{The hidden entrance is right here?}

The Squad Leader of the Guards forcefully shoved a disheveled looking dwarf. They had found him acting suspiciously just outside of the alley way, and after a little bit of threatening, forced him to spill out what he knew. The dwarf, who was being held onto by the scruff of his collar, quickly stammered out an answer:

{Y-Yes!}

The entire squad of Guards looked at the wall at the end of the alley. To be honest, none of them could see any signs of a hidden entrance on the seamless brick wall. The Squad Leader proceeded to question the Dwarf:

{How can we open the entrance?!}

{I- I know the secret code! I can get them to open the door!}

The Dwarf quickly walked up to the wall before performing a rhythmic tapping. After a few seconds, the wall still showed no signs of budging, so the Dwarf anxiously reperformed his action.

{Why isn't it opening?! I used the correct code!}

The Squad Leader tossed the Dwarf towards a Guard, who caught and restrained him despite being startled. He considered out loud:

{I guess we could use the battering ram to bust open the wall. The only problem is whether we should trust the Dwarf about the location. I’m going to have to spend my break writing a report if we bust down that wall and find nothing.}

The mage stepped forward while aiming his staff at the wall, much to the panic of the Squad Leader. He slowly started a chant as magic gathered around him, causing the blue crystal embedded at the end of the staff to begin glowing a soft white light. 

After gathering the magic around him to a certain density, a translucent white wave of magic pulsed in the direction of the hidden entrance. The wave seems to seep through the hidden entrance without any obstructions. Two more pulses quickly followed, which penetrated the hidden entrance in a similar way as the first wave. The mage then explained what he found:

{There seems to be a deep staircase directly behind the hidden entrance. I can also detect two dwarfs hiding to the sides of the entrance.}

The Squad Leader looked a little disgruntled as he motioned towards his Guards:

{Damn! Next time, give us a heads up before using your magic. I thought you were going to blow up the wall or something.}

He cleared his throat before continuing: 

{Now then, everyone clear out! David and Steven, prepare the ram!}

A guard with a ram on his back approached the wall, along with another guard. He quickly took the ram off and positioned it at his side. The other guard grabbed the handles on the other side of the ram before they slowly pulled the ram backwards. 

The ram was only about one and a half metres long, and although it was tipped with a metal head, Carl wasn’t sure if it was strong enough to break down the wall.

{Is that ram really strong enough to knock down the wall, especially with only two guards using it?}

The Squad Leader glanced at Carl before speaking:

{You aren’t from here, right? Our equipment is enchanted with magic, so they are stronger than they appear.}

Just then, the Guards struck the wall with the ram. If one paid attention, they would notice that the ram glows just before making contact with the wall.

{BANG!}

The dust in the surrounding was kicked into the air as pieces of brick flew in every direction. A sizable hole was made in the wall from that single strike. Carl involuntarily released a gasp. He quickly asked the Squad Leader:

{I have heard that the production of magic equipment in Valexia outclasses every other country, but I didn’t know it was till this extent.} 

The Squad Leader grinned as he said:

{Of course, not every city equipped their guards with magic equipment. This is the third largest city and the biggest trading hub of Valexia, so we still receive a fair portion of magic equipment.}

Carl remembered reading about this. The first city and second largest was called Mithril City, receiving that name due to the numerous Mithril veins located deep in the mountain the city resides on. Other different types of mines were soon discovered, leading to Mithril City providing all sorts of metal to the rest of the Kingdom. This city is the reason the Valexia Kingdom existed.

The second and largest city, named Valex, was the Capital of the Valexia Kingdom. In the past, the mining operations in Mithril City produced so much dust which even gave the city a hazy atmosphere. The nobles decided to build another city nearby, close enough to manage Mithril City but far enough from the air pollution. Bringing with them all sorts of talented personnel, Valex provides all sorts of premium magic equipment. Although the air in Mithril City has been cleared of pollution, the nobles still remain in Valex.

Finally, the third largest city, Ironkeep City, the one Hel and Carl were in, was the trade city of the Kingdom. Although it was established later in the Kingdom’s history, due to the convenient location which was along a trade route, it soon grew into a prosperous trade city and became the third largest city in the Kingdom. That’s why out of every city in this Kingdom, it has the highest ratio of humans.

