"So you're telling us that the portals defenses are now almost nothing compared to what it was the first time?"

The chamber was large and had a vaulted ceiling with a chandelier. The table everyone was seated at was a long, oval table made up of oak bark as it was a tree of its ownself. The chairs were its branches and had tall backs that sprouted its own canopy of leaves from the top.

All around them were assorted guards of the various Alf races and then sat at the table were many lords and ladies that still remained, Eugene being one of them and also the maker of the comment. Among some of the other lords and ladies, all of them being players as well, were the ladies Sakuya and Alicia as well.

And then Kirito and Asuna were together on one side as they were all trying to get these lords and ladies behind them for the fight ahead to take the portals entrance.

"Yeah," said Kirito. "THe only things there were the lesser mob units and catapult and trebuchet's... the Princes and Princess are all gone along with their armies."

"But how do we know they wont come back the moment we try another invasion with everything they have?" asked one of the other lords.

Much agreement was heard with that statement as Asuna sighed and as she sat Kirito down with a gentle push of her hand, she then stood up as she said, "Look, we both went in there with a bare minimum force. There is nothing there that the enemy could possibly use to teleport a whole army on top of that place instantly."

"What about how the Plague Prince was able to get out with his shattered army?" asked someone.

"That likely was a retreat sort of teleport... I don't think they can use that to advance or anything."

Everyone was discussing this all when Eugene then said, "But how can we know for sure they will not come running so quickly or use that teleport magic against us?"

"Well... we can only hope, I guess..." said Asuna. "But if don't take this opportunity, we may lose any chance to gain some advantage against them. At least if we have those fortifications we can bury down deep and hold there until we could move forward."

"She's right." said Alicia. "If we can hold our own here, why not take the fight to them?"

No one spoke a word as many of them were in deep thought but then Eugene rose as he then said, "Well.. as much as I hate to admit it... but at this point I cant hold on against the enemy with a purely defensive standpoint.. so I say we take the fight to them and at least take those portal defenses!"

Everyone looked at him before then rising up as many said the same thing and as Kirito looked at them all, he smiled as he knew this was going to change everything and how it all went.

Kommando293 slowly crept towards the door as he poked his head inside of the room he found Sinon sitting at her mirror desk as he watched her, for a moment, slowly go through her hair with a brush.

it had only been a day since the Ghastly Stag hunt but Kommando was pretty sure Sinon had somewhat enjoyed it. Problem was, trying to make up ideas for dates while also running a kingdom was practically impossible these days since he was pretty sure the Alfs were planning to attack soon and only the meager Bone Princes were at the gates to defend it.

But as he slowly slid the door open and walked over to the side, he was starting to not care much for the gates at all. The one big battle was, well, exhilarating but he knew it would have been rather boring if every invasion force was annihilated before they could even reach the gates. The others were the same too, it seemed, and so as Kommando293 slowly walked towards Sinon, he knew that simply sending Bone Princes would be the only thing he would do for that area from now on.

"Hello, my bride..." he said suddenly and Sinon whipped around as she sighed and then said, "What do you need of me?"

"I have a question for you... and please try and best answer it.." Sinon heard the Prince of Darkness say.

"Is there anything in particular that you may wish to do? At the moment the handmaidens are able to the hold the keep down and my Generals have freed up most of my day..."

Sinon thought a little bit and then she looked at her bow before she looked up and asked, "Are there any dungeons around here?"

"Why of course there are... judging from that glance, you perhaps want a bow you may want to use more regularly to now lose that one?" asked the Prince.

"Yes.." And also find more places to hide in for when i escape with Lisbeth. Lisbeth had been for the most part inseparable from her forge despite the Princes tries to keep her out for an extended period of time.

"There are many dungeons around but thankfully enough there is one nearby that myself and the others have been planning on tackling for sometime now... will you want to join us for that raid?" asked Kommando293.

"Sure... sounds pleasant enough..." said Sinon.

"Splendid... now do me a favor and coax the dwarf from her forge... at this rate I'm going have to start using spells to keep her out and I know from past experiences that devoted blacksmiths hate being away from their forge by force so I'll let you handle her.."

And with that, Kommando was once again anxious for this quasi-date. He only hoped that perhaps this time he could gain more interest from her in this dungeon clearing than when he tried hunting with her and her friend.

Kirito watched as the armies slowly began to appear across the horizon as his army was already prepared. 6 Swords, 4 Bows, 2 Cavalry, and 2 Guardians made up his entire force and though he wished he had better things to fully equip them beyond steel items he knew it would at least help them in the battle to survive a bit longer.

Banners fluttered in the air, horns blew tunes across the fields, and dust was being kicked up as the armies slowly began to form up on the field as there was every type of Alf lord and army here to be present and as Kirito watched it all happen, he then heard someone say, "Well... we're tying again to take the portal gates again?"

He looked over and he saw Chrysheight standing there and as he looked back forward, he then asked the man, "You coming to watch out hopeful victory this time?"

"I might... I normally have better things to do but perhaps I shall this one time.." said Chhrysheight as he then sighed and said, "You know I'm a busy man.."

"What at least now you can maybe help us out for once... I hear you finally got some better spells to use..." said Kirito.

"Well that is true... but I'm not sure how it will do in the assault.." said the man.

"Well we can do nothing more than try..." said Asuna s she then approached, wand in one hand.

And then suddenly Eugene was before them all as them as he said to them, "Well... everyone willing to come is here and every scrap of resource has been made into these armies so we only have one shot either way.."

