We enter the tavern. It's just like last time, filled with smoke, low lights, music, and chatter.

"♪ ACHOO! ACHOO! The dragon made the ground tremble ♪."

I can barely pay attention to it, we didn't have enough time to relax and prepare our minds. Even Hana is showing some anxiety.

"♪ ACHOO! ACHOO! The hunters laughed and hightailed ♪."

A proto-waitress appears before us.

"♪ ACHOO! ACHOO! The dragon made the ground tremble♪."

"Good evening grand patrons. Would you like to go to our exclusive room? We can give you more personalized service worthy of someone of your position," she says, her smile is perfect but stiff.

The same words as last time.

"♪ Due to this crazy gam-ble, everybody left a-live! ♪"

We nod and we are taken to the same corridors and stairs. We go downstairs and reach the same familiar room.

It's empty.

"Uh..."

"Maybe the others haven't come yet due to the suddenness," Ciel says.

"Maybe," I mutter.

There are tables and chairs neatly arranged. Parts of the map of the town are strewn about. There are multiple drawings and markings on these maps, clearly part of some strategy meeting. The same golden, silver, red, and a new blue carving are all neatly organized at the side of the table.

We spend a nervous minute waiting when we hear footsteps and casual chatter. I relax until the door opens and the group of people enters.

A female silver elven archer. Her longbow is slung across her tall and muscular body which does not detract from her beauty. Her hair reaches her shoulders and curl inwards. Her sharp eyes and oval face give her a serious and sensual look.

Soul Info Name: Ercuria Ulher Race: Silver Elf Level: 44

A young krampus male mage. His goat hooves clack on the ground, visible above his black robe. He has a wizard hat similar to Roxanne's, his curly brown hair and ram horns can be seen below his hat. His round face makes him look like an innocent child.

Soul Info Name: Ervin Krampus Race: Krampus-type Demon Level: 35

A runic dwarf. The first that I have seen that look like traditional Tolkien dwarves with a wide body, thick muscles, and a long black beard. His scarred face and arms have multiple tattoos of words and a mix of tribal and geometric patterns.

Soul Info Name: Gilgor Momgrog Race: Dwarf Level: 47

And finally, a huge lion-folk, taller than Hana. His entire body seems to be furry. He walks on his digitigrade feet and he does not uses boots. He bellows a low rumbling laugh, showing an impressive set of pointy teeth and also a few molars at the back. His huge golden fur and brown mane is familiar, too familiar.

Soul Info Name: Grosnok Sokol Race: Lion Beastfolk Level: 51

Darean's fellowship.

I instinctively draw my sword. The girls spend a second in surprise but recover and draw their weapons too.

Great Destiny freezes and look at us with worry. Grosnok slowly lifts his huge hands in surrender.

"Uh... Hello?" He asks, not hiding his surprise. It's hard for his low growl of a voice to not look threatening but he succeeded.

"Why are you here?" I ask.

"We..." He looks at the other members, Gilgor shrugs. "Were summoned by Dame Vanea Anara. We are supposed to meet her here."

What.

"You are Great Destiny, Darean's fellowship, correct?" I ask.

The girls twitch nervously.

"Yes, well no. We kicked Darean out of the fellowship," he answers.

What.

"Why?" Alissa asks.

"He was getting too unstable. He could barely keep focus during our fights, he was bound to die sooner or later. Then Dame Vanea came to us and told us of his...," He cringes, "other job. We decided to help her so we wouldn't be implicated in espionage against a Lord."

Gify pops into my shoulder.

"Gih, ga, gih."

Huh.

"You are either a good liar or you are telling the truth," I say.

He lifts his hands higher and smiles wryly but it only makes him look more fearsome as his white fangs become more visible.

"We ask that you remain as you are until someone comes to clear your story," Ciel says," Sorry for not believing you outright."

Gilgor sighs and lowers his head. We lower our weapons but keep them on our hands.

"You haven't told us why you are hostile to us," Ercuria says, her sharp eyes narrow as she scans us.

"We killed Darean's brother and he has targeted us in revenge," Alissa says.

"Oh shit, so you guys are the ones..." A mutter escapes Grosnok's mouth.

I simply nod. We stay like this for another minute or so when heavy and armored boots stomp their way downstairs towards us. A head full of well-groomed black hair pops out from behind Great Destiny.

"Excuse me," Haaran appears out of the door and shimmies his way towards us.

His black eyes look at our drawn swords and he raises an eyebrow. His eyes spend a moment longer on Gify.

"So. What are you doing?" He asks in a very casual manner.

"This is Great Destiny, Darean's fellowship. Why are they here?" I ask.

"Vanea didn't tell you?"

"No."

Haaran sighs and massages his forehead.

"Did you make her mad somehow? I mean, did you annoy her in some way or another?" He asks.

Uh... There is one thing.

"I think so. We hid something from her and she got kind of mad..." I say.

There's the time we hid the Gate Scrubber from her.

Haaran rolls his eyes and moves towards the table. More knights appear behind him.

"Sheathe your swords. They are with us, they changed sides. Vanea can be petty sometimes so consider this payback for whatever you did to her."

I groan and sheathe my sword. Really now?

Haaran cringes and sits on a chair.

"Now, everyone, please come and sit. We don't have much time, I have to tell you of the plan."

We sit at one side of the long table and Great Destiny sits at the other. They also don't seem too happy to be part of Vanea's petty revenge.

One of the last to enter the room is Silvane, she sits near the end of the table and waves to us. She's wearing a mage's silver robe, she also has a metal staff with a free spinning hourglass on top, there's multi-colored sand inside.

The last one to enter is Smegma. What the fuck. She's wearing a simple linen white shirt and brown pants, she looks just like any other commoner. Her brown side braids are well made, her freckled face is full of color and with hints of makeup and eye liner. Her eyes glaze over every face with no emotion. Her gaze stops at us for a few seconds and then moves, no reaction visible on her face.

Haaran cleans his throat, his piercing gaze kills any murmuring.

"For some time we have known about a warehouse that Darean, the spy, has been using to store smuggled goods. We infiltrated a spy and acquired the information that the goods will be moved tonight to a safer location so they will be ready for dispatch. The way that the goods are moved is by using [Invisibility] on them and simply passing through the front gates, which means that a powerful illusion mage will be present there."

Oh, I see. With [Invisibility] they can smuggle anything they want right under the noses of the guards.

The dwarf is sneaking glances at Lina. Uuuugh, focus.

"Unfortunately we have caught a whiff of necromancy, a husk master," Great Destiny and a few knights look around nervously, "Our trackers can't discern the number of husks present so the true number of enemies is unknown. This is why a massive assault will be mounted as soon as we can confirm the presence of the illusion mage. My sister is coordinating the guards while keeping the information minimal so no early warning is sent to Darean."

"We haven't confirmed Darean's backer so we do not know the extent of his power. What we know is that he has deep coffers. Expect well-trained and well-equipped enemy soldiers. We have been backing Darean in a corner so necromancy might be his trump card, which means he will throw everything at us."

He flips through the maps on the table and picks one in specific. There's a large rectangular building at the center and many sewer tunnels passing around it.

"It seems Darean is smarter than he shows. The warehouse is located on a spot where no sewer line runs through. Thus our tracking squad was limited to the rooftops of the nearby buildings," he puts a soldier carving with a silver dot on the head on a building a few blocks from the warehouse, "Wolf Ryder will be sent to rendezvous with silver squad, they have already infiltrated halfway towards the target. He will summon a Dream Eater to spread sleeping poison on the air to reduce the alertness and combat effectiveness of the enemy."

