In addition to spending his daily gaming time training Dumpy and recounting tales of his past valor, Leo dedicated the remainder of his day to orchestrating the uprising's assault on the Eastern Duchy.
The ongoing border conflict with the Demons had become a major source of frustration for the Eastern Duke, who appeared to be the least prepared of all the dukes to handle a rebellion, giving Leo the confidence of a swift victory should the Uprising attack.
For months now, he had been pestering ChaosBringer to come up with a strategy to win the Eastern Duchy and although the initial plans that ChaosBringer submitted to him were crude, over the months the two had began to fine-tune those crude plans, turning them into lethal masterpieces.
The strategy that they had come up with was built on three pillars: confusion, infiltration, and swift, decisive strikes at key locations.
Both Leo and ChaosBringer knew that the biggest advantage that they had in this war was not their near immortal status as players, but the fact that as players they could infiltrate deep within enemy organizations without the NPC'S becoming any wiser.
The uprising, unlike a traditional army, did not need to fight through only frontal assaults and could deal a lot of damage internally through backstabbing and hence that was exactly what Leo and ChaosBringer planned to do.
The duo had already decided that if they wanted to win over the Eastern Duchy, there were 3 critical conflict points that they needed to win, which would be more difficult than the rest.
But if they could win these three battles then the war was as good as won!
The first and most challenging target was Fort Ironclad, which was a heavily fortified bastion nestled in the Eastern Forest.
It was the Eastern Duchy's most impenetrable stronghold, and capturing it was extremely difficult in a frontal assault.
Hence it became imperative that the uprising took over Fort Ironclad by surprise, and to do so the Uprising had covertly placed agents within the ranks of the fort's support staff—blacksmiths, cooks, and even some low-ranking soldiers.
These infiltrators, indistinguishable from the common folk, would sabotage key defenses from within at the moment of attack, causing confusion and internal disruption. While the main rebel forces, led by Chaosbringer's elite units, would launch a frontal assault, placing the fort's defenders in a dual jeopardy.
The sabotage would leave the defenders scrambling, making it difficult to mount an organized resistance, while the external assault would all but assure victory.
The second target was Briarhelm, the largest city in the Eastern Duchy and the seat of the Duke's power.
The city was already weakened by the redeployment of troops to the Demon front, leaving only a skeleton defense in place.
Over the past few months, Leo had ensured that Chaosbringer's men were embedded in the heart of the city—merchants, craftsmen, and even a few within the Duke's personal guard and that when the signal for war was given, they would stir up panic among the citizens, creating a sense of overwhelming fear that would paralyze the city's response.
At the same time, Leo expected to be summoned by the Duke to defend the city as one of his bannermen, giving him the perfect opportunity to march his forces in, only to turn on the Duke at the most critical moment, capturing Briarhelm in one swift stroke.
It was the betrayal of a lifetime, one that would mark him as a traitor of the Empire, but Leo did not care.
The Empire had killed his master and they needed to pay for the same.
The third and final target was Vinehaven, an economic hub crucial to the Duchy's trade and resources.
Leo knew that without Vinehaven, the Eastern Duchy would be starved of supplies, making it difficult to sustain any prolonged defense and hence, the uprising had quietly built a network of operatives within the merchant guilds and among the port authorities with the help of Leo's alias identify, 'Leo Skyshard'.
Their plan was to cripple the city's economy by attacking the warehouses and docks simultaneously, ensuring that supplies couldn't reach the frontlines.
With the city's infrastructure in chaos, the rebellion would seize control before the Duke's forces could react.
However, the brilliance of the whole plan lay in its synchronization.
All three attacks would take place simultaneously, throwing the entire Eastern Duchy into disarray.
The Uprising's agents, having infiltrated every level of society, would strike from within, making it nearly impossible for the Duke to discern friend from foe and by the time the Duke realized the scale of the rebellion, it would be too late.
This was a carefully crafted plan that Leo had personally worked on for months and today, he had finally given ChaosBringer the final date for this attack.
In 35 days, once Leo was free from Dumpy's mandatory training, he wanted the attack to be launched and following his orders, ChaosBringer relayed the announcement within the Uprising's guild chat, setting the plan in motion.
Every captain, rebel, and mercenary within the guild was informed of their specific role and although none of them grasped the full scope of the operation, still, there was an undeniable sense that something monumental was about to unfold within the group.
After months of lying low, the Uprising was finally poised to expand its reach again and this resurgence brought with it a wave of excitement among the ranks, with members eager to re-engage in active battle.
Up to this point, few knew that 'TheBoss,' their revered spiritual leader, was preparing to personally take part in the upcoming conflict. But that was likely for the best.
His influence had grown immensely after his victory over the other rankers, and the frenzy of admiration surrounding him had reached a fever pitch.
Revealing his involvement too early would have risked complicating the entire operation, as countless members would have clamored to fight alongside him, potentially jeopardizing the carefully laid-out plans, hence his anonymity in the operation so far was probably for the best.