(Extra chapter for our brother, "Can't Get Up and Loves to Nap," 4/5)
The little players were already old hands at rescuing people.
Though ghouls and wraiths were everywhere, and the occasional bizarre skeleton warrior showed up too, the all–Black Iron assault squad didn't care about any of that.
Niu Niu, Bang, and Orchid formed a shield wall up front, letting everyone behind them attack without worry. And after completing the Black Iron Trial and advancing to their new classes, the psychics—who hadn't made much of an impression before—were finally starting to show what they could do. Leading Pigeon used Psychic Bind to slow a wide area, while the two psychics from the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry conjured walls of fire and hurled down bolts of psychic lightning.
Burning oil was tossed out again and again, then set alight, making the players look as though they were marching through a sea of flames.
Even when an elite ghoul occasionally sprang out, the marksmen picked it off with increasingly deadly shots. Everyone's fighting styles were clearly beginning to take shape, and they worked together with easy flair.
Of course, considering they were all in the players' "T1" tier, that level of skill wasn't surprising.
But the fun of "farming mobs" didn't last long. When they reached the area where the prisoners were being held, Good Pigeon let out a startled cry:
"Holy shit! This is awful!"
The other players fell silent.
Because it really was awful.
The settlement sat beside an underground river in a cavern. It could hardly be called a settlement at all: a mass of shacks piled together, crammed with men and women who stared blankly ahead. Their clothes were ragged, and their bodies were covered in whip marks.
Some force seemed to have dulled their minds. Even