The amount of rugged faces staring at me and measuring my worth makes me feel very meek. Great Destiny turns to look at me with surprise, the elven woman is particularly expressive. Silvane pouts with a hint of annoyance on her eyes. Perhaps it's because I didn't tell anything to Nononya about my true skills.

"Reminder that his monster summoning is to be kept a secret. Disclosure of this secret will result in death," he adds, his sharp eyes scan the knights and spends a moment longer on Great Destiny. The knights are unfazed but Great Destiny tenses up.

"I will follow Wolf with silver squad," Alissa says.

A small albino incubus man cleans his throat. It's silver squad second-in-command, Sir Tarano.

"Why do you wish to come?" He asks.

"To keep him safe," she answers immediately.

They stare at each other for a few seconds.

"I use a bow and I'm more silent than he is," she adds.

Tarano sighs.

"Fine by me," he says.

"Continuing," Haaran says, bringing the focus back to him. He positions multiple soldier carvings around the warehouse, "The rest will simply wait for the signal of silver squad. My squad, Great Destiny and the remainders of Helios will assault the warehouse and kill anyone in sight. We are fighting against an illusion mage, any enemy who casts a spell either loses both hands or gets immediately killed. No exceptions, no mercy, no hesitation."

The knights salute.

"Yes sir!" They exclaim in unison.

"Great Destiny has an artifact, it is called Reaping Wind. It's a scythe that throws large [Wind Blades], be careful not to stand in front of them.

The lion Grosnok gives a toothy smile and waves his paw/hand.

"Once the illusion mage is confirmed to be present we will send, uh, Farana as a bait," he smirks and I see Farana cower slightly, "She has a special magic tool that will further disable anyone inside the warehouse. We will be tracking her so any hint of betrayal and her life is forfeit."

When everyone turns to look at her she straightens her posture and smiles. Her smile is strained and ruining her pretty face. Great Destiny frowns at this display and Grosnok even turns his head away, his previous smile turned sour.

"Everyone should have a necklace blessed by the Goddess of the Will. This is our main defense against offensive [Illusion Magic]. For the defense against [Invisibility] we will be using Dust of Appearance."

Lina's Trivia: Dust of Appearance is a white powder that sticks to mana and transforms it into light. It was made specifically to counter [Invisibility] and it's rather expensive. It's much more efficient than the Manaflies they used last time.

"Any questions," he scans our faces one last time.

"No sir!" The knights answer.

"Good. Now move!"

Orderly the knights start to leave.

"Ryder, you are with me," Sir Tarano says.

I nod and turn to give the armor on my "Items" to the girls.

"Be careful," Ciel says, anxiety painted on her face.

Lina nods in agreement, also copying her expression.

"Don't blow up the whole place without us," Hana says with a grin.

"Hey, that's my job," Roxanne says.

"Well..." Hana chuckles, "You get the idea."

"Now, we, fight!" Aoi says.

I smile and pat her head. She closes her eyes in happiness. Aoi grew so much she is more agile than Roxanne, she will be a proper fighting force this time.

Ciel steps forward and grabs the hem of my leather jacket.

"I love you..." Ciel mutters shyly.

"I love you too. It's just a small departure," I smile at her and grab her hand, "Ciel, you are in charge."

"Y-yes!" She straightens up and hardens her expression.

I release her hand and move on.

Tarano was staring at us with mocking grin. Farana is standing still with her eyes lowered.

So we follow him.

This is the results of the training of the girls.

Alissa increased her "Mana Points" by 110 (now 345) and her "Magic Power" by 50 (now 115).

Roxanne increased her "Strength" by 1 (now 9), her "Mana Points" by 65 (now 1270) and her "Magic Power" by 10 (now 390). Roxanne is slacking on her mana training so she had smaller growth than before.

Hana increased her "Intelligence" by 1 (now 10), her "Mana Points" by 105 (now 325) and her "Magic Power" by 45 (now 105). She and Alissa kept improving their mana with spell training while I was away with Kyros.

Ciel increased her "Mana Points" by 130 (now 1115) and her "Magic Power" by 20 (now 300). A byproduct of her training with [Judgment] was her increase in mana, her power didn't increase much since she was focusing on casting more spells instead of focusing on increasing the power of a single spell.

Lina learned [Axe Use] with 1 point, increased her [Earth Magic] by 1 (now 2+3), her "Mana Points" by 180 (now 440) and her "Magic Power" by 25 (now 175). Her enchanting training is helping her increase her "Mana Points".

The tables for the girls:

