Levi had initially worried that Lash wouldn't be able to do anything to the guard, since he'd yet to see anyone here under level 15, and Lash wasn't even to level 10 yet. But when they encountered the flying guard heading towards them, she barely had time to look surprised before falling to Lash's mental attack.

"Good. Keep her there."

Lash bobbed in agreement, grabbing the immobilized guard in his many tendrils. He had enough mana for five minutes. That should be plenty of time to break Irene out and find someplace to hold the guard.

"Peter?" Irene's shouted voice echoed down the hall. "Peter! What's happening?"

"I'm fine, Mom!" Peter started running. "Dad's here! It's all going to be fine!"

Levi barely restrained himself, keeping his speed in check so he didn't outrun Peter.

Crackle settled on a door, but Levi didn't need the visual indication with her voice still echoing. Peter pressed himself against the window, promising her he was fine, asking if she was alright, what they'd done.

Levi smashed his sword into the bolt again and again and again. Why mess with what worked? Manablades effectively self-repaired due to the amount of mana constantly pushed through them; it took a lot to damage one so severely that it needed more than cursory repairs, and they'd hold their shape even when any ordinary blade would be dulled and distorted.

Finally the bolt snapped under his assault.

Levi flung the door open. His swarms descended on Irene's chains, fish battering them apart, scarabs melting at the bands around her wrists.

The moment her hands were free she'd rushed to Peter, kneeling to bury her face in his chest and cling to him like she'd never let him go. Levi joined them less than a second later, the pile of them surrounded by the humming of all three Crackles, now the one who'd stayed with Irene could rejoin the others.

For a long, long moment they held on to each other. Irene couldn't stop checking to be sure Peter was really fine; he kept asking her if she was really okay.

"I was only worried for you, that's all." She squeezed him tighter, until he laughed and gasped for breath. "That's all. And you're right here now. All of my men are back again."

"I'm sorry." Levi could only say. He'd left her to deal with it all alone. He'd known there was a risk if anyone found out what he knew. They should have been more circumspect. "I let myself get caught up in the idea of telling the world and didn't stop to remember just how far some people would go to control this power before they are forced to accept that it cannot be contained."

"Stop trying to take all the blame," Irene commanded gently. "If I'd asked you to stay, you would have. I was more worried about you than anything happening to us. None of us saw this coming."

"But if I'd been there--"

"There would have been a very large fight, and you may have gotten yourself or others hurt or killed. These are not people to be trifled with, Levi, they're all too high level for you to take on alone."

"You'd be surprised what I can do alone." A memory of that first guard flickered through his mind. He didn't exactly regret leaving the man alive, but he was beginning to think that if he had followed through he wouldn't be feeling too much remorse over it.

"But this time you don't have to." Irene rested her cheek against his. "We're not the only ones they captured. Not by far. And there were already quite a few others here when we were brought in. If we can break everyone out, that gives us a lot more to work with."

A lot more to protect, Levi thought but didn't say aloud. This was too deadly of a location for him to feel comfortable even bringing Peter out into it, let alone strangers who may be even lower level.

"After this we're done recruiting. Once we get everyone out of here, we're going to tie up loose ends and go into dungeon loop training. All of us. We've already risked too much trying to warn everyone. Next time we're in the spotlight, it'll be once we're strong enough to hold our own against anything like this."

"Cas won't like that," Irene pointed out.

"She's free to do as she wishes. But I don't want to put my family at any greater risk. We've done what we could to get the word out."

"Why don't we just tell everyone you're a time traveler?" Peter asked. "If they knew, they wouldn't treat it all so lightly."

"It'll be a hard story to sell, until the invasion actually happens. I don't know any other major events that could be used as proof."

"Not everyone needs proof. Laurence didn't need proof."

"These people who captured you, if they'd known that I know the future..." Levi didn't like to think about what could have happened. He'd barely gotten past the guards in the compound outside, and that was with the advantage of surprise and ambush. If they'd been the ones ambushing him? "I don't think they'd ever stop hunting us."

"I bet you can take them."

Levi smiled faintly at his son's unflinching confidence, but he did not share the sentiment. "Right now, we need to focus on escaping. Everything else can come later."

Levi gently disentangled himself from the group hug. Irene kissed Peter's head one more time, then stood as well.

"First, we need to assess our situation. How many people do we have, what levels. What kind of resistance are we likely to face." Levi handed Irene his sword. "If you can get started breaking people out, I've got to deal with our prisoner before Lash runs out of mana." They were down to two minutes now. Breaking Irene out and then their reunion had taken too long for comfort. "Bladefin, with her. Crackle, with me."

"Actually, can I borrow Crackle?" Irene asked, holding out a hand for the scarab.

"What do you need him for?" Crackle was already converging on her hand, all three of him.

"You know who Cas is?"

Crackle bobbed in confirmation.

"Can you find her for us?"

Crackle buzzed in agreement and all three of him jumped into the air, splitting up to fly in different directions.

"I heard her a few hours ago," she explained, "railing on. I think someone tried to question her again. That's always fun. I assumed she'd be on his level but I don't see her."

"I have to go. Good luck." Lash's mana was already well below half. They had another minute, perhaps a little more, but not by much. "Skarm, find a cell with functional chains. We need to get her restrained."

Skarm saluted and scampered off. Peter followed Levi back down the hall.

The guard stood where they'd left her, tangled in Lash's tendrils, his glowing golden eye fully concentrated on her wide-open ones.

Levi felt very strange picking up a woman and chaining her into a cell, but the guard was far too high level to leave unrestrained. Even then, he didn't want to risk her being able to use a spell or something to reach them.

"We're going to test if this holds her," Levi said as he carefully surged mana to reseal the shackles around the guard's wrists. He'd already patted her down for weapons, confiscating a manabow (which Peter carried now), two knives, and a storage bag he didn't have time to search through at the moment. Theoretically, she should be containable. "If it doesn't, we're going to have to fight."

Peter nodded. He'd been quiet throughout the process, as they carefully transported the guard - Crystal - into the empty cell without breaking her eye contact with Lash. Levi tried very hard to ignore her frantic breathing and overwarm body, tried not to think about what she was experiencing inside her own nightmares.

It was hard, so hard, to convince himself that she was The Enemy. That whatever they did was justified.

They finished restraining her with seconds to go. "That's it, let's go."

Peter and Levi ran from the cell, Levi tugging Lash along by his now-limp tendrils. Then Levi shoved the door closed, breaking the contact.

They stood back, arrayed around the door as though it were about to explode.

The door did not explode.

There were some quiet sounds of unhappiness, some minor clatters, then nothing. No dramatic escape attempts. Just a successful trap.

A trap that contained a very dangerous creature. Levi couldn't allow himself to forget that. She was higher level than him, and scout-specs meant she'd be highly mobile and potentially stealthy as well. He couldn't afford to underestimate her.