Chapter 104
Ambush at the Destination
After putting Skeets under control, Erin’s group was back to journeying towards Gotzmeyer. Their ratfolk guide had become very cooperative after whatever Zeldana had done to him, so he did his job without any complaints. His electric shock collar had even been placed around his neck again, even though there didn’t seem to be any need for it, but one could never be too careful.
There had been a couple of times that Skeets had been eyeing for a way to escape, but he was quickly put in his place when someone in the group directed the rat man’s attention to Zeldana. The elf didn’t even need to really do or even say anything, as even a friendly smile was enough to terrorize Skeets into compliance.
“Hey, how much longer until we get there!?” Ryle asked angrily, as she and the others followed the rat man’s lead. “You do know what will happen to you, if you take us anywhere else other than where we want to go, right!?”
“I am very aware of what will happen! That’s why I’m not going to cause any problems!” Skeets shouted back, not in the mood to argue. “I promise the place is just around the corner! After that, I can finally be on my way back to the prison and I’ll never have to see any of you ever again!”
“Oh my, it’s sad that you feel like that about us,” Zeldana said in a fake hurt tone. “I personally wouldn’t mind having you around for much longer! What do you say we make you into a permanent member of our group? I bet I could find a lot of amusement from you!”
“And that is exactly the reason why I never want to see you all again for the rest of my life!” the rat man said. “Between you and the goddamn kobold over there, my time in prison being surrounded by some of the most violent and vicious people in the world was like a dream vacation! Just let me do my job, so this goddamn nightmare can finally be over!”
“Sheesh! I know Lex hurt you bad, but what in the hell did Zeldana do to you!?” Erin asked.
“That’s a trade secret!” Zeldana said happily with a big smile on her face.
Deciding to let it go and just focus on getting to their destination, the redhead stayed silent and simply followed behind Skeets. Eventually, the rat man led them to the location where Gotzmeyer’s base was located.
The base of the warlord was a large fortress situated above a large pool of lava. There was only one bridge that led to the main gate of the base, making it the only visible way to gain entrance. Due to the place being underground, there wasn’t even a way to fly to the fortress from above, as getting through the caves with an aircraft would be impossible. In short, it seemed like a place that was impossible to infiltrate.
However, Erin and her friends were determined to get inside, no matter what. They already knew about one method that they could use. The redhead just hoped that it would be enough.
“Look, there’s the base, like I promised!” Skeets said as he pointed at the fortress. “Can I go now!? I don’t want to deal with you assholes anymore!”
Erin, wanting nothing more than to be rid of the crazed murderer they had for a guide, was just about to let the rat man go. However, just as she was about to say that, Durge spoke up.
“As much as I don’t want to be near you a second longer, I’m afraid we can’t do that,” the orc said with a frown. “Once our business here is done, we still need to go back, right? How do you think we can do that without a guide?”
“Oh, come on! What are you going to do!? Tie me up and leave me here, while you go commit blasphemy!?” Skeets asked angrily. “You don’t need me to get back to the city! Do you really think that one of the warlords, direct servants of the Five Overlords themselves, wouldn’t have maps in their base!? Knowing them, they probably have a whole room full of them, just to make sure they can get out of here whenever they need!”
Durge was about to speak up again and argue against the rat man, but Erin managed to cut him off this time.
“He’s right. It would be incredibly stupid from someone like Gotzmeyer to not have at least one map of the surrounding caves withing his base,” the redhead said. “All we need to do is find it and I’m sure we can get back without any issues.”
“See!? That’s exactly what I’m saying!” Skeets said. “So does this mean that I get to leave!?”
“Sure. I don’t want to have you anywhere close to me any longer,” Erin said as she glared at the rat man. “Normally, I’d wish you safe travel, but I honestly hope that whatever monstrosities are living there devour you in as painful of a manner as possible.”
“Well, the feeling is freaking mutual, lady!” Skeets said as he flipped the bird to the whole group while walking away. “From now on, I will pray every day that our great Overlords will get their hands on you people and torture each and every one of you to death! Piss off and die, you assholes!”
“I can assure you that the feeling is mutual!” the redhead said back. “Now get out of here, before I decide to kill you myself!”
