?On the street of Dritzuut, Abasi and his clan were still fighting the Allied forces. In particular, Four Winds and his guildmates. Abasi had fought with Four Winds for hours and no clear winner was decided yet. However, his clan and he were forced to continuously make a slight retreat. Otherwise, they would be overwhelmed by the enemy's greater number.
The arrival of Azzarilth's brood had given them a huge breather. They could stop retreating and fight back now.
As Abasi was instructing his clan to reform their formation, he noticed the commotion at the palace. The palace was far, but he could roughly see a battle taking place there. The battle was near the balconies where the hostages were.
"You! Take charge and hold the line here!" Abasi commanded. He then summoned his steed which was a giant lizard.
"Abasi…! Where are you going? Our fight has not ended!" Four Winds called.
Abasi glanced at Four Winds and responded with a grunt. He then rode away in the direction of the palace. He had been looking forward to executing Jeanny after this war ended. He couldn't let her get saved.
*
David failed to reach the balcony and fell. Luckily, he possessed the Grappling Hook skill. He used the skill before his body fell too far. His grappling hook hit the balcony he was targeting. The rope of the grappling hook then pulled him back up.
But just as he landed on the balcony, three enemy players burst out onto the balcony from the inner room. Two of them were gunners accompanied by their pets, while the third was an assassin. These players attacked him without delay.
The assassin was Giddo, Sizhad's right-hand man. Giddo used Phase Strike and disappeared when his two associates shot at David. Their pets also lunged at David.
David's shield drone blocked the gunners' attacks while he shot back. He was aware of Giddo's phase strike. His other hand holding a dagger spun to his back and clanged with Giddo who tried to backstab him.
After blocking their attacks, David used Bulletstorm. Giddo dodged by using Vanish but he left a combat clone before vanishing. David's Bulletstorm hit the two gunners, their pets, and Giddo's combat clone.
The two gunners also retaliated by using Bulletstorm, but their control was incomparable to David's. They let their guns fire following the skill's standard aiming system, which was all over the place. Some bullets still headed in David's direction but his shield drone blocked those bullets.
David headed to the balcony's other side after executing Bulletstorm. He had no time to deal with these enemies. He had to get to Jeanny fast!
However, a familiar drone came from above. He recognized it as Ronald's flamethrowing drone. He immediately commanded his shield drone to fly up and cover him just as Ronald's drone unleashed a stream of searing flames.
Giddo appeared beside him then. David's reflex allowed his hand with the dagger to block Giddo's stab but an illusory dagger followed that stab. Giddo's Unblockable Stab sank into David's belly. David gritted his teeth from the pain. He lost some HPs. He retaliated by firing at Giddo's point blank but Giddo dodged by rolling away.
The other gunners resumed shooting at David while their pets and Giddo's combat clone rushed ahead to block David from jumping to the next balcony. They used their bodies as blockades without caring about the damage they received.
David cursed his situation. The enemies were intent on stopping him from reaching the cage. But if he stopped and focused on dealing with them, he would waste precious time. The enemy could already be moving Jeanny and the other captives to a safer location for all he knew.
In his turmoil, he saw the two gunners aiming at him again. He couldn't move his shield drone to block their shots because it was still blocking Ronald's flamethrowing drone. While his gun and dagger were busy fighting the two pets and Giddo's combat clone. He also saw from the corner of his eyes Giddo rushing back at him again.
When he braced himself to lose some more HPs from the gunners' shots, the two gunners were suddenly thrown violently into the room. It was as if something invisible had crashed into them. They slammed into the far side of the wall inside the room.
Someone materialized at the spot where the two gunners used to be.
"Jack!!" David called when he recognized the person.
Jack had been sneaking through the streets of Dritzuut following the path informed by the Dogs of War. Even though he was under invisibility, he chose to not fly out of fear of getting detected by enemies who could see through illusions. He didn't want the enemy to know of his presence before he got near the cage where Jeanny and the others were held.
But then he saw the battle occurring at the balconies. He was close already by then. So, he forwent stealth and took to the sky at high speed. He saw David in trouble and headed over to help him.
"What are you doing here?! Hurry up and go save Jeanny!!" David chided.
'That's a way to thank someone,' Jack thought. But David was right, saving Jeanny should be the priority. His gold dragon wings flapped and he shot toward Giddo's combat clone and the gunners' pets, who were blocking the way to Jeanny's cage.
When he wanted to smack those three out of the balconies and help David reduce his opponents, those three ran out of his way.
"Huh?" They were so adamant about keeping David from jumping to the next balcony but now they cleared away from his path?
Jack attributed their actions to them knowing that they couldn't block him even if they tried. He ignored them and flew forward.
Now that Jack was here, David left the rescuing to Jack. He could now focus on dealing with his opponents. He dodged Giddo's attack and ran into the room while firing at the two gunners who were still dizzy from Jack's attack.
On the balcony where the cage was located, four members of the State of Galhana were guarding the cage. Those four ran away when Jack approached.
"Are you that scary?" Peniel asked after seeing those four's actions.
"Well. I was once feared as the Demon of Crestfall Plains. Perhaps the enemies have a different nickname for me now, hahaha," Jack laughed.
"How about you let that head swell after you successfully rescue the hostages?" Peniel said while rolling her eyes.
"They are as good as saved!" Jack exclaimed. He flew to the cage's door which was no doubt locked. He didn't have the time to lockpick that door. This was not the time for subtlety. He used Brave Slash combined with One-word Slash as he landed in front of the cage.
"Jack…!" Jeanny called when she saw Jack before their cage. Leavemealone and Red Death, who were sitting on the ground, rose to their feet. Inside the cage was a rune diagram that prevented them from using skills, sending messages, or dealing damage.
The door to the cage lost more than half of its HP bar from Jack's Brave Slash. Jack followed up by using his sword art. The damage boosted by combo multipliers quickly depleted the door's remaining HP. The door broke apart.
"Hehe. Ready to taste freedom again?" Jack asked with a wide grin.
"I can't believe you all made it here," Jeanny said as she ran out. Leavemealone and Red Death followed behind. The three stood on the balcony next to Jack as they gazed at the battle still happening out there.
"The battle is not yet over. Let's go, we will…," Jack stopped talking when he felt a loud thump from his chest.
"What…?!"
Not only him. Jeanny, Leavemealone, and Red Death also felt the same thing. They clutched their chest as if they were having a heart attack.
They heard a chuckle. They looked up and saw a tiny mechanical sphere glowing above them. The glow made them feel weak. They also felt like they were getting pulled by the sphere.
While they were still puzzled by the situation, a person materialized next to the glowing sphere.
That person was Master.
