This won't be easy, Isaac thought as he continued circling the village. Aside from the defensive walls, this place had three watchtowers, one by each gate. And from what he could see, each was manned by at least two monsters armed with massive bows. The real question was whether those things could actually aim.

Yeah… not easy at all.

At least the monsters themselves weren't that scary. Sure, they had the same twisted, hulking build as the mutated Wretched from Sacramento, but they also looked less rough, less insane. In addition, their goblin-like heads ruined their fear-inducing image. In any other situation, he might have found their appearance laughable.

Alas, laughter was the last thing on his mind right now.

Just hang on a little bit longer, Isaac said to himself as his gaze returned to the humans scattered around the village. There weren't as many as he had hoped, but even saving one life was worth it. Humanity couldn't lose any more people after the initial Breakout, not with the Virus Wars coming soon.

Then again, he wasn't sure these people would ever be in shape to fight anything. The way they moved like robots…. Their faces, blank and hollow. It was like they had already given up or never had any hope in the first place.

And honestly?

He couldn't blame them. Gods only knew what those people had gone through in the last week. Isaac couldn't even begin to imagine any of it. Nor did he want to. They didn't need his pity. No, they just needed someone to free them. The rest would come later.

All right, time to go back. Need to put together a real plan for this.

With a sharp turn, he banked hard to the right and shot off toward his team. Like so many times lately, he found himself bringing back bad news. Quite ironic considering his Legacy form…

Once Isaac returned to his team and explained what he had found, he and Marie had to physically restrain James from bolting straight toward the village. He didn't rage or scream, but the cold look in his eyes and the clenching of his fists told a story on its own.

"Calm down, man," Isaac hissed, keeping a firm grip on his shoulder. "Going off without a plan will only make the situation worse. We need a plan."

"He's right," Marie added, though her voice was much softer. "Breathe, James. We will get them out—but we need to be smart about it."

James gave them both a hard, narrowed glance, then finally nodded. He dropped on a nearby boulder, closing his eyes and taking a few deep breaths. Isaac took this as a sign and let him go. Marie could handle things from here. He had to take care of their last teammate, who was weirdly silent.

"Elaine?" he called, approaching the woman. She ignored him, staring into the distance, her eyes glazed over. "Hey?" He nudged her shoulder. "You still with us?"

She blinked, her eyes coming back into focus. She glanced at him and frowned.

"It's my mission," she muttered.

Isaac mirrored her expression. "What?"

"It's my mission," she repeated, her voice tighter. "From my Patron."

Oh… Isaac opened his mouth only to close it again. For a moment, he looked at Marie and James, but they weren't listening. With a sigh, he turned back to Elaine.

"How do you know?" he asked.

"The mission. It updated," she explained, again looking at something he couldn't see. "Rescue at least eight out of the fourteen humans in the village near you. Nothing else. No limitations. No rules."

"That's…" Isaac trailed off.

"She said I would know what I have to do," Elaine muttered bitterly. "Of course she did. Stupid bitch," she spat. "Prosperity, my ass. She could have saved them days ago, but no… Gotta let them rot just so I can complete a stupid mission."

Isaac didn't say anything. Overlords… it was still a very sore subject between them. Besides, everything Elaine said now was true. Prosperity probably thought giving out a mission like this would win her some goodwill. Give the woman next to him a chance to save someone, make her feel like a hero, like she was doing some good.

That, obviously, didn't work. Never would. Not with Elaine. Or really, any of them. Their Patrons were just means to an end. They just disagreed on how to deal with them for the time being.

Maybe this is my chance, Isaac thought, placing a hand on Elaine's shoulder. "Listen… Don't think about the mission. It's not what matters. Those people do. You can worry about Prosperity another day."

She groaned, dragging a hand down her face. "I know," she grumbled. "Trust me, I know. It's just so… frustrating. They sit up there watching us struggle, letting people suffer for what? Entertainment? To get us used to this new reality? Such bullshit."

Isaac's jaw clenched, memories of the Minotaur, of the bodies in the Blood Goblin's camp flashing before his eyes. "They will pay for it," he swore. "One day."

Elaine nodded. "One day."

"Hey." Marie's voice called out. "You two good? We need to start planning."

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

"Yeah, either move, or I'm going alone," James added, and by the look on his face, he wasn't kidding.

Isaac shared a glance with Elaine, and once she gave him a weak, broken smile, they rejoined their teammates. From there, he once again went over everything he saw inside the village. Starting from its layout and defense and ending with how many monsters he saw inside. None of the info was perfect, but at the very least, they had the precise count of the people they had to rescue.

"Guess stealth is out, huh?" James asked.

Isaac nodded with a sigh. "Pretty much. Place is too fortified. Besides, none of us really have any stealth-oriented abilities."

"We can still use the element of surprise, though," Marie noted, crouching down to draw a rough layout of the village in the dirt. "James would have to go through the gate, but the rest of us?"

She pointed to the three guard towers. "We take one each, and from there, find the nearest prisoners. Strike fast and hard."

