A FEW MOMENTS EARLIER, Greta, Ventori, Geode, Robin, Brunnhilde, and Raijin faced tons of Auros henchmen outside the manor proper but there was still a lot inside.

Greta manipulated all the water that she could and used it to knock the henchmen away. Ventori used his air manipulation Karma to sweep them. Geode manipulated earth boulders and threw them everywhere, hitting many unlucky henchmen in the process. Brunnhilde ordered Geri and Freki to assist Greta and Ventori. Raijin readied his electric tonfas in case some henchmen managed to close into them. Robin shot her arrows, not missing a target, making her every shot count.

“Our intel told us that the Slave House is below the manor,” Raijin recalled. “But where’s the entrance?”

“Let me try something,” Geode knelt, placed his palms on the ground, and pressed on it. He did it a couple more times until he "saw" multiple entrances by sensing seismic waves.

“How is it?” asked Robin.

“There's an entrance over there that leads to some sort of a tunnel. There's also some sort of main entrance outside. There'll be considerably fewer henchmen if we go through the main entrance.”

“We need those civilians out anyway,” said Greta. “Let's go full frontal.”

Everyone agreed.

They went to the back of the manor where several henchmen were guarding a unique outdoor staircase that led down from where they were.

Greta, Ventori, and Geode immediately knocked everyone away with their water, wind, and earth, respectively.

They descended through that staircase which was only lit by torches. As soon as they were several yards below, they saw a wide cave-like entrance with a hallway complete with a red carpet.

“This really does have that main entrance vibe,” Ventori commented.

There were more guards and henchmen, but the three Karma users easily dealt with them. Geri and Freki helped as well.

They continued inside until they reached the Slave House proper. As they went in deeper inside, they reached what seemed to be a balcony, overlooking the luxurious theater-like opera house, lit by lavish chandeliers. The people occupying the seats below were dressed glamorously. They were holding and raising paddles with numbers written on them.

On the stage, the host was presenting a chained dwarf and the people were raising their paddles. As they raised their numbers, the host announced how much the bidding price gets.

1,000,000 elysene!

2,500,000 elysene!

3,700,000 elysene!

4,900,000 elysene!

8,000,000 elysene!

“So this is the Slave House,” said Greta in awe. “If not for the event, this place would look and feel amazing. Like a theater or something”

“Nah. We're thrashing this place anyway. Also, we need to find Lars fast,” Ventori reminded.

“I think I know where he is,” said Geode.

“Where?” asked Ventori.

“This place is crawling with mana-suppressing runes. And since Lars is a Karma user, it is obvious that they will place him there. My seismic sensing couldn't reach a certain area below. It’s like a void when I try to use seismic sensing.”

“Okay. Listen up,” said Robin. “We’ll leave this place to you two. Get all these people out of here. Raijin, Greta, and I will take Brunnhilde to Lars.”

Ventori nodded. “Leave these crappy rich people to us.”

“Agreed,” Geode added.

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“Try not to hurt anyone, okay?” Greta reminded.

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Ventori responded. “If we can help it,” he whispered.

“Use your wind to take their money and jewelry,” whispered Geode.

“Greta! If you see what Don Luca asked for, don’t forget to activate the runestone,” Geode reminded.

Greta nodded.

* * * * *

Robin, Brunnhilde, Greta, and Raijin continued inside, leaving Geode, Ventori, Geri, and Freki. As soon as the quartet that will save Lars got deeper inside the Slave House undetected, Ventori and Geode dropped to the audience from the entrance above and went straight for the stage, much to everyone’s surprise.

“Alright, everyone! Party's over!” Ventori yelled as he created an air sphere that caused panic inside. The guests scrambled as they all tried to leave the place.

Geri and Freki followed, scaring the attendees and staff even more. They howled and roared at the people, causing the people to stampede as they all try to run for their lives.

Geode summoned boulders from the Slave House's marble floor and made them swirl along with Ventori's wind.

All the while, Ventori used his ability to suck in flying paper money and jewelry.

Meanwhile, Greta, Robin, Brunnhilde, and Raijin reached backstage where they could feel the raging wind thanks to Ventori.

“They don’t know how to hold back, do they?” asked Raijin humorously.

