Second World

"Nothing much. Just that I apparently have a brother," John answered.

Linda frowned. She said, "Don't tell this to anyone. Master warned me that if anyone else knows about Jonn, I will never see him again."

"Not my problem. Considering you ditched me and Diana. I don't see why I should protect your favorite child," John said.

"I'm sorry. Please! I beg you. I left because I couldn't stand all the pressures of having to be a perfect mom. Not a single day that I don't think of you and your sister!"

"Yeah, right," John said sarcastically.

"I'm telling the truth… Please, you can't let your brother come to harm," Linda pleaded John while sobbing.

John couldn't believe the woman before him was his mother. He didn't remember ever seeing his mother cry, even when she was still living with them.

"I'm just joking. I'm not an inconsiderate person who let my brother die," John said.

"You are not…?"

"Well, I am, but I'm serious about not letting Jonn die. I'm curious about what kind of a boy he is to gain your affection where I've failed. I will help you save him. But if you can't find his whereabouts even after being so close to Master all this time, I think it is safe to assume that he does not have him."

"Then where is Jonn?" Linda asked.

John shrugged. "I am the royal advisor of a main country. I'm sure I can mobilize the country's resources to search for one person. That is, of course, considering we put an end to Master and World Maker first. Otherwise, I can't put those resources for private needs."

"You will do that for me?" Linda asked.

"Not for you. For Jonn. I think he deserves better. I can't imagine he had a comfortable life with you as a mother," John said.

"Mock me all you want. But if you can save him, I will be forever in your debt," Linda said.

John sighed. "Well, then I want you to help me defeat World Maker first. I know you are telling the truth about not knowing Master's plan, but you should know the details of his headquarters' defenses. Lay them all out, please. Remember, I can use the Mind Breaker on you again. I will find out sooner or later. I prefer sooner with your cooperation."

Linda nodded. John gave him some papers to write down all those details.

*

Later that night before John retired to a prepared chamber inside Dritzuut palace, he finally received the report of the war's outcome.

They didn't lose too many soldiers during the siege because of their superiority. Only after Azzarilth's brood arrived that they were having difficulty. Out of Themisphere's 1,300,0000 soldiers, a million remained. Palgrost's 300,000 soldiers were reduced to 100,000. Hydrurond's 100,000 troops were almost wiped out. Only several thousand remained. Aurebor's troops were still 400,000-strong. As for Verremor, they had around 200,000 soldiers left in the field.

The one who had the most troops in the Allied forces was the Sangrod Empire. They were still 1,200,000 troops-strong.

In total, the Allied forces numbered 2,900,000 troops.

As for the players on their side, a bit over one million survived the battle. Most of these survivors didn't stay with the Allied forces. After Liguritudum was conquered, the war was officially over. These players could go back to their respective countries and cash in their war contribution points. Some of these players chose to do that later, they went around Liguritudum hunting the obsidian dragons and the beholders that scattered after the war. Those monsters were good sources for exp points and loot.

A small portion of players stayed with the Allied forces. These players were mostly members of guilds with the same objective as the Allied forces. They wanted to stomp out the World Maker and erase this threat once and for all.

From the enemy's side, all the zombie troops were destroyed. Since Master fled the battlefield, he didn't resurrect any fallen soldier to form another zombie army.

None of the Liguritudum soldiers followed Master since he left the battlefield without announcing his departure. He wouldn't have any Liguritudum soldiers defending his guild headquarters. Out of Liguritudum soldiers who survived, 200,000 surrendered and were now under Themisphere's command. The rest of the surviving soldiers fled and scattered. These soldiers most likely became outlaws in the wilderness, providing the adventuring players with another source of exp points and loot.

After studying the information, John was sure they should be able to crush World Throne without any difficulty. No matter what defensive mechanism World Maker's headquarters possessed, they wouldn't be able to defend against the Allied armies. Their guild army didn't surpass 100,000 when they summoned it during the siege battle, and they had lost a substantial number during the battle. Even if they could miraculously replenish their number in such a short time, they would still be far from enough to halt the Allied forces' advance.

He believed his mother was telling the truth about Master making his last stand at the World Throne, but Master could have lied to her. She did say that Master didn't completely trust her. Probably this was misinformation Master told his subordinates in case he lost the war in Dritzuut, to buy him time so the Allied forces wasted their time at World Throne.

John believed this would be the case. All the information pointed out that it was futile to remain at World Throne knowing the forces that would be heading over there. Only a fool would hide there, and Master was no fool. Nevertheless, they still needed to invade World Throne because that was the only place most likely to have the clues regarding Master's hiding place.

With that thought, John went to sleep.

The reorganization of the armies was completed the next day. They could depart then, but John decided to wait another day. Partly because there were still many issues to discuss with the native officers he elected the previous day. The other reason was because Jack still hadn't woken up.

He preferred to have Jack present when they marched to World Throne. But if Jack still didn't wake up by tomorrow, he would wait no longer.