mimou

  Richard spent the half hoing over the basics of the team structure, introdug each of the team leaders, aailing the intricacies of the uping war. Sora listened quietly, takial notes and occasionally exging gnces with Kara to ehey were both following along.

  Richard finally ed up, and Sora took a moment to summarize, solidifying his uanding.

  'War is different from what I believed. Basically, it’s a massive PVP event—5,000 pyers against 5,000,' Sora thought, pieg together the details. 'Whoever wins secures trol of the territory, whi our case is Sweden.'

  He remembered the two phases Richard had described. 'The war starts with Phase One: skirmishes, where both sides aim to rack up points. These points allow access to the [War Shop], which opens at the end of Phase Ohen es the mai, Phase Two, a 5,000 vs. 5,000 all-out battle where everything’s on the line.'

  Sora looked back at Richard, a question f in his mind. “Why bother with Phase One? Why not just dive into the main battle?”

  Richard nodded, as if expeg the question. “Phase One gives the defending side time to gather strength. The attackers usually take their time to prepare thhly for war, but defending a homend demands quick, reactive force. The first phase gives every pyer a ce to accumute merit and points in each fight without the risk of dying, since we revive after battles in Phase One.”

  “Still,” he added, “the side that’s more prepared tends to gain the upper hand in skirmishes, meaning they stock up on buffs and debuffs in the [War Shop] to turide in their favor for Phase Two.”

  Richard expihat the [War Shop] offered a vast array of items: gear, potions, even specific [War Buffs] that could streheir side. There were also [War Debuffs], desigo weaken the opposing fa in strategic ways.

  He paused, casting a shadowed look around the assembled team leaders. “We’ve lost the first three battles,” he said, his tone somber. “Out of three. And today, we’re heading into the fourth, and final battle of Phase One.”

  After a while, a [Military Order] fshed in front of everyone in the pany, instrug them to follow their Captain and assemble at Treriksr?set in an hour.

  Sora and Kara joined with the rest of the pany and began the jourhe frontline y just a few kilometers away from Treriksr?set—the meeting point of Sweden, Finnd, and Norway. Known as Three-try ,It was a small point where the three borders met. Now, it served as the main strategic location in the war, as the Dark Elf Kingdom waged an atta all three nations from this single, shared border.

  They left Sto, heading toward the extreme north of Sweden. Running together in groups of ten, each team used speed buffs to cover the distance quickly. Within moments, they reached the [Military Camp] he border, where a sprawliup awaited.

  Richard led Sora and Kara to their battalion’s designated area, where they found the el, Oliver Evans, already present, his posture rigid as he surveyed the troops. Around them, four other battalions were stationed, all seemingly waiting for something or someone.

  A few mier, a figure emerged from the rgest tent. Acc to Richard, most of the seasoned pyers who chose to participate in the war were military troops sent by their try. Seeing the General appear, most pyers gave a military salute. Sora and Kara, momentarily taken by surprise, remaiill, uaiher to salute.

  Missing the timing to salute, Sora took a closer look. The woman looked to be around 30 years old, with a, fident presence. Her bck hair was tied in the air, and her dark cloak partially cealed an arsenal of ons. Glints of metal peeked out from her sleeves, and daggers rested against her pants— hinting at an Assassin css pyer. As her gaze swept across the crowd, her eyes met Sora’s, lingering for a moment before moving to Kara. She showed no sign of what she thought, her expression remaining pletely unreadable. Above her head, there were question marks where her level should be, and her Adventurer’s Guild badge dispyed a symbol he didn’t reize.

  Richard leaned over and whispered, “She’s the General of the Swedish division for this war. That’s Asami Hito, a level 132 pyer from Japan. You’d best avoid annoying her.”

  Hearing her level, Sora’s eyes widened. She was more than 50 levels above him! No wonder he couldn’t see her level.

  Asami began to speak, her voianding, yet calm. “I’ll keep this short. We’ve lost the first three battles, and this is our st ce to turides and secure our standing for Phase Two. Prepare yourselves for bat.”

