Chapter 158 The Prelude to War

Not long after the Mage Union players withdrew from these cities, nearly 150,000 players from the five branch guilds under the Nie Yan Alliance moved into these fortresses. They were responsible for the temporary defense of the fortresses. Soon, the main force of the Nie Yan Alliance would arrive.

As agreed, the Mage Union was not allowed to attack these fortresses, but Holy Empire could!

Holy Empire also sent nearly 200,000 players toward Moonlit City to work together against the Nie Yan Alliance.

Holy Flames understood the concept of “if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold.” Although he and Mad Rogue were outwardly harmonious, they were actually competing with each other in secret. However, he understood that once the Mage Union collapsed, Holy Empire would be standing alone, not far from its demise. When Mad Rogue asked him for help, even though he didn't want to get involved in this endless melee, he decided to support the Mage Union and sent 200,000 troops.

With 200,000 Holy Empire players, plus the Mage Union having operated in Moonlit City for so long, with over a dozen branch guilds, there were at least 500,000 to 600,000 players, adding up to a total of 700,000 to 800,000 troops.

With so many troops, Moonlit City was virtually impregnable. It would not be easy for Nie Yan to take Moonlit City. Although the Mage Union's top-tier players were not as numerous as the Nie Yan Alliance, its guild was far too large, several times the size of the Nie Yan Alliance. Moreover, the Mage Union had the advantage of timing, location, and popular support in Moonlit City, while the Nie Yan Alliance was fighting across cities, as outsiders. Even with higher prestige, they would be resisted by the players of Moonlit City.

Even a mighty dragon cannot suppress a local snake!

The Nie Yan Alliance's only advantage was those dozen Frost Ironclad Catapults, while the Mage Union only had four or five Ironclad Catapults in total.

Back then, Bloodlust Blades' three catapults almost destroyed the Nie Yan Alliance's foundation, but now, with more than a dozen Frost Ironclad Catapults working together, their power was unimaginable. In terms of force, the Nie Yan Alliance was stronger than the Mage Union and Holy Empire.

The main forces of the Nie Yan Alliance were still advancing towards Moonlit City. After Nie Yan took over the five fortresses of the Mage Union, he began to arrange the overall situation, moving all the Nie Yan Alliance's Mechanics, Enchanters, and other production classes into these five fortresses, letting them work day and night to build Ironclad Catapults. In addition, another powerful weapon was also being manufactured: the ballista catapult, specially used for siege warfare.

The maximum range of the ballista catapult could reach 1,500 yards, far exceeding the Ironclad Catapult, and it also had extra damage to city wall buildings, which could exert a great effect during siege warfare.

In addition to the main forces of the Nie Yan Alliance, Holy Empire, Garan Temple, Radiant Sacred Flame, and other guilds also sent a large number of troops to support them. After Nie Yan counted, he could command approximately 300,000 troops, whose quality was generally higher than that of the Mage Union and Holy Empire. The entry requirements for the Mage Union and Holy Empire were much lower than those of guilds like the Nie Yan Alliance, which was why they were so large and bloated.

The Mage Union and Holy Empire organized several troops to intercept the Nie Yan Alliance's forces along the way, but they were all blasted back by the Frost Ironclad Catapults.

The power of the Frost Ironclad Catapults chilled the Mage Union and Holy Empire players to the bone.

When a Frost Ironclad Catapult's iron projectile landed, everyone within a fifty-yard radius was frozen. If their frost resistance was not high enough, they would be frozen to death directly. A Frost Ironclad Catapult could launch five iron projectiles at a time. One attack would leave a field of corpses.

After several failed interceptions, the Mage Union and Holy Empire had no choice but to give up and could only watch as these Frost Ironclad Catapults slowly approached Moonlit City. They were already preparing for a difficult fortress defense battle.

The Nie Yan Alliance's momentum had completely overwhelmed the Mage Union and Holy Empire. On the forums, there were more supporters of the Nie Yan Alliance.

In another two or three days, when the Frost Ironclad Catapults arrived in Moonlit City, it would be the beginning of the Mage Union and Holy Empire's nightmare!

During this period, the Nie Yan Alliance had sold about half of its gems, obtaining nearly 15 million gold coins. Nearly 5 million of which had already been spent by Nie Yan, for the purchase of Hilton Fortress's land, the cost of the battle in the Death Expanse, etc. Of the remaining 10 million, 5 million would be used as war funds for the Nie Yan Alliance to attack the Mage Union, and the other 5 million would be used for various investments. The Nie Yan Alliance definitely had enough financial resources to maintain a protracted war of attrition.

As for the Mage Union and Holy Empire, it was estimated that they could get some funds from the Century Financial Group. In addition, they had also made some money by following Nie Yan to acquire gems. Holy Empire could probably come up with about 2 million gold coins. As for the Mage Union, their situation was more miserable because the battle in the Death Expanse had cost them nearly 3 million gold coins, and their finances were very tight, so they could only rely on the Century Financial Group for support.

