The Greatest Sinner

As the guardian commander activated the formations, a multitude of spells attacked members of the Dark Dogs. Berta reacted faster than the others. She was going to protect her comrades.

Before the spells reached their target, two skeletons in black armor stood beside Berta, as did all her comrades. They were ready for such a situation. At the same second, Berta cast her most potent protective spell.

A white Magic Circle appeared beneath her feet, from which a glass barrier appeared. Berta and her companions were protected by a dome of particularly strong crystalline glass. Such a barrier could withstand several blows from a second-rank monster. Level one spells could do almost no damage to it.

Nevertheless, there were several second-level formations in this room. With every second level spell hit, many cracks appeared in the barrier and eventually, it began to collapse..

Whoosh.

The bracelet on Berta's hand glowed brightly and she cast another spell. A large Golem with a broad iron shield emerged from beneath the ground. It covered the group of Dark Dogs from those attacks that came through the barrier.

"Evan, maybe we should join the fight. The guards are wounded, and the Dark Dogs look like they're about to die." Said Roland.

"No, not yet. Unfortunately, we are the weakest here, we need to wait until they kill each other or are seriously wounded. If the mage on the stage is 'Two-Pointed Star' wounded, the two of us should handle him. There's no need to rush, we're lucky, and we should take this opportunity." Evan said calmly as he watched dozens of spells rain down on the Dark Dogs.

Lots of people were lucky, but they didn't always know how to take advantage of that luck in the right way. Evan wasn't going to make such silly mistakes, all he had to do was wait a little while, and he would get a huge amount of different treasures.

Crack.

The barrier finally broke, and the huge Golem was destroyed, but all formations were already over. Now the guards could only rely on their strength, the formations helped them immensely, for five of the seven 'Dark Dogs' members were seriously wounded. They would not be able to fight any further, and they urgently needed potions or pills.

In the end, the battle turned into a two-on-five, but the guards were just as wounded. What's more, Berta was practically unharmed. She had very little mana left, but she still had a huge sword in her hands and two deadly skeletons.

"Damn, I knew there were a lot of formations set up here, but I didn't expect that I wouldn't be able to block them all. A little more, and we could have all died, but now it's over!" Brutally Berta said and rushed into battle.

She attacked the commander while her skeletons attacked the other guards. The remaining uninjured member of the Dark Dogs tried to help his commander with all his might. He fought two guards at once and even gained the upper hand. He was a 'Creator' and specialized in ice spells. Dozens of ice spikes and crystals rained down on the guards inflicting numerous wounds.

Bam.

Berta swung her sword and cut off the guards' commander's arm. He was seriously wounded, she just crushed him by force. The next moment she grabbed the commander by the neck and pierced his body on her sword. That was the end of their fight.

When the other guards saw how easily Berta handled their commander, their morale dropped. They lost the would to win and were soon killed. All members of the Dark Dogs were wounded, even Berta, but none of them died. It was a crushing victory, and now they could take anything from the Paper Hydrangea's vault.

"Roland, do you know of any 'Summoning' spells to immobilize them?" Evan asked in a whisper.

"Yes, I can immobilize everyone except her," Roland replied, pointing at Berta.

"That will be enough, don't attack, it's time to negotiate." Said Evan, and at the same time, Roland cast his spell.

Many blue magical circles appeared on the ground, and big hands came out of the water. They grabbed the wounded members of the Dark Dogs, but they didn't twist them, just immobilized them.

Berta looked at her comrades in surprise and said stiffly, "Who is here? Come out, and I'll have you in an instant!"

Immediately after her words, Evan came out of hiding, along with Roland. They stepped forward quietly. Berta prepared for the fight, for they were dressed in the uniforms of the members of the Paper Hydrangea.

"Roland, will you kindly cast that spell, we don't need those clothes anymore," Evan said calmly.

His partner nodded, and a second later, the uniform was replaced by their usual clothes.

"We don't want to fight, how about negotiating?" Evan said with a slight smile on his face. He was sincere and tried to look as friendly as possible. He didn't want to fight Berta, she would probably kill him.

Berta frowned, she didn't like this situation.

<Hmm, it looks like he's telling the truth, but he took my men hostage anyway. And most importantly... they don't seem to belong to any organization.> Berta thought, looking at the water hands that Roland had summoned. If he decided to act, Berta's men would die in terrible agony. They would be crushed.

"What do you want? I hope you realize that I could cut your heads off at any moment." Berta threatened, pointing her massive sword in Evan's direction.

"I suggest we split the loot, we wanted to steal the Paper Hydrangea just as much as you did. We didn't expect you to interfere, but we're willing to share." Said Evan.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA." Berta suddenly laughed out loud.

"Are you out of your mind? Do you really think I'm an idiot? You're both at the stage - 'One-Point Star' and you only have one flame burning. There's no way you'd ever, ever beat the commander of the guards. You want to negotiate, fine. How about this: you let my comrades go and get out of here. In return, I will let you live."

Berta didn't expect anyone other than them to want to robber the 'Paper Hydrangea,' but when she saw Evan and Roland's 'Pillars of Soul,' she knew she had nothing to fear. Naturally, she wouldn't even consider Evan's proposed deal; in her opinion, it was the ravings of a madman. She had no intention of sharing such treasures with anyone.

Berta was second in command of the Dark Dogs and had been to their vault often. She knew how much treasure was in such places. Moreover, the Paper Hydrangea was known as the richest organization in all of Inlas.

"Not the kind of response I expected, well we're leaving. When we get a safe distance away, my partner will reverse the spell. All the best, we won't bother you again." Evan said quickly and gestured for Roland to leave.

"Evan, what are you doing?" Roland asked, puzzled, but Evan didn't stop.

<This guy is pretty clever. If they leave first and only then reverse the spell, I can't kill them. Whatever, it doesn't matter if they live or not.> Berta thought as she watched the young men go.

As Evan rounded the corner, he stopped Roland and said stiffly: "Crush those bastards. I'm going to tear that whore to pieces right now."

The next moment Evan's spatial ring glowed, and he had two bombs in his hands.