Noah dashed without utilizing the fullness of his speed. His figure weaved through the formation of trees around him, but he wasn't the only one.
Fourteen others ran around him, their destination the same. Still, there was something different about the group now, or rather a new detail had been added. James now had in his arms an unconscious lady.
Yes, they had succeeded in infiltrating the tower and rescuing the person who had been taken. She had been locked inside a dungeon in the tower. Which brings us to the issue now.
Noah felt in his gut that things weren't right. The rescue had been smooth. Too smooth. The tier 4's patrolling the tower had been easily taken out. They weren't killed, but quickly knocked out and administered sedatives that would put them to sleep for hours.
Noah took light steps even if they resulted in powerful bursts, but not the best that he could do.
James sped up, catching up to him, and Noah could tell that he felt the same way thanks to the frown on his face.
"I don't feel right," James revealed as they continued to run, he momentarily glanced at the lady in his arms. She was beautiful, but that wasn't what he searched for. She was dirty. Too dirty for someone who had stayed that long with the elves and was milked of information.
"I believe they would have at least had the presence of mind to treat her better… after all these years," James explained.
Noah glanced at the blonde-haired lady and nodded. He thought the same too. But even more than that, his instincts tingled but he couldn't grasp anything.
"We should remain careful. The operation truly went better than I expected. Our worries might be baseless, however." Noah comforted the man, even if his soul realm disagreed. He could sense that even Erolia was worried.
James furrowed his brows and nodded, before focusing his gaze on the world before them.
Their destination was on that same hill, five of them had gone to prepare a teleportation point that would take them directly outside of the city.
Although Noah, James, and a few others more experienced worried, some truly felt they had struck luck. Joyous about the ease they experienced. Yet, even they had to acknowledge the aura of worry their comrades exuded.
The group arrived at a certain point on the hill and their eyes fell on a group of five standing around a wide area.
"You arrived on time," Cora had been part of the group and she welcomed Noah and the others.
"You can activate the teleport now," James commanded, still worried. They did just as he said and a magical circle containing other magical circles, with inscriptions unfolded in their eyes as four green mana stones floated above the lines drawn into the very earth, powering the teleport.
A few seconds had to pass before the teleport was considered stable. They all stepped into it and a bright blue light barreled out into the world enveloping their figures after which they disappeared and the magical circles burnt away.
Noah felt the pressure of the teleport trying to weigh on his mind, but his soul realm remained too sturdy for something of that level.
Opening their eyes in a different environment, they each felt their gazes land on the night sky filled with stars. Noah recognized that area.
It was the hill that featured the underground building created by the royals for their knights.
Truly they were outside of the city since its lights remained in the distance.
Still.
Noah frowned as his silver eyes scanned the group and he expanded his mental waves to grab hold of them, after which pillars of bluish-silver ice and several dome-shaped constructs of silver sparks flickered into existence.
The pillars of ice bent over the crackling domes, but a golden streak descended from the starry skies, crashing into those defensive manifestations, only to reduce them to nothingness.
Noah watched this happen, but from the safety of another position. He had moved the entire group by carrying them with his consciousness and sprinting.
The lights from the manifestation of his elements managed to mask his movement.
Nevertheless, the moment he allowed the group come outside of his mental waves as they prepared for whatever evil had befallen them, he felt a powerful gaze land on his shoulders.
"Higher stage… hmm, Its peak," Noah muttered, rather calm. As usual. The same couldn't be said for the others, however.
Noah had brought them to another hill's top allowing them to stare at the sky where the attack had come from.
The sky trembled soon after, and multiple golden objects flickered into existence, swords of golden radiance.
Noah allowed his sparks to shoot out of his body again, he could already sense that destruction would fall upon that area unless something was done.
Another series of dome-shaped constructs made out of his sparks unfolded in the eyes of those stunned experts. Noah added more essence to battle the intensity of the power in the attacks, and only a few layers shattered.
Shock waves barreled out in all directions and massive cracks opened in the hill, but it remained in one piece thanks to Noah's defensive measures.
"You're a surprising one." A profound masculine voice erupted forth from the world around them as Noah dispersed those sparks to gaze at the sky.
His eyes caught sight of a rapidly moving figure which soon came to a stop directly above them. But many meters high.
Noah remained silent whilst he shared a message among those men and women. He shared a general one but told another one only his group.
The general message told them to prepare whatever defenses they had as he could not continue protecting them. A lie.
The non-general one told his group members to prepare to escape.
Tension was quick to spring into existence, but Noah's group trusted in his power, even if his initial words worried them.
"Rats of the royal family. You have fallen right where I wanted you… now die." The expert whose face could not be seen due to his position and angle, announced as hundreds of golden swords manifested around them, and immense pressure landed on that area.
So much so that the hill crumbled beneath their feet, but they assumed flying.
"I see… you were the one he mentioned be wary of… I hoped we were thorough enough. But it seems that's not the case." James' voice rang out, stunning those men and women as he stepped forward.
Noah simply watched that scene with interest. He remained ready to act, but he would watch his old friend's powers since even he could feel his aura begin to bubble up.
"My friends, I will take care of things from here," James announced, pointing his right palm towards the massive golden offensive lighting up the region.
His brown sleeves turned to nothingness when strange deep-purple and blue marks appeared on his arm to radiate a strange light.
A silent invisible force barreled out of James' arm as they all felt a discharge of power even if they couldn't see it.
The invisible offensive had been massive since it directly cleared all those swords, shattering them into motes of golden light that quickly disappeared.
"Oh-oh… another interesting one!" The peak tier-4 expert exclaimed with threatening excitement, then he descended to their level.
But the moment he arrived before them James' figure exploded with an intense menacing aura, and his power Increased.
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