"What the hell did you do, Damian!" Frey was screaming at him for answers.

  They were currently on the 30th floor, running toward the back of the teleportation room. A neat little trick for all dungeons is that when you take a teleporter out, you'll end up at the closest teleportation out-point.

  So if you're closer to the entrance, even if you're on floor 100, then you'll appear at the nearest empty exit point near the entrance. Damian planned to exit from the back of the Spire, farthest from the soldiers.

  "... ..." Damian paused for a moment to gather his thoughts.

  "I asked Donna to store the body last night while she was asleep. She didn't know what she stored. When it was her turn to keep watch, I asked her not to sort through her spatial storage until I told her. What you don't know can't hurt you. That's a saying, right?"

  "Dammit! I knew it!" Frey hissed.

  "Bahahaha! Oh! That's good! Bravo!" Alex seemed to like Damian's crazed plan.

  "What about those ashes?... You didn't–"

  "Yeah... I'm not proud of it, but I collected some of the ashes of those struck by lightning. I tried to be really sneaky about it."

  "I had collected some of it when we were by the ape-wraith's body. I'm glad Jimmy Lee added a potion pouch to my new gear. Not sure I would have had the stomach to keep using my old one."

  "But even still, I didn't have enough ash, so I threw some in from the edges of our campfire. Figured we could have concluded that the rope burned up and left the more woody ash."

  "But why do it like that?!" Frey exclaimed as they were approaching the far wall.

  "I don't know! In my exhausted mind last night, I figured that whoever did this wouldn't leave behind evidence and would have thrown a fireball at the casket while we weren't around. Then we all could have been like: "Oh no! The body got burned up! Look, it's human ash! Let's get Donna to a Valkyrie because she's always wanted to talk with one! Surprise! Here's the evidence!"

  "Your craziness is showing!... Goddesses, why him..." Frey lamented.

  "Bahahaha!" Alex howled.

  Donna was smiling wildly. It seemed that she was getting a kick out of getting back at the people who killed Isaac.

  Even Fergus had a slight smirk, but didn't show too much of a reaction.

  "So after we teleport out, where do we go?" Fergus questioned.

  "Try to find the black market? Maybe we could pay to get us smuggled out. There wasn't really a way to make a proper plan while being under watch."

  "Great..." Fergus was now lamenting too.

  The group was wrapped in another brilliant light, then found themselves outside, behind the Spire. The sky was still bright out, no cover of darkness to mask their retreat. They could hear the Major screaming in the distance.

  "Find them! Get back to your posts and surround the dungeon! I want people to search every floor! I want them found!"

  Damian had lucked out with the timing of their escape. All of the soldiers who were watching out for Ms. Sanderson's return had left to aid Commander Ender and his men.

  "Just like yesterday. Fergus, I need you to speed up those who are lagging. Donna and Frey, be ready to create a steam cloud to cover us. Alex, go ahead and tether everyone."

  "What about me?" A sixth voice resounded from behind the group. Running behind them was Higgins. She got caught up in their initial teleport and kept running with them as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

  "You sure you're willing to commit insubordination to help us get this evidence to a Valkyrie?"

  "It's not insubordination! Betty told me to help you guys if anything happens!"

  "Well said!" Alex applauded the woman's determination.

  "... Maria. Do you know where St. Michelle's Orphanage is located?" Frey asked.

  "Yep!"

  "Ok, once we leave the courtyard behind and enter the city, lead us there. We should be able to find a way out of the city from there."

  "Got it!"

  "Sounds like a plan!"

  "Incoming! Fergus, shield!" Bolts of earth were headed in their group's direction from the side of the Spire. Damian could see that it was the Major himself firing off the spells. He was also yelling orders to capture them on the double. Numerous speed types were already catching up to them.

  As they ran, Fergus tapped the bunt of his staff on the ground. A shining line shot along the ground and made its way between them and oncoming projectiles. Earth shot up quickly, forming a large circular earthen shield that glowed with a yellow light.

  The shield was pelted with earth, but still held true. As each new earth spike slammed against the shield, the light radiating from it grew brighter and brighter. It was starting to shine so brightly that it became hard to look at and then– *CRACK!*

  A large bolt of yellow lightning shot out from the center of the shield and headed straight for the Major. It traveled the same path as the earth shots he had fired, returning to their origin.

  The bolt struck the cowardly Major, and he began to seize while falling to the ground. He had sent all of his nearby men who could have shielded him to chase after the group.

  Ah, now we've done it... No going back now.

  The Major was alive and still convulsing on the ground. Smoke was rising up from him, and a puddle was forming on the ground near his waist.

  Probably just punctured a canteen. Yep, nothing to see there.

  "Woo! This new gear is something else! Fergus, you didn't even try to harm the guy, and now he's a crumpled mess!" Alex was boasting about her lover's new weapon.

