Chapter 60 - 651-667

651 Assigning My Generals To Their Posts

When I thought about it, even the three big armies stationed nearby wouldn't be of any help. That made me change the role that jumper had to play.

At first, I thought about letting him flank the enemy from behind, helping to relieve any stress point when needed.

But now? He had to go north again, work as a vanguard there to keep any hidden forces busy dealing with him.

If that enemy was ready thinking about such a move, then with the jumper current forces alone he wouldn't be able to make it.

It seemed I had to use Angelica then. And that meant I had to go up north, select a good spot to save as a bookmark to use as a deployment point for Angelica's forces.

As for my forces, I had to carefully select where I should deploy them.

Sigh! At such a wide stretched out chessboard, any single misstep would give the enemy the chance he was waiting for..

I was sure of this enemy's abilities. He would come from where I wasn't expecting, preparing a bad surprise for me. But no matter what I thought about during the next ten hours, there was no other way around for him to come from.

If he just decided to come from the south then he wouldn't bring a good army. These lands were all mine. If a single army appeared there, then I would be alarmed.

I assigned one thousand flying monsters to my girls, expanding the size of this handful of flying riders. I also added them as friends and let all my friends add them as well.

I assigned them to watch the southern and northern regions. But to be honest, the capital lies so damn close to the northern borders. And the south also got Fang and his forces out there.

So it would be foolish of the enemy to come from that direction, or else he would get entrapped between me and Fang. he would come from the north, I could bet my life over it.

The northern lands were all covered under thick fog for my eyes. I didn't have any information about what lies beyond the state of Massachusetts and New York.

During the past ten hours, everyone went to gather up their forces and start moving them towards their assigned places.

The spearhead asked for a foolish bravery to be stationed at the frontline. That dude just got over himself after this short session of training.

Sigh! What would he feel like when he would start cultivation then? Damn arrogant foolish bastard he was!

I refused his request, of course, and assigned him to be one of the three helping armies in the middle group. The frontline was handled over to the two fiercest ladies I got, Hilary and Isabella.

The two I knew about their abilities and their future progress. So I trusted this hard and complicated situation to these two.

As for the second army stationed behind them, Lily would be there. I wanted Lily to lead the army in the middle region, but I feared I might need her to fight against her race.

She read my mind when I gave out my final arrangement. She said she didn't care about fighting against her kin, but I beg to differ with her.

Then I let Isac lead that middle army. She was meticulous, thoughtful, and might be considered as a great tactician.

She wasn't fierce, but if given time and enough distance, she would use this to create miracles. And I depended on her thoughtful mind to do this tricky part at the heated moments of this war.

The remaining rear three armies to help the capital would be led by Alex, Sara, and Leo. Alex was the weak joint in my forces.

She wasn't a fighting type of person, not fierce, not aggressive, and not even decisive!

I still recall when I gave her the solution to get out of the Statue of Liberty attack at the beginning of all this and she hesitated to take such a step back then.

She was shy, not talking or interacting too much with anyone. But considering Leo's presence beside her, I got to use her to instigate this dude's fighting spirit and let him fight better.

In fact I consider merging the two armies to form a single bigger army. But I wanted her to get mentally stronger and help all of us in shouldering the greater responsibilities coming from now on.

Or else I'd just move her aside, and consider her as a good friend and nothing more.

I had to speak with Leo in private after everyone left. I told him that if things went south with her army, he had to be ready to step in and absorb the entire army under him.

He willingly agreed as expected. But I stressed over him to not bring any news of this to her.

I didn't want her already fragile self confidence to take such a blow before this big war.

As for the main powerhouse at the three armies, I'd select Sara without any speck of hesitation.

This girl was the third fiercest girl here, very aggressive and a war lover. I knew leaving her at the rear would make the fight at the capitol much easier.

By this arrangement, I tried to balance everything. The spearhead was a good asset, if not for that undesired arrogance he got from getting stronger.

If not for this, I'd place him in the middle region, working as my ace to help any battle.

As my colossal armies were getting in shape, ready for the upcoming battle, I sent two messages out.

One was for the jumper. I told him in detail about my worries and my current arrangement. Even if that bastard was acting as a jerk most of the time, he was still a formidable ally and friend.

He agreed with my worries, telling me he also had the same doubts. When he heard he was going north, he seemed a bit pumped up, asking to go out right away.

652 Exploring The World

[Not now, just wait until we start fighting] I sighed. This dude seemed to have some sort of dead enmity with the human overlord at Canada lands.

[I have to cover lots of distance] he argued, but I didn't agree with what he said.

[Just wait for the enemy to fall for his own trap. When he thinks things were going as he planned, you will start moving out]

[And Angelica?]

[She will move first, before your forces] I sent, [She will act as a distraction. Keep in touch with her when she comes back. I'll let you know about her arrival]

[Trusting a girl and not me?]

[As if there is a true difference between the two of you] I laughed when I read his last comment. That dude… He truly was lost in his act to really believe it.

As for the second one to contact, it was Fang.

That dude was left alone all these days. Of course to me, long months passed thanks to the time difference..

[We are ready] he just sent me this brief message before adding after a few minutes, [I'm keeping an eye over the movements of the enemy. If anything weird happened, I'll tell you and act accordingly]

[Be ready to support us if they came from your direction]

[They won't! There is nothing there but your people and mine!]

His firm answer confirmed my earlier doubts. But I had to be more cautious. [Just be ready to move north if needed, ok?]

[Got it! Just let me know when you will need me. It's just a regret!]

[What?]

[During this war, the Hectors will join, right?]

[That's given]

[Then they have to send out their forces and army. When doing that, they have to lower the shield over their continent]

[For real?] reading what he sent made all my nerves stirred up!

If this was real, then this would be great! A chance! At last I got a chance to hit that continent.

[That's what I got from my paragon and higher ups in my race] he sent, confirming what he just said earlier, [But how can we get there without getting entangled in that big war?]

[Hmm… Let me think of something] I paused for a few minutes, pondering about this big news. [Be prepared to go there if things went as planned]

[You mean… On their continent?]

[Where else?] I rolled my eyes, [Just ready your troops to swarm that land once we got a chance]

[But… I alone won't be able to do it. The size of that continent is more than five times that of yours!]

[And?]

[My forces aren't that big! I won't be able to cover up even one tenth of it! And these are Hectors we are speaking about here. Without great support, I'll be roasted!]

[Don't panic like that] I had some sort of a plan in mind, [Just make sure to hold your ground if you got the chance. Then wait for my arrival]

[Are you sure? It will be a bit risky]

[Without big risks, how do you expect big gains? Just get ready, hopefully they won't come from your side]

I closed the chat with him and couldn't control my excitement. If the Hectors came, they had to bring that damn shield down.

That would be my chance then. But… my forces would be stretched out by then.

I had three armies stationed near the capital. I couldn't depend on Leo and Alex's armies for such a dangerous task.

Only Sara alongside my army would be able to help. However… The timing of sending her out must be carefully selected.

If she moved out too early, then the enemy might move everything and hit the capital. The other two armies were like fodders in my eyes. Without her around, I'd not feel secure.

If only I'd have Angelica left to watch for my capital, then I'd be more reassured. Sigh! I felt how short I ran on talents and trusted subordinates.

It seemed I had to go on a recruiting spree once more. After this big war would end, I'd look for those outstanding elites and select a few from them.

Hopefully I'd find hidden gems in the middle of all this.

As I closed the chat and thought about what to do, I started to move out.

The armies were already in form, ready to move and get deployed in the next couple hours.

Before they'd move, I had to go and scout the areas up front.

This was the first time I moved out for a long time. I moved once to help the jumper using my staff, teleporting directly towards there.

Just as I moved towards the south, I noticed the new changes that happened here.

"Sigh! I forgot about the impact of the merge process…" I stopped my chariot over what was considered before as New York.

This place witnessed my start. I came here first, fought hellish battles and struggled to control the city.

Yet I had to abandon this place. Just the scenery in front of my eyes was enough to make me inwardly sigh.

New York, Jersey, and other places around were now submerged under the ocean. They formed a deep gulf that extended deep inside my lands.

These two cities were once my strongest foothold. But thanks to this calamity here, I had to abandon them and move up north.

Even doing that didn't spare me from facing the bad consequences of this merge. Yet these two big cities and a vast area around weren't as lucky as my capital region.

The new gulf extended for tens of miles, with almost three to five miles width. It looked massive, linking ocean waters to places that were once so damn far from the ocean!

I looked at this new gulf and considered the overall plan again. I missed this small detail, making me think seriously about scouting the areas under my control and near my capital first.

653 We Have War Chariots!

Just with this gulf I was quite sure that Hector would use it to come to my capital. Using this new place and with the coastal region, two attacks would come to corner my capital.

Then that bastard enemy of mine would come from the north. I got over my earlier doubts. He would come from the north.

But this alarmed me. I lacked scouting the new lands after this merging calamity.

So I started moving my chariot around, getting to know more about what changed here.

I didn't move too deep south. Aside from this New York gulf, I found another one just in the Maryland region, just extending from the southern borders of New Jersey and ending deep in the middle of Pennsylvania.

This gulf was broader, looking much bigger than the New York one.

Having the two gulfs surrounding and pressuring New Jersey, this once a decent sized state started to look like a long and thin stretch of land, taking the shape of a thin finger protruding in the middle of the ocean.

Like this, the next merging aftermath would bury this big piece of land under salty ocean waters..

Sigh! In just a few natural disasters, large amounts of land were taken off me. I had either to expand in the mainland, or aim towards the new continents.

