Hexbound Apocalypse [LitRPG Apocalypse] (Book 3 Finished!)

Hazel dismissed the message screen after telling Astrid about the cavalry on its way. Hopefully, the Orcs she sent were enough to aid them in the battle against the Raiders. It was all up to Astrid, the Orcs, and the residents of the Valiant Guild's base now.

She then set her sights on her primary target below her. That being Dolk Knut, the person who betrayed her partner and nearly killed her. She looked down at the dark elf with an intense glare, taking in his appearance and reaction. He looked rather terrified while staring at her, almost as if he feared her.

This was good for her since he might surrender of his own volition and save her the trouble of fighting him. Not that he had much of a chance in the first place.

However, aside from Dolk, the other two were...questionable. Just as Hazel arrived at the scene where Zoe and the others were getting ambushed and faced Dolk, she noticed that two new players had entered the game.

She first noticed their pointed ears, which meant that both of them were part of the elf species. However, due to their skin being fair and white instead of gray, they weren't dark elves like Dolk. Which meant they were either High Elves, regular Elves, or Moon Elves.

Hazel didn't know much about moon elves but could tell that these two weren't one of those, which left either the High Elves or normal Elves. The problem was that she couldn't really pinpoint much of a difference. Though that was because she didn't know what either of them looked like.

At least with dark elves, aside from their pointed ears, they also possessed a gray skin tone. That's why they were easy for her to contrast them with the others. But the same could be said for the other two subspecies, which was why Hazel struggled to properly identify them.

She did notice that the two elves were attacking Dolk, though she was clueless regarding the contents behind the conflict. Plus, that didn't really tell her much except that these elves didn't like Dolk. Which was good for her, but if they planned on killing Dolk...then that was going to be a problem, since she needed him alive for Astrid.

Hazel rubbed her head irritably. "Dammit, this is getting annoying."

While she could just go through all the possible scenarios and possibilities regarding the identity of the two elves in her head, she decided that simply confronting them would be the best course of action. She was on the clock, after all, and was running short on time.

Making her decision, she slowly descended from the sky and landed in front of the two parties. Dolk and the two elves watched as she dropped to their level, witnessing her gracefully plant her feet on the floor while maintaining visual contact.

All three of them remained still, due to being under Hazel's evil eyes skill. However, thanks to her veil, she activated the item's ability and blocked her eyes. This allowed the elves to breathe easily and move once again. They took several deep breaths as their bodies jerked back under their control.

"So," Hazel spoke up with a clear yet firm tone. "May I ask who you two are? You both appear to be elves, but unlike that one," She pointed at Dolk while remarking. "I can't really tell if you are regular elves or high Elves. So, which is it?"

According to their status windows, the one with the sword was Tine Havard, who was a battle mage, and the one with the glowing orb, which she also appraised as a spirit due to her class being a spirit mage, was Runa Havard. Considering that they possessed the same name meant that they were likely sisters. Sadly, their status windows didn't display their races, which would've saved her a lot of trouble in this situation.

Tine scoffed at Hazel's question as if offended by what she asked them. "My sister and I are elves from the Mapleash tribe."

"The Mapleash tribe..." Hazel mused.

She heard about that tribe from Astrid. According to her, the Mapleash tribe was the first tribe of the original Elven race before the high elves, dark elves, and moon elves. This made it one of the oldest tribes in the Great Forest of Meir, and one of the most powerful due to their influence and power.

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However, that only made her question why they were in Portland. Maybe they got sent here after completing their Tutorial Dungeon, like with what happened to Astrid? She needed more information.

"And why exactly were you attacking this guy?" She once again pointed her finger at Dolk, referring to him.

"He's a criminal who aided the High Elves who are trying to take over the great forest of Meir."

"I told you before," Dolk earnestly interjected. "I worked under Kollr. Not the High Elves. Kollr was the one who had a partnership with them."

"That doesn't change the fact that you are aligned with the very despicable people who wish to rule over our forest with an iron fist," Tine spat with disdain, displaying her disgust and rage.

