The exterior of the lord's manor was silent save for the sound of crickets, yet Yukito stayed vigilant for any signs of more guards. He inched his way forward at a steady, but careful pace and within a few minutes he was near the main entrance to the large building. It would be idiotic to charge in through the front door. I'm going to see if there's a way around. There's only a matter of time before the patrol I saw in town comes back and finds those two guards dead in the alleyway.

The front door of the manor started to open before he could make his way around the side and he immediately activated his power; using up another two seconds to hide behind a shrub. He could hear the heavy fall of footsteps and voices coming down the small set of stairs that lead to the entryway. 

"I don't see why we have to keep up this whole guard duty business. Why can't we just slaughter these humans and move on already?"

"Show some respect for Yari. If not for her, we would still be living in that wretched forest, half starved, and only able to eat the occasional human. Not to mention that we had to compete for survival against those damned arachnids."

The second one of the creatures merely hissed in response. Once they pass me, I'll take them out. He tensed up and his heart was pounding in anticipation. A moment later he activated his power and sprang into action once more and brutally impaled the snake-men from behind with his sword. Two more down! That took another 6 seconds. That leaves me with about 15 seconds of slowed time left. And another ten minutes before it resets I think. I can't count on that fluke from earlier where I got 8 extra seconds to happen again until I've tested it.

He couldn't get over how the things looked. They had humanoid bodies, covered with scales that shimmered in the dim light of the torches in the darkness. Their necks were elongated and affixed with large, human sized, snake heads. He shivered unconsciously for the briefest of moments before he proceeded to drag the corpses to the bushes. He knew that he couldn't do anything about the blood splatter on the pathway, but there wasn't much use worrying about that at this point. All he could do now was commit to what had to be done. Yukito circled around the building and listened beneath each window before poking his head up and peeking inside. The place didn't look to be trashed or anything, but on one of the three occasions he looked through a window he saw a group of four snake monsters conversing. 

I need to find a good spot to go in already. If there are survivors, then they'll be inside this house somewhere. At least, that's what I hope. After a few more minutes of creeping around he found a tree that grew up near a second story window. Channeling his inner cat, he decided to climb the tree and go in that way. Death from above and all that. Once he looked around the room. It was a well-kept servant's quarters from the looks of things. The furnishings were plain and it appeared that more than one person slept here. 

He stood next to the closed door for several minutes listening for movement or voices, and when he didn't hear anything he slowly cracked the door open and looked around. There was a balcony that circled around a large room in front of him with a few more rooms arranged around it and a stairs leading up to the third floor as well as down to the first. I'd better go up first. If this place has a dungeon, it'll be underneath the first floor, but I should clear a path from top to bottom. 

Yukito went through each room on the second floor and found that there were no people or signs of the snake monsters, so he continued on to the third floor. There was only one room on the third floor and it was lavishly decorated. There wasn't anyone in the room, but it appeared that it had been used. The bed was messed up and there were blood stains around the floor. So far so good. Time to go down. 

Enough time had passed that his power would have reset, so he felt confident that he could handle a bad situation if he had to so long as he wasn't caught off guard. A short time later he was on the first floor. He had to move fast, as he knew that there were at least four more of the creatures inside the building. He rounded a corner heading into a hallway and right into a group of three snake people. They started to yell and one of them reached for their weapons, but they weren't fast enough to get out more than a syllable. Yukito slowed time and decapitated all three in a matter of just a few seconds. 

His hands trembled with nervousness as he realized just how close he had been to being caught, or at the very least having every one of those things in the whole building coming after him all at once. I must be on the right track at least. Continuing down the hallway he encountered a total of six more of the snakes, all of which he easily dispatched. Unfortunately, each encounter left him with less and less time on his hands and at this point he only had about 4 seconds in the bank. 

A little more exploring and he found what he was looking for. There was a door with steel bars in it that separated him from a staircase leading down. Luckily, he had grabbed a ring of keys off of one of the dead and after a few tries he found the correct key. He hesitated before going down for a moment. Are you really sure about this? Just because they summoned you, doesn't mean you have to be heroic. Isn't it better to live? 

He wrestled with this line of thinking for a few moments before squashing it. Hero or not, I need to do what's right since I have the power to make a difference. It's not like back home where I couldn't do anything. With that all done, he descended into the darkness of the basement. The first thing he noticed when he got down there was the smell. It wafted up towards him as he had descended and only got worse as he continued. The second thing he noticed was that he heard people whimpering and coughing. 

When he reached the bottom of the stairway, he saw a scene out of a horror movie. There was a pile of body parts in one corner of the room and another corner was filled with human waste. This is a recipe for disease right here. He had to fight the urge to vomit. A small group of living people huddled in a corner. There were about fifteen survivors, one of which wore rich looking clothes that had definitely seen better days. 

All the people shrank back into the corner when they saw him. The lord stood in front of the group defiantly as though to try and stop him. Yukito could see that the man had been beaten on several occasions. "Take me and spare my poor people you monster!" he spat to the side. 