  "I think it's because any backlash from the shield will be proportional to the attacker. Probably a bit less. But it's good that it turns a series of attacks into one." Even Fergus's eyes were gleaming while looking at his new staff. What's committing treason in the face of a sparkling new weapon?

  It seemed that everyone had gone temporarily insane. No one was acknowledging the fact that they just struck down a major in the military, nor the fact that they were going to get branded as traitors to the Union.

  At least that will undoubtedly be the case if they fail to deliver the body to a Valkyrie. And even then, they likely won't be able to live normal lives ever again.

  There was also the ever-so-slim chance that didn't even register in their minds— that General Oseers was innocent and genuinely wanted to get the evidence so that a seer could investigate it. Yeah, not a chance.

  When the human mind is overloaded with extreme stress from alarming, disastrous information, one of its natural states is impaired judgment and irrational behaviour.

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  When the world becomes too complex, when there are too many things to focus on, and the implications become too overwhelming, most minds can't handle it all.

  Acting rashly and failing to narrow your focus to something controllable are surefire ways to lead you to take actions you wouldn't usually take.

  'sigh'

  Damian and his party were finally reaching one of the streets leading to the greater city. While fleeing the military, they'd likely have to contend with undead and wraiths still being brought back from the aftermath of the attacks. But they'd also gain cover and ways to obscure their movements.

  "Frey, Donna. Steam cloud!"

  Donna fired out a large water ball into the open air, and Frey followed up with a fireball. Something they didn't account for was that both were charged with lightning.

  A vast, dark cloud began to spread behind them. Flickering lights arced within the cloud. The quickest of their pursers had already reached the street and entered the cloud, determined to catch them.

  "Ahhhh!" They heard a cry coming from the steam. The silhouettes of three soldiers, convulsing, could be seen with each flicker of lightning that arced through the clouds.

  "Holy Shit! This new gear is absurd!" Damian looked over toward Alex's sword, still sheathed on her back. Then he tapped the hilt of his own dark and glossy weapon. "Alex, probably best we don't use our weapons against the soldiers. We might easily kill someone with them."

  These soldiers are just following orders and innocent... probably. No reason to create more widows from this disaster.

  "Gotcha!"

  "Left!" Higgins hollered at the group.

  Hopefully, this orphanage is the key to getting out of here. Heh, how absurd.

  Looking back, Damian saw no more pursuers. The storm cloud was much more effective than he realized. As they crossed the next intersection, he glanced left and could see the Spire. More soldiers were already charging down the street.

  "One more storm cloud at the next intersection!"

  Fergus once again struck his staff against the ground and summoned a shield between them and the latest storm cloud. The soldiers had resorted to firing blindly to stop them. Fergus's shield was large enough to cover their retreat. It repeatedly took hits and kept getting brighter and brighter. *CRACK*

  Lightning shot off again straight into the storm cloud. It seemed that there was even more synergy between their gear, because instead of heading for the ones who shot the bolts, it combined into the greater cloud, causing it to erupt in all directions with lightning.

  A familiar sight met Damian's gaze. The top half of a barren tree was visible. Lightning was arcing in all directions. It was seared into his eyes, blinding him for a few moments. He wasn't in his wind form like last time.

  "Shit! I think that one might have been too big!"

  "I think they're going to be fine," Frey declared to bring down Damian's alarm. "I could feel the mana from the blast; it wasn't even a 10th of what the wraith had."

  "Turn Right! Then we stay on that road for a long stretch."

  "Hey Maria, can you fly ahead to the next intersection we need to turn at? I have an idea."

  Alex and her ideas... They've saved us several times already. Might as well.

  Higgins' wings spread out from behind her and flapped down in one mighty gust. She shot forward at an astounding speed. All the while, Damian could see the familiar tether connected to her back.

  "Up you go!" Alex picked up Frey and Donna and put them on her shoulders. Very reminiscent of when she carried them in the dungeon. Not a moment later, the girls shot forward, trailing behind Higgins. Two more tethers were attached to Damian and Fergus.

  "Guess you get to join the club now, too," Damian commented while Fergus just slightly shrugged his shoulders.

  Higgins and the girls continued to soar down the street at incredible speeds. How was Alex planning to slow down?

  As Higgins swept through the streets, she suddenly stopped midair at an intersection without any notice. Alex was still accelerating toward her at uncontrolled speeds. Donna was screaming, and Frey was holding on for dear life with her eyes shut tight.

  As they neared Higgins, Alex cut the tether attached to her and started pulling on the ones attached to Damian and Fergus. She was rapidly decelerating while both of them were rapidly accelerating.

  As she neared a net-zero speed, she cut the remaining tethers. She and the girls were perfectly fine, standing in the middle of the street. Meanwhile, both Fergus and Damian came crashing into the ground, rolling rapidly toward them.

