The battle, as Preta mentioned, indeed lasted quite a long time.

The Bee group was defeated by the Alpen group with more than 30 members of the Bee group dead and 0 members of the Alpen group.

After the battle, the Alpen group immediately looted all the equipment and weapons from the Bee group without leaving anything behind, except for three members of the Bee group who were quite far and closer to the forest.

Preta still to tell everyone to wait and watch all of that, even after the Alpen group left.

Preta also instructed Zhendra to keep monitoring for a few minutes before Zhendra finally came down and informed if the conditions were safe.

Preta then called all of his members.

After all the Sun of Lion Knight members came, Preta began his leader duties, "Alright, let's start looting. It seems only three people haven't been touched. But I want all of you, except Natasha and me, to loot the bodies on the battlefield, while Natasha and I will loot those three people."

All members agreed without anyone refusing.

They all then ran towards the bodies of the Bee troops, searching carefully so that not a single body was overlooked.

Meanwhile, Natasha and Preta found quite a few items and weapons that could be used.

While they were all busy with their tasks, chatting sometimes, without them realizing, they were being observed by the Alpen group that hadn't gone far.

Shadow of arrow from the Alpen caster group shot in masses towards Preta and Natasha who were looting.

Schwoof! Schwoof!

Of course, both of them tried to avoid. But Preta realized there was an oddity in the enemies' attack pattern.

The attack didn't last long, and Preta quickly realized the enemies' goal after seeing many arrows planted in the ground around him and Natasha —the enemy was just surrounding them with arrows.

On the other side, some Bee group bodies being checked by the other members of the Sun of Lion Knight turned out to be disguises of some Alpen group members.

Swiftly, the Alpen group members maneuvered to capture the Sun of Lion Knight members.

Dens attempted resistance, but his shield was instantly shattered by an enemy's heavy attack. Not only that, but he was quickly incapacitated as well.

Similarly, Hexon saw his longsword tossed aside after receiving an enemy's strike using a hammerstone targeting his wrist.

The casters from the Sun of Lion Knight couldn't do much with their hands tied.

The Sun of Lion Knight, admired by many for deceiving and defeating Hades of Hells, was now conquered by the Alpen group in less than a minute.

###

All members of the Sun of Lion Knight were led to the Land of Silence, continuously threatened with swords and spears.

Each member of the Sun of Lion Knight was tied up one by one, their mouths stuffed with abundant foliage, making it difficult for them to speak. This was the first step to ensure that the hostages couldn't resist or cast spells.

Not long after, a player emerged from behind the Gerden forest and approached the Sun of Lion Knight. This player wore full armor from head to toe.

Upon reaching, the player removed his helmet armor, revealing a human face.

"Are you players?" asked the human, "Let me introduce myself, I'm Gukata from the Liberté Naïve group, you can call that Lin or Lina."

Another player from Liberté Naïve quickly opened the mouth stuffing of one of the Sun of Lion Knight members, Hexon.

"What do you want?" Hexon asked as soon as his mouth stuffing was removed.

"Are you the leader of this group?" Gukata asked.

Hexon turned his head to his left where Preta was kneeling right beside him, "He's the leader."

After saying that, Hexon's mouth was stuffed again with foliage. Meanwhile, Preta's mouth stuffing was removed.

"Thanks, so what do you want?" Preta asked as soon as his mouth stuffing was removed.

Gukata approached Preta, "You guys are players, right?"

"Of course, but if you're thinking of looting us, it's useless. We just logged in today," replied Preta.

Gukata just smiled, "You logged in today but already managed to get a forest bear and quite a lot of gear. Plus, there's a level 3 staff. Who did you trick?"

"Hades of Hells, ever heard of that name?"

Gukata couldn't hold in his laughter any longer, "Don't lie, Hades of Hells is a strong group. Even they've been roaming around HCU for days recruiting new members. There's no way you could break through them."

"Don't believe it? Why don't you ask Nephoturo if he lost Tigar from his group?"

"I'm not allied with Nephoturo, and I don't like him. So, here it is. Introduce yourself and tell the truth, or I'll have to kill you."

"I'm Preta from Sun of Lion Knight, and I've been honest all along."

Hearing the name Preta and Sun of Lion Knight, all Liberté Naïve players glanced at Gukata. Gukata himself remained frozen for a few seconds.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

After calming down, Gukata spoke again, "Forgive us. Here's the deal, we're gonna free you now, but don't attack us. If you attack, we'll have to kill you. Deal?"

Preta smiled, "Agreed. You all heard that, right?"

The ties that held Sun of Lion Knight were released, just like the abundant foliage in their mouths. Now, they were free, but they still kept their promise not to attack.

"I've often heard about you, but never thought we'd finally meet. Nice to meet you," said Gukata as his troops were busy cleaning up the remnants of the ties and foliage newly removed from all members of Sun of Lion Knight.

Preta rubbed his hands and moved his body a bit to relax after being tied up, "Nice to meet you too. So, what do you want to do with us?"

Gukata smiled, "We want to offer cooperation, some kind of alliance, but more flexible."

While other members of Sun of Lion Knight were busy reequipping with their weapons that were given back by Liberté Naïve, Preta focused on Gukata.

Next to Preta, there was Natasha, who always accompanied Preta when discussing cooperation with other groups.

"Can you outline the form of cooperation you mean?" said Natasha.

Gukata glanced at Natasha, "Sorry, I don't want to talk to someone who hasn't introduced themselves. Just being cautious, especially since you're a high elf."

"Don't worry, she's Natasha. She'll handle everything related to cooperation. You'll have to get used to being tempted by a high elf if you want to work with Sun of Lion Knight," said Preta.

