"Olga's been taken by Astrid and another guild," Dolk told the other dark elves currently standing before him.

They were currently standing on the roof of the Deering High School building, the location of their base and territory of the Black Exiles Guild. Aside from Dolk, there were three other Dark Elves with him. And all four former members of the Greyvolk Tribe were together discussing an important matter regarding the fate of one of their own.

"What exactly do we do about this, then?" One of the dark elves asked. He wore heavy armor, from a breastplate, greaves, and bracers, with a large and menacing bastard sword strapped around his back. "If Lady Astrid's the one that caught her, then she's likely dead at the moment."

"Do you think Lady Astrid would be that rash or impatient, Egil?" Another dark elf retorted, turning her gaze over her heavy armor-wearing companion.

"What's that supposed to mean, Dagny?" Egil glared.

"I believe Dagny is referring to Astrid's personality and how she behaves toward people who cross her," the third and last dark elf told Egil with his arms crossed as he held his gnarled, menacing staff in his right hand while occasionally tapping the ominous skull attached to the tip. "Like us, for example."

Agnarr faltered upon hearing his words, not saying another word as he looked away.

"You're certainly right, Frode," Dolk said. "You too, Dagny. Astrid isn't the type to take revenge in such a way. Especially with people like us who betrayed her." He scratched his head. "No, she would want to make them suffer. Make them regret ever crossing her in such a way. Which means that Olga is still alive. For now, at least."

"My guess is until she caught all of us so she could torture us all at once," Frode added.

"She is certainly capable of such a thing," Dagny chimed in with a grim expression. "Lady Astrid can be fierce when she wants to be. And considering what we did to her...she's not going to stop until she catches all of us and makes us pay for our betrayal."

Every dark elf currently present, aside from Olga, was an active participant and conspirator in Astrid's betrayal and assassination. Which meant they were all on her blacklist. And they all knew that they weren't safe as long as she continued to hunt them down.

"So, what exactly are we going to do about Olga?" Egil spoke up. "Since Astrid has her, rescuing her won't be easy."

"We have no choice but to rescue her," Frode declared. "She knows about our current location and the layout of our base. It won't be long until she spills the information to Astrid, and she comes bursting through our doors seeking revenge."

Because Astrid had Olga under her custody, that meant the remaining dark elves didn't have a lot of time before everything was revealed. Which meant they needed to decide their next move before it was too late.

"Maybe we should leave this place," Dagny suggested. "Even if we manage to rescue Olga, doing so would expose us to Lady Astrid. And that is the last thing we need."

Because of their circumstances, any attempt to try and retrieve their companion would only put them at risk of Astrid catching them as well.

"So, you're suggesting we abandon one of our own?" Frode questioned with a sneer.

"We already betrayed one of our own and even tried to kill her," Dagny snapped. "It's because of what we did that we are even in this situation in the first place. Olga will understand."

"We are now abandoning one of our own," Egil declared.

Before Dagny could utter a single retort, Dolk interjected. "I hate to say it, but I agree with Egil. We cannot leave Olga. That, and the fact that leaving wasn't an option. Not with how much progress we were making."

"You mean the spies we've planted in the neighboring guilds?' Frode questioned.

Hearing this, Egil scoffed. "So, you're still planning on trying to take over this place, huh? Trying to be a king?"

Dolk narrowed his eyes, glaring at Egil, causing the dark elf to shrink back in fear. "All of you know that what I am doing is not trying to become a king. But to prepare for what's coming."

The other three dark elves stayed quiet, noticing the dark expression manifesting on Dolk's face. They've seen him make that expression before. It was a face that displayed his fear and paranoia...and it was directed at a single individual.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"You're not still hung up on Kollr's insane deal he made with the High Elves, are you?" Frode questioned. "I doubt that their plan is still in motion after everything that happened with the system's sudden appearance."

"Yeah," Egil chimed in. "And if we're lucky, they likely died during the Tutorial. Especially Kollr."

The only reason Dolk and the other dark elves even betrayed Astrid and the rest of their tribe in the first place was because of Kollr and his absurd alliance with the high elves. When they realized that Astrid's brother was desperate for power to where he would join hands with the very bastards that not only created them but also despised and wanted them dead, they knew they were left with no other option but to join his side.

Even if they tried to go to the Chief and council regarding this, Dolk and the others knew that it wouldn't work. Not when they weren't the only ones that were part of Kollr's little coup. There were other traitors within the tribe. And they weren't just members like Dolk, but dark elves of a much higher position.

