Arthur had one spell called Shape-shifting. He did not use it very often, only in specific situations, as it was a spell meant only for hiding, and did not increase his battle prowess.

Now, for the type of mission he was currently in, it was a blessing.

He cast the spell, turning into a common rat, just like the ones they had seen in the sewer a few moments ago, and walked out using the nearby exit.

The first thing he did when getting out of it was to gaze at all sides, looking for any enemies that could be around, waiting to kill him.

It was an empty street, and the reason for the place to be so quiet was because the sewer exit led directly to an alley. In Arthur’s opinion, that was the best place he could ever hope for.

Arthur walked through the alley with his small body rat to make sure there was nothing there, and when he was certain the place was clean, he returned to meet with his squad.

After changing to his normal appearance, he said, “the exit leads to an alley, which is perfect. I did not see anyone around, but let’s be careful, as there could be creatures patrolling the area.”

They all nodded in response, and one by one, climbed the ladder, reaching the empty alley.

All of them had some sort of technique to avoid detection, and one thing all the members of the squad could to was to move around without making noises, and that coupled with the black-cloaks and also walking using the shadows, it was almost impossible to spot them.

If they were spying on normal humans, then surely it would be a simple task without a single chance of failure, but against the dark races?

Most of these creatures could see in the dark, which was troublesome for them.

“You all know at least some camouflage technique, right?” Arthur said.

Arthur could use his invisibility on them, but that cost a lot of manas if held for a long time, and if they got into a fighting, then he would be at a disadvantage.

They did not know any invisibility spell, but all the members of that special squad had a camouflage, similar to a chameleon, which was good enough if they kept their bodies close to the walls.

With a peek, Arthur saw that the street close to the alley was empty, so he made a sign for them to follow him. Their destination was the castle, where most of the enemies would be.

It was easy to know the direction of that place, therefore they moved towards it, trying their best to not attract any attention.

Two vampires were talking to each other in the middle of the street. They even looked towards where Arthur and the others were, but found nothing different.

They talked in a familiar tongue, as vampires were humans after all, so Arthur could understand it perfectly.

“Did you hear about the elves coming towards us? Just like the general told us.”

“Really? I thought they wouldn’t be stupid enough to do that.”

“It seems they are, ha ha ha ha.”

Arthur heard all of that, and a bad feeling crossed his mind. It was at that moment he heard a voice from behind them, which said, “you are finally here.”

After that, Arthur and the others passed out, not knowing what waited for them.

~~~~

“Where am I? What happened?”

A pain at the back of his head, and an unknown place. From the looks of it, it was a cell.

“This reminds me of old Nefion.”

Arthur noticed all the others laying on the ground inside the same cell as him, but they had yet to wake up.

It was still a mystery how they had passed out, but Arthur knew it was because someone had used an attack from behind their backs.

What creature was that one? Even Arthur did not notice it, and he passed out without fighting back.

He did not know, but the creature behind the attack was someone that had followed them since the moment they entered the sewers. A stealthy type of creature that was small, with a hunched back, and wield a rapier.

That creature was one general from the dark races army, therefore he was strong. One of his signature attacks was a sleeping one.

Although it took him some time to use the attack, it worked like a charm when he coupled it with his extraordinary sneaking abilities, just like how he did with Arthur.

“Can I teleport out of here?”

Arthur focused on his time-space ability, but no matter what he did, the spell did not come out. Not only that spell, but any other type of spell he tried, it did not work.

Even his raw strength could not break the bars of that cell.

“This is not ordinary materials. Fuck. Think, Arthur, think.”

If his guess was correct, whoever took him had other plans, or else he would already be dead.

Maybe torture? No, if that was the case, then he would not be inside that cell resting but in an unfamiliar room feeling endless pain.

What were they planning for him? The moment Arthur was eager for answers, someone opened up the huge metal door near their cells.

“Well, look who is here.”

That person was an elf, and when Arthur saw him, he quickly guessed it was Kymil’s father.

“Just the traitor I was looking for.” Arthur said.

“Indeed, that’s me, but I’m not only a traitor, but someone who sees the future, and the future belongs to the Doom Order.”

“Huh?”

From all the things Arthur thought he would hear from that man, the Doom Order was not one of them.

Wasn’t that a cult that tried to resurrect the demons? But Arthur thought they were not that spread out to cover a whole different country.

A strange thought crossed his mind.

“Could the dark lands actually be the place of birth of that cult?”

Lost in thoughts, Arthur heard the next sentence coming from the traitor, and as bad as it sounded, it was still a chance for them to escape.

“Rest well. You will all become gladiators, and if you survive, then you will fight in the dark lands as well. We have tons of humans gladiators, elves, and all kinds of races.”

“See ya.”