The four didn't want to leave too abruptly, so after passing through several workshops, they paused for a moment in the Cave where the Charge were resting.
Due to Half-Face's reckless advance, the Charge suffered heavy casualties, and the Cave was filled with wounded men lying or sitting. Among them, Unas spotted Moreby Ironmountain and quietly instructed Gelasi to carry him to the Dwarf.
"Tieshan, how are your injuries?"
"It's nothing serious," the Dwarf gently patted his bandaged head. "But are you alright, Boss Unas? You still need someone to carry you."
"I have some potent healing potions in my warehouse. Want to come with me to get them?" Unas winked at him.
Tieshan immediately realized there was more to it than met the eye and tentatively asked, "What kind of miracle drug?"
"You'll regret it if you don't come; it's a cure-all."
Tieshan hesitated for a moment, but quickly got up. "There's no such medicine in the world. I want to see it for myself."
"Humans are dishonest! They don't tell Isaac about the good stuff!" A huge shadow loomed over as the Ogre vice-captain stepped forward from behind.
The Ogre's massive body approached without them noticing, and Unas, seemingly wanting Isaac to hear, turned around. "What? Isaac, come with us too. I'll take care of your leg injury."
Having previously been healed by the enhanced Divine Storm, the Ogre had no doubts and exclaimed happily, "Isaac's leg is in terrible pain, now he's saved!"
With the team expanding to six, and the Half-Face, loyal Ogre leading the way, they were no longer afraid of arousing suspicion and quickly left the Arsenal area.
Seeing that there were no more guards Half-Face, Unas sent Hart to report to the Granary occupied by Lincoln, while he himself jumped off the Orcs's back to speed up the march.
Isaac asked, bewildered, "Human Us, how come you're suddenly alright?"
Unas smiled, not answering immediately, but instead speeding up to run ahead of the Ogre. "Come and chase me. If you catch me, I'll tell you."
He led the group at full speed and soon arrived at the Central District. Several female Orcs suddenly appeared, startling the others. Unas went up to them and whispered a few words. The female Orcs immediately led them to the hot spring pool.
He pulled out the crystal and channeled energy into it, and Erigor's image immediately appeared. "We've received intelligence that the slave owners are planning to release people down there. We're ready; we'll act as soon as the well door opens."
"Got it, good luck."
"Good luck."
After a brief communication interruption, Unas nodded to the female Orcs, signaling them to return immediately and report the news. Isaac then emerged from the tunnel, collapsing to the ground and panting, shouting, "Isaac thought you all didn't need rest! This competition is unfair! Isaac's leg is injured!"
The Ogre's usefulness was now almost zero, but Unas didn't intend to kill him to silence him. That's the advantage of being a fool; it makes people feel no threat and thus allows them to survive.
"Shut up and stay there. If you're lucky, you might escape too."
"Escape? Escape to where?"
"Just shut up and watch."
Soon after, thunderous footsteps echoed from all the passageways, and the Tigerfang Clan and half of Lincoln's forces, who had been lying in ambush nearby, immediately blocked all the passageways leading to the Central District.
Keira quickly appeared, leaving most of her men in the passageway and only taking three female Orcs with her. This was to prevent the mages above from using magic to detect the unusually large number of people gathered at the hot spring.
"Have my men been notified? I won't take action until I see them," Unas asked.
Keira sneered, "They're on their way. We Orcs keep our word. Hmph, cunning and suspicious humans."
At that moment, a muffled thud sounded overhead, indicating that the well door was opening. The first slave was quickly thrown in; he was a Dark Iron Dwarves who seemed unable to swim, splashing around and screaming for help.
Unas sent Tieshan into the water to pull the man ashore and leave him to dredge up. After that, slaves fell one after another from the hole in the ceiling, forcing the female Orcs to call in some of her minions to rescue them.
During this process, Luther Frank and his group finally appeared. According to their report, all the humans were waiting in the tunnel, and weapons and food had been distributed. According to the previously agreed order, they would escape after the Tiger Fang Clan, who was ranked first.
Unas entrusted Tieshan and Isaac to Luther's care. The Dwarf now realized he was involved in a large-scale escape operation. Whether it was a blessing or a curse was still unclear, but he was grateful to Unas for taking him along.
Isaac remained sitting in the corner, completely bewildered, unaware of what had happened. He followed Unas's instructions and dared not utter a single word.
