“Cast a barrier! Block all exits and raise the ward!”

A Special Guard shouted with a loud voice as he raised a shining silver shield and took two steps forward, towards the three targets.

There were Special and normal guards filling every corner of the corridor. All kinds of energies were being emitted, causing the Mana to become turbulent and thick.

Arthur and Christopher looked at each other.

“I’m guessing you need us down below rather than here, right?”

Arthur grinned and sarcastically responded, “What do you think?”

“Hey! I’m just making sure… dumbass!”

Chris extended his hand, which made the space around it distort.

“On three…”

They didn’t even pay attention to Selene’s lover, who was right behind them and taking heavy breaths. He was, by far, the most eye-catching. His massive muscular body and the ominous aura leaking from it was dreadful, to say the least.

Green mist slowly came out of Arthur’s body and slowly cascaded on the ground as he softly started the countdown,

“Three”

“Two” Immediately followed Chris as an ear-piercing ringing sound exploded from his hand, causing the guards to groan in pain and hold their heads.

The Southerner tried to say something to the duo, but he was too late as Arthur finished the countdown.

Chris shot some sort of white laser beam, but his target was the wall on his right rather than the guards.

Similarly, Arthur used [Wither Blast] on the wall on his left, opening a large hole.

Without any hesitation, the two separated, each rushing toward their own ‘holes’.

A barrage of spells flew from the guards as the ones at the vanguard charged with their weapons buzzing with energy.

They didn’t even have time to be surprised to see the enemies split up and use such a tactic, especially when the Southerner roared and stomped on the ground.

The nearby guards were struck by the heavy tremor, but that was only the beginning as an explosive punch burst forth, resulting in a shockwave that blew everything and everyone in front of the Southerner away.

The ones at the back, however, had reached him and struck with their batons and blades, but they didn’t even manage to wound his wide back.

His large physique notwithstanding, the man was surprisingly agile and flexible as he spun around and punched again.

More than half of the guards were incapacitated, but even more kept appearing from the back.

Strong as he was, the prisoner didn’t want to fight for a prolonged period of time. He looked left and right before deciding to chase after Arthur.

Soon enough, he realized that the two strangers didn’t actually split-up. By blowing up two opposite of the walls, one would think they separated to also split-up the guards, but it wasn’t actually the case.

Arthur had blasted another hole at the wall adjacent to the one he had turned into nothingness moments ago. Chris too, had done the same, and upon following the continuous holes in the walls, you would notice they were getting closer until intersecting eventually.

The Southerner didn’t have the luxury of escaping like the other two. Most, if not all the guards, chose him as the primary target.

…

While blowing up the obstacles, Arthur quickly made his way to where the elevator was located. He did stumble upon a couple of guards, including Special ones, but they were defeated with relative ease.

He used [Air Decay] and eliminated one before possessing him and catching the other off-guard. This tactic of deceit worked well with the startled, confused, and panicking guards.

Chris, on the other hand, wasn’t that good at fighting, even with the arsenal of skills at disposition. He preferred to continuously use his [Warp] spell to avoid conflict and try to find the intersection point.

He might not know the layout of this floor, but the tactic Arthur and he used was something they were familiar with. Admittedly, when in their past-lives, they didn’t literally blast walls as the environment played a huge part in their many escapades. Nevertheless, they would usually separate to distract and surprise the enemies and, quickly after, meet-up again.

It wasn’t a plan that would always work. In fact, it failed more times than it succeeded, but, from their perspectives, it was better than fighting head-on while they were in the midst of a breakout.

Barely five minutes later, Chris destroyed the last wall and saw a huge hole that led down below. He noticed the mist swirling in the air, which made him chuckle,

“You’ve got quite the tricks, Arthur.”

“Says you.”

The mist enveloped Chris and carried him in the air, but moments later, a rapid silhouette appeared at the edge of the hole in the wall and gazed at the mist.

Zenzo Jill, Selene Donkrig’s knight, recognized the parasite. However, before he could say anything, the Southerner also arrived and brought with him a whole collection of angry guards.

The burly man unhesitantly, after glancing at the green mist in confusion, pointed toward the gloomy abyss down below and then unhesitantly jumped.

Zenzo muttered something under his breath before jumping down too, but he kept using the walls to decrease his falling speed. It seemed he wasn’t confident in surviving the entire fall unscathed.

“They’re here!” Warned Chris as the guards shot a multitude of colorful spells; Fireballs, Earth Spears, Icicles…

“I know.”

