Astrid glared at her old companion, Dagny. Behind her, her other former companion, Olga, remained restrained as she sat on the ground, unable to do anything at the moment. However, despite being blindfolded, she knew that the treacherous dark elf could escape while she was busy with Dagny, so Astrid kept a close eye on both individuals.

Dagny rested her weapon, which was a black metal mace, on her shoulder while keeping her eyes trained on Astrid. A small yet solemn grin formed on her face.

"Do you have nothing to say to your companion, Lady Astrid?"

"You mean the same companion who stabbed me in the back and tried to kill me?" Astrid said, her words laced with venom and malice.

The dark elf crusader's face fell. "You should know by now that we didn't have much of a choice on the matter."

"And you should know by now that no matter what kind of bullshit reason you have for doing something like that, it doesn't excuse your actions! You not only betrayed me and tried to get me killed, but you also killed the other members of our tribe during the mission! Do you think that I could forgive you for something like that?"

Ever since that dreadful event happened, Astrid had been playing the scene repeatedly, trying to make sense of how everything went wrong. She should've known something was up with Dolk and her other companions who betrayed her. She should've seen the signs. Whatever those were, anyway.

But she didn't. She didn't and paid the consequences for her negligence. And the consequence was the lives of her people who died at the hands of Dolk and the other traitors. Their deaths were on her, and Astrid likely was never going to forgive herself for letting them die while she let it happen.

"Despite clearly despising us," Dagny continued. "I can see that Olga, one of the people responsible for what happened, is still alive." She looked over at Olga with a curious yet knowing gaze. "Not only that, but she doesn't look all that injured, if at all. So, if you truly loath us, then how come she's more or less intact?"

Astrid could tell that the dark elf crusader was simply trying to anger her by stating such an obvious taunt regarding Olga's near-uninjured condition. She took a moment to collect herself before turning a sharp glare back to Dagny.

"Don't be mistaken," She said coldly. "The only reason why Olga isn't riddled with wounds and choking on her own blood is because I want to kill her once I have all of you before me, so I can kill you one by one while you watch."

Astrid could tell her words affected Olga when she watched her eyes widen in shock before putting on a confident expression.

"That's quite a statement to declare. Though I doubt you'll be able to make that happen."

"That's what you think," She scoffed. "Make no mistake. I will kill you along with the rest of the bastards involved, including Dolk. Nothing has changed that."

"I figured as much," The crusader shrugged.

After saying this, Dagny suddenly zipped toward Astrid with incredible speed, closing the distance in seconds. She then swung her mace at her former leader, aiming right for her head. Astrid ducked just in time before drawing her daggers and slashing at the crusader.

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Due to the armor, her blades did no damage and merely bounced off the metal with a metallic thunk. Realizing her daggers weren't helping, she changed tactics and kicked Dagny square in her chest. Even if her armor was protecting her from slashes, it couldn't keep her safe from the force of her kick.

Dagny flew back a couple of feet, somewhat dazed by her attack. However, the crusader quickly recomposed herself and charged once again. She swung down on Astrid's head, attempting to cave her skull into her body. Astrid shifted to the side, letting the weapon hit the ground instead before thrusting her dagger into her face, the one place that wasn't protected.

However, the crusader realized her plan and jerked her head back, watching the dagger narrowly miss her face by a few inches. She then shifted her body and swung her mace again, barreling it toward Astrid's torso.

Astrid ducked once more, crouching low and on all fours. Once the mace passed, she closed in on Dagny, tackling her to the ground. She tried to stab her face, bringing it down right between her eyes, but the crusader blocked the strike with her arm. The dark elf archer struggled to push the dagger down, desperately trying to pierce her opponent's skull. That was until Dagny had had enough and brought her legs up and kicked her away.

Astrid rolled along the floor before reorienting herself. Just in time witnessed the crusader charge at her with another mace-swinging strike. Instead of moving away, she lunged at the dark elf traitor, grabbing her arm that wielded the mace, and then tossed her over her shoulder. Dagny's back slammed into the floor, leaving a massive crack from the impact. Astrid wasn't done and pulled the dark elf back up, slamming her knee against her face and tossing her against the wall, making another large crack, like on the floor.

Dagny stumbled away from the wall, her nose now bleeding from the knee strike. She raised her head and glared at Astrid, to which she made a smug grin.

"Hurts, doesn't it?"

The crusader returned the grin. "You tell me."

Her mace suddenly emitted a bright yellow light as she swung it in the air, resulting in a powerful wave attack being hurled at Astrid. She jumped in the air to dodge it while bringing her bow out and loosing an arrow at the crusader.

As the projectile whistled toward Dagny, a familiar golden light appeared, forming around Dagny like some kind of barrier. Making contact with the barrier, the arrow harmlessly bounced off without damaging it.

Astrid's eyes widened and stared at the golden barrier. She could tell that it was different than the Mana barrier that mages used like Hazel. It wasn't just the appearance but also the energy being emitted. The dark elf hunter's keen eyes scanned the barrier, taking in the appearance.

"Seems like some kind of blessing spell..." Astrid muttered.

Dagny chuckled. "It's a perk from my crusader class. Can you guess which base class it evolved from?"

Astrid took a moment to consider before her face shifted to a scowl. "I'm assuming the Cleric Class?"

The crusader spread her arms wide while smiling at the hunter. "And you are correct!"

A moment later, the same golden glow appeared, shrouding Dagny's entire body like some kind of suit. Then, the injuries she sustained during their fight slowly healed. Her bleeding nose stopped, and the bruises on her face vanished in the blink of an eye.

Astrid watched this unfold with disdain. "Tch! Wonderful, you can heal yourself."

The cleric class possessed the ability to heal. She knew this firsthand after witnessing several players at the base with the same class assisting in healing various injured players. And since Dagny's crusader class evolved from the Cleric class, that meant she could use a spell to heal herself, since players retained the spells and skills from their previous class.

This put Astrid in a bit of a bind. Due to Dagny's healing spell, she could essentially keep this fight going until she ran out of mana, which could be a while until it got to that point. Then there was the problem in case the crusader used a mana potion to replenish her energy.

Because of these issues, Astrid couldn't help but feel out of her league. But that wasn't going to stop her.

"Are you going to give up, Lady Astrid?" Dagny asked with a sneer.

Instead of feeling annoyed, Astrid simply smiled at the traitor. "And why would I do that, when I finally get to pay you back for what you did to me?"

Seeing the determination in her tone, the crusader wore a stern expression while raising her mace. Her weapon then emitted a golden light, like the light from the barrier from before.

"I hope you won't regret this, Astrid."

"That's my line, Dagny."

Astrid then made the first move and attacked, thus beginning their second round.

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