After rescuing a dozen or so slaves ashore, Lincoln finally arrived. The sight of Torbjorn following behind him surprised Unas, but he had no time to concern himself with the Two-Headed Ogre's clandestine schemes.
"We were a little late because we took care of eliminating a few groups of Orcs monitoring the Granary. We apologize for being late," Lincoln said, his legs stained with blood that reeked of a strong, metallic stench. "Blacktooth and Half-Face will find out about this sooner or later. Let's get started."
Normally, thirty to fifty slaves would be dropped down at a time, but now almost half have already been sent down; we need to hurry.
Unas already had a sturdy rope tied around his waist. Gelasi, Raymond, and the returning Hart immediately lined up behind him to grab the rope, followed by Keira and three female Orcs. At the end were two slender Ogres, making a total of ten people lined up in a row.
Lincoln then said, "Including Boss Torbjorn and his bodyguards, that makes twelve people."
The Ogre's Levitate can be cast on ten people at once. Unas doesn't need the Levitate to fly, and he can even carry a lighter person with him. So, although it was different from what was previously agreed upon, he did not raise any objections.
Torbjorn, accompanied by his bodyguards, ran to the front of the line, seemingly trying to cut in. "Knight Unas," he said, "According to my agreement with Chief Lincoln, I should stand behind you."
"Boss Torbjorn, won't you reconsider? Going up first doesn't guarantee a survival. It'll be safer to go up after we've established a foothold." Unas didn't want unfamiliar guys sticking close to him.
"With Lincoln in charge, that's enough. I can't wait to go up there and teach those bastards who abandoned me a lesson!" Torbjorn brandished his Warhammer and steel shield, expressing his determination.
Just then, a scream rang out from above, and another slave fell from the hole, reminding everyone that time was running out. Unas immediately decided not to linger and ordered the trio behind him to step back, giving Torbjorn and his bodyguards some space.
Seeing that the line was in place, Lincoln raised his hands and quickly chanted a spell. Ten white mist-like lights floated towards the group. Except for Unas and Keira, the other ten people felt as if they had lost their weight.
The female Orcs was the smallest, Unas could easily carry her. Lincoln shouted, "As long as you swing your body dramatically or stomp your feet forcefully, the Levitate will fail. Good luck!"
Unas quickly scanned the entire room. Luther, Tieshan, and the others were looking at him nervously, Isaac was still completely bewildered, while Lincoln smiled confidently, as if he had everything under control.
Unas closed his eyes and took a deep breath, recalling the feeling of sliding down. The end of the passage was perpendicular to the beginning, while the longest middle section had a slight incline, so after making two small turns, the well door would be right in front of him.
"Lincoln, I'm counting on you now!" Unas suddenly unfurled his golden Light Wings. "Take off!"
With a whoosh, the eleven people behind him were pulled straight up, like a human rocket shooting into the sky, and in the blink of an eye they disappeared into the hole in the ceiling.
Easily rounding the first corner and flying into the ramp, Unas flapped its wings with all its might, achieving such a high speed that the Ogre at the end of the rope wouldn't be dragged against the stone wall.
The nearly 100-meter-long ramp vanished in an instant. A faint light shone from above, and a crescent-shaped gap appeared overhead. Suddenly, the gap went dark, and another slave was shoved into the passage, plummeting straight down towards Unas's head.
Unas flew straight up without slowing down, raised his hands to catch the slave, and placed the slave on his head to continue upwards. The slave was also stunned by the sudden change and did not struggle or move for a moment.
Three meters, two meters, one meter—the slightly raised well door was right in front of him. Unas threw it with all his might, sending the slave in his hand through the gap, and he himself rushed out as well!
Before him was a row of backs of heads. The Dwarf guards had all turned to look at the slaves he had thrown out. It was a golden opportunity. Unas pulled out a giant blade and slashed at the back of the Dwarves ' necks with all his might. Five bloody heads flew into the air.
"Divine Storm!" he blurted out the skill name involuntarily, and the golden energy storm immediately swept away the guards who were tightly surrounding the well.
Unas drew his twin Silver Hammers, unleashing a storm of blows upon the defenseless enemies. The heads of seven or eight unfortunate fellows were smashed, and the area within a three-meter radius of the well was instantly cleared.
His comrades filed out from behind him, and their first action was to cancel their Levitate. Only the last two Ogres couldn't squeeze out, so they could only hang temporarily at the well's edge. If they still couldn't get out after their Levitate expired, they would have to cut the ropes and fall down again.