The Sanguis Barrier materialized and shone brightly as it took the shape of a small cube. It trapped the mist and Chris inside as it levitated lower and lower while blocking all projectiles aimed at it.

Three Special Guards in particular, all wielding swords made of black steel, didn’t hesitate to chase after the parasite. They were like monkeys, clinging onto some of the remnants ropes that stabilized the now-destroyed elevator.

They were faster than the Parasite, so they reached the cube relatively quickly and stabbed their blades.

Sinister purple energy burst from their swords and struck the yellow cube, causing countless cracks to appear.

“Hold on… I think I can get us down faster!”

Arthur didn’t object, but he didn’t realize that the spell Chris was about to use was uncontrollable and potentially dangerous.

As the barrier was about to shatter, Arthur felt a suffocating energy immobilize his body and force him out of his misty form.

Chris held his shoulder as the two started to shoot down at an dangerous speed. Arthur felt dizzy and disoriented, only coming back to his senses when they were standing on the remnant debris of the elevator.

Chris gave him a hard slap on the back, “You okay? Thank god I stopped it just in time.”

Arthur solemnly looked at his cheerful friend.

“Help me get out of here.”

A deep voice came from their flank, and when they looked at its source, they saw the Southerner scratching his bald head.

The three were afforded only a couple of moments of peace as Zenzo finally reached the bottom, followed thereafter by the three Special Guards.

The bottom was dark and particularly cramped with all the debris and rubble. The four dashed into the 6th floor only to see the Black Guard engaging in a brutal fight with the parasite.

The two were so fast that it was difficult to follow their movements; Clashes of energies appeared everywhere, resulting in minor energy waves that dispersed in the air.

Just as Arthur, Chris, and the Southerner entered, one of the two remaining inmates, which didn’t make move, finally appeared.

Surprisingly, he casually opened the door and, with a speed no slower than the Black Guard, he charged at Arthur specifically.

“Watch out! He’s also a guard!”

The Sanguis Barrier appeared just in time, but the ‘prisoner’ bashed into it and got rid of it almost instantly.

Arthur extended his hand and used [Enhanced Spell] and then [Wither Touch], but even then, the long-haired assailant evaded by side-stepping.

Unable to avoid the fast attack, Arthur was hit on his left side and sent flying away. He crashed into the wall and then thudded against the ground.

Chris and the Southerner wanted to help, but the three Special Guards on their tail had finally arrived.

Only Zenzo Jill intervened before the ‘undercover’ guard could reach the parasite again.

With his left arm broken and dangling around and most of his ribs crushed, Arthur let out a grunt of annoyance. It was kind of unexpected that one of the 4 prisoners on the 6th floor was actually a Special Guard. What was worse was that the man, who looked absolutely unremarkable besides his unnaturally long hair, was as strong as the Black Guard.

“Go through that hole and wait there! I can handle this!” Arthur used English to communicate with Chris.

His long-time friend didn’t object, he merely nodded. He glanced at the Southerner and then at the incoming sword-wielding guards. They had encircled them both and were just about to attack.

“They’re all yours, big man!”

With that, Chris snapped his fingers, which made his body twist and distort before vanishing into thin air.

He only teleported a couple of meters away, at the edge of the hole leading to the depths of the Shadow Pit.

One of the guards tried to chase after him, but the Southerner roared and banged his fists together; The image of red and horned bull manifested and let out an ominous brilliance as it shot at the guard.

The illusory bull didn’t stop at that, it moved with lightning-speed and within seconds, all three guards were defeated. Strangely enough, the Southerner didn’t kill them, he only knocked them unconscious.

With his opponents gone, the bald, tall, and muscular man looked at Arthur, who was using [Mist of Decay] to move around and distract the second guard.

“Just go!”

Seeing the man’s hesitation, Arthur spat those words as the ground underneath him turned into ice.

He cast a burst of flames, which were easily cut apart by the guard. However, Zenzo Jill jumped in again and sliced down with his sword. Alas, even he was blown away with just one strike, a third of his exquisite knightly armor dented or broken.

Arthur paid no heed to him and, instead, looked at the other parasite.

As if noticing his gaze, the parasite, who had possessed the corpse previously offered to him, faintly smiled as he crossed his arms and blocked another attack from the Black Guard.

‘I would appreciate a little more help, friend.’

Arthur heard the voice in his mind, which meant that the parasite could use telepathy.

Thereafter, the two parasites drifted closer to each other and looked at the two guards.

“They’re both parasites. Don’t waste anything!” Angrily spat the Black Guard as he held his sword with both hands and unleashed all of his energy. Meanwhile, his colleague didn’t use a real weapon, instead, his hair grew even longer and floated upwards.