Spoiler: Spoiler Info Name: Alissa Age: 19 Race: Fox-Type Wereanimal HP: 100 MP: 345 Magic Power: 115 Level: 29 Experience: 7597/8000 Stats Strength: 12 Endurance: 18 Dexterity: 22 Speed: 20 Intelligence: 12 Wisdom: 12 Willpower: 16 Charisma: 10 Piety: 15 Perception: 17 Sanity: 15 Other Status Effects: NONE Titles: Blessing from the Goddess of Love, Blinding Arrows Affiliations: Wolf Ryder (fiance), Blood Slave (Owner: Wolf Ryder), Helios (Fellowship) Companions: Wolf Ryder, Roxanne Succubus, Hanafuria, Ciel, Lina Crimes: NONE Alissa Skill Report Physical Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Sword Use 9 Bow Use 26 Parry 4 Dodge 2 Sense Presence 6 Hide Presence 4 Enhanced Olfact 5 Enhanced Hearing 3 Hawk Eyes 3 Muscle Explosion 2 Quiet Steps 4 Quiet Action 2 Enhanced Stamina 1 Tracking 2 Magical Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Sense Mana 1 Mana Control 3 Fire Magic 1 Light Magic 1 Space Magic 1 Conjuring Magic 1 Illusion Magic 2 Fox Transformation (innate) 5 Miscellaneous Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Housework 3 Cooking 4 Cleaning 2 Washing 5 Riding 2 Oral Technique 4 Pain Resistance 2 Hand Technique 2 4 Remaining Skill Points OBS: Level means (free point)+(trained point) Info Name: Roxanne Succubus Age: 21 Race: Succubus-Type Demon HP: 100 MP: 1270 Magic Power: 390 Level: 33 Experience: 4659/10000 Stats Strength: 9 Endurance: 9 Dexterity: 11 Speed: 8 Intelligence: 18 Wisdom: 17 Willpower: 14 Charisma: 15 Piety: 10 Perception: 10 Sanity: 12 Other Status Effects: NONE Titles: NONE Affiliations: Wolf Ryder (fiance), Helios (fellowship) Companions: Wolf Ryder, Alissa, Hanafuria, Ciel, Lina Crimes: NONE Roxanne Succubus Skill Report Physical Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Dagger Use 2 Magical Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Sense Mana 3 Mana Control 25 Reduced Mana Cost 3 Mana Efficiency 9 Fire Magic 22 Water Magic 23 Light Magic 1 Space Magic 8 Conjuring Magic 5 Alchemy 3 Potion Bewing 11 Poison Brewing 2 Redirect Mana 1 Miscellaneous Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Housework 1 Cooking 1 Cleaning 1 Washing 1 Riding 1 7 Remaining Skill Points OBS: Level means (free point)+(trained point) Info Name: Hanafuria Age: 23 Race: Fire-Type Dragonkin HP: 150 MP: 325 Magic Power: 105 Level: 37 Experience: 1100/14000 Stats Strength: 19 Endurance: 24 Dexterity: 10 Speed: 13 Intelligence: 10 Wisdom: 10 Willpower: 19 Charisma: 16 Piety: 11 Perception: 9 Sanity: 17 Other Status Effects: NONE Titles: NONE Affiliations: Wolf Ryder (fiance), Blood Slave (Owner: Wolf Ryder), Helios (Fellowship) Companions: Wolf Ryder, Alissa, Roxanne Succubus, Ciel, Lina Crimes: NONE Hanafuria Skill Report Physical Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Sword Use 20 Spear Use 14 Bow Use 9 Two-Handed Sword Use 9 Pole Arm Use 6 Dagger Use 4 Shield Bash 6 Block 8 Parry 6 Dodge 4 Tatesomu Style 4 Muscle Explosion 4 Battlefield Perception 2 Taunt 3 Intimidate 2 Enhanced Reflexes 2 Enhanced Stamina 4 Enhanced Strength 2 Enhanced Endurance 4 Magical Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Sense Mana 1 Mana Control 1 Fire Magic 1 Earth Magic 1 Light Magic 1 Space Magic 1 Conjuring Magic 1 Miscellaneous Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Housework 2 Cooking 1 Cleaning 1 Washing 1 Riding 3 Massage 1 Pain Conversion 1 Dismantling 4 Oral Technique 1 Fire Breath (innate) 5 Summon Wings (innate) 2 6 Remaining Skill Points OBS: Level means (free point)+(trained point) Info Name: Ciel Age: 21 Race: Human HP: 100 MP: 1115 Magic Power: 290 Level: 31 Experience: 8672/9000 Stats Strength: 14 Endurance: 13 Dexterity: 17 Speed: 18 Intelligence: 15 Wisdom: 18 Willpower: 13 Charisma: 17 Piety: 21 Perception: 12 Sanity: 19 Other Status Effects: NONE Titles: NONE Affiliations: Wolf Ryder (fiance), Helios (Fellowship), Templar Knights (Honorary Member), Temple Priestess (Former Member) Companions: Wolf Ryder, Alissa, Hanafuria, Roxanne Succubus, Lina Crimes: NONE Ciel Skill Report Physical Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Glaive Use 15 Sword Use 5 Parry 8 Dodge 6 Block 4 Imperial Hasterrum Style 2 Muscle Explosion 2 Battlefield Perception 1 Magical Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Sense Mana 2 Mana Control 6 Reduced Mana Cost 1 Mana Efficiency 4 Wind Magic 15 Fire Magic 1 Light Magic 24 Space Magic 3 Conjuring Magic 1 Diagnosis 7 Redirect Mana 1 Miscellaneous Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Skill Name Level First-Aid 3 Housework 3 Cooking 2 Cleaning 2 Washing 1 Riding 1 4 Remaining Skill Points OBS: Level means (free point)+(trained point) Info Name: Lina Age: 18 Race: Dwarf HP: 100 MP: 450 Magic Power: 165 Level: 22 Experience: 4501/7000 Stats Strength: 8 Endurance: 8 Dexterity: 12 Speed: 11 Intelligence: 16 Wisdom: 11 Willpower: 17 Charisma: 10 Piety: 10 Perception: 14 Sanity: 11 Other Status Effects: NONE Titles: NONE Affiliations: Wolf Ryder (master), Helios (Fellowship) Companions: Wolf Ryder, Alissa, Hanafuria, Roxanne Succubus, Ciel Crimes: NONE Lina Skill Report Physical Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Hammer Use 4+10 Axe Use 3+1 Parry 0+5 Dodge 0+4 Block 0+6 Muscle Explosion 1+1 Shield Bash 0+1 Battlefield Perception 1+1 Dwarven Pride Style 1+1 Enhanced Speed 2+0 Magical Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Sense Mana 1 Mana Control 4 Mana Efficiency 1 Fire Magic 1 Earth Magic 2+3 Ligth Magic 1 Space Magic 1 Conjuring Magic 1 General Enchanting 8 Magic Tool Carving 1 Miscellaneous Skill Name Level Skill Name Level Skill Name Level General Blacksmithing 4 Sewing 4 Housework 1 Cleaning 2 Washing 1 Math 4 Riding 1 Stonebody (innate) 3 3 Remaining Skill Points OBS: Level means (free point)+(trained point)

We are brought to the same room as last time. Lines of space mages are ready for us. One of them opens a [Gate] and we follow after Tarano.

We appear on a lowly lit room. I can see shadowy figures slowly stir. One casts a very faint [Spirit Light]. Multiple small men and women in black clothes and masks surround us.

A woman with an undulating cat tail removes her mask and comes towards us.

"Greetings, Mr. Ryder," Dame Larana speaks, her whiskers flicker as she smells the air.

Her grey skin and sharp eyes makes her look quite ghastly in the low light. She turns to Tarano and continues.

"You brought an extra," her tone turns cold.

"Talk to Ryder, she volunteered," Tarano says with a shrug.

Larana's eyes narrow in annoyance and her whiskers flicker again.

"I am sorry for deviating from the plan but I am a capable archer and I can sneak better than Wolf. I would be much more comfortable accompanying him," Alissa says and bows lightly.

"It's not all about your skills, the number of people is also a concern," Larana answers immediately.

Alissa cringes but does not talk back. I grab her shoulder and she returns to normal. In truth I prefer her by my side too.

Larana shakes her head.

"No matter," she says, "We have to move forward, show us the Dream Eater."

I immediately summon one and everyone jumps in surprise. After recollecting herself Larana smiles and her stiff tail starts undulating again, she seems to have relaxed.

"How many can you summon?" She asks.

"Five, but it leaves me without mana and reduces too much my maximum MP. I need MP to survive or to fight, I'm a magic swordsman."

"Monster summoner and magic swordsman, actually. Quite envious," Tarano says with a crooked smile.

"We only need two," Larana says, ignoring Tarano.

I summon another. I will call them Dimy 1 and Dimy 2.

"Good," she says and shows her white fangs with a smile, "Now put this cloak over your clothes, I assume you still use scale armor?"

She hands me and Alissa a black cloak.

"Yes."

"You will not use armor until the attack begins, it's too noisy. Also remove your [Wind Armor] and [Rainbow Shield], it can attract attention. Your [Rainbow Crystal] can stay as long as you keep your hand gloved."

I dismiss the spells with pain in my heart. I won't be able to recast them during battle, they cost too much mana.

Alissa pulls out her smaller composite bow and ties her quiver to her waist.

"This spirit, do you control it?" Larana points to Gify.

"Gih!"

"I see. You are not useful, leave."

Gify glares at her and I feel a nearly scalding torrent of water passing through my shoulder. Larana's tail stops undulating and her vertical cat pupils narrow.

"Giih."

And he pops out of existence. He's not mad he's not useful, he's mad about her bluntness. Gify is quite prideful.

Larana gives a black cloak to Farana too.

"Now, let's move," Larana orders.

Besides Tarano, Larana commands 7 other lithe men and women.

I sneakily removed a point from [Mana Recovery] and added it to [Silent Steps]. I also removed 2 points from [Mana Efficiency] and added it to [Hide Presence].

Larana, Tarano, and another man suddenly stop and turn their heads towards me.

"You know [Hide Presence]?" She asks.

That was quick.

"Uh, yes."

"That makes things easier. We should be able to hide from any patrol now."

We quietly move upstairs and leave this empty and dreary basement. Upstairs is a carpentry. Multiple logs and planks are strewn about. Small boxes hold half-built furniture waiting for their craftsmen to come back. The smell of sawdust fills the air.

Suddenly I'm attacked by the uncomfortable feeling of having my [Gate] blocked. Quite the defense perimeter Darean has, but how did he get another Scrubber?

"Ryder," Larana stops and looks at me, "Get your summons to scan the next building and put anyone to sleep. We will make a path towards the building closest to the target."

I nod and obey. I tell the Dimy brothers to take a look outside and clear the target building. If someone is about to spot them they will hide and return.