  Fortunately, both of them knew how to roll into a fall, reducing the impact. The impressive thing was that it barely felt like anything. More like he got repeatedly patted on his body, their new armor had absorbed most of the impact.

  Looking back, they had covered significant ground in a short period of time.

  "This way!" Higgins turned left again.

  "One more storm cloud!" They needed it to mask the direction they would be heading next. Although some of their pursuers likely had tracking skills, every little bit helped. Maybe they had gotten lucky and taken out the trackers with the lightning attacks.

  "Hey! What do you think about how I used my new skill? Pretty cool, right?" Alex excitedly talked about her new skill. The sheer possibilities of what amounted to a rope were astounding. But the finer workings were quite complex.

  If they ever made it to tier 5, he'd be excited to see its potential. Maybe Alex could tether an enemy when she reached them, preventing them from escaping her blade. Or she could tether throwing weapons instead of herself, guaranteeing they land. She could even tether people together who aren't even near her. The possibilities for her skill development were endless.

  As they continued, they saw no more soldiers trailing behind them. They gave them the slip for now, but Damian did not doubt that they would catch up. There was also the guarantee that they'd stumble upon a new set of soldiers on patrol.

  In the area they were running through, it looked residential, with the occasional shop here and there. The buildings they were running past were intact. Just the occasional marks from minor scuffles. A sword slash here, charred ground there. He had heard earlier that the residential districts weren't the focus of the attack.

  Hmm, should we enter the sewers? No. Then we'd be giving up Higgins's flight and Alex's tether strategy. Plus, if worst comes to worst, they could try to use Frey or Higgins to tether up to the rooftops.

  "Higgins, how much further do you think it will be?"

  "It's just a couple more streets down."

  "Wraith ahead!" Frey called out.

  Smiling like a mad woman, Alex burst out from the rest of the group and grabbed her new sword from her back. In one big downward swing, she charged it with mana. Four large earth spikes formed along the blade's curve and shot out to impale the wraith.

  The wraith was cleanly punctured through and bore three hand-sized holes across its body. These new holes didn't slow the wraith in the slightest. Its wounds rapidly closed, and its size shrank as it charged them.

  Before it could make three steps, Donna shot it with a lightning-charged bolt of water that exploded on contact. Little arcs of lightning coursed through the wraith, and the water tore it to shreds past the point it could maintain itself.

  You could say that Alex's attack was ineffective, but looking behind the wraith and at the road told a different story. Her single swing had decimated the cobblestone, boring four holes deep into the street. The attack tore through the ground like a hot knife through butter.

  Attacks focused on a single point were weak against the lower-ranked wriaths.

  Note to self, if worst comes to worst, we can just break through the buildings using that attack.

  "Higgins, can you point in the general direction of the orphanage?"

  "Yeah, that way!" She pointed diagonally to the front and right.

  "Ok, I'll scout ahead. Frey, you're in charge."

  "Stay safe."

  Damian sped up, riding the wind as if it pulled him forward. At each intersection, he quickly checked both directions and gave his group a thumbs-up. He wasn't a scout, but his abilities were damn well suited for it.

  He'd never choose to enlist or change his adventuring career to explore the more dangerous, but also more profitable, dungeons. His and his friends' lives were more important than coins.

  Slow and steady was always his motto. But what they were doing now wasn't about coin. This was about Isaac, about justice, and about revenge. When you finally get your hands on one of life's gameboard pieces, you can either hand it over or clutch onto it with everything you have.

  'sigh'

  Damian moved up to the fourth intersection. He could see a small platoon of soldiers making their way through the city, slightly hurried. He turned and pointed at the intersection and crossed his arms in the form of an X... or at least he tried. Either way, his group understood the message.

  Dashing back, he met his group halfway as they turned down another road. Once again, he sped up, checking each intersection and signaling that the coast was clear.

  This time, he saw no wandering troops. The military forces were still concentrated around the royal castle and the nobles' districts. Why would the government use its resources to protect the young, innocent, and vulnerable when its own house was on fire?

  Hmm, in a society that values the next generation, there should have been numerous soldiers stationed there. Sadly? Or, fortunately for them, this wasn't the case.

  Damian could see the orphanage just ahead. A small team of adventurers was patrolling the area—at least someone cared.

  Damian waited for the rest of his party to catch up, then they set off for the building.

  Is this really the best move? It feels like we're giving up the momentum we had earlier. Although once we got to the walls, we'd have to go through more soldiers... Orphanage it is!

  As their group moved closer to the building, the good-natured adventurers tensed up slightly, waiting to see what they might need from an orphanage.

  Frey stepped forward and greeted them.

  "Hello, I'm here to see my sister. It's an emergency."

  The adventurers immediately connected who her sister was. They lowered their weapons and moved aside.

  Frey led the way into the building.