Nearly two weeks had past since the guild's defeat to the northern army. After securing the chokepoint, the Redcoats continued their offensive, pushing Atlas backwards. With the 'glory of war' shattered and the unexplained absence of Hin, morale lowered drastically.

To address these issues and the future of the raid party, a meeting was called between the interim head of Atlas, Ayumi, and her guests.

"We need to do something soon or we're going to have a mutiny on our hands!" Bojohn started. "Some of the troops are beginning to think this event isn't worth the trouble. They want to return to Hudson."

"They'll get their drive back once Hin gets here." Ayumi countered. "He'll know just what to do to bring everyone back in line."

"We can't rely on Hin to solve this problem." Wrottzen cut in. "Everyone else who died in that battle has returned to the frontline except for Hin."

"In Ayumi's defense Hin's respawn could just be taking longer." Bojohn suggested. "There is still a lot we don't know about this world."

"An extra hour maybe, heck I'd believe an extra day because of his high level but two weeks?" Wrottzen asked. "I find that a little hard to swallow."

"All right then. If you don't think he's respawning, what do you think happened to Hin?" Ayumi shot back angrily.

"Uhh..." The Guardian said as he tried to think of an answer. While it was true that Hin's high level or status as guild leader could have slowed his respawn time, something about that theory didn't seem right.

"What if he's been captured?"

All eyes turned to May, who had remained silent throughout most of the meeting.

"W-What? Isn't it a common battle strategy to try and capture enemies in battle?" She added, clearly a little flustered after gaining everyone's attention.

"Maybe in real life but not in Elder Tale." Ayumi replied, "The AI has never captured a player unit before."

"Maybe not, but things are changing." Wrottzen chimed in. "I think she's onto something."

"Really!" The Druid replied excitedly.

"Think about things from the enemies point of view. They are facing Adventurers they know have the ability to respawn." The Guardian explained. "The only possible way to permanently take a player out of the action would be to capture and hold the unit. Combine that with the fact Hin is the Guild Leader of Atlas, and you have a prime target for capture."

"It would explain why he hasn't respawned, because he hasn't been killed." Bojohn reasoned.

"Those monsters!" Ayumi exclaimed, as a dark aura surrounded her face. "I'll kill them all for this."

Ignoring Ayumi's sudden burst of killing intent, Bojohn continued, "If we think Hin has been captured, how do we get him back?"

"Probably by finishing this event." The red haired Guardian replied. "We'll have to continue to march north until we reach the final fortress."

"Fort Bifrost, right?" May chimed in.

"Correct." Ayumi replied, having recovered from her previous outburst. "It's modeled after Fort Ticonderoga, which played a pivotal role in the American Revolution."

"That's great and all but we're still weeks away from being anywhere near Fort Bifrost." Bojohn added dejectedly.

"Then we need to rally our troops and get there!" May said.

"Easier said then done." Wrottzen replied. "We've taken a serious beating since losing Hin and it's worn down our troops. We need to establish a new chain of command if we want any hope of reaching Fort Bifrost on our own.

"So basically we need a raid leader until we can rescue Hin." Bojohn simplified. "Ayumi, are you up for the job?"

"Yes and no. I am capable of doing it, but my leading might not have the effect you're aiming for."

"What do you mean?" May asked.

"I'm not exactly popular with a lot of guild members, especially the women. Threaten them once against taking your man and for whatever reason they hate you for life."

"Yeah. Imagine that..." Wrottzen replied dryly. "There has to be someone in the ranks who can take over. All they need is likability, the ability to inspire loyalty and sound tactical knowledge."

As he finished speaking, Wrottzen looked up to see the other three Adventurers looking at him expectantly.

"You want me to do it?!"

"You just described yourself to a tee. Of course you should do it!" May exclaimed.

"I'm not even a member of Atlas, these people barely know me."

"That means they haven't formed a negative opinion yet." Ayumi countered.

"I'm too low level, I'd never keep up with the frontline players."

