The good doctor was covered in blood. There was no spare water to wash off with or a spare shower since we were under siege at the center of the plaza. Every spare point was needed for supplies and regenerations. At least the birth was successful. Purgatory had its first baby. I had gotten a regeneration to be at top condition for this assault.

“Let me see if I have this right. You can sense a link or tether from a monster to its summoner if the monster is close enough.”

“Yes,” Doctor Katz replied.

“How close?”

“Close, and I need a few seconds. It is like seeing, but not seeing. It takes a moment for things to come into focus. About 2 meters or 6 feet.” That was close.

“The team will protect you. Listen to their instructions and the moment you know the direction tell him.” I pointed to my direction person. “We won’t be heading directly for the Ritualist but triangulating his position and moving in at an oblique angle to hopefully avoid the worst of the traps.”

“Got it. I have sensed the ants, and the Ritualist is somewhere to the Northeast,” the doctor said. The main concern was that the doctor had no Body stat. But he wasn’t doing any fighting and he was in decent shape. Probably from his time in the military.

“Alright, Sam has command after me. The rest of you know your rolls. We head West.” No one questioned my orders.

Our formation was that I was out in front by a fair distance. I had a fresh club and sword in my hand from the store. I also had the sword in my sheath. The man in charge of calling out directions was at the front of a hexagram formation around Doctor Katz, with Sam at the rear.

I couldn’t afford to waste energy as I rushed forward, clubbing and stabbing the ants in my path. A cheer rose up from the soldiers and people. We broke out of the plaza towards the West.

Once we were out of the plaza, no more monsters. We passed by where I was ambushed before, no monsters there. Halfway to the West gate we ran into Naran and Aahan with the cart. I quickly explained what was happening to him.

“What do you want me to do?” Naran asked.

“Head back to the plaza. If you can find and kill the monsters summoning or performing mental attacks, do so. If the Ritualist falls back, gather people to push North and East all the way to the gates. Don’t let people know until the last moment.”

“Got it,” Naran said. He nodded and left. I knew I could count on him in this kind of situation.

“He isn’t coming with us?” Sam asked.

“He has another job to do. I am not letting the Ritualist escape this time. Let’s keep moving.” I could easily see the Ritualist trying to hide in the city. He was not getting away.

We reached the West gate after half an hour, and I checked for what I was hoping was here. There was a single brown slime. I pointed it out to the doctor. He scrunched up his face like he was constipated.

“That direction,” he pointed. I swung out with my club, killing the slime. One less monster for the Ritualist to control.

“We loop on top of the walls to the North,” I said, and we climbed up the gatehouse to the top of the wall. We reached the top of the wall, and a werewolf monster tried to sprint away. I rushed after it and tackled it.

Its strength was no match for mine. I snapped its arms and legs easily enough and gouged out its eyes. “Doctor, you think you can analyze this monster and find a weakness?”

“Yes, but we need to take it back to the plaza. I left my tools there, but it should be enough.”

“Well, we won’t be going back the way we came. Follow me.” I grabbed the monster and carried it with one hand. I left my club behind.

The doctor would occasionally point in a direction looking at the werewolf and my trigonometry person was triangulating the Ritualist’s exact location. I didn’t say anything more, since I didn’t want the Ritualist to know we were laying a trap for him. Two can play that game. I knew he knew that we could track him. He would have to be an idiot not to realize that.

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We reached the North gate and quickly descended back to street level. I didn’t spot any monsters on the nearby buildings. I handed the werewolf to one of my teammates. They quickly set off for the plaza with the monster, which I knew the Ritualist was tracking. Why not have monsters watch us? Not watching us was all the confirmation I needed he was planning a trap.

Your tricks only work so many times before they become stale. Now I was about to turn the tables. I could almost hear the Ritualist’s screams as he melted. The remaining 5 team members and the doctor raced towards the Ritualist’s location.

I spotted a building with several monsters on and around it. This was the place. “Attack!” I charged forward. All the monsters swung to face me. The long amount of time wasn’t just to triangulate the Ritualist’s position, it was also to have full energy again.

Acid Shot x5. Twelve monsters collapsed, melting. I rushed into the building they were protecting. I almost blacked out from the mental attack that hit me. Two scorpions burst into the room from the side rooms. Acid Shot x2. They both melted near instantly.

