There was no avoiding conflict for the trio from this point on. They needed to get to the prisoners quickly, regardless of who stood in their way. Resistance along the way was going to require a swift knockout. Death was unavoidable today; the consequences would have to be thought about later.

Their hurried footsteps began attracting attention, and the shock as Wardi rushed into the pantry down the hallway as a chef and his assistants met them with a loud gasp from the youngest of the four, nearly becoming a scream until Rhua pressed her hand over her face.

"You lot! Shut the fuck up; this is a rescue mission. If you want to escape, go find Deborah outside. If not, we'll deal with you here and now." Wardi spoke with firmness and authority; even his companions were a little scared. They had never seen him in such a light before.

He held his sword towards the door, directing them out. One of the assistants briefly spoke to Wardi quietly.

"Please be careful. The prison is heavily guarded, at least ten like your companion over there." She nodded at Rhua, who was unfazed by the statement.

"Thanks lass. Stay safe out there." He replied to her. Rhua re-equipped her armour, now ready for anything that may stand in the way.

Stepping through into the next hallway, they tried a few doors and eventually found the door they needed. The smell was the clue. It was either the waste pit or the prison because it reeked and made Lucy and Rhua gag for a moment.

The kitchen worker was serious about the warning. Wardi, scanning the area, had picked up that there were twelve soldiers, and after taking a closer look, reported back to his companions that they wore armour made of element-resistant materials. Lucy's worst nightmare.

"Shit. What should we do here? Rhua said after hearing the information

Lucy had tapped her head trying to think, nearly hurting herself, not realising she was hitting it with her wand faster and harder until Wardi stopped her by grabbing it.

"Oops!" She whispered. "Why don't I free the prisoners, and you handle the guards? Most prisoners will run, but I bet a few will join in. We can overwhelm them." Confidence was in her voice regarding the plan.

"Risky though. What if they get hurt? There's going to be a shitload of fighting…" Said Rhua. Wardi agreed with Lucy, however.

"Worth the risk. We're a bit outnumbered after all." He was not happy, but he'd rather go down swinging than let anyone suffer at the hands of maniacs. "Can you use your ability yet, Rhua, the clone one? He followed up with. She shook her head at him.

"Still on cooldown for another few minutes. And will leave us vulnerable if I use it now. It takes so much Kaha." "God damn, I wish we just fought our way through earlier now." He replied, smiling with frustration.

"Alright. Going to try something here. Go hide behind the door upstairs. You'll know when to move." Wardi slowly walked down after he finished whispering, and the other two began to creep back up the stairs.

He made feline-like hisses and snarling, as if something just stepped into its territory and it was warning them off. Two of the guards reacted to it in total silence, except for their metallic boots clanging as they began marching up the stairs. Wardi kept his distance, signalling to his companions to get ready when he passed them.

Listening patiently for the footsteps to fade a little more, they crept down the stairs hoping to get the jump on the remaining guards. Two of the guards standing a metre or so apart between cells had matching elemental red armour. "I can take advantage of this."

Lucy began whispering 'Nalu Wai'. Blue seals formed around her, whirring as dozens of saw-like water blades began flying towards the knights. The Red Knights were down instantly, but the rest were able to react in kind, producing barriers against Arts. Rhua took this opportunity to charge in using her Torche ability, catching a blue knight off guard. Striking his helmet with her sword, he stumbled from the impact, then a shield bash knocked him unconscious.

Lucy cast her Gorthen Fists Art, which pummelled against the barriers, chipping away at it quickly. Unlocking gates of the cells as they did so. "If you want to help, please do. If you don't find Deborah outside, go now; you won't have much time." A few volunteers said they would help, though many simply bolted for freedom. One of the remaining was someone Lucy recognised from her art training days.

"Bagu Ette? Is it really you!?" excited at the prospect of seeing her old friend. "Lucy!? Why are you here? It's not safe! My uncle has lost his mind!"

"Well, if I knew you were in trouble earlier, I would have told my friends to come help sooner. It's your fault for never adding me on the Shellnet! Anyway, help the rest of the prisoners whilst we deal with the guards. Go on."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Lucy began to cast her wind art. Wind bullets formed in the air and began to rain into the guards, who raised their shields together to block the attacks. It was no use. Wardi was too quick for their reflexes. He dived into the backline, cracking his rapier on the left guard whilst slamming his partner to the side headfirst into the back of the guy in front.

Bangs and clattering of the metals colliding with each other were louder than the Arts Lucy had cast. After the final cell door had been opened by one of the prisoners, the real battle began when an Autom materialised behind them all and a second in front of the exit. Rhua was able to use her ability again and had the clone fight the one near the stairs whilst she dealt with the one closest.

Tricky things to fight Automs… Vulnerable to magic from behind or during their self-cooldown procedures. A push was needed from them to do so. Lucy threw her strongest arts in one after the other. Wind and Water connected but deflected, whilst Wardi and Rhua's rapier and shield grew red hot against the rapidly rotating hands. Sparks flying off in all directions.

