Chapter 52: Safety in Numbers (Patreon)

Martin and his group were closing in. The safe zone boundary was too far away to get to, and Damian was still fighting with Carina. Anders was out of the fight, but he seemed to be watching me with a smug sense of pleasure at what looked like my inevitable end. My sword arm had been hit with a spell that’s paralyzed it, causing it to lock in place. It cut my fighting ability in half, leaving me with only my Viper Fang kunai in my other hand.

Of Martin’s group, it looked like seven had survived the traps and almost all of them were ranged spellcasters or archers. It didn’t look good, but at least Hugo had made it safely back to town.

I readied my knife and waited for them to draw closer. There wasn’t enough time to send Hugo a message before I began what could very well be my final fight. I regretted not saying more to him.

The vampire bat, at Martin’s mental command, flew ahead and went for me first. I was surprised he would show such a display in front of his followers, but then again, a lot of them were angry and injured. They’d likely lost friends in one of Damian’s traps, and some were no doubt close to Anders and were eager to save him.

It didn’t matter now.

I’d use Savage Rupture on the bat to heal myself and then use it as a meat shield to get closer to the rest of the group. Hopefully by then, the blood will undo whatever paralysis my other arm was stuck in. Then I’d use the ranged attacker’s numbers, who were tightly grouped up against themselves. The odds of success were very slim, especially considering Martin was level 20, but I saw no other option.

As the bat got closer, I moved to strike when a gunshot rang out. I froze. At first, I inwardly panicked, thinking that Martin had shot Damian with his pistol, or worse, Hugo. But the roaring bang of exploding gunpowder had come from behind me. I looked and saw that the vampire bat now had a fist shaped hole in its chest before it collapsed.

Martin and his group looked equally surprised until more arrows and bullets flew at them from behind me.

“Time for a reckoning, motherfuckers!” yelled Hugo.

I looked and saw twelve residents behind the boundary wall, shooting guns, firing arrows, and hurling magic. Martin’s own spellcasters constructed shields to block the attacks, but it kept them busy from doing anything else. Earnest was leading the other group with some kind of repeating rifle that would have looked more at home in a space western. Rebecca was there too, casting magic with her wand while Sebastian and Elijah stood nearby with their melee weapons out, looking concerned. Hemi held a book in his hand and pointed at me and Damian.

Suddenly, a translucent yellow bubble appeared around both of us.

“Go now!” shouted Earnest.

He didn’t need to tell us twice. We dashed for the boundary wall and hopped over it to safety. In the heat of the moment, some of Martin’s crew forgot about the rules and tried to fire back at us before Martin could stop them.

[Proximity Warning!]

[This is a safe zone. Violence is prohibited. This is strike one for the offender.]

[This is a safe zone. Violence is prohibited. This is strike two for the offender.]

A few more of those messages came up, but Martin managed to get his people under control before any of them reached strike three and ended up dead for breaking the System’s rules.

I turned to the group that had saved me. There were several archers and spellcasters with Earnest that I didn’t recognize, but I was grateful for all of their help.

“Thank you,” I told all of them.

“Don’t thank me,” said Earnest. “Thank Hugo for coming to get us.”

He chose that moment to fly down and land on my shoulder. I don’t know how the crow managed it, but hearing that praise made him put on an ‘aw shucks’ look. I thanked Hugo and was impressed that he’d managed to get so much help so quickly.

“Look, they’re still coming!” said Hemi.

He pointed, and we saw Carina caring for Anders and helping him drink a health potion, while Martin and the rest of his group warily advanced towards the boundary. I think they expected our group to keep fighting them or try to push them back into the woods, but both would’ve been a mistake.

I turned to address Earnest and his group.

“Even we keep attacking, I think they can block them long enough to enter the safe zone. And the last thing we need is another stand off in town,” I said. “Martin has a lot more followers than just what he has here, and we can’t afford to get surrounded. You remember what happened to Harold, the man he hanged? If you can trap someone and move slowly enough, then the safe zone won’t just not protect you, it will actively work against you.”

