Chapter 602 - Plans Change

"Umm..." Silver mumbled, unsure how to tell this group of nobles to simply stop. Strangely, she felt intimidated. Yet she didn't understand why. Granted, most in the room were far stronger than her. But she was a player.

"What is it?" The catkin called Bennidict asked, sensing her distress.

"I was told to tell you to stop."

""""Stop?"""" Murmurs echoed through the room in confusion. Many fists were balled, the nobles only managing to refrain themselves thanks to teachings long past. 

"You mean, you can converse with those who sent you?" Bennidict asked, one of the few who actually picked up on the meaning of her words. As soon as Bennidict mentioned this, everyone quickly calmed down and started thinking more rationally. 

Silver nodded, "Guild leader said that they are shocked that the situation is so dire. They had hoped we could slowly add support, but the situation seems to be..." She paused, not wishing to say it as she was sure that it would just anger the group even more. 

"Do they think we are already a lost cause?" Bennidict asked. 

Silver nodded timidly, before raising her head and suddenly appearing far more confident. "But we can't allow you to fall!"

***

"What is it?" Evale asked.

"They were going to be reckless, betting everything on being able to get more cannons."

"How can they-"

"They're desperate and aren't even sure of our situation or their own. I suspect they wanted to grasp the hope presented. Blinded by the idea of salvation they forgot to even confirm details first."

Eldrian thought further but refrained from saying his thoughts aloud. He felt it was similar to how people would turn to their god or gods in times of strife. The promise of salvation was truly a mighty weapon for rallying people.

He felt strange about the fact that he also wanted to use it, though he believed his reasons good. Yet, didn't everyone who used it believe their intentions were good?

Eldrian struggled with this as he continued on with the newly forming plan.

[{Eldrian} - Is the situation really that dire?]

[{Elizabeth} - Yes, at most Diades will be able to hold out another day or two, maybe a week. It all depends on when the orcs are able to either disable or take over the magic towers. As soon as one falls it shouldn't be much longer until the city falls.]

[{Eldrian} - Don't they have some forbidden spell like we saw in the trailer?]

It took a moment for a response. [{Elizabeth} - It seems that due to the mayor having fled they can't activate it. Something about it requiring access to the city core and some password.]

"Any idea what a city core is?" Eldrian asked Evale. 

"It is the central magic crystal. You've been there if I'm not mistaken."

"Ah, that room." Eldrian nodded, having always been curious what the room was actually used for. Though, it was weird that Pelaros had not used it against the undead. But he also had a feeling it did more than just activate forbidden spells. 

'Not sure what else it can do and I'm sure Pelaros wouldn't be willing to sacrifice everyone. Plus, against the undead... Yeah, it would just backfire.'

"Crap!" Cursing, Eldrian racked his brain on what he might be able to do. He didn't want to leave the clearing of the undead to the others. Afraid that something might happen while he was busy elsewhere but it appeared that he did not have much of a choice if he didn't want Diades to fall. 

And it falling would be a really bad deal. Though, even if it could hold out, in its current state it would not be able to make much of a difference. But, it might just be able to make a difference in the long run.

'At least if it survives there is the threat of a division teleporting there to attack the orcs from behind. While the cost is extreme and the chances low, the orcs will have to be mindful of it. They will need to keep a force to enclose the city.'

'Teleporting elites is also a possibility to disrupt supply lines... And if the other players get stronger, we can certainly use it ourselves to launch attacks from.'

"You're going?" Evale asked even though she already knew the answer.

"Yeah, but first." Taking out three crystals, Eldrian added temporarily runes to them. "I won't be able to activate them, so you will need to use a skill or something to destabilize them on contact-- Hope I don't lose focus before you use them."

Evale took them with nervous shaking hands, the last part certainly did not put her mind at ease.

He added the exact same runes he had used previously onto them, three plus the previous one was about his limit. He could have done one more, but he needed to get moving soon and for that he needed mana.

While he only needed around half an hour to recover his mana, he felt he had to rush before something changed in Diades. 

Evale observed the crystals curiously. Their power was truly extraordinary. If she had to estimate, she felt that if she used her strongest arrows and ability, she would be able to mimic the damage these could cause. 

Yet, that required special-tailormade arrows and a massive amount of her mana. And here Eldrian casually made three crystal bombs capable of her strongest attack. And he was still only Tier 4!

She didn't complain, instead, she simply thanked the gods that Eldrian was on their side. Every day he was becoming more and more of a monster. 

It is important to note that at this point Eldrian had three times more mana than Evale. Who was a Tier 7 archer, Tier 6 mage, and Tier 5 warrior. Of course, she had no hidden class and that also made a big difference.

However, the biggest difference was from the benefits from his mana network.

Eldrian simply didn't even realize how strong he was at this point, he truly was a force to be reckoned with. Strangely, he did not like checking his friend's statistics, at least not without their agreement. Strangers, he didn't care.

After handing her the crystals, Eldrian talked with her a bit about what they needed to do next. Specifically, when to use the crystal bombs, the rune combination of which he dubbed Nova.

After seven minutes he had enough mana to teleport back to the city, having asked Erik to find and inform Ceph on when to activate the ability. 

"What's going on?" Erik asked as Eldrian focused on stabilizing himself, the teleportation was certainly a weird feeling. It worked through the usage of the link between their souls, and it had some aftereffects. 

It most certainly was not the same as other types of teleportation. Or it might be that it had changed due to all the other things going on.

"Diades is about to fall, and if it does then the only Kynigo will be left in the southern line." Eldrian replied after getting grips on the dizziness assaulting him.

"I'm coming with you," Ceph called out as Eldrian started moving towards the inner wall. Eldrian was going to rip one more cannon from its port and fill his inventory with ammo, though the city didn't have much to spare. 

"Yeah, I was about to ask you to." Eldrian nodded and indicated for Erik to come closer.  "Did you inform Aspen yet?"

"Yes, he immediately sent out the faster centaurs to inform the local villages of the possible threat."

"Good..." Eldrian smiled, hopefully, they wouldn't lose any lives meaninglessly. "Can we feed them?"

AN: A big thank you to everyone who continues to read and support the story on WN.