Rue, after forcing the old man’s hand down, was in no position to dodge the incoming fireball streaking at him from his left. A hand tugged at him, pulling him to a stumble. He looked up to see the old man rushing at the fireball.

  Is he still stupid?

  Before Rue could even fathom it, the old man, Paxwell, had his sword up against the approaching fire. His lithe figure shadowed against the blazing light, and the sword shone crimson in the firelight.

  Paxwell cleaved down. Fireball rends apart into two. Both parts of the fire were whisked away, briefly sending heat to Rue’s cheeks as they passed.

  “Go help him,” With his sword, Paxwell pointed behind Rue to where Gilbert was struggling against the other Fire Spitter. Without another word, Paxwell calmly walked to the Firespitter in front of him.

  Rue was about to reach him, but arrows, vines, and a literal chunk of earth streaked toward the entrance where Imps were still charging. Golems with their huge bodies change target and hammer down the stairs, causing a trail of screams as they rolled down.

  He hesitated before forcing himself to turn away and rushing at Gilbert.

  One Gorilla swung its huge hammer, only to be stopped by the Imp Fire Spitter with one hand.

  The Imp blew a puff of fire and blasted the gorilla's head. The summon exploded in brilliant light.

  Gilbert screamed. He thrust his trident, for it to be just kicked away. Then he shoved his glowing shield forward. This time, the Imp lost ground for a brief moment until its body strengthened and overpowered Gilbert again.

  Gilbert gritted his teeth, screamed, and his body slackened under the pressure.

  The Imp heaved its shoulder up, and Gilbert went flying. It drew a breath and placed its torch just beyond its lips. Before it could sear Gilbert alive, Rue reached them—cleaving at its neck. He made sure not to scream, yet suddenly the Imp ducked. His strike sliced only air.

  How? Was it the cold his sword emitted?

  The moment Gilbert dropped down in a painful tangle of limbs, Rue and the Imp exchanged a flurry of movement.

  He slashed down only for the Imp to skitter back slightly and thrust its torch. Its flames extended, and nearly singed Rue’s face had he not taken a quick step back.

  Abruptly separated by quite a pocketful of space, the Imp was about to blow a Fireball at Rue again. But Rue already gathered his magic in his hand and slammed it forward. Frost Blast pushed the Imp’s hand up, and a creeping blue frost colored the Imp’s red body.

  Rue bolted forward, intending to kill it before it could use any magic. He swivelled his sword in a crescent strike. The Imp brought down its torch; the torch’s flames flared wildly until they formed into a focused point like a sharp knife. Rue’s strike landed, biting at the Imp’s side.

  The Imp grimaced, and Rue carried his strike through, spraying blood across the air.

  Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see frost invade the Imp’s open wound.

  The Imp sheared down upon Rue with its focus fire, bristling atop its torch.

  Could it be used like that? Rue did not see that coming.

  He tried to dodge backward, but a hot white pain sliced through his shoulder.

  Rue fell backward, losing his balance, briefly escaping the heat.

  The Imp did not give him a rest. It speared the torch down at his throat. Rue twisted his legs around the Imp’s, collapsing its body sideways. The Imp crumpled down headfirst. Its eyes flared, and it thrusted its torch forward while Rue did the same with his Frost Sword.

  His sword melted apart, and the flames roared forward. Bright flame about to sear him alive. Until a golden shield suddenly shielded him.

  “Stand!” Gilbert shouted.

  The Paladin-Beastmaster’s palm was speared by the torch's bright flame, which had pierced his defences easily. Gilbert roared. Pain made the man stumble on his knee.

  Rue reached the edge of Gilbert’s shield and pushed himself up. Resummoning his Frost Sword in his other hand, he thrusted it into the Imp’s chest just below its neck. His sword bit deep and lanced forward, gushing through the Imp’s life.

  “You!” Rue turned, motioning at Gilbert, who breathed deeply, almost convulsing. “Take the trident with your other hand.”

  “I’m fine,” he huffed, his face pale. “Already level up, one of my gorillas kills a stray laborer…” Gilbert’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed.

  [You Have Slain Imp FireSpitter—Level 20]

  [Level up]

  [Level up]

  --

  Name: Rue Hazard.

  Level: 14 → 16.