The shrieking woman tries to make an appearance but I force myself to focus on the now.

I watch their vision as we wait close to the wall. Dimy 1 releases a faint mist towards a suspicious man standing near an alley.

After a minute the man yawns and sits down. Another minute he's sleeping.

Dimi 2 sneaks while moving along the wall. Once below a specific window he simply releases his mist, slowly putting his target to sleep. The suspicious man that was looking out of the window props his head on the window frame and goes to sleep.

"Building is clear. One man on the window is sleeping," I say.

"Have the monster eat him. Innocent workers won't be standing guard," Larana says, no emotion on her voice.

We move outside. One of Larana's men quickly sneaks towards the man on the alley and slits his throat. The creepy mask of a sleeping face comes back to me for more orders.

"Eat that man you put to sleep," I whisper to it.

Without a sound it moves back whence it came and I see it cover the sleeping man in smoke.

We scurry to the wall of the next building. Tarano looks inside and signals to Larana.

"Ryder, get the monster to put the two workers to sleep. Tarano, take the guard out," Larana orders.

Tarano draws a dagger and moves inside. Dimy 1 moves behind him.

It's a soap workshop. Two men are mixing a barrel of hot soap while a bored-looking armed man sitting on a chair sips something from a bottle.

Dimy 1 releases a more intense mist. It mixes with the smoke of the fire and no one notices anything different. When both the workers start to stumble the guard starts to get agitated.

Tarano jumps out of the shadows. He silently pounces on the guard and slits his throat with ease. The workers finally fall down on the ground, sleeping, though they could have been knocked out due to hitting their heads on the ground too hard.

Larana's men enter the building and explore upstairs. A few seconds later I hear something heavy fall down on the ground.

Dimy 2 finishes his meal. The man it "ate" now looks like he is brain dead, he drools and doesn't even breathe.

"Same thing," Larana says to me.

Dimy 2 puts another window sentry to sleep while Dimy 1 returns after meeting a wandering patrol of 3 men.

"Security is tight, they are certainly waiting for movement tonight," Larana says, "Have your monster release mist on them from above."

She picks 2 soldiers and the 3 of them go outside.

The enemy patrol suddenly stops moving. They slap their faces to wake up and joke to each other. One of them stretches and yawns, only to receive an arrow that enters the roof of his mouth and exits through the back of his head. One receives an arrow to the throat and the last receives an arrow through the eye.

The surviving man coughs blood and receives 3 arrows on his face, finally dying. Their bodies are quickly pulled over to the building we are on.

The next building has 1 guard and 3 workers mixing another large barrel of soon-to-be soap. I use both Dimy's to fill the first floor with sleeping mist.

The bumbling guard is peppered with arrows when he notices something is wrong. I smile with pride when Alissa's arrow hits him in the eye. I quickly stop my smile and mutter my prayer.

Another guard comes down to investigate the noise and gets filled with arrows just like his companion.

The next building is empty so we avoid it. After that there's 4 sentries standing on a very wide crossroads.

"I will climb the building and order the monster to release the mist when the area is clear," Larana says while looking at her pocket watch, "When I give the signal kill them and recover the bodies."

Those words are spoken with such a lack of emotion it's obvious she has said them many times before.

Tarano nods and Larana jumps towards the wall. I feel a hint of mana coming from her. Her gloves fuse with the wood and she climbs the building like a gecko.

With grace she vaults over the roof and turns into a Maine Coon, disappearing into the shingled roof.

Through five minutes the area in front of us slowly gets fuzzier as more mist pours in. When one of the sentries tumbles I see Tarano's ring glow green. He and 3 other soldiers jump into the open and charge the sentries.

The only sound the sentries make is a gurgle as their throats are slashed. Their bodies are dragged into our building and another soldier casts [Clean] on the ground, removing all the blood.

We quickly cross the wide road and enter the next building. Larana picked the lock for us. We stop for a few long minutes as a casual patrol of 3 men slowly strolls towards us.

"On my signal, pepper them," Larana orders.

The patrol enters our sight as they cross the windows in front of our building. Silently Larana's hand chops the air and multiple arrows find their marks. The men fall on the ground and 3 soldiers drag their bodies inside.

"You, stay here and report if any other patrol notices something suspicious," Larana says to one of her men.

On the next building both Dimy's sneak behind the inattentive sentries who discuss the taste of elven prostitutes. Their smoke materializes into a Shadow Satyr and their swords separate the heads of the guards before they could say "there's a fucking creepy mask behind you, mate".

Larana frowns at the sight when we enter the building.

"We are spilling too much blood. I don't want to alert a sniffer. Let's avoid the patrols," she says.

The next building has 7 guards inside. They aren't drinking but they are smoking something and playing cards. They are loud.

"If we silence them it will be a problem," Larana says.

"Leave a gift and move on. We have to sneak past them," Tarano says.

"You stay behind," Larana points to one of her soldiers, "Fill that room with paralysis bombs when the signal comes and slaughter them all. Drink an antidote beforehand."

The soldier nods.

"Ryder, follow me closely," Tarano says.

Larana turns into a cat and another woman turns into grey owl. They fly in front.

We wait for a minute, then Tarano lift his hand to catch my attention.

"Go," he whispers and silently rushes forward.

I follow closely behind him. My steps sound like stomps in comparison to his delicate tip taps.

We hide on a dark alley a few buildings over. A patrol passes less than a minute later.

More men enter the same alley as us after they pass.

I see the wereowl woman perched on top of the building in the corner of the alley.

Alissa comes with the last batch of soldiers.

We wait another patrol to pass and leave the alley. We cross a wide street and enter another alley. After everyone is together again Larana and the wereowl join us, returning to their normal forms.

The wereowl woman makes a sign. She shows 3 fingers and points towards the second floor of the next building. Larana points to me and then points to the building. I whisper to the 2 creepy masks floating besides me and they fill the upper floor with mist.

A few minutes after we see the white mist overflow from the windows. It's followed by 3 thumps as bodies fall on the ground. The mist disappears and 3 men go inside the building to finish the job.

The next building is closed so Tarano has to pick the lock. There's multiple patrols passing near us. Across the road is our target.

The soldiers take positions besides the windows. This is a simple tea shop, multiple chairs and tables are neatly organized on both floors.

"Your [Hide Presence] isn't that good. Focus on remaining still and calming your heart," Tarano whispers and smiles. His thin chin makes his smile look slightly creepy.

I sit down near a wall and Alissa sits besides me. Once I feel the warmth of her hand I notice the pain on my shoulders, I was incredibly tense. No wonder, we didn't have that much time to prepare mentally for this operation.

Gify syncs my feelings with Alissa's and slowly my fear subsides. I focus on the warmth of Alissa's hand and slowly my anxious heart calms down. In the middle of the wolf's den I find happiness as I use my memories with Alissa to keep my emotions in check. The shrieking woman is completely silenced for a while.

We spend a good while sitting and waiting. When I look around it's almost like I'm seeing statues instead of people, they are so still it's creepy.

The patrols clear for a minute and I look at Farana. Her lifeless eyes stare at nothing.

"You doing okay?" I ask her.

Her face turns into barely hidden nervosity, her eyes race around and avoid looking into mine.

"Y-yes, I'm fine," she says.

Her voice is cute and very feminine, like Lina's.

Alissa squeezes my hand and she gives me a sympathetic gaze.

I'm feeling conflicted but I don't know how I should act. She should be grateful she's still alive but... How much is too much?

Am I a sympathetic person or am I just lusting over her and fantasying about saving a broken woman? My feelings are too murky right now.

