And so, the Llamare, Liealia, and Servi rushed their way through the panicked-filled alleys. After dodging crowds and hopping over fences and gates, the three peeked out from behind a wall.  Just ahead of them sat the large and imposing gate that blocked the way leading to the mansion.

“Five guards?! And look at that armor…” Liealia exclaimed. She had the right to be surprised. The armor she saw was as black as Servi’s Shadow Shot, and it acted like natural camouflage. The only reason Servi saw them was because of the unnaturally bright light her massive fire domes gave off. Somehow, the guards didn’t act worried. The three stopped peeking and huddled together to think of a plan.  

“I can remove their armor and weapons, but I have to get closer,” Servi offered, even though she could single-handedly destroy the entire mansion. The slaves were the only reason she hadn't engulfed it in a dome of fire.

“Damn, if I only had a bow.” 

“Llamare, I can help with that,” a wooden bow and a quiver of arrows appeared floating beside him. “I’m not too sure about the quality, but that’s the best I have.” 

“Many thanks, Blue,” he said, not even phased by the floating weapon.  He snatched them out of the air. Nocking an arrow, he began chanting, and a whimsical green glow covered the bow.  

“Oh, the Winds above who slumber in a place further than our universe. I pray to you. Grant us your power of Five Shot!” after releasing the string, the single arrow turned into five as they soared through the air on a direct course with the guards. The eyeholes on their helmets were just large enough for the projectiles to enter in.  While Servi didn't see it, she heard the crimson lifeblood splatter.  It wouldn't be long until the metal helmets filled up with blood and chunks of pink and white.

“Good job, cousin!” 

“I didn’t know there was a skill like that. What Rank is it?” Servi asked.  

“I don’t know. I’m not a member of Warden.” 

“How can you use it?” 

“My God, Aeriy, is a Wind God. He has blessed me with archery-related skills. Five Shot is one of them.” 

“I see,” Servi said as the three walked up to the gate. After absorbing the bodies and equipment, Servi moved onto the gate. It took a total of 38 seconds to fully absorb the massive thing, so the cousins were standing guard. Once it was gone, the three made a mad dash up the driveway, sticking to the shadows and hiding behind anything they could.  

For a large building, the front yard was similar. Strangely enough, it was all flat. Servi could spot no buildings, sheds, plants, or flowers.  The number of items to take cover behind was practically zero. Somehow, they made it without being spotted.  Upon taking cover next to a door, they decided on their options.  There talked about heading further on to the larger door up ahead, but Servi said it was too risky. 

"Fair enough.  Let's rush on through this door.  Blue, can you make it disappear?" asked Liealia.

"Already ahead of you.  Come on!" the door disappeared, stored inside Servi's ring, and the three rushed in.

The inside was so glitzy and ugly. The walls, covered in hideous yellow paint, reminded Servi of urine. The place they found themselves in was a hallway. They were at the end, and when they looked to the right, they saw five doors spread equally apart. Next to each door was a painting of the same person. Bald and pig-like, he had a round face and wore a green suit that looked like gross vomit.

“What terrible color…” Servi muttered.  She felt sick in her stomach. Everything in this place made her feel queasy.  

“It’s horrendous…” Llamare agreed.  

“Come on, guys, it’s not that bad...” Liealia tried to act like she wasn’t bothered but failed.  

“Look, the faster we do this, the faster we can leave,” muttered Llamare.

“That being said, where do we start? Blue?” asked Liealia.

“I don’t know. I mean, we don’t know where the slaves are being held.  I hate to say it, but we might have to search every room.” 

“Then I guess we start with that door right there,” Liealia pointed to the closest one. Servi nodded and walked over while the two Earth Elves drew their weapons.

Shall I absorb the door and painting? You can focus on attacking.  

“Yeah, that sounds good. Thanks, Itarr,” Llamare and Liealia gave Servi a look, and she explained that Itarr would make the door disappear. They nodded and took a stance.  

The moment the door disappeared, Servi rushed in with ten Shadow Shots rotating around her, like deadly shadows waiting to take a life to protect their master.  However, the room was empty. 

