[“There’s three hostiles approaching from the left, just up ahead,”] Jack said.

Allen narrowed his eyes, looking into the dimly lit, stone hall. Magical candles were the only light to see by, but that was plenty for him. He could see the other end of the room nearly twenty meters across, with ornate columns lining each side.

According to Jack, the whole facility was shaped like a cross, with each of the four wings dedicated to holding slaves and facilitating services. The center contained an amphitheater for auctioning and entertainment, along with administrative offices and storage below. It was in that below level that most of the slaves had managed to escape to. Then, surrounding the facility, was a winding network of dingy corridors meant to confuse and trap intruders, like the one Allen was in at the moment. However, judging by the number of horribly mutilated dregs lying dead within those corridors, the trap seemed to work both ways.

Allen was crouching near the corridor’s exit, holding himself perfectly still to activate Lurker’s Sense and Waiting Dusk. He strained his ears, trying to get a sense of who was coming. The others silently waited behind him, the Governor now taking care of holding his unconscious secretary. Christopher had a dull glow around him, a suppressing aura from his Arcane Waveshaper Job. It wasn’t perfect, but it would hide their magical presences from most people around level two-hundred and below.

The facility itself was far from quiet. Aside from the low hum of magical generators and the groans of dying dregs, Allen could also make out shouts and footsteps echoing throughout the facility. Three of those sets of footsteps were close, just outside his view.

He waited a few more seconds before three men passed by at a jog, their bodies covered with dark armor and their faces hidden behind masks. They didn’t look like Hillford Guards, that was for sure.

Name: [unknown]

Human – Rogue – Level 252

Name: [unknown]

Human – Rogue – Level 263

Name: [unknown]

Human – Mage – Level 237

Allen took one look at their nametags before preparing to attack. [“Support,”] he sent to Christopher.

Allen felt for his skills. Waiting Dusk would provide an instantaneous speed boost, but not by much. However, Dusk Vault could activate and triple that. Dead Calm had been active ever since he had entered the caves, due to the system counting what he was doing as a ‘pursuit.’ He quickly flexed Killer Instinct to gauge his enemies, using Lurker’s Sense to boost the speed of his thoughts while he remained still.

He could tell enough by their auras to guess what kinds of magic they used. The Mage used space, and the Rogues used shadow and fire. He would kill the Mage first, then the lower leveled fire Rogue with the stiletto daggers.

Allen launched himself out of the dark. The higher leveled Rogue spun around almost immediately, but the Mage was too slow to react. Allen reached him in the blink of an eye, activating his own aura, Havoc, just as his dagger slipped between the Mage’s ribs and through his heart.

The combination of Assassinate, Vital Strike, and Destabilization was more than enough to kill the man instantly, and the Sting potion would keep him dead.

Allen circled around the limp Mage, holding him up to block one of the Rogues from throwing something at him. Then he launched two Havoc boosted Chaotic Bolts at the other Rogue who struggled to dodge the zig-zagging projectiles.

Black lines traced their way up the exposed skin on the Mage’s neck, signaling that the sting potion had run its course on the corpse. Allen fired another Chaotic Bolt through the Mage’s chest, tearing his knife out before letting him fall to the floor.

The two Rogues realized their comrade was done for, and charged forward, only for Christopher’s barriers to flicker into place right in front of them. One Rogue hesitated, but the higher leveled one just barreled through the magic like a sheet of glass. His eyes were sharp and deadly, not a drop of hesitation.

[“Your aura is weakening my magic!”] Christopher mentally shouted.

His blood pumping, Allen switched out Havoc for Cloak of Chaos and met the enemy Rogue’s scrimtar with his dagger. “Not going exactly to plan,” Allen thought distantly. “I wanted to kill the other one first.”

The two traded a flurry of slashes and punches. Allen’s armor was vastly superior, allowing him to tank hits and counterattack. His opponent was faster though, and he had shrouded himself in shadows. Every opening was obscured by darkness, leaving Allen no choice but to rely on Killer Instinct and his ability to sense the Rogue’s mind.

Allen feinted with a dash to the left and fired an uncharged Chaotic Bolt, but the Rogue took the weak hit to his shoulder and lunged at him with a thrust of his sword. Allen twisted, trying to force his body out of the way, yet the shadow-cloaked Rogue switched his target in a blur of darkness, bringing his scrimtar down onto the back of Allen’s knee.

The blade through the back of the joint and sending pain shooting through his leg. “Poison,” Allen told himself.

He retaliated by reaching out and grabbing the Rogue’s arm, forcing Fractured nova into it. The enchanted leather armor resisted, as did his enemy’s body, but Allen kept forcing more destructive magic outward, aiming for one thousand MP.

To his left, a blue light flared up, accompanied by an enraged shout. More of Christopher’s spells flew in from the side, many of them summoned from thin air.

