exploded over the massed attackers outside the gate. IncenDiary, at another gate, unleashed flames that wiped out those with low HP in an instant.
“I hate cookie-cutter trash like this!”
On top of the wall, curses rained down upon the alliance fighters, then Death Knight dove in and rampaged like a tiger.
“Trying to steal Mr. Yuseong’s profits?!”
Western Garden’s blade split the enemies blocking her.
The Wild Ones’ members showed exactly why they were counted among the elite, despite their small numbers.
Aiden nodded from his vantage point atop the tower.
“Our guild members really are reliable.”
“I agree.”
Bang!
Yuseong concurred, supporting them with sniper fire.
In real life, Yuseong was used to surviving alone, with no one to rely on. Even if this was only a game, and there was no real risk to his life, fighting alongside others was still a novel experience.
And he didn’t dislike it at all.
After a few more shots, Yuseong glanced at Aiden.
“It’s almost time for you to go, isn’t it?”
“Feels that way. I’ll send the signal.”
Aiden opened a message window and sent word to the fighting guild members. Soon, the Wild Ones began rapidly retreating from the front.
Along with them, the remaining Mordin forces, who had held onto the walls as long as possible, began to withdraw as well.
If they lost the last inner wall, only the downtown area of Mordin—plus the tower and city hall—would remain. And as soon as city hall was captured, the war would end in defeat for the Wild Ones.
It really was a tight spot.
But the owner of Mordin, Yuseong himself, remained as calm as ever.
Aiden looked at him in wonder.
“Aren’t you worried?”
“About what?”
“If things don’t go as planned, you might lose Mordin.”
Yuseong scratched his chin, then fired again. Another alliance player—charging valiantly—was gunned down, dropping in an instant.
“What’s worrying going to do? It won’t change anything. I’ll just do my best.”
“You’re a strange one, Yuseong. It’s like seeing a battle-hardened veteran. Like someone who’s actually been in life-or-death combat.”
That’s Aiden for you—frighteningly accurate intuition. Of course, it was just a metaphor; Aiden didn’t really believe it.
“But you’re right—I’ll do my best, too.”
“I’ll try to secure as much as possible.”
“You don’t have to overdo it. Honestly, I’m not thrilled about this tactic. Right now, protecting Mordin takes priority.”
“I can’t help it. No matter how well we do, there will be losses. We have to make up for that.”
“That’s true. Well, let’s see how it goes. It might turn out surprisingly well.”
“It will. For one thing, we managed to secure a lot of goods from that one dumb guild.”
“That’s good news.”
With that, the two of them headed down the tower for the next phase.
Just as each guild attacked a different gate in the outer walls, the alliance split up to tackle all four gates of the inner citadel.
Calamity opened their gate first, but the five allied guilds all entered at nearly the same time.
Calamity had opened the way, but fierce resistance slowed their advance. They only pushed deeper into the citadel once Mordin’s troops began a coordinated withdrawal.
Similar retreats took place at all gates, so no one guild entered much ahead of the others.
Ahead of them spread the downtown area of the citadel, full of large, ornate buildings.
But none of them cared about the buildings. Normally, this part of the city would have inspired awe, but now, it was just an obstacle in their way.
Though allied, there was no real trust between them. No matter what they’d agreed about dividing the spoils, everyone knew that whichever guild captured city hall first would have more say.
There might also be unknown rights or factors at play, especially with this being Ark’s first major war.
To maximize their gains and minimize their losses, every guild wanted to be the one to seize city hall.
It was the universal thought, so they all hurried toward the center of the city, vying to reach city hall first.
“Charge!”
“We’re almost there!”
“Break through here and it’s over!”
The alliance rushed into the city. All doors and windows were tightly shut—NPC civilians were no doubt hiding inside.
But urban warfare is always the trickiest part of any conflict.
Desperate to reach city hall, the alliance was sucked into a slog of close-quarters street fighting.
Crash!
Suddenly, the windows of a building right next to the advancing troops all flew open at once. Inside, Mordin soldiers appeared.
“Attack!”
They launched a volley of arrows. Spells were mixed in, too.
“Agh!”
“Argh!”
The allied troops, solely focused on pressing forward thanks to their guildmasters’ impatience, were caught completely off guard.
If it had only been arrows and spells, they might have managed, but now Mordin’s defenders began lobbing CookingDay’s signature explosive potions they’d been holding back until now.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Huge explosions rocked the streets.
In the moment when the alliance was just about to reach city hall, all their hopes were dashed to pieces.