Chapter 1572: Rescues and Kidnappings (Part 1)
BANG!
BANG!
"What??"
"Explosions!"
"Bombs! It’s an attack!!!"
"AHHHH! RUNNN!!"
Chaos quickly descended on the feast, the crowd immediately running in various directions. Desperately, they ran away from where there was perceived damage.
There were some fires, particularly in the woods. This was followed by heavy purple smoke that quickly spread around, making people cough and get dizzy, and many lost their balance.
Those who were below level 20 even outright fainted.
Some even fell down and even bubbled in their mouths!!
"Is the smoke... poisoned?!" they gasped, squealing, but most were quick to cover their mouths and noses as they ran. No one bothered with those people unless they were close friends, which was fairly rare. For the most part, these people were just stepped over or even stepped on.
Many people didn’t breathe, thinking they should be able to leave the large villa without breathing, considering their levels. It was just that... even those who had stopped breathing were still affected!
More and more people fell down, mouths bubbling, casting terror in people’s hearts.
Things got scarier when some other people—who were way higher level than 20—started acting groggy, until the same thing happened to them!
"That guy is level 32! How could poison affect him so easily?!"
"Run!"
"Ahhh!"
Even those past level 30 felt panic grip their hearts. Since they had passed the ’average’ level back then, there had been very few cases they had felt afraid. The only exception was when facing people like the Lord, who were far stronger than they were.
There was simply not much that could threaten them past level 35.
But what was this now!?
"Orcshit! Let’s get out of here as soon as possible!"
"Get out of my way!!"
Worse, a few more ’boom’ sounds resounded—nobody noticed if they were even actually explosions anymore—people panicked even more.
Boom!
Bang!
"Wha–"
"It isn’t over?!"
"GET AWAY!"
This indicated that there were more hidden ’bombs’ elsewhere. Who knew where the next ones would explode?!
High-level ones didn’t even bother to check the cause of the commotion; they just jumped out to safety. Who could blame them? This wasn’t even their house. Why would they bother?
Even the Lord and the people inside unexpectedly reacted slowly for some reason.
"Why are the Lord and the others not here yet? Was this caused by them?" Someone (Veronica) asked with a modified voice amongst the crowd.
They weren’t really expecting a frame-up to succeed, but it sure was a welcome misdirect.
Her words gripped people’s hearts. Few believed it, but this still planted some guardedness in their already terror-stricken hearts.
Anyway, chaos ensued, and it had become a small stampede in certain bottlenecks.
"Get to the Beast Carts!" A voice yelled, and many people rushed over to the Beast Cart dedicated to this area.
Noble houses had their own Beast Inns. After all, big events like these were not uncommon among noble houses.
The smoke spread extremely quickly that even people way past level 30 were easily reached. In their panicked minds, they thought going to the beast carts was a faster way to avoid it.
And so, many people headed there, including... some of the people who caused all this in the first place.
...
Somewhere on the northern side of the venue, a couple of blondes were being pushed towards the walls by the crowd. They moved along the wall so that at least one side was covered.
"I feel dizzy," Marcus remarked, and he was pulled by his sister and mother. They covered his nose with the handkerchief that appeared in their hands and pockets. They didn’t know what it was, but it smelled good, and by instinct, they used it when the smoke appeared.
Octavia also felt shocked and confused by what was happening, unable to react quickly.
A hand held hers. "Let’s go," Zinnia said, and they all evacuated with the rest.
"Don’t face the crowd, Octavia," Zinnia said, pushing someone away from Octavia. The crowd was getting denser after all, and Zinnia even held her back as if guarding her and the baby in her stomach.
The red head’s eyes flickered and followed her instructions.
On the other side, Kalfene and the others were squeezed out too. They didn’t know what the poison was, and explosives were generally only available in cities.
Did this mean they were being attacked by a City!?
The fact that he, at level 36, could feel a bit weakened meant that this poison wasn’t made by a weak alchemist! If they got poisoned, perhaps they’d have to beg Grandmaster Hoffen to help them out this time! Would they even be able to leave this house?
(That said, he realized that many people of a similar level had fallen already, but he didn’t have much time to ponder that).
So many things were going wrong that few people were able to think properly.
Then he heard a cry somewhere.
"Dwarf god’s must be angry with us!" a voice yelled. The voice itself was unfamiliar, but he knew that it was a signal to him.
Kalfene’s feet stopped, causing a blockage, and angering the people behind.
"Hey!"
"Get out of the way!!"
He was pushed around and almost lost his balance. Fortunately, his level was decent, and the others were also weakened by the smoke.
"Here! Kahonn! Sleuth!!" He yelled at his companions, who grabbed each other, pushing themselves through the crowd and against the walls.
Kahonn looked confused. They ended up in an awkward corner that was in the path of the crowd. If they took a step back, they’d be carried away by the crowd. "Why are we here?"
Kalfene looked around. He wasn’t sure why either.
Suddenly, they felt hands on their shoulders.
"Let’s go to the carriage! Escape the dwarf gods wrath!"
The three toolmakers were a little confused.
They looked at the unfamiliar men acting overly familiarly with them, but they found themselves literally going with the flow anyway.
Kalfene was disappointed that he didn’t know them at all. While he understood that Otto couldn’t be here himself, it still cast a few doubts.
But then the person who grabbed him grinned reassuringly. "The priest of the dwarf god awaits us."
He blinked. As they were led to the Beast Cart area, each one with an arm gripping their shoulders, an idea soon dawned on them.
Did these people actually cause this chaos?!