Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

"I-it was a sword… I-It moved on its own and cut the chain that was binding us"…

"Yes, it was only the sword… it was moving and flying in the air on its own".

The testimonies of all the survivors told the same thing.

'A sword that can move on its own?' Xandros thought internally. "Did you all not see anything else? At least tell me you know how the sword looks like".

"C-Crimson… as red as blood"…

"Yes, it was radiating an intense heat and easily melted those huge chains".

Finally, Xandros got some clues "I see, you did well running away from them. For now take rest, we will take you back to the town safely" he offered; however, his suggestion was quickly shut down by some of the survivors.

"No, please allow us to help you. There is a camp a little far away from here, near a big pond. The orcs were taking us there, the other survivors are definitely held captive there".

"Please, you must help them".

Some of the survivors even started pleading and begging with tears in their eyes. Xandros understood what they were going through, their friend or family might have been taken captive inside the camp thus they wanted to rescue them as soon as possible.

However, going near their camp in the middle of the night, was nothing short of suicidal. Forget about getting a surprise on them, they would be cornered from all directions before they even got to go near the camp. The orc's sense of smell was that powerful.

"What should we do guild master" make a team to send them back, the rest of you will be proceeding onwards with me. I want to get a little more idea as to what is happening in the forest before we go back" Xandros ordered.

Even if the survivors insisted, the way they were right now, they would only get in the way if a fight with the orcs ever breaks out. It was better to send them back to the town and wait for the reinforcements before assaulting the camp of the orcs the survivors were talking about.

"Understood" his subordinate left to carry out his orders.

It was decided that mason and Moonlight guild would be the ones to take the adventurers back to the town. The rest of them would continue forward for a while before retreating.

"Vice guild master… what do you think is fighting the orcs?" the assassin asked. Their group of now twenty one adventurers, slowly made their way across the forest.

"At first I thought they were humans but I cannot say for sure. I haven't seen a sword that can move on its own nor have I heard about a skill that could allow you to do so" Xandros answered with a complicated look in his eyes.

They were currently quite far away from the town, there were still a few hours for the dawn to break out yet there were no signs of any monster or their cries inside this part of the forest. It was so eerily silent that, it increased the feeling of foreboding that everybody was feeling.

"Is this the way those survivors were talking about?" Xandros asked the assassin who was also acting as their scout.

"Yes, Vice guild master… um, are we going to the camp those guys mentioned," the guy asked back.

Xandros was silent for a while before answering his question with a question of his own. "We have walked quite a distance away from the town and into the forest. It would not be weird if we were ambushed by orcs from all directions by now. Why do you think we haven't met a single living orc yet?".

The assassin felt silent for a while, he replied only after he understood what his vice guild master was pointing at.

"You are saying that all the orcs have been killed by that mysterious person?".

"We do not know if they are a person yet but at least they are not hostile to us humans. Let us go as far as we can. Even if we are surrounded by the orcs at the end we can always retreat as long as you all follow my command".

With Xandros making the decision, the group of adventurers proceeded forward. No one showed any discontent since they too were curious to know what was going on inside the forest.

When it seemed like they were closer to the pond the survivors told about, a huge explosion that rocked the place, echoed out from the front. The vibrations could be felt from even here and the explosion was so huge that it was like the sun at night.

Xandros pointed at this team to be careful as they slowly inched closer to the pond.

------

A silhouette came out of the shadows and approached the prison at this moment. When the moonlight from the moons overhead fell on them, their figure finally came into view. An impeccable beauty with a composed aura around her walked towards the prison.

She was wearing maid clothes underneath her armour which was at odds with the place they were in right now. Seeing the maid walk towards them, the prisoners first doubted their eyes before wondering what was going on.

"A… m-maid?!".

"There is no way a maid is there right"..

"No I see a maid too. What are they doing here?"..

"Was there such a person in the tower town?".

The prisoners unable to hold down their curiosity, discussed. "You Idiots, there is no way she is a maid. She is definitely a monster or a ploy from those dirty orcs. Don't fall for it".

Of course, there were bound to be some people who in dire times became extra cautious and doubted everything around them. Well, the situation was indeed very unusual. After all, it was just too shocking to see a maid walk at this time of the night in the depths of the forest.

They cannot be blamed for being cautious. The maid in question stepped in front of the prison which was made of some unique kind of materials and looked at the prisoners inside it.

"Please be at ease, I'm here to save you" the maid bowed mannerly. From her etiquette to her smallest movement, it was so refined that she appeared to be the very definition of an ideal maid.

Even so, the place and time were just too odd for a maid to appear here. There was no way they would be able to be at ease if the latter told them to do so.

"W-Who are you? are you one of those orcs?" a prisoner who was nearest to her, asked in fright.

Annette who had adapted a composed face up until now, slightly arched her brows at that remark. She glared at the person who said with her eyes before saying in a dismissive tone—

"I get it that you are afraid, but please choose your words wisely. There is no way I'm related to those ugly orcs, if anything I'm… Ahem, anyways I'm here to save you all. Are there any other captives in this camp, or is this all of you?".

The prisoner who was glared at, embarrassedly shifted his eyes. The other prisoners who heard the conversation between the man and that maid, were overjoyed when they heard that she was here to save them.

Though there were some who were sceptical of the whole situation; however, when the maid easily melted down the thick bars they too were finally convinced.

"Is this all of you?" Annette asked again trying to make sure that there were no other prisoners in this camp.

"Yes… by the way, are you someone from the Tyrant Mountain guild?" the prisoners questioned. Although they knew that the maid was here to save them, they still had some reservations due to not knowing where she came from.

"Would it make you all relieve if I say I was from that guild?" Annette's words finally seemed to have some effects, the prisoners relaxed their guard a little when she said that.

"So she really is from the tyrant mountain guild"..

"We are saved, if it's them, then there is a chance that these orcs can be defeated" the adventurers started celebrating. However, it was soon put down when they heard a husky voice sound out from the distance.

"GUGAGA… as I thought, it really was the scent of a rat that I smelled earlier. I can't believe you thought I would fall for such a simple bait" Berimal came out from the back of a crudely made shelter and flashed a hideous smile.

His attitude was as if he had just caught someone who was trying to pull a prank. Of course, to these humans who had their spirits broken, just his sight was enough to push them back into the pits of despair.

One by one, all of them who came out of the prison, fell to the ground unable to find strength in their legs.

"GUGAGA… Oh? What is this, a beauty came all the way over here?" Berimal approached closer, the aura that he release was powerful to suppress all the other auras in the surrounding.

"When I say run please turn around and escape with all your might towards that direction" Matter of factly, Annette wasn't the slightest bit fazed by the presence of Berimal. She kept her eyes on the humans behind her and calmly gave them instructions.

Of course, she didn't bother to keep her voice quiet hence Berimal was clearly able to hear her.

"GUGA?! Do you think I will allow them to escape? You humans truly do not know when to give up. Slave seal activate, all of you obediently go back inside your prison."