"Quick, lead them out of here!"
Kali commanded after cutting the chains binding the adventures to the pillar.
They didn't have much time, as the next batch of enemies would come soon. Cassy led the adventurers, but then a problem occurred. Of the 30-something captives, only around 10 regained their minds and were capable of moving on their own. The rest remained still despite having their restraints gone.
Even if they asked the ten able-bodied adventures to help carry one of the immobile ones each, they would still be 10 short.
"TAUNT! METAL BODY!"
As Cassy was wracking her brains, trying to think of a way to save everyone, Tina's voice echoed, alerting them to enemy reinforcements. This time, there were a lot more of them, numbering in the dozens—those who had heard the gunshots earlier!
"The captives are escaping! Don't let them get away!"
Tina stood before them, a lone girl facing a group of angry men. The view was quite despairing, but the next scene was quite unbelievable.
"Don't touch me with your filthy hands! Only Star is allowed to touch my body!"
"GYAAAAA!!!"
"..."
She was like a raging Asura, mowing down the enemies like they were bowling pins lined up for her to send flying. With her Metal Body applied, her apparent weight reaches nearly a ton. With that much mass, it wasn't a mystery how she was able to fling them away like they were as light as a feather!
Against enemies who only rely on weapons like guns, she was practically invulnerable... while her skill's effect remained, that is. Metal Body has a brief active period, roughly one minute, and has a 2-minute cooldown. In short, she couldn't keep the skill active all the time!
"Hurry!"
She growled while sending a few more of the enemies flying. They didn't have time remaining! Right then, seeing what Tina was doing to the enemies, an idea came to her.
"Tinya, switch with Liz!" Cassy shouted. "I need your strength!"
"...!"
On the other side, a few minutes back in time, Aster could be seen standing in the middle of a frozen space. Weirdly, only the spot where he stood remained verdant green, while everything within a 50-meter radius around him, half of the usual range he used, was turned into silvery-white scenery.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
Gunshots were fired right at him from the kidnappers who were approaching him in a rush, but the bullets all got stuck at the transparent ice wall standing before him. Right, Aster was able to control the seal enough that he could freeze the moisture in the air itself, creating a transparent wall of ice to protect himself!
The wall covered him in all directions, making it hard for the enemies to reach him with bullets.
"..."
But of course, ice isn't really a bullet-proof material. With enough shots fired, the ice would break and reveal Astter to danger. However, his emotionless gaze was already locked onto the enemies, gauging the distance between them accurately.
"... 100." He whispered as soon as the bandits went past the burning tent.
Right, he was using the tent he burned as a measure of his range! He waited until all of them had jumped over the fence of their base, and some had reached halfway through, almost reaching him.
Aster raised his hand slowly, as if to show the enemies what he was doing. The seal behind his right palm was glowing with a bright blue light.
"Serial kidnappings, abuse, and even rape... I won't let you off easily." His words echoed, seemingly as cold as the icy field around him. "Freeze."
At that moment, a wave surged forth. It was quick and unavoidable, catching all of the fifty to sixty kidnappers at once. Of course, he didn't kill them just yet. He left them unfrozen from their chests and above, immobilizing them while also keeping them alive.
"W-What is this?! I can't move!"
"Shit! Fire! Mages, melt this ice!"
Aster saw how calm and collected they were despite getting half-frozen. The mages, as ordered, tried to cast their flame spells in an attempt to melt the ice, but...
*BANG!*
Aster didn't let them.
The fastest mage's head bent back forcefully, with a new bloody hole added to his forehead. For every mage that tried to cast their spells, he fitted them with one bullet to the head! All the mages died before he finished one full magazine of his pistol, including the missed shots!
Seeing that nobody else was trying anything funny, Aster began to walk forward. To the kidnappers, he looked like the god of death, ready to harvest their puny lives at any moment!