The scorpions were quickly followed by ten wereslimes, slimes in the shape of humans. I spun and slashed out with my sword. Acid poured out onto the ground all around me and my sword was melting. “Air Burst!” I leapt up and then shot forward over the acid and exited the building, out the door.

“He is heading in that direction!” The doctor shouted and pointed. A row of buildings were in the way. The rest of the team was fighting off were monsters that were attacking them, and they were holding their own.

I cut down a weredeer. A slime jumped off a roof. I didn’t punch it but dodged to the side and let it splat on the ground. “Ahhh!” One of my teammates let out a scream and stumbled.

I kicked off the ground and rushed over, cutting down a werewolf that was about to bite down and savage him.

Wereslimes came out of the building. “Michael!” One of the men tossed me a spare club which I caught. I then turned to the wereslimes and got to work killing them.

The remaining monsters were finished off.

“Anyone dying?”

“Lost the use of my right arm,” one of the men said. The woman was laying on the ground from the mental attack she had suffered.

“Help her back to the plaza. Doctor, which direction?” I asked.

“That way.” He pointed. To the East.

“Let’s go.” The doctor, Sam, two teammates, and myself quickly began heading in the direction the good doctor had indicated.

I went to the rooftops a couple of times and didn’t see any monsters. We kept heading in that direction for a few minutes, but I called a halt. The Ritualist had escaped again. It was incredibly frustrating. Dammit!

“Now what?” Sam asked. That was a good question that I wish I had the answer to. That was one thing that was annoying about being in charge. I had to have answers. Better to have any answer than be unsure.

“We head to the East gate,” I said, and we adjusted direction through the city. The hardest part was avoiding dead ends or loops. We had to back track a couple of times, but we reached the wall and soon the East gate.

Checking the tunnel there were brown slimes. The good doctor focused for a moment before speaking. “Pointing outside the city.” I glanced upwards and saw summoner ants flying over. We had repelled the Ritualist and forced him out of the city. A small victory, but a needed one.

I quickly went up one of the guard towers to the top of the wall. Monsters were coming together outside the city and forming up in the grasslands. I walked back down and Naran was there along with a large group of people.

“Good, you made it. The Ritualist is outside the city. We push through his monsters and end him,” I said, firm in my determination to end this once and for all. The people appeared to be shambles but determined. Most of them were no better than the level 1 monsters we had to kill.

“Back me up, everyone else watch for an attack from inside the city,” I said to Naran who nodded. We left the through the East gate, other people following behind us, with several going up on the wall and checking the nearby buildings.

The real question, what was the last trap? I doubted an attack from within the city, but just because something was obvious, there was no penalty having people check and keep busy. I had no doubt the Ritualist would pull out something crazy.

Monsters, then the weremonsters, would he transform himself into a super monster? At least it would be easy to find him then.

I looked at the formation of his monsters. The large quantity had trampled the grass. Wolves with slimes on their heads in the front. Behind them was a line of armed weremonsters. I noted they were carrying spears, swords, bows, and arrows. Two large groups of white deer monsters and weredeer. Mental attack groups.

At the very rear I spotted several of the summoning ants. They were already creating disposable monsters. I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Where was the Ritualist? The good doctor had come out but was hanging back. I looked at him and he saw me staring. I gestured with my hand and pointer finger.

He pointed directly to the East, behind all the groups of monsters. Was he fully retreating? Maybe, but I still felt the Ritualist had more traps to play. That was the thing with him. Trap after trap. It would have been the same I would have fought if I were him, but it was still incredibly annoying.

I needed to keep my energy in reserve for whatever the trap was. I scanned the monsters again. I couldn’t think of what trap he would use. That was the most dangerous part. He kept doing new things I did not expect.

“I have a charge of Radiant Beam.” A man stepped forward. Gerold was right behind him. Ah, one of the people I had helped get a level three skill so long ago.

“Target the group of mental attack monsters to our left. Gerold make sure the right doesn’t buckle, I am going to punch through.”

“Yes Champion Michael,” Gerold said and quickly began to issue orders.

“Naran cover my back. The rest of you cover the flanks.” Do or die. I was not letting the Ritualist get away. This was ending today. “Now!”

“Radiant Beam!”