Tavish and Woods, meanwhile, were continuing firing at the charging elves, while taking cover behind a crate to avoid the incoming magical attacks. Price was with them, cradling the unconscious little girl in his arms with a tense look in his face.
"You know everyone within miles must've heard those shots," Tavish remarked as his eyes scanned the battlefield.
Price nodded with concern in his face. "Which means more of them probably heard it too. If they show up, we'll be in even deeper trouble."
Meanwhile, Woods, who is crouching beside them, made a quick decision and reached into his Spatial Ring before pulling out a grenade launcher.
"Grenade!"
In an instant, grenades flew through the air, landing amidst the elves and detonating with a series of thunderous blasts. The explosions lit up the night, bathing the area in brief flashes of light and sound. Dozens of elves were killed or wounded as the shockwaves tore through their ranks.
Woods then aimed at the cat demihuman and launched a grenade that exploded with violent force. But Judis reacted with incredible agility, leaping high into the air like a cat and avoiding the blast just in time.
Seeing his chance, Belinski sprang into action by leaping onto a nearby crate and launched himself into the air, colliding with Judis mid-flight.
Bam!
With a bone-breaking crack, his knee smashed into Judis' face, and before the demihuman could recover, Belinski grabbed the back of his head and threw him back to the ground as he crashed down violently, while Belinski landed safely on his feet with a superhero landing.
"Well, I'll be damned! So this is what being a superhero feels like," Belinski muttered, momentarily awestruck by his own strength.
Suddenly, one of the elves spotted Belinski out in the open and cast a lightning shock spell, which hit Belinski squarely and stunned him in place.
"What the—?!" Belinski gasped, feeling his body paralyzed by the electrical surge.
Judis, seeing the opportunity, got to his feet, and a wicked grin spread across his face as he cracked his knuckles.
"Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this," he growled.
With a swift flurry of punches and slashes, Judis unleashed a brutal assault on the immobilized Belinski. His claws began to crackle with electricity, and with a gleeful snarl, Judis stabbed them into Belinski's stomach and electrocuted him as the claws dug deeper into his flesh.
Crackle! Tsssss!
"Ahhhh!" Belinski screamed in agony, feeling his body convulsing as the electricity coursed through him.
"Don't worry, human," Judis sneered, "Cats have nine lives. I'll let you borrow one of mine. Losing one won't be a problem!"
Judis laughed maniacally, continuing to shock Belinski, who struggled to break free from the pain.
"Hey!" a voice suddenly shouted.
Bam!
Judis turned just in time to catch a shovel to the face from Tavish, and the impact sent the demihuman stumbling back, knocked out.
"You okay, comrade?" Tavish asked as he helped Belinski to his feet. Belinski nodded, feeling his body still buzzing from the electric shock.
"God, that amount of volts should've killed me," Belinski muttered, staring at the Gauntlet on his arm, the very thing that had saved his life more times than he could count.
"Doesn't matter now. We need to move," Tavish said, scanning the area. His eyes widened as he spotted an elf sprinting toward Woods with alarming speed.
Without hesitation, Tavish raised his revolver and squeezed the trigger. The shot rang out, hitting the elf square in the left leg, disrupting his momentum as he crashed into a nearby wall with a loud thud.
"Nice shot, man!" Belinski shouted with a grin.
Meanwhile, Judis, having recovered, stood up and rubbed his head before glaring at the two humans. His eyes flashed with rage as he prepared to strike them from behind with his claws raised for a fatal attack. But Belinski reacted in time, spinning around to grab Judis by the arms and delivering a brutal headbutt that staggered the demihuman.
As he dealt with the cat, Belinski caught sight of the tall elf with dual swords preparing to deliver a killing blow to Polities. Thinking fast, he grabbed Judis and, with a powerful throw, hurled him toward the elf, and the two collided mid-air, crashing into the ground in a heap.
"Everyone, we need to move, NOW!" Price shouted to his squad. He pulled the pin on a grenade and tossed it into the open, a thick cloud of smoke erupting from the device and rapidly engulfing the area.
Woods, ignoring his own injuries, hoisted the wounded Polities over his shoulder. With no time to spare, the squad made a quick escape and disappeared into the cover of the smoke.
As the dust finally settled and the elves regained their vision, they found nothing but an empty battlefield. Den'nis' right eye twitched in anger as he surveyed the scene. He turned to Judis with a furious expression
"WHY CAN'T YOU KILL A BUNCH OF HUMANS, YOU STUPID CAT?!"
