It had been a week now since the event had begun and not much leeway against the forces of Hel had been achieved. Several of the kingdoms that were smaller and had not gotten anywhere had fallen to the almost constant of attacks from the Princes and Princess while the more stronger kingdoms were slowly being whittled down.

But for the walled city of Aerovale, it had been pretty okay so far even considering that they were the closest to what could be considered a frontline. Its walls were tall and made of solid stone with battlements lining them and with towers mounted with constant archers and emplacements of catapults and ballistae.

But just as the day cycle for the area hit high noon, the sun having no clouds to compete with, suddenly dark rolling clouds came in as anyone and everyone outside the walls immediately began to run straight into Aerovale as soon a wave of sickly green figures came marching in perfect formations to the city.

The Prince of Plague was preparing his assault on the city.

NPC's, Guilds, and many Solo players immediately began to muster to the walls as the horde of undead Skeletons and Zombies continued to slowly shamble forward while 2 Bone Giants slowly marched alongside some siege towers and battering rams. Catapults and the ballistae fired a few way long range shots at the approaching army but none of the shots hit anything as the Plague Zombies and Skeletons began to assemble themselves before the east side of the city, the part facing the portal that was far away and behind a mountain.

As Midnight996 slowly approached the gates on his zombiefied horse, his dual, plagued blades in their sheathes on his hips while his big Mithril blade was sitting on his back, he looked up at what looked like hundreds, if not thousands of faces that belonged to the defenders as he simply glanced around to see his army slowly encircling the city in small pockets while his main force stayed behind him.

He finally stopped and as he looked up, he simply raised his hands to the sky as he smiled from beneath his mask.

"Begin."

And with the command given, several hundred archers with fire arrows fired in a huge wave as the Bone Giants, both colored a sickly green as their eyes glowed yellow-green, hurled huge boulders and rocks straight towards the walls. Masonry was smashed and fell to the ground in large heaps as defenders along the walls that didn't move out of the way of the boulders were smashed straight off while others who didn't find cover were pincushioned by the arrows.

As this hailstorm happened, the siege towers slowly began to move up towards the walls as a few battering rams began to move towards the reinforced gates, all the while the main force of Midnight's skeleton army slowly advanced up with their shields up.

As Midnight996 watched the siege slowly unfold out, he slowly looked to the skies as he watched the clouds suddenly begin to spit out green, fireballs-like projectiles but as the fireball-like projectiles slowly began to go towards the ground, he knew all too well what the objects and the trail they gave really were.

Plague-carriers.

He soon heard screams as he watched the carriers slowly begin to land in the city and as he watched all of this, he dismounted off his horse as he shook his head.

"Being a Prince of Plague in a siege seems far too overpowered at the moment."

Kirito was looking over his reports at his throne as once again everyone had respawned but as he looked towards Excalibur and a pair of two new longswords, he had a sinking feeling. Ever since they had respawned, they had been forced to wait and have Lisbeth try her best in making them new weapons to use against the enemy. No one questioned her and how good her stuff was, it was almost always being top-notch, but as Kirito looked at the weapons, he had a sneaky suspicion that the Hel weapons were in a level above their own. Not to mention the armor as well as he remembered his blades breaking upon the sword and armor of the Necromancer.

But just as he was about to get up and walk away from the throne, suddenly a falcon came swooping in and landed next to him and as Kirito looked at the bird, he saw the paper around its leg as he knew that someone had sent a message the old-fashion way it seemed. But as soon as he touched the scroll, it transformed into a normal message that floated before him as it seemed like one of the few AI lords within the world at the moment.

"Please, I am the Lord of Aerovale, Ashin, and I call any and all nearby Alf Lords of any race and size to help me end the siege that has befallen my city from the Prince of Plague!"

And with that, the message melted away as the falcon flew off and as Kirito thought about this, he stood up and was just about to get off the throne when he heard Asuna say nearby, "You're gonna go help them, aren't you?"

Kirito looked over to her as Yui floated above Asuna's shoulder and as Asuna was standing their with her new estoc blade on her hip.

"You saying we will be the only ones helping?" asked Kirito.

"You sometimes, and yes you do, rush into things without thinking it all the way through." said Asuna as she pointed at him.

"But come on... at least we're slowly getting the hang of recruiting more and more units as well as getting better in battles." said Kirito as he slowly walked down towards her.

Asuna rolled her eyes as then Kirito said, "Still, lets wait to grab a few more units before we march out to help them..."

"Deal?" asked Kirito to Asuna.

Asuna looked at him before she nodded.

"Deal."

