Second World

Jack went to the coordinates given by Serpent Boss. It was the place where the Dogs of War members had discovered the enemy's command base. Jack found that he knew the place. He came to this place before with Grace. It was the large cave hall where Balgadur's main station was located. The hub where the carriages and the trains gathered.

He had used his corporeal state to scout the place and confirmed that Linda and the war table were there. From what he saw, he estimated around 30,000 soldiers were guarding the place. He might be able to force his way through if he went all out but he preferred to not take the risk. If Linda was allowed the time to flee and move the war table, then they would have to start looking for her again.

If he started acting, he had to get to Linda fast, so he stuck to the plan. He sent a message to John and Jeanny telling them that he was in position. Now, all they needed to do was wait for Serpent Boss' signal.

*

Serpent Boss reconvened with the other surviving Dogs of War members. David, Sergeant Zero, and Valenza were by his sides. They numbered more than a thousand. They sneaked through Palgrost's houses while making their way toward the coordinates given by Jack.

While they were moving, David suddenly stopped them. "Enemies nearby," he informed.

He wore the God-eye monocle which was dropped by Gridhacker during the battle at Wicked Witches' headquarters. Currently, there was a large group of red dots within the radar's scope.

He led the others away from this group, but he saw this group persisted in their direction.

"They can track us," David informed. "I think one of them has this monocle as well."

"That must be how they got so many of our members," said Sergeant Zero.

"How should we shake them from our tails?" Valenza asked.

"David, take this," Serpent Boss gave David the thing Jack had given him. "We will deal with this lot. You complete the mission."

"You can count on me, boss," David said. He stored the item and ran ahead.

"How should we do this, boss?" Valenza asked.

"They know our positions using that monocle. There is no use to hide. Frontal assault. We will distract their attention from David," Serpent Boss answered.

"They greatly outnumber us, but I like the odds," Sergeant Zero said.

*

"One of them split from the group. It went in that direction," Motherboard informed Ronald. "The others are heading over here. Do you think they know we are onto them?"

"Mm…," Ronald thought about the situation. He then said, "Take a small team and chase the one who split. We will deal with the ones here."

Motherboard called for some players to form her team. She then moved away while Ronald and the others proceeded onward.

As they advanced, one of the enemies showed himself on the rooftop of one of the houses around the place. He started raining bullets using Bulletstorm. The bullets hit the soldiers around Ronald.

"Hmph!" Ronald fired his revolver.

His shot accurately landed a headshot. But at this stage, expert players' age and level were high enough that even though Ronald scored a critical hit with his high-damaging weapon, the enemy didn't immediately die. The hit enemy ducked back into the roof before another ranged attack hit him.

"F*ck!" Ronald cursed loudly. In his mind, he said, 'F*ck this world. In the old world, I never need to aim at the same target twice!"

More and more Dogs of War members showed themselves and started shooting. Ronald's soldiers fought back. Ranged attackers fired back while the melee advanced to close in on the distance.

Sergeant Zero suddenly appeared from a side alley and struck the nearest melee player who was advancing. Sergeant Zero was very fast. He performed a string of combos. His first stab was accompanied by Unblockable Stab. He then shifted to the player's back by using Phase Strike and landed a backstab.

The backstab was critical. These three hits killed that player and Sergeant Zero disappeared again using Vanish.

Ronald fired two bullets into the empty alley. Sergeant Zero appeared when he was hit by one of the bullets. Ronald had pinpointed his position from Sergeant Zero's killing intent. Sergeant Zero hurriedly ducked into an intersection before Ronald could fire again.

"Chase them!" Ronald ordered.

He then heard Motherboard's scream. He turned and saw Serpent Boss beside the woman.

Serpent Boss had disappeared from Motherboard's radar, but he wasn't using invisibility. He was doing what Ronald did when Ronald avoided Jack's mana sense. Serpent Boss erased his presence and became one with the environment. Serpent Boss knew this could fool the radar because he had tested it on David's God-eye monocle.

Under the concealed condition and the distraction created by his members, Serpent Boss sneaked to where Motherboard was and attacked her. His dagger was currently stabbed into Motherboard's throat while his gun pressed to her temple. He used Rapid Shot and Motherboard lost all her HP.

Without pause, Serpent Boss used Bulletstorm, shooting everyone around him. Those people were still shocked at how someone managed to sneak into their midst and kill their leader in front of them. They were further stunned when the bullets from Serpent Boss' Bulletstorm accurately hit them in their faces.

While they were reeling, Serpent Boss took the God-eye monocle that Motherboard had dropped. Without this item, the enemy would have a harder time finding them.

Serpent Boss acrobatically jumped up the roof and disappeared up there before Ronald could come to help.

Ronald stopped approaching once Serpent Boss was out of sight.

"Chase him!" Ronald ordered.

While everyone looked around the place, Ronald turned in the direction Motherboard said the fourth enemy had gone to. He preferred to hunt Serpent Boss. But after having a brief thought, he left the others to deal with Serpent boss and the Dogs of War members here. This group could have split up and avoided them as they had done since yesterday, but they instead chose direct conflict this time. Was it a distraction to cover that one person who split from them?

With this thought, Ronald summoned his steed and headed in the direction where Motherboard said the split one had gone.