The biggest issue was the time limit on the quest. Approximately two hours had already passed, which left Luna with roughly four hours to complete the quest.
In truth, escaping with those in her current group of fifteen was enough for Luna to clear her quest, and, of course, she had thought about doing this. However, the quest stated that the more civilians saved, the better the rewards one would acquire. Not only that, but something about this quest gave Luna a strange feeling.
Every S-ranked or higher quest she received always came with a failure penalty attached. While the exact punishment varied, there was an ever-present risk to the player for their failure. But, this SS-ranked quest was different. No matter what the end results turned out to be, the player would not be penalized for failing—and it was this part that concerned Luna. Was it merely luck that the SS-ranked quest she received had no downsides to the player for failing?
"Perhaps I am overthinking it." Luna thought to herself as she inwardly sighed. She observed her surroundings as she walked, being careful not to draw too much attention to herself in the process.
It may have been dark for the others in the group to see anything in detail, but having consumed a Five Cycles Pill, Luna had no trouble doing so.
The Night Lord's Crypt interior resembled a cross between a cathedral and an ancient temple. There was not a single window in sight, and located on the walls were numerous eerie relics of the past.
Upon entering the Night Lord's Crypt, Luna did not know if the hunter skounae was telling the truth or just saying it to scare them, but there was only one shared entrance and exit. This meant that if someone wanted to escape, they would have to somehow fight through hundreds of skounae and potentially hidden traps—at least, that would be the case if they were to take a more forceful approach.
Luna glanced down at her wrist. Her gaze landed on a silver bracelet that emitted a faint white hue that was invisible to all but its wearer. This bracelet was a quest item given to Luna by the person who assigned the SS-ranked quest to her.
Although its appearance was not too impressive, it was a genuine high-grade magic item. The system hid its exact rank, but its effects were more than enough to convince Luna of its high-quality.
With the silver bracelet, Luna could open a temporary portal that allowed those who entered to teleport a safe distance away from their current position. The coordinates were already predetermined and should place them somewhere at the edge of Amaharpe territory. However, the silver bracelet had a few setbacks. For one, it was a one-time use item. This meant that Luna had to activate it in the most heavily populated area of captives to maximize its usefulness.
Another drawback was that the portal it opened could be forcibly disrupted if it sustained too much damage. As a result, it required constant protection to ensure that it lasted long enough for the captives to safely arrive on the other side.
"We're here." The hunter skounae at the head of the group declared as they stopped before a giant metal door with four guards out front.
He then continued, "I will warn you now; escaping from this place is impossible. If any of you try to escape… After we capture you—and we will capture you—you will beg us to end your worthless life."
The hunter skounae swept his cold gaze across the group as everyone shivered at his words and avoided direct eye contact. A few seconds later, the giant metal doors opened as a cold suppressive gust of wind blew past the group and caused them to tremble instinctively.
…
Five minutes later…
"It's better lit than I expected." Luna thought to herself as she stood at the back corner of the room.
The room was spacious and not in as poor of a state as Luna expected it to be. Even the lighting was more suitable for the average person.
The ground was made of cheap stone-like material, and on the left side of the room were a few steps that led to a mystery corridor one could not see into.
"There is nowhere close to 200 civilians here. Since it's like this, the other captives must have been sent to a separate location in the Night Lord's Crypt—is that where the other two were taken?" Luna internalized.
In total, there were approximately eighty captives present and exactly fifteen skounae guarding separate areas of the room.
The people brought in may be weak for the most part; however, fifteen was still a small number to keep such a large crowd under control. At least, this would have been the case if not for the presence of one particular individual.
Fourteen of the skounae were mere hunters; however, the one located at the top of the steps was a female skounae who released a different kind of pressure with a sharp gaze.
NPC Name: Immortal Umbra Horde Earl Sakari(Rare)
NPC Level: ???
"That Earl is the reason why there are so few hunter skounae guarding this room. With someone like that watching over this area, no one would dare attempt an escape."
Luna was confident in taking care of the Hunter skounae without running into any trouble. Even if a Baron or Viscount was present, she still had confidence in getting everyone out safely. But, directly confronting an Earl—Luna knew that she would have a difficult enough time protecting herself, let alone a portal and nearly one hundred civilians.
"I need some type of distraction, but…" Luna looked around the room and witnessed the frightened faces of the captives.
The vast majority of captives were elderly and children. As for the men and women, while there was a handful of them, Luna determined that they had little to no combat experience judging from their levels. Most likely, the few who did have some combat experience died trying to protect their village when the skounae attacked.
Among those present, Luna did not believe any of them would be willing to risk their life to act as a distraction.
"Then, I will have to resort to 'that' method…" Luna stepped forward and approached one of the nearby hunter skounae.
"Pardon me," Luna called out.
"What? I don't have any food to give you. If you want to eat, you have to wait like the rest." The hunter skounae growled impatiently.
"I have no desire for food. I am but a humble servant of the All-Seeing Goddess. There are some who are still injured—I wish to ask your permission to heal them. Even if by a little, I want to ease their pain." Luna said as she clasped her hands together with a benevolent smile on her face.
At the same time, a faint luminous holy aura emitted from her body that carried with it a hint of divine power.
When the hunter skounae saw this, he instinctively took a step back. For some reason, being close to Luna made him feel sick. Though this was not surprising given the skounae's negative affinity towards holy energy.
"I-I don't have the authority to grant your request. I won't make any promises, but I will ask the Earl." The hunter skounae replied as he walked away hurriedly. Right now, he just wanted to get as far away from Luna as possible to get rid of that uncomfortable feeling.
Luna inwardly sighed. While it was technically true that she served the All-Seeing Goddess, it was still challenging for her to speak like a temple priestess. Thankfully, the hunter skounae seemed too distracted by her holy aura to suspect anything.
A few moments later, the hunter skounae returned. But, this time, he kept a distance between himself and Luna.
"Be grateful. The Earl has authorized your request. Though it's not like it'll make a difference anyways." The hunter skounae stated as he mumbled the last part under his breath.
"Please extend my gratitude to the Earl, and—may the All-Seeing Goddess guide your steps," Luna said gracefully as she emitted a calming divine aura.
The hunter skounae swiftly scurried off to distance himself from that wretched divine power, leaving Luna to her own devices.
"I don't know when they will move us again. I have to act fast." Luna internalized as she stepped into the crowd of captives.
