Raid Gone Wrong?
(Third Person Pov)
"This is ...just beautiful"
Elora whispered as she looked at the forest stretched out in amazement. She held her hand out at the sunlight reaching her hand after filtering through the dense canopy.
The sound of rustling leaves and chirping birds helped ease her nerves.
Elora and her teammates are currently on the 85th floor, their job was supposed to be to follow the main raid team to give support at any given time.
They had first descended down to the 60th floor where they found a teleportation room that led one to the 85th floor, this was information the commander had obtained from Brandon.
Now, all that was left was to reach the place of their enemy base which they had a map of, thanks to Brandon, and then capture them.
"I am saying it again but I am not going to be responsible if she dies or anything"
The monotonous voice reached her ears as she grumbled, it belonged to none other than Noah.
"This brat is annoying. Is this because you are strong that you act like this? I am sure one day this will become the reason for your downfall" Daniel said as he scrunched his face.
Their only enemies weren't the Vipers but also the monsters that lived inside the dungeon.
The dungeon had several floors, each floor different from the previous one or simply a better version of the previous one. The layout of each floor felt similar to being thrown into a new spot, a volcanic layout, a floor filled with water.
No one knew how the dungeons were able to keep just different sceneries without disrupting the other floor.
It was something Noah didn't give a damn about.
At any rate, Daniel and Elora had seen both the Crimson Phantom and Noah wipe out the monsters that appeared before them.
Both of them had sharp senses, fast reflexes, and an incredible amount of firepower all while being just kids.
It was baffling for them to see these kids slashing A-ranked monsters with such ease.
Elora had taken pictures of them both killing those monsters. She had gotten the biggest scoop she could have ever gotten!
How would the world react when they learn about their existence? To be this strong despite being just kids? I am sure this news has the potential to become worldwide news!
She simply felt giddy.
On the other hand, Alfred had been watching the Crimson Phantom. He was still unable to understand how she had ended up in the dungeon...
Or maybe the truth was he did already know it. He just didn't want to believe something like that could happen.
He lightly shook his head dispelling all these thoughts and wondering about her rank.
If I am not wrong then she must be an A- ranker...
It was an absurd feat.
But of course, there was something else that he found even more baffling.
Why is she so clinging toward him?
Currently, Luna, aka, the Crimson Phantom was walking next to Noah and she wasn't attacking monsters that threatened them but only the monsters that threatened or tried to approach Noah.
Alfred rubbed his temples wondering what would happen once they would be outside of the dungeon.
Since Luna was found in the dungeon it was likely she would be taken in by the Heroes and from what Alfred had seen, she wouldn't leave his side for reasons unknown to him.
He could already see what kind of disaster it would be.
"Aren't you both higher ranked than me? Why am I the one leading then?" Noah asked.
"That is precisely what I have been wondering, why the hell are you two rushing towards the monster the moment you spot them!? No, actually it's just you rushing to them while she is following you! So, maybe how about you stop rushing to them, not all of them are out to kill you" Daniel said while Alfred heaved out a sigh.
"I always kill the side monsters that I encounter on my way to the boss in the games" Noah replied.
"This isn't a game!"
"Well, that's just like, your opinion."
"And this attitude of yours is exactly why we have lost our way! We were supposed to provide the support for the main team and now we are in the middle of a forest!"
"Correction, somewhere on the dungeon floor. And if you have any idea about where we should be going then go ahead I will follow you but if you don't then Imma just keep doing my monster hunt."
"Damn you" Daniel sighed in frustration.
He didn't know where to go either.
At the end of the day, he too was lost just like his party and it didn't help that the floor seemed to have a dense, thick forest with roots of its trees everywhere on the ground, in that sense, it would be more accurate to say that it's a wild forest.
And so, Noah continued his NPC monster hunt, going from one place to another and the rest simply followed him, one happily, one because of responsibility, one begrudgingly, and one because of the scoop Noah could provide.
We are going exactly where we need to be
Noah thought to himself.
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"W-what is this?" The man who was leading the main raid team muttered in disbelief.
How could he not?
He was standing in front of a bunch of kids who were in rags with nothing but ...weapons in their hands.
The man gritted his teeth as he scanned his surroundings, they were almost there, to the enemy base they were supposed to be at but now they were faced with a situation they hadn't expected.
"How did you all like my surprise, true heroes?" A voice came from deep within the forest, the direction of it known as the voice reverberated around them.
"Who are you!? Stop hiding yourself!" The man shouted his frustration palpable.
"I am Sam and for today, I will be your entertainer, or ...you will be mine. Who knows? I am sure we will find the answer soon enough" The voice said with mocking laughter as it continued
"Now, I shall explain the rules of this game to my dear gentlemen present here. The children you see in front of you have a device hung over their necks as you can see. The device would explode upon coming in contact with any external mana and aura"
External mana/aura is a term normally used to describe the mana that a person emits or uses.
In other words, Sam had just told them to not even think about using mana or aura.
"I have put a little something inside their head, if I press the button then their head will explode, like this," The voice said and the next moment, a splurting sound resounded.
A girl's body fell on the ground, her brain matters spilling out of her body.
"So, if you don't want me to press the button please refrain from using your strength to the fullest! Those kids should have a chance as well, don't you all think the same!" The voice laughed once more
"Oh! And here's the fun part! You see, the drones around you flying? I am going to start a livestream! So, do your best! People wouldn't want to see their supposed true heroes killing some children, would they? Hahahahaha!" The deranged laughter continued and then in a whisper it said
"Once you manage to push past this place, you will finally be able to arrive where I am, how's that for a reward" And with that, the voice that introduced itself as Sam faded leaving the newbies startled and the ones who were experienced had to worry not only about navigating their situation but doing it while being watched by people.
"Don't worry, everyone. The commander would understand that his intervention is now important" The man said
Those words came as a relief to others.
Their commander was SS-ranked. He had taken the back seat to watch over them from a distance to train the newbies but now that the situation has changed drastically, he will step up soon enough himself.
That's what they all thought
Why hasn't the commander intervened yet?
The Elf who had taken the roll call of everyone thought to herself.
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"You are one sick bastard," A heavy voice said with a sigh, it belonged to the man whose frame was tall and masculine. He was none other than the commander, he continued
"Well, your plan of luring new slaves was a good one, it also helped me fasten the process," He said as he took off a necklace from his neck and his appearance started to change
"It's nothing good compared to you boss! You just brought the entire newbie squad as our soon-to-be slaves! That's incredible!" Sam replied.
The man in front of Sam had infiltrated the rank of those true heroes, replaced their commander, and brought a whole package of newbie slaves.
It was a ridiculous, risky plan but his boss had managed to pull it off!
And that was precisely why he admired him!
BOOM!
The sound of the blast took Sam out of his admiration as he looked towards the direction of it.
...Wait, isn't that the place where most of our highly rated products are?
Sam had used the products that were defective to them, ones that were useless for his devious strategy.
And soon after he noticed a butterfly hovering over him as it popped and a voice came out with a simple message, one that left him and his boss both ...speechless and baffled.
If you don't want your highly-priced products to die then tell your fucking friends to not get in my way to the exit gate.