Hera stopped and raised a fist in a signal to stop. The goggles made by Eirik helped Lysandra and Nethe to see the Empress' movements even while invisible. Everyone started hearing the sound of echoing steps approaching and made sure not to move a muscle. The spell cast by Zestra wouldn't affect any noise they made.
'How far away are they?' Hera asked.
'I want to say 15 to 20 meters. I don't know for sure,' Nimbus replied.
'Get to a place where he won't notice you. Maybe the ceiling if he doesn't have a weapon pointing up,' the Empress quickly cast a soundproof bubble around the group, making sure to keep it invisible. Doing so was much more taxing than she ever imagined. The mana used for spells tried to emulate certain colors, and asking it to change that wasn't easy. If it wasn't for [Shaper of Mana] and her title helping her, she wouldn't have managed to complete this before the operation.
"Camera on sector Alpha Sierra 2-3 clear. I knocked out a guard and placed her in the bathroom. From the smell, they had spicy food today," Hornet's voice appeared so abruptly that it almost made Sylvi jump, but the triton held her ground.
A moment passed, and the guard appeared from the hallway around two meters away from Hera. He looked towards her direction, then back to the other side of the hallway before turning around and walking back to where he came from. Lysandra tapped the Empress' shoulder and made an inverted V with her arms. Understanding what she was asking for, Hera called Nimbus.
'Do you see any janitor closets or places to hide a body around?'
'About halfway through this corridor, there is something, but I don't know what.'
The Empress looked at her map, realizing it should be the armory, and that place would always have at least two people behind the door. Turning back to Lysandra, she made an X with her arms, signaling they couldn't take this guard out. The elf gave a thumbs up, showing she understood, and they waited a few more moments for this particular guard to turn the opposite corner before moving along the corridor. Towards the armory was the prison entrance, and they didn't need to go there. Not yet. Instead, they were heading to the prisoner's ward entrance. The structure was split between the guard area, with lockers, a nice cafeteria, and well-maintained bathrooms, and the area where the people were being held against their will.
In quick succession, Zestra gave the clear on another two cameras as Hera's team passed by another guard without any problems. They were now in a wide area, like a peaceful entryway or just a welcoming entrance. However, this couldn't be farther from the truth. This was the most reinforced area of the entire prison. It was not filled with alarms and things like that but covered top to bottom with sigils that could trigger in case of a prison break to knock the escapees out.
Lysandra stopped everyone from walking forward and pointed to their feet, yet another signal. This meant they should split off and spread one of the devices Eirik made. One of the most essential pieces of gear he created were these small circular transparent stickers with an intricate spell circle engraved on them. When placed on the ground, any magic tools in a 1-meter radius couldn't activate. This effect would last for 10 minutes and only start counting when the equipment tried to function for the first time.
There were a total of 30 of these stickers. Enough to cover the entire floor and the walls, plus five extras just in case something went wrong. It took less than a minute for the team to place all the stickers on the ground. This room was just outside the large metal gates that separated the guards and the prisoner's wards. As the stickers were being placed, Lysandra also put the final touches on a very simple explosive. She had been carrying a piece of paper in her pocket. If anyone opened the envelope, they would see a simple landscape drawing with a large mountain in the background. This was a talisman, but it worked pretty much like a spell circle. It was great for conceptual mages who didn't need formulas and rules to create effects, but much harder to learn. Hera had asked Lysandra to teach her how to make those, and the elf agreed, but only after they had completed this operation. When they were done saving the people and had to run away, this would be another one of their tools to stop any pursuers. The mountains would break as a volcano erupted, creating a heavy ash cloud all around the area. Anyone caught in the initial blast or who spent too long close to the ash would also be afflicted with heavy coughing and some chemical burns that itched like crazy.
With the stickers in place, they had to wait for Hornet to complete the first part of his mission. Thankfully, they didn't have to wait long. Two minutes after finishing up with the sticker, the dwarf's voice came through the communicator, "Ladies and Gentleman, this is your captain speaking. The control room is now under my control. So you all better behave."