The Rogue tried to yank his shoulder away, hammering down at Allen’s arm, but Allen’s grip didn’t waver. Instead, he stabbed at his enemy’s neck with his dagger, taking the hits with his armor. The Rogue doubled his efforts, chopping at Allen’s vambrace and slicing at the weak spots of his armor with blades of darkness.

Then Allen let go of his opponent about ten seconds later and pushed him away. He flared Havoc for just an instant as the spell detonated inside the Rogue. The boosted spell blew off the man’s arm and turned most of the armor on his upper body to dust, revealing his bare chest as blood vessels up and down his side burst. He screamed in pain and collapsed to the ground, vomiting blood.

[“That broke my spell, look out!”] Christopher shouted into his mind.

Killer Instinct had alerted Allen sooner. He aborted his lunge at his crippled enemy and rolled to the side just before several knives covered in blue flames whipped by overhead.

“Shit,” Allen thought, watching out of the corner of his eye as Christpher’s magic ensnared the shadow Rogue in a web of magical chains, forcing him back onto the floor.

Allen didn’t have time to hesitate though. The other Rogue, wreathed in blue fire, rushed at him with a pointed, flaming stilleto in each hand. Before they met, the Rogue released a massive horizontal wave of fire right at Allen, giving him no choice but to jump nearly ten feet over the fire, the action causing his knee immense pain.

Christopher stepped out of the corridor as the shadow Rogue roared in anger, still struggling with his binding. The professor launched a volley of dozens of Arcane Bolts at the fire Rogue.

Allen darted forward, as the Rogue was occupied by dodging bolts. He reached out with a mental tether and released a fully charged Psion Burst into the fire Rogue’s mind as soon as the man’s attention shifted. Allen lost a hundred HP, and the Rogue stumbled backwards, clutching his head and crying out in pain.

Allen reached him a moment later, tackling him to the ground. Nova was still on cooldown, so Allen settled for just pummeling him with Chaotic Bolts and punches, heedless of the flames the man was blasting him with.

The fire Rogue’s mask shattered, and Allen plunged a poisoned slave thorn through his enemy’s eye socket. Then he rolled off the Rogue after dumping the remnants of a sting potion down his screaming throat.

The fire Rogue gurgled and screamed, throwing out flames against the power of the slave thorn. In a matter of seconds, the item overloaded and exploded in the man’s face, killing him instantly.

Allen turned around, feeling his burnt skin cracking open. The remaining Rogue was still bruised and covered in wounds, his left arm was still missing, and it looked like his regeneration had stalled. Yet he continued to struggle within Christopher’s bindings and barriers, but to no avail. Although, the professor himself didn’t look like he could keep it up for much longer.

Allen stalked towards the remaining enemy, and the man locked eyes with him. He reached out with his mind again, manually creating a framework with Mental Manipulation since he had a moment to spare. It wasn’t a telepathic tether though. To his Inner Eye skill, the framework looked a lot like tinfoil hat, with the pointy top, only the inside had a ring of teeth around it.

Allen slammed the framework onto the cotton-candy ball of thought representing the shadow Rogue’s mind. He immediately felt a resistance, but only the brute force kind, which was trivial for Allen to get around. It only took a few seconds before the Rogue was kneeling upright with his face stuck in a beet-red, wide-eyed expression of terror and pain.

The geas was as bootleg as they came, by Allen’s standards, but it was enough to get a few words out of the guy.

“Who do you work for?” Allen asked, checking the sting potion laced on his dagger before shrouding it with Cloak of Chaos.

The enemy Rogue grit his blood covered teeth. His face became even redder before he choked out a single word, “g-glass,” he said.

Allen narrowed his eyes behind his mask. “You’re an acolyte of—”

Allen cut himself off as the Rogue leaned forward against the professor’s restraints, putting his head between his knees. That was when Allen saw it. Beneath the man’s dark hair, was a yellow thorn embedded in the back of his neck. The kind of thorn that was typically used for gladiators and enslaved soldiers.

“…A slave?” Allen corrected himself.

A moment later, the Rogue raised his head again, but there was an object in his mouth. Allen easily recognized it as a suicide totem. Without thinking, Allen imploded his geas, stunning the Rogue momentarily, giving him the opening to jam his dagger up through the Rogue’s jaw, delivering the potion and shattering the totem.

The Rogue still managed to bellow against his reeling mind and shattered jaw, throwing his head back and releasing a massive burst of shadow magic. The barriers shattered and Allen was thrown back a few meters, but unharmed. However, all that was left of the Rogue afterwards was a blackened corpse.

“Dang,” Allen said to himself, standing up again. “That sucks.”

Your group has defeated Mage – Level 237

Your contribution: 100% Damage

For a passive kill, you receive 200% XP bonus!

