Back to the present.

Ren, who was alone in the HQ, felt like his ears were bleeding from Alice's incessant chatter. He logged in early, planning to watch the Guild Wars, but he somewhat regretted it. If only he had come a little later, the duration of his listening to the ghost's nonstop self-chatting would also be less.

"Summer is the season of love! 'Tis the burning of a young man's bare body! 'Tis the sun's mischief! 'Tis the quivering of asphalt, a heat haze mirage!"

"Alice, summer is long over," said Ren in a bored tone.

But it seemed like Alice didn't hear anything and didn't stop, using the broom in her hand as her mic as she danced and twirled in the air.

"A boy and a girl bare their hearts to each other and are invited to take the next step in a male-female relationship. The curtain comes up on a summer vacation like that!"

Ren took a giant puff of breath and let it out in one long blast. "It's winter, though."

Alice still wasn't listening and carried on with her needless chatter. Soon, Leonel logged into the game.

To Ren's suspicion, Leonel averted his eyes as soon as he saw him.

That was even stranger than Alice's mindless chatter.

Leonel should have no reason to be jumpy upon seeing him at first sight.

"Is something wrong?" Ren asked.

Leonel only shook his head, but his eyes darted left and right. He sat by Ren's side with his lips shut tight.

Ren knew that something was up. Leonel didn't typically fidgeted, but he couldn't keep still right now. The beads of sweat on his face told Ren that there was definitely something going on.

"What's wrong?" Ren asked, sure that there was something off.

Leonel looked away from him. "Nothing."

"You're acting weird," Ren said.

Leonel could feel Ren's gaze on him, but he refused to look at him.

"Uhm . . ." Under pressure, Leonel seemed to crack, and he started, "I might . . . have done something . . . wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's nothing," Leonel replied quickly. "Just a stupid mistake. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"Okay," Ren said. He was not one to probe after being told no.

But then, Leonel turned his head towards him. "Do you know what happened to me yesterday?"

Ren frowned. "No." How would he know what happened to him yesterday?

Leonel breathed easy. "I thought you already knew. Makes sense, seeing that you're acting like that."

The frown on Ren's forehead deepened. "What are you even talking about?"

"I'm not sure if this is the right time to tell you, but . . ."

Leonel hesitated for a moment before he continued, "Well . . . actually . . . yesterday"

However, he didn't have the chance to finish his sentence when the announcement for the commencement of Guild Wars flashed on their screen.

"It's starting." Ren's attention went to his screen, and Leonel didn't know whether he should sigh in relief or take a deep breath.

The screen was displayed on air, and Ren fiddled with the settings to widen the screen, completely displaying the numerous guilds that were going to compete with each other.

"Augh . . ." Leonel scratched his head, unable to understand what was going on. "What are the rules again?"

Ren had already expected that Leonel would forget the details about the event, so he explained in a patient voice without his eyes leaving the screen.

"It's a war of points. Each side must destroy the other's Guild before the timer ends. But of course, it's not that easy, considering the artillery and traps they set up to defend their house."

"But . . . aren't smaller guilds with no money to buy defenses more inclined to lose?" Leonel asked.

Ren nodded. "That's right. That's why the event this time is segregated according to Town Hall Level."

"The town hall?"

"A Town Hall or TH is the heart of any guild. It's the main building that must be put in a strategic location since once it is destroyed, the other side would gain an enormous point over the others.

"The TH level also decides the max number of members a guild can have, defenses they can buy in the Guild Shop, and the different kinds of traps they could set up. Upgrading the TH costs gil and resources, but in exchange, it would open up more facilities and defenses in the Guild Shop not to mention that it would open more slots for membership."

Leonel scratched his head. "S-sounds complicated."

"Only for the first time. You'll get the hang of it because the Guild Wars would revolve around it from now on," answered Ren.

"Egh . . . really? So how are they segregated?"

