Chapter 866 - 221: Struggle
The heart kept pounding.
Adis felt something had synchronized with him, thudding along with his heart, like it was Growing inside his body.
At this moment.
Ecstasy flooded him as he sensed the presence of the Lord, saw countless strange lights flickering before his eyes.
"Is this the other side of this world?"
He looked toward the iron door of the cell, with a vague premonition that he could pass straight through it.
He was certain this was Truth; the Lord would not deceive him. This was an Ability granted by the Lord, something that could help him escape and ascend.
Only there was still a problem: there were at least no fewer than ten Believers watching over this dungeon. Even if he could pass through the iron door, it would still be hard to get out.
More importantly, he wasn’t familiar with the environment here.
He couldn’t pass through walls or other obstacles—only barriers in the form of doors. And the target couldn’t be too thick, or it would be difficult to complete the process.
Even so.
This was still an Extraordinary Magic no one could have imagined.
Adis suspected that in the All Beings Sect, many Believers possessed similar Abilities. They wielded Magic forbidden by the Empire.
He leaned against the wall, lowered his head and thought for a while. He knew he couldn’t wait any longer; if he delayed, there might be no more chances. Compared to night, the Guard during the day would definitely be tighter.
"I have a way to escape. Can you help me?" Adis glanced at An Jisheng and the other man, speaking in a low voice.
At once, the two lying on the ground opened their eyes, looking at Adis with a trace of astonishment.
The long-haired man said coldly, "This isn’t something to joke about. Don’t play us."
Adis shook his head. "Of course not. I can feel that if I stay here I’ll definitely die, so I have to get out. I have a method that needs your help, and then we can all get out together."
He thought about it. If he relied on himself alone, it was basically impossible to escape. Even if he fled this dungeon, there would almost certainly be Guards outside.
Adis stood up from the straw mat, walked to Angisun’s side and squatted down, whispering in his ear:
"I can get past this iron door. Is there any way, through that, for us to escape from here?"
Angisun squatted there in thought for a while, then turned his head to stare at him. "You... If you really have that kind of Magic, then we do have a chance."
As the chairman of the Antu Commerce Association, he counted as minor Nobility, so he knew far more than commoners did.
Though Magic was banned by the Empire, some Nobility still secretly hoarded certain Magic-related means.
But he’d only heard of it, never actually witnessed Magic. In a situation like this, perhaps only Magic could accomplish such a thing.
"At the very back of the dungeon there’s a lounge. The keys to the dungeon should be kept in there."
"From my observations, those Believers often rest in the lounge. But they never rest there all at once—at most one or two people at a time, and then they rotate shifts. The ones on duty in the day aren’t the same as the ones at night."
Having been here for so long, he had a decent grasp of the place and had always been watching carefully. He did want to escape; he just never had the opportunity.
"Each of those Believers carries Firearms. Only if you get your hands on Firearms will you have the Power to fight them."
...
Angisun quickly combined his knowledge of the dungeon’s layout and worked out a reasonable plan. Clearly, he hadn’t spent any small amount of time thinking about this before.
Adis nodded, a light kindling in his eyes. He felt that the plan Angisun proposed had a certain degree of feasibility.
This was hope.
"You need to act an hour before they change shifts. At that time there will definitely be a Believer resting in the lounge," Angisun said meaningfully, his voice very low, almost only audible to Adis.
"What are you doing!"
A shout came from outside, and all three of them jolted inside.
Adis forced himself to stay steady, showing no unusual reaction. He let a fearful expression creep onto his face, looked at the Believer outside the iron door, and said timidly:
"Nothing, nothing, just can’t sleep."
The Believer snorted coldly, spat at him—a glob of spit landing on his shoulder, phlegm streaking down along the threads of his clothes. "Behave. Don’t go looking for death."
The Believer didn’t suspect much, just dropped that line and turned away. Although he felt the behavior of the three was a bit suspicious, he was certain they couldn’t do anything. No one had ever escaped this dungeon.
This dungeon was far more secure than the city government’s prison.
Adis watched the Believer’s departing back, a feral look twisting his face. The Observer scanned the surroundings, searching for a suitable moment.
He had only one chance. If he failed, they would definitely catch him and kill him on the spot.
The plan carried enormous risk, and the pressure on him was crushing. His palms were already sweating before he even began. His heart hammered wildly, forcing him to take deep breaths over and over, trying to calm himself.
But the more he did that, the faster his heart beat. Both cheeks burned red, though it wasn’t obvious in the dimness.
"If it really won’t work, just forget it," the long-haired man reminded, seeing Adis’s distress.
People are different; not everyone has exceptional nerve and courage. Most are timid.
Adis might not be able to escape that category either.
"No. I’m going to die anyway—better to gamble once."
Resolve hardened in Adis’s eyes.
Angisun closed his eyes, reached his left hand under the straw mat to feel around, then pulled out something and handed it to him. "Take this. It was a weapon I prepared for myself, planning to drag someone down with me when I died."
It was a rusty shard of iron, very thin, but the edges had clearly been filed—shockingly sharp, enough to slice open a throat.
Adis nodded, took the shard, slipped it into his sleeve, then shifted over to the iron door and peered outside.
He needed to wait for the right moment—when none of the Believers were looking his way.
That moment wasn’t too hard to find, but he still had to gamble on luck, betting that no Believer would see him as he rushed from here to the lounge.
If anyone saw him, all his efforts would be wasted.
Adis didn’t hesitate for long. As he saw the Believer leaning at the end of the corridor turn away, his own eyes went pitch-black. He hunched and slammed toward the iron door; at that instant his body seemed to become Phantom, slipping through the door effortlessly, without resistance.
Then he ran half-crouched all the way toward the lounge.
At this time, most of the dungeon’s prisoners were asleep, but some were awake and noticed Adis’s shocking move.
None of them made a sound; they just stared blankly, and the dungeon abruptly fell a few degrees quieter.
The Believers, however, didn’t perceive this change. At the end of the passage, three Believers huddled around a brazier, still warming themselves and chatting. There were even some snacks laid out on the table.
There were patrolling Believers as well, just not in his corridor at that moment, and they just happened not to look his way.
For Adis, the process felt long, but in reality it took barely more than ten seconds before he plunged into the lounge.
The door was half-closed. He pushed it open slowly and saw a Believer lying back on a crude wooden cot, eyes half-shut.
The Believer didn’t notice his arrival right away; or rather, he sensed someone entering the room but never imagined it could be a prisoner, so he felt no alarm at all.
The shard slipped from Adis’s sleeve into his hand. With a sudden stride forward, he lunged, driving the shard through the Believer’s throat. One hand clamped over the man’s mouth, his whole body bearing down with all his weight and Power, pinning him firmly.
The Believer’s Power was unexpectedly strong, and facing such a situation it kept Growing. Fortunately, Adis had some experience; he poured every ounce of his strength into holding the man down, refusing to let him break free.
A moment later, he felt the other’s Power gradually weakening.