Midnight996 watched as the siege towers finally reach the walls and as he watched his Bone Giants and archers continue to hammer the defenders all along the walls, he then watched in utter satisfaction as the siege towers began to disgorge upon the walls his units of Plague Zombies and skeletons as the fighting began to be seen tossing units and players right off the edges of the walls.

One of his many commanders suddenly approached him and as Midnight996, who was currently watching the battle from the rock he sat upon, looked over to the commander as the Skeleton commander the reported to him, "My Lord, our forces have begun to take the walls but the defenders are fighting to the bitter end. We also believe that the enemy have sent out calls for help from the neighboring kingdoms."

"Keep some units in reserve around the area in case some of those armies show up. Till then, have the Bone Giants try to help destroy those gate houses." said Midnight996 to the commander.

The commander bowed and as he went off to give the orders, Midnight996 kept his eyes around as he then went to his dual, plague daggers as he checked them out. The sickly, green laced blades reminded him of the pair of blades he had once used in the American SAO, although those had been a bit higher level and more better than the ones in his hands. But as he looked at the blades in his hands, he simply smiled as he was thankful to have these two blades at all.

And then he wondered who was going to be the first player to be a victim of them.

But just as he was about to open up a small portal to say high to Reaper294, who was likely still trying to build up a siege force, suddenly he heard horns and as he looked way past his forces behind him towards where they had marched from, he watched as suddenly several units of Alf swordsmen, archers, and more came pouring from the hills and the forests as he watched the forces of Lord Eugene, Lady Sakuya, and Lady Alicia march from their unified3 spot as he then shouted to his reserves, "Prepare for combat!!"

Kirito watched as one last Spriggan Alf Swordsmen unit appeared in his  unit roster as it was recruited and as he looked back up, he knew this was going to have to do because he didn't know how long Aerovale could hold out from a serious siege.

Before him, in total, were 6 Alf Spriggan Swordsmen as two of them were slightly Veteranized while all had been equipped with at least 2 Steel items for combat.  Just behind them was a total of 4 Alf Spriggan Archers as they all had longbows and quivers ready to rain down death upon anything before them. A little behind them were 2 Alf Spriggan Guardian units as they all had been fully equipped with Steel items and as Kirito looked just to their left, he almost gave a smile. 2 units of Alf Spriggan Cavalry were standing by as the horses were ninnying and neighing and as he looked at this army that had been set up before him, he only could look at his friends before him as he gave a sigh.

"You all ready or another battle?" he asked them.

Every single one of his friends nodded and as he unsheathed his dual swords, he pointed one of them forward as he then shouted, "To Victory!!!"

Everyone roared and as the whole army began to march out, Kirito could only hope that with this battle they could turn the tide of this battle and finally begin trying to get Sinon back.

The Bone Giant roared as it hurled another boulder with both of its hands and as Midnight996 raised some more zombies from the dead around him, he was really pressed to not use his ultimate attack just quite yet. The combined Cat Sith, Salamander, and Slyph forces were certainly pressing their attack against his reserves as he knew that his main forces were still trying to take the walls and as he watched the boulder fly and crush a swathe of Slyph Archers that had been raining death upon his forces, he then summoned up some more zombie warriors to keep around him as he shouted out, "Hold your lines!! Push them back!"

His skeletons and zombie warriors, some wielding weapons while others fought with bare firsts, all began to bolster their lines and as Midnight996 looked around him, he suddenly wished he had a moment to send Reaper or one of the others a call for assistance.

Only problem was that the Slyph Lady Sakuya was making every attempt to stall him from doing so as she made another attempt at him and as he blocked her blade from striking him, he was dimly aware that both the Salamander Lord Eugene and the Cat Sith lady Alicia were fighting his commanders.

He blocked another attack as he was looking around for a way to get some distance but as he looked around him, he suddenly realized he had put himself into a pickle without realizing it before hand. With walls of the city to his back, still blazing with plague, fire, and blood as his warriors fought on and with this sudden force before him, he knew he was going to have ot fight his way through.

Suddenly, he heard horns on his right and as he and Sakuya looked over, his sudden hope for help hit the ground hard.

The banners of Lord Kirito the Spriggan Lord was appearing on the forest line.

Kirito watched as the battlefield slowly came into view as Asuna and Yui were next to him and as he viewed over the field, it was certainly a chaotic mess even with the battle lines so clear. He saw Salamander, Slyph, and Cat Sith forces fighting bitterly and hard against the legions of Skeletons and Zombies that were managing to hold a line against he combined attack as a Bone Giant was also in the foray towards the back.

Meanwhile, he saw the city had green plumes of plague and red glows of fires  as he could see the harsh fighting along the walls as a few siege towers were still attached while the battering rams, it seemed, had just been destroyed as archers and the other Bone Giant were still pelting the walls with boulders and arrows.