The sound of stones tumbling woke Carl up from his thoughts as the Guards began clearing the rubber out of the way of the hidden entrance. One of the Guards reported to the Squad Leader:

{There was a metal door hidden within the bricks, but we managed to break it down.}

The Squad Leader looked into the hole, which was completely dark other than the entrance which was illuminated by the setting sun. Without a word, the mage used 《Fire Magic: Illuminate》, creating multiple floating fireballs which flew through the hole, illuminating the inside.

The Squad Leader gestured towards four of his men and pointed towards both sides of the hole. They nodded and as quietly as possible, they sneaked up to both sides of the hole. The Squad Leader then counted down from 3 using his fingers.

The moment the last finger closes, the four Guards rushed in. Immediately, they split into groups of two and faced each direction. The sound of yelling and metal clanging could be heard before it fell dead silent. A guard exited from the hole and reported:

{All clear. We managed to subdue a human and a dwarf. They had enchanted weapons, so we do have a Guard with a sprained wrist from blocking an attack.}

The rest of the Guards began filing into the hole except for a few who remained on the surface in order to take care of the captives and control the gathering crowd. The Guard with the injured wrist also approached the Mage to be healed. After healing the Guard, the mage sent a few fireballs deeper into the stairway to further illuminate it.

{The ceiling is pretty high up, send some fireballs up there too.}

The Squad Leader glanced cautiously towards the ceiling covered in shadows. The mage nodded and created a few more fireballs before sending them towards the ceiling. The group then proceeded down the stairs. At one point, the mage suddenly glanced upwards. The Squad Leader noticed this and asked:

{Did you see something?}

{I think I sensed something, but it was moving too fast. Should I attempt to chase it down?}

The Squad Leader pondered for a while before shaking his head:

{It’s probably some messaging spell. Even if they managed to get a message out, we are already inside their base. We need all of the firepower we can have for this operation, so let’s ignore it for now.}

Soon, they reached the bottom of the stairs, only to be met with a massive iron door. And so, the battering ram was pulled out again and the guards got to ramming. Since the door was completely made out of iron and was enchanted, it took triple the time than before and the guards had to be changed after the first set got tired.

Finally, the hinges of the door broke down and the Guards rushed in. On the other side was a group of humans and dwarfs, all of whom were wielding sledgehammers. Both sides yelled in fury as they prepared for battle. However, before the battle started, a red magic circle appeared from the side of the Guards. The mage belonging to the Guards had casted a fireball into the group of arena staff.

{Boom!}

Those in the centre of the explosion were immediately charred black while those on the outer reaches were sent flying into the wall. Just like that, the battle ended anticlimactically before it even started. Carl turned towards the mage, only to find him standing tall with his chest stuck out. The mage tried to keep an expression of indifference, but the corner of his lips uncontrollably jerking upwards showed that he felt otherwise.

Unfortunately for the mage, the other Guards ignored him, so Carl gave him a thumbs up instead.

{Don’t. His ego is already too big.}

The Squad Leader warned Carl while observing the room. Ignoring the stink eye he received from the mage, the Squad Leader ordered the Guards to arrest anyone who was still alive.

The mage soon got over it and began to magically search the six massive iron doors, finding that behind them are enclosed rooms, some of which have a weak magical presence inside.

{It seems there are Golems being kept inside. Should I bust down the doors?}

{Not now, they may go berserk upon being set free. We can rescue them later.}

Hearing that golems are being kept inside of those rooms, Carl asked anxiously:

{Wait! Where is Hel?}

After being pestered by Carl, the mage confirmed the location of the tag given to Hel and pointed to the only pathway left in the room, the hallway:

{He should be right down that tunnel.}

After securing the survivors and making sure they cannot escape, the Guards continued down the hallway. Finally, they arrived at the end of the tunnel, where they were greeted with an ominous white fog. Bracing themselves, they took a step closer towards the white fog, only to find that the fog was now rushing towards them. They hurriedly braced themselves for a fight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{Gaah!}

Shouts of fear could be heard from the tunnel Carl and the Guards were in as I swept the steam I produced out of the way. I got ready to send my hook down the tunnel in case they were being attacked, only to find a group of pale-faced Guards slowly making their way into the arena. Then, I saw Carl among them.

{Carl!}

{Hel!}

He stepped forward, only to nearly slip in a pile of golem remains. Shock filled his face as he began observing the arena, realising that it was full of such similar remains. From behind him, one of the Guards yelled out.