"I was aligned with them. I'm not anymore."

"That doesn't mean a thing!"

"Hate to say it, but she's honestly right," Hazel said, siding with Tine. "Even if you were working under Astrid's brother, you are still technically aiding the High Elves with their plan."

Just because he was no longer working with Kollr and the high elves didn't change the fact that he still helped them before going AWOL. That much was certain.

"Now I want you to answer my question," Tine said sternly while pointing her blade at Hazel. "Who are you, and what is your relationship with this scum?" Much like Hazel, the elf didn't refer to Dolk by his name but by an insult instead.

Hazel scowled at the elf for pointing the sword at her, but refrained from doing anything hasty. At least for the moment.

"I have no relationship with this guy, but my partner does. He betrayed her along with a few other dark elves and tried to kill her as well. My partner wants revenge and is trying to gather them all up, so she could make them pay for what they've done."

Tine raised an eyebrow. "Your partner? And who is that?"

"Astrid Skogr."

"The daughter of the Greyvolk tribe chief?!"

Hazel nodded. Considering that Astrid was the future chief of the tribe, it was obvious that she would be well-known. At least in the Great Forest of Meir. Even Chegyaeyi realized who she was when they first met.

It was moments like this that reminded her that Astrid wasn't just some dark elf she met in their tutorial dungeon, but a person of nobility, in a sense. A celebrity, if you will. Of course, that wasn't going to change their relationship with one another. Hazel wasn't some servant to Astrid, and she wasn't her boss. They were partners. Plain and simple. And that was going to stay that way no matter what.

"By the way," Hazel spoke up, crossing her arms. "What exactly do you plan to do with this guy? Are you going to kill him?" Her tone got colder, displaying a hint of hostility that the elves quickly picked up on.

"As much as I want to, I can't," Tine shook her head. "It's possible that he possesses information regarding the High Elves' plan. That and possibly help us find more spies and traitors within the forest."

"So you plan to arrest him and take him back to the Great Forest of Meir to grill him for information, huh?"

Tine nodded, confirming her question.

This was certainly unexpected for Hazel. But this was also a stroke of good luck. Since they planned to return to the forest, maybe Astrid and they could work together with the elves. After all, they more or less had the same goal.

"Alright, then," Hazel said with an upbeat tone while clapping her hands together. "Since you are clearly not a high elf and not on Dolk's side, how about we cooperate for a bit?"

"Cooperate?" She said suspiciously. "Cooperate, how exactly?"

"Well, I still need to bring Dolk back to Astrid along with the other Dark Elves, so she can get her revenge. However, since you need information from him, I'm sure that you guys and Astrid could come to an agreement regarding how to deal with them together, where you both get what you want. After that, I was wondering if we could join you on your way back to the Great Forest of Meir. Astrid technically wasn't meant to be in Portland, but ended up here because of me, so I want to try and help her get back to her home."

After hearing this, Tine mulled over her explanation while sparing a couple of glances at Runa, who simply shrugged her shoulders, providing no help in regards to how they should respond to Hazel's deal.

However, after a few moments of pondering, the elf soon made a decision.

"If you truly are partners with Astrid Skogr, then I suppose that cooperating with you will be beneficial for us. After everything that happened back at the Great Forest of Meir, we need as much help as possible."

Hazel smiled. Looked like her plan to work with the elves actually worked. While she didn't think she would accept so easily without much convincing, it was much better than struggling to get her to agree through favors and the like. She truly lucked out on this.

"Cool, so once we head back to the base, we can further discuss our plans to depart for the great forest of Meir."

Tine then shook her head, causing Hazel to pause. "While we are eager to bring this dark elf back to the great forest of Meir, we still have our original mission given to us by our lord."

Hazel leaned her head to the side curiously. "And what was your original mission? Maybe I can help since we need to head to the great forest as soon as possible."

"We were originally sent to this part of the world to search for two individuals."

"And who were they?"

Upon asking this question, what Hazel heard next floored her to the ground.

"Their names are Hazel and Evelyn Thatcher."