The dwarf locked eyes with Sensei, "You're quick to catch on, but you're clearly not the smartest."
Sensei looked past the dwarf, seeing a group of soldiers approaching with the miners shackled in front of them.
Sensei remembered leaving the miners behind in the chamber while confronting the dwarves, but they ran away when they got surrounded, completely forgetting about them.
"Help us, sir, knight, please!" cried one of the miners before a dwarf slammed him on the head with his sword's handle.
UGH-
The miner grunted as he fell to the ground, his head bleeding; the dwarf picked him back up and started beating him; Sensei leaped in, raising his sword and going for the dwarf, in an instant, a strong surge of wind pushed him back into Varon, both falling to the ground on top of each other.
"Uh uh uh" The commander said holding up his finger, "It's rude to interrupt a soldier on duty".
Anger washed over Sensei as he stood helpless before the miner who was being beaten to death, Varon disgraced at his inability to do anything, NPCs powers were tied to their creator, and since Rage lost over 400 levels, so did Varon so he wasn't all powerful like he used to be.
"STOP!" Sensei yelled before attempting to rush towards the miner one more time before being pushed back again.
Suddenly, an arrow came flying past Sensei's head, piercing the dwarf who was beating the miner, Sensei looked back to see Rage, Phoenix and Hunter all standing behind him, strangely Madeen was nowhere to be seen.
The captain was startled for a second, he was too focused on Sensei to pay attention to them approaching from behind, the rest of the dwarves raised their shields, jumping into formation around the commander as they attempted to take the miners back to the chamber.
"Hey commander, don't you think it's bad manners not to introduce everyone to your guests" Rage smirked as he locked eyes with the commander.
Rage threw his dagger towards the wall to the left of the commander, a sudden strong gust of wind barely stopped it before a tall elf in green robes appeared, a look of surprise on his face.
"Never thought an elf and a dwarf can hold hands" Rage scoffed, before dashing towards the elf and grabbing his dagger, the Elf tried to conjure a spell only for Phoenix to slam his leg to the ground and causing a violent shake for the elf to trip over his feet.
Phoenix earthquake spell didn't seem to affect his party members, so Rage was unaffected by it, the dwarven commander though, was still standing, it was not enough to sweep him off his feet.
"How did you-?" The commander questioned, before barely shielding Sensei's strike.
"Eyes on me fucko!" Sensei yelled, going in for another strike, anger burning in his eyes.
Varon leaped past the commander, going for the dwarfs who were trying to escort the miners back, he raised his blade and with a swift sweep, three heads went flying as he positioned himself between the dwarves and the miners, "There are far too many my lord" He yelled to Rage who was struggling to get close to the elf.
"Then even out the numbers Varon!" Rage yelled with a half smile.
Varon nodded in understanding as he plunged his sword to the ground, kneeling while holding the handle, he started to chant a spell as tens of sentinels started to materialize around him, 45 sentinel in total, they were donned in the Highthorn guards unique armor, baring the clan's emblem on their chests,all looking stoicly at Varon, waiting for his order.
SUMMONED DEMONIC SENTINEL LV.20 X45
"Aid the lords!" Varon yelled, as the sentinels engaged the dwarven soldiers, pushing them back towards the direction of the chamber.
The miners took the chance, freeing themselves from the dwarves amidst the chaos and running towards Sensei for protection, the dwarves attempted to prevent them and a few miners died during the escape attempt, but the rest kept running and never looked back, Sensei was clashing swords with the commander, both on equal grounds while Rage closed the gap between him and the elf thanks to Hunter's covering fire.
Sensei bashed the commander with his shield, taking a mighty slash at his chest, piercing through his heavy armor, the dwarven soldiers noticed, "Protect the commander!" One of them yelled, as they tried to disengage with the sentinels and go for Sensei.
Some of the miners grabbed the swords of the fallen soldiers, and tried to aid the sentinels against the dwarves, both parties disengaged, both on equal grounds, on one side stood the dwarves, surrounding the elf and the commander, on the other side stood Rage and the sentinels, now accompanied by the miners who armed themselves.
"Hunter, Phoenix take the miners outside the cave, we can't fight while protecting them!" Rage called out to his friends who were standing in front of him.
In an instant Phoenix slammed his leg down again, causing the same violent earthquake, the dwarves fell off their feet, "This is my last bit of mana, we'll wait for you!" Phoenix yelled as he led the miners in the opposite direction.
"Now we dance" Rage said, as both parties clashed one more time.