"You won't have to. You've been working on a bow set. If you wield that, you can stay away from the frontlines, contribute to the attack and easily coordinate the troops." Bojohn countered.

"I bet we can even find a few archers who would be willing to loan equipment to help with the level gap." May added.

"But... But surely there is someone else qualified who is already an Atlas member." The Guardian stammered, beginning to cave.

"Even if there were, I wouldn't know." Ayumi replied, "The only person worth my time is Hin, who cares about these other losers."

"Fine, I'll do it." Wrottzen replied. "But I have a condition."

"And that would be?" The Assassin asked.

"I want May and Bojohn with me during each battle. Nothing is going to change the fact that I'm underleveled for this. I at least want people I trust nearby in case things go wrong. Is that acceptable?"

"I believe so." Ayumi replied. "The troops are yours to command."

"Thank you," Wrottzen replied. "If you three wouldn't mind gathering the troops, they should be notified of the change in command and our strategy going forward."

It didn't take long for the raid party to gather around the commander's tent for the impromptu meeting. Once everyone was gathered, the new raid leader stepped out to address the troops.

"Hello everyone, my name is Wrottzen. I am one of three guests of your guild on this expedition and let me begin my thanking you all for letting us join you." He started, trying to win over the Adventurers. "Many of you have probably noticed the absence of your guild leader Hin and I believe we can now provide an explanation. He has been taken captive by our enemy." The crowd responded with disbelief. "This is an unprecedented and unusual act but true all the same. In order to save Hin, we must complete this event and take Fort Bifrost. To accomplish this, your temporary guild leader Ayumi has named me raid leader until Hin is retrieved."

The crowd, which had been fairly cooperative, sudden went into an uproar, echoing all of Wrottzen's previous concerns.

"She's leading us?! She's not even an Atlas member!"

"Have you taken a look at her level? She won't last two seconds in actual combat."

One particularly loud voice pierced through the crowd. "Don't we get a say in this?" Stepping through the crowd, the voice was revealed to be the mage Hailstone, who had fought with Wrottzen during the last battle. "Shouldn't Atlas members decide who should lead this Atlas raid party? Heck I could probably do a better job at leading than this inexperienced newbie."

A chant began resonating through the crowd, "Hail Hail Hailstone! Hail Hail Hailstone!"

"You're losing them!" Ayumi said, as the chant grew ever louder.

"Everyone please! Don't you trust the judgement of your guild leaders?"

"Maybe Hin's but her's," Came a reply from the audience referring to Ayumi.

"I said hello to Hin once and she threatened to scalp me." One girl added.

"I tried asking her out once and she nearly cut my junk off." Another man added.

"Even if you don't trust Ayumi's judgement, I'm telling you that you can trust mine and I'm willing to prove it." Wrottzen declared.

"Oh yeah? How do you plan to do that?" Hailstone asked.

"Allow me to lead you all in one battle to retake the chokepoint where we lost Hin. If we are victorious, then you should have no problem with my taking command and if we fail, I will open a general election to the entirety of the guild to choose a new leader. Is that acceptable?"

The statement was met with silence from the crowd as they could not find a flaw in the logic.

"I'll take that as a yes." The Guardian continued. "Now everyone prepare for battle! We'll be setting out in an hour!"

As the crowd dispersed, Bojohn approached his friend and said, "That's a pretty bold statement you made up their."

"I was losing the crowd. I had to do something."

"Well it worked, for now."

"I'm going to get a strategy ready for the battle. Get May and try to track down some archer gear for me will ya?"

"No prob man and good luck." The swashbuckler replied before running off.

Now... How can we retake the chokepoint?

AN: Hello everyone, I have returned with a drive to write! The positive feedback on this story has been incredible even without my updating and I'd like to thank you all for that. This chapter would have been out Friday but I thought it was too short and wrote a little extra. I have since changed my mind but I can say that Chapter 13 is already in the works because of it. Happy reading and I hope you enjoy.