Awarded: 496 XP

Your group has defeated Rogue – Level 252

Your contribution: 100% Damage

Awarded: 320 XP

Your group has defeated Rogue – Level 263

Your contribution: 100% Damage

For a self-destruct, you receive an 20% XP deduction!

Awarded: 316 XP

Christopher and Amelia approached him a few seconds later, the later silently getting started with her healing. The Governor was still hiding somewhere in the dark corridor, hopefully not planning on how to sneak away.

“He said Glass, didn’t he?” The professor asked rhetorically. “How would the Castle of Glass be involved in this.” He seemed hesitant and even a bit shocked.

Allen regarded Christopher for a moment. “How much does he know about the Castle of Glass? Does he know that Glass is also a person?” Allen shook his head, but Jack interrupted his thoughts before he could really get them sorted.

[“We’re making quick work of the rest of these guards and mercs, but that Watch Commander got away. He’s a speedster, coming your way. Clara’s going after him, but you might need to stall for a little bit.”]

[“Good to know,”] Allen replied. “Hey, Norbury! Get over here!” he yelled aloud, glaring at the man cowering by the edge of the hall. [“Also, the Castle of Glass was here,”] he added.

Jack gave a mental sigh. [“Great.”]

Amelia finished healing Allen just as The Governor finished shuffling over to the group of three standing in the middle of the hall. Since he had the time to look around, Allen could see that it was rather spacious and elaborately decorated, with rows of doors on either side. Bedchambers, he guessed.

A few seconds later, Allen heard quick footsteps from down the hall, from the direction of the center of the facility. He grabbed Mr. Norbury by the shoulder despite his protests and faced the incoming Commander.

The man sped around the corner at the far end of the hall and stopped abruptly in front of Allen and the Governor, looking confused for a moment.

Name: Norman Williams

Human – Warrior – Level [hidden]

“Charles?” the Commander began, raising an eyebrow, before settling on a glare. “What… What the hell are you doing here, old man?” he asked, eying Allen and the bodies while subtly turning his hand outward in preparation for taking a weapon out from his inventory.

“Th-that’s what I should be asking you!” The Governor replied, managing to get an edge to his voice despite his constant trembling. “You… you have to answer for what you’ve done here Norman! For-for what you have allowed to happen under our town!”

Allen just pursed his lips and quickly supplied his own words. “Tell us who ran this place and who benefits from it, and we’ll let you go.”

The Commander looked between Allen and the Governor before glossing over Christopher, Amelia, and the Mind Enchanter lady still draped over the Governors arms, then he chuckled to himself and shook his head and gestured around the hall. “Charles, buddy, this ain’t the kind of thing you answer for, it’s the kind you die for,” he said, forcing what he must have thought was a manic smile. “And you, brat,” he added, jabbing a finger at Allen. “Even if you were telling the truth, I’d still tell you to go fuck yourself.”

“Fair enough,” Allen replied, shrugging.

If he had blinked, Allen would have missed the Commander lunging straight for him, a golden glowing rapier in his hand and a shockwave behind him. Maybe if he had Waiting Dusk fully charged and ready, he could have used the thought acceleration and the speed to dodge, but that would have only been for the first attack.

He didn’t need to dodge though. Phantom appeared in a blur of white light and motion, parrying the Commander’s sword and hissing a warning. Christopher only managed to shout in alarm while the Governor had screamed in terror before falling over on top of his secretary. However, neither of their voices could be heard over the sound of the Commander’s rapier clashing with Phantom’s blades of light.

Allen mentally patted himself on the back for having not even blinked.

The two of them flitted around the hall too fast for anyone to follow, the man a blur of motion and the spider a streak of white. The hall itself shook from the speed and power of each parried blow, the air soon starting to shake and hum. All the dust in the room was swept up and blown away as cracks exploded through the floor and walls wherever the two speedsters kicked off from. The clashing sounds of their blades eventually melded together into a constant ringing, the two of them seemingly equal in their speeds.

Barely a few seconds had gone by before a blinding crescent of golden light flew through the hall. It effortlessly sheared through two columns before a shimmering magic web instantly materialized to block it. Allen quickly averted his eyes, diving for cover from the resulting surge of mana.

Phantom landed near the center of the hall, an aura of pale, cleansing light enveloping his form. He had a long gash in his abdomen, and he was missing two legs, but he was otherwise fine. Allen peeked around a column, watching as the Commander came to a stop across from the spider, panting and covered in small scratches.

“DAMNIT! What the hell is that thing!” he screamed, eyes bloodshot. Then the man thrummed with a new aura as his sword began vibrating into near invisibility. “Quicksilver!” he shouted, causing his rapier to leave a behind a trail of floating liquid metal in its wake.

At the same time, nearly two dozen light clones appeared around Phantom before all of them lunged at the Guard Commander. The became a blur, leaving only a thin ripple of shiny silver metal in his path.

