Revenge

Trading Day has become one of the most anticipated events in the kingdom. Everyone has organized themselves, whether in pairs of friends or groups, to loot the rewards their alts carry in the carriages. The king of K276 initially didn't want to participate, allowing his companions to try to loot him, hoping that in the best case, the main reward would remain in his hands at the end of the journey.

Believing in his strength, he decided, just like fifteen days ago, to send a carriage with his best army an hour or two after the reset so that the looters' activity had decreased, allowing his carriage to arrive intact at its destination.

Among all the carriages he had, according to him, with good rewards, he cautiously decided to send one containing a weapon chest. If he kept it safe, he would obtain Russell's weapon and with it, the total health and defense buffs associated with that sword.

For this, the king donned his armor and called upon his blue dragon, made some adjustments to his skills, and went in search of a prisoner, a Lord60, to then hide in the vastness of the kingdom in case of a possible attack from a whale. This last strategy had become common practice in those lands, as news of great lords annihilated by members of well-known alliances arrived almost daily over the past months.

Once everything was ready, he sent out his carriage and released it from his castle. In his mind, many of the active players at those hours of the night would have exhausted their looting attempts, just like his friends in the kingdom, hitting the alts.

His carriage hadn’t traveled far before it was cornered by an infantry army, led by a hooded man, who defeated him in the first attack but did not obtain what he sought. Before Vangark’s army could continue its journey, it was attacked again, suffering a second defeat at the hands of the leader of K276. Yet, to his disdain, the rewards he took were insignificant.

Although Vangark suffered two defeats, he could breathe easy. No one else would take the chest he protected, and his battered carriage would no longer be visible to the remaining hunters. After completing the three-hour journey, he opened the chest and chose the fragments he desired.

Afterward, he rested until dawn, waiting for the last hours of the day to send his carriages again, mistakenly thinking once more that no one would be lurking. But he suffered numerous attacks on both carriages, which were carrying sapphire essences as the main reward. One particular enemy repeatedly changed formation to defeat him but only found defeats in every attack he launched, even the carriage without a Lord came out victorious in every battle. It was a good day; he managed to escort all the valuable items despite the early defeats.

On the second day, he decided that the first carriage would depart an hour later to avoid another possible attack. However, he saw that many golden carriages were still visible, smoldering, and though they still contained rewards, the most valuable ones had already been looted. He took this as a sign and delayed the journey by another hour, now intending to guard a legendary commander chest, something that could be more coveted than what he had transported the previous day.

When the hour passed, and only wolves roamed, he sent his carriage, cloaked in the darkness of the night. Almost an hour into its journey, it was intercepted by the same aggressor from the previous day, who seemed to be waiting for him. He attacked with the same army, defeating him, but it seemed the gods were on the king’s side, as the reward could not be taken. Vangark quickened his pace to escape his enemy’s sight and avoid a second blow. But the frustrated enemy, having failed to obtain what he sought, launched one final attack, and to the king's misfortune, this time he did lose the chest he was guarding and other medium-value rewards.

Filled with rage, the king decided to abandon that army to its fate and sent a scout to his enemy's kingdom, intending to take revenge for the attack. The spies monitored all the paths where the carriages traveled, only waiting for their victim to appear. But it also depended on luck. Even though he had all the roads covered, his enemy could send his carriages later when Vangark was asleep, or the load could be of little value, or worse, it could be looted by another warrior, ruining his plans.

"One more hour, just one more hour," he thought as the hour of the wolf approached.

A signal from his scouts alerted him—they had detected a carriage belonging to the one who had robbed him. It was golden, containing red dust inside, a good reward after all. He didn’t lack much to gather twenty of those powders and upgrade one of his badges.

Reviewing the four attacks that individual had launched against him, he had no doubt that the enemy only carried infantry in that deployment. So the king immediately switched his army to cavalry. In his haste, he forgot to equip the right weapons for a few of his troops, but when he realized, it didn’t seem to matter; those weapons wouldn’t make much difference in his stats.

Quick as cavalry is, he launched a surprise attack on his opponent. The powerful infantry tried to resist but was overcome by the king's army, achieving the desired victory but not obtaining the red dust.

He analyzed the report and saw that his secondary army could win, but he hesitated for several moments before launching a second attack. The carriage was getting further away as he pondered his decision. He could attack again, but there was also the possibility of returning from that victory empty-handed, giving his enemy the upper hand. The carriage was barely in sight. Letting it go seemed like a good option, but he remembered that this world was for the bold. He charged again with his army, catching up with the enemy and defeating him once more. The king asked his commanders what rewards they had obtained, and one of them opened his hands, and the crimson red glow illuminated the king’s face, who returned smiling to his castle. After those battles, he realized that at those late hours, it was no longer safe to send his carriages, as enemies would be waiting. It would be better to be attacked by his kingdom companions, keeping the rewards within the kingdom rather than in the hands of enemies. In his view, that was a good deal.