( Meanwhile Luke's POV )
At the same time that Leo was on his mission on the Eastern border, Luke scouted the enemy movement on the Western border, as they seemed to be preparing to march.
*SCREECH*
Brown Pudding screeched loudly as it encircled the demon camp from the skies, providing Luke with an almost satelite like view.
From the sky, Luke could see the sprawling demon camp underneath, laid out like a dark, living map below him.
He had been observing the same camp daily for the past month and by now he knew everything about its layout.
The camp was a chaotic array of tents and makeshift structures, which seemed to be constructed from tattered animal hides and wooden poles.
The camp's layout was haphazard, with tents scattered randomly across the ground, giving it an appearance of organized chaos.
In the center of this camp, was the largest tent, which Luke assumed to be the command post, marked by crude banners and guarded by brutish demons, however, it wasn't the layout of the camp that caught his eye, but rather the activities on-going currently which did.
Unlike his usual patrol missions where the demons did not seem to be doing anything special, today the camp seemed unusually alive, with the signs pointing towards them preparing to march.
As he gazed from above, the stronger 'High Demon' soldiers seemed to be gathered in loose groups around campfires, their weapons haphazardly stacked nearby.
Unlike a disciplined army, the high demons displayed a wild, untamed energy, with some brawling amongst themselves, while the others sharpened their weapons on rocks, as they seemed to be waiting for the final orders to march from Demon General in-charge.
At the same time that the high demons appeared to be goofing around, the common demons seemed to be busy packing up the camp as they uprooted the tents and loaded the supplies into large wagons.
*Crash*
*Tumble*
Crates and barrels were tossed onto rickety carts without regard for order or stability, which Luke interpreted as a careless approach to logistics.
If this was a human soldier under his command who displayed this behavior, then Luke would probably have ousted him from the guild for his recklesness, however, the high demon supervisors who oversaw this packing, did not seem to give a damn about how the common demons handled the cargo.
As Luke glanced to the other side of the camp, he saw demonic mounts, restrained in their makeshift pens, roaring loudly as they thrashed violently against their bindings.
They seemed to be barely under control as their handlers struggled to prepare them for the journey ahead, with several handlers having to band up to put-on saddles and other attachments onto the wild mounts, to turn them into suitable means on transport for the journey.
Despite their general lack of organization, it was clear to Luke that the demons were mobilizing, as unlike the past few days where most demons did nothing, today everyone seemed to be moving with a fixed purpose.
Messengers were darting through the demon camp, delivering orders with growls and gestures, their chaotic shouts suggesting to Luke the use of intimidation rather than strategic communication.
Overall, the whole demon camp was alive with frenetic activity, with the demon foot soldiers gathering in rough bands, hoarding food and water supplies as they started to fall into somewhat of a marching formation.
"They are definitely preparing for a march, 2 more hours and they will be on their way to attack Silver-Pine Barony" Luke muttered to himself as once he was sure of the enemy's intentions, he turned Brown Pudding around and started to return back to the guild headquarters.
***********
( The DarkSky Guild, War Council )
"While we should wait for the Duke's scouts to confirm this….. I think that the demons are on the march and shall reach our borders by tomorrow.
The day that we have been preparing for months is finally here, and it seems like we will soon be thrown into a full blown war…." Luke said, as his words caused the entire room to fall into silence.
"YES! I am so excited to chop the evil demons down…" Tor said, as he flexed his muscles, and smiled gleefully.
Of everyone present in the room, he was the only one who was genuinely excited to take on the demons, as the others seemed less enthusiastic about the upcoming war.
"Our guild has invested a lot of money to develop our headquarters here in Silver-Pine Barony. We can't let the demons just over-run us.
We have forges, training grounds and a guild headquarters here and building all these structures takes time and money.
We must defend it at all cost" Lysa said, as Cervantez nodded grimly to her words.
"It's not just about the money. Even if the barony falls, the demons won't destroy our infrastructure completely, rather, this is about our chance to leapfrog beyond the masses and truly establish ourselves as a top force in the world of Terra Nova.
With each demon wave we repel, our forces will grow stronger and more formidable and our guild members will gain valuable war experience, learning how to execute maneuvers and hold lines, transforming them from individual players into a cohesive army unit.
Right now, we're in the driver's seat for this war. By collaborating with the Duke's more seasoned forces, we can seize this opportunity to become the number one guild.
If we can defend Silver-Pine Barony for another year, it will be a remarkable achievement. But to reach that stage, we'll need to repel countless demon waves first," Cervantez said, presenting an entirely different perspective from Lysa regarding the situation.
For Cervantez, the money that the guild used to earn from the silver mines, or the money that the guild put into developing facilities in Silver-Pine Barony was not what mattered.
For Cervantez, what mattered was to grasp the opportunity that this demon war presented.
The demon war was a chance for the guild to build its legacy and collective strength, which Cervantez prioritized as the most important component for the guild going forward, as while the meta of the game favored solo players up-till now, it was soon going to shift towards faction gameplay in the future.
And to make the most of this future, the collective strength of 'DarkSky' guild was going matter much more important than the individual strength of its leaders like Luke or Cervantez, and hence for Cervantez, 'Collective Growth' was his first and only priority.
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/// A/N - Bonus chapter for hitting the PS target, good job everyone! ///