And I decided to go for the second approach.

After seeing this bigger gulf, I was now confident that Hectors would ignore my coastal defences and come all from the south.

They might span while coming up north into different routes and armies, but they would eventually reach my capital in one big hellish army.

It was great that the southern region of my capital held that big fortress defensive structures that Isac handled.

I inspected that place before moving out, and Isac did a great job there! She finished almost seventy percent of all the structures there, and that was enough considering how densely packed she places towers and forts, turning the entire region into a damn huge maze.

It was a deadly maze with no one entering it without risking his life for sure. And the best part of it was that with its size and Isac's meticulous planning, this maze could absorb a grand army of one million without any problem!

As for the north, it was secured with that triangular defensive zone that Hilary proposed and executed brilliantly. She even finished almost half of the defensive triangular zone at West as well.

It was amazing considering the short notice she had before this battle. Even with fifty percent completion, breaking through these defences from the land would be challenging.

I left the jumper's army arrangement for the meticulous Isac. She was capable of better deploying them more than me and even more than the jumper himself.

But there was a single flaw in my entire plan; the aerial forces!

During my fight with the jumper up north, we faced flying monsters. They weren't that much in number, but they were enough to make a difference.

The worst part wasn't just in our lack of aerial forces, it was in our lack of any form of anti-air defences!

Inside the capitol, there were many defensive towers and structures aiming at targeting any flying enemy. But for all my armies, they had none!

"I have to get this issue solved then," I had no other choice but to contact Silverlining. I knew that arming up an army with such defensive weapons would be costly.

And I didn't have just one army, I had eleven! Thinking about that made me feel a little headache.

[What kind of war tools are you looking for?] Silverlining sent before adding, [By the way, the soulers you asked for are almost ready]

[Leave them for now] I didn't have the time or mind to get more soulers now, [I want wyverns, can you prepare these for me?]

[Wyvern warriors? That's easy. How much do you want? Ten thousand? Fifty thousand?]

[Hmm… I want a million] I thought about their prices and the armies I had. At least I had to prepare flying warriors for my frontline two armies, Spearhead army, and Sara's army, plus the army at the capital.

I got lots of warriors before. They were a mix of all sorts of warriors, and I planned to give these to my generals.

But I didn't purchase enough to arm an army! So this time I wanted specifically flying warriors to help these five armies.

They were the key armies in this epic battle!

The two up front had obvious reasons to get such help. As for the spearhead, he was the most iconic general in my forces.

He had the ability to change the outcome of any big battle singlehanded! So if I was the enemy, I'd go towards him and try to take him out fast.

Ground forces wouldn't help much, so the only thing the enemy would think about would be the flying legions.

As for Sara, she would do many tasks in this battle. Considering the expected movement towards the Hectors' continent, I had to warm her up with strong flying warriors.

And finally the army at the capital needed more aerial support to stand against any fierce aerial legions.

[That… Let me go and prepare them then] Silverlining started to get used to how I used to do things. I planned to give each army two hundred thousand flying warriors, enough to make them stand their ground without big issues.

[As for the war gears, I want anti-air weapons, enough to arm an army of millions]

[Hmm… We can provide good calibre weapons but they will be quite pricey. They are great war weapons against any air legions but…]

[They are high grades, right?] I got what he was speaking about. [What do you have? Tell me… Also I want common grade tools to arm normal soldiers]

Getting high grade weapons like these would be pricey, so it was better to be left only for the generals of the armies.

They would be the only ones deserving such treatment. And as generals, they had to have some sort of impact towards the battlefield, not just being slightly stronger than common soldiers.

[We have war chariots, forged by famous artisans of my race] he sent me such shocking news.

654 Getting Chariots And Warriors

[You do have flying chariots?!!] it was my time to be surprised by what he said, [How strong they are?]

[We have chariots starting from gold grade up to artefact grade of earth grade]

Earth grade? Wasn't my chariot an earth grade war tool? Damn! So it was an artefact!!

It was the first time for me to realise such a thing. I always thought that my chariot was a unique war tool, and its grade was unique.

But it never crossed my mind that it was an artefact! Damn cool!

[How much?] I asked with much anticipation and impatience.

[The artefact grade? No, they are priceless. You need to pay something close to your redbones to get these]

Damn! So I got damn lucky back then? I got my baby here with just a mere bet! Damn cool! Damn lucky!!.

[What about gold grade ones? Dark gold grade chariots?]

After all, I was going to give these to my friends. The idea of having all my generals boarding flying chariots was simply awesome!

Like this my kingdom would be famed for the flying generals with their mighty chariots. I loved it!

But they didn't need such mighty chariots like mine. Perhaps later on, I'd give one to Hilary, the jumper, Isac, and Lily. These four were considered special, with the ability to show the real prowess of any chariot I'd give to them.

After all it wasn't just about getting a chariot, but having the capital and resources to spend over it and let it shine.

[These can be sold using your blue grade bones indeed] he paused for a long minute, [the price will be one thousand bones per chariot, including all the war tools installed as an addition over them, the energy crystals needed to run them, and also few warriors as support to the chariots and help in operating them]

Damn! So I ended up getting this chariot short of its weapons and warriors? Damn stingy dragon archlord! Screw you!

I should have looked for a paragon, a hegemon, or even a sovereign to make the bet with at that time.

[Fine, send me ten] I decided to give one to each general of mine.

[That… Sure, I'll handle things right now]

[What about the common grade anti-air weapons?]

[These can be white and green grade ones, and their price is really cheap. The white ones can be purchased in batches of five thousands with a single blue bone of yours. As for the green, they can be sold as a group of a hundred for each single blue bone]

[That's great! Prepare ten million weapons for me, white grade] If the price was this low, then I would go all out and purchase such a large number.

[No problem, we got tons of these in one of the subsidiary impacts. Let me contact them for you]

[I want these in a few hours] I am stressed over this. Right now my armies are starting to move out. So I could easily reach all of them a few tens of miles outside the capital.

But if I waited for longer, I'd have to move to many places to deliver these to them. I wanted the soldiers to train and get used to such weapons.

Something told me these white grade weapons would be carried easily by each soldier. They wouldn't be such large heavy weight weapons like my great ballistae or something.

[Sure, I'll try to deliver all very soon]

It was reliable to depend upon Silverlining in such things. Comparing the nymph lady with him, he was quite faster.

The nymph lady used to give me a long time to wait before giving me the final answer. Many times she also asked for me to wait for long hours, days, or even wait for an unspecified amount of time to get me what I wanted.

The memory of asking for big weapons for my chariot and waiting for a long time without even giving me a deadline was still fresh.

Silverlining didn't even hesitate, and even had such high grade chariots like mine. He even would provide me chariots with their weapons. How cool was this?

I closed the chat with him while dreaming about my generals' looks when they would board their chariot alongside me and fly in the kingdom.

Damn! I wanted now to form a flying legion of chariots alone! I would slowly arm their subordinates and promising talents with such cool war toys.

Let the sky of this world be dominated by my flying chariot legion.

I didn't send any messages to any of my team. It felt better to deliver such a surprise to them and see the reaction on their faces firsthand.

After checking the southern regions, I started to check the West.

Luckily not too many things happened there. Few deep craters here and there, and one small volcano erupted in the middle of West Virginia. Aside from that, nothing much changed here.

That volcano was still hot! It kept releasing lots of lava out of the depth of the earth.

The area around was burnt down to the ground by this lava. I watched from far while thick bellows of grey white smoke kept rising up from the top of this small hill.

It wasn't there before, not as far as I'd recall. It was part of the aftermath of that merge thing.

However it wouldn't affect my forces too much. I might even use this place as a hideout for Isac's middle army. Here was the central zone of my kingdom, a perfect place to hide a big army without getting any worries to get detected.

It took almost four hours flying around before Silverlining returned to me with everything I asked for.

The chariot… They were damn cool! All covered in golden colour, came in a size that was almost one fourth of my chariot.

They were also drawn by flying monsters, not like the scary ones drawing my chariot. But they were ok.

Each chariot came with two levels, one for living and one roof only.

They were good. I stored the chariot I took out to inspect before checking the warriors I asked for.

655 Acting As Santa Clause

There were over a million and one hundred thousand wyvern in my inventory right now. I'd keep one hundred thousand for myself, and deliver the rest to my main five big armies.

As for the weapons to hunt down air monsters, they came just like I expected.

Each one was like a small bow, one that could be equipped and worn in one arm using leather belts. It had a short string, short arched body, and it came with lots of arrows.

I tested one, and using it wasn't that hard. The range of each arrow was good, crossing almost a couple hundred metres in the blink of an eye.

But its final range was an issue. They only delivered arrows to slightly over six hundred metres before losing momentum and the arrows would fall back to ground.

The bonus of this kind of weapon was that it could be used against ground forces as well. It wasn't just limited to the air monsters.

Also it was light, easily worn and used, allowing anyone to use it in addition to his main weapon..

It had its perks, but it had its limitations. If the flying monsters flew higher than the range of these arrows, then the forces would be doomed.

[The range of these weapons are really short] I sent a complaint to Silverlining.

[You asked for white grade. If you got green grade, then the range will be doubled]

[Hmm… Send me one hundred thousand of these then] I had to arm up my armies with a few long ranged weapons as well. Like this, even if monsters tried to fly higher, they would get hit regardless.

After getting what I wanted, I returned back to my army.

Almost eight hours passed since my departure, and so they were already hitting the road. I caught up with each army, gave everything to them.

