EVHE 61

Chapter 61

The group trampling the guards wore dark blue cloaks. From the way the knights were struggling, it was clear they weren’t ordinary fighters.

“…Olivia.”

I forced my frozen lips to move and called out to her.

“Olivia, run!”

When she didn’t respond, I hastily grabbed Olivia’s wrist and began to run.

However, the place where we had been sitting was a cliff, and since we were attacked on the path we came from, there weren’t many options left.

I had no choice but to run across the forest that led downward.

But just as I expected, a dark figure dropped from a tree and blocked our way.

A man with a drawn sword approached us. I turned my head, and the same was happening behind us.

I immediately cast a protective barrier around Olivia. But because it had to be spread over a wide area, the barrier was thin, and I doubted it would hold for long.

‘Still, I can block them a few times.’

As we exchanged wary glances, the man ahead of us lunged first. A black hand reached out to grab my head, but it was knocked back by my force.

From behind, the blade of another attacker struck, and cracks began to form in the protective shield. To make matters worse, the other attackers, who had dealt with the guards, were now closing in on us.

At this rate, I didn’t think we could last more than a few seconds.

I glanced at Olivia. She didn’t seem to care about treating the scratches from the bushes.

‘It’s certain. Olivia is without Estella.’

If that were not the case, she wouldn’t have left her wound untreated, nor would she have lacked the courage to defeat all of them.

In the end, I was the only one who could protect us here.

‘Stay calm.’

So I had to wait for the right moment.

When they thought they had the upper hand, that’s when I could strike.

The shield was on the verge of breaking. The scattered enemies had now fully gathered.

‘Now!’

I pulled Olivia towards me and hugged her tightly.

Then, a flash of black light suddenly poured out of my pocket. I covered my ears with both hands.

The attackers, sensing the light, hastily took up defensive stances. But before they could react, a deafening explosion roared through the air.

Even though I had covered my ears, my eardrums still rang, and despite closing my eyes, a blinding white light flashed.

When the explosion died down, the surrounding area became eerily quiet. As I cautiously opened my eyes, I saw that the surrounding trees had turned to dust.

A massive, dome-like shield surrounded us, sparkling like a planetarium. The shattered glass fragments glinted like stars in the night sky.

The attackers nearby seemed to have been swept away by the power of the necklace. Those further away, however, appeared to have only fainted.

“…Hurry and run.”

I dragged the still disoriented Olivia down the mountain.

‘So that’s how it was—Rochelle had controlled the power.’

I thought the power contained in the necklace was the same as when it had defeated Tain, but it was much stronger than that.

‘By the way, who are those people?’

There were signs that reminded me of something.

Olivia had been kidnapped because she had interfered with Vistard in Ruben. The situation seemed similar to that time.

But the timing was off. It should have happened a bit later than now. Moreover, I never should have been involved in this.

‘Could it be because I stopped Vistard?’

I regretted naively thinking that Nox would handle it.

“Olivia, we’ll be there soon…”

I was about to tell her that there would be more people, but I couldn’t finish. I had lost my grip on Olivia’s hand.

Thinking she had fallen, I quickly turned around.

But the scene I saw was nothing like what I had imagined. Her green eyes met mine as she was being grabbed by one of the attackers.

‘No, no!’

Just as I was about to activate the necklace again, my mouth was suddenly blocked by something, and I lost consciousness.

Later

I smelled dust, and the crackling of a fire reached my ears. Finally, my head throbbed violently.

When I opened my eyes, everything was dark, but a distant torch provided enough light to see.

‘Ah… I feel like I’m going to die.’

I tried to grab my head in response to the intense headache, but a sharp, metallic sound suddenly rang out as something hit the wall.

I tried to twist my wrist, but something was pressing against my skin, so I stopped trying.

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I began to make out the surroundings.

Iron bars blocked my path, and the cold, brick floor felt chilling to the touch.

I was in a prison.

‘Oh, my fate…’

I recalled the events from before I fainted.

‘But something feels off.’

In the original story, Olivia was not imprisoned in this kind of cell during Vistard’s kidnapping episode. She was kept in a house for negotiations with Nox.

The kidnapping didn’t even happen in Rust. It was a place I never would have agreed to go.

‘Is this a different incident?’

