Watching the sphere sew its damaged hole away did not strike any fear in the elf. He knew how these spells worked. He knew the cage he locked himself into and was ready for anything except for a particular smell.
The strong scent of heated metal invaded his nose. He looked around, trying to find the source, only not realizing in his mad dash he did not notice his metal arm running red hot,
heat waving off it like a forge; he cursed himself on calling for Khepri, a god inexpensive in gifting boons, to enchant this replica 'police issued' arm.
The elf mustered both tremendous mental and physical strength to use his near-slagged arm, only able to lift it barely up with its hand open
"Great, just great. I was not looking to blow a mountain of drachma on repairs! No way Shinji is going to give me a discount, damn!"
Alvis shouted into nothing or towards the sphere itself; with a grumble, Alvis trekked forward, following the street, taking in his surroundings
Inside the dome was not a pitched blackness but more akin to a day where the sun is blocked out by a cloud ready to pour the fiercest rainfall it could
The temperature matched the climate outside the dome. Despite the appearance, it felt like a beautiful summer day
While Alvis walked, it was almost immediately apparent that the city seemed empty of life but not possessions. The sidewalks were littered with clothes, armor, weapons, and drachma gold; not only were the sidewalks, but the cars in the streets were empty, only filled with the items from drivers and passengers that seemed to vanish from nowhere.
A deep exhale of relief escaped him. The city SOS teleportation system was unaffected by the sphere, portaling all the civilians, making any environmental damage from the upcoming battle would not hurt anyone
A status window appeared, shocking him. It was an ancient relic from his adventuring days, a simple program for solo adventurers to check the health and find open parties
[System Delay unexpected entry into dungeon instance SOS travel disabled for law enforcement
Dungeon Location: Redacted
….
…..
Health status: Arm overheated; please link up with the nearby party on 5th Avenue]
'well, ill be damn. 'Alvis thought the fact that it was still working was a proper stroke of luck. He started to comb a local map and brought up the system to process the abrupt information
It was more good news than the elf expected. The SOS dungeon spell saved the civilians; this sphere wasn't just a dungeon's defense but a known dungeon's defense system and the party that triggered this was alive and nearby on the next street over. Alvis broke out in a steady sprint, his searing arm hanging in the wind
Rounding the street to 5th Avenue, Alvis received another statue screen alerting him that the party he was connecting with was in combat with another party?! The information shocked him,
pushing him to pick up his pace and draw his pistol, ready to jump into a battle shooting. Adventurer parties fighting in actual combat was nonexistent within Yggdrasil, unlike the rest of the world
Any party vs. party notifications is usually a bandit group or assassins that forged adventure documents to get access to the guild system, which makes ambushing and robbing easier when everyone's minds and bodies are linked together
The wounded armed elf, upon seeing the battle, panicked! It was an ongoing massacre. The party he was coming to aid was now revealed to be a light party in ashes, the tank nowhere to be found
Two bodies lay mangled on the sidewalk. Their features were so violated from physical slashes, blunt force, and ice magic that Alvis could only guess their positions in the party from the clothes. It was the healer and a DPS.
The last one alive was a tall, light elf dressed in Nordic armor fit for a martial artist, chainmail rob and gloves with metal shoes
She was trapped in the middle of a triangle of three individuals in red and black assassin cloth: an orc with his body In a stone exoskeleton, a human rogue twirling a karambit knife with his pointer finger, and an elf his hands covered with ice frost with hints of red from his recent victims
They all were reeking of deadly magic. The elf and orc looked at each other and then at the human, giving him an approving shrug; an excited squeal came from the human, and he immediately dashed at the woman, unleashing a combo of cuts.
Alvis watched in endless frustration, seeing the elf stressfully dodge each strike, though each evasion left her with a different shallow cut that was getting deeper with each added dodge.
He wanted to intervene with the right place headshot, but the moment he physically pointed the weapon at the assassin, it would alert them, and then it would come down to whether he could make the shot in this state
If he missed, she would lose focus, and that human would kill her before attempting Alvis. His mind raced with calculations on his attack when he saw the elf's luck turn for her. By chance, the human, lost in the ecstasy of her blood getting on him, took a moment to embrace himself, moaning, leaving a small opening for a mid-body kick, taking him by annoyance and sending him flying towards Alvis, his comrades snickering at the girl making comments of the violations she would now endure by the human
Skidding on the road, the knife fighter slides to a stop at Alvis's feet, grumbling about how he would skin that woman alive. His words would stop cold, feeling three burning fits of rage behind him
An emotional aura, a magical one, and physical heat scratching at his whole body. Attempting to scramble to his feet, processing the new presence
He would not react to his opponent's speed, which invaded his shuffle to his feet. He would not react to the searing white heat on his face at first only because the feeling of a crushing hand around his face would dominate his senses only for a moment, then his flesh searing would settle in next.