“There’s only a bed,” Llamare noticed. Servi took it, and they walked out before heading to the next door.  

“Another bed?” Llamare said again. Servi absorbed it, and they went to the next door, but the same events played out.  

“Why does he have these empty rooms? It’s unnerving,” Liealia said as they entered the fourth door to discover an empty room with a bed.  

“I don’t know, but it’s weird. I wonder if the last door leads to a hallway?”  

“Let’s find out,” Liealia answered Servi as she absorbed the door.

---

It wasn’t a hallway but a large room that had a set of regal-looking stairs in the center. It went up to the wall before turning to the left. It followed along and turned ninety degrees before continuing up. From what they could see, the stairs went about halfway up to the ceiling before suddenly stopping.  Intricate patterns were engraved on the floor, and right in front of the stairs sat a large army of around one hundred. Except for one man, they all stood in formation. The sole exception stood a few steps up. He was yelling something to the army, but they were too far away to hear them.  

The one shouting on the stairs looked over their men rather than at them, choosing to glance upon a large set of doors. Servi did the math and figured it was the door they saw-- the main entrance-- but didn't want to risk. 

It's a good thing we found that side entrance. Itarr noted.

Servi and the two Elves ran behind a nearby pillar and peeked out. “Good, they haven’t seen us,” Llamare said.

“What do we do?” 

Servi answered Liealia. “I’ll kill all but the one that looks like a leader.” Servi pointed to the single man on the steps.  He wore red armor with a blue jewel in the middle.

“You know, I want to call you a liar, but I know you’re telling the truth. When you start your attack, we’ll rush in and bind him,” Llamare said as Liealia chanted the incantation for Conjure Ice Rope.  

I guess that’s a good use for that ice rope skill. Itarr said.

“Yeah.  Itarr, we need to keep shooting Shadow Shots until they’re all dead, but don’t hit the man in red armor.” 

Right! 

One, two, four, eight. The number of black arrows orbiting Servi grew and increased until they numbered 50. Then, Servi gave the mental command to launch.  

“Eh?” A lazy guard at the back of the formation yawned unprofessionally and turned his head, but it was too late. The sight of the arrows launching out, impaling and stabbing through hearts and domes, only appeared in his eyes for a moment before his life ended.

“Now!” Servi yelled out after the first wave of Shadow Shots. She quickly prepared another volley.  

“Got it!” like a pair of brave soldiers rushing underneath a volley of arrows, the two cousins raced forward as the Shadow Shots continued to launch overhead. Though they started off as enemies, the two Elves trusted Servi enough that they knew she wouldn’t intentionally hit them.  

They were right. Ahead of the cousins, some guards instantly moved to surround and protect the leader. But they died from a few Shadow Shots that flew nearby.  The black arrows death dodged and avoided the two running Elves, brutally piercing the would-be protectors’ armor and heart.  

“Wha!?! How?! Why?! Guards—” The leader was panicking. Everything was happening way too quickly for even an experienced man like him to follow.  

“Nope!” Liealia ran full speed towards the leader with her rope out. The man finally had enough reason to draw his sword, a red blade with a blue jewel in the hilt, but it was futile. Llamare, slowing to a jog, readied and fire an arrow in the time it took for the leader to grab his sword. It hit his hand, bouncing off and not causing any damage, but it was enough for him to jerk his hand back. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t have the best grip. The sword slipped from his hand, and Liealia tackled him to the ground. He tried to escape from the Earth Elf, but a Shadow Shot flew by close to his head, centimeters away from killing him. In that one moment, he experienced real fear, and Liealia took the initiative. Using some martial art technique, Liealia flipped the confused man to his stomach, armor and all, and wrapped the icy rope around his neck. She pulled tight, just enough for the man to think he was about to die as his face slowly went blue.  

“You bitch! Let our comm—” An incoming Shadow Shot killed a young soldier who had survived the skill skewering his body. This time, it destroyed his head, and there was no way he could’ve survived.  