Vanea's proposal rings in my head and I feel a very disgusting desire to... "Take" Farana. In my head this would be nothing but straight rape and yet the idea of taking another man's woman is doing things to my head.

If even Alissa is feeling conflicted about it than I should just bury those feelings until they go away.

A small commotion starts inside the warehouse and a few men hurry in and out. I feel the [Gate] block dissipate. The wereowl woman immediately opens a [Gate] in front of her and 4 plated knights appear. A second later the circle disappears and I feel [Gate] being blocked again. The knights walk in front of Farana and salute.

The wereowl woman grips her head and grimaces. She must have used all her mana in a single go. Ouch.

Then Larana turns to Farana.

"It's time," she says.

They both stand up and approach each other. Larana punches Farana in the face. Farana takes it without flinching and returns to her straight posture. She takes another, and another, and one last punch. Her face gets swollen, her lips part and blood trickles from her mouth, she's only slightly frowning.

Larana draws a knife and starts cutting and ripping on her clothes, she gives a few shallow cuts to her skin. She finally rips open her shirt, exposing her pink nipples.

"Ryder," Larana turns to me, "spread as much mist as you can from above the warehouse."

I nod and a minute later a faint mist covers the warehouse.

"Farana. Now it's your turn," Larana says coldly.

Farana's face cramps. She nervously rubs her right wrist and I see there's a bracelet there below her clothes.

With a forced smile she nods towards Larana and starts slapping her own face. When I see tears form on her eyes she stops and drops the cloak.

"Ei," Tarano grabs Farana's hand and looks her in the eyes. His voice is very soft, "be careful, eh? I want to see you come back."

Farana shivers and nods multiple times. The ratty man smiles creepily and lets her hand go.

Farana turns and runs outside towards the warehouse. Her body is bruised, cut, and bloody, her clothes are in tatters. She looks like a rape victim.

"DAREAN!" She cries.

The men outside leer at her when they see her exposed chest but suddenly grow panicked when they hear her cries.

"HELP ME, DAREAN!"

Multiple patrols follow her but don't block her path. She enters the warehouse and a commotion can be heard.

"Put your armor on," Larana orders.

Everyone puts on black scale armor.

A minute passes and the mist starts to thicken.

"That's enough, any more and it will affect us," Larana says, "Dismiss the monsters."

I obey.

Suddenly Farana runs off from the warehouse. A few confused men stand still and watch her come towards our building.

*BOOOOM!* An explosion rips apart half of the warehouse and lights up the night sky. The ground shakes and men scream. Pieces of the warehouse, human giblets, and assorted goods and food fly all around us.

Larana pulls out a small onyx disk full of circular silver inscriptions. She pours mana on it and I'm attacked again by the uncomfortable feeling of having my [Gate] blocked. I can feel the two different blockers overlapping on each other. I can also sense the direction of the source of each blocker.

Farana enters the building and stumbles. She's groggy.

"Good one, Smegma," Tarano says. He giggles and nearly chokes on his own spit.

She nods multiple times and collapses on the floor. Tarano drags her to a corner of the building.

I feel the enemy [Gate] blocker dissipate. Now only Larana's blocker is active.

"They will find us in a minute. Prepare for battle, meet them in the field," Larana says.

I walk to the exit.

"Ziny, Burky, I choose you!" I whisper to myself.

I summon a Zinotue and a Burkanolf outside. I think Alissa and Larana might have heard me.

The lightning tiger roars and the fire wolf howls.

"Keep them away from this place," I order.

Larana and Tarano smile as the two huge monsters make every man near us shit a Level. Fucking huge cost in mana though. I drink an MP potion.

Now I'm ready, bring it on.

We fire arrows and spells at the fleeing men, many of them are falling down asleep. They all have flimsy armors and weapons. Darean hired tons of men but he couldn't hire a large amount of elite soldiers. My monsters do nothing as no one is brave enough to face two 2-meters tall predators.

With a *poof* Larana pulls out a bag from her [Item Box] and throws it towards the warehouse. It falls on the ground and spreads a white dust all over.

Her tail undulates casually as no man is capable of reaching us. Suddenly her tail freezes and I look outside.

The fleeing men start gathering around the remains of the warehouse. I can only barely feel fluctuations of mana, someone is casting spells in there. A few more men collapse on the ground, asleep.

A large burst of mana escapes the warehouse, such inefficiency. The wave passes through me and we all hunch over, retching and nearly puking.

"Necromancy!" Tarano yells.

"RAAAH!"

"I'LL FUCK YER ASS!"

"AAAH!"

"COME 'ERE PUSSYCAT!"

"UOOH!"

"I'LL RAPE YA UNTIL YE BLEED!"

Larana's eyes narrow as the few awake men on the warehouse suddenly rush out towards us. They trample over their sleeping comrades without any care.

Ziny charges the atmosphere with electricity and most of the men convulse and fall on the ground. Burky opens its mouth and a burst of flames catches the ones who managed to keep moving. The smell of burnt meat fills the air.

"AHAHAHAH! FUCK YOU!" Screams one of the men as he burns alive.

A shudder escapes me.

Shit, these people have been charmed. The illusion mage must have used [Vicious Rage]. I pity them, I don't know how to dispel such magic.

The 4 plated knights move outside to receive the charge of the rest of the burning suicidal men. Larana, Tarano, and two others pull out long swords while the rest of the men go upstairs.

Suddenly the white dust starts sparkling and floating. They flow towards the warehouse and converge in the shapes of 11 people. Lights flicker and the shapes turn into real people. Our target has finally moved out of the warehouse.

11 men and women. 4 plated soldiers with heater shields. 3 muscular archers with longbows. 2 mages with metal staffs and gems that flashes with lightning. 1 very tall plated soldier with a zweihander. 1 mage with a glass staff and a rainbow bismuth crystal on top, it's the illusion mage.

"Told you they would be prepared!" Yells the illusion mage.

Soul Info Name: Callistus Doukas Race: Human Level: 55

Dark hair, dark eyes, olive skin, and a broad face. The mage is missing an arm and his clothes are half burned. The others have small burns on their clothes and everyone is dirtied by soot.

The mage is accompanied by a rock gnome with a very fat belly and a pointy hat made of earth and grass, it's an [Earth Spirit]. Those spirits are the mark of a properly trained mage, they are controlled directly by the mage and help in casting spells.

"The glass staff is our target!" Larana yells.

"It seems Smegma almost got him. Oh well," Tarano shrugs.

Arrows and a few spells fly towards the enemy shield wall but they are all diverted into the ground or into the sky.

"Enchanted shields!" Yells one of Larana's men.

I start to chant a [Lighting Bolt] but I can't feel the "path" towards my target. It always veers into the ground regardless of how much I will it to obey my wishes.

"[Lightning Bolt]!" I cast.

The spell simply strikes the ground a meter away from the enemy shield bearers. I didn't even aim for them.

Emellanat is the poor man's defense against spells. The real deal are enchanted shields like these.

"The greatsword is enchanted!" Alissa yells.

This is kind of bad, we have no idea what it does. It could kill someone on a single strike if we are not careful.

Area spells start being cast upon us while the front lines clash. We interrupt it with ease.

Ziny fires his [Lighting Strike] at one of the lightning mages. He falls down on the ground but quickly gets up. The others pull out barricades and start firing spells towards the building we are on.

Our allies lob spells and arrows over the enemy shield bearers. Unfortunately the projectiles are too slow and the enemies simply step aside.

"HUSKS! IN FRONT AND BEHIND!" Alissa bellows.

I look through the door and see half-rotted orc corpses shambling out of buildings. Holy fuck.

"I will cover our backs with the Zinotue!" I yell.