And then suddenly from the sky began to descend units of World Tree Guardians as once again the Titania and Oberon descended as well and as both of them looked around, soon the guilds that were also joining the fray appeared and as Oberon looked all around, he then pointed his hand towards the portal as he said, "Go forth, mighty champions! Destroy the enemy and cleanse the land of Hel of them!"

And with that, the army suddenly surged forward as Kirito and the others soon ended up in the front as they then threw themselves into the portal as they prepared for a hopefully not as bad fight.

As soon as Kirito was on the otherside, the whole army appeared around them and they immediately charged forward. Behind them, the rest of the Alf assault force came pouring in as the Wolf Tree Guardians soon were amongst them as they charged forward like a tide over the beach.

And across from them, the Bone Princes and Princesses who had been slightly relaxing suddenly came charging and scrambling across the fortifications as catapults and trebuchets soon fired shots to land amongst the alf army. But since no archers were available to the defenders, the Alf army casualties from the siege weapons was minimal as they soon reached the halfway point and neared the main gates.

But just as the main force began to reach the gates, suddenly magical spells began to hammer the gates and walls in dazzling displays of magical blasts and energy. Asuna was slinging spells with Chrysheight next to her as Kirito's army had stopped to hold the line for a moment to help breach the gate but as Shisho fired a powerful Magic Torrent into the gates, suddenly the smaller armies and some guilds smashed into the the force of Bone Princes, Princesses, and minor summoned units as bodies flew, weapons flashed, and magic was used as the melee battle began in earnest.

Kirito watched as soon ladders were being made in the form of vines as the assault force was spreading out from the center of the half-circle that encompassed the entrance of the portal. Fighting began to erupt along the walls and as he watched, suddenly the gates began to open up wide as a horde of summoned minions came charging out with their summoners in tow and as Kirito watched them, he then pointed to them as Eugene joined him and he shouted, "All units! CHARGE!!!"

The two armies surged forward as spells and fighting began to erupt everywhere. Bodies littered the ground with their weapons as banners fluttered in the air alongside of arrows and javelins thrown by Gnomes. Music from Pooka alfs came through the air as the sound buffed units and also sent debuffs to the enemies and as Kirito felt some debuffs fly by them, he then watched as Lightning Storm spells began to lance through the enemy horde at the entrance of the gates.

And then he and Eugene were crossing the invisible line between the gates and the field that was essentially the "No going back" line and as Kirito watched Asuna and Shisho fire a few last minute spells, Asuna then took her rapier out as everyone was prepared to clash the best they could.

And then the two armies with some supporting units from other groups clashed against the horde at the gates. Kirito jumped over some skeletons as he slashed his dual swords around him, the blood-colored blades smashing everything around him as Asuna followed him close behind. Agil smashed everything before him with his axe as he flipped it around and then smashed the earth with it as he splinted and then shattered it.

Klein stuck close to Shisho as he both protected her and lead her through the throngs of enemies while their units around them swarmed and pushed their way through the enemy horde.

One of the Princes tried to attack Kirito as he took out some zombies and as he spun around to face the new opponent, he blocked the Princes first strike and nimbly dodged the next as suddenly he felt something flip him with a attack and as he crashed and tumbled along the ground, he quickly sprang back up as he realized that the enemies around him were trying to gang up on him. He blocked and countered but his hits would not connect as too many skeletons with shields were around him and the Prince kept skipping out of range. He gave a sigh in frustration but then Asuna suddenly took out three of the skeletons around Kirito and a two of them turned, he instantly turned on them as he slew them and as the Prince tried to back up, suddenly Klein speared him at the end of his katanna blade as he then ripped it out as Shisho blew a flamethrower spell that bathed a swathe of the enemy in fire that killed most of them.

"We got to push and put our flag on the gatehouse! That's how we're gonna win this!!" shouted Chrysheight as he appeared next to them all.

Kirito nodded as suddenly he and Eugene ran straight into another throng as Asuna then shouted, "Come on!!! Push them back!!!"

Kirito and Eugene cut through the throng before them in seconds as their weapons carved them down and as they reached a staircase going up just as suddenly a torrent of units came charging down and as Eugene and Kirito looked up, both of them steeled themselves as several zombies came crashing against both of them as some of the undead were tossed over the sides as they tried to get at both of them. Kirito threw two of them off the stairs as Eugene speared another two on his sword but as both of them began to slowly push up the stairs as they sent minions and enemies flying over their shoulders and around them.

And then they were at the top as they were swinging, chopping, and slicing as the enemy horde seemed to be almost endless and as Kirito saw the post where they were the put a banner in, he suddenly make a break for it as he tried to get through a small gap Eugene made from doing an AOE attack. But just as he reached the post, two Bone Princes and a Princess appeared as they fired spells at him, knocking him back in Eugene.

"Dang it, Kirito, move your scrawny butt!!" shouted Eugene as he then pushed Kirito forward while trying to fend off the enemies around them.

But Kirito couldn't fight back well while being off balanced and just as he reached the Princes and Princess, three firebolts nailed them off the wall as he looked down to see Chryseheight smiling from below. Kirito nodded and as he reached the post, he slid his finger before the post and then selected the, "Capture" option.

Almost instantly, banners of the alves began to unfurl from the battlements and as the enemies saw this, they all either disintegrated under renewed assault or fled from the gates as the players and armies cheered. Kirito looked back at a winded Eugene as he said, "You made it for once.."

"Took you long enough." said Eugene before he laughed. "But now the real party starts!!!"