  Class: ArchMage-Knight.

  Creation Point: 0.

  Authority: Authority of Frost.

  Core: Arch—Core.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Mana: 278/330 → 278/350

  Strength: 25 → 27

  Dexterity: 18 → 20

  Constitution: 21 → 24

  Mind: 27 → 31

  Sense: 19 → 22

  Arcanery: 35 → 40

  [Knight Spell (3/3)]

  - Frost Sword [35] [Fragile-Piece] [Common]

  - Statis of Obsidian Ice [50,025] [Archon-Piece] [Mystic]

  - Heart of Frost Knight [8] [Fragile-Piece] [Uncommon]

  [Mage Spell(2/3)]

  - Frost Blast [15] [Fragile-Piece] [Common]

  - Frost Shrapnel [6] [Fragile-Piece] [Common]

  “Will he be fine?” Rue asked.

  Gilbert was lying down with a pillow right in front of Lire’s cell. No one had taken away the satchel full of potions.

  The other girl, a teenager named Emily, said. “I think so? He is breathing normally, and this thing heals his hand after the second drink. Make you think what if we had this back in our world, doesn’t it?”

  Rue sighed and nodded his head.

  Wouldn’t that be nice?

  The battle was a fast one. He looked over at the entrance where two golems, bigger than the entrance itself, were now being wrapped by vines. Ilyrin and Yom stood near them with Ilyrin summoning the vines, instructing Yom on how to command his Golem.

  “Ah, I'm sorry, by the way, for earlier, for choosing yes,” Emily said.

  “Your mind clear now?” Rue asked.

  “Yes, when I got the kill on the laborer. I just—look, I swear I wouldn’t choose that under normal conditions.”

  “No need to apologize, I'm for once just glad we can have a proper discussion,” Rue said.

  “True that,” Agi said, shaking his head. “Bartolomew will be proud of what we achieve.”

  “Right, all of his wolves got killed, so he did not get any level up,” Emily mumbled.

  “At least everyone else did,” Rue said. “You did right? Gramps.”

  “I do,” the old swordman sat primly in meditative state between cell and just under torchlight, where the light weakly flickered on him, glimmering on the brick wall of this damn prison.

  The old man’s eyes were closed as he breathed in and out deeply.

  [ArchSword-Fighter—Level 11]

  “Please do start your discussion, I will hear better like this.”

  A habit from his past life, maybe? It was not normal for someone his age to survive the Sickness, which this System named Mana Spillage. In fact, everyone else here, not counting the Succubus, was either college-age or late-teenager age. They were lucky there were no children trapped here.

  “We’re done here!” Ilyrin called, walking with Yom toward them. They successfully tied the two poor golems and stuck vines around them.

  “Those will buy time,” Emily grinned.

  Rue examined all of their levels. The lowest was the summoners, with the highest being Yom and Gilbert's Level Three. This might be because Summons’s kill did not translate to full experience. Rue had planned for them to keep using them and to invest most of the mana for them only. But he saw how those Gorillas were utterly useless against the level twenty Imp, so it might not be wise.

  “One thing I want to know before we start,” Ilyrin held a finger. “Can you use that black ice armor now?”

  “Just a bit more, in an hour maybe?” Rue said. Of course, he had checked it. And he was confident he could use it again soon.

  “Good that good.”

  “Fair warning, I could not summon further than those two golems until they are dead,” Yom said, pointing at his handywork.

  “That's fine,” Rue said, “We need time to smooth out our strategy anyway.”

  “We barely know anything, though,” Yom pointed out, sitting down in the comfortable darkness.

  “We do have a source of information,” Rue motioned to Lire, who raised her eyes at him. “Before that, I got to ask. Did any of you already allocate your Creation point to your spell? My Observer said something like it's only for a limited time, so you guys should look at that.”

  “You can do that?” Emily asked, her eyes widened.

  “Sure do,” Ilyrin said, “How do you think I'm able to overpower the cell at level one? And this guy cut it apart. My Observer led me to put it all on my vines.”

  “Mine did too,” Rue said.

  “This is interesting,” Yom muttered, running his chin. No doubt he was currently looking at his prompt.

  “For Summoner, I think you guys should just put it all into your summon. We have to eventually take this brothel, which means we have to attack.” Rue recommended.