Of course when my generals saw the gift I prepared for them, they all screamed in joy. Even Hilary jumped and danced around me, showering me with kisses and hugs.

But when she learnt that others also got the same kind of chariot, her face dropped, only to return to her cheerful mood when she heard about the bigger and better chariot I was thinking of getting for her later on.

This girl… She wanted to feel special from others even in the form of weapons and chariots.

But others showed no such fluctuating reaction. They all screamed in joy, jumped and danced before leading all their elites and trusted subordinates to board the chariot.

Even the spearhead cried and pleaded for me to ride my chariot around with him, moving on top of his army at slow speed, adding more awe to his chariot's image in the souls of his army.

These chariots were cool, but they lacked speed compared with mine. They got only normal speed, which was like a snail compared to mine, and a faster mode where they would just fly almost one hundredth of my chariot's top speed.

After agreeing to the spearhead request and satisfying his arrogance, I warned him from underestimating his enemies once more.

This dude felt like being invincible, especially after getting such a chariot and all the warriors I prepared for him and his army.

He gave me an answer that lacked any speck of sincerity. I could only sigh, knowing that most of his army would get lost thanks to the foolishness and stubbornness of their general.

In such an epic battle, I had no time to care and babysit anyone. They got enough support from me. And it was time for them to shine and show their worth.

Whoever would do bad would get punished and even demoted after this war would be over. Those who would shine would rise and replace the old.

This war wasn't just for my kingdom to make a name for itself, but for my elites to shine and get filtered.

Hopefully this dude and others would do as great as I expected from each of them.

After I finished my tour here, I didn't forget the jumper or Angelica. The latter was in the second Earth world. Having such warriors and chariot, made her scream for almost five minutes!

She even came, hugged and kissed me on the cheek, tried to do more but I had to stop her. I would excuse what she did as part of her excitement. Yet anymore and I'd fall in trouble with my fiery chick.

As for the jumper, that cold hearted bastard just looked at the chariot I prepared for him, looked at my bigger and mightier one before snorting in mockery.

"Do you think I'd settle with just this trash while you got yourself an ace?"

"Don't be like that, jerk! This is a free meal, take it or leave it, it's all on my account!"

"Humph," even when he showed such disdain, he didn't reject any of the things I prepared for him, "next time prepare something better, or don't bother yourself, stingy lord."

"F*cking bastard! Not even a word of thanks? Humph! It's better to take these things away then."

"Don't dare to touch them!" he said in warning, even taking out his broadsword as his eyes shone in such fierce red light.

This dude… He didn't sit here and wasted his time. He seemed to cultivate as well.

He got a bit stronger.

But dude… Did you think you could stand against me even if you were the strongest in the entire universe? "Don't forget who you are serving, bastard," I threw my piece before leaving, and his curses and angry shouts echoed from my back.

I knew he was craving and dying to get his hands over all of these things. He asked me more than once for warriors and cool war tools like my chariot, but I always had to let him down.

This time I had a way to help, yet his arrogance kept getting on my nerves! Out of all, this jerk was the one I desperately wanted to hit on the face all the time!

That ugly mask of his just suited the twisted nature of his soul!

656 A Very Bad Situation!

After finishing things with this jerk, I used my staff and went towards the capital.

I finished helping and arming up my armies. All that was needed now was to wait for the armies to reach their designated posts.

Yet I lacked one last move. I had to go up north and store the bookmarks there for many places.

These areas were all alien to me. According to the map, there were three states standing in between my capital and Canada lands alongside New York.

These states were arranged in vertical arrangement, with a small area underneath each one.

When I went there, I saw nothing new except for another gulf formed after the merge process. It went all the way from the ocean, lining up the three states, separating this part from Canada's cold lands.

It went with almost ten miles width and moved from East to West, vanishing up in the horizon.

Well… That was very bad news indeed!.

Right now I discovered three big gulfs, two in the south and one here up north, all close to my capital.

But this one… this one was really dangerous! It was so damn huge, enough to hide an aquatic army within without getting detected.

Thinking about going there and fighting these hidden forces was a foolish move! First I did not have enough aquatic forces to do that. And the most important thing was that this gulf seemed to have no end! It was really huge!

Trying to kill monsters there? They got many places to run towards, and my forces would end up dying without achieving anything.

Should I risk and send the aquatic races here? Would they be of any help?

I truly doubted that!

The good news was that even if they got such an aquatic army here, they wouldn't be able to use it effectively against my capital.

The only aquatic path to my capital would be through the eastern coast. Aside from that, there was no other water route but few rivers that ran close to it.

But that army would pose a threat if the enemy decided to turn this place into a foothold for his forces!

I'd be forced to come and clear his threat, and this way this aquatic army would show its worth.

It wasn't an offensive army, but one designed for a defensive battle. Damn! The stretch of this gulf was really huge, enough to be considered a true part of the ocean.

The first thing I did was to save up lots of places inside my staff as bookmarks. I kept flying over the side near my capital, watching how huge this big gulf was.

The more I flew, the more I became worried. It was separating my lands from Canada. And that meant the movement of the jumper's army couldn't be done from that part.

He had to lead his forces inside, going around this gulf and arriving here. But this also meant he would face the enemy earlier before arriving here.

Sigh! Just looking at the new map formed after the merge impact made me feel my capital was all surrounded from north, east, and south. Only the west was left, and that was now closed up by the line arranged by that bastard's forces.

So he was closing the net! A big net over my kingdom and capital!

I looked at this encirclement and already felt the cold touch of the rope over my neck. The only way to get out of this was by using brutal force, only force was the only guarantee to break free from this messy situation.

[Change of plans] After flying for an entire three hours straight at full speed, I finally reached the end of this gulf.

It ended up at the big lakes north of Michigan! That meant the enemy got access to here, covering up a great deal of my lands.

Recalling the past aquatic fierce battle here, I realised that the army I found and killed was just the tip of the iceberg.

I'd have to expect much more of such armies then. [Don't go up north through Canada lands] I sent to the jumper, [This route is blocked by a big gulf]

[Are you afraid of aquatic monsters?] this dude didn't get the point yet.

[That gulf extends from the ocean all the way towards the big lakes at Michigan. It's very broad, can't be crossed and shouldn't be touched]

[This… Are you sure?] he asked and that told me he also was oblivious to such big changes in the terrain.

[There is no way from Canada to here. So you have to go through our lands. But…]

[I got it, I won't get near that cursed place, right?] He was fast this time to catch what I wanted to say.

I closed the chat with him while thinking about the best way to kill the aquatic monsters.

My enemy wasn't just that bastard, but the Hectors. And from my interactions with Lily, I got to know how rich this race's experience is in dealing with aquatic monsters and battles.

In other words, getting near that zone would be a red line that I shouldn't cross. But this gulf extended to cover almost all the northern parts of my kingdom.

Should I abandon these parts or what?

Just thinking about this epic war made my head spin. The closer the time of this battle drew closer, the more complicated it became.

Eventually I reached the same conclusion; brutal force was the answer!

Nothing mattered in front of unstoppable might. My armies were big, but they lacked elites and strong powerhouses.

Hopefully the enemy would also lack such a thing. Or else it would come down to only me against this entire coalition army of my deadly foe and Hectors.

[Prepare your forces] but as that son of b*tch used the help of his ally, I'd use the help of mine, [start moving in stealth way towards north. There are two big gulfs there. Station your forces just one hundred miles south of the lowest gulf]

[And?]

[I'll tell you what to do next]

[Is it this bad?]

657 Weird Messages

Fang was smart to get that something was off. I had to sigh. It seemed I had bad luck this time. If not for the additional Hector continents, things would just happen the way recorded in the old records of my time.

But as the Hectors came, things changed. And that created such weird gulfs that never appeared here before.

And I had to deal with all of this.

This northern battle… It couldn't be entrusted to anyone but me!

I wanted to play as a joker, moving from one battlefield to another using my teleport staff. I also wanted to join the fight at the Hector continent.

Fang and Sara alone wouldn't be enough! Without the help of someone like me it would be a hard battle.

I had to take over this northern battle. So Angelica would leave without any assignment.

Also I could move the jumper directly towards there. This dude would be much better than any of my other generals if he took things seriously.

Thinking about this sudden shuffle in order made me sigh. I felt this battle would keep shifting like this..

[Where are you now?] I sent this to all of my generals. They responded with their current locations.

They needed at least ten hours to arrive at their designated posts. As for the watchful teams, they kept their duty.

Alex and Leo were supposed to lead them before the start of our big march. And once the battle started, I decided to scatter these teams around.

They knew where the tunnels were, the big ones at least. So they would go there and watch over these tunnels.

If anything wrong happened there, they would notify me directly. I had a hunch that something big would come out from these tunnels.

The first to be discovered were Niagara falls. They were located near the new big gulf up north. It seemed out of pure coincidence for such big tunnels to be situated this near to this gulf.

My best guess? That bastard would lead out his forces coming out from that tunnel to hit my capital. And I'd just have to wait for him to make such a move before starting to attack.

Of course my army would be the personal army of warriors. I got lots of good warriors, numbering over one hundred thousands.

ɴ[0)ᴠᴇʟ I kept just five thousand of each warrior group, besides the souler army.

And I was waiting for another soldier from Silverlining. Hopefully he will be able to bring lots of them in time.

If I needed to, then I could simply open many portals and lead my big human army from the second Earth world to here.

One way or another, I had to land over that bastard and stop him from deploying his forces properly.

