Fate Online: Shadow

Chapter 556: Besieged

While the village feast is underway.

A team of fifty people are currently camped in an unknown location in the middle of this white desert and constructed five campsites interlinked together like the logo of the Audi company.

The large campfires in the middle of the campsites brought warmth to the players stuck tonight, and in addition, there are torches hammered on the surrounding ten meters of the campsite, forming a rectangle.

They served as the campsite sentries since the players can't rely with their eyes for the meantime.

"Do you think we should have just joined the monster expedition rather than coming to this hellish place? At the rate we're going, it's going to take us a while before we even reach that village. By then, our rivals would have already widened the gap between us. Is this even worth it? Sigh~ I don't think I'm really capable of continuing to lead this guild, and with our current numbers, this endeavor is already lost cause"

The executives of this small guild had gathered around on one of the campsites to discuss their new strategies going forward. The Guild Leader tried not to show any weakness, but with their losses today, she just suddenly feels really down thinking that she's inadequate as a leader.

"Guild Leader, you must not lose heart! Even though we've already lost a substantial amount of our people, as long as we reach that village and acquire one of those titles, it will be worth it! A noble Knight already has a lot of privileges they experience, imagine what a Baronet can get us!"

"Yeah, that all sounds good at first, but we're not even halfway through the journey, and we've already lost seventy percent of our numbers. It would already be a miracle if even one of us manages to get there"

"Oh shut up, will ya!? Don't listen to her, guild leader. Even if we only receive the Knight title at the end, our sacrifices would already be worth it! Since it would give us an edge over other guilds in terms of recruiting players with potential! Besides, none of us don't have high aspirations for the guild to become one of the greatest guilds out there. We all gathered together to create a guild because all of us just wanted to earn enough for our families"

"She's right. We know the limit of our skills, we can't really compete with those big boys at the top, but we can at least earn a decent living in this game. This is just a minor setback, let's not lose heart now! You're not doing this alone, you have us, we can do this!"

"Alright, alright, I hear you, you brats. Tonight, let's carefully plan our next strategy for tomorrow. We must at least make sure that at least one of us reaches that village! So that the sacrifices of our friends wouldn't be in vain"

"Yeahhh!"

"Ouuohhh!" The distant players on the other campsite also started roaring when they heard the cheers coming from the main campsite.

'Yeah, what am I even thinking? It's not like I became the guild leader because I'm capable in the first place. When did I even start thinking that this guild is a company that I had to shoulder all of the decisions and consequences? Being the eldest sure is tough' the woman thought with a smile.

With the encouragement of her friends, the woman finally brightened up as she also realized that she doesn't need to take on all the burdens by herself just because she's the Guild Leader, but that she can share it with her friends who had built the guild from a casual guild between friends to now.

Morning.

It's like the God of Luck is smiling upon them, but there were actually no troubles that occurred during the night, and it came to pass that it was already the next day.

Soon, the expedition of this small unknown guild once again continued.

"I knew it! Coming here after the monster horde had left is a great idea! We didn't even get any attacks last night!" one of the players at the middle part of the line commented.

Her friend walking in front of her didn't want to be a bitch, but she had to take the mantle to be one since she didn't want the others to lower their guard after hearing her words, "Shut up, it was just a brief respite. Don't forget that most of our losses occurred during the day"

"But-"

Awoooo~!

She wanted to say more, but it was cut short when the howl of a wolf resounded in the distance, which was followed by the sound of wolves whining that slowly got louder as it got closer to them.

"Battle formation!"

"Damn, these wolves are annoyingly persistent!"

"I heard wolves are known to hold grudges!" the optimistic woman from earlier once again opened her mouth and said something that made her friends glare at her.

"Oh my god, just focus, will ya?! And it's not wolves, it's crows!" yelled one of them before ignoring her.

"Supports! Start issuing the buffs!"

""Roger!""

The players quickly assembled themselves into an arrow formation facing towards the direction of their incoming enemies. It was the usual Warriors and Tanks taking the vanguard followed by the Assassins, the long ranged classes and lastly, the backline players consisting of mostly Healers and Craftsmen.

Grrr! Grr! Grrr!

Awoo!

A pack of at least twenty wolves is seen charging towards the nervous players, and when the wolves had almost closed the distance between them and the players, a howl from the back quickly made them slow down in their tracks.

The players watched as the wolves slowly came into a halt and slowly fanned out. The players also broke up formation and formed a shield wall around their damage dealers and support.

"Watch out, there's an Alpha! Tighten the formation! Assassins and Wizards, stand by and prepare to engage when I tell you! Healers, time your heals well! Don't let our Tanks die! Archers, get ready!"

Their guild leader observed the wolves circling around them, trying to find who amongst them is the Alpha.

It took a while, but she noticed a portion of the wolves are a little more concentrated in one area compared to the rest.

"Alpha at 3 o'clock! ATTACK!!"

Swooosh! Swooosh! Swooosh!