"The time has come, people of Epo!" The newly minted lord of Epo Village, Epo VI, yelled to the hundreds of fighters in front of him. This was the force he was proud of, and they were coming with him through the array!
He was fully prepared for the war, and it was finally time to shine!
Not to mention, they already had plenty of people left in Guia to assist. Although a few were beyond the level cap, they would still be able to help somehow!
"We go to war every single month—you know the drill," he said, "But this time, we're gonna go against a superpower amongst the villages! So don't be complacent!
"Want to bring honor to our territory?!"
"Want to rake in money in resources!?"
"Then this is our greatest war yet!" He yelled.
Although Epo VI wasn't very handsome, he was passionate and the best heir his father could find. He was only 28 years old but had already reached level 15, which was just the level to still participate in this important war.
Before heading in the array, he walked to the side to greet the former lord, his father. "Father, I will win against Guia Village."
"Yes. We will finally get the crown!" His father looked at him proudly, also excited.
This was understandable. They were so close to Guia Village and had always been envious of its growth. Obviously, it was formed at least a decade later than Epo, but its growth was so fast!
A strong backer really made a difference!
What was worse was the mines they found! His father said that he had wanted to use that place before, but changed his mind because there were too many mountains! Turns out, there were black metals in it!
His father had been so sour about it for decades, and now it was finally time to reclaim their land!
Also, Guia Village never bothered to attack them—which, in a sense, was also offensive!
Did they think their Epo Village was no good?!
Anyway, now, they lost against an unknown village, and the Epos knew it was their time!
Filled with energy and fire inside of them, they headed towards the array that appeared in front of their gate. From their expression, it was almost like they already won.
The little adviser couldn't help but follow him before he reached the array, attempting to stop him. "Please think twice!" He exclaimed, "Or at least wait a bit more!"
"What's the point?" he said, "We already declared war! If we lose, we'd lose half of our resources!"
The adviser looked at him complicatedly. "But… I am worried, milord. How… did they beat Baltimore and the others?"
It couldn't have been all luck right? They beat Baltimore, who's to say they couldn't beat Epo?
"They probably got too arrogant for being undefeated for so long! They were also the attacking territory. Perhaps the other territory set up tricks in their home base!"
Epo looked at his adviser. "Don't worry, I saw the people from the winning territory! They're not much!"
Before leaving, he naturally checked out the newcomers. To be honest, in terms of level they really weren't impressive. It was either the more powerful people were left in their main territory or they really used a lot of tricks to handle Baltimore.
Well, he wasn't entirely incorrect with his assessment.
The people he saw were Hugo and Helios, who had just turned level 10. Their other investigators also saw Kimura who was level 6 and Lin at level 5. There was also Silvia, who was level 7.
Gill was mostly planning behind closed doors so he wasn't seen as often, though he was only in his early level twenties. This, combined with the shaky and almost-nonexistent guard system—with women no less—it was natural that the territory would be underestimated.
Anyway, the attackers went through the array with some confidence. Group by group, they were transferred to the territory a hundred kilometers away.
However, when they got out of the array and headed towards the territory, their feet stopped when they were in sight of its walls.
Their eyebrows furrowed, looking at each other. "Are we in the right place?" they asked.
When Epo, who had come in after the first batch, saw that they were not moving, he immediately yelled at them. "What are you waiting for?! GO!"
Epo was about to curse at them when he saw what they were looking at. He paled. "Was their wall this tall before?!"
"Since when did they have so many sentries?"
Epo frowned, his temple showing some veins. He looked at several team captains, "Spread out, find a weak spot! I refuse to believe they had good defenses everywhere!"
After the teams left, he looked to the side and bellowed some orders.
"Where are the slaves?!" he yelled behind him, and soon hundreds of slaves exited the array and joined them in the dense forests.
"They're here sir!" he yelled, though a few teams had gone to the perimeter because small mobs of monsters had found them.
Epo didn't care for them and just looked at the hundreds of slaves they took with them. These were all from minor villages around them who had lost half of their assets—including people.
"Milord?" They had never used so many slaves before! They needed a lot of them for the upkeep of the territory!
"Didn't you hear me?"
"Yes, milord!" He yelled, going back to the array to get a few hundred more.
Once he was satisfied with the number, Epo turned to look at the Level 5 walls and its sentries.
Without further ado, he pointed at the wall. "ATTACK!!" he yelled and the mob of slaves, with his guards right behind them, lunged forward en masse.
Epo glared at the walls as he watched them go.
He didn't believe they couldn't make it through!