There was a second rumble, and this time the nobles looked down at the floor for the source. The guests all spread to the higher floor, and some made for the exits.

  “Ah… everyone stay calm, and I am sure I can get the answers,” Captain Bormac of the watch said, looking nervous as well.

  The adventure lords and anyone with a class that gave them a combat skill instinctively reached for their weapons.

  It wasn't against the law to carry around a weapon in a scabbard, but it was definitely against the law to carry a blade openly with the edge exposed. A small detail that Watch Captain Bormac was about to ignore, considering the situation.

  And what was the situation? He didn't exactly know, but that was a sort of semantics on account of his [danger sense] skill, warning him of something that was about to happen.

  “Who would dare to attack a noble here of all places,” a guard said.

  The bards had stopped playing music a long time ago, or it seemed that way, and the guests were looking anxious as the seconds passed.

  They didn’t know if this was indeed an attack, a dungeon gate manifestation, or something else entirely.

  “What type of dungeon can manifest in a warded area?” Guild mistress Magda began.

  “A powerful dungeon,” Bormac completed the thought she was having.

  There was always a certain lack of self-preservation when it came to the rich and powerful because no matter how worse the situation kept getting, Artoz noticed none of the guests had taken the many back doors.

  His hand held onto his katana that was still sheathed, but some of the other guests had their swords drawn from their spatial bags.

  Others had their wands at the ready, but oddly enough, they were all waiting and looking around for this presumed enemy.

  With the music from the bards gone and the tremors beneath their feet stopping, the room felt silent. There was a shuffling of feet, but still it was quiet in the sense that they were waiting for the next tremors.

  They waited, and just when it was starting to feel like it wasn’t going to happen, a bard started a slow tune, only for another booming impact to rock the ballroom from below.

  The floor shuddered violently one more time, the marble split with a sharp crack, and dust imploded outward, sending shards of stone and tiles across the room.

  The guests gasped, and the screams filled the ballroom.

  Artoz stepped back and braced himself, while Magda and Bormac came up behind him.

  When the dust cleared, there was a gaping, burning hole that had been opened up at the center of the room.

  Something moved in the dust, then there was a crunch of debris, and Artoz narrowed his eyes, focusing on the movement.

  A figure was climbing out and up through the opening, and the tiger leonin realized that he recognized the figure.

  Darrow was the first to emerge from the underground basement. He hauled himself up and onto the ballroom floor.

  Magda recognized him instantly as well. Her eyes widened in puzzlement, then narrowed in suspicion, and Watch Captain Bormac’s face was already twisted in fury, his cheeks going red.

  “What are you doing here, adventurer?” she asked, lowering her staff.

  "You... i knew ye were trouble." Bormac pointed his massive finger at him.

  Darrow wiped the dust from his arm, and he had a half smile on his face as he looked up at all three of them.

  “one moment... Just rescuing a client,” he said easily.

  Unlike the two dwarves whose faces were reddening in fury, the leonin Artoz grinned faintly and had an amused look on his face.

  The crowd stared uncertainly, and they watched as he turned back towards the hole.

  “Send him up,” Darrow yelled.

  “Who are you talking to?” Bormac asked, and the watch captain moved in closer to peer down into the hole.

  A faint voice responded from below, and Darrow crouched, extending his hand down.

  ---

  The ward was holding for now, but Enris could tell that it wasn’t going to last long.

  Damian looked up, then set himself right above the hole.

  “Step in my hand. I will throw you up,” he said.

  The half-elf looked up at Darrow, who was lowering his hand to catch him, back down at Damian, then he hesitated.

  With the ward enchantment almost at its end, Damian just grabbed the half-elf and tossed him up the opening they had created.

  He let out a grunt of effort as the man was thrown, and Darrow grabbed his arm, then with all the strength he could muster, he pulled Enris until the half-elf man was clear of the hole.

  The nobles murmured. Some were alarmed, and some were even confused.

  “It’s not a dungeon gate,” Guild Mistress Magda said as she frowned at the hole in the expensive marble flooring.

  “Then what is it?” a wealthy-looking half-elf asked her, but didn’t come any closer.

  “Criminals, maybe… digging through the floor,” the man clicked his tongue.

