Urgency

"You have to save us! We're being forced to make mana stones!" The female beast kin implored the adventurers once more. Her words carried conviction and a sense of urgency. Jin immediately responded.

"Calm your self. I'll talk to her for now, the rest of you can go ahead."

Without saying anything, Sebastian used his skill. '[Augment] Hyper senses, Maximum mana flow.' He directed his now abundant mana to his eyes and calmly studied the would-be prisoner in front of him.

'Dilated pupils, Tachycardia, shaking fingers, dry lips, flushed face, moist eyes and mouth. Muscles in good shape as well. Not the figure you would expect from a long-term prisoner. She's well fed. [Augment] Triple Physical Augment.'

His legs swelled up as he gripped his sword hilt tight. Jin saw the subtle changes and tried to jump in between Sebastian and the beast kin.

"Sebastian no!"

However, Sebastian was one step ahead. He already disappeared from his spot. When he reappeared, he was already in front of his target.

Bam! Thud.

She received the full force of Sebastian's hilt in her unguarded abdomen. Feeling the wind forcefully knocked out of her, she fell limp onto Sebastian's waiting arms. Expecting retribution, he immediately turned towards the rest of the party.

"If you calmly analysed her figure, she's only pretending to be a prisoner. She's too well fed and stable to be a captive. It's also suspicious how she broke out of imprisonment just by herself when we came here."

Hearing his explanation, Jin and the rest were stunned. They could respond with a blank stare and their mouths agape. Seeing their surprised faces, Sebastian continued what he was doing. He checked her pulse and breathing. Once he saw that she was stable enough, he placed her in one corner. He made sure to bind her limbs and gag her securely before leaving her. He noted to himself that this was an improper use of restraints. 'Not that it matters in this world.' He quietly reassured himself.

With a hush, he addressed his party. "I'm worried if she alerted Nate or if he is aware. We proceed as planned. Don't make any rash decisions." Turning to Jin he continued. "That includes using your emotions to make decisions."

Jin could only nod in silence while he unsheathed his sword and held his buckler tight. The rest of the party nodded and followed Sebastian's lead.

When they reached the second floor of the mansion, they found it deserted much to their surprise. During their planning, they were expecting guards or some sort of increased resistance the closer they got to Nate's chambers.

Proceeding with extreme caution, Sebastian kept his augmentations in full peak. If there was so much as a murmur or a breath in the corridor, he was sure to pick it up. Along the way, he kept opening the windows and placed the decorations under them to keep them ajar. Even with the other's questioning gaze, Sebastian continued his strange action.

Standing in front of a door, Jin and Sebastian looked at each other. They had planned and practised this scenario multiple times in the weeks that lead to this moment. Aima and Zes stood nearby, casting reinforcement spells on the two vanguards in the operation.

Once Jin casted [Oaksin], he then nodded towards Sebastian. Sebastian, in turn, signalled that he could sense a person in the room. He did it mainly by noticing the fluctuations and vibrations with his acute sense of hearing and touch. After slowing down their breaths, Sebastian began counting down with his fingers.

Sebastian opened the door slowly just enough to let one person in without making a sound. When Jin tried to get in the space, a piece of rock flew towards his face.

Twang!

With quick motions, he managed to deflect the rock with his buckler. The rock turned out to be a mana stone infused with a spell. Once it bounced off the buckler, a spell exploded.

BLAAMMM!!

Within that moment, the world was dyed in white and the sounds melted away replaced with an incessant ringing sound.

"[Signal]??!"

The rest of the party were overwhelmed by the sudden stimuli and jumped back. Jin experienced the brunt of the explosion beside his face and reeled in shock. Sebastian, who had heightened senses, felt the shock drill into his core. In the chaos, a figure jumped and attacked the two supposed vanguards.

Thwack! Bam!

Jin and Sebastian were both thrown aside. In a moment, a towering figure loomed over them.

"Well well, looks like the rats finally showed up." Nate stood with a long sword in his hand. He was still wearing his pyjamas, however, he had a winter coat over it.

It was that time when Aima and Zes recovered from the shock. They hurriedly cast [Heal] on the other two adventurers. They didn't expect that the spell [Signal] would be used to disorientate the other members, however, they hoped that by renewing their senses they would recover quickly. They discussed the probability of Nate using a 'flashbang' like their previous encounter, however, they were caught unaware during this moment.

Jin and Sebastian recovered also at the same time. They both jumped up and pointed their weapons towards Nate. He didn't waste time and used the chaos to try and flank Jin.

Nate threw his longsword towards Jin who deflected it with his buckler and tried to rush in. Instead, he was met with the barrel of a magick weapon. Behind the gun's barrel, Nate wore a sick grin.

BLAM! BLAM!

Two shots fired off in quick succession, breaking the gun. Nate quickly took out another gun.

This time, however, the party was prepared for Nate's magick weapons. Ducking down, Jin managed to evade the projectiles. They only grazed the side of his head.

"Ho. You fuckers are really annoying me now." Nate pointed the gun in his left hand towards Jin's abdomen. Before he could fire once more, Sebastian used his enhanced speed to appear beside Nate.

'[Augment] Hyper Mind and Body, Maximum physical reinforcement.' Running his mana through Fulgur, the sword responded with a low hum and coated itself with a pale blue light. He spun around and used the force to strike Nate's side. Instead, he was met with resistance and the coat seemingly fizzled before dissipating the electricity charge.

"Huh?" Both Sebastian and Nate exclaimed in shock when Fulgur's strike failed.

