"Get in there!"

The metal door swung open, and Edris and Ace toppled into a narrow cell.

One of the workers pressed Edris against the walls and snapped handcuffs around his wrists. Without attempting to retaliate, Edris only flinched as the chains scraped over his wrist, a metallic stench of blood filling the air.

The other worker turned towards Ace, only to subconsciously shudder after being confronted with the white-haired man's cold gaze. He quickly pushed another pair of shackles over his wrists and stepped out, not forgetting to lock the metal doors as he did so.

After the worker left, Edris moved towards the front of the cell and observed the lines of people trickling in, filling them up one by one.

The prison cells spiralling around the chasm seemed to be precisely designed, having just the number of cells needed for each prey. After the scary child fainted, she was taken back into the tunnel by one of the workers. In her current state, she was no longer in the position to be a "prey," so the cell originally prepared for her opened up.

Only to be immediately filled again by none other than Edris and Ace.

Each cell, built like a display case, entailed just enough room for one person to stand, so the two of them had to squish against each other to conserve space.

"This is a problem…" The dark-haired man let out a soft sigh.

He didn't expect Ace to regain his physical form so quickly, nor did he expect it to be thanks to the contact with black mana.

To prepare for unexpected situations throughout the investigation, he had intentionally asked Ace to conserve mana whenever possible. This was why Edris had stayed at a nearby inn rather than teleport back to the capital; it was also why he didn't involve him in the whole Boss Prophet situation.

What Edris didn't expect, however, was for all the accumulated mana to be redeemed in this manner.

At a time like this, too.

Needless to say, regaining his physical body had taken up all of Ace's mana, and it was hard to say how long it'll take to recover, especially in a nasty, underground environment like this one.

Edris frowned. He had told Celio and Dolan Zacriya to assemble at a given location, but with the current state, he doubted he'll meet his end of the plan. He wasn't worried about the two, since the Crown Prince would likely come with reinforcements after noticing his absence.

Indeed, he was more worried about the timing.

With Ace gone, they could no longer teleport, so going by carriage would be their best option. But even so, with the fastest route to the capital and back, it would take at least twelve hours for reinforcement to arrive.

Eyebrows slightly creasing, Edris tapped his lips in contemplation.

According to the papers from Boss Prophet, the Hunt was scheduled for tonight.

Edris's original plan was to immediately escape after finding the main hall. From there, he would meet up with Dolan Zacriya and ask him to request a formal investigation. However, it obviously wasn't going to happen now.

"Hey. Your arm."

A deep voice pulled Edris out of his thoughts. He glanced up from his lashes at the man behind him, whose bare skin was almost pressed against his back.

It was then he realized that the man behind him was still naked.

Following Ace's gaze, Edris looked down at his own wrist, which was now charred black after the girl had grabbed on to it earlier.

Sheets of skin eroded, revealing the nasty sight of smouldering flesh and blood spilling from the wound. If he looked closely, Edris could discern parts of his protruding bones.

"Ah." He said blankly.

Under Ace's scrutiny, the dark-haired man pulled out a small Spatial Pouch from the inner pocket of the Mysterious Veil. Luckily, it was the part that had remained intact despite the girl burning off over half of the piece of clothing.

Pushing his healthy hand into the pouch, Edris dug around for a few seconds before pulling out three items: a Frion paste, a roll of bandages, and an elixir.

He then tossed the entire cloak to Ace, who caught it with one hand.

"Use this to cover up."

Turning his back towards the white-haired man, Edris rubbed the mint-coloured paste onto the wound, grimacing as it mixed with blood. Frion was a type of herb, and its leaves, when made into pastes, worked as a painkiller.

Truly, it was times like this when Edris was glad he couldn't perceive temperature, since it probably would have hurt more otherwise.

After the painkiller set in, he poured the potion over his wrist and watched it integrate into the lumps of flesh.

Behind him, Ace (with the cloak now secured around his torso) watched in silence as the man tossed the empty elixir back into the pouch and grabbed the bandages. With chains still around his arms, Edris wrapped bandages around his arms several times.

The entire process was executed without a single unnecessary step, as though he had done it many times before.

If it weren't for the man's paling complexion and the sweat drops on his forehead, one might not even notice that he was in pain.

"That'll do." Nodding in satisfaction at his bandaged hand, Edris exercised his muscles to slowly form a fist.

"Where did you get the pouch?" Ace asked.

"An offering from our lovely Crown Prince." Edris smiled. "Good thing I didn't buy one back at Alan's."

"The child was a black mana user. The healing process for black mana is more complicated than you think."

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Regular mana was a source of energy that originated from nature, but black mana–also known as tainted mana–was different; it was said to be created from an unnatural mutation that posed severe, prolonged harm to its victims.

Ace's gaze seemed to be fixed on the red undertone slowly spreading beneath Edris's bandages, but the latter didn't pay it much attention as he only waved his arm with a shrug.

"I guess I'll just need to get properly treated when we get out then."

It wasn't that Edris didn't take the man's words seriously. He was just more focused on other matters at hand.

While normal mana could be absorbed, stored, and used by all who knew how to control their mana channel, only a rare number of individuals possessed an affinity to black mana that allowed them to use it. And even then, there was a limit to how much black mana the person could use before they experienced a backlash.

Edris thought back to the child. Even as someone who had spent most of his life going around the world, it was his first time meeting a black mana user in the flesh. Not to mention, she was a little girl, too.

Perhaps as a balance to its rarity, black mana was more powerful than regular mana but also more detrimental to its users.