"Enemy attack!" Only then did the enemy's screams ring out.
With a loud bang, the large iron gate leading to the Shaft Gate Hall was slammed shut, locking seventy or eighty guards, nine slaves who hadn't been thrown down yet, and twelve (to be precise, ten) Black Furnace escapees in the same space.
Unas killed more than a dozen guards as soon as he appeared, shocking the entire scene and making the enemy somewhat fearful. They were at a stalemate and dared not attack for a while. Hart and Raymond rushed straight for the noose next to the well gate.
According to the plan, this is the first step: to fully open the well door and release the hoisting cable. The second step, of course, is to lower the hoisting Steel Cable so that the people inside the Black Furnace can use it to quickly climb up.
However, the two young men were not strong enough. They tried their best, but the well door wouldn't budge. Gelasi and Torbjorn's bodyguards immediately went to help. The four of them worked together, and the winch slowly started to turn, driving the axle to slowly pull up the well door.
The sound of bowstrings rang out in rapid succession, and the twenty-odd archers guarding the rear finally launched a counterattack. Unas quickly drew his giant shield and retreated to the noose. The men turning the noose had no choice but to stop and raise their shields to form a turtle shell with him, protecting the others who had no armor.
After several volleys of arrows, only one female Orcs was pierced in the arm by an arrow that shot through a gap in her shield, losing most of her fighting ability.
But the enemy's new offensive was about to begin, and the mages on guard finally prepared their spells, with six or seven Shadow Bolt coming from all directions.
Unas instantly activated the White Obsidian that had been hanging around his neck, creating a bowl-shaped Holy Light Barrier that enveloped everyone. This White Obsidian was the token of the Argent Dawn Warden, which he had carefully kept in his Spatial Bag, so it had not been taken away. The Holy Light Barrier was the bane of all negative spells, and all the Shadow Bolts were destroyed by the barrier.
Keira and the female Orcs quickly launched their counterattack, scattering projectiles at the exposed Dark Iron Mages. Two of them, who didn't even know how to use mana shields, had their throats pierced on the spot, causing the other mages to fall to the ground in fright.
Dark Iron Dwarves are the Dwarves who love studying magic the most and have great respect for mages. Therefore, there are many mages in the tribe. However, those who have made it here to serve as guards are the lowest-ranking spellcasters. They usually only know a few of the simplest spells, which shows how long it takes them to prepare even Shadow Bolt.
Ranged attacks were ineffective, leaving only close combat. The Dwarf guards mustered their courage once more and charged forward.
The cooldown of Divine Storm had long passed, Unas immediately unleashed the skill. The same scenario played out, and the Dwarves who were swept away were no match for it.
The enemies behind either rushed up to trample their comrades or could only watch as their fallen comrades had their heads smashed by Warhammers and their throats pierced by daggers. The terrifying golden storm seemed endless, swirling around the seemingly weak human every ten seconds, sweeping away any guards who dared to approach.
By this time, the well door was already half open, and the two Ogres finally crawled out before the Levitate wore off. This was the last straw that broke the camel's back. The guards abandoned more than a dozen corpses and retreated again. In a short time, more than a third of them had been killed, and they no longer had the confidence to fight.
Unas and his group did not pursue, focusing solely on protecting the noose. The addition of the two Ogres immediately doubled the speed at which the well door opened, and it looked as if the well door was about to be fully opened.
A guard leader shouted, "Give up! You can't escape no matter what. Even if you kill all the guards here, you'll still have to break down that iron gate. Behind that gate are even more guards and even more iron gates. Even if you release everyone from the Black Furnace, the King's Ironfury Legion is still no match for you. We guards are just trying to make a living. If you obediently go back, we'll pretend nothing happened today. Otherwise, you'll face a fate worse than death!"
No one paid him any attention. With a creak, the heavy well door was finally fully opened and stood firmly on the ground, no longer needing the tension of the slings to hold it up.
Exhausted, the men didn't have time to rest. They quickly took down the sling and placed it in the passage, then frantically loosened the line so that the Steel Cable could dangle down to the hot spring pool, just like hoisting a minecart on a trading day.
The first phase of the mission is complete. Now all they need to do is guard the well entrance and wait for the people below to climb up. The fierce battle they had predicted didn't happen. These guards were surprisingly cowardly. Unas stepped forward and arrogantly shouted, "Hey! Are you surrendering or waiting to die?"