"WELL EXCUSE ME? IT'S NOT LIKE THEY DIDN'T HAVE OUR SHIT AND USE IT AGAINST US! IF YOU HADN'T BEEN SO OVERCONFIDENT, WE COULD'VE GRABBED THAT DAMN GIRL AND BEEN PAID BY NOW! YOUR DAMN PLAN ISN'T WORKING!!!"
The two hurled insults at each other and exchanged more heated words, their frustrations boiling over as they realized their failure to secure their target.
Now, the humans had escaped, and the girl, along with their reward, was slipping further from their grasp.
—————————————————
The group of humans and one elf reached into the empty alleyway, gasping for breath after narrowly escaping the brutal battle.
Woods, still cradling the unconscious little girl in his arms, leaned against the wall with sweat pouring down his face.
Price scanned the deserted street with tension in his eyes. "We can't stay here long. They'll track us soon enough."
Tavish wiped the blood from his cheek and grimaced. "Aye, but where do we go? Every path's a bloody deathtrap. We can't run far without them hemming us in before we've even caught our breath."
Belinski nodded grimly, "Riley's waiting for us at the mansion, but it's too far. No way we'll never make it, not with those superhuman freaks on our tail."
Price rubbed his temples, thinking fast. "We don't have a choice. We've got to reach Riley. He's the only one with a plan to get us out of this damned city. We have to try. We move fast, stick to the shadows—"
Woods interrupted sharply "Stick to the shadows? With this lot? We've got an unconscious girl, an injured elf, and we're all beat to hell," He glanced down the street nervously. "We're as good as caught if we try that."
Polites, meanwhile, had been silent up until now, deep in thought as his eyes scanned their surroundings until he suddenly spoke up.
"I have something in mind."
Price turned to him, with one eyebrow raised. "Something in mind? What do you mean?"
Polites stepped forward and raised a hand as if to quiet the group.
"I stored something in my [Dimensional Storage] a while back. It could help us get to the mansion quickly."
Belinski squinted his eyes at him, skeptical. "Dimensional Storage? What did you stash? More arrows or some magic trinket?"
Polites didn't answer immediately, instead stepping into the center of the street. He closed his eyes, muttering something under his breath, and then raised his hand toward the open space in front of them.
Then, a small glow of mana surrounded his hand, and moments later, the air shimmered and bent, distorting the space around it.
The others watched in tense silence as the distortion grew, taking shape into something large and solid, as its outline materialized from thin air.
Belinski's eyes widened as the shimmering faded, revealing an old battered military truck materialized with a rumble, resting solidly on the cobbled street.
The humans stared in stunned silence.
Tavish was the first to break it. "What the bloody hell...?"
Woods blinked as his eyes widened. "You... you 'stole' a military truck?"
Polites gave a casual shrug, as if it was no big deal. "I may have borrowed it without permission. I liked the look of it."
Price gaped at the elf for a moment, then burst out laughing. "You're something else, Polites." He clapped the elf on the back with a wide grin. "Alright, let's move. This might just be crazy enough to work."
Belinski rubbed the back of his neck, glancing at the truck. "You elves and your magic tricks… Fine, let's get out of here before they find us."
With that, the group hurried into the truck, Woods carefully settling the unconscious girl in the front while Price slid into the driver's seat and revved the engine.
"Man, I really fucking hate this world," Tavish muttered as he glanced back at the elf and the little girl.
The truck roared to life, and without wasting another moment, they sped off into the night. But unbeknownst to them, someone was watching from above.
High on a rooftop, an elf with a devilish grin observed the truck as it disappeared down the street.
[30 Level 3 to Level 4 men, taken out by a small group of humans and one elf... and even a Level 6 and Level 9?] came a voice from a Communication Magic device held by the elf.
"Indeed, sir Lance," the observer replied. "Right now, they're heading east, down the main street."
The voice on the other end responded sharply. [Capture them. And make sure to retrieve my property, AND the girl.]
"Understood, boss."
The call ended abruptly.
"Yo, Alvin," a voice called from behind.
Alvin turned to see a young dark elf with a mohawk leaping gracefully down beside him.
"What is it, Bolt?" Alvin asked.
"I've got eyes on them. They're not far. Already informed the boss and the others," Bolt said with an excitement voice.
Alvin nodded. "Good. Let's wait for them."
"What did the boss say?" Bolt asked.
"They still have the goods," Alvin replied.
Bolt's expression darkened. "Great. If we can't retrieve them, we're not gonna get paid."
"Then stop whining," Alvin said as he rose to his feet. "Let's go."
With that, the two elves set off into the shadows and silently moved toward their targets.