While Natasha extended her hand for a handshake, unfortunately, it wasn't well received by Gukata, who only looked at Preta.

Gukata wiped the smile off his face, "I just want to talk to you as the leader of Sun of Lion Knight, can I?"

Preta and Natasha exchanged glances. Shortly after, Preta looked at Gukata and said, "Unfortunately, I can't. Is this some super-secret info or something?"

"No, it's common info, but I'm worried you won't take it well. So, I-"

"Don't worry, we can handle any info. By the way, what about that cooperation you mentioned earlier?" Natasha replied.

"Oh, I almost forgot about that. Well, we just want protection. I know we're stronger than you right now, but it doesn't mean we don't need protection. In return, you'll also get protection. And, that's the deal. How about it?"

Natasha smiled at Gukata, but he didn't pay attention, instead looking away.

With a smile and a soothing tone, Natasha said, "We can certainly meet that request, but will we be under the command of Liberté Naïve or not?"

"Of course not. I just need protection, that's all. I'm really tired of thinking I could be killed anytime."

"Alright, it seems we can do that. But, I want to know why you need protection from us who just logged in. You could get better protection if you ask from a bigger group."

Preta only watched Natasha and Gukata chatting.

"They could be dangerous. Listen, I don't care about asking for help from anyone. Right now, World of Worlds is no longer just a game because if you die in this world, you'll die for real. I don't have time to be exposed in the Land of Silence, so just think about my offer," said Gukata.

Meanwhile, Natasha and Preta exchanged glances again.

"All right, thanks then. We'll think about it," said Preta.

Gukata approached Preta, "Sorry before, we don't kill players because we're not real-world killers. But, we do need resources, so we'll take some of your supplies."

Preta's face immediately changed, now showing a bit of discomfort. "What do you want from us?"

"You have to return the loot you got from the wood elves, an—"

"Wait a minute, how did you know we got some of our stuff from the wood elves? Do you have a caster who can guess it?" Preta cut off Gukata.

"No, but the wood elf you killed somewhere out there was part of the group that attacked us. So, their stuff should be ours once we defeat their group," replied Gukata.

"But we can't give it back, we—"

"We'll kill you if you don't follow our orders. Listen, I just want to find safety, so please just obey," Gukata said. Even though his words were threatening, his face looked sorrowful, as if begging for mercy.

Preta was puzzled by Gukata's mismatched expression and words. "Go on first, what else do you want from us?"

"Okay, we also need a level 3 staff, and for all your weapons you can keep. We're running low on water, so we'll take half of your waterskin, not much. Also, we need 4 healing items. And most importantly, somehow you got a forest bear with low-grade weaponry, but we want that too."

Preta glanced briefly at Natasha, "We can't do that. Forest bears are our source of income."

Before Gukata could respond, Natasha hurriedly spoke, "What if you can take all your requests, but not the forest bear. Or vice versa, you can take the forest bear, but you won't get the rest?"

"This isn't a negotiation, unfortunately, but we'll be kind. We'll buy that forest bear from you, but only for 3 duits."

"You know, we need a waterskin and healing items right now. We can't defend ourselves optimally if you take them. But, we can buy them with 5 coins from the forest bear if it's for sale. So please choose only one, if not, it's like you're killing us," said Natasha.

"Waterskin and healing items, those will be yours. But the rest will be ours, including the healing potion and HP-boosting items. You also have to hand over your shield in return."

"Okay, but not for the shield. That's part of our defense."

"We'll give you better armor, but you hand over your shield along with the forest bear."

"Armor, can you show it first?"

"Cloth Armor, light type, Def +1, weighs 1 kilogram. It's made of a special material called bacicum that absorbs piercing and bludgeoning enemies' attacks."

"Deal, the armor is for eight people," Preta said instantly.

Natasha just glanced and slightly stared at Preta, not knowing why he agreed. Based on Natasha's calculations, they were losing quite a bit, so Preta shouldn't have agreed.

But Natasha just stayed quiet, she wanted to maintain Preta's authority, and she was also sure that Preta was planning something.

Gukata smiled at Preta, "Alright, then we agree."

"But before that, can we go over it again?" Natasha said.

"Sure. All the loot from the wood elves, level 3 staff, all the healing potions, HP booster items, all the shields, and the forest bear are exchanged for 8 cloth armors," Gukata summarized their agreement.

"Except for the staff, that's the only weapon my member has. If he loses that, it's like he can't fight," Preta said right after Gukata finished speaking.

"Hmm... how about we exchange the level 3 staff for a level 2 staff?"

Preta smiled and laughed, "Honestly, I'm confused. Are you guys here to loot our stuff or to trade? You offer a deal like a merchant but take a profit too much like a looter."

Preta's laughter spread to Gukata and was followed by Natasha.

"Like a big brand fooling its employees and customers, maybe that's us. Well then, that's the deal. Your staff will be replaced with our level 2 staff," Gukata replied.

Preta still smiled, although he wasn't laughing anymore, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, and I'm out. You'll be set free, but if you get close to the Gerned forest, we'll kill you on the spot," said Gukata, who immediately turned around and left them.

Meanwhile, as per their agreement, some members of Liberté Naïve gave cloth armors and a level 2 staff, while the rest of Liberté Naïve took the items requested by Gukata.

After the transaction was done, Liberté Naïve left Sun of Lion Knight alone in the middle of the Land of Silence in the Gerned Forest, heading into the Gerned forest.

Meanwhile, Sun of Lion Knight started walking back towards the cabin known by Preta. This time, they all rode horses.

####