"Simple, they would compete by TH level to ensure fairness. The developers, this time, had set prizes for each winner in different categories."

Leonel's eyes shone as if he had just heard the latest gossip. "I get it now."

Ren's brow flicked upward. "Do you really?"

He then continued, "This time, only TH 7 and above can take part. From the start, small or big guilds are allowed to have a hundred members. But if they want more, they have to upgrade their TH.

"The current highest level, I think, is TH 10, and all the big guilds like Golden Phoenix, Black Lion, White Unicorn, and Guns and Knives belong in this category. So they would compete with each other in their TH category."

"But . . . if their guild gets destroyed . . ."

"Don't worry," Ren said, "In the next match, their Guild will be good as new, and all their members will have their HP and MP back to full. They'll also be given time to change their guild layout before the next match."

"Whoa! Really?"

Ren nodded. "There's a feature in the guild menu where you can move your structures and place them wherever you want, but that is only available to the leader and co-leader."

Leonel snickered. "Imagine being in the courtyard and suddenly appearing in the back alley. That sounds kind of fun if you want to troll someone."

Ren looked Leonel dead in the eyes. Leave it to him to think about trolling others using that important feature.

If ever he'd set up a guild, Ren now knew not to give Leonel the co-leader position. Not that he was planning to have one.

"Anyway, it's amazing how you know so much about guilds but doesn't have plans on creating one." Leonel laughed.

"Managing a guild is more troublesome than managing our group," answered Ren. "I don't want the unnecessary troubles and burdens of creating one."

Their attention then returned to the screen when the matching began.

Golden Phoenix against Ferocious Ravens. Black Lion against Great Dynasty. White Unicorn against Sleeping Dragon. Guns and Knives against Fate Alliance Guild.

Both guilds had the maximum number of members according to their TH. If Ren wasn't mistaken, TH 10 had like five hundred members max.

Before, there was a limit to how many members a guild could have, but after the update, it was now based on the TH level.

If a guild lacks members, they could recruit solo players or poach from other guilds before entering the war.

Leonel bit his nails, and the rate of him tapping his foot against the floor doubled. "I wonder if Isolde would be alright."

Ren didn't comment.

Looking at both armies on each side, they had the same number of players and the same TH level. The factor that would decide victory was, of course, the player's stats and the Guild's defenses.

But in this type of war, neither side should focus on killing players since it wouldn't increase points. The focus should be on the siege and destroying as many structures inside the other Guilds as possible to earn points until they eventually reach the Town Hall.

Leonel gasped, and the sound pulled Ren from his thoughts.

The war had started, and their attention was on the screen. Not even Alice's non-ending chatter could disrupt their focus.

In this kind of war, the first to move would gain the upper hand because they could dictate the fight while the other reacted to their move.

Guns and Knives' armies were grouped into five. Two at the front and three at the back. The front rows were made of DPS players and were the first to move, charging at Fate Alliance Guild's formation.

On the other hand, Fate Alliance Guild's armies were made up of four groups, two at the front and two at the back. Needless to say, the numbers in their front row were more than Guns and Knives.

"What are they doing, charging in there with those numbers?" It was only the first fight, but Leonel was already on edge.

Leonel couldn't relax, knowing that Isolde might be in trouble. How he wished that he could be there by her side. At least he could keep her safe.

"Relax," said Ren. "They know what they're doing. Numbers don't mean an automatic win, you know. They have to score points within one hour, so they have to be fast in their strategy."

Leonel was about to say something when he noticed that, as soon as the two armies clashed, a gap was created at the center. It seemed that Guns and Knives were pushing Fate Alliance on the opposite side to create a path in the middle.

And when the center was cleared, Guns and Knives immediately sent out their Tanks forward, and that group was followed by a giant ass car with a giant ass drill on the front with the mages and supports following its lead from a safe distance behind.

Leonel gasped. "What the hell is that?"

Ren gave a lazy smile. "A siege machine, the Wall Breaker."