Hearing the commotion outside the carriage, he frowned slightly and pulled open the curtain:

"What’s going on?"

"My lord, the road ahead is blocked by some big boulders. The Knights are already in place and are clearing them."

The Personal Guard Knight leaned over and said.

"Boulders?"

Viscount Wagner froze for a moment.

He sobered up instantly, his expression turning alert in a heartbeat as he muttered:

"Why would there be boulders here?"

He threw on his coat and, supported by his Attendant, got down from the carriage.

On the Segis World it was already late spring. The night wind was cool, the moon bright, and the stars sparse.

Looking at the dozen or so man‑high boulders blocking the front of the column, Viscount Wagner frowned slightly.

This was a hilly area. The main road ran through the low ground between the hills, with lush forest on both sides.

Bursts of birdsong came from the woods, mixing with the rustling of leaves in the night wind. In the deep darkness, it felt a little eerie.

Viscount Wagner’s gaze flicked between the boulders blocking the road and the forests on both sides, and his expression suddenly changed:

"Not good! It’s an ambush!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, a shrill whistle sounded from the woods on both sides.

With an angry shout of "Loose!", arrows shot out from the trees on both sides, forming a dense rain of arrows that slanted down.

Screams rose one after another in the column, and the Wagner Family’s troops fell into chaos.

Right after, excited battle cries came from both sides, accompanied by bestial roars. One by one, pairs of scarlet eyes, like red lanterns, slowly lit up.

Dark shapes leaped out—ferocious Demon Beasts, one after another.

On their backs, fully armed Elves swung their weapons and quickly charged into the panicked Imperial Army.

"Cavalry! It’s Elven Cavalry!"

An Imperial Noble shrieked in panic.

The next second, he let out a piercing scream as an Elf Warrior cleaved him cleanly in two.

Battle erupted on all sides. Brutal close‑quarters slaughter burst forth on the narrow path.

Viscount Wagner stared in shocked anger and terror at the growing number of Elves pouring out of the forests on both flanks.

He knew his movements could not be completely concealed. Sooner or later, the Elves would find out.

But no matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t understand. He had been force‑marching the whole way, deliberately avoiding the villages and towns near the Vimur River. Even if the Elves had learned of his movements, by then he should already have joined up with the Duke. How could he be ambushed early by the Elves here?

Of course, he had no idea that with the game system, the players didn’t need any time at all to pass information.

Once they spotted the enemy, a single friend message was enough.

More and more Elves came pouring out of the forests on both sides, cutting into the Imperial troops.

Flames flared up everywhere—that was Magic and fire arrows igniting fierce blazes, now raging through the supply wagons. Some unlucky soldiers had their clothes catch fire, turning into human torches. They screamed and thrashed as they burned, and their struggles only made the chaos worse and the fire spread faster.

Faintly, the long supply convoy was already being swallowed by a sea of fire...

Looking at the ravaged troops, looking at those countless tall silhouettes, Viscount Wagner trembled with rage, his expression growing uglier and uglier.

"Viscount! We can’t hold them! Elves! Elves everywhere! I’ll cover you—run!"

To protect the Viscount, the Personal Guard Knight, already struck by several arrows, shouted in alarm.

But the next instant, with the sound of a Longsword piercing flesh, a sharp blade thrust through his chest.

Blood sprayed, spattering Viscount Wagner’s face. Staring at the Knight who had been cut down with a single stroke by an Elf, his expression finally showed true fear.

His Personal Guard Knight had the strength of Lower Gold.

To kill his Personal Guard Knight with one strike meant the enemy was even stronger!

Viscount Wagner let out a strangled scream and, scrambling and rolling, hurled himself to the ground and fled toward the rear of the column.

However, he had not gotten far before he felt a sharp pain in his neck.

The next second, he felt as if he were suddenly flying.

He seemed to see a body wearing clothes identical to his own. Only, that body had no head, and from its neck a torrent of blood was gushing...

Ah...

This... is that... me?

