The start of the next Main Story Quest didn’t take too long. After a few in-game hours, another World Announcement was spread across the server announcing the opening of the War Realm where the war would commence. Players from the 2 factions, the Celestial Order and the Pantheon, were able to enter the space immediately while the players from the Goddess’s faction had to wait another hour as it took time for Gaia to break through the restrictive enchantments placed around the realm.
“My children, the time is nigh! I wish you fortune in the war. Please return victorious,” Gaia said after it was time for the Goddess Faction to step into the fray.
“For the Goddess!”
“For the Goddess!”
The NPCs made a large fuss again before they stepped into the portal opened by Gaia. Following them were the players who were excited to participate in the Main Story Quest. Most of the players that were part of the Goddess Faction were those that couldn’t get a good ranking in the other 2 factions and haven’t ever participated in any Main Story Quests before.
It was only natural that they were excited since this time around, every player would be able to play a part in this time’s Main Story Quest. The only problem was that they were much weaker than those of the other 2 factions since they were literally only ‘bottom feeders’ when they were in their previous factions.
The only exception would naturally be the Fallen Angels. They were previously in the top rankings for the Celestial Order’s contribution ranks so with this fact, every other guild master and adventurer party leader in the Goddess Faction gave their consent that Lizzy should be the Goddess Faction Army’s High Commander. Her commands on the battlefield would be of utmost priority and it was great that all of the various group leaders understood that it was for the best that they appointed a collective leader since this was going to be a massive and chaotic war.
They didn’t want to be like headless chickens moving around without a plan because that would make them easy targets. Communication was crucial for their faction’s victory and they all wanted the lucrative completion rewards so, they held a meeting and appointed a leader beforehand.
“Alright, Mary. I’ll see you on the other side!” Lizzy said before she moved through the portal.
“Mhm.”
The Fallen Angels guild players were the first to move through the portal followed by the others. Maria was the last person to step through the portal and Gaia stopped her just before she left.
“Maria.”
“What is it, Gaia?”
“I’m not sure how powerful the Astral and God incarnations the other players and followers of the two factions will be, but if things look sour, I want you to–”
Maria quickly stopped Gaia from saying anything more as she saw that Gaia’s face looked a bit negative and doubtful. It was true that their prospects in the war didn’t look so great and that they were at a great disadvantage because only the weak guilds and adventurer parties joined the faction, but there were also some pretty powerful ones in their midst.
“Have a little faith in those that joined your faction. I know that the strongest of us players are on the enemies’ side but believe in us. We’ll definitely crush our opposition and bring you a glorious victory!”
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Gaia looked at Maria before she hardened her gaze and said, “...Yes, you’re right. I’m sorry for thinking so negatively. I wish you well on the battlefield. Please save this planet with everyone else.”
“You just sit tight now, Gaia. I finally have a stage to completely go all out so I’m not going to waste this chance,” Maria had a fervent look on her face as she said this just before she stepped into the portal without saying another word to Gaia.
“...Please be safe…all of you.”
Gaia clasped her hands together and said in prayer as the portal slowly began to close.
******
*DING*
You have entered the Realm of War! Nature’s Grace buff has been applied!
When Maria exited out of the portal, she immediately heard an explosion happen nearby that completely took her attention away from the system notification that appeared in front of her.
“What the heck?”
She looked around and saw that she had appeared in the middle of a forest with a few other Goddess Faction players around her, however, not every player around was part of her faction.
“Did we get sent to random places?” Maria questioned.
“Another one of those Goddess factions players appeared! Get her!”
Maria heard someone say that and reflexively pulled out her battle-ax and used [Arc Swing]. She sent the player crashing into another group of hostile players before looking around again.
“Huh, I guess this is bad for us…”
*DING*
[Lizzy: Mary? Where are you?]
Maria received a message from her friend and it seemed rather urgent so she quickly replied.
[Maria: I’m in some kind of forest.]
[Lizzy: Can you tell me which faction the enemy players are around you?]
Maria looked around again but this time, she had her eyes on the enemy players.
[Maria: Both Celestial Order and Pantheon players are here but I think there are more Pantheon players around.]
[Lizzy: Okay, then you must be in the Hazard Forest. It’s an area that’s under the Pantheon’s control. I want you to head west with the other Goddess Faction players and move to the Iron Mountains. Most of the Goddess Faction players appeared here and we immediately took control of it!]
[Maria: Okay~]
[Lizzy: Make sure you tell someone and follow after them, okay?! I know how bad you are with directions!]
Maria dismissed the message window and said out loud, “I know, I know. Sheesh. Anyway, I should probably get going now.”
She went around the forest and rounded up all of the Goddess Faction players before their group started moving. Just like Lizzy told her to do, she made sure to follow the players after telling them to head west to the place called the Iron Mountains where Lizzy and the rest of their faction were waiting. Obviously, they met a lot of resistance since the Celestial Order and the Pantheon both saw the Goddess Faction as an enemy. However, they wouldn’t be able to wipe out their group with Maria being around.
She immediately used her [Nightmare] skill and summoned all of her familiars out before blazing a path out of the forest as she cut down any enemy that blocked their way. The other players in her group were amazed since it was the first time they saw her fighting up close. They heard rumors and saw videos of her battle prowess but they all thought it was exaggerated and edited for viewership purposes.
They could all say for certain that what Maria showed in her videos and what was talked about her in the rumors were all real. She single-handedly blazed a path for their group and safely had everyone exit the forest without a single casualty. The other players expected things to be hard since they had been plunged right in the middle of a battle between the two conflicting factions. Some of the players had even given up thinking that they were unlucky to be teleported in the middle of the chaotic battlefield with only a few allies nearby.
Thankfully they had Maria around to help them out of there but not all of the teleported players from the Goddess Faction were as lucky. While most of the players had been teleported together to the Iron Mountains, there were a few of them, like Maria and the others in the Hazard Forest, who had been teleported into other locations. These players were unlucky as they were logged out almost immediately after just arriving at the Main Story Quest’s main stage while others were lucky enough to survive. The lucky survivors all received a message from Lizzy in the faction chat about where to regroup with the rest of the faction.
It was a bit awkward because Lizzy had hoped that Gaia would’ve teleported everyone from their faction to some secluded location away from where all the battles were taking place so that they would have the element of surprise for when their players intervened in the battle later but with the teleportation being random for some people, this advantage was out the window.
Lizzy had to think deeply about their next plan of action now that the two enemy factions knew about their presence. The leaders of the Celestial Order and Pantheon wouldn’t let a third party enter the fray to reap the benefits of their struggles. They were too smart to let that happen so their next course of action would likely be to get rid of this third party before they continued to attack each other.
“Dammit, this is going to be hard…”