"Understood!" Larana answers.

Arrows won't do much damage against husks, Alissa's usefulness is limited.

Burky's fire breath simply diverts upwards without even touching the enemy shields.

The enemy fling spells and the walls of the second floor of our building burst open. Most of the men drop from the hole and spread to other buildings.

Ziny charges the atmosphere and the orc husks fall down on the ground, convulsing.

"Enough," I order it.

I drink Roxanne's elixir.

The atmosphere returns to normal and I charge forward. I cut the arms and legs off of each husk, this way they are completely useless.

I can't kill them properly because I don't have much mana, I can only boost my strikes with a well calibrated [Telekinesis]. I have to use only the exact amount of mana that will allow me to slice off the limbs.

Fucking husks don't even give Experience.

The shambling corpses grab their shitty weapons that fell on the ground and rise again. I retreat and order Ziny to charge the atmosphere again.

*TOON!* A shockwave runs through my body, making my ears ring. I look behind and see an allied plated knight skid through the ground. The enemy with the zweihander is standing still with his sword thrust forward. I can feel the remains of the vortex of mana that the enchantment of that sword created.

I feel interest in looking at Callistus. I get a feeling that we barely need to fight anymore, the battle is won, reinforcements are coming. I can just lay back and relax.

A ridiculous amount of husks, both orc and the recently risen dead men, is trying to approach our front line. Heh, Callistus is fucked, not even husks can save him now, this battle is won. Fuck me, I'm tired of fighting, I really need my vacation.

Burky quit trying to hit the enchanted shields and is now focusing on keeping the swarm of husks from overwhelming our front line. His fire wall is protecting him from being flanked by the enemy mages and archers.

Our building is being shredded as the trade in spells intensifies.

Wait, no. This is wrong, I have to fight! Fuck, he almost succeeded using [Pacify] on me.

"They are protected from my spells!" Callistus screams.

"Do it the normal way then. Kill that werecat!" Bellows the man with the greatsword.

Burky's claws rake and destroy bodies like nothing. The smell of burnt meat fills the air again as his claws of lava both cut and burn the enemies. Slowly the number of husks converging on our position seems to increase.

I turn back and continue to cut down the swarm of husks behind us. They are already starting to fill the street.

*TOON!* My ears ring again but no plated knight comes skidding. I glance back and see Tarano is stumbling backwards, his ears are bleeding.

The husks are too close. Ziny starts firing lightning bolts from his mouth in quick succession. The husks hit by it have their bodies fried and don't rise again. His mana is being wasted this way but there's no point in conservating it if we die.

The smell of burned rotten pork fills my nose. Disgusting.

The enemy keeps moving between their numerous barricades. The building Alissa is on is already half destroyed. She's using furniture as cover to lob arrows.

The husks reach my line of defense and start swinging their weapons. They are clumsy but they can still cut or be used as blunt attacks.

Ziny charges forward. He tramples, rakes, and bites the husks.

The husks counter and start to inflict multiple cuts on Ziny, the strength of even an orc zombie cannot be underestimated. Some try to hold on it to slow the monster down.

Taking the opportunity now that Ziny got their attention I cut off their legs, leaving them only with their arms. The crawling husks get in the way of the walking ones, creating a mess of entangled rotting bodies.

Ziny rushes back but it's quite wounded. He charges the atmosphere again. A mountain of husks starts to form, they crawl over each other and not even Ziny will come back alive from the swarm.

*TOON!*

I pull out multiple barricades. The wall of limbs claws on them and the ones at the top fall over the barricades. There's no stopping them.

Well that's fucking peachy.

A cold air seeps through the battlefield and the fighting behind us slows.

"Lysander! Get the werecat!" Callistus yells.

A creepy, lanky, and bald man with a hollowed face appears from one of the streets to our left. He's wearing a black robe and a staff of bones with a beating heart where a gem should be.

He looks blankly at us. He raises his staff and every husk that I can see turns its head towards Larana. The knights tighten their ranks with Larana at the middle. Burky has to use his body to keep the husks at bay.

Well that's fucking peachy.

One of the plated knights chants something and touches the ground with the palm of his hands. The ground glows with white light and sparkling particles get suspended in the air. This is [Light Magic] level 60 spell [Sanctuary]. He must be a Templar Knight.

The undead that approach the circle get weakened greatly, making them an easy target for Burky. Even the enemy soldiers seem to suffer when entering the circle. With this the battle on the front line turns into a stalemate.

I cast multiple [Spirit Lights] and throw them at the mass of limbs, it slows them down. The husks groan and growl louder. they claw forward and their arms stretch, trying to grab us. What a fucking nightmare.

"Keep the air charged at maximum power!" I order Ziny.

He roars and rakes the wall of limbs.

The zombies grab and bite into my [Spirit Lights]. Flashes of light burst out of the broken spells, stunning the wall of flesh for a few seconds.

The necromancer lowers himself behind his barricade. A moment later black lines crack through the ground, making their way towards the [Sanctuary]. I feel the light of the spell flicker slightly and the glowing circle reduces little by little. That's [Decaying Corruption].

Our front line is slowly being pushed back. The man with the greatsword is just too much for them, he's half-swording at quite the effective level. One of the knights took a hilt to the face and now he's staggering. The Templar Knight is casting [Heal] non-stop.

Multiple large area spells are cast on the wall of husks. They burst into flames and the flesh burns faster than it should due to the concept of "consumption" imbued on the magical fire. The smell of rotten and burnt meat grows so strong I feel nauseous.

*TOON!*

"Help the front line," I order Ziny.

It leaps back and almost lands on top of a plated enemy, he has to roll backwards to escape being crushed. Ziny shrugs off a few arrows and swipes at the soldier, sending him flying backwards. His enchantment wasn't enough to keep the monster truck away.

Our front line regains momentum and starts to push back. The enemy focus on bringing down my wounded tiger.

Hana breaks through the smoke and lands by my side.

"Took you long enough," I say.

Her armor, shield, and sword are completely bloodied. I see a few cuts on the lining of her armor and a few scales of her shield are missing. She grins fearsomely through her helmet and speaks.

"I don't know what Darean did but we had a huge amount of fucking suicidal trash to cleave through. Not only that but suddenly orc husks poured through the buildings. What the fuck is he guarding on this place?"

"No idea. But our target is over there," I point to the mage with the glass staff.

Hana looks at him and then looks at the burning warehouse.

"The fuck did you do?"

"Nothing, heh. That one was Farana."

Now that I look at her she's still sleeping inside the ruined building. There's even a few pieces debris on top of her but she didn't wake up.

*ZUSH*! The mountain of bodies parts in two as a huge [Wind Blade] cleaves through the meat.

"Move to the sides," Hana says.

Another huge blade of air carves through the meat. I'm thankful husks do not bleed otherwise the entire street would be a pool of blood.

A third cleave and the path is big enough for people to pass through. The meat still burns so people start to pour on a single file.

The first one is Grosnok. He's wielding on one hand an ornate scythe like it's a stick and a large kite shield on the other. He swings the scythe like a toy and a huge [Wind Blade] comes out of his slash. It flies towards the mass of husks and cleaves them in half.

The butt end of the scythe actually has a long spear blade on. The scythe part is not fit for cutting but at least he can use the other part for stabbing. The huge lion looks at bit comical and awkward using this weapon. There's a bastard sword at his side, showing he's at least prepared for the worst.

After him comes the dwarf Gilgor with a pole axe and scutum shield. He's just as bloodied as Hana. His tattoos glow. His movements are much more agile than what someone of his size seems capable of.

Both Grosnok and Gilgor use monster bones as armor, they look like tribal warriors.

