A Powerful Strike (Part 1)

Ten minutes after opening their new orders, the Raven had excused itself to the bathroom, investigated the building’s layout and security, then returned.

There were two hundred guards in total, but only forty were in the basement.

As more buyers took their seats, Mania and the Raven slipped away and snuck downstairs to the prison cells.

Twenty gigantic cells along a single corridor held hundreds of slaves of all ages and races, dressed in nothing but dirty rags and heavy chains and collars.

“Lord Kelsey?” A guard asked. “What brings you down here, my lord?”

“…Is this the only way in and out of this corridor?”

The Raven stepped to one side. “Yes, my lady.”

“Are all the slaves, both the sold and yet to be sold, kept here?”

“Lady Kelsey?”

“Yes, my lady.”

Mania grinned. “Perfect.”

The illusion surrounding Mania collapsed and, with a crack of her whip, she struck.

She cleaved eight of them in two, then sliced through another six before the others could process what had happened.

Mania licked her lips. “Squirm for me, worms!”

The guards armed themselves and charged.

Normally, Mania would’ve toyed with them before killing them, but they were on a tight timetable and she didn’t want to waste a single second.

A few slipped passed her, trying to flee, but the Raven cut them down.

Soon, there were only five guards left alive, shaking and whimpering.

Three of them dropped to their knees and begged for mercy, but Mania cut their heads off.

The last two tried to flee down the corridor away from Mania and the Raven, despite it being a dead end, but the Raven threw knives at them and they fell down dead.

“I’ll destroy the locks and open the cages. Recover your knives and make it seem like there was more of a struggle down here.”

“As you command, Lady Mania.”

They paused.

Their battle was over, but they could hear the sounds of a raging battle upstairs.

Mania clicked her tongue.

Someone else is raiding this place.

***

One minute after Mania and the Raven had started to move, the Paladins were about to raid the venue.

Most of the buyers had arrived, escorted by their personal guards, and all wore masks to hide their identities. Gathered in the alleyways and buildings around the auction house were heavily armed Paladins.

Since the start of the Great Disaster, the Paladins in Stonefall had been investigating all the potential culprits and victims, chief among them the Sons of Tartarus. During their investigations, Christoph and Isabella had learned of the auction house purely by coincidence.

They’d tailed some known members of the Sons and seen them entering the building; later that night, Christoph had snuck in and discovered its true nature.

Now, on the eve of a new auction, Lawrence, Christoph and two hundred Paladins had surrounded the building.

Half would charge in and secure the building; the rest would stay on the perimeter and prevent anyone inside from escaping.

“On my signal,” Lawrence commanded.

He peaked out of the alleyway and saw eight muscular guards by the entrance, scanning their surroundings for any threats.

If the Sons of Tartarus hadn’t lost Sylvan’s intelligence network, then they would’ve known days in advance of when the Paladins were going to raid them.

Lawrence, however, didn’t know that; he simply believed that the Sons were arrogant and lax with their security.

Lawrence took a deep breath, then yelled, “Charge!”

The Paladins burst out of the alleyways and easily cut down the guards outside. Then, per their orders, half charged into the venue and the rest surrounded the building.

Countless swords were drawn inside the venue, the buyers gasped in horror and many tried to flee, as Lawrence and the Paladins stood proudly before them.

“Don’t let any of them escape!”

***

“Hey, we need reinforce-!”

The Raven cut down the four guards before they could call for their dead comrades. After freeing the last slaves, Mania conjured her portal before addressing the crowd.

“Ladies and gentlemen, today is the best day of your lives. I am Mania and I have come here today to save you all.”

The slaves cautiously listened as children wept into their parent’s arms and some slaves threw up upon seeing the shredded corpses.

“This portal will take you safely to our castle where you will be looked after and protected,” Mania continued. “Right now, this building is under attack by a rival gang and they mean to kill every last one of you.”

Well, not that I would know. They could be.

“Therefore, I offer you a choice.” She smiled reassuringly at them and then said loudly, “Either you stay here and die, or come with us and live.”

Hundreds of slaves looked anxiously at the dead guards, then at Mania, and then they craned their heads to the ceiling when they heard the sounds of battle.

One by one, the slaves stepped into Mania’s portal and found themselves in the Dread Keep’s courtyard, where Rebecca, Eva, Hilda, Jessica and her team, the servants, and the Machai were waiting for them.

Rebecca wasn’t sure how many slaves Mania would be bringing back with her, but she was pleasantly surprised.

Mania had rescued hundreds of them.

“My lady,” Eva whispered with a warm smile.

Rebecca nodded and smiled back. “I know.”

Thank you, Lord Allaric, Lady Mania.

***

The last slave stepped through Mania’s portal just as the battle started to grow quieter upstairs.

“How many did we get?”

“Eight hundred and ninety-two, Lady Mania.”

“Splendid. The Dark Lord should be quite pleased.” Then, she narrowed her eyes and scanned the desecrated room. “There were definitely no witnesses, right?”

“No, Lady Mania.”

“Good. Then, no point in staying here any longer.”

The two stepped through the portal back to the Dread Keep.

Two minutes later, the Paladins reached the basement and were horrified at what they discovered.