Yukito stepped closer and was surprised that the people could shove themselves even further into the corner. He even saw a child in the mix, not much older than Oli. "I'm not here to hurt anyone. I'm here to help," he said.

"You think we'll fall for that, you beast? Have you not made us suffer enough?" the man in front said.

"Listen. I killed a lot of those things to get in here and save you guys. You can come with me, or you can stay here while I finish the job, but first, are Oli's parents here?"

Two people poked their heads out from behind who he assumed to be lord Brandt and looked at him nervously.

"I just want to let you know, that Oli is safe. He's with Dr. Vernia and a friend of mine. I know you must have been worried when you saw what the guards did to him. I saved him, and I vow that I will save all of you as well if I have the power to do so."

Yukito tossed the set of keys towards the group of people and turned to walk away, when he heard the lord's voice behind him. "You're a stranger here, why would you risk your life for us?"

"Because it's the right thing to do."

He didn't stop to converse anymore and left the people there, heading up the stairs. At least if I fail, then they will have a chance to get away. The only place he could go from here was the main entryway. In what felt like no time at all he arrived at his destination. When he peeked out from the hallway he saw 5 more of the reptilian people. One of them didn't fit in with the rest and wore some crude robes. That one had a staff whose head curved and twisted, ending with the head of a snake with its mouth open. I only have a few seconds left, but it will have to do. I'm not the best with a sword, but I can fight, even without my power. 

It was clear that the one with the staff was some sort of magician, so he needed to think things through. Charging in blind would be just about the stupidest thing he could do since he didn't know exactly what that person could do. As he was considering what to do, the front doorway slammed open and two reptilians disguised as guards came in.

"Yari! The guards at the gate have been found dead and there is blood on the pathway to the manor. There's an intruder!"

"Birin, go check the prisssoners," she hissed. "Everyone elssse, fan out and look for thisss intruder." 

Fuck. There goes my element of surprise. Yukito quickly made his way back around the corner to where the first couple corpses lie on the ground. I'll try to catch that Birin person off guard as he comes around the corner. 

Yukito listened and heard a few pairs of footsteps coming his way. He didn't have any choice, he would have to activate his power if he wanted to remain undetected. When he heard them getting close enough to be on top of him he slowed time and dashed around the corner. Three reptilian guards slowly opened their snake eyes wide in shock; he dispatched all three within the allotted time. To his pleasant surprise, time didn't return to normal after the four seconds and he deactivated again. He only wasted one of the extra 8 seconds.

Okay, so my power has become stronger. I don't know why, but I'll gladly take it. With those three down, there were only a handful of these monsters left to deal with, along with that magician. It was time to stop hiding. He decided he could handle things from here and ran toward the main hallway. 

The reptilians in the entryway had to be shocked when they saw the sight of a black-clad figure darting around the corner and straight for them. The three with spears charged toward him; their weapons were at the ready and they struck at him. I've got this. Piece of cake. He slowed time and spun around their spear thrusts. He moved fast and took off the head of the one on the right and spun in a circular motion, stabbing the one in the center through its chest. 

Only a few seconds left, get the magician! He yanked his sword free and that was when he noticed something odd. There were six copies of the one with the staff and each of them were glowing with a bright green light that had formed into a geometric shape in the air. Fuck my life.

In a split second decision, he stabbed the third spearman and used the body as a shield as the time ran out. A bolt of concentrated green energy flew at the body he hid behind and blasted it into pieces; Yukito was sent flying back a few feet. Okay, stay calm. One of those has to be the real one. The others are illusions. I just need to get up!

He groaned and got to his feet just as another bolt of the green energy smashed into the tile floor where he had been laying. Splinters of wood flew at him and hit the back of his cloak. "Resssisting is usssseless, human! You will die!" 

Yukito dodged the next bolt of energy and charged toward one of the phantoms. He managed to slash his blade through it and it dissipated into a green mist. The copies all began moving around and bolts of energy shot from them at random intervals. He realized that he could tell which one was real by seeing which bolt actually caused damage. He waited for his opportunity patiently dodging each of the projectiles. Finally, he saw the source and went in for the attack as the creature charged it spell again. He got in close and slashed at the creature.

To his surprise, it blocked his blade with the wooden staff which sent off hot sparks when it came into contact with his blade. The snake head stretched forward and attempted to snap at his head with sharp fangs. He spun and stabbed again, this time he connected right in the thing's stomach. 

Instead of pulling his sword out, he twisted it and yanked to the side, causing the wound to open wider. The creature let out a cry of pain as it fell to the floor. He delivered the coup de grace and the illusions disappeared. I'm not done yet. I need to let them know they're free. He grabbed the snake head staff and carried it back to the dungeon.

All the people were still huddled in the corner and they cowered in fear when they saw he was holding the staff. Then, to their surprise, he tossed the thing at the feet of the lord. "You're free."