"Kevlar?" Sebastian managed to say one word in response. He had wondered if Nate was able to reproduce body armour from Earth. With it's dampening and rubber-like properties, it would most definitely block an electric charge along with the blade. On the other hand, Nate's response wasn't favourable, to say the least.

"You son of a bitch! You actually broke my guns!" He was referring to the guns hidden in his winter coat. Keeping a couple of spare guns in stock due to their extremely short lifespan, he kept them in his winter coat for times of combat. This was the reason why he had forsaken fashion by putting his coat over his pyjamas.

"[Ice Lance]!" Aima called out from beyond the doorway and hurled her spell towards Nate. Jin and Sebastian both evaded the strike and made way for the spear.

Crash!

"You fuckers thought that I would only have the guns? Pathetic." The [Ice Lance] had found its mark and crashed into Nate's arm. However, it could only disintegrate before it could reach his skin.

Aima saw it first and gasped. "He's using [Stoneskin]!"

"Give the lady a prize. Let's go fuckers." With renewed vigour and increased hatred, Nate used punches and kicks to overwhelm both Jin and Sebastian. Even with their weapons, they couldn't scratch the previous arms dealer. It was obvious in their exchange that Nate had trained in hand-to-hand combat. Whether it was in this world or in the previous, it was currently unknown.

This time, it was Zes who appeared behind Nate and used Pertinax to strike his blind side. Nate blocked it with his bare arm before kicking her away. With widened eyes, he turned to the stifled party in front of him. "You all have magick weapons? That's going to make this fucking difficult now is it? I'll go all out as well."

Nate pulled out more guns as he kept firing and discarding them. Sometimes he would use a 'shotgun' variant or a 'multi-shot' variant of the gun. Even though the party had prepared and practised multiple scenarios with this foreign weapon, they couldn't handle his reckless use and advanced reinforced skill.

Zes was the first to stumble as she received gunshot wounds on her legs. Aima had cast [Heal], however, it took some time to recover from these type of wounds due to the foreign bodies embedded within her legs. Jin and Sebastian were both panting at the sides, having spent a lot of their mana on their weapons and in their spells. Aima was also having a hard time keeping up with her [Heal] and reinforcement spells. She had long given up attacking Nate, focusing on supporting her party members instead.

Nate was also panting and sweating. However, he still kept his [Stoneskin] active even while gloating. "You fuckers really gave me a hard time. You even took care of my guards? This scene is familiar though isn't it Sebastian?" He pointed a gun towards Zes' head. He was referring to the scene when he held Becky hostage.

"Though this time it will be different." Sebastian had a slight gleam in his eyes as he looked at Nate fiercely.

"Your confidence is misplaced. I don't like your fucking eyes." Nate grinned once more and prepared to circulate his mana through his gun.

Crash!

An owl flew through the window catching everyone's attention. Mid-air, the owl changed shape and took the form of a male elf. In place of the owl was an elegant elf with fierce eyes. He circulated mana in his hands before directing it towards Nate. Multiple spears of ice formed out of nothing before they whistled towards their target. Nate didn't have time to respond and gritted his teeth to brace himself for impact.

Stab! Stab! Stab!

Three out of the six [Ice Javelin] found their mark and pierced through his defences.

"GAAAHHH!!"

Nate's defences couldn't hold out and the projectiles pierced his arm and side. Seeing the open opportunity, Sebastian prepared to jump in the fray. This time, Jin was one step ahead and suddenly appeared beside Nate.

"[Shield Bash]! [Shield Bash]!" Using his buckler, he punched Nate in the head and abdomen, knocking him unconscious.

Though Aima and Zes breathed out a sigh of relief, Leo and Jin still kept their guards up. Leo circulated the mana in his body and prepared more [Ice Javelin] while he waited for Jin to check on Nate's condition.

"He's out cold. Let's tie him up." Only when Jin spoke did Leo dissipate his mana.

Sebastian stood up and prepared the rope and some thin metal rods. "You came at the right time, Leo. Thank you. Though your entrance was a bit flashy."

"You're welcome by the way. I received your message from the guild and from Mel as well. It was a good plan, however, I sensed turbulent mana in this room. You saw me from afar didn't you?"

"That's right. Even though it was merely a glimpse, I could tell through the window cracks that something was approaching at neck-breaking speeds."

After tying up the unconscious noble, Leo turned to Jin. "That was also quick thinking. Good job Jin."

Puzzled, Sebastian tilted his head before asking why. In response, Leo continued.

"He knew that if you were the first to respond you would have used both swords. It would have fatal consequences. That's why he acted first and used his shield."

Sebastian finally understood why Jin acted first even though they were both worn out from their prolonged exchange with Nate.

Leo looked at the rest of the party then looked around the messy room in front of him. "Now then, how shall we deal with this wreck?"

Sebastian stood up and placed his hand on Leo's shoulder. "That's why we needed the adventurer guild's master in this plan." He grinned while looking at the half-elf who was shaking his head out of disbelief.

As if to reassure him, Aima spoke up this time. "We can't obviously question and torture a noble here. If we reported his crimes to the Baron of Klance City, it would take some time for investigations and judgment. We probably wouldn't be able to touch him if we went through the usual protocols. Please understand our part. We didn't want to delay in catching him."

Sebastian kept his hand on Leo's shoulder. "We've already prepared an abandoned hunter's shack in the outskirts. We can question him there."

Leo's calculating gaze returned. He looked at the bound Forgotten One in front of him and nodded in silence.