The fight went on for 30 minutes before Rage, Sensei and Varon were almost out of stamina, half the sentinels were lost with the dwarves still vastly outnumbering them.
"The elf's elemental magic is on par with a level 80 elementalist" Rage said to Sensei, "Why are elves are dwarves joining hands, they used to hate each others guts!" he exclaimed, a sense of confusion in his voice.
"Well, it's all business" the commander laughed, "Money makes your worst enemy, your dearest friend" he continued raising his sword to order one last charge.
The sentinels surrounded the three, raising their shields and readying their blades for one final clash, they were vastly outnumbered, with two boss-level characters standing in front of them.
Rage took a deep breath, glancing at his two companions, before his eyes found its way back to the commander.
Sensei took a step to the front, "I'll buy you some time, go!" He yelled to his friends, who didn't move an inch from where they stood.
Rage looked at him with a smile, sensing the inevitable, Sensei not looking back, standing resiliantly in the face of the hundred dwarves.
As the commander bellowed the order to charge, the ground seemed to tremble with the force of a hundred dwarven boots, charging forward in unison.
Sensei, Varon, and Rage stood resolute, surrounded by their loyal sentinels, a mere twenty against the oncoming tide.
It felt like the end was imminent, the weight of the impending battle bearing down upon them.
Just as the commander's voice echoed, a figure suddenly leaped into view, halting the advance; It was Madeen, his scythe twirling as he faced off against the dwarven commander.
Simultaneously, a surge of disbelief washed over Rage and Sensei as they turned, their eyes widening; there Jimmy, Hunter, and Phoenix stood; their unexpected arrival a beacon of hope in the darkness of that miserable situation.
The odds had shifted, the scales of fate tipping in favor of unity and defiance against the impending clash.
"How dare you.." Madeen mumbled, his voice filled with unmeasurable Rage, "How fucking dare you!" he turned his head yelling to Rage, "You wanted to take all this loot for yourself, you bastard!" he continued, looking at Rage annoyed.
"This is not the time you fucker!" Rage yelled back, both quarreling in front of the dwarven commander and his hundred soldiers.
Madeen looked back, "Time to test that skill I got during the advancement" he said before raising his scythe, around him, tens of hellhounds appeared, small in size but still vicious, "Looks like I'll get a load of souls from this" Madeen smirked before charging at the commander.
The battle raged, the hellhounds were unnaturally quick, completely overwhelming the dwarves, with Jimmy weaving in spell after spell clashing with the elven elementalist, keeping his attention away from the rest of the group, Sensei charged at the commander, strike after strike the commander was left barely standing on his feet, his shield dented and his body exhausted, gasping for breath, Rage and Madeen executed the dwarves one by one before only the commander and the elf were left standing.
"Now for the main course" Madeen leaped forward, in a swift reaction the elf blasted the roof, the roof started collapsing, alongside the whole passage, "We'll meet again!" The commander yelled from behind the debris as Rage took Madeen's arms pulling him to the opposite direction.
The group dashed, the passage crumblind before them as they dodged rock after rock raining from the ceiling.
Not long after, a staircase came into view, they hastly climbed it only to see a dead end, Phoenix stepped up, slamming his fist to in the wall creating a gap that was widened by Jimmy a moment after.
They jumped through, seeing a tunnel that extended in one direction, In a race against time, they kept running through to finally see the exit.
They barely jumped through with the entire mine crumbling behind them, as they found themselves in front of the mine's entrance.
Rage picked himself up, "Are all the sentinels dead?" he asked Varon, whose soul was weary at his inability to protect his lords back then, "Yes, my lord, but i can summon more in two days time" Varon replied.
Rage approached Varon, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Thank you Varon, we could've never made it out if not for you" Rage smiled, encouraging his companion, aware of his inner thoughts.
Varon smiled, not meeting Rage's eyes, picking himself up and helping the others to their feet.
The group made their way back, Sensei and Rage injured, exhausted and barely standing, after a long walk the village entrance came into view, in front of the gate was Cedric in the armor Rage gifted him, riding a white horse, before him hundreds of swordsmen and tens of horsemen, all moving out of the gate.
Cedric looked up the main road, seeing Rage and his party moving towards the gate, "CALL THE HEALERS!" He yelled before he dismounted and dashed towards them.
Cedric barely made it to them before Rage and Sensei collapsed to the ground, last thing Rage saw was Cedric's worried face with a mix of yells and shouts coming from behind him.