Such a move wouldn't be expected by him, ending up in messing up all of his plans. It was just a simple move, but it held lots of importance and value without doubt.

It was like a single chess move where a check mate would be expected next.

Time passed fast and during which, all I did was to keep roaming around the areas close to that northern gulf.

I knew that my chariot was too eye catchy to not be spotted. So the enemy already was aware of my presence here.

[We arrived]

[We are in place]

[Waiting for the attack order]

[Boss, we are waiting for more instructions]

Messages like these started to come from all my eight generals during the past hour. The last two to send their messages were the two who were leading the front; Hilary and Isabella.

[We are there]

[My army is ready]

The two finally sent their words to me, letting me clench tightly over my glaive.

It was time!

[Get ready, we are going to attack now] I sent this message to the other six before taking a deep breath and sent to the last two, [Start!]

[Forces are on the way]

[We are attacking now!]

The two sent these brief answers and I knew the battle would burn wildly from the beginning.

Fighting just the small forces stationed there? Humph! I wasn't an idiot to believe that!

The moving tactics were left for these two to arrange between each other and their elite forces.

They told me while they were marching to their posts about their final plan. It was a simple plan actually, just dividing the army into two halves, one would stay behind and wait, and the other would scatter into smaller groups and attack the targets.

According to the layout they told me about, they would intersect the two armies attacking the frontline in the midzone. Doing this aimed towards having more options at this region, allowing the two to move more forces from the frontline to support any hot zone.

[You were right! There are lots of gates popping up everywhere my boys went!]

[Lord, we got lots of incoming monsters and weird looking races who are coming out from large number of portals]

The two sent these expected messages, letting me faintly smile.

I knew none of them took my words seriously before this moment. I relayed the news to the rest of the generals before giving two orders to two of them.

[Move closer to Hilary's army] I sent this to the spearhead, letting him move closer to the second half of Hilary's army.

As for Lily, I sent her the order to move closer to Isabella's army.

I arranged this on purpose. When I decided to stay up north, I shuffled the order of the two armies, letting Hilary take the northern half while Isabella would take the southern one.

Like this, I could use the help of Hilary if things went hectic up north and around the capital.

The early moment of this big war seemed to be much more brutal than what the generals thought.

Messages of the update of the frontline fight kept pouring non-stop from the two generals out there. The size of monsters and mercenary races was just out of their control, forcing them to push more reinforcements to many spots during the first six hours.

But on the bright side, many towns and cities fell under my forces' control.

658 [Bonus chapter] It's Not A Coincidence

At first a couple of hours, the forces up front tried to crush their ways to the towns and cities. The plan Hilary and Isabella put was simple: push with everything they got, force their way inside the towns and cities, secure the emblems and castles there, before securing the big five portals in each place.

They planned to use the boost effect of all emblems and castles to secure these towns and cities. But they underestimated their foes.

The enemy didn't need to use any boost from any emblem or castle. They just kept pouring more monsters and races out of the big number of portals around each town and city.

This made the attempt of breaking through fail! My forces suffered big losses until the two girls finally succumbed to my plan.

[Go directly for the portals, crush them first and clear the battlefield later] This was my simple and yet effective tactic.

This didn't save the losses or even cut it short. But it brought out good results just a few hours later.

[We secured ten towns and two cities]

[We controlled five cities and six towns]

[We secured three cities and five towns]

[We secured ten towns].

More messages like these kept coming one after another. I kept watching this good news while looking at the big map on the back of my chariot.

[Tell me, did we clear any zone yet?] I cared more about that. Separating the forces of that bastard was the first step towards clearing these rats.

Once I separated a zone from two directions, I'd order the closest big army to close on this zone and tear it to shreds.

Doing that wouldn't only save time, but would also cut our losses short and add morale to the forces at the frontline.

Gaining a considerable victory like this was priceless!

[We need more time]

[Not yet]

But the two brought me such bad news. It seemed the places they controlled were scattered randomly without any connection.

[Try to focus more on segregating the enemy lineup] I sent this to them, urging them to focus on isolating entire zones.

It didn't happen until five more hours passed! The fight was really hard, and the more the enemy fought them, the more losses the two armies suffered.

Besides, the enemy already sniffed what I was trying to do. The fight over the key points seemed to be much bloodier than anyplace else.

The enemy was trying his best to stop my armies from separating their line up into separated zones.

Yet at the start of the sixth hour, my forces finally managed to crush these hard obstacles.

[We got one zone separated]

[I got one zone separated as you asked]

[Keep pushing over other zones first] I didn't want to start attacking any zone yet. It would be better to have more zones in wait, so they would jump from one zone to another, gaining momentum as they did that.

I wanted to snowball their morale, turning them into fierce beasts.

During the next three hours, more hardpoints started to fall under the fierce assault of my forces.

[Start the hunting zones operation] After securing more than five zones for each army, I gave them the order to start taking down these separated zones.

I didn't know how big each zone was, or how many towns and cities were in each one. I left such details to the two girls to handle.

[The first zone fell!] The first to control a zone was Isabella. Unlike Hilary, Isabella was much fiercer in her attacks.

She lost much more than what Hilary lost to control one zone each, but she was a bit faster without doubt.

ɴ[0)ᴠᴇʟ [Keep pushing to other zones] I sent, [Use the high morale and don't stop even after clearing a zone. Look for the nearest hard battlefield and hit it fiercely with everything you got]

I sent this to both of them, then I sent this to the spearhead and Lily:

[Move your forces closer to the frontline. Be ready to fight if we needed you]

[Sure boss]

[I'm growing bored staying here! Can't we move out and help right now?]

Lily was just impatient, itching to join this big fight.

However I didn't give her the permission to do that.

[Just stay put for now] I sent to her before I got a message I waited so long for.

[Lord, there is weird activity going on here]

"At last!" My eyes shone when I read this message. It came from the teams I sent towards the tunnels to keep an eye over them.

[Where are you?] I sent it to this team, asking for their current location.

[We are at an area at Virginia, near West Virginia and Kentucky]

"This…" It was a place that I never expected!

The frontal battle was raging hot starting from Michigan at north, moving south through Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. I didn't let my forces at the south to go much deeper towards Alabama, as this was left for the Selvators to handle.

I stationed the two armies of Lily and spearhead, one at North Carolina and the other was at the meeting point of West Virginia and Pennsylvania accordingly.

And right now the enemy started moving at a spot just in the middle between these two armies.

That was… A bit weird.

[Lord, we got a movement here]

[Enemies are spotted, lord]

More messages started to come in succession, all delivering the same news.

[Where are you?] I sent this to all, and the answers I got weren't that different from the first message I got.

They all were located near to the two armies in the rear of the frontline forces.

This wasn't a coincidence. What exactly did that bastard want to do here?

[Take care] I sent to Lily and the spearhead, [There are enemy forces coming out in the area between your armies]

[That's nothing boss, let us move our armies and smash these flies in between us]

"Crush the forces by merging the two armies together…" I felt like what the spearhead just said resonated with something else… Some sort of an idea… An idea about what that bastard was trying to do here.

659 Enemy Is On The Move

"Damn! So this is what you want to do!"

I looked at the map with two glaring pieces of embers. That bastard… He was preparing the final set up before coming from the north.

[You will head north] I sent to Lily, [You will handle the enemies coming all around you]

[Is it safe?] Lily was sceptical about doing this. After all the enemies were coming from many tunnels, almost over thirty so far.

But this was the real scheme of this bastard. He wanted the two armies close to the frontline to move away from the northern lands, leaving a wide space without any army there to guard.

As for Isac, I believed he would target her next.

That would leave a place enough to gather up a mighty army before hitting the capital. If he also repeated such arrangements at areas close to the three armies, he would clear more space this way.

So my role was to not allow my forces to fall for this trap. I'd entrust the spearhead with the forces coming from the tunnels at the middle, while moving Lily's army slightly up north.

As for Isac, she would stay in the middle, acting as my backup to any of the two battlefields..

This way I'd keep things up there under more control. As for myself, I kept my chariot hovering not too far from the northern gulf.

Once the real battle started, I'd move and bring forth all my forces.

[Just do as I say] I sent it to Lily. As for the spearhead, that arrogant dude was so excited about joining the fight.

He seemed to think it would take much time before joining the battle. But thanks to the cunning enemy we were facing, he had to ascend the stage a bit earlier than I planned.

Like this, I got one more army entangled with the enemy. Lily started moving out towards the north, as she was going to be stationed in the area between the two gulfs at New Jersey.

She would wait there, and hold her ground for more instructions. According to the next enemy move, I'd give her more orders.

[There are many enemies appearing around you. Just stay put and hidden, don't leave the volcano lands for now]

[Sure]

I sent this to Isac, stressing over staying there for now.

[There are enemies spotted coming out from a big tunnel, lord]

Just after three hours, and just as the spearhead forces were fighting against the enemies at the centre, a new message suddenly came from another team.

[Where?]

[At Pennsylvania]

"That bastard… He is using the angels to deliver news over to him," I clenched my fist over the glaive, before relaxing it.

He was targeting my armies in the centre, Isac and the moving up north army of Lily this time. He seemed to be wary of these two.

He wanted to clear the area at Pennsylvania and New York for his troops to gather there. So, you were targeting my Lily and Isac… Interesting!

[Move south, go towards Pennsylvania and take charge over the fight there] but who said I had to follow his arrangement and plan?

Lily was a strong and capable force compared to Alex and Leo. I didn't want her to get near the capital, didn't want for her to be forced to fight her own race.