"Is this really the time for jokes?" Lysandra huffed.
"Jokes, always. Bad ones like that one, never," Zestra replied through the communicators. With Hornet in the control room, they wouldn't have to worry about the cameras anymore, "Now, can I stop hiding and start using my second-best skill set?"
"I don't think that having you boast about what you can do will help," Nethe scoffed with a chuckle.
"Fine. My third-best skill set. Permission to go wild, commander?"
"Not wild. We still can't be seen. But take out as many guards as you can," Lysandra replied before gesturing for the team in the same room as her to get closer to the gate, "Hornet. Can you unlock the gate?"
"Sure can," the dwarf replied, and Hera rushed to deploy a soundproof bubble around the gate itself. Something that big was not going to be quiet while opening.
"How many guards are close to the prisoners?" Sylvi asked as the metal gate went through the slow process of unlocking all the automatic locks.
"About 18. I can't give you a precise number because I can only see the ones that are currently wearing their badges. If someone forgot theirs or is hiding for any reason, they won't show up on the computer."
"And what is the largest group?" Nethe was now pulling the gate open with Hera's help. The Empress got tired and called out for Livy. She was going to stay in her weapon form and just push the gate from the other side to help.
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"There are six in one of the cell corridors. Aside from that, they seem to mostly be walking in duos. There are only a few who are alone."
"Ok. Guide us through the best path. We need to take them all out before opening the cells," Lysandra didn't like this part of the plan, but if they let the guards move around, there would be too many variables for them to deal with. Unfortunately, this meant they had to fight with all of them. And they had to be quick about it. If they didn't, there was a chance the guards would use the prisoners as hostages.
"Alright. Just let me finish getting the door open, and I'll give you the first target," Hornet was focused on the monitors, making sure that no one was around the control room. He was the weak link here. To capture this position, he had to attack people, and Zestra's advanced invisibility would break with any attack coming from the dwarven fighter, "After the gate, move left. There are two people there. Remember that the moment you strike, the invisibility will be gone."
"Not from everyone," Hera turned to Nimbus, "Don't attack unless it's an emergency. You will keep being our scout."
'As you wish, Empress.'
"Everyone ready?" Lysandra turned around and looked at her team, her friends.
"I am. Let's save the people here," Sylvie smiled.
"You all know what I'm gonna say," Hera nodded, already pulling Viper and Crimson. A pair of daggers wouldn't be unique enough to make anyone recognize her, not to mention they were the weapons she was the most comfortable using.
"These people already waited too long. Let's get them out," Nethe's wings turned into steel. He still could fly, but now he was much more dangerous up close."
"Remember, killing is a last resort," Lysandra nodded as they crossed beyond the gate.
'Daskka, stay as mist around us. Don't show your snake form.'
'Got it, mum.'
A black mist covered the entire group. It was far from being something stealthy, but they would soon break their invisibility anyway. Moving to the left, they saw a pair of guards looking towards the cells and talking. None of them paid too much attention since it sounded like they were just discussing what to eat. Hera and Nethe approached the two from the back and waited to attack. Lysandra started, but the rest followed up right after. The elf used a spell to paralyze both guards, while Sylvie used a life-saving spell. One that would stop someone from dying if they took too much damage, but that was it. Only a shield to stop someone from getting killed, not a heal to recover them from the attack. Nethe grabbed the guard with his wings, wrapping the woman in a choke hold, and pulled her down to the ground, slamming her head on the concrete floor and shattering a soft pink glow around her. At the same time, Hera cast a soundproof bubble around them and grabbed the waist of the other guard, suplexing him with Livy following that up by slamming the side part of the war axe against his face, cracking the ground in the process. A similar pink glow turned to dust with the attack. This meant Sylvi's spell was triggered, and those moves were able to kill the guards.
"That was nasty. I loved it," Hornet chuckled through the communicators.
