Chapter 402: Preperations


    The news about the demon armies’ approach spread fast amongst the NPC’s and themon yers of Silver-Pine Barony, who were not affiliated with any guild.


    As they saw the Duke’s forces and the DarkSky guild’s personnel marching towards the border in full gear, they deduced that the enemy might be on the move and hence a frenzy set in.


    In response to this news, the NPCs began securing their homes, quietly gathering valuables into small trunks in-case the front lines fell and they needed to flee urgently.


    Although they did remain hopeful that the human army would repel the demons, they still began preparing for the worst, as they felt unwilling to risk their families’ safety if the conflict reached their doors.


    Meanwhile, themon yers were filled with excitement at the prospect of battle, eager to join the fight and prove their skills. However, with the DarkSky Guild having restricted ess to the front lines and having barred unaffiliated yers from engaging directly, their excitement was for nothing.


    With Cervantez not wanting any unaffiliated yers anywhere near the battlefield as it could prove to be a strategic blunder, he barred them from joining the war.


    This decision of his naturally left manymon yers restless and frustrated, as they watched the preparations from a distance, yearning for the chance to participate and earn glory in battle but were not allowed to do so.


    Internally, they discussed war strategies amongst one another and imagined the potential rewards, but for now, they had to wait for their opportunity to join the conflict, knowing that the DarkSky guild prioritized the gain of its own members over everything else. With tensions high and anticipation building, the stage was set for the impending confrontation as the demons seemed to be on their way to mount their first attack on Silver-Pine Barony.


    ************


    ( Cervantez and Luke’s POV )


    Once it was confirmed that the demon army was indeed on the march, Cervantez mobilized the entire DarkSky guild and started to march towards Stonebridge vige.


    The Stonebridge vige was the westernmost part of the Silver-Pine Barony and it was the outpost that Cervantez had been reinforcing in the past few months in anticipation for this battle.


    The Stonebridge vige itself got it’s name from the massive stone bridge that connected it to the rest of the Barony, as the vige was situated on-top of a hill.


    And if worse came to worst, it was this very bridge that Cervantez intended to destroy to cut off the demon army’s pursuit and ensure a safe retreat for his forces.


    However, while that was the worst case scenario that the guild prepared for, Cervantez did not intend to let things reach that point.


    Since Stonebridge vige was situated atop a hill, it was in a naturally advantageous position to defend, as any force trying to attack it needed to fight an up-hill battle.


    With Luke’s strategic advice, Cervantez had created severalyers of walls and Archer towers atop Stonebridge vige hill, which were going to help ensure that the approaching demon army did not have an easy time scaling Stonebridge Hill.


    The wooden walls constructed on Stonebridge Hill were made in such a way that it funneled them into special zones known as ‘Death Zones’.


    In these zones, multiple archer towers held clear sight of the approaching demon forces and could hence potentially pick off multiple opponents.


    Plus, by filtering the demons into these kill zones, it made them more vulnerable against traps, weapons and AOE spells providing the defending forces with a massive strategic advantage.


    Since the demons were historically known to not fight with their brains and charge headfirst into traps, Luke hoped that by creating these funneling walls, he could dwindle the enemy numbers by 60-80% by the time the first wave of soldiers ever reached the main defensive line, effectively earning them the victory before the fight ever started.


    And while this was the best-case scenario that they hoped for, the guild was also prepared for a dog-fight till the bitter end in-case all their strategies were for naught and the demons proved to be much smarter than what history depicted them to be.


    “SkyLion, follow me, the young Duke Jerome has asked to see the two of us. I think he wishes to discuss the final strategy–” Cervantez said, as just as they reached Stonebridge Hill and began taking their battle positions, Cervantez and Luke were summoned by Jerome for ast minute strategy discussion.


    *******


    ( Somewhere on Stonebridge Hill )


    Jerome looked through some binocr-like lens from one of the Stonebridge Hill’s tallest Archer towers, as he seemed to be trying to spot the enemy forces.


    “They are about an hour away ….. I think they will March for another half an hour before setting up a temporary camp” Jerome said as he pulled his eye away from the binocrs and looked Cervantez and Luke in the face.


    “Agh, DarkEmperor, SkyLion you are here….” Jerome said in surprise, as he took out a small battle horn that was slung around his waist and handed it to Luke.


    “This is the distress horn…. Blow it only if you need emergency reinforcements” Jerome said, as without exining anymore he turned to Cervantez.


    “In-case the demons attack through the night, I hope your men remain vignt” Jerome said, as Cervantez chuckled at his words.


    Internally, Cervantez already knew that the demons were never going to attack through the night, since it was the time where all yers logged out of the Terra Nova world.


    And that if a war was going to start, it was only going to start the next day, right as the yers returned.


    However, since he could not say this to an NPC, he simply nodded and assured the young duke that his men would be at the ready.