Battle for the North (Rogue Merchant Book #4): LitRPG Series Roman Prokofiev (best romance novels of all time TXT) đ
- Author: Roman Prokofiev
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We were going home, leaving the Fairs at the mercy of Ananizarte and the House of Darkness. The mood was dismal. Everyone knew that we were in for a long and torturous war against overwhelming odds. Pandorum hadnât lost any big campaigns yet.
After a short stop at Dan-na-Eyre, we finally reached the Cloud Castle. We were too late. The juggernauts that attacked Condor were already gone, having achieved their goal. The charred frame of the magic shield loomed ahead, destroyed upon activating the invulnerability mode. Usually blue, the castle dome glowed crimson, and many of the citadelâs functions stopped working. In twenty-five hours, invulnerability would fade, allowing Condor to be attacked, and Pandorum would likely return to finish us off, this time, for good.
Komtur gathered all Watchers in the clan hall and started a short briefing.
Komtur: I wonât say much; you already know everything. The Pandas want to drive us out. Itâs serious. Itâs a matter of our survival as a clan. We need to go all out, guys. If youâre busy IRL, get a vacation or a sick day. We wonât get a chance to sleep. For the next twenty-four hours, we have twenty-eight checkpoints, the first in six hours from now. Get ready. The raid format will be known about an hour before the start.
Komtur: What were you asking about, Khaman? Condor? The castleâs in siege mode until tomorrow. Weâll be defending it, of course, call everyone we can. Weâll need max online.
Komtur: Get everything from the storage rooms? There will be no evacuation. Weâre going to fight. If anyone wants to do it, we wonât stop you. Talk to Borland, ask him for a nave, get everything to Eyre in several runs.
Komtur: And remember, guys â you canât outrun a war. All you can do is to meet it with honor!
Interlude: The Admins
Sphere Herald newscast, Video Net
TODAY, OUR EYES are once again set on the world of Dorsa, the seat of the Russian-speaking alliances of Sphere. At the moment, theyâre going through a real ordeal: a war!
The camera showed a comet falling down and exploding, the burning city of Golden Fairs, phalanges perishing in flames, and a trench full of boiling water â everything that remained of a once-great city.
Ananizarte, the leader of the Dark Pantheon, continues her victory march across the continent. Nobody expected such a devastating attack! The attempt by the players to join forces and stand against the goddess failed, resulting in the complete destruction of the city. Sphere hasnât seen such dramatic events since the flooding of Taerland!
Many players who didnât take part in the events also perished. In the blink of an eye, they lost their property, access to the respawn point, auction, and Golden Hamster safety deposit boxes! Their outrage knows no bounds, and many are speaking about canceling their subscriptions! The administration remains silent, but weâre looking forward to the official reply.
Meanwhile, the forces of the infamous Pandorum alliance took advantage of the opportunity to attack the west of Dorsa â
âNo need to continue.â Yoshito Yamato stopped the video. âThis is it, Mr. Agasyan, in short. Itâs a force majeure. Players are demanding compensation. Customer support is barraged with petitions.â
This time, the emergency briefing didnât involve a personal visit by the investor. He participated remotely via a video pillar that showed a heavy-set Armenian man in a half-open shirt sprawling in a soft armchair. Going by the setting, Agasyan was in a luxury suite of some hotel.
âI see.â Agasyan bit his lip, thinking. âTell me, Yamato, are you going to call me about every small issue?â
âConsidering your displeasure with my actions last time, I decided to inform you about this new problem. This isnât a trifling matter. Weâll be forced to spend resources outside of the allocated budget. To avoid â â
âI understand,â the investor interrupted him. âAnd how could a situation like that arise in the first place? Canât you control the NPCsâ behavior at all? Change their script or something!â
Yamato sighed. It was hard to explain Sphereâs innovative mechanics to a man who was stuck in the old days and still saw it like Tetris blocks programmed to fall down.
âNo, we canât. The advanced AIs that control their behavior have free will. Actually, thatâs what makes the worlds of Sphere âaliveâ and the events unpredictable.â
âFine, fine... But Sphereâs working right now? All worlds, including experimental ones, used for special projects?â
âSphereâs working,â Yamato admitted.
âWonderful. Last time, the situation was much more serious, we were pressured from above, and you-know-what was threatened. Thatâs why we had to use your idea with the rollback. However, it cost us a lot, so letâs leave that option as a last resort.â
âPlayers are angry, Mr. Agasyan. It will be a big scandal if we soft-pedal.â
âAs a matter of fact, everythingâs in line with game mechanics, rules, and conventions,â Lana Kaminski added warily. She was Yamatoâs marketing assistant, a slender woman with ash-blond hair. âWe can refuse any compensation. Itâs a question of our good faith. Iâd recommend â â
âSpeak up, girl,â Agasyan said from the video pillar, giving her an approving smile. âWhat would you recommend?â
âAny
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