"Focus. Where to next?" Lysandra asked.
"Ok, ok. There is a corridor on the other side. There should be one guy there. I don't see anyone else in the area. There are two more near the entrance, so take the left path and get closer," Hornet explained.
They kept going, taking the guards down as quickly as possible, using their soundproof bubbles and spells to immobilize the ones who were the closest. Some of the guards tried to trigger their alarms, but none were able to activate the traps in the ceiling since Hornet had already turned all of them off. The more people they dealt with, the better they got, and the easier the fights became. Sylvie wasn't using the death save spell she had as often since Hera and Nethe started to get the hang of how much strength they could put behind each attack not to kill anyone. Not having to wait for the healer to recover her mana every two fights made things move much quicker. Unfortunately, their luck ran out as there were still about 10 guards left. Even if Hornet was in the command center, he couldn't stop the guards from radioing each other. Not without messing with everyone's communication, including their own. This made the remaining prison personnel gather and move as a group. They were all in a corridor just outside where the cells were located in a defensive formation. Four were in front with shields up, and the remaining six in the back, either with spells at the ready or with arrows notched in their bows.
"They don't seem to be moving," Hornet warned. The team was just around the corner from the guards, thinking about what they could do to pass these people.
"Hera, Nethe, let's do the toaster," Lysandra looked at the two.
"You guys have a really messed up sense of humor," Sylvi sighed.
Nethe flapped his wings, creating almost a screen of feathers in the path. Daskka followed right along in her black mist form along with Hera, who was holding Livy's battle axe form like an umbrella. The Empress had the Leviathan covered in Ocean Elemental Strength, which doubled the power of water spells and attacks. Triggering the Leviathan's Torrent skill, Livy suddenly spat out a jet of water powerful enough to push all the guards back, making the ones with shields slam against everyone in the back. To finish that up. Lysandra jumped ahead and launched a concentrated beam of electricity imbued with a powerful sleep spell. Thanks to all the water that now covered the corridor, all of the guards were electrocuted and passed out. The ones that didn't were too weak to fight against the sleep spell and fell to the ground unconscious.
The team rushed ahead, finally seeing the prisoners. There were more than they expected, but they all had a few things in common. Every single person there was not part of the human race, and they were all living in rooms on the lower layers. In fact, no one in there came from beyond the 5th layer. All of them also were wearing collars that blocked their mana, making them unable to use any skills or spells. Sylvie started doing some first aid as they opened all the cell doors. Eventually, Hera found the guard from Boothudurn, but not Silah.
"Where is she?" the Empress asked with a worried expression.
"They took her last night. Every couple of days, they come here and drag someone to the back of the building. People usually don't come back, but the ones who do are in really bad shape," Ptrek, one of the dwarfs from Boothudurn, pointed at the person Sylvie was currently healing. It was a triton, but their skin was wrong. Instead of a shade of blue, it was yellow, like someone with liver problems. There were several scars all around his body, and he had an odd red and infected-looking tattoo around their neck.
"Shit!" Hera gasped and created a few weapons using her [Venomous Arsenal] for anyone who was in good enough shape to wield them, not letting herself stop moving.
"What happened?" Lysandra got closer.
"They are taking prisoners somewhere. They still seem to be here, but they must have a hidden cell or something," Hera explained, her face burning up with anger.
"Where?"
Ptrek pointed to the end of the hallway, "I saw someone taking a staircase back there once. They were dragging one of the ones who didn't make it back."
"Can you take us there?" Lysandra asked.
"Yeah. I think I can. I don't want to leave Silah behind," Ptrek nodded.
"Ok, Sylvie, Nethe. Take care of the people here. Lock the guards in the cells as everyone gets out. Remember to take out their weapons. And look for the keys to the collars. Hornet says he doesn't have an option there," Lysandra turned to Hera, "Let's go save your girl."
"Thank you," Hera smiled as they bolted to the end of the hallway.