Chapter 39 - 38 Busting In

Having waited for the optimal time Marcus began his plan to break in. He had thought of many methods to try and rescue Lilia but ultimately decided for a more forward approach. Having scanned everyone's level he was able to determine that the two guards outside were both level ten while two of the people inside were level elven and one was thirteen. He had tried to check Osman's but found that he could still not see his level.

Marcus then climbed down the warehouse and using the cover of night and his stealth skill approached the front of the warehouse before slipping into a nearby alley. Once he was hidden in the alley, he slumped up against the warehouse wall before unpossessing Irene's body. Floating over towards the guards at the entrance, Marcus waited for one of them to leave to use the restroom before taking over the other ones body. After overshadowing the guards soul Marcus bid his time until the other guard came back, and he went over to him and clasped his hands around the man's head and casted his sparks spell knocking him unconscious.

'If it is not broke don't fix it, as long as these guys keep letting me shock them right on the head who am I to stop.'

Dragging the man into the alley where he had left Irene's body, Marcus then climbed to the roof of another warehouse and jumped off leaving the man's body before he impacted the ground. Afterwards Marcus repossessed Irene's body and went over to the man who now had two broken legs and a concussion. The man was letting off groans of pain before Marcus knocked him fully unconscious. He then tied up the two men and had successfully cleared the front guards.

'There we go now I have completed the easy part; the hard part will be taking down Osman, but I think I can do it, I was hoping to be able to infiltrate with stealth, but I have to get the keys to the cages and only Osman has them.'

With the front guards taken care of Marcus floated through the back wall of the warehouse and patiently waited. After observing the warehouse for the last couple of days Marcus had made note of the times when one of the slavers would go around giving food to the occupants of the cages. When his prey had separated from the rest of the group and was handing out food to the creatures on the back walls Marcus took this time to strike possessing the unlucky man. Unfortunately for Marcus it was the level thirteen who had lost the last game and been forced to make the rounds. With the man's higher level, he fought Marcus tooth and nail for a good three minutes before Marcus barely managed to come out on top.

'Ugh that was probably the hardest battle over a body I have ever had, if my spirit stat was not abnormally high for my level, I probably would have had no chance of possessing him. I need to act quick though I cannot keep control for long.'

Pretending to be the man Marcus then started yelling and screaming that one of the beasts had got ahold of his arm and that he needed help. With his passable acting he managed to lure over another one of the slavers who he then tied up with his iron threads before slamming him into one of the cages multiple times until the man fell unconscious. With the loud ruckus that Marcus had just created both Osman and the other slaver began approaching Marcus. When the two of them came within his darkvision, Marcus unleashed a lightning Javelin towards the grunt hitting him square in the stomach causing his body to shack all over and collapse his muscles twitching unable to move. Osman with an astonished expression said, "So you are a traitor Keith, well then die."

Osman unfurling a whip with a blade at the tip lashed out towards the head of the man Marcus was possessing. Already at his limit of controlling the man's body Marcus made a quick escape as the whip separated the man's head from his torso. Floating back onto the other side of the wall Marcus reentered Irene's body and took out his scythe. With his scythe in hand Marcus let his mana flow into it before slashing towards the wall of the warehouse. As the scythe's blade connected with the wood it sliced through until there was a gap large enough for Marcus to fit through.

Surprised to see him burst through the wall Osman turned around going from angry to furious at the sight of another attacker.

"And who the hell are you, are you partners with that scum Keith, well you are to late and he is already dead."

Osman fury then receded a bit as he looked over Marcus thoroughly before saying, "Well now aren't you a beauty, this is your lucky day since I am not going to kill you and being only a level eleven, you really do not have a chance against me. Oh, and do not worry I won't scar your pretty face."

'Crap he must have creature appraisal as well, but from my intel he should only be around level fifteen, with my busted skills if I play this right, I should be able to eke out a victory.'

After the two of them had finished sizing each other up Osman made the first move lashing his mana infused whip towards Marcus' right leg. With the help of his danger sense and scythe skill Marcus managed to redirect the whip with the scythe's handle so it only grazed his leg.

'Fuck, his whip is fast, if I had not blocked that he would have severed the muscles in my leg, and I would be unable to move properly I need to be careful this is going to be the fight of my life.'

Continuing for a few more exchanges, Marcus was barely able to block and taking minor injuries with each flick of the whip, keeping him from approaching Osman. In order to close the distance, Marcus unleashed the lightning javelin spell he had finished chanting hoping to distract Osman. The javelin flew at an incredible speed towards Osman but being multiple levels higher than Marcus he was able to dodge the attack with only a bit of effort. However, this did allow Marcus to close the distance where the whip would be harder to use. Unfortunately, Osman had used the whip for many years and had already fought countless battles and had developed counter measures for close range fighting. With Marcus getting closer Osman cracked his whip into the ground causing it to rebound up in a v shape towards Marcus. The unexpected attack caught Marcus completely off guard as he hastily moved his scythe to block the whip. While he did prevent the whip from giving him a debilitating wound it still sliced into his left arm penetrating Marcus' Iron skin like it was not even there. Osman then delivered a powerful kick to Marcus' stomach sending him reeling across the floor.

'Damn it this guy is stronger than I thought, he moves pretty fast and has way more combat experience then me, not to mention his overall stats are higher than mine. I need to hope this works or I am certain to lose.'

As Osman approached Marcus' battered body that was bleeding from multiple shallow wound in what seemed to be a very desperate attempt Marcus threw his scythe towards Osman. Astonished by Marcus' level of stupidity for throwing away his weapon Osman simply sidestepped to the left letting the scythe harmlessly pass by. However, Marcus had intentionally chanted his lighting javelin spell earlier so when he unleashed his next one with no chant at all he caught Osman completely by surprise. Using every ounce of reflex and skill he had, Osman twisted his body to the right barely dodging the lightning javelin. With Osman off balance and surprised by his chant less magic Marcus enacted the final faze of his attack, pulling with all his might the iron threads attached to his scythe reeled it back towards him before its blade lodged directly into Osman's right shoulder.

Osman distressed to see the sharp blade of the scythe protruding from his shoulder immediately moved to pull it out. Not letting this opening go unpunished Marcus leaped towards Osman tackling him into the ground. Osman tried to strike Marcus with his whip but with his right shoulder skewered by a scythe his arm could not get the whip to move with any precision or force. On top of Osman Marcus began to relentlessly thrash him with iron coated fisted occasionally also throwing in a spark spell to stun him. After taking Marcus' brutal beating for over a minute and being unable to offer any meaningful form of resistance Osman eventually succumbed to Marcus' onslaught falling unconscious. Breathing heavily and completely exhausted Marcus rolled off Osman's bloody body taking a quick rest.

'I won, I had to abuse every trick at my disposal, but I won. Had he been trying to kill me I am pretty sure I would have had no chance, but he underestimated me. Augh I do not have time to lay around right now, I have to find and rescue Lilia before any of the other slavers arrive.'

Shakily getting to his feet Marcus searched Osman and found the keys to the cages, he then started looking around for Lilia as everyone he passed begged and pleaded for him to let them out. Ignoring the other people but taking note of the other ones from Irene's community Marcus eventually found Lilia when he heard a loud bang.. Turning around he saw a deep depression in the bay doors before another loud bang and the doors splintered and broke open revealing the man that Marcus least wanted to see, the slave group's leader Ander.