"You were right, we are under attack." The creature who looked like a wizened old man said. "The people on the first and ground floor have been slaughtered but they bought us enough time to plan our escape." Shasa threw Kugoh his equipment who promptly wore it. "Luckily, we have the full armory, labs full of deadly toxins, and plenty of humans to use as hostages. If we play this smart, we might still have a chance of getting out of here alive." He said while an arch of silver lightning formed between his right thumb and forefinger. ’That’s why, you idiot.’ Kugoh nodded. ’As long as Shasa and I are together, we are invincible.’ "Call Jika and put him in charge of the defense." He actually said. "Send those with a useful bloodline ability to help him and then come back straight to me. I need your brain as much as you need my brawns." *** "Good call, Magus Verhen." Mage Drava said. "We’ve found and deactivated plenty of explosive arrays. They were scattered all over the mansion and the interesting thing is that they were all programmed to explode upward. "Not a single shockwave would have reached the lower floors." "It makes sense." Menadion pondered. "The people on the upper floors would have died but so would the enemy. The debris would have hidden the secret entrance long enough for the beasts below to collect everything valuable and make their escape." Discover stories with freewebnovel "Do you think there might be more traps on the way down?" Lith asked. "Only if these Emperor Beasts have a death wish." Mage Drava shrugged. "Alchemy is not as volatile as Forgemastery but it still requires perfect insulation from external sources of magic. "To keep the production of potions steady in such a little space, they can’t afford many protections." "How can you be sure there’s little space and how did Hatorne blow her lab if what you’re saying is true?" Solus asked. "Because I checked the land registry." Drava replied. "These guys own only this building whereas Hatorne had bought the entire city block. They are criminals who can’t afford to draw attention to themselves while she was a respected member of the magical community who hid her crimes under an honest façade. "Hatorne could buy as much land as she wanted and have proper construction work done before turning it into her factory of horrors. As for your second question, Hatorne didn’t live there. "She had no qualms about risking the lives of her assistants. That monster of a woman even insured everything so we actually have a record of her arrays and paid her for the damage after she detonated her lab in Kandria! "She had placed a single Earth Shattering formation on the bottom floor of her lab. Once she activated it, the array caused the whole structure to collapse like a house of cards. "The mushroom detonation reported by the survivor wasn’t due to the Earth Shattering formation but to all the Alchemical arrays and dangerous materials mixing and triggering a chain reaction." "Alchemy can be that dangerous?" Lith was flabbergasted. "One wand must be just an annoyance to you." Drava sighed in envy. "But imagine what would happen if hundreds of wands and spells meant to be infused into potions went haywire at the same time. A whole building of it and you are in the middle." "I’d rather not." Lith shuddered. "My advice is to use spells freely in the corridors but to limit them to a minimum in any room with a running alchemical device." Drava said. "As long as they are inactive and the ingredients properly stored, you can go all out." All the members of the assault team were handed plague doctor masks that would conjure the Life Ward spell, but only once. Life Ward shielded its wearer from all external pathogens, no matter if microorganisms, fungi, toxins, or noxious gases. "Since there is only one entry point, my Demons and I will go first." Lith said. "Wait until I give you the signal." Trion and the others looked at the plague masks and smirked. "Thanks, Lil Bro, but I’m too dead for this crud. I’m pretty sure I’m immune to anything but high concentrations of enchanted metal in my bloodstream." Trion chuckled. "You’d better stay back." "The kid is right, kid." Varegrave said with a laugh. "For once the apprentices beat the master." "Rules of engagement?" Valia asked. "The enemy is cornered but there is still an unknown number of hostages. Expose your identity only if strictly necessary and always kill any witness before they can inform their accomplices." Lith replied. "With the amulets down and no mind links, this shouldn’t be difficult." Menadion swapped her sword with the Fury. "Can I?" "By all means." Lith took a step back and let the Demons open the hidden hatch. They were welcomed by a hail of toxins-packet bullets that exploded upon contact and filled the corridor with a blinding mist. ’How do you feel?’ Locrias checked the mind link with his allies. ’Still dead.’ Trion replied. ’I feel nothing.’ The toxins sizzled on the energy skin of the Demons with no effect but burning an insignificant spark of their essence. With no air magic to dissipate the toxic cloud, the Emperor Beasts waited a few seconds for the toxins to take hold before unleashing a storm of cleansing fire against the allegedly helpless invaders. "Thanks for the warm-up." Locrias stepped forward, his armor ablaze but otherwise unscathed. "Let us return the favor." The mouths of the Demons opened, hurling five streams of Origin Flames that filled the corridor, leaving the Emperor Beasts no safe place to hide. Their screams of agony echoed through the tunnels but all those hiding around the corner could see was violet fire. Before the Origin Flames went out, the Demons stabbed, crushed, and decapitated the Emperor Beasts guarding the access point to the underground facility. "Now, before they put on new masks!" An Awakened Emperor Beast led the second unit after checking with Life Vision that the intruders had no protection against the toxins. Another barrage of Alchemical bullets struck the Demons but this time they were ready. As soon as the last bullet scattered its content in the air, they conjured a tier zero Spirit Spell that mimicked the effects of air magic and blew the toxins back at the beasts. The lucky ones suffered from the anti-mana toxins and died a clean death by the sword. The unlucky ones burst into flames, froze into popsicles, and turned into stone as their own fusion magic killed them. "Clear!" Locrias yelled after checking with Life Vision that there were no hidden doors or traps. "Room clear!" Valia entered the nearest door, throat ablaze, finding what looked like a pantry but filled with dimensional amulets. Each one bore a tag to indicate their contents which varied from raw meat to luxury meals. "Corridor clear!" Menadion projected a cone of light that expanded against the walls, floors, and ceiling to trigger mechanical traps. Clicks, whirrs, and the clink of high-speed metal hitting stone confirmed her suspicions. "I stand corrected. Now it’s clear." ’Good thinking, Ripha.’ Lith watched the Demons storm the place from a distance via the black chains.