Vol 3. Chapter 57: The Boy Who Escaped
Several dozen minutes earlier,
inside the estate of Marquis Keweibote in the eastern district of Sky Dome,
a somewhat gloomy building concealed a secret unknown to ordinary people.
Beneath the old wooden house, which appeared to have only two floors above ground,
lay an enormous underground prison.
At that very moment,
heart-rending screams echoed from within.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
Inside the dim, damp prison,
accompanied by the hysterical screams of a thirteen-year-old red-haired girl,
under the horrified gazes of over a dozen children,
countless golden spikes suddenly pierced mercilessly through the little girl's body.
The next instant,
a large quantity of strange liquid flowed continuously through those golden spikes into her body.
As more of the liquid entered her,
the girl's expression became increasingly twisted and agonized.
It was easy to imagine the unimaginable pain she was enduring.
Tears mixed with blood streamed endlessly from the corners of her eyes.
Yet,
no matter how desperately she screamed,
the researchers in white robes surrounding her showed not the slightest trace of sympathy.
They merely watched silently as she was consumed by agony.
As time passed,
her screams became weaker and weaker,
and her life gradually approached its end...
However,
her suffering did not end.
Instead, it only intensified.
Only now,
she no longer had the strength to scream or beg for mercy.
All hope of survival had vanished from her eyes.
There wasn't even the faintest glimmer left within her pupils.
Clearly,
after everything she had endured,
the girl's mind had already collapsed.
The next moment,
as one of the researchers chanted an incantation,
a white magic circle suddenly formed beneath the girl's body.
Along with the activation of the magic circle and the flickering white light,
before everyone's eyes,
the girl's body gradually crumbled,
melted,
and disintegrated,
transforming into countless specks of white light.
When the white-robed mage waved his hand once again,
those lights gathered as though summoned,
spiraling rapidly into his palm.
They condensed,
grew increasingly stable,
and finally transformed into a white gemstone overflowing with dense soul power.
"Heh... the purity isn't bad."
Carefully examining the "result" in his hand,
the white-robed mage slowly revealed a satisfied smile.
It was an exceptionally radiant smile.
Yet at this moment,
it somehow appeared incomparably sinister and horrifying,
sending chills down everyone's spine.
The dozens of children imprisoned in the surrounding cells felt this more strongly than anyone.
Watching the companion who had only moments ago encouraged and comforted them inside the prison now die before their eyes,
the children all fell silent.
Fear and despair completely consumed them.
Many of the mentally weaker children could no longer hold back their tears and buried their heads in their arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
Several especially timid children had already fainted from sheer terror.
For a time,
the underground prison echoed endlessly with children's cries,
their screams,
and desperate pleas for mercy.
--
Among those children,
one boy of about twelve stood apart from the rest.
His expression was completely different.
He wasn't crying his eyes out.
Instead,
he silently observed his companions,
the white-robed mages,
and the prison guards outside the cages.
It wasn't that he didn't grieve for the dead girl.
He had simply become numb.
The boy was unusually mature for his age.
After observing everything over the past several days,
he had clearly realized just how utterly inhuman these white-robed mages were.
They simply didn't care about the children's crying or pleading.
No matter how much he cried,
they would never spare him.
Sooner or later,
he too would be turned into a "Soul Pearl."
If that was inevitable,
then rather than wasting time crying,
he would rather spend every bit of energy figuring out how to escape—
and how to find his little sister Aixue and take her away from this living hell.
The inconspicuous boy quietly sitting in the corner of the prison cell was named Aide-Shimuwen.
He had originally been the eldest son of Count Shimuwen's family and had lived a carefree life together with his younger sister Aixue.
However,
the former emperor, whom their family had supported, suddenly died.
Soon afterward,
the Shimuwen family, as supporters of the late emperor, was arrested on charges of attempting rebellion.
His father was executed.
As for the rest of his family,
Aide didn't know what had become of them.
He only knew that he and his sister had been imprisoned inside this underground prison.
Many other children from exterminated noble families,
along with purchased slaves,
had also been locked up here.
Watching companions be turned into "Soul Pearls" every single day,
Aide made a solemn vow to himself.
He had to escape this place.
Although the chances were slim,
he refused to give up.
Every day,
he desperately searched for an opportunity to flee.
Today,
it seemed as though heaven had finally rewarded his efforts.
At this very moment,
while everyone's attention was focused on the gemstone in the white-robed mage's hand,
Aide suddenly noticed in astonishment that...
the lock on the prison door behind him...
wasn't locked?
What?!
'Am... am I dreaming?'
Aide couldn't help wondering.
Did they forget to lock it while bringing someone in just now?
Or because they were only children,
had security simply been more careless?
Countless questions flashed through his mind.
However,
he had no intention of thinking about them now.