“Gah…y…ou….bit…ch…my men….will….kill….yo….you” the man in red armor struggled to curse Liealia as she laughed. Since she didn’t want to kill him, she kicked the sword away and lightly loosened her grip.  She graciously allowed him to taste the medicine known as air.

“Look around you,” Llamare said.  The man struggled to turn his head, and he saw a most hideous sight. His men, his brothers in arms, the ones who looked up to him as a leader, were all dead. Destructive black arrows continued to fly around and land themselves in the already dead corpses, further brutalizing them to where the poor bastards couldn't be identified. 

“NOOOOOOOOO!!! YOU MONSTERS!!” the leader screamed in a way that wasn’t like him. As the leader of one of the most dominant families in Canary and Lando, he should’ve acted with more respect and dignity. But the sight of his best men violently dying robbed him of that training and leadership in a mere moment.  

“Says the one who’s working for a slave driver. Shut up.” Liealia pulled her ice rope tighter until he finally begged for her to stop.  

“Itarr, take some swords and use Telekinesis to fly them around the room. If you see any reinforcements, kill them. Liealia, get off him. I’ll keep him restrained.” 

Of course.  

“Sure thing,” Liealia removed her rope and hopped off of him. And as Servi expected, her foe tried to crawl his way to safety but was stopped by Telekinesis. She put an anchor point on each of his limbs, followed by a final one on his chest while flying him over to her.

“Hello, there. You mind answering our questions?” Servi asked as she went around absorbing the corpses. The leader floated alongside her like a puppy following its owner. He tried to close his eyes, but Telekinesis prevented that.  He was forced to bear witness to the slaughter.

“You bitch. You’re a human, so why are you working with the Demis? AAAAGGHHHH!!!”  

Servi manipulated his left arm until it was able to bend backwards. 

“Not what I wanted to hear. You should’ve said ‘Yes, ma’am.’ Where are the slaves?”  

“Fuck off!” 

“Another wrong answer, another broken arm.” 

“Like I care. I’m willing to die for this city!” He foolishly declared his pride, much to the disgust of Liealia and Llamare.  Even as his right arm twisted like a type of red candy, he somehow pushed the pain away from his mind.

“For this city? The city that forces little Demi-Human children to be locked in jail cells naked and paraded around like caged animals?” Liealia readied her naginata and held it to the leader’s neck.  

The leader wasn't scared.  Not at all.  He had lived a life of battle and had always come out on top.“ It’s not against the law to buy and sell Demi-Humans.” 

He flew high in the air, courtesy of Servi, and it wasn’t a moment too soon. Liealia had jabbed her weapon forward, expecting to cut flesh and see blood, but all she hit was air. Thanks to Soul Essence of Primal Combat, Servi knew she was going to attack.  

“Blue?!” Liealia asked, a look of betrayal plastered across her face. 

“He’s gonna die,” Servi said as she brought the whimpering man back down.  His overconfident ego was nowhere to be found. “But not now. We need answers. Hey!” she walked to the man and smacked him across the face. Her armored hands were covered in her oversized armor, and even though it was weak, it was still hard enough to where even a grown man couldn’t shake off being punched in the face.  

“Where are the slaves?” 

“Fuck. Off.”  

Servi broke his two legs, and the leader passed out.  

“Fuck… Maybe we can find someone less willing. He’s all yours,” Servi released Telekinesis, and the leader dropped to the ground. Before Liealia had a chance to crush his heart, Servi absorbed his armor and sword.

Wait, isn’t this the sword Rowan had when we first saw him? Why would this guy have it? Servi thought.

The sound of flesh ripping and a final gurgle of death came from behind Servi. Servi didn’t even have to turn around because Itarr absorbed the corpse for her.  

“What now?” Liealia asked, her hand moving down the blade of her weapon as she cleaned the blood.  

“I say we go up. I’d imagine Parrel would be near the top.” 

“I agree, but what if the slaves are behind those doors over there?” Liealia pointed across the giant room, and Servi could make out a single door that looked like the one that led to this room.  

“There’s a chance, but we can’t spend too much time here. We have to meet up with the rest of the group at dawn.” 

“I know that cousin. But….” Liealia looked like she was about to cry, but a few words from Servi prevented that.