Viscount Wagner was dazed for a moment, and his vision sank into darkness.

...

When the first ray of sunlight pierced the darkness and shone through the gaps in the woods to light up the earth, the ambush battle on the western border had already completely come to an end.

On the main road between the hills, tattered supply wagons were either still belching black smoke or tipped over on the ground. Crimson blood had dyed the earth red, and scattered corpses, armor, and equipment could be seen everywhere.

Tall figures flitted back and forth among the hills, some excitedly picking up equipment, others squatting in corners carving Arrays and murmuring something under their breath.

The five thousand troops under the Wagner Family had already been wiped out to the last man.

When All-Star Acan led his guild’s legion over here, this was exactly what he saw.

He froze for a moment, his gaze pausing on the iris banner fluttering over the Elf ranks, a flash of realization passing through his eyes.

"Brother Can, that’s Nature’s Heart’s legion. Probably Demacia’s. Looks like we’re a step late."

The player in charge of passing intel beside All-Star Acan said with a wry smile.

All-Star Acan nodded, his gaze continuing to roam across the battlefield, and very quickly he spotted a very distinctive figure—a head of explosive red hair.

And the moment he saw the other guy, the other guy also spotted him. Bursts of laughter drifted over as this heavy-armor-clad, grinning Elf Warrior swaggered up before him:

"Hahahaha, if it isn’t President Can from All-Star! My bad, my bad, we were a step faster and swallowed this whole unit!"

"Demacia, you guys really are quick."

All-Star Acan said with a bitter smile.

"Heh, you know it. Our Amway Chamber of Commerce guys had eyes on this bunch the moment they left Morning Star City."

Demacia’s face was full of smugness.

"How’s the haul? I heard this was a logistics unit?"

All-Star Acan asked enviously.

"Hehehe, got lucky—scored quite a few Magic Crystal Cannons."

Demacia looked extremely pleased with himself.

"Damn! Then you guys hit the jackpot. Speaking of which, the spoils should be shared, right? Brother Mu said before that this area belongs to our All-Star. Don’t you think you ought to show some sincerity?"

All-Star Acan rubbed his thumb against his fingers.

Demacia cursed with a laugh:

"In your dreams. First come, first served. But I can sell you some stuff cheap. With this many Magic Crystal Cannons, we really can’t haul them all off in one go."

"Tch, profiteer!"

"Hahaha, just say if you want them or not!"

The Commanders of the two major guilds started haggling.

Just then, an excited shout came from the direction of the battlefield:

"Brother Dema, Brother Dema! Come see what I found!"

It was a player from the Nature’s Heart Guild.

He ran over in excitement, holding something in his hands.

"Hm?"

Demacia and All-Star Acan both looked over with curious expressions.

The excited player quickly ran up and handed over a piece of parchment, densely covered with writing in the common tongue of the Segis Continent.

Demacia took it and looked it over.

With the help of the game’s system, he could read the text, and as he saw the contents clearly, his eyes gradually lit up:

"The list of nobles participating in the Northern Army and their troop sizes? Huh? There’s also a territorial map of the Imperial Nobles? Hiss—now this is good stuff!"

His eyes rolled, and Demacia suddenly turned his head to glance at All-Star Acan beside him. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

He suddenly chuckled slyly and asked:

"President Can, how many people did you bring this time?"

"About fifteen thousand. After running all the way here, there’s still over fourteen thousand left... Why, what are you planning?"

All-Star Acan asked suspiciously.

Demacia let out a lewd heh-heh-heh and winked:

"President Can, I heard your side’s under a lot of pressure holding the city. Want to pull off some big news to ease the situation a bit?"

...

Two days later, outside Augus City.

A great army pressed in, massed beneath the walls.

Joseph, the Commander of the Empire Northern Army and current Duke Rosen, looked at the dense ranks of heavy crossbows and Magic Crystal Cannons on the city walls, then glanced at the sky and frowned slightly:

"Two days now... and that Wagner fellow still isn’t here?"