Even if it was a trap,
he had to try if he wanted to live.
So,
taking advantage of everyone's distraction,
Aide quietly slipped out of the iron cage with astonishing ease and cautiously sneaked toward the staircase.
A short while later,
filled with nervous anticipation,
Aide realized in utter disbelief...
he had actually succeeded?
He had really escaped from the third underground prison level?
The entire process had been so effortless that it was almost unbelievable.
Even Aide himself began wondering whether he was dreaming.
Only after pinching his thigh several times did he finally confirm...
this wasn't a dream.
It was all real.
"I... I can escape!"
At that moment,
Aide silently encouraged himself.
However,
instead of immediately fleeing the estate,
the boy tried to find his younger sister, who was imprisoned on another level.
As her older brother,
he wanted to rescue her no matter what.
The children imprisoned over there were even younger.
Perhaps security would be even more relaxed.
If fortune continued smiling upon him,
maybe...
just maybe...
they could escape together.
That was what Aide hoped.
Unfortunately,
his luck seemed to have run out.
Just as he was about to search for his sister,
a shout from behind instantly made his entire body stiffen.
"You! Brat! How did you get out?!"
The moment he heard those words,
Aide knew he had been discovered.
Unable to worry about rescuing his sister anymore,
he immediately turned and ran.
Because if he managed to escape,
perhaps he could gather the family's former retainers to rescue her later.
But if he was caught now,
the only ending awaiting the two siblings
would be death.
Driven by terror and an overwhelming desire to survive,
Aide desperately fled toward the outside.
Hearing the alarm,
the mages and prison guards inside the dungeon immediately revealed furious expressions.
Weapons in hand,
they rushed out,
determined to drag Aide back into the prison.
Aide knew perfectly well
that he wasn't strong.
There was no way he could outrun those guards.
Being caught
was only a matter of time.
But,
his desperate instinct for survival had already overwhelmed everything else.
All he could do
was run.
Run.
Run.
However,
during his escape,
Aide suddenly realized,
as if Lady Luck herself were protecting him.
Those who should have been able to catch him with ease...
somehow met bizarre accidents just before reaching him,
either falling unconscious
or dying on the spot.
For example,
the guard who had almost caught him moments ago accidentally stepped on a banana peel,
slipped,
and fell straight into a cesspit.
Apparently...
he never surfaced again.
And that wasn't an isolated incident.
It happened
again,
and again,
and again.
The mage casting spells mispronounced his incantation and blew himself away.
The archer accidentally shot his own teammate.
The one trying to fly ahead and block Aide's path was snatched halfway through the air by a rampaging spirit beast inside the Marquis' estate.
The person trying to close the iron gate failed to trap Aide,
but instead trapped all the pursuing guards behind it.
One guard had only just opened his mouth to call for reinforcements,
when the building beside him suddenly collapsed,
crushing him to death.
...
...
Fortunately,
Aide had no attention to spare for any of this.
Otherwise,
the little boy would probably have started questioning reality itself.
By the time dozens of guards had inexplicably fallen one after another,
Aide had already escaped from what he considered hell itself—
the estate of Marquis Keweibote—
through a dog hole beneath the wall.
He immediately ran toward the commercial district.
There were crowds of people there.
As long as a child like him managed to disappear into that sea of people,
perhaps he could shake off the Marquis' pursuers.
Just as he was thinking that,
a bullet suddenly came flying toward him.
Without mercy,
it pierced straight through his shoulder.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
Blood sprayed everywhere.
The overwhelming pain forced Aide to let out a heart-wrenching scream,
and he collapsed heavily onto the ground.
The agony nearly caused him to lose consciousness.
But the thought that if he blacked out,
all hope would be lost—
that both he and his sister would be turned into "Soul Pearls"—
forced him to grit his teeth.
Ignoring the unbearable pain and exhaustion,
Aide forced himself back onto his feet
and continued running forward.
Several prison guards wielding sharp blades rapidly closed in on the fleeing child.
However,
just as Aide was about to be captured,
a beautiful figure dressed in black entered his field of vision.
At that moment,
not caring whether she possessed the ability to help him or not,
he clung to her like the last straw that could save his life.
He desperately ran toward the black-haired girl,
shouting at the top of his lungs,
"Help! They're trying to kill me! Please save me! Please... help me..."
After shouting those final words,
Aide's body finally reached its limit from excessive blood loss.
His legs gave way beneath him,
and he helplessly collapsed toward the ground.
'It's... over...
I... don't have any strength left...'
Just as Aide was sinking into complete despair,
a slender jade-like hand suddenly reached out,
caught him,
and gently pulled him into a warm embrace.
Then,
a soft, beautiful voice slowly reached his ears.
It caused a faint light of hope to gradually return to the nearly hopeless boy's eyes.
"It's alright now.
Don't be afraid..."