Reincarnated in the game world ~ A gamer's beginning to [Dungeon job hunting recommendation]-Chapter 583Vol. 11 - - The Fall of Class-9 & The Transfer of Headquarter

Winding back to when Class-9's base was facing the crisis—

"Argh... why, no one was supposed to attack us as long as we didn't make a move."

"Sure enough, that was your plan huh. Well, this is why we target you."

Mert as the boy in front of him knelt on the ground, his shoulders heaving from labored breathing.

"I know how Keel's mind operates. He must have advised you to lock yourself in the base, and fish out for the advantage when other classes are clashing, amn't I right? But he missed one thing. I am not the one to ignore turtles in shells, unlike Class-1."

"Haa, you're right. He did say the ones being targeted are often those that tried to active around from the trend, and ultimately ended up being fallen."

Perhaps in a motion of surrendering at Mert's words, the boy knelt on the ground. He put down the bow on the ground, showing that he has no intention to engage in a fight anymore.

He was the «Great Huntsman» who had accompanied Keel in his earlier tricks.

Just before Keel was eliminated by Reglam, he had approached him using cloaking skill—Reglam had no detection skill, so he didn't notice him—and was about to attack Reglam but Keel's final order stopped him. Between fighting Reglam, or guiding the Class-9, he chose the latter.

Nonaggressive Defense—This was what they'd decided if he ever fell down.

Class-9 had chosen a location favoured by terrain, enough to give any raiders a hard time as long as they cover their tracks with traps. As long as they stuck to defense, others shouldn't be able to seize their base.

At the same time, if the Class-10 leader was alive, then they're to follow his commands. But, Keel presumed escaping alive from that situation should be impossible for both class leaders, so he fought through the situation to somehow inform his class that they ought to focus on themselves.

Acting on the command, they even cut their alliance with Class-3, and turned themselves into turtles in a shell, awaiting the moment the storm called Class-1 razed all the other classes. But, while Class-1 had indeed stopped caring about them, they'd not expect Class-8 would be the reaper that mowed them down. In fact, they could actually earn a pretty good rank if the situation had played out like Keel's strategy.

Well, everything came to a halt. Class-9 didn't even get the chance to fasten their defense before Class-8 caught them by their nerves.

The only hole in their plan was they didn’t take other classes into account. And as someone who had swept the two leaders, Class-8 wasn’t going to waste this opportunity.

So, promptly after the battle of strategic location, Class-8 split them into two forces, and ultimately took down Class-9. Everything from Class-9 was eliminated, and Class-8 earned 398 points for. They'd now become the new king of the ranking.

Then, as the Class-8 were relishing in their victory, Reglam approached Mert.

"Mert, scout has brought the report."

"Oh? What is it?"

"According to them, the Class-10 base has been besieged by the alliance trinity. They had put a tight perimeter around, so roaming there carelessly can easily cut you out of the game. In fact, the scout has barely managed to escape after being caught into their ambush."

"No chance for Class-10, huh. What about Class-3?"

"There are signs that they may join the alliance. It's not definite, yet they didn’t appear to fight. They're probably negotiating."

Mert's right brow shot up at the news.

"Class-3 may join... the alliance will expand to have four pillars rather than three."

"I doubt such a possibility, but if Zephyr faced defeat..."

"Then we would be on their radar next, is it? ...Alright, nothing much to muss about it then. We're leaving for Class-1."

"So you have arrived at the same conclusion. I will immediately inform others."

And following the event, Class-8 eliminated Class-9, and decided to join hands with Class-1.

◇◇◇

ETA - 3 hours and 10 minutes.

«Class 1-1» | «Members Left - 27» | «Point - 0»

«Class 1-3» | «Members Left - 17» | «Point - 0»

«Class 1-5» | «Members Left - 20» | «Point - 45»

«Class 1-8» | «Members Left - 24» | «Point - 398»

«Class 1-12» | «Members Left - 19» | «Point - 40»

«Class 1-51» | «Members Left - 22» | «Point - 315»

«Class 1-9» | «Members Left - —» | «Point - 0» (7th Ranking)

«Class 1-10» | «Members Left - —» | «Point - 0» (8th Ranking)

Class-1 and Class-8 had joined hands. Rina promptly noticed the changes and hurried to the 4th fortress.

"Ugh...Mert-san is also on the opposite side now huh."

Rina groaned as she recalled the details about her fellow guild member, the silver haired—and just a tiny bit—short boy.

She hadn't been able to get any reading on Class-8, and while she had a hunch they're definitely making their move, she didn't stretch her hand to the south, and had been focused on tackling Class-1. And now, Class-8 did indeed pop up here.

Furthermore, the highlights of the match, that was played out at every 10 minutes, put a clear shot of Class-8 cleaning away Class-9. Class-9 was also on her list, and would have targeted them, albeit she couldn't divert the force due to the situation. A wave of regret washed over her.

It was easy what Mert was planning. Once they’re alone, they were no match to the alliance, little so of Class-1. Their next plausible move would be to join hands with someone. However, alliance was already out of question, moreso that he had already turned down their offer once.

In the end, it was an easy guess that Class-8 would choose Class-1, and tackle the problem of alliance together.