During this period, there were more and more Nie Yan Alliance players active in Moonlit City. They were like natives of Moonlit City, active in the major streets and shops. Outside the city, at various leveling spots, conflicts between the Mage Union and Holy Empire and the Nie Yan Alliance players occurred from time to time, leading to one melee after another. The order of Moonlit City suddenly became very chaotic, and many ordinary players were also drawn into the war. Although they were very dissatisfied with this situation, they also understood that the final battle between the two giants was inevitable.

In the beginning, because there were fewer Nie Yan Alliance players, they often suffered losses, but later, as more and more players from the Nie Yan Alliance faction came to Moonlit City, they became more and more courageous, slaughtering hundreds and thousands of people from the Mage Union and Holy Empire.

The Mage Union and Holy Empire were under so much pressure that they could hardly breathe. They could only shrink their forces and try to prevent their people from clashing with the Nie Yan Alliance players, adopting a defensive posture. As soon as this order was issued, the morale of the Mage Union and Holy Empire weakened a bit.

Nie Yan collected information from various sources, directing the overall situation. In order to avoid accidents, he could not leave, and could only occasionally steal some time to grind monsters. He had just received news that the Sartre Empire was not stable, so Angel Corps was unable to spare any effort to assist the Mage Union and Holy Empire in dealing with the Nie Yan Alliance. This was good news for them.

There was also one thing that made Nie Yan a little uneasy. Angel Corps had entered the Griffon Woodlands to explore before the other guilds and had gained a lot. They had collected seven wind serpents (feng she), which were flying mounts. In the Griffon Woodlands, wind serpents were the lowest-level creatures, prey of the Griffons, but outside, they were amazing pets.

According to Guo Huai and others' intelligence, Angel Corps had at least twelve flying mounts, and the number was still increasing. Although Nie Yan's Darkwing Dragon was powerful, it could not fight against so many at once. It would be depressing if Angel Corps formed an air advantage.

Nie Yan had to guard against Angel Corps sending flying mounts to support the Mage Union.

Fortunately, Nie Yan had people buy up all the Scroll of Mist Dispelling (迷雾驱散卷轴), otherwise, Angel Corps would have gained even more if they had the Scroll of Mist Dispelling.

Nie Yan had Brilliant Dagger and others form a 3,000-man team, the original team from the battle in the Death Expanse, bring some Scroll of Mist Dispelling, and start exploring the Griffon Woodlands, hoping to gain something and get a few flying mounts, so that the Nie Yan Alliance's air power would not be too far behind Angel Corps.

With the Scroll of Mist Dispelling, Brilliant Dagger and others' efficiency would definitely be much higher than Angel Corps.

Just as the Nie Yan Alliance, the Mage Union, and Holy Empire were actively preparing for war, the Corrifes Central Cathedral in the center of Moonlit City welcomed a special guest. He was dressed in cloth and was a middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance, not attracting everyone's attention. Only the aura of a superior person that was occasionally revealed made ordinary players look at him in surprise.

No one would have thought that he was Cao Xu, the helmsman of the Century Financial Group, who was influential in various virtual online games!

Speaking of the name Cao Xu, people easily associate it with some adjectives, such as tycoon, manipulator behind countless guilds, overlord of virtual games. His words and deeds were enough to affect the entire virtual world. Such a description was not an exaggeration.

He walked into the conference hall of the Corrifes Central Cathedral, where many people were already waiting, including the presidents of the Mage Union and Holy Empire, as well as Raven, Kelo, and others. In addition, there were some expert-level players and guild presidents from the Greenland Empire and the Sartre Empire.

There were about 300 people in the entire conference hall, which was very noisy, but when Cao Xu walked in, the entire conference hall immediately quieted down. Raven walked up from the side, carefully looked at Cao Xu's expression, and repeated what Nie Yan had asked him to convey.

"Boss, Mad Rogue Nie Yan is challenging you," Raven said, fanning the flames.

Sure enough, after listening to Raven's words, Cao Xu was a little furious and said, "Mad Rogue Nie Yan, as his nickname suggests, is too arrogant. Does he think that I can't do anything about his little Nie Yan Alliance?" In terms of how to lead a guild, he might not be Mad Rogue Nie Yan's opponent, but in terms of playing with capital, Nie Yan was too inexperienced. Even without bloodshed, the Century Financial Group could make the Nie Yan Alliance pay the price. Nie Yan would regret his words!

Cao Xu only commented and did not express any other opinions. Raven and others could not figure out what Cao Xu was thinking.

Seeing Cao Xu come in, Mad Rogue and Holy Flames also walked up.

"Boss."

"Boss." Mad Rogue and Holy Flames also looked very respectful.

Cao Xu just nodded slightly at them.

A conference about the decisive battle between the Nie Yan Alliance and the Mage Union began in this hall.