As they all approached the inner fortress the group got more tense, if they were spotted now he would have no choice but to rush forward in the hope that he still made it to the compound, took it over and held it for 24 hours without everyone close by rushing in to make sure he couldn’t keep hold of it.
They all knew the stakes of successfully moving through the area undiscovered but they also couldn’t keep moving forward with at least some idea of how many people they would have close by that would have the chance to join them at the compound.
Shaun took up the role of scout again, he left the entire group far enough away, ensuring that there was no secret army waiting for them in the area, and he headed to the inner fortress to check numbers. He did so as the wind, not wanting to be seen in his physical body in case they had people watching the skies specifically for him.
The inner fortress looked exactly like his own, they hadn’t done any upgrades to the place using their points but he did clearly feel people within, but thankfully, as he had expected, there wasn’t many of them. As he blew around the fortress he counted the numbers and checked the power of the people he saw. His final count was at around 50,000 people and all were early E grade at the strongest.
If he wanted to he could kill them all right here and now without issue, but doing so would go against their plan. When he was comfortable that they were no threat to him he took off and headed back to his team, relieved that things were going his way.
When he made it back the entire group was on edge and looked ready to run or fight, he calmed them by raising a hand and giving a nod. When he hit the ground next effective leaders of this group he gave them the update they had been hoping for.
“Minimal numbers, around 50k and weak. They will be no issue for us if they ever need to be delt with. I want to leave 20 people here though so that they can launch a pseudo attack if we need the distraction.” He had thought about the best way to cause distractions without wasting large numbers of his group, leaving very small numbers behind wouldn’t have a huge impact but it would cause enough distractions and annoyance to slow them down or lure people here instead of towards him in the future.
“We already spoke it over, although we picked 50 people instead of 20. We think that leaving a stronger presence would be better, more damage. And 50 middle E grades against 50,000 low, they should be able to do some decent damage before they perish.” Yarila made a good point and she seemed confident in her decision. He didn’t argue as 30 people wouldn’t make a big difference in the final fight so he agreed to her decision.
“The moment we attack the compound I want them to attack too. The more distractions we have the better. Are they up for that?” He was building layers to his plan and attacking on multiple fronts was now one of them.
“They will do it. In fact I would say they are looking forward to it.” Yarila smiled when she spoke, they all clearly wanted to be in on the fighting.
The updates they had gotten from Viv were not great. They were being pushed back quicker than they wanted to be and they were being slaughtered while it happened. From the report all three Charlo were on the front lines and were not holding back. They had managed to get in some attacks that helped reduce their opponents numbers but not enough to change the tide of the fighting.
Already they were closing in on the central fortress. In days The Pantheon would be pushing them out towards the inner fortresses which was not what he wanted to hear. At the rate they were traveling they should have made it to the compound just as The Pantheon were finishing up the fight or already taken their fortresses.
“Let’s continue moving, and quickly.”
They all successfully made it past the inner fortress without being spotted and the distance between the fortress and the bridges wasn’t too lengthy, in fact at the speed they were moving it would be within the day. The issue which he couldn’t solve was how to cross the river without alerting The Pantheon. He had no answer for this that didn’t involve using his other affinity, specifically water or ice, which was a no go. He couldn’t risk exposing himself to 2,000 people and just hoping they wouldn’t spread it around.
That left him with only one choice, they would need to clear a bridge of whoever was left there and then rush as fast as they could to the compound. Until he saw how many people were at the bridge though he wouldn’t know how he would deal with it.
As they all moved he couldn’t help but run through the worst case scenario. He had checked the leader boards and as of now he was still in first place on the individual one but they had dropped down to second place on the overall. The points didn’t determine who won, the system message had been clear that it was the team that held both compounds that did, but to lose out on the team win for points would be beyond annoying.
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The Charlo were also closing the gap on individual points, each of them was on the front line and they were killing people quickly and efficiently. They still had a good way to go before they came close to him but with the direction they were headed, if he didn’t start gaining more points soon, he would eventually drop below them.
