Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

After moving away to Mountmend their interaction became quite limited and from there they were engulfed in their own circumstances. That said, news from the capital and about the princess still travelled to Frida's ears.

In one of those news, she heard the sad demise of her friends inside the dungeon. So it could imagine the shock she felt when she saw the very people she had assumed dead, show up in front of her to save her.

The surprise she felt was on a whole another level. It was not only her, Blake who pulled himself out of the rubble after getting blown far away, also looked at the scene with pure bafflement.

He was relieved that Frida was saved; however, more so than relief, the emotion he felt at this moment was astonishment.

"Are you alright? Here is a mana potion" Cynthia supported Frida who fell on the ground and offered her a vial of mana potion.

"Yeah, but you…" the latter unwittingly took the vial, her face a mix of surprise and amazement.

Cynthia did not mind her surprise and simply smiled. She was aware that many would show the same reaction as Frida upon seeing her. After all, to the outside world, she had been declared dead. Her return was no different than returning from the dead.

"Yeah, I am alive. I will explain to you how I survived some other time. Right now we have other things to focus on our hand" Cynthia gave a small explanation.

"Are you still able to fight?" Alvara came up to her and winked. Back in the days, they used to be good friends.

"Yeah, I can still fight… but you all"…

"We came to aid the resisting adventurers after finding out that the criminal organisations had set a trap for you all here"

Alvara answered her doubts. She took out her sword and pointed it at the enemy.

"As usual, Burg will draw the enemy while Bert and I keep her cornered. Princess and Marba will use their spells to finish her off. Let us take this enemy out"

At her orders, the group got into formation and encircled Arnet. The latter simply smiled, her piercing green eyes nonchalantly gazing at the new group.

"Hoh!! So you guys had backup coming huh? But it's too bad, no matter how many people you bring, none of them will change your fate today"…

"I don't know about that"

Alvara came slashing down. Bret followed after with Burg connecting next. They locked her down and constrained her movements. Thereafter, magic conjured by Cynthia and Marba, came raining down on her.

With Cynthia and her group working together, even Arnet had to take them seriously. She dodged and parried attacks using her skills and counterattacked fiercely. Even though she liked picking the easiest prey, it did not mean that her ability could be doubted.

Facing six people head on, she was not at the least bit at a disadvantage. On the contrary, it looked like Alvara and the others were the ones who were being slowly caged in.

"Dammit, her attacks contain poison. Do not let the smoke cloud touch you"

Alvara stated gritting her teeth. Those weirdly shaped daggers of their enemy, was not only insanely sharp, but they released a greenish cloud of smoke that corroded everything around them, except for the wielder.

It was not only the poison smoke, needles, arrows, threads, and all sorts of weapons and skills that their enemy used, that contained poison. This made it difficult for Cynthia and the others to ignore even the most simplest of attacks from their enemy.

What made Arnet so difficult to face, was not her skill or tactic, but the many poisons she used.

"You guys are not bad. However, how long can you hold on? Even if you can, what about the others…"

Arnet who was in the midst of sneering at them, suddenly had her words stuck in her throat. An unexpected phenomenon was occurring right now. Blood all around the battlefield, started glowing.

Blood that was shed on the ground, blood that leaked out of wounds, or the blood still flowing inside one's body started heating up. This phenomenon was felt by everyone on the battlefield.

Before anyone even knew it, the entire battlefield was covered by a bloody mist.

"What is going on?"

It was not only Arnet, but all the others from the Blades of Ascension, the criminal organisations and even the resisting adventurers who had the same question. Perhaps the only ones who had any idea were Cynthia and her group.

CLACK… CLACK… at this moment when all sound seemed as if they had mysteriously disappeared, sounds of footsteps rang out across the battlefield, followed by the appearance of multiple figures.

These figures emerged seemingly out of nowhere from the blood mist and stood out like a sore thumb. What made this group so unusual, was the fact that all of these figures belonged to a different race.

A group made out of many different races, it was only natural that they would stand out.

"Weretigers, High Elf, Dark Elf, Cienthrope and even Cat kin. That's an unusual bunch, where are their masters?" Jordan casually commented.

In the tower town, demi human races were used as slaves, cannon fodders for clearing dungeon, sex toys and basically every other way that you wouldn't treat a human. Their position here could be said to be the lowest of the low.

Normally, demi humans are only allowed to roam near the tower town once they form a slave contract with a master. It was no wonder that Jordan and the others looked for their masters once they saw that this new group was made up of demihumans.

"Master, what are your orders?" Drow glanced behind her.

"Well, let's start with reducing their numbers. They are oozing everywhere"..

"Understood. Diana come with me"…

"Hey why are you behaving like you are the leader? Diana comes with me" Ariel argued.

Diana was a half Cienthrope half true vampire with long black hair tied into a low ponytail that reached till her legs. On top of her head, she had large wolf ears. She sported a purple and red heterochromatic eyes and had a slender build with ample curves.

She was donned in a special dark suit tailored and built for her free way of combat. She wore a uniquely made glove to contain her claws and equipped sleigh bells at the end of her furry tail.

Diana could only look in confusion as Drow and Areil tugged her arms as they dragged her along.

"Hey remember, the ones with the badge of the criminal organisations are our enemies" Theodore sighed as he instructed his subordinates as they went away.

"Rob, Alia... clean up the mess after those three. I'm sure in their excitement, they are bound to forget our objective" The burliest amongst the two Weretigers standing behind Maybell, spoke.

On his command, the other Weretiger, namely Rob who resembled Alric a little but had a different skin tone and facial structure, nodded. He along with Alia, a beautiful Cat Kin from the extremely rare Golden Jaguar Clan, moved to execute the desire of their master.

Alia had large cat ears, a long golden tail and shimmering golden hair. She had a slender and beautiful figure with a childlike and curious personality.

Seeing two of her subordinates move to execute their plan save for Alric, Maybell couldn't help but tilt her head and inquire.

"Aren't you going too? My orders were to aid the group over there and eliminate our enemy".

Alric nodded his head and replied in a serious and determined tone "I am well aware of your orders master. However, please forgive me for acting selfishly. I would like to remain by your side since for me there is nothing more important than your safety. I am willing to accept all sorts of punishment but please let me guard you with my life"

A complex light flashed in the weretiger's eyes as if he was reminiscing something.

"It's alright, do whatever you want" Maybell who had a soft spot for catkin races, immediately agreed to Alric's selfishness and allowed him to guard her side.

"Your Kindreds look like they get along. How did you do it?" Theodore questioned his sister after seeing how well they got along.

"I didn't do anything. Alric here seems to be suited for leading, the others unanimously follow him. Besides, brother you are too dumb when it comes to relationships. It's not like your kindreds are not getting along, it's just that they are competing for something"…

"Compete? Compete for what?"

Maybell's answer seemed to have only confused Theodore further.

.

.

Over at the battlefield, with the demi humans now joining the adventurer's side, the situation had changed for the umpteenth time. The side of the criminal organisation was swiftly suppressed with the demi humans going all out.

They used the power bestowed within them to manipulate the battlefield as they wished and took complete control. Their powers and abilities were so tyrannical that within a few moments of their arrival, they quickly took the spotlight from everyone. 

Among them, three stood out the most as they went rampant across the battlefield. Blood flowed out like river wherever they went and only a nightmarish desolation was left in their wake.

In just a few seconds, the air itself became nauseating with a thick scent of blood. Even for these gangs of criminals who were used to killing and seeing blood, it was a harrowing sight.