Game of the World Tree

【 SIEGE 】

The vast elven army encircled the Golden Canopy Tribe like a surging tide.

One by one, supply wagons were unloaded by players, while siege engines were assembled with practiced efficiency.

Many of these siege machines were built by Moe Moe Committee shortly after the war campaign was announced, allowing them to make a fortune by selling their creations to other guilds.

Moreover, not only were they able to recreate trebuchets, but they also managed to reconstruct ballistae and battering rams after drawing inspiration from the already available siege technology from Earth.

Of course, given their prior experience in modifying steam guns, the developers applied similar enhancements to these siege machines, engraving magical arrays upon them to increase their destructive power.

However, unlike magic firearms, which had effectively become ‘energy’ weapons at this point, these siege machines remained kinetic weapons, retaining their ‘physical’ attributes at their core. They simply leveraged their massive size to successfully imbue magical attributes onto their attacks.

In that sense, they functioned more like the traditional bows and arrows used by archer-class players.

More importantly, thanks to being engraved with the same magical arrays, the players could now also gain EXP using these war machines.

Although their mounts had eased some of the journey’s strain, the long march still left most of them exhausted.

Even if players could disable the sensation of fatigue in their setting options, their stamina was still depleted, and prolonged exhaustion would inevitably dull their reflexes which could hinder their combat effectiveness.

Amidst the preparations, banners adorned with golden irises had been hoisted high throughout the area, fluttering proudly in the biting cold wind.

These were the flags of Heart of Nature.

In fact, it was this guild’s army that was leading the attack against the Golden Canopy Tribe.

During their earlier meeting, it was decided that each of the four major guilds would be assigned a specific target. Upon reaching the borderland between the Dark Mountains and the Desert, they would split into four separate forces, each focusing on one of the nearest major tribes inhabiting the area.

According to Li Mu’s plan, the leading guilds would advance independently, securing their objectives before regrouping. Eventually, they would unite under his command for a decisive battle against the main orc army once they pushed further into the center of the Desert of Death.

It was a simple plan, but sometimes simplicity was all that was needed to be effective.

On a barren hilltop, Li Mu, whilst mounted on his Bronze Dragon, respectfully bowed to Zero before pointing toward the settlement in the distance.

“Lady Zero, that should be the Golden Canopy Tribe, the largest of the four major tribes near the Dark Mountains. According to the orc prisoners we’ve captured, its population is estimated to be around twenty thousand.”

“However, with the orcs actively mobilizing for war, most of their elite warriors have been deployed to Sandstorm City. At most, only about ten thousand should remain in the tribe now.”

“Their main army isn’t nearby, and based on the intel we’ve gathered, they should still be stationed in Sandstorm City. If we can take down their settlement within a day, we’ll be able to regroup with the other raid groups before their reinforcements arrive.”

To counter any potential Gold-rank warriors among the orcs, each raid group was accompanied by a high-ranking NPC, ensuring they had the necessary firepower to handle any unexpected threats.

In particular, Moe Moe Committee had the formidable Black Dragon Meryer, while First Legion was backed by the fearsome Red Dragon Tiberia. The relatively weaker Autobots Guild relied on Rose, the Spider Queen to bolster their ranks.

As for Heart of Nature which was tasked with assaulting the strongest orc tribe in the region, it was only fitting that they had the most powerful NPC of all—Zero herself.

Hearing Li Mu’s report, Zero gave a slight nod of acknowledgment.

Of course, she had already been well aware of everything he had just said. Through the system’s omnipresent surveillance, she had been monitoring not only the players but also the movements of the orcs long before this campaign had even begun.

Thus, she already knew that the orcs were rallying their forces deep within the Desert of Death, amassing warriors from numerous tribes to form a massive army.

In fact, purely in terms of numbers alone, Evé estimated that the orc forces would outnumber the army the players had assembled several times over.

If the orcs had concentrated their main army near the Dark Mountains, she would never have allowed the players to split up, as doing so would have been nothing short of suicidal.

Fortunately, the orcs’ main force was not stationed nearby. Instead, they had designated Sandstorm City as their primary gathering point, giving the players a crucial window of opportunity to strike before the Orc’s main army could arrive.

In hindsight, positioning their main army in Sandstorm City rather than in settlements closer to the Dark Mountains was a strategic good decision on the orcs’ part.

After all, Sandstorm City not only had direct access to the underground, making it the most viable supply hub capable of sustaining such a massive force, but it also provided a crucial tactical advantage. Since troops deployed from the city could traverse those subterranean routes, thereby bypassing the treacherous terrain of the Dark Mountains entirely.

This allowed them to move undetected and launch a direct assault on the Elven Forest with minimal obstacles.

The Dark Mountains were notoriously difficult to traverse, and even King Imsh of Lionheart, despite leading a well-trained force of 30,000 soldiers, had taken months to cross them.

If the orcs, with an army numbering in the hundreds of thousands, were to attempt the same route their previous king had taken, it would take them even longer to do so.

Just the sheer scale of such an undertaking would cripple their war supplies before it even began. The logistical cost of maintaining such a massive force would be astronomical.

Even with the backing of Sauron Group, the orcs simply couldn’t afford to repeat the same method King Imsh did as the strain on their resources would be unsustainable.

By the time they finally arrived at their destination, they wouldn’t just be exhausted—they would likely have also bankrupted themselves entirely.

Of course, Evé suspected that the true reason the orcs had chosen Sandstorm City was because it was the location where the World Tree’s ‘Divine Kingdom’ had appeared.

After Evé had formally declared war, the orcs had ceased all major movements. From their perspective, she deduced they were likely waiting, hoping to lure her into a trap.

But a trap is only effective if the prey is weak.