The rat man didn’t need to be told twice, as he was soon running away from the group. As soon as he was out of sight, Erin let out a sigh.
“You okay, Erin?” Ryle asked. “You seem a bit worn out.”
“I’m fine… This has just been a lot to deal with,” the redhead replied. “The fact that I essentially rented out a murderer to be our guide to a warlord isn’t exactly something that is easy to swallow, you know?”
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“Hey, if you’re going to blame yourself over picking him as our guide, you should put some of that blame on me as well!” the blonde said, hoping to cheer up her friend. “After all, I was there with you and completely supported your decision. I’m just as guilty as you are, you know?”
“...Thanks, Ryle,” Erin said with a smile.
“And you should remember the one who not only tried to prevent you two from screwing up big time, but also saved the day in the end,” Lexton suddenly said, causing both ladies to frown out of annoyance. “Although, I’m in a weird way sad that we had to part ways with that guy. After all, I could see myself having a lot of fin with him through this.”
The kobold pulled out the remote for the shock collar on Skeets’s neck and pressed the button on it. The group could hear the rat man scream in pain further away from then, followed by what sounded like angry cursing.
“...You’re a twisted little bastard, Lex,” Ryle said.
“Hey, I’m just trying to make the best out of bad situations,” the kobold said. “Besides, I don’t see what any of you are upset about. You’ve seen what that guy is like. He’s a nutcase who worships the Overlords of all people as his gods. I don’t see the harm in giving him what he deserves.”
“Personally, I would like it, if we didn’t act in a similar manner as those we don’t like!” Erin said angrily. “So would you mind and put that remote away!? We have a job to do!”
“Fine. Be a spoilsport,” Lexton said as he put away the remote.
Seeing how the kobold had done as she had requested, the redhead turned her attention towards the military base before them. She wanted to move closer to it so that they could survey the area and possibly find a way inside. They were already aware of the delivery trucks that would come in every so often, but they would need to properly observe them in order to figure out the best way to utilize them.
However, just as Erin was getting into solving the problem before them, a loud scream cut her train of thought all of a sudden. The scream came from not too far away and sounded familiar. It didn’t take long for everyone to realize that it had been Skeets screaming. With this realization, all eyes were on Lexton.
“Seriously, Lex!?” Erin asked angrily. “Didn’t I tell you put that remote away already!?”
“Hey, it wasn’t me this time!” the kobold quickly said. “As you can see, I’m not even holding the damn thing!”
“Then who-!?”
The redhead’s question was interrupted as she was suddenly pushed down to the ground by Ryle. Right after this happened, a large stone right behind Erin was split into multiple pieces, like multiple invisible blades had cut through it.
“What the-!? What just happened!?” Erin asked, shocked by the invisible force and what it had done.
“I’ve got no idea! I just sensed that something was wrong and acted upon it!” Ryle said as she began to look around for the attacker, as were the others. “Thanks to my years of experience as a bounty hunter, I have a bit of a sense for when someone is trying to attack! Doesn’t tell me what it is, though!”
The group then heard the sound of giggling coming from nearby, allowing them to locate their attackers. Much to the surprise of Erin, Ryle, Arkay and Lexton, they recognized these new threats, as they were the elves that they had met before leaving the Black Market.
“I’m afraid you lost the bet, sis. They were able to notice your attack,” the elf boy said as he was giggling. “You really should have attacked them first, after all.”
“I suppose so, but we couldn’t let this one get away,” the elf woman said while holding up the decapitated head of Skeets. “All rebellious forces must be eliminated no matter how small. That is our rule.”
“You two!?” Erin shouted recognizing the two elf siblings. “Why are you here!? And how did you find us!?”
“Finding you wasn’t a difficult task at all. All we had to do was follow the signal of the tracker that was on you guys,” the elf woman said with a smirk. “You guys should know better than to accept gifts from total strangers.”
At first, the redhead didn’t know what the elf was talking about, until it suddenly dawned on her. She looked at Ryle, who quickly realized what their new enemies were referring to. She took out the flower she had received from the elf boy back in the Black Market, which only made the two elves smile even wider.
“It seems like you finally realized it,” the elf boy said mockingly. “Too bad it’s way too late.”
