Around midnight, Luke and the others had dealt with most of the Salamanders, so it was time to approach the enemy base. However, he told them to buy some supplies before the attack. Aside from some tier-three potions that restored eighty mana points, Luke also bought a skill book. It was called Stone Cannon and could fire a projectile the size of a fist. Luke tried to cast the spell against his hand to see if he could reuse it, but the projectile fell apart after a few seconds. It was different from Earth Wall.
In any case, Stone Cannon cost five MP, the same amount as Spark Ball. However, it was a lot more silent, so Luke could use it to silently snipe the enemies when he is running low on needles and nails.
Regardless, they began to approach the enemy base, and Luke frowned because, in several kilometers, they didn't find a single enemy. The salamanders were the first and final line of defense… something was off about that situation.
"Is this a trap?" Luke asked. "Or did the overlord is that reckless?"
"I am not sure… would anyone be able to lay traps so fast for us?" Rina asked. "At the best, the overlord might have some trick to not let us escape his base in case we decide to escape."
"Or, he is busy passing his genes to the elves he captured," Shalia said.
"Shalia… that was uncalled for," Luke said. "You might not have any ill intentions by saying that, but hearing such a thing right now is…"
"I will be more careful…" Shalia said.
"It is fine… we have some time," Rina said. "Our species doesn't reproduce very often and there is also the matter of compatibility between the species."
It was weird to see Rina so calm with that topic… but Luke could tell that she just wanted to look calm to make her followers follow her example.
After ten more minutes, the group arrived in the area where the base was and confirmed… that the building was some kind of vehicle. The shape was similar to the ice castle, but that one was made of earth, and the walls weren't that tall, and there were no towers around the walls. So, there were no lookouts. That made things easier for Luke's group, but that only looked suspicious…
In the end, Luke didn't hesitate and jumped toward the wall. Those were thirty meters tall, and unlike in New York, there were massive pillars supporting that thing, so Luke easily landed on the top of the wall. Much to Luke's surprise, he didn't find anyone…
"What the hell…" Luke muttered.
Luke gave the sign to the others following him. Although they were weaker than Luke, they buffed their bodies with support magic and managed to jump to the top of the wall.
"I can feel some presence on the East side… they are there, and alone," Rina said.
It was hard to believe, but the enemy left their base and didn't leave a single guard behind. Luke didn't know the reason why, but he sure would take advantage of the situation. He made Rina and the others hurry up, and then they found the prisoners inside some special rooms that drained their mana. Even those from outside that touched the iron bars had their mana sucked. So, they had to destroy the walls with their weapons. Dozens of elves had been captured, Male and females… They also looked pretty beaten down, but Rina healed them a little bit to make them able to stand and escape.
"Take them outside, I will destroy the crystal of this fortress," Luke said.
"I am not going to leave you behind," Rina said and then ordered the elves she brought to help with that while they headed toward the throne room.
That was probably for the best. Luke also had a bad feeling that something troublesome would happen if he were left alone. Even though Shalia was with him, she couldn't use all of her powers like Rina could right at the moment. In any case, they hurried up in order to avoid that bad feeling, and soon they found the red crystal in another very spacious room. However, when they approached, the entire building began to tremble.
"Shit! Just my luck!" Luke said and then dashed to destroy the crystal.
Luke used Stinger, Dash, and Rina to even boost his speed, but in the end, something appeared and blocked his attack. It was a being that resembled the Silver Talons quite a bit. Still, he didn't have the ax that the others have, and his weird carapace metal that covered his body was dark instead of silver-like.
Luke didn't even complete the first quest, and he got another… at least that one didn't cancel the first. In any case, the monster was stopping Luke's sword with a single hand and without even breaking a sweat. He was truly powerful…
"... You dare sneak into my base when I am away, steal my slaves and attempt to destroy the future of my people?" The overlord said. "You will pay for this, your filthy rat."
"Technically, this is our fault for leaving everything unguarded," Luke said and then used Sonic Blade.
The attack exploded against the overlord's hands, but it didn't leave a single scratch. It seemed that the dark metal on that guy's body was way stronger compared to others. Luke tried to put some distance between them, but the overlord didn't let go of his sword. When Luke saw a kick coming, he was forced to abandon his sword for a short while. He jumped to dodge the attack and immediately equipped one of the axes he was carrying.. Without wasting any time, he used Weapon Augmentation.