  “Yes, I can see that…” Yom the summoner said, then he turned to Agi. “I guess we’re making an army then.”

  “Speak for yourself, I have split both of my Creation points equally between my two skills! Summoning and Shapeshifting!” Agi boasted.

  Rue bit his cheek. He should have seen this coming. But, at least his wolf got stronger now…

  “Succubus, what kind of monster will be facing?” Lorn asked Lire, who huddled in the corner.

  “Monster… That's what you see us as?”

  “Yes,” Rue said bluntly.

  Lire flinched, even wilted, and hung her head down, letting her dark hair spill over her red skin.

  “I’m sorry if we are not nicer,” Ilyrin rolled her eyes.

  “The Imp, and Imp laborer, Imp Fire Spitter, you already met. What you need to watch for is my mother’s husbands. A Warrior Gargoyle level 25. A Warlock Demon Level 27. And…”

  “And what?” Ilyrin pushed.

  Lire’s eyes opened. “A Knight Human Level 27.”

  “Human?” Yom asked. “They exist? I mean here?”

  “Of course they do, all over the place even.”

  “What about any more of your kind?” The old man's raspy voice asked.

  “They’re non-combatant,” Lire said. “Just workers.”

  “We will make sure to avoid killing them then,” Paxwell said.

  “What? Uh—Thank you,” Lire said, blinking in surprise as she tried to look for the old man.

  “Old man, don’t just decide for us like that,” Ilyrin grumbled.

  “As long as they don’t attack us first,” Rue said, earning the old man's nod.

  “There is the last one too,” Lire reminded.

  “The human she taken,” Rue said, earning Lire's nod. Of course, he didn't forget about her. But was it even possible to save her at this point? “Is it possible to save her?”

  “Only if you kill my mother first,” Lire said.

  “And what would you do if we did exactly that?” Ilyrin asked, crossing her arms.

  “I want to help you,” Lire said, her face was smooth and full of pain. “I’m level 27. I will be useful. Just let me help you, and I will lead you to my mother's personal chamber.”

  “Do you think we’re stupid?” Agi growled, standing and clenching Lire’s cell.

  “I did not make any such—”

  “You're only saying that so you could kill us!”

  “If I wanted to kill all of you, I would already have done so.”

  “Lies!” Agi snapped. “Why don’t you prove it then?”

  A whip snapped in the air and coiled around one cell’s bar.

  Lire tug her whip, and the bar croaked with a resounding groan of steel. She pulled and pulled until the steel bar bent apart, making a way out for her.

  Just like that.

  Agi fell on his butt, and his mouth gaped open.

  Lire crossed onto the hallway, and all Integrators quickly stood, pointing their hands and weapons at her. Rue held a fist, signalling for everyone to calm down.

  [Succubus Temptress—Level 27]

  “Why didn’t you run from the get-go?”

  “The Rune weakened me. After you destroyed it—I thought, if I just went out, then all of you would be scared and ran downstair where you would just be captured.”

  That probably would have happened.

  “Also, that barrier?” Lire pointed at the two vined golems. “Those won’t be enough to stop Gannicus.”

  A great crash suddenly boomed not long after, causing Rue to flinch. He turned and saw the Golem cracked. The second passed. And they crumbled into smithereens. Out of the swirl of dust, a Gargyole Rue that he had just seen earlier appeared. He crossed his muscular arm at his chest and declared, “My name is Gannicus! And I demand a duel…Lady Lire, what are you doing here?”

  “Good, let me prove my loyalty to you,” Lire said. “Let me take this duel.”

  -Power Information-

  [Participant:

  Rue Hazard—16 [ArchMage-Knight] [Authority of Frost]

  Paxwell Hazard—11 [ArchSword-Fighter] [Authority of Swordmaster]

  Ilyrin Hazard—8 [ArchWitch-Druid] [Authority of Vine]

  Agi Hazard—1 [ArchDruid-Summoner] [Authority of Beastwill]

  Yom Hazard—3 [ArchMage-Summoner] [Authority of Earth]

  Emily Hazard—6 [ArchRogue-Archer] [Authority of Truestrike]

  Gilbert Hazard—3 [ArchPaladin-Beastmaster] [Authority of Light]