"What should we do? Go for the other Lords and help them or go for the city?" asked Agil as he appeared with his Guardian unit next to Kirito.

Kirito looked at the battlefield and as he looked towards the main battle happening out in the field, looking across the many bodies and skeletons that were piled up and tossed around all over, as he then saw a familiar looking figure fighting Sakuya near the center of this whole thing.

The Prince of Plague.

"We go for the Prince first." Kirito pointed the figure out. "I do believe getting rid of him first will likely go a long way with lifting this siege up."

Klein, Shisho, and Lisbeth nodded as Agil gave a slight tilt and as Silica looked out at the raging battle, she then watched as another boulder smash down a unit.

"Its not gonna be pretty." she said to Kirito.

"Well we gotta turn this war around at some point." said Kirito before he then said, "So why not start now, with making the Prince retreat!"

Midnight996 watched the new Alf forces slowly begin to run towards the battle and as he watched them, he then managed to duck another swing as he shouted to every single one of his units, "Everyone! Form up on me and prepare to charge through the enemy ranks!!!"

Zombies and Skeletons, from the swordsmen to his two Bone Giants, came to him as fast as they could and as the mass of Undead stood as valiantly as they could, Midnight996 got on his horse as he watched as suddenly the wall catapults and ballistae begin firing on one flank just as the defenders began to fire.

I need to fight my way out of this before I loose everything... and I don't think I have many rescources to spend at the moment on making a whole new army... he thought to himself just as he sighed.

I may have to use my Ultimate move... but I hope not to.

Kirito lead his army straight towards the mass of enemies before them and as he watched Sakuya, Alicia, and Eugene rally their forces before charging them, he heard a horn from his army as his units roared just as they went into a full on charge straight for the enemy horde an as he began to run as well, it was then heard from the defenders a roar as suddenly the remains of the Solo players, the Guild Players, and the garrison units came sallying out from the gatehouse as they also joined the charge.

Kirito snapped back to facing forward as a barrage of arrows suddenly came flying from the mass of enemies and as some of his units fell down, he brought his blades out as he and Asuna suddenly were together and then the huge wave of defenders and relief forces crashed with the Princes remaining forces.

Blood flew, limbs went flying, screams and yelling were heard from everywhere, and spells were also being thrown everywhere as Kirito hacked, slashed, and chopped his way towards the Prince, who seemed to be waiting for something as the Alf forces slowly closed in on him.

Midnight996 knew he was slowly being closed in on but as he watched as his mana bar slowly regenerate, he had only a few more seconds before he could do a mass teleport.

Five seconds.

Lisbeth sent a bolt of lightning into the ranks of zombie warriors before her and she watched as her lighting arc into a huge swathe of them as many hit the ground in a paralyzed state while others were completely fried.

Four seconds.

Agil smashed aside another group of Skeletons with his large axe as he tried to muscle his way through the throngs of ranks but even with his Guardians at his sides, it was tough just getting through so many.

Three Seconds.

Leafa had already been dismounted from an arrow to her ride but now most of her cavalry units were as well and as she ran forward, slicing and slashing with her long, curved blade, she was not exactly the closest to the Prince but she was close.

Two Seconds.

Shisho sent a flame bolt spell into a throng of zombie warriors as Klein's own blade blazed with fire as he sliced them down just as he shouted out," GET THAT PRINCE!!"

One Second!

Kirito watched as Lisbeth managed to lunge into the circle just as he and Asuna reached it and as Kirito swung with both of his blades, Asuna threw herself forward as her Estoc blade went straight for the Prince's body.

BBBBWWWWEEEEUUUUUUPPP!!!!!!

The Mass teleportation spell made the few remaining units under Midnight996's command, plus himself, disappear in a huge light and as the defenders and the relief forces looked all around them, it wasn't long before a weary cheer went up amongst the army. Kirito looked around as he saw the bodies scattered everywhere, blood seeping into the ground as weapons were still scattered around as well as poking up out of the ground alongside  the many banners.

And Kirito didn't need to know what the walls looked like. That was likely just an absolute mess.

"We did it! We forced him back!" said Klein.

Kirito nodded when suddenly he looked at his party roster.

"Where is  Lisbeth?"

Lisbeth wreched her guts up as the nauseating feeling hit her in the gut, something that most teleportation spells never really did but as she looked up, she wasn't the only one as she watched the Prince of Plague puke his guts up as well and as both of them looked at one another, Lisbeth was going to try and fight when suddenly a sleep spell was put on her and she was instantly knocked out.