(30 minutes later, Bilspread town)
Bilspread town was thrown into chaos over the news about the potential arrival of 'TheBoss', as the players throughout the town mobilized in a frenzy to try and prepare for his arrival.
Learning from the mistakes of the adventurers in Duffledem village, they began creating proper blockades along the streets, meant to stop armies, as although their enemy was a single individual, they took maximum precautions to try and stop him.
However, while most players found themselves busy with some task or the other, there were a select few, who already assumed their battle positions, and were now simply awaiting the arrival of 'TheBoss'.
Jake, an adventurer from Bilspread, who was one such player who had already assumed his final position, swung his sword through the air with exaggerated flair.
He was practicing his moves in the middle of the town square, surrounded by piles of flour-streaked streets and the chatter of other adventurers.
"Yeah, just like this," Jake muttered under his breath, lunging forward in an awkward stance. "When he tries that flashy invisibility trick, I'll block him here… then BAM!" He spun clumsily, nearly losing his balance as his oversized boots scraped against the cobblestone. "TheBoss won't know what hit him."
To Jake, it felt like a perfect strategy, one that would undoubtedly make him the hero of Bilspread. To anyone watching, however, he looked ridiculous—more like a drunk soldier fighting imaginary ghosts than someone capable of taking on the most dangerous player in the game.
Nearby, a commotion broke out as an old NPC woman wailed uncontrollably, her trembling hands clutching the edge of her shawl. Two adventurers, Jake's guildmates, stood in front of her, trying to calm her down.
"Listen, lady," one of them said, clearly exasperated. "You'll be reimbursed in full. The guild will compensate you for the flour, alright? Just stop crying already."
"My flour! My hard-earned flour!" the old woman cried, her voice shaking with grief and rage. "Do you think your money can undo the waste? That grain was meant to feed my family for the entire season!"
"It's just flour, calm down," the other player said dismissively, waving a hand as if to shoo her away. "Besides, we're doing this for the greater good. TheBoss will be here any moment, and this flour will help us stop him. You should be thanking us."
"Thank you?" the old woman spat, tears streaming down her face. "Thank you for stealing from me? For throwing away what little I have?" She pointed a gnarled finger at the players, her voice rising with every word. "May your souls be cursed for your greed! May the gods punish your arrogance!"
The adventurers rolled their eyes in disappointment as this happened, with one muttering, "NPCs really know how to hold a grudge," as they turned away, leaving the woman to weep on the ground.
Jake, too focused on his shadow fight, paid no mind to the scene behind him.
He stepped forward with a clumsy thrust, grinning as he imagined the glory awaiting him.
"Any second now…" he murmured. "TheBoss will walk right into my trap, and then I'll be the one everyone's talking about." he said out loud, however, little did Jake know that the arrival of TheBoss would be nothing like he imagined.
********
Just like Duffledem before, Bispread was one such town enroute to the capital that Leo could not easily avoid.
Circling around the town meant traveling for an additional hour to hour and a half, however, going through it meant facing a minimum of 5-7 thousand enemy soldiers.
Either way, it was a lose-lose situation for Leo, who was currently being chased and hunted by almost every single righteous faction player alive.
"Master, we are approaching the town gates fast…. Do we prepare for yet another big fight?" Dumpy asked, when the group reached the absolute vicinity of the town, as Leo shook his head in response.
Glancing towards Ben for confirmation, Leo re-confirmed the plan he was cooking in his head, as although the two of them spoke no words, their silent nods and eye blinks conveyed the entire story.
Unlike Duffledem where most houses were made of stone, mud and straw, the houses in Bilspread were made with proper large bricks and binding agents.
This meant that unlike the infrastructure of Duffledem, which could not support their weight, should they run on the roof-tops, Bilspread houses could.
It was because of this phenomenon, that while having a silent conversation with Ben, Leo tilted his head slightly towards the sky, to which Ben responded with an affirming nod.
The two of them had the same plan to use the rooftops and avoid fighting as much as possible, and hence, upon approaching the town wall, instead of leaping through to the other side, they vertically climbed it to the top instead, so as to get the best elevation to land on the nearby rooftop.
Silent as the night, the trio did not even make a single sound when they made this landing, as while poor sobs like Jake remained waiting for their arrival on the ground below, constantly looking at the flour scattered in front of them for foot marks, Leo, Ben and Dumpy made their way fast through the city, without anyone being any wiser.
With Ben at the lead, they dismounted the rooftops at strategic intervals to perform narrow alley crossings and bypassing easy spotting points, and in just 25 short minutes, they managed to climb out of the town walls through the other side, as they bypassed Bilspread without ever spilling a single drop of blood.
"Nicely done–" Leo complimented when they were out in the clear through the other side, as Ben gave him a wink of approval.
With the righteous faction players still waiting for them to show up, Leo somehow managed to shrug their pursuit off, yet again.
—--------
///A/N - Hey guys! I just want to drop a big thank-you to you all for voting for the novel in such impressive numbers under the event page.
Although we could not catch the first two books, we are third by a solid margin and I'm extremely proud of where we stand.
Once again, thank-you for all your love and support, it's honestly extremely humbling for me ////