However things developed to such a point where I had to select an army to throw at the monsters and mercenaries coming from the tunnels.

As for Isac, she had to stay back and use her strongest trait in thinking thoroughly to decide when and where to attack and help.

After all these fights were going to last for a long time, turning into an attrition battle.

I was quite sure that portals existed deep underground, letting forces come out using these tunnels.

That way, trying to smash these portals held a higher risk. The enemy would release more forces all the time, leaving me no choice but to turn this into a guerrilla fight.

I selected Alex's weakest army to handle this task. She wasn't aggressive like others, but at least she should hold her ground in such a defensive attrition war.

[Keep moving north, then head east towards the capital] As for Lily, I decided to send her towards the capital directly. She would stand with the jumper's army waiting there and defend the capital.

[You will lead the defences there, ok?]

[Got it!]

She didn't ask about anything, not like that Leo dude who kept showering me with many questions regarding my sudden arrangement for Alex.

[Just stand out and keep high alert. Enemies are everywhere]

[They are here? Then let me go and help my girl!]

[We aren't doing a love game here! This is war! If you aren't able to lead, then leave your post and I'll assign another general to lead your army. But forget about being a general ever again!]

[B… Boss… Sorry… I didn't mean it… I…]

ɴ[0)ᴠᴇʟ [Just stay put and be ready to get deployed at any moment!]

[Ok boss]

He finally returned to his right senses. Such a love couple had to learn this wasn't a game, this was war, this was the apocalypse.

To have love here, they had to grow stronger and be more capable. Or else they should abandon their posts and leave their current ranks and let others take charge.

[Boss! The enemy is throwing tons of monsters and forces at my boys! But rest assured, we are crushing them all!]

[Great!]

That bastard! He was just showing up! Just wait, wait after more hours have passed. Let me see how great you are going to do here while facing an endless stream of monsters and mercenaries.

I got the feeling that he would end up crying, asking and pleading for help.

When he would reach this point, I'd leave him crying in the corner. That naughty arrogant kid, he should get the bitterness of acting arrogant without enough capital.

660 Hectors Are Coming!

After I closed his chat and ignored the rest of his messages during the next few hours, more messages of more sightseeing of enemy forces coming out from tunnels started to come.

And with these, reports started to come from the riders I left to watch the Hector continent.

[Lord, there is a movement on that continent!]

[Lord! Forces are coming out! They aren't much yet, but they all had aquatic big beasts to ride on their backs]

"Here it started," I muttered to myself when I read all these reports. It seemed the enemy lost hope at getting rid of my Lily, Isac, or any of the other two strong forces.

Wherever monsters appeared around the capital, I informed Alex and told her to send a small army to stop them.

This way I kept the four big armies intact, waiting for the big battle.

And here it came!

[Listen up, forces are coming from the East and north. Get ready] I sent this to all of the three. As for Isac, I kept informing her with all updates, stressing over not moving out until it was absolutely needed..

And I warned her to move out and help the nearby spearhead under any circumstances! That jerk had to face the aftermath of his arrogance.

The other three armies near the capital, Lily's, Sara's, and Leo's were ready to move out. But the first to move wasn't any of them.

It was me.

I got the news already. The monsters and mercenaries started pouring from the huge tunnels at Niagara falls. I knew this bastard would come from there, and that was why he tried to clear the area south of it so his forces could gather without any interruption.

But dude… I waited for you for almost half a day! I would come and say hi to you and your forces.

[Keep tracking them and don't engage] I sent this to the female dragon and monster riders, [Keep me posted about their direction and position all the time]

I already guessed where they were going. But I had to make sure I didn't miss anything. That enemy taught me many lessons before thanks to me underestimating him.

Yet this time I'd make sure that any single move of him or his forces or allies would be closely monitored by me. As he was watching me closely thanks to the dirty angels, I had my own boys to keep an eye on his movements as well.

I moved out towards Niagara falls. They were located just near the big gulf here. However I didn't rush and summon my forces.

I had to first lay my eyes over the forces coming out and assess the situation.

It took me almost two hours to arrive there. During which, more reports of the watchful teams all over my kingdom kept pouring in.

That bastard never ceased to try and lure my armies into useless battles. He even sent many of his forces towards Isac at that volcano, ending up starting a fight there.

But I stressed over Isac to only let a small part of her army do that. She did as I asked, but I knew it was going to be hard considering that bastard's persistence to keep her entangled.

[Start moving out] As Isac was going to be removed out of the picture by all this, I decided to use the help of another powerhouse of mine, [Move towards my capital]

[Capital? Not north?] The jumper seemed a bit startled, and I had to explain things to him.

[So the north will be handled by you, and the fight over the Hector continent will be handed over to me? I like that!]

[You like Hectors so much]

[They are arrogant to think they can come here and have their way. Let me teach them a lesson]

[Just make sure to avoid any unneeded fights. Save up your aquatic monsters as they will be your ticket to that continent]

[I'm not that stupid or slow, not like those around you at least]

[You are around me, idiot!]

[I'm different]

[Yes, a man with a mask]

[What's between you and my beautiful mask? I can't get it!]

[It's ugly! Don't you have a mirror?]

[It's a piece of art! I designed it myself!]

[That's why then…]

[Bastard! I'm in a good mood now so I won't ruin it speaking with you. Bye!]

That dude… he seemed to get excited about fighting Hector. At least he wasn't going to clash with the northern overlord of humans, or fall into a trap somewhere.

As he moved out, I knew he would take roughly twelve up to twenty hours to move from his location to here.

Luckily the northern regions were slightly under my forces' control. I let him arrange how to move to the capital with Isabella.

"Hmm… That's not the force I was waiting for!"

Just as I arrived near Niagara falls, I found a big army waiting for me there. However, the size and magnitude of this army wasn't anything close to what I expected.

ɴ[0)ᴠᴇʟ I thought the army would stretch for tens of miles, covering up a large area to make me feel a little despair.

But what I saw was a small army, one that only covered a couple of miles. It wasn't that big, didn't look that strong, and they stood in their place motionless, seemingly waiting for my arrival.

"So you want to entangle me here while you move from the rear? Let me play with you a little then…"

Despite knowing this was a fluke, I decided to go through it. I was growing bored of that bastard's little tricks.

I had to force him out with his big army. I thought he would come from here, but for a reason he was wary to fight me head on.

So he had to lure me here while he would come out from the Eastern side of this gulf.

With the ability to summon monsters and mercenaries using portals, he could start his war from anywhere he wanted.

And I had to just feign my fall into his trap to make him start moving out.

661 War At My Capital

"Come out!"

I summoned one hundred thousand soulers, plus one hundred various warriors I got from before. Using these two hundred thousands to fight against almost five hundred thousand enemies was enough.

I also summoned my fallen gods. I didn't want that bastard to doubt my intentions here.

My signature? Aside from the chariot, this would be soulers and my fallen gods. The two were my strongest weapon to fight against any formidable foe.

"Attack!" I simply gave this order to all. My fallen gods were the first to create a big damage in the enemy forces. While my soulers and other warriors down at the ground started to overrun their enemies.

Just in the first ten minutes of this fight, almost most of the enemy forces here got exterminated! They were weak. There wasn't even a single flying monster here.

But just as I killed most of them, more started to come out from Niagara falls. Things were heading exactly as I expected.

This fight lasted like this for ten full hours. During which, I kept my full attention over the movements of the enemy forces over my entire kingdom..

During these hours, the enemy tried to ambush the jumper's forces more than once. But each time he failed.

Isabella did great by arranging with the jumper. She sent many small armies out to relieve the pressure over the jumper's forces, crushing any portals nearby, or keeping the enemy coming from nearby tunnels busy.

Like this, the jumper managed to pass through the linear formation of the enemy without much losses. As he went towards Pennsylvania, he had to face more attacks from various directions.

I knew that my enemy placed a trophy over the head of my jumper. So I had to ask for Isac to keep all the forces in Pennsylvania working to secure the passage of the jumper's army.

As the jumper's forces were heading towards my capital in steady steps, getting the help from all nearby forces, other places also showed new development.

Few tunnels were located near my capital, and they started gushing out forces towards my two armies there. I gave the task of dealing with them to Leo, leaving Sara to the end.

As for Lily, she already arrived at the capital and took charge of all the forces there.

She had to wait for the jumper to arrive before she, him, and Sara would move out to hit Hector's continent.

Fang also moved up north with a big army of his. He stopped just below the southern gulf at New Jersey, and he had to fight his way through as everyone else.

He was smart, knew what his real goal was. So even with all the incoming enemies, he didn't stop for even a second, or sent much of his forces to deal with these enemies.

During these ten hours, only the normal monsters and mercenaries kept pouring out everywhere. But there was no trace of that bastard or his big army yet.

As for Hectors, they moved in two directions. One for the big northern gulf near me, and one at the gulf at New York.

They moved just as I expected, yet they stopped there and didn't take a single step forward. They were waiting, and I was waiting… We both were waiting for the sly enemy of mine to make an appearance.

And just by the tenth hour, he started to move at last!

[Lord, this is big! This is huge! Lots of enemies are coming out from portals all around the capital!]

[Lord! Enemy is spotted! They are around the capital]

[Lord! It's urgent! Many portals flashed and appeared out of nowhere. They are releasing tons of enemies, monsters, races, and even Hectors!]

[Lord! There are Hectors, Dragons, Illusionists, Succubi, and other weird races and monsters coming at the capital from every direction!]

"Oh," when I received all these reports, my eyes shone in cold light. "So you are going to directly hit my capital?"

