Faeloria's team carefully entered the underground prison, ensuring they stayed under the enemy's radar. Of course, they remained on high alert, ready to "silence" anyone who discovered their presence.
The prison's layout was complex, with three floors above ground and five floors below. To enhance security and prevent prisoners from escaping, the stairs leading to the next floor were deliberately placed as far away as possible for each layer, making it extremely difficult to either sneak in or out.
Naturally, they ignored the upper floors for now, as the chances of their target being there were slim.
"Clear..." Faeloria whispered as they moved forward.
Thanks to her advanced stealth spell, not even cameras or the enhanced senses of beastmen could detect their presence. They proceeded through the floors smoothly, undisturbed by the enemy's sentries and security.
"Wait!" She called out suddenly.
There was still something they couldn't easily bypass—physical traps.
While Faeloria's stealth could fool magical traps, infrared sensors, and motion sensors, it couldn't counteract physical traps like tripwires or pressure plates. As such, they had to proceed carefully.
The deeper they went, the more traps they encountered, which slowed them down significantly.
They needed over five minutes to fully inspect each floor, searching for the vault, before moving deeper. In the end, they wasted a full 25 minutes before finally finding something remotely related to what they were looking for.
"This is it," Faeloria declared as she stared at the giant vault before them.
It was hidden on the fifth basement floor, on the opposite end of the hallway from the cell where Lorelai had supposedly been held. It was heavily guarded, with traps and sensors everywhere to protect it.
With hand signals, the three of them quickly moved into position and silently neutralized the guards. Eight sentries died without knowing what hit them.
"Alright, now we just need to break open this lock, take the contents, and leave," Faeloria sighed before turning to Kelek, their resident hacker. "Can you do it?" she asked.
Kelek moved beside the vault, touching it lightly. "We won't know until I try."
"Collect everything here," Faeloria ordered, stepping into the vault with the others and beginning to store the masks in their storage devices.
But after retrieving the first one, Faeloria realized her mistake.
*RRRRRIIIIIIIIIINNNNGGGGGGG!*
"...!"
It was already too late when they noticed. The items had been placed on pressure plates! Removing them triggered an alarm that blared throughout the prison, alerting everyone to their presence.
"Shit!" Faeloria cursed, uncharacteristically. "Hurry up! We need to retreat!"
In less than ten seconds, they gathered all the equipment from the vault, placed it inside their Storage Rings, and sprinted back toward their exit. However, before they even reached the stairs, they encountered armed sentries who began attacking without hesitation. Bullets flew toward them like a disturbed beehive!
Stealth no longer worked on them!
'Were we hit by Mana Marking?!'
Faeloria realized the trap inside the vault was more than just physical. Layered spells had marked them!
Bullets whizzed through the air, each one deadly enough to seriously harm even her. Thankfully, Faeloria wasn't defenseless. Activating her artifact bracelet, imbued with a powerful shield spell, she deflected the initial barrage and rushed forward.
They couldn't afford to waste any more time. In the middle of enemy territory, every second counted.
Faeloria closed the gap, moving within a meter of the enemies, and cast a deadly spell. "Kyuin Noxis Sirreo Gala Spicht! Shadow God's Wrathful Impaler!"
In a 180-degree arc, shadowy spikes erupted from the ground, impaling everyone in front of her. The spikes extended to the walls, over fifty meters away. In one swift move, the first wave of sentries was eliminated, their bodies left mangled in the aftermath.
"Let's move!"
But their hardships had only just begun.