Grace informed Paytowin what they had found at the top of this keep. They suspected that there was another prisoner up there, most probably Dograr. David asked if Paytowin could free the prisoners down in the basement. Those freed prisoners could serve as a distraction to lure the guards away.
Paytowin told them that he was already in the process of doing that. Most of the prisoners were officials who opposed Boron when he announced his rebellion, hence they were Thelgrun's allies. Several were just level 1 civilians but the rest were combatants. No high-level one, though. The strongest one was level 65 special elite grade.
Paytowin didn't feel comfortable using these prisoners as bait. If he had to do that, he would be with them and try to protect them as best as possible.
With his lockpicking skill, it didn't take him long to free all the prisoners. The locks here were not of high difficulty.
The prisoners numbered twelve. Four were civilians, seven were native combatants, and one was an outlaw. The outlaw was the one who was the level 65 special elite.
Paytowin was a bit hesitant to release the outlaw. He understood the game system treated outlaws similar to monsters. The outlaw also didn't respond with words when Paytowin asked him if he was willing to cooperate with them to get out of this place. The outlaw simply nodded.
Paytowin finally decided to take the risk.
After opening the cell door, Paytowin stepped away and was ready in case the outlaw did anything hostile. The outlaw didn't, but he also didn't cooperate. He simply ran up the stairs. It was obvious he wanted to escape on his own.
Luckily, Paytowin freed the outlaw the last. He told the others to follow the outlaw. Might as well use that outlaw to initiate contact.
Up there, they found the outlaw was fighting against the keep entrance's guard. Paytowin called Brave King and the techno golem charged ahead. It slammed into the guard, which in turn slammed into the door. The door lost half its HP from the impact. It was not a durable structure.
Paytowin used his gun and shot the door. The others who had ranged attacks did the same. The door was soon destroyed. The guard was thrown out by Brave King, his HP was near critical. The outlaw ran out and went directly to the main gate, ignoring everything else.
Paytowin and the others followed after him. The alarm soon sounded. Guards started to gather near the main gate. They rained arrows. Sounds were also heard from the keep. The soldiers who were hanging out on the second floor were no doubt rushing downstairs.
Paytowin took out his companion token and summoned Mihos. He asked the divine champion to block the keep's entrance and prevent any of the soldiers from coming out.
He then activated his Brave Techno Suit. With Brave King, he flew up to the top of the wall to deal with those archers. He asked Clearsky to keep the prisoners safe, especially the four civilians.
*
Up on the keep's tower, Grace and David had gone back down one floor before the top. They hid and expected the guard up there to come running down after hearing the alarm, but he didn't. David didn't hear any footsteps coming down the stairs even after more than a minute passed since the alarm was heard.
"He doesn't take the bait," David said.
"… Looks like we have to brute force our way," Grace said.
"This can be good as well," David said. "This means whatever he is guarding is more valuable than the prisoners in the basement. With the distraction, at least we only have one guard to deal with."
"What is your lockpicking skill?" Grace asked.
"Basic expert," David answered.
"Not so high, but still better than mine. You handle the door then."
"You think it will be locked?"
"Most likely."
"Will you be okay dealing with a level 80 rare elite?" David asked.
"I'll manage," Grace answered.
The two didn't spend a long time discussing. The distraction Paytowin created might not last that long. They needed to break into the guarded room as soon as possible.
Though they decided to brute force their way, they still sneaked back up silently. If they could land an ambush bonus, that would better ease the fight. For that, Grace called Oswald, who used to work as an assassin-for-hire.
Oswald was level 73, which disappointed Grace. He used to have the same level as her. Now he was two levels lower. This assassin must have slacked off after getting his freedom. Grace had no time to chide him at the moment. She would talk to him properly once this was over.
After receiving a brief explanation from Grace about the situation, Oswald activated Hide and vanished from sight.
Grace followed and used her mana sense to keep a distance so she didn't cancel Oswald's invisibility.
The rare elite dwarf up there was looking out the window. He just watched the commotion down there without any intention of joining. His name was Jobreak Goldhoarder. He was tasked by Boron with a more important duty up here than dealing with those prisoners down there.
He suddenly felt a tingling and he hurriedly jumped to the side just as a human in a cloak stabbed from behind.
"Mana sense…?" Oswald uttered after his failed ambush. "No… It's danger sense."
Oswald also had the same skill. It was a passive ability that alerted them of an incoming danger.
"Who are you, human? What are you doing here?!" Jobreak demanded as he brandished two labryses, which were double-headed axes. He then noticed two other people came up the stairs. A human and an elf, both were outworlders.
He no longer wasted his time questioning them. It was clear what their purpose was.
Grace joined Oswald and they engaged Jobreak while David headed to the door.
Grace and Oswald were used to fighting together so they covered one another well. Grace went for frontal assault with her excellent defense while Oswald looked for opportunity from the side. They were both martial artists. Thus, even when Jobreak had a higher level than them, they were not at a disadvantage.
Jobreak couldn't concentrate on fighting the two because he saw David going to the door he was guarding. David started lockpicking the door after finding the door was locked.
Jobreak made an earsplitting cry, which was Berserker's Cry of Rage. At the same time, his body was covered by Berserk's black tattoos. He was not done yet. His body enlarged and his appearance changed. He could also use Beast Form. His form was a crocodile. He now looked like a humanoid croc.
The multiple enhancements made his attributes skyrocket. Grace and Oswald were not ready for the sudden increase of power. Jobreak broke past the two and charged toward David who was still busy lockpicking the door.
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