Elaine hummed, her eyes on the drawing in the dirt. "Might not be enough. The way my Patron worded the mission… there's nothing stopping them from killing the prisoners the moment we attack. We need more distraction."

She looked pointedly at Isaac. No need to guess why.

"My ultimate." He nodded. "So pretty much the standard. Fine by me."

"I can come in with my ult, too," James offered. "Screw using the gate. I will make my own entrance. Should add to the chaos."

Isaac shrugged. "Might as well. Just be careful when you enter. Most of the monsters will likely go for you first."

The man grinned, a glint of madness entering his eyes. "Let them come. I will slaughter them all."

"Just remember this is a rescue mission first," Marie chided. "Once we are inside, finding and protecting the prisoners has to be our priority. Killing the stragglers will come after."

Nobody argued that. Even if they all wanted to slaughter the beasts, the lives of their fellow humans were more important. Still, Isaac doubted everything would go as smoothly as they hoped. After all, there had to be a reason why Elaine's Sire didn't order her to save everyone.

Won't stop us from trying, though, he thought before giving each of his teammates a short glance.

"Let's move out then. We have work to do."

Once more, Isaac was back high above the village, circling it and waiting for the right moment to begin the assault. Below, the monsters had no idea what was coming. Stealthy, his team might not be, but they knew enough to approach the walls without getting spotted. Now, all they needed was a signal from him.

Very well. Let's begin. Freedom mode.

As Mana rushed through his body, Isaac tucked his wings and reached for his Origin and the spark that held his Legacy. Instantly, all around him crimson clouds began to manifest. Each then shifted to form a blood raven. In a matter of a few seconds, he had over forty of his creations at his call.

Distract, he ordered. Sow chaos and protect the humans with your lives if you must.

His army didn't offer him the usual chorus of caws—no reason to give the village below another warning—but he still felt compliance in the link inside his mind. They followed after him, falling from the sky like a rain of blood.

Still, even with the flock summoned, Isaac was far from done. It was time for the second phase of the plan. He maybe had another couple of seconds before the monsters below realized what was happening. They just had to look up, after all.

Crimson Death.

Powered by Mana and a bit of blood, a single red-black spear formed at his side. He aimed it toward the ground and hurled it without a single thought. What followed brought on the beginning of the battle.

The watch tower he had targeted erupted in a shower of blood and splinters. It crumpled to pieces, bringing down the two monsters atop it. They died the moment they hit the ground. The impact must have finished what his skill began.

[Jaded Whisperer (LVL. 12) slain.]

[Jaded Whisperer (LVL. 10) slain.]

Their level didn't surprise him. It pretty much matched the Low and Low-Moderate threat they showed up for Isaac. The name, however? He had no idea what it could mean.

Not that it mattered. Not now.

He ignored the flashes of light in the distance and the muffled screams of the beasts. With the ground fast approaching, his gaze locked onto a group of four Whisperers guarding two humans working on one of the nearby houses. Or well, used to guard.

Now, with the fighting exploding across the entire village, the monsters drew their rusty swords and readied for a potential fight. One of them even stepped toward the humans, who continued working as if nothing was wrong.

Don't you dare, Isaac hissed and drew onto more Mana and blood. A faint crimson shimmer appeared around his body, but this time, it wasn't Cursed Draw. No, a much different skill took form inside his body.

Obliterate.

Like a meteor, Isaac slammed into the Whisperer heading for the humans. The charge of Obliteration exploded out of his entire body upon impact, drowning everything around him in blood. He didn't need sight to know what happened. The notification told him everything.

[Jaded Whisperer x3 slain.]

One left.

Without even thinking about what his Obliteration had just accomplished, Isaac transformed and jumped to his feet, the Root already in his hand. He barely spared a glance at the mangled remains around him, his eyes finding the last Whisperer.

It lay sprawled on the ground, half an arm missing, wide yellow eyes already locked on him. Before the beast could even make a sound, the Root cleaved through its neck.

Good start, he thought, quickly scanning the area. At least four more Whisperers had already noticed him. He would have loved to deal with them right now, but he kind of had a more pressing matter to attend to.

Which was why, before any of the beasts could even take a step toward him, his blood ravens descended upon them like angry hounds. For good measure, Isaac even summoned the three phantom spiders offered by his Mutagen. They wouldn't be able to do much, but every bit of help mattered.

They just had to buy him some time.

Better move fast, then.

Isaac spun on his heel and rushed to the two humans he was meant to rescue. To his surprise, they seemed completely unbothered by what had just happened and continued working without a care in the world.

"Hey, you two!" he shouted. "Snap out of it! We have to get you to safety."

Nothing.

I don't have the time for this, Isaac growled.

He grabbed the nearest person—a middle-aged woman—and spun her around so that she was facing him. Her crude shovel clattered to the ground, but aside from that… nothing.

She just stared at him with half-lidded, unblinking eyes. No, that was wrong. She wasn't staring at him. Hell, it looked like she wasn't even aware of where the hell she was.

Isaac checked the other person—a bit younger guy—but the result was the same. The two just stood there like statues, waiting for an order that never came.

A cold shiver crawled down his spine.

Shit… This ain't good.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.