It was a weird move to be honest. There were many armies in and around my capital. Even if he tried to throw tons of enemies at my capital, I was sure it was going to stand tall against all.

Even if he used the help of other races, Hectors and others, they would all fail.

So what was the use of such a weird move?

I looked again at the big map on the back of my chariot. Something seemed amiss!

[Where are you now?] as I felt uneasy about this, I had to safeguard against any unforeseen tricks.

[At New York. I heard the capital is under attack, so I'm racing up to help]

[Don't!] I sent this to my jumper, [Stay at the New York gulf. There are Hectors there]

[Do you want me to stop them from getting to the capital?]

[No, I want you to just lay in wait for them to do that]

[I don't follow…]

I had to explain the doubts I had. In my opinion, that enemy sniffed what we were trying to do here.

So he decided to keep my forces at the capital busy. And that meant he shifted his gaze towards another target.

From what I knew of that bastard, there were two targets he would aim towards; the jumper and my Hilary!

For a reason, that enemy seemed to know how special the jumper was. As he targeted the jumper more than once and tried his best to kill him, then why wouldn't he know also about Hilary?

ɴ[0)ᴠᴇʟ If so, then coming at the jumper or my Hilary would be his next move. Besides, he might also aim at clearing most of my forces scattered all over the kingdom.

If he did so, and even if he failed to demolish my capital, he would achieve more results. He would stop me from setting foot over the Hector continent.

Also he would leave me with severe losses, enough to hinder my moves in the upcoming quests.

662 The Jumper's Solution

The golden quest was just around the corner. If I got such heavy losses, then I'd have no hope to compete at the golden quest.

ɴ[0)ᴠᴇʟ Least he knew that I had another world with a time difference, a way to get more races, warriors, and humans from the Petals' impact.

He didn't know the true might and full capabilities of me.

I felt that this attack aimed to lure the jumper to hasten his steps towards the capital. If he passed the New York gulf, then he would be trapped between the Hectors at south and the forces of that bastard at north.

He would get screwed! Especially when the rest of my forces in the region were already fighting desperately to keep the capital safe.

I wouldn't be able to assign any help for him. So the best simple move to ruin all this was to let the jumper wait south that gulf.

He wouldn't set foot inside that trap, or let himself get surrounded.

[Damn! I'm pretty damn sure I didn't do anything to this bastard anytime before in my previous jumps!]

The jumper got pissed off when he read my messages and understood my doubts..

[Come on! You are such an annoying jerk to let anyone want to kill you from the first meeting!]

[Screw you!]

Just before I could keep annoying him, a weird message came.

[Lord! The Hectors are sending more troops out!]

"More troops?" I looked at this message and a few others that followed. Even when Hectors sent many forces out, I kept few to monitor the continent.

And my extra caution just paid off!

[Stay put, I might need you to move anytime soon]

[What's wrong?]

[It seems the Hectors are coming for you] I looked at the map again before adding, [They are sending new troops to the lower gulf. They wanted to surround you]

[Damn! So?]

[You have to retreat] I thought for a second, [Go for Pennsylvania, stay with Isac there for now]

[Are you sure? Isn't it better to move forward?]

[Forward? If you stay where you are, that bastard will summon a huge number of portals and seal your path of retreat! You won't have a way out!]

[I have!]

[You don't mean…] I looked at the map and paused for a long minute.

[Didn't you say he is waiting just a few tens of miles in the south? Let him move, and let me move]

[But…]

[They won't expect it. Hell, you even didn't think about it at all!]

He was right. But such a move was really risky.

[Can you break through?]

[Do you think I'm a pushover or a weakling like those idiots around you? I'm the jumper! I lived through many ordeals and witnessed tons of apocalypses! I won't fall… I won't fail! Just let that lazy bastard start moving out]

[It's your call. Just don't mess with your army! I hate it when you get an army and end up ruining it!]

[This doesn't count! My new army is at the capital. Can you send it over as well?]

[Not now. The fight there is quite intense]

[But I'll need help once I'm there]

I thought for a second. [Just set foot there and let me know. I bookmarked a spot close to their lands. Once you are on it, I'll come and bring cavalry with me]

[Deal!]

Brute force… The answer always lied in using brute force to crush any scheme or tactic!

I tried to fight schemes and other tactics with another tactics of mine. But that jumper leant directly to use brutal force to crush his way out of this predicament.

He wanted to cross the ocean, go directly East instead of running West. he wanted to go to Hector's continent, attack it and start securing a piece there.

In fact… Such a move was totally unexpected even for me! If I failed to spot it, then even that son of b*tch wouldn't think about it.

Fang and his forces were near. And with the new troops of Hectors moving towards the southern gulf, that meant the mainland had a lesser amount of forces there.

It was vulnerable, more than ever! This was the beauty of that jerk's idea. When the enemy thought he got us, we were the ones to get him!

But that didn't mean the jumper would force his way easily towards there. He knew he would lose a lot. And even me, the one complaining all the time about the big losses the jumper's forces always suffered, didn't have any saying regarding this loss.

This time, it was a loss that I had to swallow. As long as we secured a foothold on that damn continent, nothing else mattered.

Besides, the jumper's army was now formed entirely out of monsters. Losing them wouldn't affect my kingdom or military might at all.

[Move out!] I instantly relayed the order to Fang. I didn't just send this simple phrase to him. I sent a lot of info regarding the current layout of the entire forces of Hectors all over my kingdom.

I also sent the newly arrived intel regarding the size and direction of the Hector forces moving out from their continent.

They were in hundreds of thousands, seemingly ready to eat up any strong army no matter how big it was, no matter who led it!

[I know all about the current situation of the war, but thanks anyway] that bastard! I forgot he was a Selvator, a well informed Selvator about anything happening around him.

I closed the chat after he said he was going to move out now. I sent to the jumper all the info I got, and he also was starting to move out.

As for the reinforcements the jumper needed, I had two armies waiting for that.

I knew, as the jumper knew, that crossing the ocean would come at the cost of losing most of his forces. Even Fang's forces wouldn't fare better.

663 Fighting Underwater Enemies

So when arriving at the Hectors continent, they wouldn't be able to make an impact there. They needed help. And that was also the same condition Fang said before moving up north.

I thought first about using Sara, then thought about using Sara and Leo as I'd leave Lily back to defend the capital.

But right now, all of them were busy fighting. I had no way to recall any of them or take away part of their forces.

The other solution I had would be the all hidden armies of mine and Angelica. But I had to wait until the two vanguard generals of mine reached Hector's land.

At this point, the Hectors would accept their losses and wouldn't mind the few forces landing over their shores. They would mistakenly think they could exterminate them easily.

I hoped they wouldn't recall their forces, keep coming to my kingdom and start joining the fight at the capital. Who knew, even that bastard might show up as well.

When they would think they won it, and I screwed up, I'd appear there and prove them wrong.

Well… Even while using brute force, one had to use his mind to put it into the best use..

As things started to get into a serious and intense stage, I kept a closer eye over the general situation of the entire war.

The frontline was doing great. They kept eating up zones one after another, expanding the areas under my control.

The enemy seemed to use that battlefield to disturb our forces. He kept sending out large numbers of forces, but with the tactic of directly crushing the portals, things weren't that bad for the two girls.

The spearhead dude was getting under immense pressure right now. He spread out his forces in the central plains, killing anything he faced.

Yet he was facing lots of enemies everywhere! Gradually he started to lose much, and even got ambushed more than once.

He relayed all these to me, with a tone shifting obviously from being arrogant to getting panicked.

I closed my eyes over what he sent, ignoring his pleas for support. I knew he was going to have a hard time thanks to his arrogance, but that didn't mean I'd leave him to die.

He was doing great as well. Putting aside his arrogance, he was a formidable force in such a big war.

He would get reinforcements, coming from the frontline girls when they would control the entire frontline.

I'd simply ask them to retreat towards the capital, crush any enemy in their path.

As I fanned out my forces before, I'd start gathering them up towards my capital one by one. The first step would come from the two girls up front.

They would retreat and help the spearhead, then join with Isac to go directly towards the capital.

When that happens, I'd have a chance to relocate more forces towards Hector's continent.

After all, this was a brand new continent! One that came from another world, a world with a higher energy, rich with new resources, and filled with many treasures.

As for me, I was just playing slowly with that enemy of mine. The two of us were moving pieces over a broad chessboard, while glaring at each other from the shadows, waiting for the first one to grow impatient and commit the first mistake.

Despite my kingdom getting rampaged with monsters from all directions, I wasn't worried or pressured at all.

My forces were handling the situation perfectly fine so far. Even with such losses, I knew things weren't even close to being called stressful.

I still had three grand armies not joining the battle, not to mention my personal army of soulers.

The focus was over the eastern coast right now. Hector forces drew closer to the southern New Jersey gulf, while the jumper and Fang were preparing to move out once these forces would arrive.

[They entered the gulf] I sent this intel to the two.

[I'm already at ocean]

[I'm on my to that continent]

The two sent these words back. The jumper was the closest one to these forces, so he had to time his move right.

It seemed he had a way to detect the incoming forces. As for Fang, he had to cover a longer route, allowing him to bypass any incoming hostile forces.

[But what if they tried to return back to their lands?] Fang sent this concern of his back, [You know there are over one million troops in the these waters]

[Just go the land and secure a foothold there, worry nothing about the rest]

[Are you sure?]

Sure? Dude, I was going to bring two huge armies to secure your backs. You just had to reach these lands and secure a wide space there.

