Having exhausted the rescued prisoner''s knowledge about where other prisoners were kept, Eli and Yvonne warped back to the fourth floor and briefed everyone about the situation. They formulated a simple plan, since a more complex one more than likely would fall apart the moment fighting broke out.


    Step one: Find and free the prisoners.


    Step two: Kill every lizardman on the floor.


    Step three: Descend the enormous stairs.


    Little by little, they began warping people back, starting with the priests, so they then could return and fetch more people, speeding up the process. Unfortunately, they hadn’t even made it halfway through the troops before they were spotted. A few lizardmen entered the building, perhaps wondering where their brethren had gone with the prisoners.


    The battle spilled out onto the street. Eli only caught glimpses as he went back and forth, gathering everyone. True to his word, Roy fought next to James and Simon, who used his bulwark skill to keep Roy safe while his pitiful strikes barely punctured the skin of their enemies. They''d all been given weapons as soon as they decided to join in the fight.


    Once everyone was pulled through with Warp, Eli could finally join the battle and use his auras, buffs, and heals to overcome the chaos. With everyone pulled through, their conquest of the floor could begin in earnest. To cover more, they divided into smaller groups with two parties in each group. Sneaking proved difficult, and the mission soon turned into them fighting their way to where Roy indicated the first prisoners were held.


    Eli’s Ravenous Barbarians were paired with a different party to spread out the available healers, as the new group had none. Instead, it was full of archers who''d all decided to select the same skills, and they specialized in powerful shots.


    It turned out to be an efficient strategy. Since Ravenous Barbarians lacked for damage with Cruella gone, even with Charlotte filling the spot, the added ranged damage was welcome.


    Simon, James, and now Roy, together with Charlotte, fought up front along with Princess and the wolves. Meanwhile, the group of eight archers kept to the rooftops, using jumping and climbing skills to find elevation. They rained down death each time the group attracted attention from roaming lizardmen. Some of those lizardmen walked with prisoners, going to or from some sort of manual labor. Those times, the archers held back, letting Eli''s group do most of the fighting to keep the humans somewhat safe. Light''s Seal, where Eli paralyzed the monsters for a time, worked wonders in what was essentially hostage situations.


    Even with such a large group, the fighting proved challenging. The lizardmen were higher-leveled and all of them were specialized. Knights, rather than fighters, specific elemental mages, and even archers that moved behind the fighting lines or above them. Each individual monster was more skillful as well, requiring a heavier use of skills and many more wounds for Eli to heal.


    In front of the building, a larger group of enemies waited for them, apparently already having figured out the objective. Among those, a cursed lizardman priest waited. At level 39, they could tell it would be tough to kill even before the fighting started.


    Eli began by casting Silence, but it did not take hold. Neither did Light''s Seal. This left the priest free to heal the other cursed lizardmen under its command, turning the fight into a drawn out slugfest. Where Eli desperately tried keeping the many lizardman mages silenced while the archers picked them off one by one. They didn''t die fast enough for the new skill node for Silence, where it would spread when the target died, to be effective.


    One of the mages resisted the spell, just like the priest, and a single bolt of lightning crashed into one of the archers up on the roof overlooking the battle. The unfortunate archer''s body was blown apart in an instant, and Eli could do nothing about it. The archers retaliated and the mages soon looked like pincushions, with arrows sticking out everywhere. Even then, they took a long while to die.


    Even in the middle of battle, the archers added Roy to their party. The fighter leveled up with each kill, sometimes more than once.


    An arrow dinged off Eli''s Aegis of The Dying Light, and he repositioned to keep whatever archer had fired it from trying to repeat the attack. If the enemies focused him, Eli wouldn''t be able to keep standing for long. In a final push, Eli triggered all his auras, allowing the group to finally overwhelm the priest. Once it was cut to pieces, all that remained was to destroy the remaining foes.


    Eli entered the building with Simon while the rest of their party kept watch outside. A group of eight humans and three goblins were stuck behind bars. None of the humans had a class associated with them, meaning they probably weren''t part of Infinite Innovation Solutions. Cruella was not among them.


    All of them were branded, and they cowered when Eli and Simon entered. But as soon as they saw they weren’t lizardmen, they pushed forward, pressing against the wall crafted from metal rods. The gaps were large enough to see through, but too small to squeeze past.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    "Keep back!" Simon roared, swinging down a hammer of light on the door. It twisted and blew off its hinges with a single strike.


    "Have you come to rescue us?" one of the prisoners asked.


    "Obviously," Simon said. "We don''t look like lizardmen, do we?"


    "Humans aren''t always much better," someone behind the first line of people muttered.


    Sounds of fighting could be heard outside again.


    "Eli!" Samantha’s voice called. "We need you! Simon too!"


    Eli took a look at the prisoners and spoke up. "Either you stay in here for now or join us and fight back against those who took you."


    He dumped a large portion of the equipment he’d gathered onto the floor before turning and running back out. As paused right outside the exit, humans and goblins both streamed past him, screaming with weapons raised over their heads or held before them. Their rage had overcome their fear.