“Look, we’ll find them, alright. We just have to ask the right person. Believe me, I won't leave without them.” 

“Thanks, Blue,” Liealia thanked her as she readied her weapon and made her way up the stairs. Servi and Llamare followed close by.  

“Itarr, did the swords find anything?” Servi asked as they flew back to her before disappearing. 

No. 

“Good.” 

And so they ascended the stairs. After they reached the first turn, it became something similar to a square spiral. Every few turns, there would be a door that Servi would peak into, and she would see a hallway much like the one they saw when they entered this place. They went to each of the five doors and opened them to reveal nothing but a bed.  

Getting back to the main staircase and resuming their journey to the top, Liealia had something to say.  

“This stupid house is so damn confusing. Why are there so many rooms that only have a single bed?!! I feel like I’m about to go crazy!” 

“Calm yourself, cousin. Don’t let any thoughts distract you. Though if I had to guess, I’d say that the Humans we encountered earlier lived here.” 

“I’m sorry, but I just hate this place so much!” though it didn’t match the current situation, Servi watched the two cousins playfully talked while they walked. Soon though, they reached the end of the stairs.  Strangely enough, there was still a ton of space between them and the ceiling.  It was like there used to be another staircase here, but it was moved.

“Maybe there’s another set of stairs through here?” Servi wondered.  She opened the door and saw something she didn't expect to see.

“Eh?!” A young Human girl in a white and black maid outfit stood there with a broom in her hand. She glanced at Servi, then to Liealia, and finally to Llamare before dropping her cleaning instrument and falling down. Water clouded her eyes as a wet spot appeared between her legs.  

Llamare rushed forward with his weapon but was stopped by Servi and her Telekinesis.  

“What?! Let! Me! Go!” he struggled with everything he had, but it wasn't enough to break the invisible hold.

“No. Look at her. She can't be older than sixteen,” Servi said. 

“Blue?” Liealia nervously muttered. She knew that if it came to a fight, and it was unquestionably possible because of the current tense situation, she and her cousin had no chance of winning.

Servi walked up to the tearful girl and crouched.  Facing eye to eye, she spoke slowly and sweetly. “I need you to be honest with me, okay? Do that, and we won’t hurt you.  You have my word.” 

The frightened girl nodded.  

“Do you work here?”  

She nodded.  

“Why?” 

“My granny is sick, an’ I’m too scared to join Warden. I couldn’t get hired anywhere else, so I work here. I’m a maid.” 

“I see. Itarr, do we have any potions or anything?” 

We have a few health potions.  

“Tell me, do you hate slaves?” 

“No, ma’am. They’re always real nice to me. When I was little, and I was out searchin’ for food, a little boy with a bracelet gave me a cracker. I knew my granny was right. She always said that we had to be nice to each other, no matter what we look like. But I know Master Parrel has some. It’s a known fact that the screams coming at night are him having fun...I...I don’t want to work for a man like that, but I have no other choice. I need the money for food and medicine.” 

Servi turned to Llamare. “Do you still want to kill her, even knowing that she only wants to help her granny?” 

“Damnit, Blue… You’re making me feel sorry for her...” 

Servi and Liealia chuckled, causing the young girl to have a puzzled look.  

Servi reached her hand out, and the young girl took it. Using Remedium four times, Servi used a fully stacked Protection on her new friend and pulled her to her feet. Afterwards, she gave her two red vials.  

“But why?” asked the girl as tears flooded her eyes. “Ain’t nobody ever been nice to me like this before.” 

“And take this too.” Servi pulled out a small bag of dupla and gave it to the girl, who cried harder. Bending down just a little bit, Servi pulled a cloth from her ring and gently wiped the young girl’s eyes. “Can you promise me something?” 

“Anything, ma’am!” 

“Take this money and buy food for your granny. And make sure to give her the potion. Just a little bit at first. I don’t know how much it’ll help, and I don’t know her injury, but it should lessen the pain. Just remember that you never saw us, okay?” 

“Of course, ma’am. You three were never here…. Thank you again...” the girl teared up again, so Servi wiped her tears with the same cloth. She thanked Servi before walking to the crying Liealia and immobilized Llamare.  