  Internally, Darrow felt something lurch, then his mana came back to him, and he looked down at the last remaining person. The shielding ward under the attacks of the mage and his ghouls suddenly broke, and Damian’s eyes widened.

  He turned, took a short run up, and he leaped, catching Darrow’s waiting outstretched hand.

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  Darrow hurled him up, and he came to a stop beside him.

  The growls started getting louder from within the hole, and the guests drew even further back if possible.

  “I got you,” Darrow said as the first ghoul made a loud screech that made it above ground.

  Lord Greldo didn’t miss what was going on. In fact, he was panicking and gripping his silk coat tightly. He knew what he had been keeping in the basement warehouse of his estate. So he turned to flee.

  Most other nobles would have used it to store goods and sell them for profit at a more convenient time, or they would have used the space in a vault for their treasures.

  Lord Raan noticed him, and his eyes narrowed at the man's fleeing form. Then, as if it wasn’t bad already, he looked down and saw the two brothers.

  He could have said it was all about his honor, but in reality, he just didn’t like the pair. He didn’t like their attitude, he didn’t like their confidence, and most importantly, he didn’t like the feeling in his gut that told him that not one of them but both of them were better than him.

  As the sound of ghouls and corrupted goblins shrieked loudly out of the hole, Artoz stepped forward and readied himself. He didn’t draw his katana, no. That would have been too much.

  In contrast to his calm and calculating approach, the watch captain was getting anxious. Not because he was scared or anything. It was simply because he had forgotten his uniform at home, and he had to tear up the expensive fabric hugging his body.

  He turned, caught sight of the two boys, and his face grew furious again.

  “You!! What did you do?”

  “We did nothing,” Damian answered him.

  “What are they?” Guild Mistress Magda asked.

  “Ghouls,” Darrow said as he helped Enris pull Damian back away from the hole.

  “A portal then?” the captain asked.

  “No, just another mad mage,” Darrow said.

  Even as the warriors held their swords readily, the mercenaries formed up instinctively, and the Goliath bodyguards took positions close to their charges.

  The room went silent, then in that oh-so-long second erupted with a horrible roar that turned into a guttural growl as the first ghoul managed to climb into view.

  Damian and Darrow watched the first ghoul climb into view. Its skin was a dark, sickly grey and stretched over muscle, but its eyes were what really caught them off guard.

  They weren't pitch black like those of the mana-corrupted goblins. They were slitted like a cat’s and burnt yellow as they locked onto the three of them.

  “Ghouls,” someone screamed.

  “Impossible,” another voice added, filled with disbelief.

  Watch Captain Bormac fumble around his waist, grab his wand, and raise it. The adventurers, Leonin and Goliath, did the same as protective wards appeared over the guests.

  Despite seeing the second ghoul come out of the ground and watching it look around cautiously, Artoz didn't move. He just stood there as simple as a man like him would be, without a care in the world.

  Despite there being more and more targets, the first ghoul still had its eyes trained on Damian, Darrow, and Enris. It leaped at them, and Damian met it with his fist.

  His bones creaked, and for the briefest of moments, he thought that his bones would break, but that did not happen. The ghoul was sent flying back and into the pit, and Damian stared at his hand still filled with mana.

  The third ghoul burst out of the hole and lunged at Darrow.

  He stepped to the side and jumped back. Darrow stepped on the ghoul’s head, pushed downward, and the force of the back-flip launched him farther than he expected to go.

  He landed, still off-balanced by the power and from the linked casting in his body as the crowd of nobles, merchants, and patrons—at least those who couldn't fight—watched on.

  Artoz remained still. Even as the guests in the ballroom started panicking and fleeing all around him, he just looked at the ghoul.

  A scream erupted from one of the servants, then even more creatures came out of the ground. These were ghouls, all lengthy limbs, twitching muscles, with sharp claws and sharper teeth. These were people—goblins, humans, and even elves. They were all mana-corrupted and frothing at the mouth.

  “Interesting,” he muttered. It seemed like someone had performed a ritual on these people. This was certainly going to draw the attention of the drakes.

  If the ghouls had given the crowd a scare, then seeing the faces of their fellow citizens turned into corrupted, half-dead beings sent chills down their spines.

  Screams filled the ballroom, and even the nobles had to get involved in the fighting as they made their escape.

  One of the nobles even had a lynx that fought by her side, appearing then disappearing and watching her back.

