Not long after Alliance of Mages' forces withdrew from the five strongholds, close to 150,000 players from the five branch guilds under Asskickers United garissoned them. They were responsible for the defense of the strongholds until Asskickers United's main army arrived.
According to the bet, Alliance of Mages wasn't allowed to attack these strongholds for a month. However, this didn't apply to Divine Protectors!
Close to 200,000 players from Divine Protectors were rushing over to Moonlight City.
As the old proverb goes, without the lips, the teeth will feel cold. Though Holy Flame and Crazy Magic appeared friendly on the surface, the two were fierce competitors, never willing to bow to the other. However, Holy Flame understood that if Alliance of Mages collapsed, Divine Protectors would be next. When Crazy Magic sought him out for help, even though he didn't want to get involved with this mess, he still decided to lend his aid, dispatching 200,000 players.
After operating in Moonlight City for so long, Alliance of Mages had established more than a dozen branch guilds, making up nearly 600,000 players. Combined with the 200,000 from Divine Protectors, that was a total of 800,000 players.
With such a large defending army, Moonlight City was practically impenetrable. It wasn't going to be easy for Nie Yan to conquer. Even though Alliance of Mage's top elites were far below Asskickers United's, their guild was more than several times larger. Furthermore, Moonlight City was Alliance of Mages' home turf. Asskickers United was the invader. No matter how prestigious their reputation was, they would inevitably invite the scorn of the local players.
Even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake!
Asskickers United's only advantage was their 15 Armoured Ice Catapults. Meanwhile, Alliance of Mages only had 5 catapults altogether.
Previously, Bloodlust Blades had nearly brought Asskickers United to their knees with just three catapults. It was easy to imagine what could be achieved with 15 Armoured Ice Catapults. In terms of military might, Asskickers United was far stronger than Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors.
Asskickers United's main army was still advancing towards Moonlight City. After collecting his spoils from winning the bet against Alliance of Mages, Nie Yan immediately got to work, relocating all of the guild's Engineers, Enchanters, and other artisans to the five strongholds and having them working around the clock building catapults. Besides this, another powerful war engine, one specialized for sieging strongholds, was being built-a trebuchet!
The maximum range of trebuchets was 1,500 meters, far above that of catapults. They also dealt additional damage to fortified walls, making them extremely effective for sieges.
Apart from Asskickers United's main army, Holy Empire, Sapphire Shrine, Radiant Sacred Flame, and the others had also dispatched their own armies over to provide support. Nie Yan added all the forces up together. His total army size was over 300,000 strong. These players were on average stronger than those from Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors. Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors were only so big because their recruitment requirements were much more lax compared to Asskickers United and the other guilds.
Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors had attempted to intercept Asskickers United's forces mid-journey several times, only to be repelled by the Armoured Ice Catapults time and time again.
The frightening destructive might of the Armoured Ice Catapults was engraved deeply into the hearts of the players from Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors.
Every shell launched from an Armoured Ice Catapult left all players in a 50-meter radius frozen solid. If their ice resistance wasn't high enough, they would shatter into pieces. The Armoured Ice Catapults could launch five shells at once. As soon as the shells fell, corpses would litter the ground.
After failing several times, Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors had no choice but to give up. They could only watch on helplessly as these Armoured Ice Catapults slowly advanced toward Moonlight City. They were already prepared for a long and grueling siege defense.
Asskickers United's influence had already long since eclipsed Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors. The majority of the discussions on the forums were also in favour of Asskickers United.
When Asskickers United's catapults arrived in Moonlight City in another two or three days, that would be the beginning of Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors' nightmare!
During this time, Asskickers United had sold roughly half their gems and obtained close to 15,000,000 gold, of which Nie Yan had spent 5,000,000 gold on the battle in the Realm of Death, purchasing land in the Hilton Stronghold, and so on. With the 10,000,000 gold left over, he set aside half as war funds against Alliance of Mages. The other half was used in various investments. Asskickers United definitely had the resources to survive a long and drawn-out war.
Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors could probably count on the Century Financial Group to receive some funding. Add this with them also acquiring gems on the back of Nie Yan's plan previously, and they had also earned quite a bit of money. Divine Protectors could probably take out 2,000,000 gold. As for Alliance of Mages, they were in much more dire straits because they had spent nearly 3,000,000 gold on the battle in the Realm of Death. Practically penniless, they could only rely on the Century Financial Group's financial aid.
