Chapter 172 – Going Home

Meanwhile, as Dream was preparing his soldiers, Arrina and Mara were huddling together miserably in the corner of a prisoner cell.

They weren't the only ones either. In just this cell there were over 200 people, and the demons had a dozen more cells just like this one. They herded them like sheep and didn't care at all about the fact that nearly everyone was wounded. If it weren't for the fact that there were a few healers in the cell, several people would've already died.

Mara was one of these healers. In fact, she was one of the best. Because of that she was treated a little better. Not by the demons, but by the other prisoners. Instead of being cramped, she was given a bit more space against the wall where she could rest easier. And right next to her was Arrina.

After receiving Dream's teachings, Arrina was able to rise in power quicker than she had ever expected to. She could cast spells with ease, learn sequences many times faster than her peers, and manipulate objects however she wished. 

And because she had so suddenly jumped massively in power, she took it upon herself to catch up her level. As a result, in only a few months after Dream left the Spire, she had risen to class 2, and currently, she was in the late class 2 level. This combined with the demon invasion led to her eventually ending up on the frontlines.

At first, she didn't think going to the frontlines was a bad thing. She would be able to level up even faster there and continue honing her skills in not only magic, but object manipulation. She could rampage with any weapon she wanted, and the more kills, the more prestige she earned.

And it went exactly as she hoped. Although the battlefield was a place of death with an extremely high mortality rate, her fiery and competitive natured served her well. Being at her level also helped. If she were a class 1 like many of the soldiers, she would be lucky to last a single battle.

It was on the battlefield where her appreciation for Dream's teachings also skyrocketed. It enabled her to have combat power surpassing her level, so as long as she didn't meet high level class 3's, she would be able to at least escape with her life. Plus, Dream's manipulation techniques were also incredibly efficient when casting magic. She had much greater stamina than others and could last a long time.

There was also another fortunate arrangement, and that was being placed next to Mara. While Mara was a healer, that didn't mean she was idling on the sidelines. 

Healers in this world took a very active role in warfare. They were not only taught how to fight, but placed in squads where they could support their team. They had a very important and taxing role, but because of that, they were also the last ones to die should their squad get wiped.

Mara herself had actually gone through a few squads. Although the only reason she would change squads was that they all died, it wasn't to any fault of her own. That's just what happened on the battlefield. But it didn't make it any easier, and because of her guilt, she had become even more of a recluse than she already was. 

This was why Arrina was sent to her, and that arrangement was actually due to Merlin. He knew they were close, and with Arrina being there, she wouldn't lose herself in depression or apathy. 

Although he would've preferred to put her next to Dream, Dream was no longer the simple boy he knew at school anymore. he had suddenly risen to unimaginable heights, and he was easily equivalent to a class 4. In fact, anyone at the class 3 level knew that Dream was in control of the Immortal Army. He had a combat ability that could rival an Empire, and for Merlin to even contact him was an impossibility. Not even the class 4's had him at their beck and call. 

Because of this, he had never tried. But he could at least pull Arrina from wherever she was at. That much he was capable of. And it wasn't long before Mara had her partner. 

Like that, Mara and Arrina went from battle to battle together. They would take care of each other and performed outstandingly. That was until the demons started acting weird. 

While they didn't know the details, they had heard from Merlin that several demon armies and strongholds were utterly obliterated. And because of this, the demons were a bit unstable. Despite that though, the generals wanted to take advantage of this and push their offensive while the demons retreated. This led to Mara and Arrina being quickly deployed.

But they would've never guessed how devious the demons could be. As they pursued a certain army, they had been ambushed by reinforcements. Usually this would never happen as the generals had the best intelligence, but because of the hasty orders, the demons were given an opening. And so, their battalion was ambushed from all sides, leading to an intense struggle they could never escape from.

Perhaps they were lucky though, and the demons decided to take prisoners. This wasn't the first time they had taken prisoners, and it was in fact a huge problem for the human armies. Either way, they were captured and taken to a stronghold along with a few thousand others.

At first the girls still had hope. The strongholds were apparently obliterated, so they might have a chance to either escape or be rescued. But when they arrived, they immediately felt an unbelievably oppressive aura. It was an aura they had only felt when class 4's were battling, and they knew there was one at the stronghold.