    A contingent of about twenty lizardmen had appeared to reinforce the ones already slain. Ten of them were knights, with the others divided between mages and rogues.


    Ding! You have reached level 44.


    More Wisdom was all he had time to add, or he''d lose focus in the middle of battle. By the time the reinforcements were dead, they had lost one of the rescued goblins and two of the humans.


    One of the surviving humans, a man of an age with Eli, with short and curly black hair and a darker complexion, stepped up and offered his hand.


    Emir. Human. Level 42.


    Eli raised an eyebrow while taking the newcomer’s hand. "Your level is high."


    "I am quite an expert in the art of combat, yes, my friend," Emir replied. "May I inquire as to your name?"


    "I’m Eli."


    Emir squeezed Eli’s hand, then let go and bowed with a flourish. "I’m Emir Mulanienicz. At your service. Adventurer and seeker of truth extraordinaire."


    "You’re quite something," Simon muttered.


    Emir continued, "You appear to be carrying an entire arsenal with you. Do you perhaps have a spear in your possession?"


    Eli searched his inventory and found one. He brought the spear out and handed it over. Emir, in turn, held out the sword he’d been using to one of the humans still without a weapon. Then Emir weighed the spear in his hand and inspected the metal head.


    "Not the greatest craftsmanship I’ve seen," he said, frowning. "But I suppose beggars cannot be choosers in times such as these. Now, onwards!" he shouted, raising his spear and racing down the street.


    Everyone looked on in confusion, then turned to Eli, who shrugged. "The next batch of prisoners should be down that way. Right, Roy?"


    "Sure," Roy said, heaving with exhaustion. Pointing while panting. "They kept moving us around. I''ve been in five different cages since coming here. Then his eyes glazed over, showing he was looking over his character sheet. Fighting high-leveled monsters like these had brought him up to level 19 already. Roy had come awfully close to death several times, and it was honestly a miracle Simon and James had been able to keep the man alive, with a little help from Eli.


    They set off after Emir.


    As they hurried along the street trying to catch up to the foolhardy adventurer, whatever that title meant, a woman came up to run beside Eli. Her hair was short and tousled, and stood in all directions and looked roughly cut, like someone had sheered it off with a knife.


    "That magic you were using," she said, looking straight ahead rather than at him. "I have never seen that before."


    Halena. Human. Level 38.


    Her level was high. Interesting.


    "What about it?"


    "I have never seen healing like that. Who taught you?"


    "I don''t know. No one," Eli replied. "You know magic?"


    A flash of irritation swept across her face, and she was about to say something more when their large group came under assault.


    Mages stood arrayed inside two buildings overlooking the street, peering out through windows. Frost bloomed out in novas around the first line of attackers in Eli''s group, and explosions rocked those in the middle before bolts of different elements assaulted anyone who hadn''t already come under attack. Screams of pain and confusion erupted as Eli struggled to keep everyone alive. Only a triggered Aura of Defense allowed them to suffer through a second barrage without any more deaths.


    After that, Eli had the time to trigger Aura of Suppression then finally silence some of the mages. At that point, the humans had collected themselves enough to strike back. One of Samantha''s orbs of light soared through the air and struck the wall up on the second floor where the mages hid, utterly obliterating it. The cursed lizardman mages who survived the roof caving in on them were quickly picked off by the mages. Almost all the rescued humans raced into the other building and were soon tearing the remaining mages apart, while Eli kept them silenced.


    Having survived yet another close call, Eli turned to the woman who''d been standing next to him, silently regarding the battle. She was gone. That guy, Emir, was gone without a trace as well. Even as they ran into that group of monsters, Eli had seen no sign of the high-leveled adventurer.


    They had just made it to the second location Roy indicated to find another group of human prisoners kept in cages like animals, when Eli received a message.


    Yvonne: We need help. It''s urgent.


    Eli: Where? What''s happening?


    Yvonne: See the tower that looks kind of like Big Ben?


    Eli looked out across the city and laid eyes on it.


    Eli: I see it.


    Yvonne: We were pushed into a large building right next to it. There are two cursed goliaths trying to get in, and they’re using huge weapons. We''ve had deaths already.


    Eli: We''re coming.


    Just as he was about to tell the others they needed to hurry to help Yvonne and her group, another message arrived.


    Guy: Elijah. I have found a vantage point with a view of the city below, and I can see several groups in the western corner of the city struggling.


    Eli: Can you help them? We are on our way to help a different group.


    It was silent for a moment before a reply came.


    Guy: The outlook is grim, but I will make my best attempt, Elijah.


    Dammit.


    Eli: I’ll try to divert some people as well.


    Guy: Any aid will be most welcome.


    Eli turned to his ever-growing group as the new prisoners donned weapons and armor.


    "Listen up," Eli shouted. "We have a bit of a situation on our hands, and we need to split up."


    "That''s the stupidest thing you''ve said today," Samantha said.


    Amy nodded. "That does sound stupid." She paused for a moment, then added, "Dummy."