Spells were let loose, destroying walls and collapsing the roof. The room shook like an earthquake, the sonic booms from each movement having deafened Allen already. Only a couple more seconds went by before Phantom created an opening with his illusions and pounced on the Commander’s back, slamming him to the floor.

The man gurgled and screamed as the spider dug two bladed legs into his lungs and tore them back out through his flesh and ribs. The Commander let loose a spell after rolling to his feet. The trail of silver hovering around the room shuddered for an instant before instantly extending into a criss-crossing, paper-thin sheet of metal.

The attack struck nearly everywhere slicing through everything, including the walls. Allen found himself blocked on all sides by planes of silver with barely enough space to move. He was lucky to have survived unscathed. Amelia hadn’t been so lucky though, as the plane of metal had sliced off her left arm and leg before it shattered into shimmering miasma.

Allen peeked back out into the fight to see the crippled and bloodied Commander stumble forward. He weakly raised his rapier one last time before a streak of white flashed past him and he crumpled to the floor in several large chunks.

Your group has defeated Warrior – Level 682

Your contribution: 1% Support

Awarded: 26949 XP

Congratulations, you are now Level 232.

Requirements met: 26949 XP

Awarded: 5 Stat points – 1 Skill point

Phantom appeared next to Allen an instant later and collapsed with a tired hiss. It looked like the Commander’s final attack had got him, having sliced off the right third of his body.

Allen leaned back against the broken wall behind him and let all the tension drain out of his body along with Dead Calm. “What did I do to earn one percent for support?” he asked himself dimly.

Amelia quickly drug herself to the injured spider, a mild look of panic on her face. She was, of course, completely ignoring her own severed limbs having already stopped the bleeding. The cute spider was apparently more important.

The sound of quick footsteps echoed through the hall a few seconds later. Then Jack sprinted into view, wearing his burlap mask and roughened cowboy hat. He whistled to himself as Shoam and Clara showed up behind him.

“Damn, that was fast,” Jack remarked, glancing around the scene of destruction.

Allen clicked his tongue. “Speedsters,” he said, shaking his head.

The group waited a few minutes while Amelia finished healing Allen and Phantom. Ty and Camila showed up during that time, exhausted and covered in cuts and bruises. They couldn’t wait around too long though, there were still slaves to rescue. So, once Allen was on his feet again, after a stamina potion, he had Jack take the lead again.

“We’ve found a few things that might explain Glass’ involvement with this place,” The Ranger explained on their way towards the center of the underground facility. “We both figured they had something to do with the disappearance of that town in the Nash Kingdom, but this makes it all pretty clear.”

Allen nodded along as they walked, “Right,” he replied. “So, then where’s Meredith?”

“Uhh, about that,” Jack began, “Well, just see for yourself,” he said, pushing open a door to another room at the end of a particular hall deep within the compound.

The space on the other side was a simple square shape with little in the way of decoration. However, it was absolutely packed with fucked up, deformed Dregs piled up against the walls. Blood and guts were smeared everywhere, and the stench was so horrid that Allen almost threw up despite having grown accustomed to it over the past few hours. Then there was a raised, circular platform in the center: a teleportation anchor.

Allen quickly put two and two together in his head and looked back at his friend. “Well, shit.”

Jack laughed. “Yeah. We’ll probably read about it in the news come a few days. Doc won’t like this,” he said. “Let’s just hope she doesn’t burn down another small country this time.”

The others took a peek into the room too, mostly showing reactions of disgust or apathy. Ty reacted the strongest by actually vomiting on the floor and quickly walking away while Allen and Jack laughed. It was Clara who got them back on task.

“We should follow her,” she said from beneath her smoke-covered armor.

Jack took a long sigh before he grunted. “Agreed,” he began, giving Allen and the others as much of a commanding look as a crudely drawn smiley face could manage. “You all clean up here. Shoam should go back to the Gate first and open an exit into the basement where all the slaves are hiding. This was a major facility, so I’m assuming most of that town is down there.”

“Understood,” Shoam replied, vanishing.

“Wh-what about me?”

Allen looked over his shoulder at the Hillford Governor, Mr. Norbury, and the woman he was still carrying. “Fuck me, I forgot about him. He was so useless talking to the Commander.”

Everyone exchanged glances before Jack chuckled to himself. “Give me the lady,” he said. “for, um… interrogation.”

The Governor reluctantly obliged, letting Jack take his secretary and fling her over his shoulder. Then Jack and Clara stepped onto the blood-soaked teleportation anchor and brought it to life with some mana.

“Well, time to get to work,” Jack said, tipping his hat.

“Yeah,” Allen replied, waving back as his friend vanished in a flash of light. He turned around, finding Amelia holding Phantom in her arms like a cat. “Time to get to work.”