Greta sighed. “Well, as long as no civilian's hurt. Besides, this is our way of paying back those damn Auroses.”

Farther back, several slaves were inside mobile cages. Some of the cages were being moved until the antics of Ventori and Geode. Several henchmen and guards remained inside, but the group quickly took care of them with ease.

As they moved around, they saw dozens of chained ordinary humans that were lined up. They were just outside a huge container where they were supposed to be loaded.

“I'll be damned. Don Luca's right,” Greta whispered. She took out a runestone and activated it, making the runic symbol light up every two seconds. Then, she took a visual recording orb and recorded everything she was seeing.

“Brunnhilde!! We've got elves here!” shouted Raijin, looking at Yoran elves that were terrified.

Brunnhilde and Robin looked at each other and made a silent agreement.

“We need to save them,” Brunnhilde suggested to everyone.

“No,” Greta disagreed. “We need to save Lars first.”

“Once we save Lars, he will set this place on fire. We need to free these people now,” Brunnhilde insisted.

Greta thought that there was no time to argue. The faster they can release the slaves, the faster they can save Lars.

“Fine,” said Greta. “Let’s go!”

The cages had thick iron bars and the slaves were shackled with mana-suppressing shackles. With none of them strong enough to release the slaves, Brunnhilde decided to recall Geri and Freki, making the two earthen wolves reappear instantly near them.

Using a little bit of mana, she made the wolves’ teeth and jaws stronger, able to crunch through the iron bars.

Geri and Freki were instructed to free the elves first. And although terrified, the elves realized what was happening and trusted them instead.

The wolves crunched the iron bars until it was safe for the elves to come out. The wolves also destroyed the chains that connected the shackles, making the elves free to move. Brunnhilde used her runic magic to disable the mana-suppressing shackles, rendering them useless.

“How do we remove those shackles?” asked Raijin.

“Doesn't matter. They’re pretty much useless now if they can’t stop the elves from using their powers,” Brunnhilde replied.

“T-Thank you,” said one of the elves.

Another elf used her power, making her skin patterns glow. Venus flytraps grew on the elf’s arms and destroyed the shackles, much to everyone’s surprise.

“Okay. More people could free others. Let's get going people!”

“Thank you, human. I am Venusaea, from Maria Island. This is Drosonia and Nepetoria.”

“N-Nice to meet you all,” said Raijin.

“Let’s chit-chat later. Let’s release these people first, quickly!” reminded Greta.

The three elves helped Geri and Freki release the caged people and even the beasts. Brunnhilde used her magic to disable the mana-suppressing shackles. Even the orcs helped to release the others after they were freed. Greta and Robin freed the chained humans that immediately left the place.

Eventually, the group reached the end of the backstage where there were three isolated cages, one of which was made of glass.

Drosonia used her sundew plant to open the iron bars, freeing the human with Lava Power.

Geri noticed the Winter Wolf cub which Geri freed and took. The cub stopped howling as soon as Brunnhilde carried it.

“How do we open the glass cage with the fairy inside?” asked Raijin.

“Wait. That’s no fairy...that’s a sylph!” said Brunnhilde in amazement.

The sylph was looking at them, hoping that she will also get freed.

Venusaea tried to use her flytrap plants to break the glass, but the flytrap didn’t even make a scratch.

Nepetoria used her pitcher plant to melt the glass, but nothing happened.

The orcs volunteered and continuously smashed the glass to no avail.

“Okay, okay! Stop, guys! Stop! That’s obviously not helping,” said Raijin.

“Other ideas?” asked Nami.

“I…I can help her. But I cannot use my power with this thing on my neck.”

Brunnhilde disabled the shackle using her runic magic. “There, try using your Karma now.”

The young man concentrated his mana on his palms and turned the ground into a puddle of lava. He then controlled the molten earth towards the glass cage which successfully melted a portion of the glass.

When the glass cooled down and a hole wide enough for an arm to get through was made, the sylph turned invisible and bursts out of the glass cage like the wind.

“Amazing,” said the man. “She could turn into an actual wind!”

“Great. Now everyone, leave. We’re about to make this place explode,” Greta warned.

Greta, Robin, Raijin, and Brunnhilde went to the lower floor where Lars was being kept.