15th of the Black Star

5:57AM

“For all the praise I have heard, this is extremely disappointing. It seems Jennifer was wrong, after all.”

Feylord, half-conscious, heard a stoic voice come from a short distance away. Alas, his blurry vision turned black and he fell unconscious seconds later.

When he fully awakened, he found himself wearing only his underpants, his arms raised upwards by chains erected from the upper-side of the wall.

Although he wasn’t injured, he felt an unnatural exhaustion, one which he was certain was due to the seemingly normal chains.

His body was utterly devoid of energy, purposefully made-so to keep him weakened and restrained.

‘I was caught.’

His greasy blond hair stuck to his face as Feylord looked around. There were four Royal Knights outside of the smell cell, two facing him and two with their backs towards him.

For a short amount of time, Feylord concentrated and tried to communicate with the Phoenix, but he heard only silence as a response.

In fact, Feylord didn’t feel the power of the Phoenix at all, which made him very alarmed and scared.

He had helped the Dark Knight and fought against the Imperials, thus marking himself as their enemy.

Trying to free himself in current circumstances would just be an exercise in futility, so Feylord just knelt there, absent-minded until someone came.

Jennifer Zos Azakin put down the letter in her hand and entered the cell, glaring down at the chained captive.

“You have outdone yourself once again, Feylord Lernon, but not in a way that I like.”

Contrary to the usual soft and warm tone she used with him, Jennifer didn’t hide her anger, which had continued accumulating ever since the terrace incident.

“You do not have the Phoenix Flames under control.”

It wasn’t a question, she was stating a fact. A fact which he did not deny, he just looked back at her with a hollow expression.

“You could have been an indispensable member of the Imperial Court. A disciple to the Head of the Red Magic Tower. An Archmage, if you learned and trained hard enough. Instead, you turned against the Empire.”

For a second, Feylord thought of begging for forgiveness, of revealing the whole truth to her and swearing to serve the Empire, however, something within him, a voice perhaps, was echoing loudly and telling him to believe. It wasn’t the Phoenix, it was Feylord himself, clinging to the hope that he had made the right decision.

“There is the unresolved matter of how you contained it so far. Your relationship with the Dark Knight too. Your future looks really bleak right now, Feylord.”

Hearing no verbal response whatsoever, Jennifer snorted and walked out of the cell.

“Normally, I would have resorted to torture from the beginning, but I have far more important matters to deal with than you. I’ll let you rot in prison for a while… who knows, maybe you’re consumed and we’ll get the Phoenix Feather back without any effort.”

After one last menacing glare, she walked out of his sight.

8:04AM

“I can’t teleport, Arthur!”

Chris, running along with Evelyn, Charles, and Isabella, were dozens of meters ahead of Arthur.

“Then find a way out!”

Arthur gritted his teeth and moved the Sanguis Barrier, which shook intensely as a wave of blazing dark-red flames crashed into it.

This labyrinth-like sewers they had jumped into was dark, empty, and filled with an abnormal amount of Ambient Mana.

However, the Devil Doctor’s semi-sentient flames were relentless.

Arthur had to push it back or stop it repeatedly, which made their retreat extremely slow.

Thanks to the abundance of Mana and the use of [Wither Touch], Arthur was able to keep this up for several hours, but he still had his limits.

They kept zigzagging through corners, sometimes losing the flames only for it to come from ahead, the creepy face within them letting out unpleasant screeches.

“Is it gone?”

They group stopped their long sprint, all gasping for breath and barely able to stand. Even Evelyn, who had a lot of stamina, was sweating profusely as she let go of Charles’.

Running while carrying him wasn’t easy, and the anxiousness of having a wave of fire chasing after them made it all the more exhausting.

“I can’t fucking make sense of this place! It looks the same!”

Christopher cursed while looking around. They were at a big intersection of four paths, but with no light or map, they had no choice but to sit there to rest.

That way, at least, when the flames return, they wouldn’t have just one path to run towards.

“That’s what we get for believing in the Devil Doctor.” Mumbled Arthur as he raised his hand from the ground.

