"Ok, you can enter when you want," Erik said to Anderson.
"All right, I wish you luck, Erik."
"Yeah, I wish you luck too."
With that, Erik closed the conversation and turned to look at his friends.
"All right, guys, they are going in; we must wait a few minutes before going into action." The others nodded.
Erik crouched low behind the dumpster, his eyes scanning the back door of the Red Lotus Lounge. Contrary to the last time he was here, the place was deadly silent. However, there were much more guards than usual. The awakener's and the others' attention was fixed on the four stationed outside, in front of the back door leading to the club.
They were all burly men with shaved heads and tattoos covering their thick arms. Erik had seen their type before; they were muscle-for-hire, paid to keep unwanted guests out, but they were here for a different reason today.
Amber peered over Erik's shoulder, her hands tightly gripping her knife. "When do we go?" she asked, whispering.
"Soon," Erik replied. "But before going, I wanted to be sure about something with you guys. To enter, we need to at least knock the guards out, but it is clear that the most likely thing we will do is kill them. Do you feel ready?" he asked.
"I don't think I will ever be ready," Amber replied.
"But we must..." Aaron added with a determined look. He knew well that the fact that his mother wasn't among the hostages was a God-sent gift. However, he still got no news from her, so he was worried.
Benedict cracked his knuckles with a sly grin on his face. "I'm always ready to take on a challenge; don't worry."
Gwen kept her usual composure: "We will have to, sooner or later, once inside the military, so it doesn't make that much of a difference for me."
With a deep breath, they all nodded in unison and took their positions. They moved with precision and purpose, working together as a team to navigate the obstacles and reach their target.
The guards stood in a loose circle, smoking cigarettes and chatting. They seemed relaxed, but Erik knew better. They were always on high alert, ready to pounce at the first sign of trouble.
Suddenly, one of the guards stiffened, his head cocked to the side as if listening for something. The others followed suit, their eyes scanning the shadows. Erik held his breath, willing them not to discover their hiding place.
<System, hack their communications device, hijack all the cameras inside and outside, and send loop videos. Prevent any recording too.>
[UNDERSTOOD. CONNECTING TO THE DEVICES. CONNECTION COMPLETE. DEVICES HACKED.]
With that, Erik was sure that aside from the ones seeing them directly, no one would find them. The group kept heading toward the door by moving behind objects, but soon they met a short wall.
"What do we do now? There is too much space between us and the guards; we won't be able to attack them on time," Gwen said.
"I sent a message to my hacker. He already got rid of their communication devices, so we should gain a couple of moments before attacking. However, they could still physically go inside and warn the others by voice," Erik said with cold eyes.
The others observed this side of him they had never seen; it was like he was another person altogether. Sure, Erik did change a lot during these past months; he became quite confident in himself, but that was too much. He was too calm in front of a life-or-death situation; he too calmly talked about murder. It was almost like he was used to it, and that frightened them a little.
"Amber," he said while looking at her. "I need you to make your gas now; it will give us some additional time but will also cover our advance. Just make sure it is not that corrosive, or we will waste a lot of mana to counter it."
"All right," the young woman said.
"You can do that," Gwen added while placing her hand on Amber's shoulder. At that moment, the young woman started releasing the corrosive gas. She moved it toward the guards, who didn't immediately notice the substance as it was semi-transparent and accumulated slowly around them.
However, they started itching. Initially, it wasn't that much, but it soon increased in intensity.
Then one of the guards spotted something out of the corner of his eye. He spun around, his hand reaching for his weapon. Erik sprang into action, reaching the man in a couple of seconds and plunging his Flyssa into the man's neck. Everything happened in a hairbreadth.
[HOSTILE INDIVIDUAL KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]
[0%...1%....5%...30%...70%...100%]
[MANA SUCCESSFULLY ABSORBED, STARTING CONVERTING PROCEDURE.]
[3...2...1...0]
[MANA SUCCESSFULLY CONVERTED INTO EXPERIENCE. 900 EXPERIENCE POINTS AWARDED TO THE HOST.]
The other guards reacted quickly, drawing their weapons and charging angrily at Erik, swinging them wildly toward him. However, Benedict, Aaron, Floyd, and Gwen leaped forward with their weapons in hand while Martha protected Amber and attacked from a distance as she produced the fog that shielded them from unwanted sight.