With his sword in hand, Arthur and the parasite, who conversed telepathically, nodded at each other as they finally got to action.

Arthur was the first to attack as he kicked the ground and shot toward the long-haired guard while using [Infernal Cry] and then [Sword Blast].

The Black Guard wanted to intervene but a golden chain fell from above and wrapped around his waist, forcefully pulling to the side despite his best attempts at resisting.

Arthur’s sword skill clashed with the seemingly sentient hair, clashing it with momentarily before cutting it. Annoyingly, the owner of the hair didn’t remain idle either as he used his impressive brute force to try and crash into Arthur.

Just as he was about to get hit, swirling green mist emerged and shrouded him.

Arthur used [Enhanced Spell] and [Air Decay], which succeeded in momentarily suffocating the target.

The mist vanished, revealing the coughing and red-faced guard. He was struggling to breath and recover his senses, so the second parasite appeared from the rear and literally stabbed his hand into his back.

“No!”

The Black Guard, still bound by the chains, cried out as his blade let out an ominous black light, but to no avail. The parasite mercilessly ripped the man’s heart and then possessed him.

‘This is enough. You can go. I will never forget this debt, friend.’

Arthur didn’t hesitate and backed away, rushing straight toward the hall. He saw dozens of guards get teleported to the 6th floor, but he didn’t return to help. Instead, he made the entire wall collapse and block the escape route so that no one could follow him, at least without creating a path of their own.

He didn’t even check if Zenzo had rushed away or not.

“Finally! I felt like a damsel waiting to be saved.” Complained Chris jokingly.

“Back away.”

Arthur gestured for them to draw some distance, which they confusedly did.

Seconds later, their expression changed. Chris looked excited and in awe whereas the Southerner was speechless.

“They’re here! Quickly!”

The guards had actually blown the entire wall into bits and were planning to give chase. However, when they saw a massive scaled creature glaring at them, their faces paled and their rushed steps came to a screeching halt.

They had no time to react as the frightening beast opened its mouth and let out a fiery and destructive blast.

Although most survived the fire breath, some were scorched to death and turned into fried corpses.

Chris and the Southerner climbed on top of the beast as it let out a deafening growl and unfolded its wings.

Unbeknownst to them, things were getting pretty heated on the semi-obliterated 6th floor.

Dozens of guards were being teleported to his location. Including the Black Guard, it was truly a force to be reckoned with, but even then, he seemed a bit relaxed.

In fact, one would notice he was stalling for time and trying to protect the 4th untouched cell.

“Be more helpful, woman!”

“You said you’re going to teleport us out of this place! Do it!”

The Painter, who boasted about his teleportation spells, was still stuck in the 5th floor along with that mysterious woman.

They managed to dispose of the guards sent their way, but that didn’t help them escape their predicament.

“I need absolute focus! How am I to do that when these unsophisticated dogs keep coming at us?!”

The man grumbled and paced around while rambling unceasingly. The woman, who was becoming restless as more guards would appear soon enough, smacked the back of his head and kicked his foot while coldly saying,

“Get to it! Fast!”

“...”

He gritted his teeth and held back the urge to insult her. Seconds later, he sat down, bit his finger and drew a symbol on the ground.

“I’m going to force it! It’s not going to be an artistic display of my skills, so you can’t mock me later on!”

“Just do it!”

A flash of light appeared near the elevator, signaling the arrival of more Special Guards.

Fortunately, the Painter’s preparations were done swiftly. He stole a glance at the woman a couple of paces away and then hurriedly put palm on the bloody symbol while chanting an incantation.

Soon enough, an ominous crimson light shone from the ground. The guards appeared and immediately charged at them, which forced the woman to act yet again.

“You did a good job, woman! See y-”

The Painter smiled and waved his hand at her, but he was stunned to see her vanish and appear right in front of him. She unhesitantly clung into him while impatient waiting for the spell to take effect.

“They’re coming at us! Stop them and let go of me!”

“No!”

He tried pushing her away but she was physically stronger than he was, causing a rather comical and weird scene.

Two fiery spells shot at them from the guards, but as the woman didn’t do anything and refused to let go of the Painter, he raised his free arm and drew a triangle in the air.

A black ink-like liquid gushed from thin air and spilled on the ground. Dog-like beasts rose from the ink and jumped at the guards while also sacrificing themselves to intercept any spells directed at the painter or his circle.

After the passing of, at most, twenty breaths, the teleportation spell finally took effect.