The Sanguis Barrier expanded until it entirely blocked the path they had come from.

“At some point, I think it has gotten much stronger, Master.”

“I know. It grew hotter and faster. It coincided with the tremors.”-Arthur

“It might be an untamed Fire Spirit. It would make sense for it to grow stronger by absorbing large quantities of Mana.”-Charles

Arthur examined the walls and the floor, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. This place literally looked like a complex system of metro tunnels without the rails.

“Can’t you find the right way, Chris? With your senses.”

“I’m not a psychic. I can try, though.”

Chris stood at the center of the intersection and closed his eyes. The other four stared at him apprehensively.

After a long silence, Arthur sighed, “You look like a constipated person.”

“This is pointless.”-Evelyn

“I’m disappointed, Chris.”-Isabella

“You can do it, Sir Chris!”

Only Charles, who was limping and unable to walk properly, remained hopeful.

“Hold on… don’t make any noise!”

Christopher took this very seriously as he kept his eyes closed. He remembered Aerin’s words and how those who defied Fate were able to do extraordinary things as long as they truly believed in something.

‘I want us to get out of this place. Please. Show me where to go! Show me!’ As he prayed again and again, Chris’ body twitched ever-so-slightly.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a silver light coming from one of the paths.

“That way!”

The light was minuscule and moving, but Christopher sounded confident.

On cue, the Fire Spirit came from the opposite direction, shooting rapidly toward the intersection before crashing into Arthur’s barrier and breaking half of it.

Evelyn picked up Charles and started running along with Charles and Isabella.

Arthur raised both hands and continued repairing the barrier as the Fire Spirit smashed into it again and again while letting out those hellish screams.

‘Shit!’

Arthur was surprised to see the Sanguis Barrier shatter as the fire cascaded onto him like an unstoppable force.

Fortunately, he was tenacious enough to not melt or turn into ash immediately, but he did sustain some damage as he hastily backed away and surrounded himself with Ice-aspected Magic.

The Barrier was no longer enough to stop or slow down the Fire Spirit. Moreover, Arthur had no way idea how to fight or defeat such a thing.

It was freakishly massive and intangible, unaffected by offensive spells that hit it, such as [Frost Blast].

After a couple of other attempts at fighting back, Arthur gave up on any retaliation and used [Mist of Decay] to swiftly flee.

The Fire Spirit was deadly and fast, but the Parasite was significantly faster.

He reached his companions within seconds, picking up Isabella with one arm and Chris with the other.

“Faster, Evelyn!”

The maid nodded and increased the pace as the screams of the Fire Spirit echoed across the unilluminated gloomy tunnel.

…

8:29AM

“Hah! Damned Duke, did you really think this Genius will not find a way out?”

Emil Red, known as the Painter, spoke to himself while smirking. He was looking at a translucent map floating in front of him.

It was a 3-dimensional map made with magic. Except for a minuscule section, it was almost complete.

“Once I’m back into civilization, I will enjoy the finest of meals. No more eating rats for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!”

The man spread his hands upwards in triumph, a chuckle escaping his lips. He looked pretty haggard, but he was ecstatic to finally find the proper exit of this hellhole.

Admittedly, being stuck in these tunnels for weeks upon weeks wasn’t a good experience, but Emil persevered.

Exhilarated, the Painter left the forked road and, with accelerating steps, began marching toward the only path he had not treaded yet.

“...”

Less than two minutes later, Emil halted his feet and frowned as he sensed a powerful surge of energy come straight at him.

Before he could react, he saw silhouettes running towards him.

“What’s going on-”

Evelyn and Arthur ignored the man and continued running away, leaving Emil confused for a couple of seconds. However, when he spotted the Fire Spirit, the man’s face turned pale.

“You could have warned me!”

He moved his right hand and chanted an incantation, which made a thick and big wall made of Ice surge from the ground and block the Fire Spirit’s path.

Emil didn’t even wait to see if it worked, he turned tail and fled.

“Wait! Wait for me!”