  Sora was surprised. 'This is it?'. He’d never been one for long speeches, and her approach suited him perfectly, but it did not feel like it had any impa troops...

  Moments ter, a colossal structure appeared in the sky, desding toward the ground with a thunderous impact. A massive coliseum took shape, its walls stretg high and encirg the battleground. Without warning, Sora and his paransported to the southern side of the arena. Across from them, the Dark Elf Kingdom’s soldiers materialized on the northern side.

  The east a sides of the arena held rows upon rows of ghostly figures, spectating with an eerie stillness. Sora couldn’t dis their features clearly, but he felt the weight of their collective gaze.

  Above the coliseum, glowiers materialized in the sky:

  [PVP Event: Dark Elf Kingdom vs New World Kingdom][Category: Tier 4 War][Reward: Swedeory Ownership][tent: Greetings, Week 4]Sora’s mouth dropped. This was Tier 4? With this many high-level pyers? He couldn’t fathom the power required for Tier 3, let alohe levels above it. And this was only a “greeting” phase?

  A Notification popped up before him, prompting him to select his squad, team, and pany members. Knowing the format, he turo Richard, “Who are our weakest pyers?”

  Richard poio a group of young men with shaved heads and another smaller group. Sora quickly gathered the 10 pyers, assigning four to his squad and four to Kara’s, while the squad leaders went to join other squads.

  Sora chose the two squads as his team, aed his whole pany as his pany members.

  It seemed their division repared in advance by the Adventurer's guild to avoid wasting time making teams minutes before the battle.

  Another bright light desded from the sky, and suddenly, a wave of energy pulsed through the arena. Every pyer above level 80 had their level forcibly capped at 80.

  Richard groaned as his power diminished. “Damn it! I hate this feeling,” he grumbled, g his fists as he adjusted to the enforced restri. Kara and Sora were ued;

  With the teams set, Sora and Kara prepared to lead their squads into battle. This was the beginning of something massive, and they had only one ake it t.

  A notification fshed before everyone:

  [Squads who have been notified, advao the field number prepared for you, and fight.]

  The ground trembled slightly as a hundred squads from each side began moving toward their designated areas in the coliseum, readying themselves for the first round of skirmishes. Sora sed the arena, notig that her his squad nor Kara’s had been chosen for the initial wave. However, he caught sight of Richard preparing to step into the fray.

  Save him a smile. “Good luck out there. Smash their skulls in the ground”

  Richard's face turned bck, a hint of embarrassment crossing his face. “Fet about that please...” he replied before disappearing into the arena, making his way to the battlefield with his squad.

  Kara moved closer to Sora, her eyes following Richard until he was out of sight. “You're so petty... Look at the number of fighting fields, it looks like they’re running 100 fights at a time,” she murmured. “Every 5000 pyers will fight in these 5v5 skirmishes... Who knows when our turn will e up?”

  Sora nodded, gng around the bustling arena as more squads assembled for their uping battles. “Yeah, could be anytime. Let's see how our squads fares against the enemy's”

  They watched as the first wave of fighters took to their positions, the tension thied as battles began, eg across the coliseum. Sora could feel the anticipation building, both within himself and throughout the arena, as they waited for their own call to fight.

  Sora turned his gaze toward the northern side of the arena, where the dark elf squads had gathered. They exuded an imposing presence, even from a distahe dark elves were tall and slender, with sharp features and silver hair that gave them a beautiful look. Their skin ranged from pale gray to deep ash, and their eyes—shades of red, violet, and green—shoh iy. They also had their characteristic point ears.

  As Sora sed their ranks, he noticed the average level of the dark elf squads was signifitly higher than that of his side. Even the more modest-looking pyers were around level 73, with the majority being around level 77 or more. Their team leaders were all above level 80.

  Kara stepped up beside him. “They’re ahead of us in levels,” she murmured, frowning. “It looks like they still have the advantage.”

  Sora houghtfully. The first three battles had been tough, and now he uood why.

  “This isn't looking good for our fa,” Sora replied, assessing the situation. “They’re strong”