The Korean thought he could use him, but he had no idea just how pragmatic Jake really was. Jake hardly trusted his longti friends and close allies, so how could he not expect the worst after Amy's warnings?
At their level, it was nearly impossible to conceal their plans from each other completely, especially when they involved so many troops. Both sides had to present a strategic charade, even if it ant throwing themselves headfirst into the tiger's maw.
Jake had a pretty solid idea of what Cho Min Ho intended to do with him, and that suited him just fine—he had the exact sa intentions.
"We'll see who's really the smarter one in the end." He sneered before teleporting millions of kiloters away, vanishing like he had never even been there.
*****
After a few spatial jumps, Jake arrived at the gargantuan encampnt that had been set up overnight, where literally billions of warriors were stationed. From above, the tents sprawled across the arid plain like an unshaped stain, the only semblance of order coming from how tightly they were packed together—like sardines, cramped for space.
To the west, a tributary of the Lumyst River split in two, encircling the colossal encampnt. The two waterways emptied into two murky lakes where Spirit and Life Lumyst Water mingled, mysteriously transmuting into one another.
The invisible line between these lakes, running north to south, marked the boundary between the Duskwight Lands and the Lustra Plains. No border sign was needed to announce the change of territory. The difference was obvious from the bios and the Lumyst quality in the air: cracked, arid plains on one side, vibrant green on the other. Not a single tree stood on either side at this particular point.
The Radiant Conclave's army camped on the opposite side of this line. Their sprawling layout was just as disorganized, but at least the tents were mostly uniform in color: white.
To the east, the two streams flowed out of the lake, rejoining into another broader tributary that ran down from the Heaven Cascade. The two rivers splitting and rging on either side created a natural prison, forcing a fight to the death until a victor erged.
There were no mountains, no notable terrain, nowhere to hide or launch sneak attacks. The confrontation was destined to be head-on, with no room for trickery. The choice of this location showed just how determined each side was to finish things here and now.
Aside from a few bridges, there were no other ways out for those who couldn't levitate, save for diving into the river. Considering the astronomical number of soldiers, evacuating even 1% of the survivors in a retreat scenario would be a monuntal challenge.
As Jake arrived, the first thing he saw was the simultaneous detonation of those sa bridges. Both armies had tacitly agreed to cut off their only escape route.
"I didn't authorize that," Jake muttered, frowning. Sacrificing cannon fodder for the greater good wasn't really his style, but knowingly cutting their chances of survival was even less so.
[Unless there's sothing else at play,] Xi mused quietly.
"Ehh. They're gonna be disappointed," Jake said, smirking enigmatically.
Jake then noticed the grim expressions on the soldiers' faces—both his own and those of their enemies.
For high-ranking Players like him, covering such long distances was a trivial matter, but for the others... calling the forced march grueling would be an understatent. So fighters were still wounded from previous battles and wouldn't normally have been put through such extres.
As for the Players... What struck him most was how few of them there were—on both sides. Most of those present were unwilling participants, without the rank or strength to make a significant difference. Jake spotted a few promising individuals, but they were keeping a low profile.
There were two good reasons for this. If Cho Min Ho could get reliable stats on each camp's casualties, so could Jake and his faction. Their Mirror Universe had lost over 80% of its Players—an absolute massacre among the lower ranks.
Their enemies, on the other hand, had only lost about 42%... aning their camp now had around 1.5 million Players left, while their opponents still had over three tis that number.
With their Oracle Hacker dead, most high-ranking Players had no chance of dodging ambushes. The Myrtharian Nerds were the exception, of course... They'd taken losses, but thanks to their leader's ability to ss with enemy Oracle Paths, his subordinates had proven very hard to kill.
The other reason for the lack of Players... was clearly one of Cho Min Ho's dirty tricks, leaving Jake to take on the Radiant Conclave by himself.
Jake was more troubled by the near-total absence of Players in the enemy's forces, just like during his fight the previous night. He was flattered that they respected his ability to wipe them off the face of Twyluxia, but if they wanted to win, they'd have to confront him eventually.
And if their plan was to blitz the capital... oh boy... they were in for a rude awakening.
After sizing up the situation, Jake teleported to what he assud was the command center tent. It wasn't hard to spot: the Kintharians and Throsgenians had clearly been hard at work there.
His "tent" was more of a titanic mobile fortress that had sprung from the ground, and there was sothing more to it. At a glance, Jake recognized that the rocks and tals intertwining into a solid sh to form the walls were not native to this continent.
[Earth and tal Lumyst reverted to their physical forms,] Xi comnted, echoing his thoughts. [Looks like the Kintharians didn't slack off this ti. The repeated assassination attempts from enemy Players probably lit a fire under them.]
Just look at Gerulf and Rogen. Those two races preferred napping to fighting, but if you pushed them, you'd quickly find out they didn't mind a little bloodshed now and then. So high-ranking Players from the opposing Mirror Universe had discovered that the hard way—what they'd thought would be an easy kill had ended in a brutal death.
"Rest in peace... Nah, just kidding," Jake sneered.
He wasn't making much effort to hide his arrival, and as soon as he touched the ground, a cohort of generals and Myrtharian Nerds, led by Ceythie, ca to et him. The generals showed a mix of reverence and fear, while the Myrtharian Nerds were brimming with enthusiasm and camaraderie.
Among the familiar faces were Will, Asfrid, the twins Enya and Esya, his cat Crunch, and his companion Lord Phenix. The smug bird was perched on Crunch's head, who was currently in the younger sister's arms. Lord Phenix's feathers brushed against her face, but she didn't seem to mind.
Within the fortress, Jake also sensed Jinlong and his crew, laying low. These dragons, currently in their human forms, were fiercely loyal to Will and had deserted their regints as soon as they could to join the bespectacled strategist and ensure his safety. It made you wonder why he was still wearing his glasses.
Jake scanned the rank badges on their uniforms and nodded in approval. They had all managed to bypass the typical promotion process, which demanded a slow accumulation of rits, and had risen to the rank of General.
"Long ti no see," Will greeted him, his face showing more emotion than Jake rembered. Seeing Jake again rattled him more than he was willing to admit.
Jake's eyes drifted to the twins, and seeing their teary expressions, he realized he'd overlooked an important detail. To him, it hadn't been that long, but for them, it had been over four years since they'd last seen him, unsure if they ever would again.
"Booohh!!" Before he could react, a pink-haired blur crashed into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Clinging to him like a limpet, she sobbed, "I missed you so much!"
Crunch and Lord Phenix had been unceremoniously tossed aside like yesterday's trash, both with looks full of grievance. 'What the heck, girl?! It's not even...'
A glare from Asfrid shut them both up. 'Don't ruin the mont.'
Enya kept her composure better, holding onto her princess dignity, but the joy on her face was plain for all to see. Only after they'd managed to pry her younger sister off Jake—who was clinging like a love-starved koala—did she step up and hug him, albeit briefly.
Her upturned nose wrinkled almost imperceptibly as they embraced before she resud her usual impassive deanor. She stepped back and dryly said,
"I trust you have a very good reason, don't you..."
"Duty calls," Jake replied with a wink.
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