Leaving the room, the first thing they tried to do was figure out the gate that led in and out of the dungeon. This was the biggest concern, since opening the cells wouldn’t mean much unless they got the people out. There were no more monsters either. Mash figured the alien thing from before had been making them, and without it, no more monsters would appear. Their numbers were finite as this was not a real dungeon, just something like one. Mash wondered how it worked as they made their way to the entrance.

During their walk, more of the humans in the cells decided to look beyond their grates. Mash guessed that his lightning attack had woken and startled most of them. Now some of the humans looked on to them. As people seemed to realize that they were human, they started calling out to them, clearly desperate for salvation. Mash had already been determined to help them, though not out of some heroic ideal. It was a pity that made him want to save these people. Simply considering their situation had left a bad taste in his mouth, and he pitied them.

From the stories that Mash could remember, heroes didn’t save people for things like pity. They were supposed to save them simply because it was right. Although, as he looked over the trapped people, some now malformed with inhuman transformations, Mash believed that it was the stories that were wrong. He didn’t think that anyone could look upon these people without feeling some pity. Their cries echoed slightly around the ground, and Mash knew that they needed some information.

“We are going to try and open the gate first. If we can’t get it open, then we’re all dead.”

He thought that was good enough for now, and his voice easily carried through the room. He didn’t want to let them know that he had a key to get out, since that would only cause more problems. Honestly, Mash wasn’t certain who deserved to leave with them, as the key would be open long enough for several people to come with them. Telling them of its existence now could cause needless violence, and Mash already knew that he wouldn’t be saving the adults first. However, Mash saw as the faces of the people fell, taking his words in a negative light.

The downcast looks got Jill to jab him in the side, but Red and Luke started to move towards the nearest cells. Red similarly yelled loud enough for the people in the cells to hear.

“We are healers and will walk around the cells, giving people food and healing what we can.”

Their words did get a large portion of the crowd to look up, and Mash started hearing people shout for them to go there first. Red and Luke ignored all the words heading to cells with children in them first, completely ignoring the ones with adults. Mash heard some callous remarks when Red or Luke skipped over to a cell with adults to go to the next cell with children. With the two of them busy, Mash followed after Jill who called back to him.

“Well, I guess it is our job to get the gates open. Any bright ideas?”

Mash did have an idea and grinned as he made his reply.

“Yeah, I have one bright idea.”

The wordplay was lost on her as she didn’t understand what he meant, but he didn’t feel the need to explain it. Priscilla knew what he was thinking but didn’t laugh. Instead, Mash felt a surprising degree of annoyance at his joke. He shook his head slightly when Jill looked at him with confusion. He didn’t want to spoil the surprise.

It didn’t take long to get to the gate, and Mash prepared his idea. The metal gate was covered in small etchings, probably some kind of enchantment meant to stop passage and Jill’s teleportation. The metal was hard, and he doubted that it could be broken, as his many attacks that slammed into the walls and floors did nothing to even dent them. He had only managed to break the glass yet and doubted the gate would be a different situation. However, he had noticed something else with his lightning.

It was a simple plan, but he formed a few versions of Priscilla, growing them out large enough to be able to bite one of the grates. He directed them to grab onto a section of the gates, and he sat down to start using his lightning magic. Knowing his plan, Priscilla already outlined the pathways for the lightning. A grin sprouted on his face, as he started pouring lightning into the imitations, using them to funnel its output into the gates directly. He had managed to melt the floors and walls with his previous attack and hoped that he could do it again.

He used as much energy as he could feeling for the first time the limits of his stats. There was only so much he could force out of his body at a time, and even with persist he couldn’t pour out an unlimited amount of power all the time. Stats had rarely been a limitation for him especially since intelligence was one of his highest attributes. Priscilla’s outline was clearly able to hold more energy, and he continued to fill it as much as he could. The sound of thunder grew louder, and the wood itself started shaking from the passage of lightning within. He continued to pour more energy into the technique, even after persist kicked in and didn’t let up in the slightest.

The power of the lightning was already equivalent to the attack from before, but the bars didn’t show any sign of melting, but it was clear that it was heating up. The light from his technique had already begun making it hard to see the effect his attack was having, but he could feel his mana clashing with the gates within his mana territory. He simply needed to put more power into it. However, he couldn’t as the wooden creations broke, some near the apex and others much closer to Mash himself. The lightning branched out hitting everything nearby, and several strands struck him. Searing pain exploded along where the lightning hit, and he quickly fell unconscious from the aftereffects of persist.

“Woke up sleepyhead? Been out of it for over an hour.”