Erin had her sword drawn out and ready for battle, as the others were also getting ready for a fight. However, just as they were getting ready for their fight, Zeldana’s ears perked up, as she heard something in the distance.
“Erin, I think I can hear the truck coming,” the elf whispered to the redhead. “If we want to get inside the base, we need to move now.”
“You have got to be kidding me! Right now!?” the redhead whispered back. “We can’t go anywhere in this situation! Those two would immediately expose us to the people at the base!”
“I know. Which is why I think the best course of action would be for us to split our group,” Zeldana said. “While some of us stay here and deal with these two, the rest of us can go and infiltrate the base and take down Gotzmeyer.”
“Absolutely not! The ones staying here would be left to their deaths!” Erin responded. “We have no idea how these two fight, but I’m sure they’re the same type of assassins that we’ve been dealing with for some time now! The best way for us to take them out is with all of us together!”
“Are you willing to risk not getting into Gotzmeyer’s fortress and possibly miss the chance to take down one of the three warlords? That seems like the much bigger problem to me,” the elf said. “If we all stay here to deal with these two, there’s a chance that place will go into lockdown and we won’t get a chance like this ever again.”
The redhead could only grit her teeth in anger. They were so close to their objective, yet it seemed like they would be prevented from getting to it at the last moment. Was everything they did going to be all for nothing?
“I’ll stay here and deal with these two,” Ryle suddenly said, shocking the others.
“Ryle, what are you-!?” Erin tried to speak up, but the blonde interrupted her.
“I said I’m staying here. You guys go ahead and deal with Gotzmeyer,” Ryle said as she crushed the flower she had received from the elf boy in her hand. “These two took me for a fool and got us into this mess. It’s only suitable that I fix this with my own hands.”
“Absolutely not! We are not leaving you behind!” the redhead protested. “We have no idea how these two fight, so you’d be in way too much danger on your own! Our best option to beat them is to work together!”
“I don’t really like my chances here either, but it’s our only option!” the blonde argued. “We have to take these two down now or else things will just get worse for us! They could alert the base over there and have soldiers swarm us or leave us all in such a bad shape that we can no longer take on Gotzmeyer! Besides, even if we fight together, there’s no guarantee we will win! Our best choice is to split up and hopefully win on both sides!”
Erin wanted to keep arguing, not fond of the idea of leaving her friend to fend for herself and possibly die. However, a strong hand gripped her shoulder and she looked behind her to see Durge looking at her.
“She has made her choice,” the orc said. “We should respect her resolve and move on.”
“...Fine. We’ll leave this to you,” Erin said, relenting. “But you better not die, got it!? I won’t forgive you, if you do!”
“Relax. I’m not planning to do that,” Ryle said with a grin. “There’s still plenty of fun I’m planning to have in my life.”
Giving her friend one last look, Erin and the others ran away, leaving the blonde alone with the two elves. Despite this, the two attackers didn’t seem to be bothered at all.
“You’re a cocky one, aren’t you?” the elf woman asked with a smirk. “Do you really think that you’ll be able to take on both of us at the same time?”
“You never know until you try!” Ryle said as she got into a stance. “Hell, I’ve taken on punks like you two before! I doubt either of you will be anymore difficult than the ones before!”
“Besides, she won’t be fighting you two on her own,” a voice said, causing the assassins and the blonde to turn towards it. It belonged to Arkay. “I will be fighting alongside her, so don’t expect any easy victories.”
“Arnie, why are you here!?” Ryle asked, shocked to see her young friend there. “I thought I told you guys to go on without me!”
“I know, but I refused to listen to that order,” Arkay said. “I cannot just walk away and leave my friend on their own. That’s why I’m staying with you.”
“This will be a tough battle. Are you sure about this?” the blonde asked. “You can still turn around, if you want.”
“All of our battles have been tough. That’s just how it is,” the cat boy said with a smile. “But with the two of us, we should be able to manage just fine.”
“...God, you’re just the best,” Ryle said with a grin, as she and Arkay got ready for the fight ahead of them. “Okay then, partner! Let’s kick some ass!”
image [https://i.ibb.co/BLMWZKp/Ch-104-Pic-1.jpg]