If it were just one it might not be so bad, but one of the class 3's that had been captured had better senses, and he was able to detect that there were in fact 5 class 4's. There were also millions of demons stationed around this stronghold. 

Those two pieces of information drove the girls to despair. Only if the Empires were to launch an all-out offensive on this place would they have any chance of survival. But they knew that wouldn't happen any time soon, so all they could do was hope for the best. 

But then, not long after they were captured, the demons had come for some of the prisoners. One of the class 4's, in fact, had come. 

And this class 4, right in front of everyone, cast a magic over a group of 100 people. This magic released black smoke that seeped into their bodies, and after an hour, the 100 people had turned into demons!

Everyone was horrified after seeing this. Although the humans weren't turned into mindless monsters, they were enslaved and forced to do as the demons wished. Such a fate was definitely worse than just being killed, and it further drove everyone into hopelessness. Some people even killed themselves on the spot.

But others weren't so decisive, and they waited it out as long as possible. Arrina and Mara were among these people. They just couldn't force themselves to do it. But should the demons come and try to transform them, they had a pact. It was a promise between them that they would end each other should the demons try and transform them. 

With this promise, the two stayed huddled together for comfort. All was quiet as everyone waited for their deaths. 

However, on the 20th hour of their imprisonment, something happened.

Right in the cell where Mara and Arrina were held, a cloud of dust seeped in and brushed past everyone inside. Nobody noticed this cloud of dust even as it touched them.

Eventually, this cloud had identified everyone in the front and made its way to the back. It floated between the cramped people, but after scanning each one, it's internal systems sent a signal saying 'Negative Match' before moving on to the next. That was until it brushed past Mara and Arrina.

'Positive match. Arrina identified. Mara identified. Engaging contact protocol.'

After sending the signal, the dust cloud split in two and suddenly latched to Arrina and Mara. Both of them were startled and looked down at their arm. When they did, they found a translucent band wrapping around it. After that, they could feel a connection being made, similar to when the bracelet would call someone.

The next moment, a holographic image appeared in front of them. 

"...D-Dream..."

Both girls went wide eyed as they looked at the image. It was Dream, as he was looking back at them.

"Shh..."

Dream put his finger to his mouth and smiled. He then winked at them, upon which his image disappeared. 

The next moment, data was suddenly sent into their minds. They saw many more simulated images. It was of legions of bots, and they were all approaching their location. In fact, they had surrounded the entire stronghold and begun their slaughter, cutting their way towards the center. 

...........

"Contact made. Looks like they're still okay."

Dream sighed after cutting the connection. He basically knew of what the demons did with prisoners, and he was worried that they had been converted. Luckily, he had learned of Mara and Arrina's capture not long after it happened.

[The army is beginning their assault. The assassins, Bob squadron, and your avatar have also infiltrated and are making their way towards them.]

"Good."

"Hey Dream, so who are these two girls that we're rescuing?"

Iris spoke up from next to him, curious about these two people. Dream wasn't close with very many people, so the fact that he had come to rescue someone was interesting.

"Friends from school. I guess they could also be considered apprentices after I taught them the ways of magical manipulation. Unfortunately they were captured after the generals made a rash decision."

"Huh. Well aren't they lucky."

"I don't think being imprisoned can be considered lucky."

"I mean how they know you. To be friends with one of the most powerful people on the planet. Only for them will an entire siege be carried out for their rescue."

"Although, you should also take care of them better. They're your friends after all. You haven't even made contact with them in several months."

Luna spoke from his other side, poking him and reprimanding his negligence.

"*sigh* Yea. I guess you're right. I'll set something up for them after this."

"Good. You should be taking care of your friends, not letting them get captured by demons. Are there any other friends that you've forgotten about?"

"Not really. Idona is a class 4, so she's pretty much safe. I don't have very many friends here."

"And you forget about the ones you do have." (Iris)

"Alright! I get it. But there's been a lot going on. You two know that. Sorry for forgetting about them, but at least I'm not letting them die. Now, the army is advancing, and the class 4's are going to come out soon. Prepare yourselves, because there's 7."

"The more the merrier. We're close to reaching the class advancement, and this might do it for us!" (Iris)

"I'll try to let you guys have as many kills as possible. And you make sure to eat their souls as best you can."

