James, Rigo, Eli, and Dora ran, as fast as they could, away from the place where Charles were screaming. No one cared about Charles, or even stole a glance backward or even sighed or said a word while running.

After they reached enough distance, they stopped, as they held their guns, watching and waiting for the approach of their enemy.

Charles had played them more than once, provided false information all the time, even he lied more than once about his identity. He was such a wicked, twisted mind, distasteful person that no one would ever miss.

Without prior agreement they were all on consent here; Charles' death was just justified and none of them would argue on that! Besides, his death came to help them escape, so it was either his life or one of their lives!

They watched, as the screaming agonizing wailing of his attracted the ears of any living person here, and thus shades of the enemy started to appear, coming from far, approaching her fast.

They must be coming to check what was going on. Charles alone was enough to wake up a fleet of ancient monsters, so the numbers coming to him increased, as they had only one order to them: silence him or kill!

James and the others looked at the enemies, as they tried to make him calm down, for fear of attracting others attention. The thought of him being a decoy never crossed their minds, until the moment they heard the shots coming from far, they never suspected this as a trap.

The element of surprise acted perfectly in their favor, plus the timely improvisation that tricked everyone, James' team included. James and his team waited as once enough numbers gathered around Charles, they started to attack, without any reservation at all.

The sound of gunshots were loud, but couldn't cover Charles' screams except after a while, as Charles started to faint, losing his power and the will to live, entering into his slumber, an eternal one.

He was dying, but even when James and the others managed to clear all the hostiles around him, they didn't deactivate the thread, or ask Rigo to do so.

Charles just did the perfect job of a decoy, attracting every single enemy in the area around him, and finally died in peace resting from his pains and agony, resting the world from his schemes and treason.

They just glanced without sympathy towards him, as man's deeds might doom him. when they crossed the dying Charles, they started to check the situation down there.

The numbers of hostiles below had been halved, but it wasn't enough to make them feel more secure and confident about beating them.

"Now what?" Dora asked, as she looked at James, inquiring about his next step in the plan.

"We use the cannon," James simply said, as he took out an intermediate grade cannon, and let it fall on the ground. Just as everyone thought the sounds of the shots would reverberate this place, James' voice came loudly instead, saying:

"Surrender now and I won't kill you, or perish here."

Everyone just glanced strangely at him. didn't he just say he would use the cannon? Then why did he start using words instead of bullets? Would words kill those hostiles down there?

James didn't care about their expressions, as he waited for the reply from down below. His tone was decisive, with no way for any negotiations, but as usual the ones below replied, on the tongue of their leader:

"Why should we trust you?"

"Because I can kill you now, as I can kill you later," James replied, "So killing you isn't a problem for me," he added.

"You want information," that leader said, with a sigh of relief as he realized the reason James did speak first and not shoot, "good, but what after you get it? are we allowed to leave here peacefully, or you will still kill us?"

James wanted to know many things, at least why they were here, and how did they enter. He wasn't that trusting in the late Charles' words, a snake would always be a snake, even if it grew to become a dragon. The only people here who would quench his curiosity would be these trapped and frightened enemies.

"You have my word," James loudly said.

"Your word means nothing to me," the leader instantly replied.

James didn't waste more time, as he feared they might be stalling for time, waiting for more reinforcement to come and pincer them, or perhaps that leader had a plan in mind.

Simply put, James activated the cannon, selected twelve targets as a start, and then pressed the triggered handles gently. In a blink of an eye, twelve enemies were hit, to fall on the floor losing their lives.

"Why did you attack now?" the leader panicked from this sudden attack.

"Why not? It seems you aren't sincere in surrendering, and thus I will kill all of you here," James simply said as he started to target another twelve enemies.

"If you killed us, you won't know the info you desire," the leader tried to threaten him, but just as he finished speaking, the cannon fired and twelve more were shot dead, in this brief moment he lost twenty four of his team, nearly half of what remained with him.

"Stop, I will surrender," the leader finally realized James wasn't fluking with him, and he could simply kill them without breaking a sweat.

"Good, lay down your weapons and stay flat on your bellies, on the floor. Anyone who raises a finger will be shot dead by me without any warning."

James then turned to Rigo as he nodded, in a motion for him and the others to go and cuff these enemies. Rigo moved with the two girls, while James kept himself aloof there, aiming towards everyone, and watching any sudden moves.

But things went smoother than he expected. After all the enemies were tied up, Dora didn't wait for him to come down as she started interrogating the leader. As James went down to her, she had shown her true vicious nature, taking out her dagger and inserted it into that leader's thighs, twisting it mercilessly in his flesh, causing severe pain and deep wounds to him.

As James stood by, feeling conflicted towards her methods, Rigo started to give her some pointers, which made James wonder who he was befriending, norms or monsters!

In ten minutes, James and Eli saw how life could be brutal sometimes, but without what Dora just did, they would never know about what was happening behind their backs.

"So the heads of your rebel groups were scheming against you and your mother from the start!" James muttered as he was shocked by this sudden twist the info gave them.

"This is logic, as that explained why the Immortal and his master were here to kill me and my mother," she said, as everything seemed normal for her.

"What do you intend to do now?" James asked, as he felt some craziness in her looks.

"Nothing much," she shrugged her shoulders, "just going to kill them till the last person," she added, simply like she was telling a joke.

"Sigh," James helplessly sighed, as he thought she had all the right to feel angry, but her revenge style wasn't matching his nature.

"What about the man inside?" Rigo asked, "If we let him here, then the terases' agents might come here again. we can't stay here guarding him," he added.

"What if we took him with us?" Eli cautiously, with yet trembling body from what she was just now, suggested.

"Not a good idea," James shook his head, "if Dora's enemies saw him, they would know we have discovered their schemes, and an open war would erupt. We can't sustain war, not with our forces scattered like this."

"I agree with you," Dora said, nodding her head.

"Then what should we do with him? we can't dispatch part of us here, we need every ounce of our strength for the upcoming battle," Rigo said, expressing his discontent.

"Let's just ditch him," James said, as this was the only way he had in mind. "Throw him in space, in a place no one would find, and we would put an end to this threat once and for all," James added.

"But what about him?" Eli asked with a soft shaky voice, feeling regret once everyone just looked at her.

"He…" James paused before continuing, "A collateral damage we must pay."

James then looked at Dora, Rigo, and Eli, who nodded in approval, except for Eli who just looked away, evading his eyes. She wasn't agreeing on sacrificing a man like this, without even trying to save him, but everyone else found it futile, as him being alive carried greater risk to them, to everyone in this grand sector.

"It's settled," James said, as he moved heading outside this maze, "we wasted enough time here. Rigo, plant a bomb here, and let's leave."

Rigo did what he was asked, left a bomb here and then went following them towards the surface again. The plan was simple, after they left here safely, Rigo would return the normal security measures again, and then he would detonate the bomb, triggering the defensive mechanism, letting the whole section be thrown into space.

Travelling in speed of light, amidst nowhere, it was literally impossible for anyone to determine the location of this part of the prison. A miracle would be needed for that, and if that happened, then it was meant for Terases' race to rise and rule, in their infamous tyranny, the whole galaxy.