[Just go forward, don't look back]

[I'll entrust this task over to you then] this bastard! He knew all along that I'd come and help with my forces. Then why did he even ask? Did he just want to say this line?

Sigh! The two really suited each other perfectly! The jumper and Fang… Both were bastards!

When I thought about the harsh battles they were going to have, I chilled out. They deserved such bloody confrontations.

"Now all that's missing is you, bastard," I moved my eyes towards the still coming monsters and mercenaries out of Niagara falls.

ɴ[0)ᴠᴇʟ For long hours, my soulers kept killing nothing but weak enemies. Despite that, the enemy didn't even send much stronger forces, or stop this useless fight.

[I got company] yet just as I was feeling bored, I got such message from that jerk, [It seemed they left patrol units underwater]

[I have enemies coming from underwater. They aren't that much, but it's hard to kill!]

Also Fang faced the same situation. Well, even I, one who belonged to the human race, found a way to build aquatic forts under water.

Then it was expected for such a mighty race, who was deeply versed in aquatic matters, to have such defensive forts and forces under water.

[Just ignore them, and keep pushing forward] I knew they might see such a force as weak and easy to crush. But if they did so, then they'd fall directly into the enemy's trap.

664 A Weird Move

These forces weren't there for defence, but for delay. They would stop any incoming forces, while buying time for the bigger forces to get back or get ready to face the incoming enemies.

[I'm already pressing forward. I'm just informing this over to you] Fang spoke in such arrogance, but it wasn't even close to the rudeness of that jerk.

[Hell! Did you think I was going to stop and fight these flies? Do you take me for such stupid person, bastard? I'm continuing forward, but just wanted to tell you about what happened, nothing less!]

That jerk! He would never change!

I closed the chat with these idiots, and started to ask about other armies' current situation.

It was the same. Monsters and races kept pouring towards here. The fight over the capital was the bloodiest one out there at this moment.

The forces that were assaulting my capital looked endless! Yet with all the defensive structures we had, the fight was still under our control.

Yet what made this fight still going on in such heat was the inability of my forces to reach these portals and crush them..

That bastard arranged the portals in clusters, surrounding them with protective shields that were strong enough to sustain damage from any forces of mine.

Not to mention the size of any force reaching so deep inside the enemy ranks was already small. That made my forces lose lots of fighters in the first hours of battle.

They kept losing in such a way until I gave the order to abandon such tactics for now. A battle of attrition wasn't that good indeed, but it was better than risking my boys' lives out there for nothing.

That made that fight over there stagnant. My forces retreated back to the defensive lineup at my capital. Supported with my grand shield there, the enemies couldn't break through yet.

Like I once doubted it, the ability that bastard used before to penetrate through my shield was a one time perk or something costly to be used again.

ɴ[0)ᴠᴇʟ His forces kept attacking the shield, not able to show the same fierce ability they showed when they came here last time.

[Lord, there is a new army coming out from the gulf!]

[Lord! Lord! Forces are spotted coming out from the gulf!]

[Lord! There are tons of enemies coming out from the gulf!]

Such reports started to pour in, coming from many teams patrolling the current war.

[Where are you?] I didn't know who sent these or where they were. So I waited for them to respond, and with what they said, I looked at my map and thought deeply about this.

The teams were at the three big gulfs surrounding my capital. Forces started to come out in large numbers, mostly Hectors and aquatic monsters.

Few aquatic weird looking races came out as well in the mix. But mostly they were Hectors and their boys.

The two gulfs at New Jersey had many forces coming out in two major directions.

The first big army went towards the eastern coast, seemingly wanting to flank the rear part of the jumper's army.

That dude's army was big regardless of the smaller size of it compared with the other generals. He had a good number of aquatic monsters, but not that many compared with Fang.

So the jumper had to move his forces in two batches, taking almost all the fiercest monsters with him in the first batch.

They were now facing the fierce attacks of the aquatic defensive forces near the continent. Even after the passage of one hour, I didn't yet get any message from them about reaching land.

That other half of the jumper's army… It was going to get destroyed like that without having a chance to set foot onto that continent.

I thought for a second before deciding to accept such a loss. Moving out anymore forces would cause more damage than help.

Right now the entire kingdom was held with firm grip. Moving a single army away would lead to a vacancy. And something told me this was what that bastard was looking for all this time.

[My forces are getting attacked on the mainland!]

Just as I was thinking about this development, the jumper sent this message to me.

[You should have taken everything with you, we aren't on a picnic, we are at war!]

[Screw you! Now this is my fault! You didn't give me enough monsters to help in crossing the ocean!]

[You should have seen this coming, or you are just as an idiot as the ones around me? Ah, you are also one of those around me, right?] I slapped his words back at his face.

[F*ck you! I'm going to kill my way towards that cursed continent! It's better for you to arrive next, or else I'll kill you!]

[That's the old jerk I always knew. Go, do your job properly before coming back to complain]

I closed the chat while he kept sending curses at my face.

I wasn't that free to even read what he sent.

The first half of forces went towards the remaining jumper's army. But the next half moved towards a different direction.

"They are heading towards Pennsylvania… Are they trying to take a tour before going up north towards my capital? If so, then why take such a long road and not directly go to the coast and land their forces just next to my capital?"

That was the issue I didn't get. If they wanted to attack the capital, then why take such a long route? It looked pointless.

But if they just wanted to go at Isac's and spearhead armies nearby, then it also felt a weird move.

These Hectors were strong. But taking such a long route to come at the scattered forces of spearhead and the strong intact army of Isac would be pointless.

The best they could do was to get Isac's army into fighting them. They had no chance of winning this. And they weren't just like that bastard, they couldn't summon portals to bring more forces here.

665 He Is Finally Here!

Taking out cities and towns and using their portals instead to bring reinforcements? That might work if not for my forces to control all the cities and towns in the region.

Trying to take a single one would come at a great cost, and they wouldn't be able to hold it for long enough.

After all, the fight at the frontline was getting closer from being over. Once the two girls got done from the fight over there, they'd retreat, and come with everything they got at these Hectors.

It was a pointless move in my opinion. And that bastard never did a useless move before.

So what was the real reason behind this? I kept glaring at the map, trying to see beyond this useless move.

As for the forces coming out from the big gulf near me, they went directly towards my capital. I just warned Lily, Leo, and Sara about these forces, leaving things for them to handle.

"He is going to appear soon," I started to grow such a belief the more reports I received..

The first half of Hector 's forces started fighting the remaining monsters of the jumper's army.

Despite the disparity in numbers, these monsters were fierce! They kept growing stronger the more foes they killed.

So even if they were outnumbered, and even if the jumper left behind the weakest forces of his, they weren't that weak to be underestimated.

I got reports from those dragon riders watching this fight from far. The monsters got the order from the jumper, to go out and kill without any restraints or tactics.

It seemed this bastard already anticipated such a thing. Then why did he come back at me complaining and whining?!

As for the other part, they started to go deeper in various groups, yet all were heading towards one single target; Isac.

It seemed they wanted to get her army in the fight before the frontline would be cleared.

"Hmm… Taking Isac out would leave the capital without any reinforcements. But why use Hectares to do such a task? Or… Did they think I'd use this army to go and support these two?"

This was the only logical reason I found to explain such a weird move.

And when reaching this conclusion, I suddenly got an inspiration.

"Damn! Even when he was attacking my kingdom and capital, he left all this and focused on that jerk? No f*cking way! What's wrong between these two exactly?!!!"

From the look of things, this bastard's main aim right now wasn't to hit my capital or even me. He sat his gaze again, once again, over the jumper!

That was unbelievable if it proved to be true! But with all this setting, and the last unexpected move of the Hector forces towards the only free army here, it was obvious what that bastard was trying to get.

He wanted the jumper to land over the Hector continent before attacking him. He wanted to kill the jumper, using the fact that this jumper had fewer forces and was in hostile lands, away from any help he could get.

But did that bastard think I wouldn't come to help? Or was he too sure I'd not arrive there in time?

I thought about the lockdown he used before to prevent me from jumping over to my capital. If he used such a thing over an area surrounding the continent, then it would make sense.

ɴ[0)ᴠᴇʟ However, at least he knew that I saved lots of places there! No matter how hard he tried, he wouldn't be able to stop me.

This point was the only thing that didn't make sense. However, in the next hour, I got the explanation for it.

*Rumble!*

The first thing that happened was for a massive pillar to appear almost ten miles away from my spot. It appeared hovering over the water of the gulf, stirring up a massive and violent response from the previously calmer water surface.

Even a few big waves appeared, moving out in every direction.

"Here he comes," I looked using my Hawk Eye skill, and there I spotted that bastard at last.

He was standing on top of a big wyvern, covered up in the thick veil of black fog of his like a black cloak showing nothing of his features.

He used the same kind of pillar, the one that sealed my own before. Did he think he had something enough to threaten me? Enough to force me to try to use my precious pillar?

*Fwoosh!*

Just as that pillar kept rising up in the air, almost reaching the cloud layer up there, a huge portal started to appear from its tip.

I got my eyes wide open when I saw this. This wasn't the previous pillar he used before, but another one. One that could summon such a gigantic gate high in the air.

This gate appeared fast, expanded in a flash to cover all the sky above my head. I clenched my glaive, feeling the pressure coming from this portal.

"I know you are a stubborn dude, won't just sit behind and try to survive," and from far, the voice of that bastard came. It looked weirdly familiar, but I still couldn't pinpoint when or where I heard it.