“Oh, your story is so sad….” Liealia so crouched down and hugged the girl, scaring her for a second before she wrapped her arms around the Elf.

“Thank you, ma’am...” The girl said before turning to Llamare. “I’m sorry.” 

“No child, you have done nothing to apologize for. It’s not as if you were personally responsible. If anything, I should apologize. I know that not all humans are despicable to us Demi-Humans, yet I tried to take my anger out on you.” 

“…… I don’t know what to say….” 

“Then say nothing. I do wish the best for this….‘granny.’” 

The young girl smiled at Llamare before hugging him. “Thank you, sir!” she said before running off downstairs.  

Granny, I’m coming home early tonight! And I won’t have to go back!! Positive thoughts flooded her wasteland of negative thoughts that was her mind. The door closed behind her as she ran down the stairs, nearly tripping a few times. As she saw the horrible blood at the bottom of the stairs, she put on a brave face and ran through it. She was determined to make it home and inform her granny of the good news. 

“Blue?”  

“Yeah?” 

“Can you let me down?” 

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Servi and Liealia ended up checking the next few doors in this hallway as he floated right behind them like a poltergeist.

“Cousin, you could've said something.” 

“I forgot… Hehe!” a small giggle followed Liealia's words, and Llamare sighed.  

“I know what you were trying to do, but what if she had a weapon? Or if she was lying,” Llamare asked.  

Servi’s following words froze him to the core. “I would’ve ripped her head off and killed her myself. But I don’t think she was lying.” 

“My cousin has a point. What if we come across someone who’s not a guard or a fighter, but they have a weapon that they refuse to drop?” 

“Then I have no problem with you killing them. But if there’s no weapon and your target seems scared or frightened, I will not allow you two to kill innocent people.” 

“That’s fair enough,” Liealia said. Her cousin nodded in agreement.

“Good,” Servi said as she absorbed the second to last door. Rushing inside, it, like all the others, was empty.  

“Why is it always a bed?!!” Liealia was getting irritated, but Servi and Llamare ignored her. Absorbing the bed inside, they went it the last door. Instead of using her Ring, Servi bashed it down with a few Shadow Shots and stepped through. She was met with another set of stairs and its guardrails.

It was reminiscent, matching the vibe of the room where they killed the large group of men.  

“Huh…” Servi said as she canceled her skill. “I wonder where the guards are at?”  

“They might be at the top,” Liealia answered Servi. She walked over to the banister, leaning on it and looking over. No stairs led down, and only a floor was below her. Far, far, far below her.

“How strange… I wonder why this place was designed like this?” Llamare wondered out loud. Neither Servi nor Liealia could answer that.  

Ten minutes later, the group of three was at the top of this set of stairs.  

“Amazing…. Every door we opened led to an empty hallway filled with more doors. I wonder why we haven’t come across any more workers or guards?” Liealia asked.  

“Maybe there’s a second way up here?” asked Servi. 

“Perhaps. It makes no sense these asinine stairs would be the only path to the top. There has to be another way.”  Llamare said.

Servi absorbed the last door. Unlike all the others that led to a hallway, this one led to a wide-open area. Weapons and armor of all kinds of shapes, colors, sizes, and materials hung on the wall in vast quantities. These were metal. And not just steel or iron, but red-brown copper, green emerald, blue sapphire, and more. In the back sat a large door that was at least three meters high. Jewels of various colors and sizes formed a design in the middle.

This Parrel is probably behind that door there. Itarr said, and Servi nodded.

“What the…?! There’s enough gear in here to outfit an army!!!” Though they didn’t count it, more than two hundred sets of equipment were on display, and that didn’t include the weapons. By dividing the armor up equally so that not everyone received a complete set, there was enough to outfit 1,000 people.

“But why?!” Liealia asked, and though she didn’t expect an answer, she received one from an old man with grey hair who walked towards them.  Somehow, Servi, Liealia, and Llamare had missed him, and they couldn't believe it. Somehow, they were blind to the immense aura he gave off.