“Seal this entire place! Kill every prisoner that tries to resist!”

It didn’t take long for Bernard Capilla, the Warden, to awaken from the premature slumber caused by Selene. However, instead of looking for her, he immediately got to work and ordered all the guards to contain the prisoners.

Everyone from the 2nd floor was set free, but as the inmates weren’t particularly strong, the majority were subdued. There were, however, some sneaky ones that managed to hide and sneak to the 1st floor.

“Sir! We need assistance on the 6th floor!”

The old man heard the urgent transmission from a communication crystal, which made him angrily stomp the ground. He wasn’t a strong fighter, at least not on the level of the Black Guard, so he couldn’t be of much assistance in defeating the parasite. His priority right now was to set the anti-magic formation again.

He stood at the center of his office, his arms extended and releasing a specific frequency of Mana waves, which were slowly being integrated into the intricate circle of runes drawn under his feet.

6th floor

Although dozens of Special Guard appeared, all meant to capture or kill him, the parasite still got the upper-hand. Everytime he received fatal wounds, he would switch hosts and attack anew.

The Black Guard was the most tenacious of them all, still standing even after sustaining numerous wounds all over his body.

The rest of the Special Guards kept falling one after the other. It was a brutal and bloody slaughter, which filled the already-cramped floor with one corpse after the other.

What complicated things for the guards was the abundance of hosts available for the parasite.

Some did try burning their dead colleagues, however, they weren’t fast enough and ended up getting killed by one strike.

The parasite stood in front of the last closed cell of the 6th floor.

Out of the four inmates, one was an undercover Special Guard, one was him, one was the Southerner, and the last was still hiding in his cell.

The Parasite defended the cell and made sure no one got close.

Soon enough, a dark purple formless energy, strikingly similar to Darkness, began to leak outside.

The Black Guard gulped down an elixir, which lessened the pain and healed some minor wounds. He grasped his blade with two hands and stood near the exit.

He saw the sinister magic appear and spread at a slow pace.

“Why are you doing this?!” He shouted, glaring daggers at the parasite.

“I’m not the one who was stupid enough to imprison a Voidspawn.” Coldly rebuked the parasite while half-turning his head and staring at the small creature within the cell.

It had the body of a toddler, but it had no eyes, ears, nose, or mouth. Its face was creepily empty and its body had purple cracks all over it.

With the Anti-Magic formation temporarily gone, the Voidspawn was starting to regain its power. Once it recovered enough strength, it would surely attack.

That was precisely what the parasite was waiting for. He needed its power to return, not only so he could kill it, but so he could possess it too. His main objective in ‘coming’ here was to possess a Voidspawn, subsequently obtaining the ability to wield the notorious and supposedly strongest of all Magic; Void.

However, greedy as the Castellan and The Warden were, they wouldn’t foolishly imprison a Voidspawn without the necessary precautions. They greatly weakened it so much so that it wasn’t able to manifest its Void properties, which should have allowed it to escape.

Just as another batch of Special Guards were teleported to the 6th floor, a shriek came from the last closed cell.

A dark purple thick energy burst forth, transforming the cell, walls, and ground into literal emptiness.

There was a circular hole in which laid the inmate as the Void energy was finally returning and creeping outside.

On the 1st underground floor, the prisoners that had escaped from the floor were being either captured or killed.

Then again, only a small percentage of the escapees dropped to their knees and surrendered. The majority were stubbornly trying to use the unfolding chaos to flee.

Unfortunately, they were physically weak, malnourished, and not as well-equipped with weapons and artifacts as the guards. They were encircled and one-sidedly massacred.

There were some that managed to hide and find another way, but from the looks of it, all the exits were blocked.

“Hang in there, lad!”

Old Kyrian supported an injured Gastin. The two were amongst the prisoners that escaped the 2nd floor and reached the 1st one, but things weren’t looking optimistic.

Gastin had been stabbed and was bleeding from the stomach. Were it not for Kyrian’s help, he would have been killed.

“They’re here!”

Three guards spotted them, so the two hurried their steps as they went through a hole in the corridor.

Gastin’s face was sickly pale and blood leaked from his lips. The pain was excruciating and his consciousness began to fade.

Old Kyrian used a dirty cloth to wrap around the stab wound and apply pressure, which did slightly decrease the bleeding.

The two kept passing through the holes in the walls, which eventually led them to the elevator shaft.

Alas, the guards were on their tail, and due to their sleep pace and the fact that the elevator shaft was a dead end, the two inmates could no longer advance.

Old Kyrian gently helped Gastin to get on his knees while also doing the same right after, showcasing their intent for surrender.

The guards weren’t having any of that, sadly. One of them approached Old Kyrian and smacked his head with his baton. There was a crisp sound as Gastin saw the old man’s body fall to the side, lifeless.

The hit was an instant-kill, leaving Kyrian with no time to beg for mercy or cry in pain.

