"Damn that bastard," a certain fire user cursed as he hid amidst the trees, cursing at the bastard ice user who had been interfering with everything.

Xon was another one of the igniters. He was in charge of the biggest bomb. He was also the last one igniter still standing. The others had either been dragged to prison or had been captured before they could do anything.

The plan for the powerhouses hiding inside the walls was to gather around the Bunkers, where they knew that at least half of the elders were, as well as plenty of ’profitable’ hostages. However, the area near there was particularly monitored.

And any suspicious movements—no matter how subtle—would somehow be reported by those damned Alterrans who always seemed to have an eye on the road and the forests! Unlike the undeveloped areas of the territory, going around in the other areas was really a challenge, even at their levels!

This forced the elite enemy spies to hide separately in different buildings until just before the war began.

Before the war started, people not join the fight headed to their respective evacuation centers, all of which were pre-assigned. They were mostly comprised of people at level 10 and below, old people, some children, and people with disabilities.

The rest headed to their respective positions, and the spies, using the massive movements as cover, started moving too.

They had their own plans there, and they had their own missions. They always had their eyes on the prize: The Ministers, at least the first batch of them.

There were new ministers now, and many of them were definitely not the Lord, as they confirmed many weren’t even in this place when the territory was established. They also considered the possibility of the Lord Token shifting ownership behind their backs, but they ultimately decided it was unlikely.

The various plans and positions, however, required detailed coordination with other teams, especially after they had to separate earlier on.

It was just that, for some reason, he just...lost contact with them! It was like the aether letters stopped working! He, as part of the leading people, had several aether letters connecting to different areas. Whether it was the other spies or those making moves outside the territory, he lost contact with them all!

He frowned, feeling a bit of foreboding in his stomach. They invested heavily in aether letters, and they had hundreds on their team. How was it that he couldn’t contact a single one?

How could he know there was a new Alterran tool called ’Aether Blocker’ now?

Now, before he could even reach the bunkers, he was blocked by one of the most annoying Alterrans, and he couldn’t alert other people!

Garan looked at one of the men who had targeted his children. He didn’t even care that he was several levels higher and with decades more experience.

"You will die today," he said, and it was a declaration.

...

Valov knew that Alterra had many, many tricks up their sleeves and could have other cards hidden.

This was why Balthazar humbled himself and asked the master city for help, gaining various dwarven weapons, superior equipment, and also spent a sizeable portion of his fortune to hire as many Class D and C mercenaries as he could.

In front of overwhelming brute force, tricks had little use.

And when the leaders of the Valov team saw that only a fraction had gotten in despite all this preparation, they could not help but pale.

They had genuinely thought they could end the war in two or three hours. Now, it had passed that period of time.

Before the war, frankly, many of them shook their heads at how ’old’ their Lord had become, becoming excessively paranoid.

Although they knew Alterra was not weak, getting so much assistance on top of mobilizing a great majority of their forces felt a bit excessive.

Rather, it was actually quite embarrassing. When they faced the mercenaries hired through the array and were asked about the territory they were attacking, they felt embarrassed to explain it to them.

But now...after finding out that two sets of trebuchet teams—and those level 40 and level 50 guards of theirs—had been neutralized, and they only managed to breach one section, they came to a conclusion.

They would’ve lost this war if not for the Lord’s foresight!

It gave people a sense of urgency as well, with everyone doing their best and using everything without holding back, because it was clear they could really lose this war.

It became clear that preserving energy, at this juncture, was not an option!

At this time, the bunker was also being attacked. This was natural. At this point, it was always going to get attacked. This was the place that, if obtained, could hurt Alterra the most.

Even before, some people and strategists argued to just spread the targets out. Placing everyone in one place was placing targets at their backs, right?

In the end, however, it was determined that the main bunker was still the safest place. Besides, since they knew it would get targeted, they could prepare for it.

Althea was one of the people guarding the place, which was another point of debate that she won. The sentries around the entrance of the bunkers were upgraded to the highest level, and she also customized them not just for aesthetics, but also to allow her to have a good platform many meters above ground.

At this time, there were hundreds of enemies attacking them. Many were probably spies and had settled in a long time ago, particularly those who had been in hiding until now. The rest were from the earlier leaks on one side, led by Waran, heading straight in this direction. Their levels were high, at least level 30, so their people couldn’t stop them all.

That said, knowing how much Valov had prepared and researched them, the enemies could’ve been more threatening if they had arrived at the same time.

Thankfully, according to the guards who sent her some reports, the Aether Blockers worked well. Now, only Alterran’s aether letters were working.

Wise men said that without communication, the units act blindly. Since Valov didn’t know they could block their channels, they were not able to prepare for it.

Alterra might be weaker in terms of power, but they could certainly mob around the enemies lacking direction!