Everyone tensed when the harpy signaled the presence of unidentified intruders.
"Where did they come from?" Slade asked.
"From the crashed blimp, master." The harpy pawn stood by, awaiting for his next order.
He threw the hot potato at the captain so he could focus on stabilizing the wounded pirates. "Deal with it! I have to save as many people as I can."
The two harpies remained at his side in case he wanted to run away.
If they were lucky, the unidentified guests were pirates coming out from the blimp pod. But it was most likely the blimp's crew.
The mermaid hovered as if she swam in the air. She grabbed her trident and supported her captain with her shoulder.
"Another fight? This never ends." The other panicking mermaid got a hold on herself and picked up her swords.
"Everyone, gather! I know you oceanids are alright." The captain shouted.
"Sir, many people need urgent help." A dozen of trident-wielding merfolks abandoned their hiding spot and gracefully swam out from the shipwreck.
Few of them looked at Slade with great curiosity, while the ones who did not were pawns.
The chain lightning didn't kill all the crew and the hovering species was immune to fall damage. As a result, many mermaids had survived the shipwreck.
The other lucky survivors wore artifacts with warding aura and avoided both the lightning and falling debris. But they were incapacitated. That included the jellyfish sea witches, and they had no mana left, so there was no point in healing them to wake them up.
The sailors with weak equipment were dying, and they were Slade's priority.
He hopped from body to body, reaching inside their wounds to stop bleedings.
The captain threw his empty scabbard away and loaded his pistol. He bravely stepped out with his allies… before running back to the broken ship.
A crowd of bloodthirsty creatures walked after them with their weapons still bloody. There were at least twenty people from the Tower. They looked a bit more disoriented than the oceanids, but they were much better off than the incapacitated pirates, at least enough to fight.
Violet commented. “Most are gremlins, but there are also snow elves magi, iron golems and their dwarven smiths, frost naga, and penguins.”
“... Penguins?” Slade raised his non-existent eyebrow.
The frost naga brandished her swords. “Kill them while they’re still recovering!”
“Defend our wounded comrades!” The captain hid behind a crate and started shooting.
This ignited the battle, as the magi returned the fire.
“Why do they look much better off than the pirates?” Slade asked while he jumped on his harpy pawn and hid.
“Tower’s airship has magical safety devices to protect their crew from crashes. This isn’t going to work, gotta go!” Violet stopped the fleshcarving operation and stormed out of the room with the slime unit, leaving the gnoll witches befuddled.
The odds were overwhelmingly stacked against the pirates. Unfortunately, the crew that boarded the blimp were isolated during the fall and were slaughtered by the enemies. The oceanids were at a numerical disadvantage and while Slade didn’t doubt their strength at the sea, their lack of footing on land made their strikes weaker.
“Sorry pal, but can you help us?” The captain asked Slade while reloading his pistol.
Slade looked blankly. ‘It’s not too late to help the Tower, is it?’
His blessing as ‘hero’ had rewarded him with a few perks during his conquest against the gnolls and the beholder, ‘diplomacy’ being one of them. So, he checked what insight the skill had in store for him.
[Affiliated to hostile faction.]
’Figures…’ Slade made a wry smile at the unhelpfulness.
He sighed at the captain. “It’ll cost you extra!”