"This is so... unfair..."

It's cheating, too much. Rina felt a wave of jealousy at the situation. To turn them down, but join hands with Zephyr was something... she had wanted too. In fact, she also wanted to fight alongside Zephyr. But Zephyr would never agree to them since he sought a strong opponent. And she had also wanted to be in the class as him, so she did what she could within her capabilities, and consolidated the mammoth of an alliance.

But that be so, seeing Mert surpassing them to be with Zephyr still left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Besides, they also only happened to join them when Class-1 was fighting an alliance. Zephyr should know when to make an enemy, and that situation wasn't this.

Alas, she couldn't remain sulky for long. Rina shook her head to change her pace, and activated her «Guild Connect» skill whose cooldown had just ended, commanding everyone to take retreat in 4th fortress.

Alliance squad promptly followed the order, and retreated while also raining attacks on opponents to slow their chase. However against the combined force of Class-1 and Class-8, loss was inevitable.

While the damage was massive, they did manage to push back the two classes, earning them the precious minutes as Rina and others took the north route to arrive at 4th Fortress.

"(It's truly a prickly situation, but we must take back the situation in our hand...)"

Rina bega with her long-range commands, and sorted out the situation to see what they could in their current position. The alliance's full force had now converged in this one place.

With the direction of wind drifting in the arena, it was clear 4th Fortress would be the breaking point for either side. Lamda and Hyudo were just a bit away from moving back to the fortress.

"Can we win, Rina onee-sama?"

"We do not need to win. What we ought to make sure of is that we don't lose."

"Huh, err, I don't get it."

Rina and others had located their new command centre at the top section of 4th Fortress, which was a passageway that offered an arbor-like open roof. Akemi nervously posed her question to Rina. Albeit the answer had her guard Nagi confused, and she asked back.

"Let me rephrase it; this was never about winning against Class-1. I doubt we can even bring down Class-1 with our forces. Class-1's base might as well be the true fortress."

"Eh, what?! Then we're not going to win?!"

"Class-1 isn't the academy's strongest for nothing after all, huh."

Akemi was befuddled, while Nagi crossed her arms and nodded.

"This is it. We just need to hold down our fort instead of pinning for victory. Capture the Base doesn't only have to win by taking down a base. A «victory by points» is still a win."

The alliance hadn't been built with the idea of throwing down Class-1.

Rina couldn't have been any more aware of what they—or well, it's almost «Eden»— the Class-1, were capable of.

If they were to take a shot at the Class-1, they first had to be ready for dealing with some outrageous entity—like Mr. «General». On the contrary, they just need to pin down or eliminate their assault squad if they had decided to win by points.

Zephyr and Ester might be incredibly strong, but even they should've their limit with what they could achieve alone once they're the only one left standing. This would deter them from targeting their fortress.

And this was precisely what Rina had been trying for since the start.

Meanwhile, they would amass points by sweeping Class-10, Class-9, Class-3 or Class-8 bases. This was their way of victory over Class-1.

From the start, Rina had been making sure that Class-1 wouldn't capture any of the other bases. Not only was the proximity of her base to Class-1 part of the plan, even the countermeasure against «Dragon's Miniature Garden» was something she knew, and let it happen. She had made sure that Class-51 would be deliberately targeted.

A lion without fangs was not a threat. And once that happens, they would have no choice but to focus on defense. Then she would complete her map in that duration, completely bringing down the situation in her hands.

And if Class-1 decided to for all-or-nothing and target them, the alliance would give them a hard answer. «Dragon's Miniature Garden» was just as much of a powerful tool after all. Either way, once Class-1 was made to shut themselves in their base, they would be the king of the arena, and it at their disposable.

But, reality often doesn't take the path of imagination. While their strategy worked out till the middle—shaving away Class-1's force, bringing down Class-10, and even gaining Class-3 as an unexpected ally—they're completely floored by Lana's healing. Just as they'd gathered some confidence to win against tem, Lana's recovery, and super long-range attacks threw the wrench in their plan.

What’s worse, Class-8 had unexpectedly formed an alliance with Class-1 at this crucial moment, making things even more difficult.

She had also thought of this to happen, so she wasn't as surprised. It's just, winning against them in the confrontation would be impossible anymore. And when that happens, they would borrow the fortress's help. It would be a direct confrontation then in their homefield, staking everything here.

"Right now, we’re a four-class alliance. Our goal is clear: protect this fortress and defeat Class-1 and Class-8's attacking forces. Above all, we need to reduce their numbers."

"Roger."

"Understood! Kaji, Wardol, you're coming with me! It's time to help out Rina onee-sama!"

"Ah, please stay here, Akemi-san. You're a long-range expert, so this open path will provides you a better vantage point."

"Ohh, alright. You heard right, Kaki, Wardol!?"

" "Yes, yes. We got it." "

Soon, Rina had her preparation complete. And just then, Lamda had also fallen back to their fortress along with the alliance squad. Class-1 and Class-8 were trailing a bit behind, nonetheless they're also just around the corner.

It was the moment that Rina decided they needed to go full out, and she began with herself.

"We're going for a payback time, everyone! Unique Skill—«It's time for Absolute Onslaught-desuwa»!"