The beginners in the palace are hurriedly trying to prepare for battle. Originally, they only intended to go to the palace to spectate on the battle from a high and relatively safe position, leaving if things started to get too dangerous for them. However, the rapid speed of the Haven army’s sudden advance and the vast numbers of the Haven troops marching towards the palace (more than half of the army) has caused a panic with the people in the palace. Some people (the merchants and tourists) try to leave the palace but find the way blocked by the four corps/legions. The Haven commanders shout out to kill everyone and take no prisoners. As such, this left the beginners no choice but to fight, with most of the beginners assisting the defenders in dropping stones/boiling oil on the Haven army. Pale is on the palace walls (apparently it doubles as a fortress) and shoots an arrow up into the sky, using the skill Scattering of the Earth (?). This arrow explodes into many pieces which then fall back towards the ground, exploding when they make contact with something. Besides him, there are also many other archers and ranged units on the wall, taking advantage of the walls height and the fatigue of the enemy (they had to march up a steep hill in heavy armor). But although they are facing such a disadvantage, the battle-hardened Haven army does not retreat.
Weed and Hess Tiger reaches the Arpen palace, and Weed orders Hess to take commander of Seville’s group (I believe those were the descendants of the soldier animated sculptures) and the desert warriors that came. He also orders his animated sculptures to attack (not sure if they’re attacking the forces that are sieging the castle or if they’re fighting in the plains). He then walks onto the palace walls (?) and gain large buffs (the powers of the earth that are channeled into the place block 96% of all ranged attacks, increase health and strength by 240%). He also notices a warning that if the monuments that are channeling the power (?) are weakened, then the power will fall as well. Deuraka sees Weed going into the palace and smiles, saying that they’ll take down both Weed and the palace in one blow. The Arpen army also notices the assault on the palace, and the Arpen commanders (they’re all real-world ex-military personnel) also dispatch groups to help the palace defenders.
Scene switches to the leader of the Black Lions guild, Carlisle, who is checking his email. He discovers he only has 39 emails, and he reminisces about the days where the Black Lion guild was extremely popular, with nearly 10 million players in the guild. However, after their disastrous defeat at the hands of the Hermes guilds, all of this fame disappeared like dust in the wind (Editor’s note: I believe the Black Lion’s guild were the one that controlled the mines which Weed was mining sapphire+got killed in. They were also one of the major participants in the guild alliance against Hermes which got crushed). He looks over the mail, with most of them being generic things like “how are you doing?” and “I found a new hunting ground.” He suddenly stops, shocked, when he find an email sent by Weed with the content “Don’t you want some revenge against the Haven Empire?” He doubts the authenticity of the letter at first (because Weed is one of the most common character names in Royal Road now). During that time, his T.V. is on in the background, with the Northern War (and Weed’s fight) being covered at that moment. He mutters to himself that it’s definitely a joke, but before he deletes the email, he decides to check the authenticity of the sender. Mail sent from a Royal Road account has the special function of allowing the sender to include an image of his avatar as a “signature” of sorts. Carlisle checks this signature is shocked to discover an image of Weed wearing his signature, and unique, gear. He is then puzzled as to why Weed would contact him; there is no way for him to interfere in the Northern world and his guild is just a shell of what it once was (it may have been disbanded, not sure). He continues reading the mail, in which Weed says that the Hermes guild will devour the Versailles continent if left alone. However, there is an opportunity to counterattack while the Haven Empire is shaken, much like how even wolves can hunt a wounded lion. It then ends with the line that this opportunity will come once Haven has been defeated in the North. Carlisle is surprised that Weed hasn’t given up yet and still believes Arpen can defeat the Haven army. Although the combined armies of all of the other large guilds have failed to defeat the Hermes guild, Weed still believes that he can win. But, he says to himself, Weed cannot win this war with his mind alone. His eyes turn towards the television, and looks at the situation (because many different stations are covering this fight, you can watch the battle from different ways in each of the different channels). However, no matter what point of view he looked at the battle, he only saw a helpless situation. He believes that it’s impossible to win, but he then thinks of the huge effect that it will have if the Arpen side somehow won. It would shatter the Hermes guild’s reputation of being undefeatable, and provide a signal for those who are unhappy with Hermes’ rule to revolt. He turns up the volume of the television. Unbeknownst to him, the guild leaders of the Black Swords, Sherwood, Cloud, and President (there are some other guilds names I can’t decipher), the guilds known as the losers of the war for the continent, have also received this email.
Weed and his sculpture companions/slaves are fighting furiously to prevent the invasion of the palace. Hess and Weed are leading the defense at the front gates while Baja (the barbarian) is commanding the teams for defending the side gates). The Golden Bird is following a hit-and-run strategy, while Eunsae/Esuna is providing support. Bart (Seoyun’s dad) watches him and is impressed by his charisma and his demeanor, although he still wonders if Weed is good enough for Seoyun (because Bart is a merchant, he is currently hiding on pillar (or roof) away from combat). Their eyes make contact for a short moment (they both said something, might have been each other’s names), before the attacking Haven soldiers blocks Weed’s gaze again. Bart lowers his head, and discovers that he feels embarrassed (this might be because he’s very low level in Royal Road. However, this entire paragraph is confusing).
Back to top