Zoe and the rest of the players continued to fight against the approaching invaders. Whether it was from outside or inside the hospital building, they dealt with them all the same. A symphony of metal clanging against metal, followed by explosions and shouts, filled the floor that they were on. What used to be only a couple of players attacking at a time had now turned into well over a dozen, forcing the group to stay together so they could take them on quickly.

Just as the small army of players charged at the two parties, both Anais and the scholar conjured their spells and hurled them at the enemy. The resulting blow exploded the floor, causing bits of it to fly around them, pelting everywhere and everyone indiscriminately.

For the enemy players who weren't severely harmed or injured at all by their spell attack, they moved forward to get closer to their targets. That was when the vanguards of the group stepped in.

Zoe and Mara were the ones at the very front and zipped toward their approaching foes. Once they closed the distance in seconds, the two knights easily cut down their opponents, making their deaths quick and painless. A couple more players approached but were struck with arrows and spells before getting too close. Not that Zoe or Mara was all that worried. Even if the rear guards missed, they were more than confident enough to deal with them.

Once they took care of the group of enemies, Zoe, along with everyone else, took a moment to catch their breath, knowing that it wouldn't be long before another wave of opponents attacked them.

"They just won't quit," Kane grumbled, breathing heavily.

"Not only that, but they're also numerous," The hunter from Mara's guild noted with a groan. "Just how many players did they hound on us?"

Although they were holding their own, there was a limit to how long they could endure these waves. At least with Zoe's team, they were used to the waves after experiencing something similar with the spider swarm. In fact, this was much easier than the spiders, which was why they were able to endure this for so long.

"That dark elf seems pretty serious about wanting to take us down," Mara noted, wiping the sweat from her brow. "To think he brought so many of his members to attack us."

"It's because two guild leaders decided to meet here is why he is going to such lengths," Zoe explained. "He wants to make sure that he kills us, and he's obviously willing to tire us out by throwing his people into the fray to do it."

Zoe knew that Dolk was determined to take down her and Mara since this was clearly a rare opportunity for him. Of course, she didn't expect the bastard to send in so many people to get the job done. What was worse was that it didn't seem like the dark elf cared about what happened to his people. Did he only consider them pawns or something? That seemed heartless even for a guy who betrayed one of his own and nearly killed them.

"They're not going to stop until we're all dead," Nick suddenly said. "We need to leave before they overwhelm us to the point where we can't escape anymore."

"I hate to say it, but he's right," Mara chimed in. "We won't last very long if this keeps up."

Zoe clicked her tongue after hearing the black knight herself say such a thing. To that, even someone like her felt the need to retreat. Back before their worlds merged, Mara Grisel was one of the most dangerous and undefeated knights in the empire. Aside from being called the Black Knight, Mara was also called the Black Hound of Ruinvia, due to her savage and wild nature. That and the fact that she never backed down from a fight.

And yet...it seemed that even the blackhound had her limits.

The Callahan knight let out a sigh, coming to terms with their predicament. It seemed that Hazel wasn't going to make it. If they waited any longer for her, then they weren't going to survive. For now, it would be best for them to run away while they could.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Alright, then," She spoke up. "Let's-!"

Her sentence was cut off when all of them heard a loud crash in one of the halls. Hearing the noise, the other players instantly took action, drawing their weapons while facing the source of the sound.

"The hell was that?" Kane questioned.

"I don't know, but keep your eyes peeled," Zoe ordered, raising her sword in preparation for the fight.

All of them scanned the area, looking for whatever had made that crash just now. Then, out of nowhere, a dark figure darted toward the group. It then closed in on one of the weakest members, Nick.

The gladiator barely noticed the figure barreling toward him before he raised his weapon in alarm. Just before the figure could strike him down, Zoe and Mara rushed it and blocked the enemy's attack. Upon blocking the strike, they were both pushed back by the sheer force of the blow.

However, with their combined strength, the pair managed to push the enemy away, watching them slide across the floor a few feet away from them. That was when they got a good look at their current opponent.

He wore heavy black armor, much similar to Mara's, but not as heavily armored. In his hand was a bastard sword made completely out of some kind of black metal. But what really caught Zoe's attention was the enemy's gray skin and pointed ears. The tell-tale sign of a dark elf.

Mara was the first to voice her concerns. "A dark elf? Is it Dolk?"

Hearing this, the dark elf before them laughed, resting his bastard sword against his shoulder. "My name is Esil!" He announced while pounding his fist against his chest. "I'll only say this once, so listen well! Which one of you two is Zoe Callahan and Mara Grisel?"

Zoe and Mara froze for a moment at the mention of their names being called out. They knew why the dark elf was calling out to them, but it still came as a bit of a shock. But only for a brief moment, since they were aware of the dark elf, Esil's, goal.

Instead of standing around and stalling, the two knights simply walked toward the dark elf, practically revealing themselves to him.

"You were looking for us, right?" Zoe said with a smile.

"Well, here we are!" Mara sneered while aiming her sword at him.

The dark elf raised an eyebrow before letting out a hearty laugh. "I like you two! So, don't disappoint me, you hear?!"

Declaring this, Esil brandished his weapon and charged at the two players. Mara and Zoe did the same, and the three soon clashed against one another.

...

"So, where exactly do we start looking?" Runa questioned while flying on her griffon.

"I'm not sure," Tine said regrettably.

Although the two elves finally made it to their destination, they were now faced with a very pressing issue, which was how they were supposed to locate their targets. Due to the sudden change in the geography of the land, neither of them knew where they start searching for their lord's family members.

For all they knew, they could be anywhere within the area. Or nowhere at all because they were likely located somewhere outside of the city. That was the worst-case scenario for them since their search would be even broader than before.

Just as the duo flew over the city of Portland, they soon heard shouting and explosions from below. Looking down, they noticed that some kind of battle was happening near one of the buildings they were over.

Tine took a closer look with a skill that allowed her to view things with a telescopic view. When she did, she witnessed a rather chaotic scene with players rushing inside one of the buildings or hurling spells and arrows at it instead.

"It seems like there's some kind of turf war occurring," Tine noted, keeping her eyes on the scene for a bit.

"I guess we can't really ask them for information right now, huh?"

Tine looked back at her partner with a dubious expression. "Gee, you think?"

Even if there was a chance for them to go down there and talk to one of the players, they were hesitant to follow through with that plan. Not only did they not know if these players were good, bad, or neutral, but there was a possibility that those players could actually decide to attack them instead.

Tine and Runa wanted to stay out of conflict while they were there. At least until they found their targets.

Tine continued to watch the chaotic battle unfold, taking in the scene from above. As she looked around, her eyes then spotted something rather interesting.

"Wait...is that...?!"

"What's wrong?"

Amid the chaos, Tine noticed that a lone figure was also watching the whole thing transpire from a distance. However, his appearance surprised her.

Instead of a human, Orc, or some other species, this person...was a dark elf. And not just any dark elf, but one that was listed as a dangerous individual who was apparently involved in the dissolution of the Great Forest of Meir.

It was Dolk, the dark elf.

As soon as Tine saw him, her brows creased before she changed course and flew straight toward her new target.

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