While Minas Left to secure the potential survivors, the Oathguards they brought along finally got some action under the leadership of Pip. When Fin wanted to join, Seth grabbed her shoulder and stopped her with a quiet shake of his head.
"Aww, I understand," the fairy brute said, hanging her head. She was a little sad, but the message was clear.
This was the place for Pip to establish her standing in New Hope. Fin, Mina, and Seth would leave once everything was settled. If they took the stage here, people might underestimate the troops left behind and cause trouble in the future.
It wasn't like the Oathguard needed their help in the first place. While Avery Fox's level had been in the late 70s, the average of the people here was below 50, making the executive one of the elites. Even without equipment, the lv.90 Oathguards could treat these people like children. If they were not worried about their remaining chimeras, they wouldn't have sent Mina ahead, either.
"Don't worry, there will be more than enough action, where we are going," the blacksmith promised her. After all, they were on their way to wage war on a sizable number of organizations, located in an adjacent world.
They were guaranteed to be a greater challenge, than the people of New Hope, who struggled to make a living in the wilderness. The two watched the battle, which was loser to a bunch of toddler throwing themselves at grown man, than an actual battle, when an explosion rang through New Hope.
In the distance they could see smoke and flames rising from Big Dave's Skyscraper, which had become the HQ for the Guild Council. Fin and Seth exchanged a glance, then they shot off.
…
---a little earlier---
Having arbitrarily claimed the rescue mission for herself, she was using the power of her armor to not just meld into, but teleport through the shadows. It was different from the way she used to use magic to hide in the darkness.
It felt like swimming through mirror world flooded by a dark ocean. Light and shadows were reversed in this place, and she could travel to any dark place she could see with a simple thought, but she could only leave this world through the spots of light, representing the shadows on the other side.
During the night, or when creating a field of darkness, this place was like an iridescent fairytale, as everything dark in the original world, shone with incredible colors on this side. It also meant she could choose freely where to emerge or enter this world.
In the beginning this flipping was quite disorienting and she had taken a while to wrap her head around it. But now, when she was in this place, she felt like those flying superheroes in the TV-Shows Seth had shown her.
With one thought, she could shoot into the sky, focus on the building Avery pointed out and appear at the entrance door with another thought. Physical obstacles didn't matter to her either. Although she could see physical structures and people, they didn't actually exist.
They were all just a projection she could pass through to look for entry point back to the physical world. The prison was supposed to be underground, so she simply allowed herself to sing. Through the floor, past the underground levels, until she found a place with many doors that looked like cell doors.
A smile appeared on the cat girl's face. This place was dark; no lights were provided for these prisoners. This meant the corridor appeared brightly lit to her and she was able to step through the boundary without any resistance. Maybe a minute after she left the group, the shadow assassin appeared in the underground prison they had ground heard about.
"Uhm, what was the name again…Oh, yeah. Are there any members of the Libido Guild here? Please answer if you are a survivor of the libido guild," Mina asked confidently, but earned some weak laughter from the cells.
"The Libido Guild is part of the Council, you won't find any of them here, Missy," a rough voice informed her helpfully, in between laughter.
"Right, maybe you are looking for the poor sops of the Liberation Guild? They brought them a level lower," another added happily.
"Oh! Liberation Guild, that was the name. I thought it was a weird name for a guild but... wait did you say there is actually a Libido Guild here?" the assassin asked surprised.
"Hey, when you are already planning on letting people out, let us out, too!" someone not too tired to think properly, had a good idea. At least good for them. Mina stopped for a moment.
"Hmm, releasing prisoners as a diversion? Not the most original idea, but a tried and true method," she deliberated loudly. What she didn't mention was that it didn't they would get out of here. Pip cared for this city, so simply releasing a bunch of dangerous criminals would be bad.
But if they suddenly ran into the force from Minas Mar and were caught, it would do no harm to the city and give them some publicity. Walking past the cells, Minas touched each door, mumbling a spell and leaving a murky shadow behind, even darker than the unlit tunnel.
"Hey, where are you going?!" "Let us out!" "You said you would let us out!"
Having prepared a little distraction, Mina left them behind without a word. They had said the people of the Libido- Liberation Guild were one floor lower. Mina returned to the mirror world and sank to the floor below.
Surprisingly, their jeers were honest. In the cells below, she found a couple badly beaten chimeras, humans and even a demon hybrid. Seth had told her about the song that allowed people to transition into a demon, but she had only half believed him. However, the person inside one of the cells looked like a demon, despite smelling like a human.
"Are you guys the remains of the Liberation Guild?" she asked to make sure she was in the right place this time.
"Who are you to look for the liberation guild?" a wheeze came from one of the cells. Compared to the previous floor, it was a polite question.
"I'm Mina, a Lord of Minas Mar. We just arrived and heard of what happened so I'm here to... liberate you?" she said, making a light joke. A giant figure slammed against the cell door from the inside.
"I'm Kain, the guild master of the liberation guild," he coughed more than he spoke. The shadow assassin looked through the little window in the cell door. Inside was a massive man, with furry arms like a gorillas and backward legs like a dogs, or something.
"Well, you do look like a chimera," Mina mumbled and broke open the door. " Are there any more of you down here?" she asked, when the man came stumbling out of the cell.
"...A couple. Are you alone?" he asked, staring at the lone assassin.
"Can you show me? I will get you guys out of here first. Seth and Pip are coming with the main force," she informed him. "Take this," she added and handed him a health potion.
"Thanks. The others are in these cells, " he said, pointing and a hand full of cells close by. "What about the council and prison guards?" he asked when he recovered a little.
"The guards are busy outside. The council probably doesn't even know we are coming for you," she said, breaking another cell door.
"On that note, i guess it's time to set off my diversion."