Naeth came out of the castle grumbling under his breath, it's been a couple hours since they've last received a report from the Commoner containment floor and since it would be time for shift change soon they had someone go check it out. To make sure that the news is contained they sent a supervisor, and since he's as the diligent supervisor he is Naeth 'happily' volunteered himself.
It was highly likely that the guards just got a bit relaxed since they were watching over the weakest creatures within kilometers of here and all the guards could kill the creatures in the with a single punch, and if that didn't do it a follow up would be more than enough.
It was impossible for those creatures to cause trouble and trouble certainly didn't come from outside since the formations reported that everything was as usual.
Making his way to the shed located a distance away from the castle but still within castle grounds he flashed the satch that signified that he was a supervisor and after a quick check by both the doorguards and the security panel the door opened and he stepped into the shed where another formation scanned him once again and after verifying his identity it teleported him into a small room in the dungeon below the castle.
A few more scans later a bracelet materialized around his right wrist. With that done he walked out of the room and into the dungeon proper.
The dungeon consisted of 8 floors, the gate formations to the containment floors were on the 3rd floor. The staircase to descend to the next floor were found on opposite sides of each floor for security reasons. Naeth wasn't exactly keen on going all the way to the containment floors and since his mission wasn't to go check out what's happening in the containment floor but rather to find out why they aren't receiving any reports, Naeth instead decided to go to the second floor where the reporting station for the first three floors is found. And since it was entirely possible that a guard went there for a report but decided to take a few detours he might find one loitering around here somewhere.
They wouldn't be faulted, all the guards for the Commoner containment floor were merely teenagers and the creatures there didn't warrant much if any caution.
Sadly for Naeth, he didn't find any of the guards and the none of the patrols he talked to saw any of them. And according to the logs on the reporting station, no reports about the Commoner containment floor have arrived since the start of the shift. That basically forced to go to the containment floor.
The 3rd floor was different from the previous floors. There were formations to lower ether in here and there were suppression formations through out. The power of the suppression was relative to a person's level to avoid squashing Commoners with Sovereign level suppression. The only flaw with the formation was that they couldn't cover the entire cultivation range and so focused on the upper stages to the point that Squires and Commoners could barely feel it.
As Naeth was walking towards the teleport formations he felt as if someone looking at him so he turned around to find no one there. He laughed at himself for noticing things that aren't there and continued on his way. He had just turned right at a corner when he sensed danger behind him, he turned around quickly while unsheathing his sword to quickly parry the white dagger that was stabbing straight at his head. He managed to push the other party back and immediately calmed his nerves. He looked at the other party to find a lesser succubus running towards him with a white dagger in hand, there wasn't any technique behind the attack, it was just another attempt at a stab. Seeing this he looked at the succubus in front of him with disdain and slashed the sword in his hands towards one of the many openings he could see. The succubus seeing the sword coming at it barely managed to dodge and jumped back before turning around and running away from him. Naeth just watched the succubus and just couldn't help but wonder what the hell was happening at the Commoner containment floor. He decided to capture the succubus before reporting the situation to his supervisor, he couldn't allow the succubus to walk around this floor on his watch.
The bracelet on his wrist would report his strange behavior so he reinforcements should be here by the time he's done with the succubus. The succubus wasn't running towards any of the two stairs so it was bound to reach a dead end soon, he wasn't sure where it got the dagger and he didn't recognize it but it must have come from one of the men that were supposed to be guarding it.
He was almost certain that one of the teenagers there fell for its charm and soon became its victim, he'd never heard of it happening here before but it has happened in many other places.
But in the end that was an issue that could be dealt with later, for now he had a succubus to catch, which he was doing at a casual pace. Between a Squire and a Commoner, it's almost guaranteed that the first to tire would be the Commoner. And once it got anxious after reaching a dead end things would be made even easier.
Naeth was following from a distance behind when he noticed that they should be reaching the edge of the floor.
Turning a corner, Naeth saw the succubus get into an attack stance, if it could be called that. It immediately attack him as soon as he came into range. Naeth half-heartedly exchanged a few blows with the succubus and knocked away its dagger. With ragged breaths it distanced itself from him and watched him wearily, the blood barely visible against its red skin steadily dripped on to the floor. Seeing that it wasn't going to attack anytime soon, Naeth took the initiative and attacked and the succubus took out a bluish silver dagger to try and block his attack. Disdain of that defense over outshined the surprise of a second dagger pulled out of nowhere, try as he might he couldn't see a void ring on its fingers. The utility belt stood out a bit but it didn't seem as if that was where the dagger came from.
That didn't matter too much though, he would be compensated for capturing the succubus with minimum damage dealt to it, after all it was still potentially goods to be sold and no one likes damaged goods. The retrieval of the items only meant more benefits.
When the sword met the dagger something that Naeth did not expect happened, the succubus was barely pushed back and the force of the strike was fully mitigated, looking at the succubus he saw that it was pleasantly surprised.
'Did it unknowingly steal a enchanted weapon from one of the idiots on the containment floor?' Naeth thought to himself.
This thought worried Naeth a bit, only talented guards were given enchanted weapons, meaning that the succubus in front of him took down a talented guard, even if such a person was seduced he wouldn't be killed by someone that much weaker than him. Thinking this far he decided to stop wasting time and started seriously attacking the demon in front of him. Although he was now suppressing the succubus it was still able to defend itself, 'Who had such a powerful magical weapon that even without mana it nearly bridges the strength gap?' this confused Naeth greatly, this wasn't something that a low level guard should be able to get even if that guard worked for Gorgon Clan.