Unlike a hapless rabbit stumbling blindly into danger, she and the players were predators, so it would be truly fascinating to see how their so-called trap would hold up…

Once they discovered they hadn’t snared a helpless rabbit, but a pack of ferocious tigers ready to tear them apart instead.

In any case, their lack of proper defenses along their border region spoke volumes about the Orcs overconfidence and underestimation of her forces.

Although she had mentioned having an army of 100,000 troops in her declaration, it was doubtful the orcs truly believed it. Otherwise, they would have stationed more personnel in this region instead of relying solely on the scattered defenses of the major tribes in the surrounding areas.

Then again, who could have predicted that just a year ago, the once desolate Elven Forest would suddenly give rise to an army of over a hundred thousand elves?

—No.

In actuality, the year had already passed.

By the time the players set out on this war campaign, Seigües had already entered the first month of the new year.

Whilst narrowing her eyes, Evé gazed upon the Golden Canopy Tribe.

There, on the crude wooden walls of their settlement, some orcs had likely already spotted them and were gathering in growing numbers.

At the same time, Evé sensed a powerful presence among them—someone with the strength of a Gold-ranker.

According to the intel the players had gathered, it was most likely the Golden Canopy Tribe’s high priest.

From what she had gathered from the reports, this particular tribe boasted more than one Gold-rank expert—two, to be exact, the highest number among the surrounding orc settlements.

However, with only one present, it was likely that the other had been summoned to the royal court, joining the ranks of the main orc army in preparation for the larger conflict ahead.

Alas, with the orcs concentrating their forces around Sandstorm City, they had inadvertently weakened the defenses of this borderland region.

Even from a distance, Evé could clearly see the panic on the faces of the orcs.

“Looks like they’ve already received the news that the other tribes have also come under attack,” she murmured to herself, her gaze sweeping over the frenzied orcs scrambling atop their crude fortifications.

The mere presence of Heart of Nature’s 30,000-strong army alone wouldn’t have been enough to spark such widespread terror and confusion.

No, the only plausible explanation was that news of them, the elves attacking every tribe within the region had spread and sent waves of fear through the surrounding Orcs.

“What do you think, Lady Zero? Shall we begin our assault?” Li Mu asked eagerly, gripping the reins in anticipation.

He could barely contain his excitement.

At this moment, Heart of Nature was actually behind schedule, as the Golden Canopy Tribe’s location was the farthest of all the targets they had been assigned to attack.

By the time they arrived, the other raid groups had already launched their offensives against their designated targets.

This became evident once they switched channels to the battlefield voice chats of the other three guilds, where they could hear Legion commanders roaring in exhilaration as the battles raged on. There was even an option to watch a live stream of what was happening on their side, providing a real-time glimpse into the action.

Even within Heart of Nature’s own chatroom, players were flooding the message board with screenshots and clips from other battlefields.

And just watching those recordings of trebuchets firing, magic firearms blaze, and other players fearless charge was enough to ignite anyone’s fighting spirit.

Moreover, the taunts from players in the other raid groups, jeering that they were too slow, only made Heart of Nature members even more restless.

Everyone was itching for action.

The other guilds already had a head start in the war, and they had waited far too long for this moment.

Their anticipation had been building for days, and now that the war campaign had finally begun, every second spent idling like this felt like an eternity.

They couldn’t afford to miss the first true siege battle since the Elven Kingdom launched!

Hearing Li Mu’s question, Evé glanced at the players’ camp.

By now, ten modified trebuchets had been fully assembled, along with five ballistae and one battering ram.

Since these siege machines had been pre-constructed and the players had magical assistance, assembling them had been relatively easy.

Choosing whom would operate them, however, had proven much trickier.

Reports from the other battlefields indicated that the EXP gained from operating these trebuchets and ballistae was immense—as long as you could aim them properly, that is.

And so, after some deliberation, the players resorted to the oldest and fairest method in online gaming, which is to decide the winner by doing a Roll. ¹

At the siege engine platforms, cheers and laughter erupted as the lucky players eagerly took their positions to operate the war machines.

“Good. Begin the assault.”

Evé nodded and said to Li Mu.

“I leave everything in your hands.”

Evé nodded and said to Li Mu,

“I leave everything in your hands.”

At her words, Li Mu’s expression turned serious.

He gave a slight salute, then turned around and unmuted his mic on their group’s voice chat.

“Trebuchet crew, prepare to attack!”

At his command, the players sprang into action.

One by one, the ‘ammunition’ they prepared beforehand was loaded into the trebuchets.

These weren’t ordinary boulders either and were enchanted by inscribing each stone with magical arrays, mixed with metal shrapnel and even a bit of ‘biochemical’ sludge.

Each payload was designed for maximum devastation, ensuring that the enemy’s defenses wouldn’t hold for long.

The operators infused their mana into the boulders, which activated their enchantments. Faint runes flickered to life along the stone’s surface, pulsing ominously as power surged through them.

Then, with practiced precision, they released the trebuchets’ cords, triggering the gravity runes etched into the war machines.

In the next instant—

The massive siege engines trembled as their runes flared with blinding light. The enormous wooden arms swung forward, launching their deadly payloads one after another.

Each colossal projectile soared into the sky, trailing brilliant streaks of flame as it arced high above the battlefield.

Like falling stars, the airborne boulders plummeted toward the Golden Canopy Tribe’s crude wooden walls.

Then came the first deafening explosions, shaking the earth and marking the beginning of Heart of Nature’s siege.

¹ Roll团 – Doing a ‘Roll’ refers to a loot distribution method used in some MMOs like World of Warcraft to fairly allocate virtual items among team members.

How It Works

Players in a party often use this method to determine item ownership, similar to rock-paper-scissors. By typing the command “/roll”, the system generates a random number, and the player with the highest roll wins the item.

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