Crestfall Plain was a large open field filled with low yellow grasses. The monster habitat at the place was decent-leveled Giant Wolves and Wild Cats, their levels in that area ranged from level 17 to level 19, which was very suitable for the current mainstream players.
Many independent players and guilds outside of the coalition had avoided this place for knowing it to be the coalition’s turfs.
At the moment, Jack was hidden behind a tree in a forest at the periphery of the Crestfall Plain. He was applying the enhanced Whetstone to his Storm Breaker and eating one Sweet Dumpling. The battle will be soon and he wanted to get as many buffs as possible.
There were several players standing at eyesight distance along the edges of the Crestfall Plain. They appeared to be keeping watch, and they were standing in plain sight, without a worry of being perceived. Not that there was any place to hide in this open field plain. They were probably acting as sentries to notify the others when Jack appeared.
The advantage of his God-eye monocle would be nullified here. If it was a forest setting or a hillside setting with irregular terrain, he could use hide and seek tactics to whittle down his foes. He could easily determine their positions using his radar and strike them while they were unaware. But here, everyone could see everything clearly. He wondered if the act of choosing this site was to counter his radar detection ability? But that would mean somebody from the opposite side had known about his ability?
Could Bowler or The Man or Flame have spilled the beans while they were in captives? Nah, he didn’t think so. He could tell the three of them were the type that was fiercely loyal to a friend. They wouldn’t tell the enemy anything even if it meant losing all that they had gained till this moment. If they were to actually be threatened with real death, now that might be a different case.
While the players were in plain sight, Jack, on the other hand, did not see any of the monsters typical to the plain. The Death Associates might have cleaned up all the monsters in the area, to make the area more controllable.
Since he found no way to sneak past the sentries, he simply strutted out brazenly.
The nearest player looked surprised when he saw Jack. They were indeed being tasked to watch for Jack, but they did not actually expect the guy to truly come. The sentry looked at Jack in a weird way.
Jack made a scan on that sentry and found out that he was a level 17 Ranger from a guild called Crowd of Sins. They were amongst the guild that had joined the three big guilds and formed the coalition. So it was as he had expected, he was not just going to deal with Death Associates here. He was actually going up against the coalition.
But that didn’t deter him. “Lead the way,” he said to the sentry.
Jack’s words awakened him from his stupor. He looked at Jack with an even more awkward expression. Not only did this idiot really show up, but he even had the gall to ask him to lead the way?
He was not sure of how to react. The upper management had warned him that he might be killed once their target appeared. His task was to simply send a warning before it happened. If he could escape, that would be the best, but he would be compensated if he died. This was also what had been told to the other sentries. So he was now sending a message to his superior asking how to proceed.
Jack became impatient when the sentry wasn’t giving him any reaction. “Hellooo…,” he called out.
The sentry received his superior’s reply at that moment. He was told to bring the guy over. He immediately said to Jack, “this way please.”
As the sentry turned around to start walking, he suddenly realized. Why the heck did he act so polite? Weren’t they supposed to be enemies?
As they walked, Jack could see the other sentries in the distance also started walking in the direction that he was heading. They were indeed tasked to look out for him. Now that he had shown up, their tasks were done.
They didn’t have to walk far before Jack saw a throng of people in the distance.
Did they seriously amass that many people just for him? Jack thought as he watched with apprehension.
Not far from where the crowd had been seen by Jack, there was a small hill with an elevated position that allowed viewing to most part of the plain. On this small hill was a small group of people standing and three bound ones sitting on the ground.
The three bound ones were Fierce Flame, Star Bowler, and The Man. They were each bound by a piece of yellow rope that radiated a thin golden aura.
The others around were the heads of the guilds in the coalition, or their superior representatives, and their bodyguards. Amongst them were Scarface, Manager Steelhand, and Queen Magenta, who were all at level 20 already.
“I’ll be damned! He really does show up,” Manager Steelhand uttered when he saw Jack in the distance.
“Hmph! His arrogance will be his downfall,” Queen Magenta commented.
“I’ve expected so,” Scarface said.
“Still, I did not expect him to come alone, I would expect that at least White Scarfs will lend him some assistance,” Manager Steelhand said.
“Too bad then, we would have been able to crush them together,” Queen Magenta said.
“As a matter of fact, they did intend to lend him assistance,” Scarface spoke.
The others turned to him. He then explained, “I’ve received a message from my source that a contingent from White Scarfs had been mobilized to come here. They have left an hour ago.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell us earlier?” Queen Magenta complained.
“Because the six hours deadline we gave Storm Wind will expire long before they arrived. If he comes, we will deal with him, and then reorganizes to deal with the White Scarfs group. If he doesn’t come, then we waste these hostages and then we organize to deal with the White Scarfs group. In any case, we still have enough time, they will not arrive here in at least another two hours, three if their group has magicians.”
“Okay, so let’s just waste this Storm Wind so we can deal with the real problem,” manager Steelhand said. “Once White Scarfs is defeated, we will be the true overlord among players in the capital. The other guilds will have no choice but to submit!”
Another person who stood beside them snorted, “hmph! If you didn’t inform me that White Scarfs is really coming, I was just about to pull my people out. Assembling us here just to deal with a single person, that is embarrassing.”
Scarface turned to the person who had spoken. The guy was a tall yet skinny elder, his skin was dark and his expression exuded the definition of arrogance. The old man was called Prideful Josh, a level 20 Mage. He was the acting leader of the guild Crowd of Sins within the capital.
“I would suggest you not to underestimate that man,” Scarface told him.
“Hmph! Don’t lump me with your incompetence men for dealing with a single person,” Prideful Josh uttered.
Bigarm who stood behind Scarface was angered by the insult. “How dare you! Do you think your guild is stronger than our Death Associates?! And you only bring less than a hundred people here. You were not serious about joining this call for assembly from the start!”
“You are right I’m not serious! The call is to deal with one person, with the White Scarfs guild only as a probability. Heck! I can just send my guild’s small expert group to deal with this matter. Assembling as here only show off your guild’s incompetence!”
“You…!”
Scarface stopped Bigarm from arguing further. “It’s not time for us to fight among ourselves,” he said. “In fact, I understand many of the others think the same. The difference is that brother Josh here was being honest about his feeling.”
He looked around at the other leaders of the coalition. “Many of you only send a small part of your troops. It doesn’t matter, it should be enough to deal with that man and the White Scarfs group that is coming. If you think that it’s a disgrace that I’ve been overcautious to invite all of you just to deal with that man, so be it. I will consider your coming here as a favor to Death Associates, and we will remember it. For now, let us focus to deal with the matter first.”
The other leaders nodded, while Prideful Josh snorted. Manager Steelhand who saw that everyone had calmed down, spoke out, “In fact, I also have a piece of news that I might need to share with you people.”
The other leaders now turned to him. Manager Steelhand continued, “I’ve also received a message from my members in the capital. Do you guys still remember the player named Saint John?”
