A Guild Master's Favor

SLAM!

"And who gave you the right to do that?!" Azura Xalthor slammed on his desk, enraged. Even though the man in front of him was a Platinum Rank Adventurer, he didn't back down. He was a Platinum Rank Adventurer himself, but he knew just how powerful the person in front of him was.

Sun Wu scratched his head and indifferently sighed. "Look, guild master, we needed to reduce our headcount. It was getting harder and harder for us to go inside dungeons with him trailing behind our backs."

Azura slammed his desk for a second time, gritting his teeth. "You have no idea what you're talking about. Do you know what he's done these past few days?"

"He defeated a Tri-Horn Minotaur, he conquered the Second and presumably the Third Outerlayer." Azura continued. "He reclaimed the Kingdom of Pantheos... you still think he's useless?" Azura couldn't contain his anger anymore so he turned away.

Despite the fact that he was incredibly disappointed with Sun Wu, he knew he couldn't say too much since that might force him to leave the guild. He already lost a hero while he was away, he couldn't afford to lose another one.

"You're dismissed." Azura let out.

He had decided to take matters into his own hands. Instead of asking Sun Wu to apologize or to ask Albrecht to go back, he would do it himself.

He would personally ask Albrecht to return to the guild. If he didn't want to, then he'd at least try to coerce him into signing a temporary contract just like what the Lomenschwaal Guild did.

"If this continues on... we're going to be left behind."

—

A couple hours later,

Albrecht arrived in front of the Rilegarthe Guild with utter confusion. This was the first time the guild master requested to meet up. "Is he going to ask me to return? There's no way, right? I mean, he didn't even say anything when I was kicked out."

Margaret promptly guided him to the guild master's office, and there was Azura Xalthor, sitting behind his desk with his hands clasped in front of him.

"Oh, Albrecht, you came."

"O-osu~"

With a bow, Margaret excused herself and shut the door behind her, leaving Albrecht and Azura in the office.

Silence then befell the room for a couple of seconds as Azura stood up and approached Albrecht. 'Am I going to get jumped?' Albrecht asked himself in confusion.

He thought that the guild master would attack him so he backed down a couple of steps as he approached. However, he didn't sense any form of animosty emanating from him. In fact, he seemed like he was there to make amends.

"Albrecht," He finally spoke just when he was within arm's reach. "I... I would like to apologize."

Bowing ninety degrees in front of Albrecht was the guild master of the Rilegarthe Guild. It came off as a surprise that Albrecht froze up in place. He genuinely didn't know how to react.

"I've been on a dungeon raid these past few days and I wasn't able to stop Sun Wu from removing you from the Heroes of Relics. I hope you forgive me for my incompetence."

Albrecht stayed silent. It seemed as if Azura Xalthor had more things to say.

"I won't ask you to go back, but if you want to return to this guild, you can return whenever you want, Albrecht. I'll also give you preferential treatment in terms of monthly salary and benefits."

It was certainly a good offer, but Albrecht shook his head in response. "Right now, I don't have any plans of joining a party or a guild, guild master. But if I ever change my mind, I hope you won't go back on your offer." Albrecht respectfully bowed his head towards Azura. He could tell that the guild master was sincere with his words, that's why he accepted his apology immediately.

Besides, it's not like it was his fault that he got removed from the Heroes of Relics party. When it came down to it, it was Albrecht's incompetence that ultimately led to his banishment.

Then again, everyone's got their own incompetence one way or another. His banishment from the party was uncalled for and outrageously uncalled for.

"Thank you so much for, Albrecht, for accepting my apology. I hope we'll continue to have an amicable relationship as fellow adventurers." Azura said before he cleared his throat. "I know it is impudent of me to ask this... but we need your help, Albrecht, can you lend us your aid?"

Albrecht's lips slightly curved upward when he heard the guild master's words. At the back of his mind, he was expecting such a blatant request from the Rilegarthe Guild, not because he was strong enough, but because they really need his help in the upcoming raid.

Based on the intel that guilds gathered from the Seventh Outerlayer, it's the most brutal Outerlayer of all. It's a continuous horde of monsters and a single guild wouldn't be able to conquer it. Even the new Mystic Rank Adventurer couldn't do a thing in the Seventh Outerlayer.

Unlike other Outerlayers, the Seventh Outerlayer is akin to a survival mode. There were a handful of stations scattered across the Outerlayer and every station has a tower. Groups should defend these stations while an endless horde of monsters flood the area and attempt to to destroy everything in their wake.

It was mentioned that if all the towers were destroyed, the Seventh Outerlayer would be 'unclearable' in the next three weeks.

And during that time, the horde of monsters would flow through the Zecian Portal and lay waste on the land.

But it would've been easier if everyone formed a single group and defended only one tower, right?

No,

That's because every station has a limit. Only seven people could gather in one station to defend it.

"For the Seventh Outerlayer, right? When would it be?" Albrecht asked.

Of course, he couldn't miss such a time. Right when that legendary item was well within his grasp!

"Two days from now, the guild had decided to strike while the iron is hot," Azura responded before biting his lips.

Unbeknownst to Albrecht, all the guild masters have decided to hide a piece of certain information from the adventurers.

It was the fact that the Seventh Outerlayer had a countdown of two months. They don't know what would happen after that countdown... and they don't want to find out.

That's why this week was the safest week to attempt to clear the Seventh Outerlayer. On the off-chance they fail, they could formulate a better strategy for their next run one month later.