"Ugh. Always the same with these damn things. God forbid they ever get an upgrade." Rhua moaned from the fatigue in her arms. "Don't you bloody jinx it!" Wardi shouted in response.

The Autom they engaged fell to its knees and began the self-repair mode. A smaller Autom exited it and began to coat it with silver liquid, releasing steam as it did so. Lucy cast 'Nalu Wai' again, and it began to collapse in on itself. "Right, just this one left now." Said Rhua. Luckily it had its back turned from being faced away, so Lucy was able to break it into pieces instantly with a single water spear Art. 'Ihe Wai' she said, and it flew clean through it and splashed onto the stairs, not before leaving a notable impact spot.

A moment's reprieve for the trio, now to convene with Lucy's old friend. "Bagu how did you end up here? Weren't you enrolled in the advanced scholars courses?" Lucy asked. "Of course I am, except my uncle demanded the family come home to meet some really important people from far away, and we all HAD to be there, no exceptions. His letter made it very clear." "And of course, lo and behold, they were bloody weirdos. At first, they spoke that old language, Valisisk, before switching to our tongue. Uncle went to a private room with the five of them.

The trio suspected it was the same group from Von Manor for certain after hearing this. "How long until your uncle changed?" asked Rhua Bagu thought for a second, holding his hand over his mouth for no more than 2 or 3 seconds, then answered back. "Couldn't have been more than a few minutes after that group left. The crazy requests happened within the first day. Then by the end of the week, we were all bloody locked up in here." "They left something else here though too; I can smell that rot from a mile away," said a whimpering man stumbling out of the far cell at the end. "Isaac, don't push yourself. You've not eaten or slept in days." "We nearly skipped over helping, but then he told us in the last minute. That lad Tanner." Wardi said. "Bless his heart, that fool of a boy; he needs not worry about the welfare of this old soul." Isaac responded.

"Come on, let's talk when we get out of here." Rhua said. And began rushing away. Everyone else soon followed. Wardi and Lucy handed out potions for others to try and help where possible.

Hordes of escapees began pouring out of the shadows after Wardi darted ahead to inform them. It was long before the alarms began setting off after the first batch passed through the castle gates.

"Run, don't stop!" He shouted. The thunderous echo of footwear clattering in the hallways was the signal to the escapees that they were almost reaching him.

"WHAT! What do you mean, they AV ESCAPEED!?" Came a booming voice from somewhere behind the castle.

Several guards began pouring out from other doors, but the trio simply jumped them; there was no time to waste here. A large knight appeared at the gate, much different than the others the trio previously faced. Wardi couldn't help but respond this time.

"I have a cocktail sausage! Fuck sake mun, not now." Wardi moaned, having to take it out of the holster to use. Reunited with this pissing thing again, GREAT.

He immediately engaged the knight with Rhua. The three of them easily rained down blows, but the defence of this one and its heath must have been far higher than anticipated, or it's being aided by something else. Rhua sensed something from behind and quickly raised a barrier. A cannonball collided with her. Pushing her back through the dirt slightly. "I've been hit by worse," shaking herself off.

"NON NON NON this is all wrong! I want to have a performance of the ages, YOU BUFFOONS!" Bagu sighed aloud, "Well, here comes my uncle…"

"Hello there, little nephew, and your new ferrrrends! Welcome to Castle Un Nom Générique. I am King Blau. Glad you will be playing with us this fine evening."

He was a comical-looking individual. Wearing oversized white shoes that absolutely no one, including him, should wear. With bright green baggy trousers and some sort of vibrant orange artificially made robe that looked like it could collapse if you even spoke to it the wrong way. "That hairstyle and colour, yikes. He's got a look only a mother could love," joked Wardi. "He knows it's early morning, right?" Whispered Rhua to the other two.

"Court Jesti-Westi's! I have NEEEED for you nnnnnn-NOW!" Several clown-like arts users materialised into the courtyard. Far more than expected. And Wardi couldn't help but whisper his line again. "Fuck, this just got bad." I do love a good party, and so I INSIST we play some games… Yes?" He clapped his hands too much excitement in all the wrong ways as he surprised the group with the question. "Are there any games we can play together, dear little friends? I would so love to play with you all; we could play together as a GROUP MAYBE." He shouted at the trio, Bagu and Isaac.

"What the fuck do we do? I don't know any party games." Rhua was annoyed at not being able to fight instead. "Uh…I'll try something. Let me go forward," said Lucy, who walked to the front of the group and said "We could play Ele-menne-go?" The clownlike casters began to jump around with springs in their step. It seemed they wanted to play this game exactly. "Oh yes, the children's game~ how nice that would be indeed! The mad king responded.

"Gross, don't say weird shit in public like that," Wardi responded. "Let's just get this over with. Go on Luce." Said Rhua, nodding to her.

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.