“Jeffrey’s shift is almost over, right? I should go.”

A bearded man wearing a guard’s uniform grunted in annoyance as he grabbed his baton and walked to the exit of the room.

“Good luck dealing with them. Man, you have it rough! Hahaha!”

“Fuck you!”

Angrily yelled at the guard as he kicked the door and stormed away. His colleagues kept mocking his unenthusiasm and gloating over the fact they weren’t in charge of the 5th or 6th floor.

Unbeknowst to the guard, a small black mouse was following him from a couple of meters away. It stuck close to the wall and took advantage of the dimly-lit hallways to mask its presence. Then again, the guard wasn’t that attentive and seemed to be purposely walking slowly.

Unlike the normal guards, this one had the special badge Gastin had mentioned. Through [Magick Sense], Arthur could see that the man had an above-average Mana flowing within his body, but it still paled in comparison to the powerful people he had previously clashed with.

‘Gastin said they were physically strong, but this guard must be, at most, as strong as a Knight.’

Thanks to the man unwittingly guiding him, Arthur found the way to the elevator and inconspicuously boarded it.

“Hm? Ah!”

Alas, the elevator wasn’t as dark as the hallways, so the man soon noticed the mouse nestled in a corner. He was initially startled before taking a huge stride and attempting to stomp it.

“Damned little shit!”

Unfortunately, the mouse was too fast for the guard as he kept stomping the ground. No matter how much he tried, he would always miss, which added to his frustration.

Just when the elevator was about to reach its destination, the man had had enough of the mouse and used his baton.

The long black rod let out sparks of electricity as it was swung with full force at one of the corners Arthur was at.

At last, the tiny creature was bashed by the baton and thudded on the metallic ground. Its body twitched for a moment before lying motionlessly on the ground, seemingly dead.

The guard breathed a sigh of relief and bent down, planning to pick it up. However, just as his hand was about to touch it, its eyes abruptly opened as it let out a quiet squeak and leapt in the air.

“Motherfuck-”

The parasite performed two swift jumps; He first landed on the man’s shoulder, then arched downwards as it landed outside of the 5th floor.

Just as his feet touched the ground, Arthur felt a heavy invisible pressure that stiffened his body and made him feel mildly uncomfortable.

He could feel the mouse’s body get slower and his skill [Magick Sense] get forcefully deactivated.

Before he thought of anything, there was a deafening alarm that resounded across the 5th floor.

The guard, who wanted to give chase and end this pursuit, was alarmed and directed his gaze to the front.

From his perspective, he didn’t think that the mouse was behind the reaction of the Detection Barrier. Instead, he suspected that one of the prisoners had broken out, one way or another.

Including him, a total of 9 Special Guards grouped at the center of the circular room.

Meanwhile, Arthur returned to the elevator and inspected the 5th floor, which was just a slightly spacious circular room. The cells were next to each other with a thick stone wall separating them.

Lastly, at the center of the room, there was a huge magical rune, colored red instead of yellow.

“What’s going on? All the cells are locked!”

“I don’t know! Stay alert and wait for reinforcements!”

The nine guards formed a circle formation, their batons raised and their eyes fully-open. They kept looking left and right as the alarm quietened down after a minute.

‘I haven’t used any Magic, yet the barrier reacted to my arrival. Is it because of my Race? This is annoying.’

Arthur had finally reached his destination and was but a couple of steps away from checking the identity of the new inmate. However, it was too risky to continue this endeavour.

The elevator doors closed and it started to rise, stopping at the ground floor. Arthur hastily slipped into the hallway as dozens of Special Guard shot toward the elevator, all of them armed to the teeth. Some even held shiny artifacts that ranged from a large silver shield to a large two-handed mace.

“What’s all this fuss about? Can’t a man get some sleep in here?”

Inside one of the 15 cells on the 5th floor, a handsome man with long raven-black hair and a slim body sat up from his bed and grumbled with an annoyed tone.

He was Emil Red, known as the Painter.

“You’re the only one talking! Shut the hell up!”

Christopher, who was imprisoned in the adjacent cell, banged on the wall while talking back to the obnoxious serial-killer.

“Comrade! It wounds me that you’ll use such foul language towards me! Aren’t we in the same shithole?”

“Fuck you!” Yelled Christopher as he laid on the bed and blocked his ears. Not even the beatings he would regularly receive were worse than Emil, who not only was extremely talkative, but he was quite the whiny man.