Black mana users also suffered a sad truth: even though they weren't rejected by black mana, they would inevitably be rejected by civilization after using it.

Edris decided to stop thinking about the child, and instead, he shifted his eyes to the man behind him as a random thought popped up in his head.

He's built like a mannequin.

A tall person with broad shoulders, long legs and sturdy thighs… Ace reminded Edris of the mannequin models he saw when he and Celio got custom-made outfits at Orteon's Family Boutique.

Less than a fist's distance was currently between them, and Edris could feel the rise and fall of Ace's chest against his shoulder blades, a sign that the man was really alive.

He twisted his body, so they were facing each other. It was then he realized that the white-haired man was taller than him. Edris craned his neck to meet his eyes.

"What?" Ace didn't hesitate to stare back. "The black mana twisted your neck as well?"

"You know, if you couldn't talk, I would have put you as the prophet instead." He withdrew his gaze regrettably. "With a face like that… Such a shame."

Glossy white hair, defined facial features, bow-shaped lips—everything about the man was nice and saintly.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Until he opened his mouth, that is.

"Don't worry about it." Edris's eyes creased in a smile. Despite the narrow space in the cell, he still managed to make himself comfortable by leaning against the walls. "How long until your mana replenishes? Or actually—" he wiggle his hands, letting the shackles clatter against each other, "—how long would it take for us to break out of these?"

The chains were magic-restricting devices that Viscount Eathe had hurriedly brought over to keep the prophet in control. After all, he knew well what Edris was capable of, especially having witnessed the entire unfolding of the incident at the Orteon Manor.

"We can't even move because of these." He sighed dramatically. "The viscount is unlikely to do anything harmful to us since he thinks I'm acquainted with the Crown Prince, so I guess at this point, we really do have to wait for reinforcements."

It was at that moment.

The chains restraining Ace's wrists plopped onto the ground with a hollow clang. The two men stared at the open handcuffs between them, then at each other.

"Your mana restored?" Edris blinked twice.

"No."

"You didn't lose your mana in the first place?"

"…No."

"Don't tell me you broke it with brute strength…"

Listening to the dark-haired man's wild speculations, Ace merely shook his head.

"Looks like the guard from earlier forgot to lock it properly."

***

At the same time as the workers prepared for the Hunt in the chasm, Eathe was sitting in a room two levels above, observing the scene through a one-way window.

He took a sip of his wine, visibly annoyed. "I didn't expect that crazy prophet to be here."

Edris's sudden appearance was a pain in the neck for the viscount. He didn't know how the prophet managed to get past the illusion barrier in front of the sewage site, but now that Edris learned about his involvement with all these kidnapped Awakeneds, he could no longer leave him be.

"I could just kill him, but…" Eathe smashed the wine glass onto the floor, letting the shards and liquid spill all over the red carpet. "Why did he have to be so close with Dolan Zacriya?!"

The prophet's relationship with the Crown Prince was another burden to his current situation. From the looks of it, the two were on friendly terms, to say the least, so he didn't want to risk doing anything that could put him as a suspect later on if Dolan Zacriya found out about the prophet's disappearance.

Even though the Crown Prince had only recently undertook his position, his abilities were not to be underestimated, especially knowing that he had the entire Royal Mage Bridgade and the archmage Magnus Vyris under his control.

"At least the beast tamer is not with him this time. Or else things would have gotten even more problematic."

The viscount cast his eyes downwards, taking in the full view of the chasm. The cells lined up one after another, creating a spiral leading up to the half-sphere top. At the centre of the ceiling was a white orb—the event's main course.

Behind him, workers promptly moved to clean up the shards of glass. One of them approached the viscount from behind and poured wine into a new cup.

"How beautiful." Viscount Eathe whirled the glass cup around with two fingers. "It’s just as they said, the Hunt this year will be extraordinary."

Each prey stood still in their cell like a docile doll, and spirals of them, along with the cascading light coming from the orb, formed a heavenly view before him.

The only stain was the cell at the very end of the spiral, house to the two intruders.

Eathe narrowed his eyes.

The man with white hair.

It was his first time seeing him with the prophet, but that's all the reason not to let his guard down. Although, judging by his looks, the man gave off the feeling of being nothing more than a vase, Eathe couldn't afford to underestimate his potential.

After all, the same could be said for Edris when he first met the prophet, but look at how wrong he was.

A knock sounded from the doors behind him.

"My lord, all the two hundred preys are in place, except for the Awakened from earlier."

At the worker's report, Eathe took a glimpse at the time.

Three hours left until the Hunt.

"The guests should be coming in soon." He poured the rest of the wine down his throat and straightened his collar. "Keep the girl confined. And also make sure to stay alert to any potential abnormalities coming from the prophet's cell."

With the Hunt happening tonight, there was no room for failure.

If he couldn't personally hurt Edris, he'll make that the prophet and his friend remain trapped until the end. Then, he'll ask the Hypnotist, who was attending the Hunt as well, to erase their memories of the night.

"It looks like he's injured too, but even so, we can't let down our guards. Although I doubt he'd be able to try anything with those shackles."

He had prepared the mana-restricting shackles in case any of the Awakeneds snapped out of the hypnosis state, but they also proved to be of great use in this situation. The shackles' powers were absolute. No matter how much potential they had as an Awakened, their mana is no longer usable once they're locked in.

In other words, they would be reduced to no more than ordinary human beings.

Eathe glimpsed at the pale-looking prophet and the pretty boy beside him. No matter how he looked at it, there was no way that those two would be able to get out of the shackles and escape with brute strength.

"Everything is going according to plan."