When it was his turn, Gastin gritted his teeth and backed away. He looked down, at the dark bottom of the elevator shaft, his lips quivering and body trembling.

The guards seemed to be just as annoyed as the Warden by this large-scale escapade. They didn’t care about the prisoners and, clearly, they weren’t going to spare Gastin’s life.

Unwilling to die there and then, Gastin pushed himself off the ledge and fell into the elevator shaft.

The guards were surprised by his suicidal act, but they didn’t jump after him.

Meanwhile, on the 6th floor, the Voidspawn’s power burst forth. A large quantity of Void Magic expanded at a ridiculous pace, devouring all other types of energies in the vicinity.

The Parasite’s abilities were momentarily cancelled and the Special Guards were incapable of using ‘Strengthening’ or their artifacts.

More shocking was a deep rumbling that came from the bottom of the elevator shaft as the Void Magic overpowered everything.

Gastin closed his eyes and prepared for the impact, but his fall perfectly coincided with the rumbling. He thought he was going to die, instead, he found himself falling a greater height than anticipated.

When he tentatively opened his eyes, he saw a golden radiance from the corner of his eyes. The bottom of the elevator shaft had actually opened, but only for a couple of breaths.

Whatever hidden mechanism was there, it was momentarily negated by the influx of Void Magic.

Gastin’s body fell for another 15 seconds then splashed on deep and cold waters.

The man was wounded and in absolute shock, but he still moved his arms and, with great difficulty, swam to the surface of the waters. He looked around, suspending his disbelief and swimming to small golden stairs leading outside of this medium-sized pond.

As he crawled from the cold waters, he laid on his back and looked up.

“W-where am I… ah…ah…”

He saw tall buildings made of shining gold. Mesmerising. Intricately-designed spires that intertwined with each-other and reached the ceiling of this ‘cave’.

What Gastin beheld at that moment was a genuine city, grandiose and majestic. It was made of Gold and encompassed the entire cave, which spanned for, at least, several kilometers.

Gastin looked at the far-away elevator shaft, which was difficult to pinpoint due to the radiance emitted by the entire city. A thick wall of black-stones moved on its own, barely a minute after Gastin’s fall. It returned to its original position, blocking any entry into the city through the elevator shaft.

Two people appeared at the center of the deserted and eerily clean main road of the Commercial District.

One was a self-proclaimed genius painter, known to be a cruel serial-killer, and the other was a mysterious female inmate that had escaped with him.

The duo had successfully escaped the penitentiary thanks to Emil Red’s Teleportation Spell.

The only downside was that he didn’t think the woman would cling onto him like that. He had only been planning to use her as bait and then leave on his own.

“Where did you take us?”

The woman had finally let go of him and curiously looked around, a frown appearing on her face.

When she saw the high walls surrounding the city and the somewhat familiar architecture of the buildings, she recognized the place.

“Blackcrest?”

The Painter nodded his head and responded, “I have unfinished business here. But…”

With a hand under his chin and an expression of puzzlement, he studied his surroundings. Although it was late evening, this road shouldn’t be this empty.

They were at the heart of the Commercial District, which would never lack activity even in the middle of the night.

Emil turned his attention to the building behind him, which was where his target should be.

“Hey… get us out of here. This place is dangerous.”

The woman grabbed him and shook his body back and forth, looking visibly anxious. The place was absolutely empty and scarily-quiet. Deafeningly quiet, in fact. It was like being a ghost town.

“...”

Emil also noticed the strangeness of the atmosphere, causing a sense of foreboding to swell within him. However, he was determined to find and meet up his target; Vanessa Crimson.

One minute after their abrupt arrival, thick black serpent-like vines surged from the ground.

The woman tried to jump away but she was caught by a vine that assaulted her flank.

Emil, on the other hand, invoked somesort of golden flames that scorched the vines as he warped continuously.

The vines were fast and kept coming from every direction, but the serial-killer displayed his impressive sorcery.

Alas, a silhouette wrapping in radiant flames descended from up above and smashed right into the Painter.

A triangular long shield hit Emil from above, causing his body to smash into the ground. He tried to warp away but the assailant pinned him on the ground.

“Who are you?!”

Duke of Blackcrest, Sidus Terden, glared at Emil Red as he menacingly asked that question.

A distance away, Halric was facing the bound woman. Vines were wrapped around her entire body, revealing only her head.

“...”

As she kept her mouth tightly-shut, the Alchemist furrowed his brow and, after scrutinising her for a couple of breaths, turned to his accomplice.

“They weren’t sent by the Ten Seats.”

Terden Sidus still didn’t let go of Emil. The serial-killer was flattened on the ground by the shield, leaving him immobilized and unable to even his fingers or talk.

“Maybe this is the help we’ve hoped for?” Sarcastically stated Halric as he walked to the Duke’s side and motioned for him to let go of Emil.