"If you just accepted your fate, your pathetic human fate, things would have been much better for both of us. But you are stubborn, a son of b*tch who won't stop at nothing until reaching hegemony."

"Who… Are you?!!" I didn't know why but the words he said left a deep impression inside my soul. It seemed like he knew me, knew me very well to understand my mind to this extent.

"Someone you don't need to know his name," he gave me such a weird answer before adding, "this is going to be the start of your downfall. I know all about your second world, and all the forces you are amassing right there. And I know you already guessed my true aim. Your precious pal, that jumper, he will fall right now without you being able to help."

*Rumble!*

666 Despair!

Just as he said such shocking words, a mighty rumble came from the sky. When I raised my head, I couldn't help but feel a cold shiver down my spine.

It wasn't a simple portal! It was a link, connecting two worlds together! And what was coming through it was nothing else but another continent!

Damn! Damn! Damn! That bastard! He was bringing a continent here to crush down over my kingdom!!!

"You did your part, and it's time for me to do mine!" I was truly shaken and shocked by all this. That continent was starting to fall freely under the effect of gravity, blocking any light and hope of survival.

"It's pointless to do that," just as I was about to open my profile, he said in disdain, "trying to such a big piece of continent towards your other world? You will just kill the armies you amassed and ruin the prosper world you built so far! Just abandon this cursed Earth, just go there and live the rest of your life in peace. Leave this shitty universe alone, stop butting your head in it anymore!"

Damn! He read through my mind. My hand paused for a second, as I was about to select opening portals to do exactly as he said.

I thought about shifting this deadly continent towards my second Earth. But as he said, I'd save one world on the expense of losing another one..

"Not to mention, this piece of land comes from the alien universe. Bringing it to your safe world? It's like opening the gate wide open and inviting those barbarics over to that place! Do it, and with it you'll lose that world forever!"

"You are mistaken…" The more he spoke, the more despair I felt. Yet under such despair, I didn't lose the sight of the about to be extinguished light of hope.

Running away? Taking all my friends around with me and going to the safe haven of the second Earth? Abandoning all I did here and live the rest of life in peace?

It was a really tempting offer, but not for me! I wasn't that kind of a loser, a coward who would run away when things would turn south.

"I know what I'm speaking about… You will have to lose one world, and it's up to you to choose. But mark my words, if you selected here, I would never stop until depriving everything you got from you, ruining anything you built with your hands, leaving you behind with nothing but regret and remorse."

"F*ck you! Who said I got only one word?!!!" I shouted, shouted with a pure desire of defiance, a will to stand even against death itself, fight against it, and even win!

"Just stay there, you son of b*tch! I'll show you a miracle, one that will blow your mind until I come and blow your head apart with my glaive!"

He was right in everything he said. He laid out such a deadly and unstoppable trap for me and my forces. I thought I had the upper hand here, but it was just a joke!

He was just toying around with me. Dammit! That son of b*tch! Who was he exactly?

He knew how I thought, what I felt, my goals and aims here. He spoke this time as if he was someone who came from the future, a future in which I became a mighty figure there, a future that spanned from the moment I came here.

Could this be possible? I didn't have time to mind myself with such things. But without doubt, the universe was vast and there were many abilities like mine, the jumper, and Hilary.

Was he that angel race enemy of Hilary? Was he the person she pointed at?

I didn't buy it! This dude… He wasn't aiming at Hilary at all. He was just aiming at me, and that jumper. For a reason, that jumper seemed to be the keystone in building up my fame and strength later on.

I didn't get it, but I had no time to think deeply about it.

Like I declared, who said I only got one world? Who said I was out of options?

"Screw you! Do you think this will change anything? I'll go and kill that dear jumper while you are trying to face the inevitable!"

*Fwoosh!*

In the next moment, a portal popped up and that son of b*tch vanished into it.

He shouted like this when I started using my techniques. The solution was simple. I got another world, a scary and very hungry world for anything thrown at it!

My shadow world!

And right now, I was merging the two techniques together to form the biggest spherical portal I could make.

"Go up there!" this time, I didn't control the thick arms around to grab anything else but that huge globular shaped portal itself.

I held it, and started to push it with all my might up there. In the next few minutes, this huge portal crashed at the colossal piece of land falling on top of my head.

*Grrr!*

The clash between the two created such a weird sound, as if some sort of a monster was groaning in a fierce way. Weirdly enough, this voice came from my portal, not that continent!

ɴ[0)ᴠᴇʟ [Be careful! That bastard is coming for you!] Even when I was doing my best to push my portal against that continent, I sent such a warning to the jumper.

[I saw what's coming from the sky, what the heck is that?!!!]

[It's a continent, coming to crush all of us underneath it!]

[It didn't touch the Hector continent, so I'm going to be safe]

[Idiot! Do you think I have time or power to come and support you now?]

[…]

He was trying to get on my nerves, but missed this point totally.

[You won't come? No f*cking way!!]

[I'm going to stop this, but another army will come to help you over]

667 Fighting Against Death

I was indeed trapped here with nowhere else to go. If I teleported, I'd lose control over my techniques.

The moment my big portal touched that continent, I felt the falling speed of that behemoth of dirt slowing down remarkably.

ɴ[0)ᴠᴇʟ It was stopping, slowly falling an inch per minute or so. I could feel my portal devouring an endless stream of energy from that continent, but it would take long hours, even days or weeks for me to solve this.

Yet the jumper and that other jerk, Fang, wouldn't stay this long and wouldn't survive the sh*t coming towards their direction.

[Come here now!]

[Right now?!]

[Just leave whatever you are doing and come!]

I got tons of distressful and very anxious and terrified messages from everyone, literally everyone! Even the teams I sent to scout, they panickily sent messages over, crying out for help, speaking in pure despair.

They got all the right to feel so. The sky changed into such a seemingly endless continent falling over their heads. Anyone in their spot would feel like this..

But only one didn't send me such distressful messages, and it was Lily!

This girl… She looked quite collected. And she wasn't that far away from me.

Yet she would take roughly two hours to arrive here! [You have to wait for two hours at least, survive this period on your own] I sent this to the two jerks, as Fang started to scream in panic when he saw the falling continent.

[Two hours! Are you shitting me?]

[Two hours is fine! One minute later and I'll come to kill you myself!]

Fang and the jumper responded at the same moment, making me inwardly sigh.

This enemy… He wasn't a normal person, not at all!

In just a simple move, he brought over an entire continent from the alien universe! Damn fierce! How the heck did he get a connection with that universe in the first place?

Last time I fought against that universe was when one of the Hectors' paragons lost his mind.

But this time… It was different! He wasn't bringing forth any forces, but an entire continent with the people living over it!

If this fell, it would flatten my lands! I didn't know how big this damn thing spanned, but I got the feeling it was enough to cover up the entire eastern part of America's northern continent.

Such a massive piece of dirt was falling over our heads. And the only thing stopping it was my portal!

"Not enough!" After one hour, I got the feeling this wouldn't be enough. The portal was now deeply inserted into this continent. It was eating up everything without any limitations, but it wasn't doing enough.

"I need another one… Can I do it?"

I never tried to execute such a thing before. I looked at the sky, or the dirt that was now considered as a new sky for me and all the races living here.

I had no other way but to try it. I was controlling the two techniques using my two hands. So the first thing I had to do was to try and control it with one.

However when I tried to move my left hand to take control of the second technique done by my right hand, I felt an immense pressure over my body, and almost most of my spiritual energy in there got sucked up!

"Damn fierce! Come out then!" if it was a problem of energy, then it wasn't a problem for me.

I got out a large amount of green bones to fill my entire chariot. I was now using blue grade in dealing with the petal impact, and would use the higher grades with the Toranks race sovereigns.

I had no use for my green bones. And I got a ton of these bones in my inventory.

"Come in," I started to madly absorb the energy from these bones without any restrain or limitation.

As the immense pure energy of the bones gushed inside my body, replenishing what I lost in a blink of an eye, I started to take control of the second technique with my left fist.

*Sizzle!*

Just as I did so, and after consuming tons of energy, a new change appeared!

The merge was done using the black threads to connect the two techniques together. But this time, the merge was real and complete!

The two techniques overlapped over each other, with the first smaller black sphere moving up, passed through the hole created by the biggest sphere, and merged totally with it.

I felt like the two were eating each other up. Sizzle noises kept coming from up there for almost ten minutes. During which an immense amount of energy was consumed.

The bones started to turn into dust fast, as their energy got depleted at such a scary pace.

I didn't delay and got much more to replace those exhausted bones. And in ten minutes, I refilled my chariot thrice!

Damn fierce! This merge was on a totally new level than anything I did before!

One had to know that my spiritual energy wasn't the same as before. I trained a lot during the past months.

Even if there was no obvious change over the grade of my energy, it got a considerable boost in terms of quality and quantity.

*Rumble!*

Just when the merge finished, I heard such earth shattering rumble coming from the slowly falling continent.

And under my eyes, the entire continent shook, like it got an earthquake or something.

*Fwoosh!* *Fwoosh!* *Crack!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

As a result, deep and long spiderweb-like cracks spread all over the lower surface of this damn continent.

I didn't know how thick it ran, but just with these earthquakes hitting it, many pieces of different sizes rocks and dirt started to break apart, fall freely and slam violently over Earth.

This was enough to kill many, destroy a lot of buildings, but luckily my capital was protected by the big shield.

So at least the capital would stand tall after all this. As for other parts… as for the rest of my forces… I had to only pray they would move fast and evade the falling rocks.

[Damn Hye! When are you coming?!!]