As more Special Guards ran into the 5th floor to check what was happening, Emil cackled at their distressed and slightly panicking comments and attitudes.

They were perplexed by the odd occurrence and just grouped at the center of the room, not knowing what to do exactly.

“You are all a bunch of witless idiots. Release me from this place and I promise I’ll show you an artful masterpiece. My genius will leave you all in awe.”

Only after an hour later, when things quietened down did the guards leave, though some did stay just in case.

They were already used to the nasty remarks of Emil, so they just ignored him. He wasn’t even beaten, not because they were afraid of him, but because he seemed to enjoy pain. It felt weird for them to hear his ecstatic moaning every time they gang up on him with the brutal electrocuted batons.

Besides Emil and Christopher, the remaining 13 prisoners were eerily quiet and seemed uninterested in what was happening.

“Hey! Comrade Chris! Psssst!”

Emil kept tapping on the cell bars and on the wall.

“...”

“I know you can hear me. I’ve got a question.”

“I don’t want to hear it. Leave me alone, for god’s sake!”

“The alarm… Did you notice anything strange? Because I have. It wasn’t a simple malfunction.”

“I don’t care.”

“Hear me out, okay? What if someone actually infiltrated the 5th floor. A mage adept at Space-aspected spells could turn invisible and come all the way here. But why, though? I’m thinking he’s looking for something… or someone?”

Christopher, who had lost all of his sleepiness, facepalmed himself and let out a sigh of exasperation.

To silence the Painter, he decided to indulge his fantasies.

“Let’s say all your hypothetical nonsense is true, why would that concern me or you?”

“You fail to understand my deeper meaning, comrade! It’s a chance! An opportunity for us to break out! I’m not boasting, but I can do alot of things if that shitty barrier is destroyed. With a bit of outside help, I can get us out of here.”

Emil paused for a couple of seconds before thoughtfully adding,

“Admittedly, I’ll need some time to recover some Mana and prepare a long-ranged displacement spell, but it’s definitely doable! I’ll show you true Art through Magic!”

“What makes you think I want to leave?”

“Eh? You don’t? You must be crazy in the head, comrade! Still, I’m not wont to mock or degrade those with limited mental faculties. Think on it, yeah? It will be glorious, I promise.”

Then, Emil walked to the other side of his cell and tapped on the wall again.

“Missy missy, care to listen to me? I’ve got a good plan. You’re the strongest amongst us, so your help would be much appreciated. Like… you can fend against the guards for a bit? Honestly, I won’t feel comfortable taking you with me, so you’ll act like a distraction. I know I know, it’s not ideal, but you would have participated in my Artful performance. When I leave, I’ll paint something in your memory and send it to the Warden!”

Alas, Emil got no response from the female prisoner. He looked dejected for a moment before he kept rambling for another ten minutes.

Christopher, who heard everything Emil had said, shook his head and just sat on the ground.

‘He’s a nutcase. Then again, everyone here is a special case.’

“No no no no no! I don’t want to wait!”

Arthur was planning to return to the 2nd floor, but a childish girly voice attracted his attention. While positioned himself in an inconspicuous corner and patiently waited.

Ten seconds later, three people came into view. One of them was the Warden, who Arthur heard about but had never seen.

The second was the source of the voice; A young girl, no older than twenty, wearing an extravagant light-green dress and wearing a lot of jewellery.

She had golden hair, slightly curly and decorated with a long diamond hairpin. She looked and behaved like a vastly wealthy noble, and the tall knight behind her was enough proof of her identity.

The Warden seemed a bit troubled, but he kept rubbing his hands and his head slightly bowed as he followed her with rapid footsteps.

The girl was heading towards the elevator without a care in the world.

“I want to meet my darling! We made a deal and…” She stopped her feet and, like a spoiled and arrogant child, glared at the old man.

“You can’t stop me! If not for me… you wouldn’t be the Warden in the first place!”

She snorted and resumed her rapid walking. The Warden, troubled and unable to rebuke her, merely nodded his head and followed her like a docile servant.

‘Her darling, huh. She’s heading for the elevator, so she’s either going to the 5th or 6th floor. Maybe there is a better way than relying solely on stealth and infiltration. I will have to stay in this prison for a bit longer, however.’