  Artoz breathed once, centered himself, then moved. He didn’t draw his sword, he didn’t cast any spells—he simply moved.

  The ghoul ran towards him, and it attacked him. Then, faster than anyone could perceive, his hand flashed, and his claws cut across the ghoul’s arm.

  The creature jumped, and the blow sent it flying through the fallen rock, through a corrupted goblin, and into a wall.

  One of the corrupted came running at him, and he kicked it away, letting the speed of his movement send it back. It hit the floor once and bounced, leaving a bloody streak where it fell, unable to move.

  The ghoul got back to its feet. It screeched at him, then charged. This time, Artoz drew his katana and cut downwards. The air seemed to shimmer, and the ghoul was split in half as it lunged at him.

  Guildmistress Magda was in a battle of her own as two corrupted and a ghoul attacked her. She raised her enchanted staff, and magical circles appeared on the floor around her.

  Circles appeared on the marble floor and her staff, and the weight around her intensified. The gravity trap activated, and everything attacking her was lifted mid-air, then slammed into the ceiling.

  Watch Captain Bormac was right beside her. He drew his dwarven hammer in one hand, held his wand in another, and when another of the six ghouls attacked him, he struck it down with his war hammer.

  To the brothers, it was clear that all three of them were beyond level twenty-five, a feat that was somewhat hard to come by, especially for combat classes.

  He turned, fired a blue bolt of energy from his wand, and a corrupted goblin collapsed with a hole in its chest.

  Magda tapped her staff down twice, the floor sigils intensified, and creatures came crashing back down with enough force to break bones.

  Artoz slashed left, and the ghoul flanking him was cut so easily it didn’t disturb his stride as he continued his lazy walk.

  Damian used his one good hand to punch one of the corrupted humans, just as another moved towards Darrow, and lacking full function of his arms, he ducked and weaved.

  “I need some help here, is there a healer,” he yelled to the crowd of nobles, wealthy and powerful.

  Ordering the wealthy and powerful was supposed to be a foolish ideal. In fact, it was not something anyone would think of doing, but Darrow didn't care. He was bold that way.

  “Darrow!!! come to me,” Damian started, then froze as his body shimmered with a white green light.

  The same happened to Darrow, and he yelped in a joy that was halfway between fury and elation as he watched his hand heal. He punched the corrupted dwarf back, and he felt its jaw crack.

  Damian turned, “Auh… thank you,” he stammered to the young woman who stood with a lynx at her side.

  Enris, however, was not ready to fight again. He had already used most of his mana trying to escape the ghouls in the basement. Unlike him, however, the brothers were yet to run out of mana. He noticed this and resolved to ask them when he got the chance.

  It was rare to see the powerful and wealthy help one another, and on the other hand, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise. The wealthy had a way of reminding each other of favors done and debts owed.

  And in the case of the twins, the goodwill shown would be repaid sooner than they thought, if they even bothered to think that far.

  With their bodies healed, the brothers fought like the most experienced soldiers Captain Bormac had ever seen. Damian blocked, and Darrow attacked.

  Of course, there was no power backed by levels, but what skill they had that allowed them to fight like that was valuable for anyone who fought in an army.

  He knew this because he had once been a gatekeeper at the Demons Gate, and when everything was more powerful than you, you needed an ally to watch your back.

  Guild Mistress Magda was not one for surprises, but she had to admit the brothers were something else. One of them at least had to have a strategist’s skill. Otherwise, the way they fought would be impossible.

  She was beginning to understand why the brothers had even thought it was a good idea to fight a silver-ranked dungeon boss.

  Artoz simply stepped forward and took the heads of five corrupted individuals. The two ghouls that had tried battling him were already dead. He wasn't using his skills. His levels alone were enough to deal with this threat.

  The last remaining ghouls and corrupted piled on forward, and the marble floor was soon filled with pools of blood.

  Magda used her enchanting skill and trapped more corrupted. Watch Captain Bormac use his wand and hammer, dispatching a few more. And some of the lords and ladies, like Raan, were fighting and killing the corrupted.

  As it all came to an end, the ballroom was in ruins. The beautiful chandelier that once hung in the large room was shattered on the ground, the bards who had hidden behind the stage lifted their heads, and the room went silent.