Jill spoke sounding tired, and Mash could even see Red and Luke recovering their mana. Apparently, he had used a lot of energy even after the skill started, and without Red or Luke’s healing, he was stuck in unconsciousness for a while.

Mash asked the others about the situation of the people within the cells and was astonished at the number of humans that had been captured by the thing. How long had this dungeon been here? From what Luke and Red counted, there were almost 200 living humans, and almost double that in monstrous abominations. Most of them had been here for a long time too and were travelers who were taken either when they arrived or were trying to leave the city. Not wanting to think about that situation, Mash looked at the undamaged gate, but he could have sworn that it almost worked.

“You were close, but the wood was not able to handle the lightning at that level.”

Priscilla had explained why the previous attempt had failed. Mash nodded along, though he probably should have replied aloud since his friends were looking at him with some confusion. Rather than explain, he decided to reply to Priscilla out loud.

“Priscilla, what if I just channel the lightning through my hands.”

The others looked at him, understanding that he was talking to Priscilla, but they didn’t know the rest of the conversation. He wondered a little bit how it must be to only hear half of the conversation. Though he was not going to start repeating everything Priscilla said, and just moved on, focusing on Priscilla’s response.

“It is too dangerous. You are not skilled enough or strong enough to resist the rebound from the lightning. You would likely damage your mind and body. And before you ask, I will not help you with it, unless you force me to.”

She was back to her more formal tone, most likely adapting to the seriousness of the situation and his mood. He could only grunt in response because he didn’t want to force her to do anything. Their relationship now involved working together, rather than him simply commanding her. She would give advice and suggestions, and he would ask her to do things. She normally never refused, so this situation must be seriously dangerous. It probably bordered on suicide.

He did not explain Priscilla’s answer yet, trying to come up with solutions instead.

“What have you guys tried?”

Mash asked the others as they were still recovering, and he guessed that wasn’t just from healing people.

“Nothing has worked, Jill’s magic did nothing, and even Luke’s new skill doesn’t seem to work. My skills were obviously unable to accomplish much other than making a bloody mess.”

Mash could hear the tension in Red’s voice, despite her best attempts at hiding it. They were already past the point of being able to save everyone. Soon they would have to choose who to save. It was not a discussion he was looking forward to, nor did anyone else. Not even one of them broached the topic, instead of trying to figure out other options.

They spent several long minutes hitting dead ends, trying various things from using all their magics at once to brute-forcing their way through with raw force. Luke was the first to broach the topic, and Mash held his breath as he heard his suggestion.

“I think we should get as many kids out as possible even if it means staying behind.”

Mash could hear the hesitation in Luke’s voice, and the consternation on the others’ faces. None of them wanted to do it, but to them, it felt like the right thing to do. Mash didn’t agree though and forced out his protest.

“No…”

It was all Mash said, he didn’t have a good justification for it, and didn’t bother explaining himself. It was selfishness, and he knew it, but he wasn’t prepared or willing to die yet. Luke must have resolved himself to save the children, but Mash would not be able to do the same. The silence grew long as no one spoke. Mash could feel his shoulders tense, ready to receive an accusation from his friends but nothing came.

“Let’s try to figure something else out, the creature must have had a way to open and close the thing.”

Red seemed to want to postpone the decision further, but Mash knew that all she was doing was delaying the decision. She might be right and the monster might have had a method to open and close the gate, but it was dead now, and they couldn’t figure out what to do. It was a difference in magic and understanding, one that could not be bridged by hope. With their skillsets, they needed to overpower the gate, or somehow gain a skill to get around it.

Then it hit Mash, a chance to get out flashed into his mind. If they could get Jill to her next class, she might gain a true teleportation skill or be able to overpower the gate’s defense. However, a quick series of questions told him that wouldn’t be a possibility. Even if she had gained levels rapidly within this dungeon, she was only level 49, and gaining eleven levels from the remaining monsters was not possible. He could probably level though, and the advancement might be able to give him enough power to break the gate.

“I could probably gain another level if I kill some of the remaining monsters. It might be enough to let me break the gates.”

Mash spoke sadly, knowing that his idea was not something a hero would ever come up with.

“What monsters? We didn’t see any?”

Red sounded genuinely confused, but it looked like Luke had caught on as he just stared at Mash with widened eyes. Mash couldn’t tell if it was horror or shock on his face, but he turned away from his eyes reflexively. Jill put her hand on Mash’s shoulder, in what looked to be a comforting and restricting gesture. She clearly didn’t know what she thought of Mash’s plan but understood why he wanted to try it. Red still seemed lost, and Mash gave her the answer.

“You told me yourself, there were almost 400 of them.”