At this time the group was in the mountain range where the slavers' base resided. The mountain range in question was not very large, it had a couple of mountains, and each of them was not large, but smaller than the others.
After a few hours of walking they arrived in a passage in the middle of a mountain, this path extended between two rocky walls. Continuing along this path you could see a structure in the distance, it was not an immense or extraordinary structure, it looked more like a shanty town.
It was a wooden gate, above it you could find two watchtowers. This door blocked the passage of the mountain.
"This gate was surely built by the slavers, behind it should be their base." Asteri says, looking at the watchtowers.
The group noticed that there are two guards above these towers, one for each tower. The trio hid behind a rock.
"Only two guards? They feel very safe." Betty claims that the bandit's vigilance is much smaller than she thought.
"Doulon has become a corrupt nation, there is no longer a just and equitable regime, so the underworld can flourish freely. But this has diminished their vigilance, which could work in our favor." Asteri was secretly happy that the bandits had let down the guard of their base.
"So how are we supposed to behave?" Allatu wanted to know what plan they had to follow.
"We have no invisibility techniques, much less invisibility spells. Even if the captors' vigilance has decreased, we won't be able to sneak in without being seen." Betty analyzed the situation they were in.
"So the last chance is ..." Asteri didn't even need to finish the sentence, which all three had understood.
The group came out of the rock and began to walk quietly in the rocky passage, they were intent on reaching the gate.
"Mh? Who are those?" asked one of the two guards, seeing three people walking silently towards their post.
"I don't know, but I don't think we were expecting customers. The boss explicitly said we shouldn't let anyone in today." the other guard answered.
"Then let's refuse them." they both made this decision. The two guards took a bow, holding out an arrow.
"Whoever you are, go back to where you came from." shouted one of the two guards.
"Considering that today is a beautiful day for us, we will let you go with your lives ... but in exchange you will have to leave your things in front of the gate, am I clear?" the other comrade ordered Asteri's group.
But the trio didn't stop at these words at all, and they didn't even fear the two arches pointed towards them. Actually they looked like the two guards on the disadvantaged side as they looked at Asteri's group. They cannot see their volts, as they are covered by the hood, and also their calm step made them uncomfortable.
"DID YOU NOT HEAR WHAT WE SAID ?! IF YOU WANT TO DIE SO MUCH, WE WILL FULFILL YOUR WISH!" one of the guards screamed even louder than before, but there was more concern in her scream than intimidation.
The other guard looked at him suspiciously, seeing his companion's mood a bit odd. But she didn't think much about it because they were in the same situation.
Eventually Asteri's group stopped in front of the gate. Soon after they moved their hands inside their cloaks.
"AHAHAHAH, GOOD! THEN YOU CAN HEAR WITH THOSE EARS!" the guard who before her had screamed fearfully in her voice, this time sounded thrilled that the mysterious trio was about to do as they were told ... or so it seemed.
The time of joy of the guards did not last long, and the reason was very obvious. Asteri was not taking his possessions to donate to the kidnappers, but instead grabbed his sword with a lightning-fast motion. He concentrated his power in the blade and immediately swayed with it. A magical slash extended from the blade and ripped the gate in half. From that cut the gate began to burn with a spectacular tricolor fire.
"WHA-" the guards didn't have time to figure out what was happening when one of them was grabbed by the throat by Allatu's pink whip and hurled at the group. While the other was hit by a red splinter, right in his chest.
Fortunately, the guards were low-level, only in the fourth rank of the green core.
"What happen?!"
"The gate! It's on fire!"
"Hurry up and turn it off! Jom and Arry are on guard today."
From behind the burning gate you could hear shouts of men, it was the bandits who lived on the other side.
"HELP-" the guard who had been thrown to the ground by Allatu was asking for help but to no avail, as the succubus crushed his head with her heel.
"So that's how it starts, well, I'm not complaining. After all, stealth is none of our business." Allatu said with a smile, seeing the gate collapse in on itself, along with the two towers.
"Ahhh but I have to admit a more stealthy approach would have been useful." Betty sighed.
"Don't worry Betty, I'm sure we'll have a stealth companion later." Asteri reassures Betty.
"... why do I have the feeling that you are a woman?" Betty whispered to herself.
In all this the bandits on the other side began to tame the fire with water, but they had a lot of difficulty in doing so, after all Asteri's fire was not normal.
"He shows no sign of calming down, call a wizard!" a bandit yelled at his comrades. Apparently they weren't just bandits armed with iron and muscle.
"So they have wizards, I think it will be fun ... oh at least I hope so." Asteri was beginning to think that this group of bandits was a little stronger than normal. "But I won't make you work so hard, given how magnanimous I am, I'll take care of this problem." Asteri began channeling magical power into his free hand.
"Actually it was you who created this problem." Allatu chuckled.
Asteri reached out and a ball of fire the size of a basketball formed from there, and threw it at the remains of the still-burning gate. As soon as the sphere collided with the collapsed gate, an explosion was created towards the inside of the field.
"AAAAARGH!" screams of pain were immediately heard.