“So what do you suggest?” asked Rebecca.

“We make a run for the silver elevator and go up to one of the residential floors,” said Earnest. “Martin is a cardholder, but he isn’t letting any of his group up there. He claims it makes people soft and privileged, so he’s chosen to forego using it. If we get to the elevator, then he won’t risk following us up in front of them and if he chooses to come up later, then the numbers will be on our side.”

Members of Earnest’s group all nodded in agreement. Even Sebastian, who had been so obstinate before, liked the sound of the plan. Though some of them probably just missed the softer beds and hot showers, it was the concept of a true place of safety that I think appealed to them the most. There was no rent collection or curfew on the residential floors. No monsters brutally eviscerating those less fortunate at night, right outside their windows. It was also one of the few pieces of pre-integration Earth left. Maybe even the last piece of home and normalcy. So it wasn’t surprising that people hungered for it. No, the surprising part was that more people, like Martin’s group, weren’t fighting for it.

A stream of people slowly appeared, coming out of the church and the town with weapons drawn. Angry looks were written on their faces as they approached us slowly. They were being cautious, but they were unmistakably followers of Martin. I counted more than thirty before I gave up.

“He’s using party chat to coordinate with his followers,” I said. “We have to get going before they manage to block us.”

[Damian Sutter has left the party]

“Sorry. I got my own thing to take care of,” said Damian. “Good luck though,” he added before activating his shadow ability.

Damian vanished and it just then occurred to me that he could have done that at any point earlier. The moment Martin had revealed the trap he’d set, Damian could have just walked away. The only reason he stayed with me to guide me through the traps and fought Carina was to help me stay alive.

“Good luck to you as well,” I said, hoping he heard me.

We set off as a group towards what people had been calling main street. It was the widest road and a straight shot to the town square where the public silver elevator was. Some residents who hadn’t picked a side and were staying out of the conflict, watched from the sidelines. Some of Martin’s followers were also already on the street, but didn’t know what to make of us as we came tearing down the road. A few brave members stepped in front of some of us with their arms out to try and block us. But many in the group were dex builds that smoothly maneuvered around them.

It was Rebecca and Hemi that had the hardest time keeping up, as neither had much in the way of dexterity or constitution. They huffed and puffed, with Sebastian and Elijah flanking them. Whether it was a decision made in party chat or a spur of the moment instinct, a pair of archers chose to slow their pace and remain at the back. They would distract any lingering followers of Martin from our less nimble compatriots.

Unfortunately, Martin had less fear of reprisal once he’d crossed the boundary and was racing towards us on his giant goblin dog. It would catch up to us soon.

“Quickly!” I yelled. “We have to hurry!”

As soon as I’d said it, Earnest and the group stopped. I almost cursed at them before I saw what they were looking at. A ring of Martin’s followers had joined hands around the silver elevator door.

“Invite me to the party,” I said to Earnest.

[Earnest Johnson has invited you to the party. Y/N?]

I accepted and a string of names, Classes, and levels appeared that didn’t matter to me right now. I ignored them and instead went into party chat because I couldn’t afford for what I was about to say to be overheard. I then sent the following message to everyone.

[Lucas Hudson: They’re blocking the public silver elevator and there isn’t enough time to try and slowly shift them. Most of the other elevators are too far away to get to, and Martin will be here any minute. There’s an elevator in the clock tower that I have access to. I propose we head there.]

[Earnest Johnson: Agreed.]

There was no time for further debate.

I sprinted to the front of the group and we ran straight towards the group guarding the silver elevator. They must have thought us mad, and a few of them even closed their eyes. At the last second, we diverged, running around them, and continuing on to the clock tower.

I took the key out of my inventory and hurried to open the door. Martin’s goblin dog started barking in frustration as I threw the door open and ushered people inside. He was very close now and once everyone was safely secured within, I followed and got immense satisfaction from slamming the door right in his face.

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