"I've learned how to integrate eating souls into my attacks some. In fact, I'm only two levels away from maxing devour."

"... I know this is filthy rich coming from me, but you're overpowered."

"Hah! That really is filthy rich, Mr. I have an orbital bombardment platform."

"I'm building a second one actually. Plus I still have one more project I'm gonna be working on afterward."

"...Space lase-"

"If you can find a way to effectively harness gamma radiation, then I'll build the space laser for you. Until then, no space laser."

"Hey, that science crap is your job. I just eat things. Speaking of, I'm hungry. Where's those class 4's?"

"*sigh* They're in the center castle."

"Sweet! Let's go!"

"You... Fine."

After Iris blasted off, Dream just stared for a second before giving in and going. Luna chuckled and followed.

............

Back inside the stronghold, the demons were going wild.

When all the prisoners saw this, they were startled. They didn't know about anything that was going on outside, so they could only assume that something pissed the demons off. As far as they were concerned, pissed demons were bad news for them. 

Two people did know what was going on though. Arrina and Mara. Both were sitting in the corner, scared but hopeful. 

Unfortunately, there were several class 3's outside their cell. And they knew that there were hundreds more throughout the castle. Then there were the 5 class 4's. For anything to get inside such a heavily fortified place was a pipe dream as far as they knew.

That was until suddenly, screams could be heard outside.

*Scree-!*

*Dsh!* *Dsh!*

"Grahh! Who are yo-!"

*Dsh!*

*Splat!*

"Invade-!"

*Slice!*

Everyone froze up as they heard a quick succession of cut off voices and lethal sounds. In barely 2 seconds though, everything was quiet. That was until several humanoids approached the cells with silent steps. Arrina and Mara, along with the other herded prisoners, looked at these humanoids warily. 

That was especially true for the one at the front. It radiated shocking energy for something that wasn't living. It had clothes and wielded a long, slender blade. Oddly enough, it also looked familiar.

This was Dream's avatar, and it was currently on autopilot.

"Prison block cleared. Bobs 1-8, secure package and move to deliver. Everyone else, prepare to extract prisoners."

"Roger! Guardian bots, to me!"

After giving orders, the other humanoids assented. One of them, known as Bob 1, called for two guardian bots that had already been prepared. 

The 8 Bobs moved to Mara and Arrina, opening their cell. All of them then went to surround the corner that they were huddling in.

"Arrina and Mara, please allow us to assist you."

"I... Uhh..."

Arrina stumbled on her words as one of the guardian bots disintegrated and floated over to her. Mara was also surprised, and after only a moment, both the girls were encompassed by the particles of the bots. They then levitated off the floor, totally out of their own control.

"Package secure. Moving to primary extraction point."

Saying that, all 8 Bobs moved out of the cell and headed back down the way they came, girls in tow. The other prisoners in the cell just watched them incredulously the entire time, not having any word to say.

"1st objective complete. 2nd objective underway."

The avatar spoke, and moments after, he walked into one of the cells and up to the wall. Raising his fist, he threw a punch at the wall.

*BOOM*

The wall crumbled under the fist, and a massive hole was created to the outside. There, a huge ship with its hatch already open was waiting. The other bots went and punched holes to the other cells, allowing everyone to move over to the cell the avatar was in. The avatar turned to all the prisoners.

"...Prisoners! Load onto the ship! You're going home!"

When the avatar shouted, everyone's eyes went wide. None hesitating, they all quickly scrambled to board the ship, wanting to leave as quickly as possible. After all, they knew these ships and how fast they could fly. They even knew about these immortal soldiers. Any viable chance to escape was worth the risk to them. 

It wasn't long before all the 2,000+ prisoners had loaded onto the ship. Once they were ready, a few of the bobs also boarded to watch over them, after which the hatch closed. 

The ship blasted off into the sky immediately after, heading to the Sword School which was the nearest Empire. 

"2nd objective complete. Move to assist package extraction."

Speaking to itself, the avatar flew off towards the Bobs who were delivering the girls, intending to assist in his objective.

Sp4de

I've written a short story. It's called '90%'. I had been thinking about doing some short stories for a while. Ones that probably won't be any longer than 10 chapters. It's just a way for me to get more creative. 

If you guys wanna check it out, just look under my profile as my stories should be under a series tab or something. I'd love to know what everyone thinks.