When they got close enough that he felt that the bridge wouldn’t be far off in the distance he had everyone stop while he again scouted the area to confirm there was no one around before giving the order to rest. He didn’t want to approach the bridge and then start the mad dash forward to the compound without everyone at full strength.
Like he had done previously he then went forward to check the bridge. Just like his own bridges there was four guard towers, two on each side of the river, as well as plenty of places for people to stand and keep look out.
He was in his air form again, and he was easily able to take stock of what they were up against. Each tower was full but they were all lazing around without a care in the world. The total number of people was even lower than he had expected, no more than 10,000 people spread around. They weren’t here to defend the bridge, not really, they were more here as look out and to slow anyone down that came towards the compound.
What surprised him was that the bridge had been upgraded compared to the standard. Now it looked like the bridge could be raised or lowered, effectively cutting off entrance across the river. At the moment the bridge was lowered but that could change in seconds. He watched for a while before leaving, coming up with a plan of attack.
It didn’t take long to decide that he would attack from behind, as he could easily make his way across the river without anyone knowing and then the rest of his group would attack from the other. By the time he was happy that there was no other surprises for him to find he made his way back to the group and waited for them to hit peak condition.
It took several hours of waiting, but it was worth it knowing that this would be the last time they would get the opportunity. He had made it clear that if they had potions they should use them right before the fight at the compound. To use them now would have been a waste.
He didn’t sit idly while everyone rested, rather he went back to his crafting, creating as many bombs as he could as well as a few arrows that could be used as one time explosive projectiles and spread them out to the archers. He had made it clear that they weren’t to be used until the final fight, but once that time came they were to use everything they had to win the fight at the compound.
It was the middle of the night before it was decided that they would move towards the bridge for the fight. They had direction and knew what they needed to do. He didn’t travel with them now, instead he went ahead and crossed the river until he was in his own position behind the enemy. They had all agreed that he wouldn’t attack until the people at the bridge had confirmed sighting on their group, only then would he start his own attacks.
10,000 people were not a lot, they did need to finish the fight as quickly as possible though. Usually with so few he would have just killed them all with his swords but even with this small amount he decided to also summon forth a few of his eagles to aid in the fight. They were not the strongest he had ever summoned, in fact they were on the weak side. Considering that the people ta the bridge weren’t very strong though he didn’t feel the need to go at 100% in case he needed to use his mana for something more important after the attack.
He waited in the dark, listening for any sounds from the bridge. He was far enough away that he wouldn’t easily be seen as they weren’t looking behind them but also close enough that at his speed he could be on them in seconds. The waiting was excruciatingly painful, he hated waiting for others or going at a slow pace. This experience solidified why he liked to fight alone, but this situation had forced his hand and he had no choice but to wait.
When 5 minutes turned to 10 he almost got over the wait and attacked without the group, thankfully it only took a few more minutes before he heard shouting come from the bridge and he knew that the time had finally come for the attack to begin.
He didn’t hesitate for a second to move from where he was hiding and launch forward towards the towers with his eagles around him. He gave them the order to kill everyone that weren’t on their side as quickly as they could.
He moved to one of the towers on his side while his eagles went for the other. People started rushing out of the towers, now fully awake and alert due to the disturbance caused by his group arriving, but that just had them bunch up even further, allowing for him to attack large groups quickly.
He moved through the tower with cold efficiency, he had summoned several mirror blades in the process and had sent them into rooms before blowing them up in bursts of flame, quickly killing off everyone that was inside. Anyone stupid enough to approach him was cut down before they could even attack, boosting his movement speed with his air affinity he moved almost quicker than the eye could see. This combined with his stats and overwhelming strength meant that clearing one of these towers took him no more than a minute.
He was using his echo to constantly keep track of everything around the bridge, splitting his mind to ensure he could process what was happening all around him at the same time he was killing everyone in the tower.
Just as he cleared the tower he felt a group of people rush towards what looked like a leaver of some kind, one that if he was to guess would lift the bridge, instantly he changed the direction he was traveling and moved out to stop them.