The back alley was soon filled with chaos and violence; one of the guards was dead, but the other three were alive and kicking.
Erik parried a blow from the first guard and countered with a swift strike. The guard staggered back but quickly regained his footing and lunged forward again.
Gwen summoned her mana armor, its shimmering blue energy deflecting the second guard's sword. She focused her energy and sent a fast punch towards him, but the man managed to dodge at the last moment, but Floyd prevented him from attacking thanks to his power.
Aaron conjured up a ball of corrosive slime and hurled it at the third guard who was currently fighting Benedict; the guard deflected it with his sword, throwing it to the ground. He lunged forward, his blade whistling through the air toward his opponent.
Erik blocked the first guard's sword attack again. He gritted his teeth and swung his sword again, this time managing to land a glancing blow.
Gwen and Floyd worked together, their attacks complementing each other. Gwen launched a flurry of attacks, each causing the guard to play defensive, but it was clear he was physically stronger than them; the only thing that kept the two alive was their superior fighting techniques and skills.
Aaron's corrosive slime burned through the guards' clothing, making them more vulnerable to their attacks and burning their feet, which at least gave them some advantage that evened the field.
However, it was clear that this wasn't going to be an easy fight without Amber and Martha.
The fight continued, with each of the students' teams facing off against their respective opponents. Erik charged forward, his movements graceful and precise.
The first guard swung his sword at Erik, but he parried the blow with ease despite feeling the weight of the move. The awakener had to reinforce his bones to sustain the blow. The awakener then swung his sword in a wide arc, but the guard avoided the blow.
<They are weaker than I assumed, but the guards are still at least a rank higher than me,> Erik thought. He had the idea that the Mambas employed stronger people, at least over the MI rank, but luckily, he was wrong as the guy he was fighting was at most two ranks higher only.
"We must contact the others!" One of the guards shouted.
<Shit…>
As Amber and Martha heard those words, Erik's girlfriend immediately stopped producing the fog, and they joined the fray. Martha, charged at Benedict's opponent while Amber tried to help Erik.
"No, I can manage him; go help, Gwen!" Erik shouted, and Amber did as instructed.
"Are you sure you can be so arrogant, young man?" The guard asked as he swung his weapon again at the Red Palace student.
At that moment, Amber joined the fray, and with her fast, precise, and skillful movements, she, Floyd, and Gwen started winning against the guard, who, despite being stronger than them, was having problems with their top-notch skills, number advantage, and nasty powers.
He attacked Gwen several times, but her armor shielded her from harm; at the same time, he was burned by Amber's fog, which also shielded them from his sight.
Meanwhile, the other guard was facing Martha, Aaron, and Benedict. Thanks to their powers, they were not having particular problems, especially considering that Aaron and Martha had restraining powers.
The fight continued, and thanks to the student's numerical advantage, the guards began to falter after what seemed like an eternity. Amber's and Gwen's target fell to the ground, unconscious, as Erik's girlfriend managed to land a devastating blow on his head.
Benedict's weapon pierced the other, and he fell to the ground, losing copious amounts of blood. The third guard continued to fight against Erik, and the bout appeared to be at a stalemate.
To be honest, Erik had to use multiple powers to avoid being wounded, and his mana reserves took a heavy toll. It wasn't easy to fight against someone with several ranks over him. He was lucky that he was stronger than he should have been, thanks to the System. However, it was imperative for him to kill this guy as he sensed Erik had been using multiple powers due to the mana shifts.
At that moment, the others rushed toward the guard, who could do nothing to defend himself against these many opponents, despite them being weaker.
Erik seized the opportunity that moment of distraction gave him and lunged forward, his sword plunging into the guard's chest. The man let out a choked gasp and crumpled to the ground.
The students stood panting, their energy spent. This was a fight that any other person would have lost. It was all thanks to them being elite and being able to fight against people with higher ranks than theirs that they managed to survive that encounter.
[MULTIPLE HOSTILE INDIVIDUALS KILLED: MANA ABSORBING PROCESS STARTING.]
[0%...1%....5%...30%...70%...100%]
[MANA SUCCESSFULLY ABSORBED, STARTING CONVERTING PROCEDURE.]
[3...2...1...0]
[MANA SUCCESSFULLY CONVERTED INTO EXPERIENCE. 2700 EXPERIENCE POINTS AWARDED TO THE HOST.]
[LEVEL UP.]
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