Naeth saw the succubus recklessly try to attack him, even if the succubus in front of him had no combat skills it was still very careful, this sudden highly flawed switch between defense to attack surprised Naeth. But Naeth was a professional deemed worthy by the Gorgon Clan so he immediately prepared a proper response and as he was about to attack the succubus he suddenly felt something near his waist and he turned to look at the sprite taking the keys at his belt and that's when the succubus' attack reached him. He had been attacking the succubus so he couldn't defend properly and it slashed its dagger near his shoulder and he couldn't deal with the sprite since he had to deal with the succubus before it dealt more damage. One hand let go of his sword and formed a fist which almost immediately made contact with the succubus' stomach and it was sent flying back.
It coughed up blood as it landed and yelled in a ragged voice, "Hurry!" Naeth immediately turned back to see the sprite behind him backing up while taking off the mana-sealing brace before it prepared a magic attack and immediately threw it at him. Naeth easily defended against the rushed attack just to see the sprite circle around him while throwing more weak attacks at him. When the sprite was at a good distance it immediately threw the keys to the succubus who caught them and backed up while the sprite now focused on distracting Naeth with more powerful attacks.
Seeing this, Naeth ran towards the sprite while his sword got covered by a tempest as he decided to give it his all, after all he was now sure that at least two creatures had escaped from the containment floor, there was definitely a problem there. The sprite tried to keep its distance from Naeth while feeding more mana to its attack until he got too close for comfort and the sprite immediately sent the attack his way and he slashed at it with his tempest covered sword. A large explosion ensued and Naeth was pushed back a couple of steps before he stabilized himself after which he moved to attack the sprite which hadn't prepared its next attack. As his sword was about to reach the sprite, he felt his spine chill as a snow white dagger come his way and he immediately redirected his attack towards the attacking succubus just for a bluish silver dagger to emit a mana pulse which disrupted his attack and made him vulnerable to the still incoming white dagger. Naeth twisted his body and was barely able to dodge the attack just to see a magical attack coming his way forcing him to jump back in order to dodge it.
Naeth was frustrated, the two in front of him combined were weaker than him yet they had forced him back. The succubus had no combat experience whatsoever but the two daggers in its hands were more than just troublesome, the silver dagger's defense was troublesome to deal with even more so now that the succubus now that the succubus could use its mana, the white dagger had yet to deal him any damage but now that the succubus had its mana it gave him an immense feeling of danger, as if one attack from it would be his end and Naeth wasn't interested in finding out if his intuition is correct.
The sprite was a mere nuisance, it was still young and didn't have an element, it had no combat experience and there's a limit to how much non-elemental mana could achieve, but it still served as a good distraction and tanking it would be problematic incase the fight dragged on.
"Let's go!" Naeth heard the sprite say. "Not yet. The formation isn't at capacity yet, wait a bit longer, we can't risk it. There's no point in teleporting a few hundred meters away and immediately get recaptured." answered the succubus.
Naeth felt things were falling into place. He couldn't believe that the succubus was hoping to assassinate its way out of the Castle when it failed against him, so he couldn't understand where the succubus got its confidence, but it seems like it had a teleport formation and now that it had mana it could use it.
It wouldn't be strange for the sprite to be suicidal but not so much for the succubus, succubi wouldn't risk their lives unless they were almost certain of success. The succubus wasn't planning on going out the dungeon in the first place, it merely planned on unsealing its mana and teleporting out the dungeon. He felt embarrassed, it seems as if he had been dancing on the succubus' hand the entire time, a lesser succubus at that. And he thought that the situation was in his control the entire time.
Naeth was pulled out of his musings by a ball of condensed mana coming his way forcing him to dodge, after which the white dagger again closed in on him and when he tried to make use of his range advantage the silver dagger released a pulse of mana which disrupted his attack.
The next few minute or two passed that way, the succubus would attack with the white dagger, defend with the silver one and the sprite would send the occasional condensed mana ball in Naeth's direction. Naeth put his all into defeating the succubus while avoiding the white dagger and mana attacks. He was gradually gaining the upper hand as the succubus was reaching its limit on using the two weapons.
Naeth sent an upward slash at the succubus and like always the succubus sent the silver dagger to meet the sword but unlike the previous times no pulse of mana formed to disrupt the tempest covered sword. The succubus was sent flying back and spat blood when it finally stabilized itself. Naeth slashed his sword at the magical attack the sprite had sent his way and turned back to face the succubus who was struggling to stand up straight. Naeth searched and couldn't find the silver dagger anywhere on and around the succubus and mentally prepared himself for a desperate sneak attack.
"Get ready!" the succubus said to the sprite while groaning in pain. Naeth decided to finish things in the next attack when he heard that.
As he was about to move he saw the succubus use a shift spell, this was the first time the succubus had used a skill so he did not expect it now and it took a while for him to react. He couldn't parry the white dagger so he moved to dodge it, he shifted his left leg to the left and used it as a fulcrum to twist his body clockwise but the white dagger still left a deep gash on his right forearm. Naeth moved his sword to his left hand in order to slash at the rapidly moving succubus' back just to see it reach out to grab the sprite before disappearing in a flash of green light.
Naeth suddenly felt his forearm hurt a bit before the pain quickly spread to the rest of his body and it cramped all over and he slumped down dead.