I found the location of where the rubble was quite easily considering it was the only one that was inside the building.
It seems like a part of the building's outer wall had collapsed inwards, creating a mound of debris which I assumed the girl that our elf mage had seen should be buried under.
"Is that it?" I asked, nodding at the pile of rubble in front of us. "How is she even alive? Are you sure it's safe for us to try and get her out of there?"
As soon as I asked that question, I heard muffled voices coming from within the debris itself.
Even with the voice muffled, I could tell that it was someone calling for help underneath all the rubble.
My hesitation disappeared and I started digging at the rubble, pulling the pieces off the top of it hoping that it would decrease the weight pressing down on however was underneath there.
But as I reached down to grab another piece of debris, I suddenly felt a sense of unease coming from my right and I immediately jumped back.
Right on time as well since a bullet whizzed through the space I had occupied just a moment ago.
Even more of those masked guys had shown up, though this time it looks like only two of them were armed with a firearm while the others seemed to be awakened humans who were planning to try and take me out with their abilities.
I responded immediately by tossing the debris I had held in my other hand at the two guys with the guns.
Neither of them could even react as the giant slab of concrete smashed into them, sending them flying out of the building to crash somewhere on the street, probably already turned into a pancake.
The other masked men took that as a cue to start their attack, all of them rushing towards me.
I counted at least eight of them, three of them armed with a melee weapon while the other five were unarmed.
One guy with a shield tried to leap towards me in a shield charge but Olivia intercepted him, punching at his shield with a lightning infused fist that created a lightning field around her.
The shield projected a wall of light that blocked off the lightning but the guy ended up being flung back from the force.
The rest tried to run around Olivia, completely ignoring her and going straight for me.
I trusted my back to the elf and leapt into the fray after Olivia, going against a guy with a longsword first.
He tried to swing it at me and I leapt back to avoid the swing, only for the sword to suddenly ignite into flames to send out a fire wave towards me.
I countered by shooting out a lightning bolt with my fist, both projectiles clashing in the middle and cancelling each other out.
Another guy leapt over both our projectiles and somersaulted towards me to attempt a drop kick, an attempt that I met with my fist as I punched upwards to meet his heel.
I was fully expecting it to be my win without any contest but I felt an immense weight crash down on my fist and it was only because I was already punching up with full strength did I manage to repel him.
Looking down, the ground beneath me had even cracked from withstanding the weight the guy had pressed down on me.
He flipped back over to where his comrades were and a third guy tried to take his place, his entire body encased in spikes.
I was about to shoot a lightning bolt at him when he suddenly smashed into the ground as if he had tripped.
I would have thought that was what happened if it wasn't for the fact that his fall made a small crater on the ground before his body literally got flattened and blood splattered all over the ground from his pores.
Turning back, I saw Avatasia with her staff pointed towards him, clearly the source of what just happened.
I guess that's her gravity magic.
I turned back and two more of the masked men peeled away from Olivia as she was stuck battling three people on her own including the guy with the shield.
If I want to stand a chance, I will need to take out at least one other guy before those two surround me.
Thankfully, the guy with the sword decided to close the distance with me, his sword swinging through the air and encased with fire.
Deciding to take a risk, I moved closer to him instead of backing away, getting past his guard and ducking underneath the sword swing so that I was now behind him.
He tried to turn around but I grabbed his throat before he could, intending to snap it.
But when my hand laid on his neck, I suddenly felt a pulling sensation at my fingertips, as though I could cause something to happen if I allowed it.
Deciding to just see where this goes, I let the feeling loose and I found my hand sinking into the guy's flesh.
The guy let out a wailful scream and I suddenly felt a surge of power and the knowledge that I could create fire.
Ah… This must be the ability from that boss monster I fought at the rift just earlier today. I guess the ability I got was to fuse with someone to absorb their power?
Honestly… It feels a little disgusting but I'm not going to complain now.
I raised up my hand as the guy who tried to dropkick me earlier was jumping towards me again.
A gout of flames blasted out from my palm, incinerating the masked guy that was still in the air and he dropped down to the ground pretty quickly as a charred body with his limbs already been burned off.
I tried to fire another fire blast at the last two guys but the guy I was holding suddenly broke free while still screaming out in pain, his neck detaching from my hand.
He tried to turn around to face me but he dropped to a knee, parts of his body turning blue like he was experiencing hypothermia and even losing his grip on his sword.
I clicked my tongue in annoyance and gave him a kick in his side, hearing his bones snap as I punted him towards the wall and smashing him into it.
Pretty sure that killed him with how hard he slammed into that wall… And that's assuming my kick alone didn't already rupture all his internal organs.
The last two guys charged at me, only for a large slab of concrete to smash down on top of them and flattening them into the ground.
I turned back to see Avatasia pulling back her staff and letting several orbs of light fade away.
I nodded at her in thanks before moving to help Olivia but stopped myself when I realised she didn't need any help.
She had picked up the shield guy by the leg at some point and was using him as an improvised club to smash the last two guys into the ground. It would have looked comical if it wasn't for the screams coming from the poor guy.
With the other two smashed away, she let out a roar before throwing the guy onto the ground with all her might, splattering him into the ground and leaving a gruesome sight behind.
I checked around to see if there were anymore enemies and once I was sure that there weren't anymore, I turned back to the debris, intending to continue digging the person underneath out.
"Young God… Please allow me," Avatasia interrupted me.
Oh, right… Gravity magic.
I stepped back and she raised her staff, a magic circle appearing at the tip of the staff before it shattered, encasing the pile of debris in a purple light before it was lifted off the ground.
Underneath was a woman with dark, chocolate coloured skin and striking blue hair that was half hidden by a hooded cloak that she was wearing.
How she managed to survive being buried under all that debris was clear when I saw that tree roots had somehow sprouted from the ground to form a sort of barrier around her back, though it was clear from the cuts and bruises that she was not completely unscathed.
I'm guessing she must have some power related to plants or something.
She looked up at me as I reached out my hand to her, "Are you alright?"
She blinked and reached out to take my hand, allowing me to pull her out of the root barrier and out into the open.
Her blue eyes seemed to sparkle at me before she blinked and shook her head, "I'm… I'm fine… Thank you… For saving me…"
I nodded at her, "As much as I would like to help you get to a hospital to get checked out, there are people after my life right now so are you able to move on your own?"
She looked down and shifted her weight before nodding, "I… I will be fine."
"Good. Be careful then."
I turned back to Avatasia, "Could you get us out of here now?"
She curtsied, "Of course, my lord."
She began to chant, a magic circle forming under her and giving Olivia time to straighten her clothes out before rejoining us.
The dark skinned girl watched as we gathered around Avatasia who conjured a portal for us to step through.
The last thing I saw was her seemingly reaching out her hand towards me before I stepped inside the portal.
I wonder if she was a tourist?