Then comes the elf Ercuria. She's flanked by two large dogs that look like Rottweilers. I think they are summons.

The krampus mage Ervin comes after, a small flaming ghost floats over his shoulder, a [Fire Spirit]. From his age and level he must be completely specialized in [Fire Magic].

Finally my girls pour after them.

"Grosnok!" I yell.

His huge head turns to me after delivering another batch of sliced husks.

"Get that man!" I point to where the necromancer should be, "He's controlling the husks! The Burkanolf is my summon and it will open a path!"

He nods towards me and goes after the Burkanolf on the left of the battlefield.

"BURKY! Open a path towards the necromancer!" I yell in english.

He howls and spews fire while he furiously cuts down husks. Grosnok slashes any survivors and his fellowship follow behind the monster.

"Ziny! Come back and focus on disrupting the enemy!" I order in english.

It barely has the strength to leap back. It's bleeding heavily from multiple wounds, his body is a pincushion of arrows, and one of his paws is missing.

"Their shields are enchanted, can't punch through with our current power. The man with the greatsword has a sonic boom enchantment. It will push you back, hurt your head, and make you deaf," I tell the girls.

*TOON!* A demonstration happens just at the right time.

"I will deal with it," Hana says, with a *poof* she switches her sword for Lina's old hammer, "You, stick together and support the knights."

"Yes!" I say.

Lina and Ciel are looking tired, they seem slightly bloodied and there's a few small missing scales on their armor. Ciel must have healed any visible wounds. Roxanne is panting while the little blue dragon on her shoulder seems to be out of fire balls.

"Where's Haaran?" I ask.

"He separated from us to deal with some mercenaries," Ciel says.

"The guards?"

"Dealing with the husks. This is a nightmare," she lifts her hands in exasperation.

"I know, right. Let's go, stick together!"

Hana lands besides Larana. The werecat woman is panting and her ears are also bleeding, it seems she finally noticed the reinforcements. Her smile is absolutely beautiful, if only she weren't so cold.

"I WILL BREAK THAT LITTLE TWIG IN HALF!" Hana taunts while she points to the greatsword at the hand of the enemy.

I switch to my emellanat sword. We cleave a path towards the nearest enemy plated soldier at the right side of the battlefield. The number of husks is greatly reduced, there's only stragglers around us now.

Alissa and a few men run away from a crumbling building and take cover on a building to our right. Through our party connection I feel her run inside the building and into the second floor.

We approach the plated enemy on his left flank. He parries an attack with his hammer and points his shield towards us with his left. A huge gust of wind stops us from advancing, this is [Wind Shield].

"[Explosion]!"

Roxanne grabs her head and kneels. The plated enemy yells as his left arm and shield are crushed by the shockwave of the explosion. It seems that the enchantments are making even instant casting difficult.

The wind pushing us stops and Lina charges forward, her bloodied axe shifting into a hammer. She strikes down on the knee of the man and it bends backwards. He yells again and parries another hammer from the allied knight.

I dare not approach an experienced enemy in plate armor with only a measly sword. Ciel moves forward and strikes at his head with flat part of the blade. He falls down on the ground and Lina strikes his head repeatedly until he stops moving.

Ciel looks at two archers behind a barricade aiming at us and points her glaive.

"[Wind Storm]!"

Just slightly weaker since she only has 19 points in [Wind Magic] this time. But still enough to cut the archers and make them fall on the ground screaming.

Multiple [Lighting Bolts] are hurled towards us. Us 3 have emellanat so we only feel our weapons and shields get warmer as they absorb the spells. The two mages glare at us, a mix of fear, anger, and desperation.

"TOON"! Hana takes a sonic boom directly on the face. She grits her teeth and maintains her form, parrying the hammer of a plated soldier. She strikes at the shoulder of the greatswordsman with all her strength. The man winces and retreats a few steps.

"The mages!" I yell.

We charge towards the two obstacles in the way of Callistus.

"URAA! CHARGE FORWARD!"

The power in Haaran's voice gives us a boost. A large patch of ground turns into [Soul Sand], keeping a particularly thick swarm of husks in place. Haaran and his knights come out of a street and cut down the helpless husks. He quickly joins Grosnok and both charge past my dying Burkanolf.

Lina receives an [Earth Bullet] square on her shield. She retains her posture like a statue but she skids backwards a few meters. Callistus is looking at us with pure fear, his staff is pointed towards Lina.

Fuck you, I cast [Rush].

The first electric mage helplessly fires a bolt at me, it just gets absorbed by my sword. He swings his staff at me like a baseball club in a desperate attempt to parry. I slide my sword past his staff and use the momentum to whip it into a slash. With [Sharp Blades] my sword slides through the meat and cuts the bone cleanly. His right hand falls on the ground and he yells in pain.

I continue forward. The fat little gnome fires multiple [Earth Bullets] at me, with [Rush] it's easy to dodge them. The ground suddenly shifts and rises, I tumble forward and roll. An [Earth Bullet] hits the gnome and disrupts him. Thanks, Lina.

I reach the gnome and my sword slides through him like butter. Summoned matter is so vulnerable against emellanat.

I look forward and Callistus suddenly splits into two, it's [Beguiling Clone]. Both clones try to run away in different directions. I cast [Discharge].

One of the clones flickers and continues forward, the other falls down and convulses. I stop my spell and dash towards the latter.

He gets up and tries to put the staff in front to defend himself. I pass through that amateurish defense and stab his stomach. My sword gets stopped by the chain mail below his robe and he hunches over in pain.

I grab his only remaining arm and push it forward, I chop his hand off at the wrist. He trips and falls on the ground.

"AAAH! FUCK! FUCK YOU, I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

He tries to get up and I kick his face on the teeth. He lifts his head again and I fire an [Earth Bullet], now he finally passed out.

*TOON!* Hana takes another attack. This time she stabilizes herself with her wings. She raises her hand and an [Earth Bullet] hits the greatswordsman in the helmet. He falls on the ground and struggles to get up.

Ciel holds the last mage down with her glaive. He struggles to remove the blade from his throat and slowly chokes to death.

"RAAAH!" Lina yells, her shy voice booming with anger.

She reaches the one armed mage and chops at his chest with her axe. It gets lodged inside and she activates [Switch]. The metal turns liquid and the weapon is easily freed from the dying man.

The last archer is overwhelmed by spells and arrows and finally dies to multiple wounds.

Lina turns her weapon back into an axe and chops the fallen mage at his throat, decapitating him.

The husks suddenly stop focusing on Larana and start attacking everyone, including the enemy soldiers. The husks can't kill them easily and only hold them down, making it easy to put them to sleep.

I see Haaran has finished off the necromancer.

Burky finally dies and fades into dust. Ziny runs out of mana so it starts to slash at the husks. Due to their lack of coordination they are barely more than wet paper to my monster.

The greatswordsman is finally subdued by blunt trauma to the head caused by Hana. The rest of the plated enemies are knocked out too. The rest of the husks are being quickly cleaned up.

Alissa jumps out of the window and comes to my side.

"You hurt?" She asks.

"No, just tired."

Now this is carnage. There must be hundreds of husks here.

Ciel goes to Hana and heals her ears.

A knight comes to us.

"Is this the illusion mage?" He asks.

"Yep. Must be passed out, but you still gotta heal him soon if you want him alive."

The knight nods and grabs one of the legs of Callistus. Without any concern he simply drags the unconscious man towards Haaran.

Larana and her men are healing each other so I signal to the girls to group up.

"Wounds? Problems?" I ask.

Everyone shakes their heads. I dismiss Ziny before anyone else can look at it.