During this time, the number of Asskickers United players operating in Moonlight City increased noticeably. They were like natives of the city, walking around the large streets and shops. From time to time, arguments broke out between them and Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors players in the various levelling spots outside the city, leading to small skirmishes. Moonlight City's tranquility was broken. Many ordinary players were also dragged into the conflict. Even though they were extremely dissatisfied, they understood that there was no way to stop this final showdown between these two major powers.
The players from Asskickers United frequently suffered lossess in the beginning due to there being less of them. However, later on, with more Asskickers United players arriving in Moonlight City, the more they fought, the braver they became, until eventually they started slaughtering Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors players everywhere.
Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors were being suppressed to the extent of being unable to breathe. They could only pull back their troops, adopting a defensive posture and having their players avoid conflict with Asskickers United as much as possible. As soon as this order was given out, Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors' morale took a noticeable hit.
Nie Yan collected information from everywhere as he directed the army. In order to prevent any mishaps, he couldn't leave. He could only occasionally sneak out for a moment to grind a few mobs. He received a report that the Satreen Empire was embroiled in war. Angel Corps was in no position to provide Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors any help. This was a great piece of news for Asskickers United.
There was another matter that left Nie Yan feeling a bit uneasy. It was the fact that Angel Corps was the first guild to explore the Griffon Woodlands. Their harvests were quite ample, having obtained a total of seven Wind Serpents. Wind Serpents were the lowest ranked creatures in the Griffon Woodlands and were the prey of griffons. However, they were still amazing creatures at this stage of the game.
According to the report from Guo Huai, Angel Corps had at least 12 flying mounts, and that number was still rapidly growing. Nie Yan's Darkwing Dragon might be powerful, but it could only do so much alone. It would be troublesome if Angel Corps seized superiority in the skies.
Nie Yan had no choice but to account for the possibility that Angel Corps might send over flying mounts to assist Alliance of Mages.
Fortunately, Nie Yan had previously dispatched people to acquire all the Dispel Fog Scrolls. Otherwise, if Angel Corps got their hands on them, their harvest would be even greater.
Nie Yan had Bladelight and the others form a 3,000-man expedition team. It was pretty much the same lineup that participated in the battle in the Realm of Death. Bringing some Dispel Fog Scrolls, they set off for Griffon Woodlands. He hoped they would have a good harvest and obtain a few flying mounts. Like this, Asskickers United's aerial strength wouldn't fall too far behind Angel Corps'.
With the Dispel Fog Scrolls, Bladelight and the others would definitely fare much better than Angel Corps.
At this moment when Asskickers United and Alliance of Mages were anxiously preparing for war, a special guest appeared in Moonlight City's Colifis Central Cathedral. He was a middle-aged man in cloth robes. He hardly attracted anyone's attention, only occasionally revealing the disposition of a prominent figure and causing ordinary players to raise their eyebrows in shock.
No one would ever think that he was the tycoon that steered the Century Financial Group through various virtual reality games, Cao Xu!
As soon as the name Cao Xu was spoken, several descriptors would pop up in a person mind: top dog, the dark hand behind countless guilds, the overlord of virtual reality games. A single word from him could influence the entire power balance of a virtual reality game. This kind of description wasn't at all exaggerated.
He entered the Colifis Central Cathedral's conference hall. Many people were already gathered inside, including the guild leaders of Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors, Raven, Krow, and other experts and guild leaders from the Viridian and Satreen Empires.
The entire conference hall contained 300 people. It was quite noisy. However, once Cao Xu stepped through the door, everyone settled down. Raven walked up to Cao Xu's side. Carefully paying attention to Cao Xu's expression, he relayed Nie Yan's previous words.
"Boss, Nirvana Flame is clearly provoking you!" Raven said in indigination.
As expected, after Raven passed on the message, Cao Xu turned furious. "Mad Rogue Nirvana Flame, he really is worthy of his nickname. His arrogance knows no bounds. He really believes I can't do anything to Asskickers United?" In terms of leading a guild, he might not be Nie Yan's match. However, in terms of managing capital, Nie Yan was nothing more than a pup. Even if the Century Financial Group was defeated, Asskickers United would be forced to pay a heavy price. He would make Nie Yan regret his words!
Cao Xu didn't spill more on the matter to Raven. The Direwolf players couldn't tell what their boss was thinking.
Crazy Magic and Divine Flame also walked up to greet Cao Xu.
"Boss!" the two spoke in a respectful tone.
Cao Xu acknowledged them with a slight nod.
A meeting concerning the showdown between Asskickers United and Alliance of Mages began in this conference hall.