{What the hell?!}

The reactions of the Guards were much more drastic. Some of them even looked like they wanted to puke. I asked Carl, who was carefully treading towards me, a question:

{What’s up with them?}

Carl looked at their expressions before explaining:

{The people from this country treat the less intelligent golems like they would treat animals and more intelligent golems like they would treat humans. I expect that this scene looks just like a massacre to them.}

For some reason, despite not being a native of this world, I could somewhat understand how they felt, which was surprising since I barely had any contact with golems before this. Maybe it’s because I am kind of similar to a golem?

However, there are still more important matters to be handled right now.

{Sorry for interrupting, but our job isn’t done yet.}

The Guards woke up from their stupor and stared at the audience members. One of the Guards muttered under his breath:

{There’s so many of them, what are we going to do?}

The Squad Leader grimaced and decisively commanded the mage:

{Contact the headquarters for reinforcement. Tell them to send at least two more squads to our location.}

Both audience and guards stared silently at each other in apprehension. There weren’t enough guards to arrest everyone in the audience, which amounted to almost a thousand people, while the audience members haven’t started fleeing yet since they didn’t want to single themselves out to the guards. However, this stalemate clearly couldn’t last forever. Very soon, one of the audience members yelled abruptly:

{RUN!}

The audience members began stumbling to their feet and making a beeline towards the only entrance accessible from the audience stands, creating a stampede.

{Bang! Bang!}

Opening fire at the ground, Drone 3 tried its best at holding back the audience members, forcing the people at the front to retreat. However, the audience members at the back of the crowd were gradually starting to shove the people at the front. Drone 3 couldn’t hold them back for long.

Luckily, I already had a plan for such a scenario. While the ceiling of the arena was too low for me to maneuver in a fight, I could still fly in straight lines. My rotor blades began spinning slowly, gradually picking up speed.

{Whirrr!}

The loud noise and sudden gust of wind attracted the attention of everyone around me, causing them to pause to find the source. Only, when they finally found the cause of the disturbance, they no longer thought about escaping and instead stared in confusion and horror.

I slowly rose from the ground as the wind created by my rotors exerted an invisible pressure on the audiences and guards below, sweeping dust and some of the lighter debris below me away. Some of the audience members’ legs gave way below them, causing them to collapse onto the floor in fear. The guards were too busy trying to keep themselves on their feet to care about the screams of terror emanating from the audience members.

With precise movements to ensure that I do not harm anyone, I slowly flew towards the only exit accessible by the audience. The people who were crowding around the entrance grew pale. At this point, they had only three choices. They could either stay rooted to the ground in fear, run towards the sides to avoid my path, or ignore certain danger and escape through the entrance. Thus, some of the braver audience members managed to muster up their courage and charged towards the entrance in a bid to escape. However, at this point, I was already directly above them.

(Earth Magic: Earthen Wall)

A brown magic circle formed on the floor in front of the entrance quickly followed by rumbling as a wall made out of dirt rose out of the ground at an alarming speed. Drone 3 flew towards me before the entrance was fully sealed shut and I recalled it into my inventory.

With the only audience exit sealed shut, all of the audience members were now trapped in the arena. They were cowering with fear as the guards slowly recovered their bearing.

{WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!}

I turned my vision around only to find multiple guards pointing their weapons at me. Their hands were trembling non-stop as they discussed loudly in panic.

{THAT THING CAN FLY?!}

{IT IS ABLE TO CAST EARTH ELEMENTAL SPELLS TOO!}

Uh oh, I better explain to them what is happening in an eloquent way to defuse their fear towards me.

I took my time to construct a reply that could clearly state both my thoughts and feelings at the current moment. Finally, I had it.

Without hesitation, I replied: {Bruh…}

Carl quickly stepped in between the Guards and I to explain:

{Stop! This is Hel! My friend who got kidnapped.}

One of the Guards gestured wildly towards the arena which was covered in Golem parts:

{D- Did your friend do all of this?!}

Carl stared at me with a questioning glance.

{OF COURSE NOT! This place was already like this when I entered the arena! They must have hosted tons of fights before I was sent in.}

Although the Guards were still vigilant against me, they quickly turned their attention towards the audience. The Squad Leader commanded his men: {Half of you, focus on capturing the staff members for now. They are the ones equipped with leather armor and a hammer. The rest of you, ensure that the audience members stay in one place and not riot.}

Receiving their orders, the Guards began controlling the area. Whenever I notice audience members acting up, I would fly close to them, causing them to collapse in fear and giving up the idea of escaping. Finally, just as the Guards got the situation under control, two more squads arrived, and it was finally all over, for me at least.