NOVEL NEXT Chapter 186: Decisive Battle
Astrid ducked low, dodging one of Dagny's wave attacks from her mace. The attack zipped past her and etched a large and deep line in the wall behind her. Her feet kicked off the floor as she charged at the crusader.
Dagny braced herself, letting the dark elf hunter come at her. Getting close, she slashed her dagger, only to be blocked by the mace. A metallic clang echoed through the hall they were in as they continued their battle.
The crusader swung her mace at Astrid's head as if trying to take it off her shoulders entirely. The hunter crouched, letting the mace whiz past the top of her skull, kicking up her hair in the process. While crouched, Astrid then aimed her weapon at her opponent's torso. She precisely struck through one of the gaps in the armor, piercing through her skin as a result.
Dagny let out a pained groan and kicked Astrid away. The dark elf rolled a few times before getting back on her feet, raising her dagger to defend herself from any unexpected attacks. Thankfully, the crusader was still clutching the wound she inflicted earlier. A red substance seeped through the gap she stabbed through, telling her that the attack was successful.
However, it didn't take long before Dagny cast a healing spell, enveloping her wound in a golden glow much like before. A few seconds passed until she finally pulled her blood-stained hand away. And unlike before, the wound was no longer bleeding.
Astrid clicked her tongue irritably. "This is bullshit..."
Dagny looked at Astrid for a moment and gave her a smug grin. "Hey, it's your fault for trying to fight a player with healing spells in the first place. You should already know how this fight is going to turn out."
The dark elf hunter glared at her former ally but didn't say anything to refute her statement. Not when she was right to say such a thing. Astrid really was at a disadvantage in this fight. Every time she harmed Dagny, the armored crusader would just heal herself and act like nothing had happened.
At this rate, she was going to lose in no time. Even if there was a chance for her to make Dagny waste her mana so she couldn't heal herself anymore, it was possible that she would run out of stamina before successfully pulling that off.
However, she couldn't back down here. Not when she had the opportunity to take down not only Dagny and Olga, but also the others who betrayed her. But to accomplish this, she needed to do her part. And that involved taking down Dagny and whoever else was with her during this siege.
Speaking of which...
"Just out of curiosity," Astrid spoke up. "Who else is helping you with this little false raid of yours?
Dagny smiled. "Curious, are we?"
She shrugged. "A little. So, who is it?"
"It's Frode since you asked."
"Frode, huh?" She narrowed her eyes. "Considering that he was practicing in the dark arts back before the merging, I'm assuming that he's some kind of mage?"
"A dark mage, actually."
"Figures..."
Much like Dagny and Olga, Frode was also a former member of Astrid's group. Until he joined Dolk's side and betrayed and nearly killed her as a result, while also killing their former companions who joined them as well. Honestly, out of all the dark elves, Astrid was currently trying to get revenge on, Frode was one she didn't expect to betray her.
It wasn't like he was extremely loyal to her or anything, but actually the opposite. He was more of a neutral stance, kind of person. He never sided with one person or the other and simply remained in the middle ground. A lot of the residents of the Greyvolk tribe found this habit of his to be rather exhausting. But this never stopped Frode from remaining neutral.
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However, that no longer seemed to be the case, considering who he was siding with now. And that bothered Astrid even more. It was one thing not to side with Astrid, but to work under her brother? That was beyond her expectations, even by Frode's standards.
Still, that wasn't going to stop her from getting that bastard as well. He betrayed her and the rest of their tribe. That meant he needed to suffer the consequences of doing such a thing. And Astrid was going to make sure he did.
Astrid then blitzed toward Dagny, aiming her dagger at her neck. The attack was deflected by her mace when the crusader swung it just in time. The sudden force jerked Astrid's hand back, allowing Dagny to change positions and aim the tip of her mace at her stomach. She drove it into her gut, causing the dark elf hunter to get thrown back.
She crashed against a wall, but immediately pulled herself out to not get caught in another attack. This was the right call because Dagny had already hurled another energy wave attack in her direction.
Astrid leaped over the attack, watching it zip past her before she landed on the ground and sprinted toward her opponent. Dagny did the same, and the two players then charged at one another.
Once they were face to face, Dagny made the first move, swinging her mace down on Astrid's head. Astrid easily shifted to the side, letting the mace strike the floor instead. Once her weapon was stuck on the floor for a moment, the dark elf hunter closed the distance further and thrust her weapon at her neck.
Dagny noticed where she was aiming and hastily jerked her head to the side to avoid getting her throat stabbed. Despite her fast reflexes, Astrid's blade still dug into the side of her neck, deep enough that blood immediately gushed from the wound.
The crusader's eyes widened as her hand was immediately placed against the wound on her neck to use her healing spell. Just as the golden light pulsed from her palm, Astrid's hand blurred toward her arm. She then gripped Dagny's wrist and ripped it away from her neck, just when the spell was doing its job.
Astrid examined the wound, noticing that while the wound had closed, it wasn't fully healed. In fact, there were bits of the wound from the cut that were already beginning to reopen. But it wasn't life-threatening...and that was all Astrid needed.
Keeping Dagny's hand away to prevent her from casting another healing spell on the wound, the dark elf hunter proceeded to drive her knee into her torso. Just as the crusader bent over while letting out a wheeze, Astrid then put her arm over her shoulder and then flipped her over, slamming her against the floor. A large crack was made in the process, but Astrid didn't care and focused on her opponent.
Just as Dagny managed to collect herself, Astrid clenched her hand into a fist and struck her face with as much force as she could muster. Aside from her high agility stat due to her class, her strength stat was the second highest, which made her exceptionally strong.
After getting struck by Astrid's strongest hit, Dagny laid on the floor and was unconscious. Astrid knew that she wasn't dead because there wasn't a kill notification flashing before her eyes. This allowed Hazel to take a moment to catch her breath and let out a heavy sigh.
"That took longer than expected..." Astrid groaned, looking down at the unconscious crusader. "Since I took care of Dagny, all that was left now was Frode..."
If her guess was right, Frode was likely taking charge of the little raid happening on the other side of the building. While she wanted to head over there and deal with that bastard, she still had to keep an eye on Olga and Dagny. If she kept her eyes off them, then they would likely escape when she least expected it. So, how was she going to deal with this?
As Astrid pondered over her options, she suddenly received a message from Hazel in the Chat Room.
[Hazel Thatcher: Hey, how is everything on your end?]
[Astrid Skogr: I just took down Dagny, but there's still another dark elf at the base that I need to take care of. His name is Frode, and I believe he's currently raiding the building to allow Dagny to rescue Olga. The problem is I can't really do anything about that since I need to keep an eye on the other two.]
[Hazel Thatcher: Oof, sounds rough.]
Astrid scowled at the message, but before she could give a scolding, Hazel sent another message.
[Hazel Thatcher: If you're worried about the raid happening, then you can rest easy. I've got some people who can help you out with that.]
She raised an eyebrow curiously.
[Astrid Skogr: What do you mean by that?]
[Hazel Thatcher: Head over to where the battle is and you'll see.]
Astrid didn't like how ominous that sounded. Even if she couldn't see Hazel at the moment, she could already imagine that girl giving her a wicked smile as she always did. That usually meant she was doing something both dangerous and devious.
However, considering that Hazel's wicked deeds always helped them in desperate situations...she really had no choice but to do what she said. And since this was likely her best chance to take down Frode and grab all three dark elves that betrayed her...she couldn't let that opportunity pass by.