Everything seemed to be different from what I had known.

‘False accusations, ambushes, and now a kidnapping…’

Trouble kept piling up, and my heart ached.

I shook my head to block the thoughts that felt like quicksand.

‘No matter what, I need to escape.’

If this were the original kidnapping, Olivia would be left alone to lure Nox. But there was no guarantee that they would spare my life.

I confirmed that the necklace was still in my pocket and strained my ears. But there was no sound, not even a breath.

The handcuffs on my wrist were fixed to the wall, but there was only one. My right hand was free.

‘I need a key.’

As expected, I couldn’t see a key anywhere nearby.

I didn’t panic. Instead, I used my mana to create a small solution.

‘If I don’t have it, I can make it.’

There was no rule that the cuffs had to be unlocked with the original key.

I forcibly shoved a red gem into the lock, then shaped it into the same form as a key.

I was glad I had learned the magic to change the shape of crystals from Saint before the class ended.

I used the same method to unlock the bars and carefully stepped out.

‘Stay calm.’

They say if you keep your wits, even a tiger bite can be survived.

My heart raced. Despite my resolve, my arms and legs trembled.

I couldn’t help but wish this was all just a dream.

‘Don’t be afraid! If I lose here, how will I live the rest of my life?’

I clenched my teeth.

Those mysterious attackers were no scarier than Nox.

This dark prison was not as frightening as the execution ground I had seen in my dreams.

I steeled my resolve and carefully started moving forward.

‘I need to find Olivia first.’

Since this might not be the original incident, I couldn’t just escape on my own.

I carefully opened the iron door at the end of the corridor. Hearing footsteps approaching, I crouched down and held my breath.

A guard sat on a chair in the middle of the hallway, facing away from me.

I picked up a brick that had fallen to the floor.

‘Will this work?’

The ones who had fainted from Rochelle’s power hadn’t been knocked out by such a weak thing. So I didn’t think they would faint from this.

I coated the brick with mana and made its surface spiky. It looked much more threatening than before.

…

I defeated three guards. Most of it was luck, but the mana-infused crystal was definitely helping.

‘But why does this place feel so familiar?’

The feeling of déjà vu started the moment I woke up.

At first, I thought it was just another case of it, but this didn’t seem like that.

The strange sensation grew clearer over time.

‘This is the prison?!’

As I searched for Olivia, I realized this was the same place where I had broken up the slave auction with Saint.

‘Didn’t Calyx take care of this back then?’

For some reason, I seemed to know the way out.

I took down a couple more guards, and when I looked down, I found a document on the floor.

‘What is this?’

It was a language I had never seen before. It didn’t seem like the current language.

I folded the paper and tucked it into my pocket, feeling it might be important.

‘This is not the time for this…’

I quietly moved deeper into the prison and finally found the cell where Olivia was held.

“Princess!”

“Shh!”

I signaled Olivia to be quiet as she looked up at me. She nodded and covered her mouth with both hands.

I easily opened the cell door, as I had done before.

“I know the way out. Let’s go.”

I tried to lead her quickly while nervously scanning the surroundings, but Olivia tugged at my sleeve.

“It’s fine. Soon…”

She stopped herself, as if she had said something she shouldn’t.

“Soon?”

I urged her, but Olivia just smiled faintly and tried to brush it off.

‘For now, escaping is the priority.’

It wasn’t the time to ask questions. We didn’t know when the enemy would appear and attack us.

‘…Can we escape?’

I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened them. The overwhelming tension shook my body.

“This way, we can get out.”

I led Olivia carefully to the corridor. I was certain the exit was nearby.

As I fumbled around in the darkness, I found the iron door.

I could hear footsteps approaching.

‘Hurry, hurry!’

Before they got too close, I grabbed the rusty door handle and opened it.

The creaking sound of the iron door echoed loudly in my ears.

At the same moment, a guard who had spotted us began shouting.

‘If this goes on, we’ll both be caught!’

I pulled Olivia inside and slammed the door shut.

“Olivia, go first! I’ll catch up soon!”

I didn’t wait for her response, quickly closing the door behind me.

I stood blocking the iron door, and soon three guards surrounded me.

But after feeling the power of the necklace, they didn’t rush in recklessly.