It was because of this little fact that Dolk's group had no choice but to join hands with Kollr. Since they couldn't resist with the fate of their tribe in his hands. One wrong move, and all of the dark elves of the Greyvolk tribe would lose their lives to the high elves.

But thanks to the system's sudden appearance, they were in the clear. Because of the fusion of the two worlds, Dolk and the other dark elves were given a clean slate to start over. Or, so they thought.

"No, they're not dead," Dolk declared grimly. "They couldn't be dead."

The other dark elves looked at one another nervously, finding their leader's grim statement very disturbing.

"And why do you say that?" Frode questioned.

"Because that's just how it is. Out of all the people I expected to survive, Kollr and the high elves were the ones with the highest possibility."

"You make it sound like they were prepared for this," Dagny said. "Like they knew that the system would appear."

"That's impossible," Egil denied and shook her head. "The system appeared too abruptly for something like that."

"For once, I agree with Egil," Frode nodded. "There's no way for Kollr or even the high elves to know about the system in advance before it actually appeared."

The system's appearance was as abrupt as it could be. And getting sent off to another world for their tutorial was just as sudden. In their eyes, no one could've seen something like this coming. And yet...Dolk knew better.

"Kollr and the high elves knew about the system before its arrival," Dolk urged. "That much I know. The way Kollr acted in a rush, like he was on the clock. Like he was making sure to have everything prepared for something. Something big."

"Wouldn't that be his plan to take over the Greyvolk tribe?" Frode assumed.

Dolk shook his head. "No, this was different. He always kept muttering 'It's almost time' and 'what they prophesied is coming true.' I thought that bastard was just losing his mind, but..."

"But what?" Dagny urged.

Dolk hesitated to answer as if he were afraid to finish. "During the day when we were tasked with assassinating Astrid, he said something to me before we left."

"And what was that?" Frode inquired, completely engaged in the conversation.

"He said...that Astrid needed to die before 'it' arrived. Because when 'it' did, we might lose our chance of keeping her from ruining our plans."

Frode arched his brow curiously. "It? Are you suggesting that he was referring to the system?"

If what Dolk said was true, then Kollr somehow had prior knowledge regarding the System's arrival. Which was not only impossible but also incredibly suspicious. How did Kollr know about the System's existence before it appeared? Did he learn about it from the High Elves? And if that was the case, then how did they know about it?

This kind of theory conjured all kinds of questions regarding their knowledge of the System's sudden appearance.

"Even if what you say is true, what's the point in fretting over it?" Egil stressed. "We are no longer affiliated with Kollr or the high elves, much less our own tribe. We should be focusing on what's before us right now. And that's our situation with Olga being a prisoner. So, what do we plan to do about it?"

Hearing this, Dolk sighed while massaging his temples. "Yes, you're right. We shouldn't worry about something like that right now. As for what we do about Olga, we're going to rescue her."

"And how are we going to do that?" Dagny questioned. "Are we going to just barge into their base and take Olga back?"

"I'm okay with that plan," Egil said with a daring smile, prompting the other dark elves to irritably sigh.

"Olga mentioned in the chat room that the guild lady Astrid was cooperating with was trying to get into touch with the guild that two of our spies were part of," Dolk explained. "I believe that they were called the Battle Breakers Guild."

Egil scoffed. "What a dumb name."

"May I remind you, Egil, that our guild name is Black Exiles," Frode told him. "I don't think our name is much better than theirs in that regard."

"Focus, you two," Dagny hissed before facing Dolk. "If the two guilds are trying to be in touch with one another, then that means they're likely going to meet, correct?"

Dolk nodded. "This meeting might allow us to rescue Olga. For now, we need to gather as much information as possible regarding it."

"Aren't two of our spies from the Battle Breakers currently prisoners like Olga?" Frode pointed out. "How do we plan to get any information about the meeting?"

"By using our spies within the other guild, along with Olga's assistance, if she could. We just need to know when and where this meeting is held. And see how we can use it to our advantage. Understand?"

The other dark elves firmly nodded, acknowledging their orders.

Dolk turned to Dagny. "Dagny, I want you to get in touch with the spy within the guild that Astrid is currently cooperating with. We need to know where that meeting is being held, if there is one."

Dagny nodded. "Got it."

Once she received her orders, she was the first to leave and headed for the stairs. Meanwhile, Egil and Frode stayed behind.

"What do we do then?" Frode asked.

"For now, gather some guild members and prepare them for our next expedition. As for this meeting, aside from trying to rescue Olga, we should also use this meeting to our advantage."

"To do what?" Egil chimed in.

Dolk smiled at his question. "To get rid of some competition and to make our conquest of this region a lot easier."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.