We slowly make our way towards Haaran. He's sitting over a half broken crate, his face shows fatigue. Silvane is taking a look at his face and some dents on his armor.

Rather comical seeing the small girl taking care of the large man.

"Is it over?" I ask.

Haaran looks over to Callistus and smiles faintly.

"Yes," he looks at Silvane and his smile grows wider, his gaze is no longer piercing, "The guards have circled this area, they are going to comb every building in search for more husks."

"What in Gods name is it that Darean has that warranted all this protection?" Ciel asks.

"Money, more specifically, all his money," Haaran answers, "We cornered his operation so he had to concentrate everything on a single point. With this we were certain the illusion mage would appear to help move things."

"Quite the gamble. What if he weren't?" I ask, "I wouldn't fight again for you if he wasn't here, this wouldn't be part of our deal."

"We know, but there wasn't a better chance to capture the mage than this one," he shrugs.

Silvane finishes the pat down and gives him a kiss on the cheek. The stoic image crumbles as he chuckles and grabs her by the shoulder. He starts walking towards the now extinguished warehouse with Silvane by his side.

"Let's go see what's inside, shall we?" He says.

Wary guards start to appear from the streets. They sigh in relief when they see the knights already finished the fight here.

A very disheveled Larana approaches Haaran.

"Dame Larana, cordon the area, don't let any guard inside the warehouse," he says.

"Yes, sir!" She salutes and starts to bark orders to the knights.

That woman has endless energy.

I look back and I see Tarano pulling some rubble from the half-collapsed building. He pulls Farana out and hugs her.

I really do not want to know what kind of relationship they have.

A few water mages are putting out the last of the embers of the fire. There's lots of goods strewn about. Alcohol, cocoa, fine textiles, jewels, and many giblets of humanoids.

Ah, cocoa, this is making me want to start a chocolate factory. It's curious how some things from Earth are the exactly same as the ones here.

"This is not the main haul, there should be a trapdoor somewhere," Haaran says.

It takes us a few minutes but one of the knights finds it. A set of stone steps downwards leads us into a dark room.

Inside there are numerous crates, a considerable number of them are open and empty. Haaran and some others start opening the closed ones.

"High elven beauty products," Silvane says.

The eyes of Roxanne, Ciel, and a female knight shine as they stare at the crate.

Haaran opens another.

"Raw gems for enchanting or tools and a few gnomic magic tools," he says.

Now Lina seems interested.

"Emellanat," says one of the knights. He's holding a bar of the black, glossy, and sparkly metal.

Alissa smells the air.

"Oh, it smells of Ranja," Alissa says.

It smells like oranges.

"It's the same as your perfume," I say.

She nods.

Oh, I see it now.

"Pick a crate of each, Ryder. A gift from us. We will also send you the payment for your work later," Haaran says.

Now that the word "free" is on the mind of the girls they all show interest on one specific crate.

"Thank you, Sir Haaran. I appreciate it," I say and bow lightly, "May we take the enchanted shield of the enemy soldier we defeated? It seems very useful."

"Sure," he waves his hand.

I nod to Lina and she hurries outside, barely containing a smile.

I go to the crates and store them by using the rope loop that every crate has. A convenience so people can easily press the "store" button on their [Item Box].

I hear the clacking of heels. It grows louder until Vanea appears on the room. She's wearing a mix of beautiful but still functional padded black scale armor with a battle skirt. Even with a coif she looks elegant. Lina comes scampering behind her and gives the bent shield to me.

Vanea takes a glance at the contents of the crates and smiles widely.

"There must be hundreds of rose coins in here," she says.

"Unfortunately we found no weapons," Haaran says, "He must have distributed them all already."

"There were plenty of well equipped mercenaries around, surely they must have some of it," Silvane says.

"At this point any sane mercenary will have deserted him," Vanea says.

She stretches herself and yawns with satisfaction.

"There's nothing more to do here," she turns to us, "Our deal is complete, we even have the illusion mage captured. Rabanara is mine again," her eyes narrow and her last words are said almost in a growl.

I feel a tightening of my heart loosening, my oath to her is done. She still has her oath to keep me informed and protected of anything while in here.

"Glad to be of service," I say, I'm truly relieved.

"Dame Vanea," Ciel moves forward, "What happened to the mercenaries we captured last time?"

"Sent to Hiyoku Hara as combat slaves," Vanea answers flatly.

Lina's Trivia: A stretch of land that once belonged to the dragonkin and is now under monster control. It's a constant battlefield where most empire soldiers go serve once in their career.

Ciel frowns at her.

"Don't worry, priestess. A Judge sentenced them, they will only serve a few years. Quite likely for them to survive," Vanea smiles sadistically at her.

Ciel nods and backs away from Vanea.

"Well, if this is all we are leaving," I bring the conversation back to me.

"Very well, outside the mages will open a [Gate] back to Baalfire's for you. Until next time, Mr. Ryder," she smiles mischievously.

"Until."

No there won't be a next time.

Silvane waves to us as we leave.

We reach home and go immediately to bed. A weight lifted from our shoulders.

I hold Alissa and kiss her. I taste her tongue, I fill my nose with her smell of Ranja, I run my hand through her toned body.

I grab the base of her tail and run my hand through it. She shivers and kiss me harder. Slowly my consciousness fades, we almost slept with our tongues entwined.

Intermission 8

"AAAAAAAAAAH!"

I flip the table over and smile at the glasses shattering on the ground. I grab the chair and smash it on the ground, it breaks into multiple pieces with a hearty crunch.

I grab the leg of the table and rip it off then I strike that leg on the cabinet. The glass shatters and the porcelain is destroyed in a satisfying explosion. I flip over the cabinet for good measure and smash any surviving piece with my boot.

I cast a [Fireball] and explode the remains of the cabinet. Cinders and ash fill the air, the smell of burning wood heals my soul.

I grab the broken table and throw it through the window. It crashes down and I hear screams of surprise, making me giggle.

"FUCK YOUUU!"

I cast a [Fireball] on the ceiling candelabrum. The mana of the light crystals mix with the one from my spell, enhancing the explosion. I protect my eyes from the dust storm of shards. My ears ring and suddenly I lose my hearing.

I open my eyes and see the piece of art that I have made. The crystal dust lingers in the air and glitter as the cinders slowly fall. The few flames of the remains of the cabinet are the only light of the room, creating waving red shadows on the walls.

The chairs are all strewn about. Everyone seems to have left in a hurry, no one even grabbed their share of the coin. The bags are thrown to the ground and the scattered coins fill the floor.

I wish I paid attention to their faces, if they left without getting their payment then I must have scared the Levels out of their souls.

"The fuck did I do wrong," I let these words escape my lips along with a sigh.

Everything was going fine. For years I never had a hitch, a failure, a real problem that I couldn't solve.

Everything was going fine until... Brother.

I let you become wicked, I let you die like a naked goblin. I should have kept you safe, I should have kept you away from these stupid fuckers, these reckless idiots, these power-tripping shitheads as useful as goblin jizz. They led you to death but I'm the one who let you leave.

Everything was going fine until...

Now without Callistus I can't even save Farana. She was always by my side, we always planned everything together. Now I feel so lost, abandoned, lonely.

My dry mouth suddenly feels wet and salty.

What have they done with you. What have they done.

You betrayed me, you tried to hurt me.

You are being used by them, YOU ARE BEING USED.

They... They fucked... No, they raped you.

THEY STOLE YOU FROM ME.

Why you, why, why, why, why, why, why, why...

My knees feel weak and I have to lean on the wall to keep standing.

What I want to know was what I did wrong.

Even Grosnok ran away and the goblin dick stole my scythe.

Everything was going fine until. Until... Ryder...