Dot's eyes contained some inexplicable meaning as he watched his teammates argue. He carefully glanced at Cyclone and Balm a few times. The longer they stayed silent the more confident he got.
"We heard enough!", stated Cyclone finally. The assassins quietened down but still glared fiercely at each other.
Cyclone nodded at Balm, allowing her to give the first part of the verdict. The healer took a deep breath and looked at the two assassins who had died outside the wall:
"Golden Fate, Ender, you are hereby expelled from Dream Avenue..."
"What?!"
"You can't do that!"
"Please give us another chance."
Balm shook her head, continuing with a loud voice:
"...you are hereby expelled from Dream Avenue for disregarding the guild leader's orders during a war. However, we will note down your names and invite you to join Dream Avenue's first sub-guild upon its founding. If you can prove yourself there, you can rejoin Dream Avenue later."
"No, please! I just got this job..."
"We made a contract!"
"We have already checked with C. Your offense is severe enough to warrant a cancellation of the contract!"
The two assassins opened their mouths but didn't find any more reason to retort. They were caught between sadness, regret and anger. Their eyes moved towards Dot blaming the team leader for bringing them into this situation.
Dot couldn't suppress the bright smile behind his mask. This went better than expected. He never thought Cyclone and Balm would decide to kick people at such a sensible point. Dot had to admit that he underestimated the resolve of the two young women. But kicking Golden Fate and Ender showed that Cyclone and Balm were inclined to believe Dot. Or so he thought...
After Balm spoke to Golden Fate and Ender, Cyclone took over looking at the other two assassins:
"Dot, M1rabell, you are also expelled from Dream Avenue."
Dot was still distracted by the scenarios he made up in his head. He didn't even react before Cyclone continued:
"You are expelled for disregarding the guild leader's orders during a war. M1rabell, you are given the same chance to retribution as Golden Fate and Ender. Dot, as a team leader you have more responsibility. Failing to honour that, you will not be granted a second chance. Your time in Dream Avenue is over."
The scene fell silent. Dot slowly processed what he had heard, his eyes gradually filling with disbelief. M1rabell on the other hand didn't know how to react at all subtly glancing toward Dot for instruction.
"I... I don't even get a second chance?!"
Finally, Dot found something to say. He was ready to argue with Cyclone and Balm. As everyone other than him got a second chance he thought his chances were pretty good.
But the two young women wouldn't have it. Suddenly a light engulfed Dot and he found himself back in Duabalis city. He looked dumbfounded as a notification appeared in front of him.
[You have been kicked from the guild Dream Avenue. Your contract has been cancelled. If you want to file an objection, please contact C.]
Dot narrowed his eyes.
"Fair enough..."
With a scoff he turned around and wandered off, leaving only M1rabell behind.
Cyclone and Balm breathed deeply as their shoulders slumped. It was never a good feeling to kick people out of the guild. Especially in a high-pressure situation like the territory war.
"Don't worry, you did the right thing."
"I feel like those were spies anyways."
"That team leader gave me a weird feeling."
Cyclone and Balm looked thankfully at their friends as they tried to cheer the duo up.
"We did what had to be done. We will get used to it."
With those words Cyclone waved her hand, indicating that the situation was over. The friends had more important things to take care off. They returned to the wall, taking command there.
During the first wave there was no damage done to the walls. The NPCs as well as the players had hardly used any resources. Only the arrows and throwing spears had to be filled up.
Right now, the NPCs as well as the profession players back in the town were still demolishing buildings for resources, using them to constantly produce supplies. Their aim was to store a big surplus so they wouldn't run out of resources to repair the wall.
There was not much for the guild leaders to oversee. They went up the wall taking position. While walking among the guild members they could already hear some discussions. The fact that Cyclone and Balm kicked four guild members couldn't be hidden.
The guild members had various opinions, but overall it sounded like most people agreed with how the situation had been handled. Although some argued that they should've waited until after the war as ever bit of help could be important right now.
Cyclone and Balm didn't explain themselves. There was no real dissatisfaction, and this small issue wouldn't affect the guild war. Perhaps the players would forget it as soon as the next enemies appeared.
Soon the break between the waves was over. The timer reached zero and the second wave started.
The enemies again began with sending out the lizards serving as cannon fodder. This time, though, there were a few elites among them which tanked even more attacks. The mist dwarves appeared earlier than during the first wave and prepared to use the elite lizards as cover to get closer to the wall.
After a while the war again entered a delicate balance with the frontline stopping about halfway towards the wall. Yet Dream Avenue was met with a small challenge as more mist dwarves survived this time. They suddenly charged towards the wall, their swift movement making them difficult to hit.
"Are you blind?"
"They are getting through!"
"Fire, fire!"
The mist dwarves immediately caused a small-scale tumult. Soon they were so close to the wall that they were impossible to hit from most angles.
"What should we do?"
"Asked the boss if we should pour hot oil!"
"Are they attacking the wall?"
[Bleary Mirage: Calm down! There are only five dwarves. Position five teams at the edge of the wall and kill them as soon as they reach the top!]
Liam already anticipated the dwarves' movements. He watched as the mist in five spots billowed, creeping up the wall.
Within the mist the figures of the dwarves could be seen. They climbed up the walls, their movements reminiscent of spiders. As the mist engulfed them, they randomly got new limbs which held onto a rock, pushed the body up, and disappeared again. It was quite an eerie scene.
It didn't take that long until the five dwarves reached the top of the wall. Thanks to Liam's preparations however, they were immediately welcomed by small teams. The tanks secured the aggro and locked the dwarves with their bodies, preventing them from reaching the ranged attackers.
Isolated on top of the wall the mist dwarves couldn't cause much trouble and quickly fell under attacks from all sides.
[Bleary Mirage: Good job. Focus back on the Lizards. Kill the elite at the front!]
There was no time to celebrate a small achievement. Liam made sure that everyone stayed focused. Under his command the army kept firing at the lizards. From time to time a few more mist dwarves would appear, but their numbers were too low to be a threat.
Towards the end of the second wave the enemies again sent a few mist orcs. The lizards did their best to defend the orcs, but this time Liam found the master commanding the lizards even earlier, ordering others to take them out.
With the master gone, the lizards only acted on instinct and the orcs lost their protection. This time around they were even less of a threat than during the first wave. After a while the last lizard fell, and Dream Avenue easily made it through the second wave.
"Damn, we're so good!"
"They stand no chance!"
"I feel this war is easier than expected."
"Hey guys, don't get cocky. It's only the second wave."
The morale in the army was high. Some officers even had to caution their soldiers so they wouldn't develop a deflated ego. Liam did his best to keep a delicate balance in the guild. The players were allowed to have fun, but they shouldn't underestimate the enemies.
The army took a few minutes to resupply, and the third wave began. Right away shouts of surprise could be heard as the first to come out of the mines were a bunch of elite lizards. Flicking their tongues they moved their large bodies towards the wall like an unstoppable rolling tide. It took a lot of arrows to take even one of them down.
Following behind the row of tanks was a thick cloud of mist. It was difficult to discern who was moving within it. A few huge figures could be seen, indicating that more lizards appeared, but there were obvious gaps between them.
Luckily Liam already knew what to expect from the enemies and was able to give appropriate commands.