As a duel was once again taking place in the unrecognisable fortress, one man had recovered from his injuries. It was Saukel, who had been left unconscious at the top of the prison's central tower. He had just reached the ground floor by slowly descending the stairs, moving forward cautiously through the mist, which was particularly thick where he was. He held his nose covered with a pocket handkerchief, thinking that the mist was toxic, which was not the case. In his other hand he had a fan of magic that he had just created to dispel the mist in front of him so he could see more clearly.

'What's been happening here all this time? And how long has it been, by the way?' he asked himself, observing the carnage as he made his way through the mist. He vaguely remembered being attacked by someone coming from above him, but he fell unconscious instantly afterwards. His head still hurt, and you could see the mark of the blow on part of his plump face.

'I've got to call the guard quickly... how come they haven't turned up yet?'

Despite the poor visibility and the debris scattered everywhere, he knew the area well and was heading for the warden's office to call for reinforcements. He knew that there was a machine that could call various guard posts in the city. But he realised that the further he went, the thicker the mist seemed, as if he were getting closer to its source. He continued on regardless.

He finally reached the entrance to the room, almost tripping over the door on the floor that had been thrown open when Herman woke up earlier. 'It should be on the right...,' he moved, holding onto the wall, his fan being useless here due to the intensity of the mist. At last he reached the famous machine with several magical devices. Each of the buttons on these devices could call up a guard post simply by pressing it.

Saukel didn't think twice and pressed each button frantically to alert as many posts as possible. However, nothing happened, there was no search for calls for each button. Nothing happened. The machine didn't seem to work.

'How come nothing lights up, dammit?!' he shouted, banging his fists on the machine.

'What a shame isn't it?'

'Huh? Who's there?!' Saukel turned towards the voice that seemed to be coming from the office and suddenly the mist was absorbed in front of him like a huge draught. He stood at the machine while shielding his face, the wind was powerful and all the mist that was present throughout the building was engulfed in no time, becoming nothing more than an apple-sized ball in the stranger's hand.

'You'll thank that guy who serves as your director, that machine was already destroyed before I even got there.'

His eyes widened as he recognised the man in front of him. That red hair, those green eyes illuminated by the light of the moon, his tattoo on his cheek hidden by his scarf that he must surely have picked up in the confiscated items nearby. It was, of course, the boy who had been wanted for several days and who had been sent to purgatory the day before. With a wave of his hand, he dispelled the ball of mist. He was behind Herman's desk, which was completely overturned, and in front of the large window, which was wide open.

'By the way, I don't need this any more,' he said, throwing a perfectly open box at his feet without a trace of forcing. 'This kind of safe is child's play to open, I find it hard to believe that it belongs to the top officers of the guard.'

'What the... It looks like a guard infantry chest,' Saukel looked up and the boy looked ready to go, he had put one foot on the window sill and held in his left hand a rolled up parchment, which appeared to be a map, the size of which was equivalent to the box and he realised he had just stolen it. He didn't know what it was, but if he was in there it must be a very important document.

'Where do you think you're going, kid? This stuff certainly isn't yours!' he shouted, turning his fan into a gun made of magic. He pointed at the boy, who remained unperturbed, unlike him, and turned to face him.

'What are you waiting for? Go ahead and shoot,' taunted the young man, spreading his arms wide. The merchant gritted his teeth and didn't hesitate a second longer to fire. The boy was pierced by the magic bullet and stepped back, putting his hand on the wound in the middle of his torso.

Saukel burst out laughing, the sensation of shooting a man so easily drove him mad and barely a second passed before he continued. One shot, a second and then another. But as he continued shooting in the midst of his madness, he noticed something strange; the boy didn't seem to have moved since his first bullet. He stopped to get a better look as he regained his senses and was shocked to find that the boy had never bled.

The boy straightened up, it was dotted with almost perfect holes and the light from the window could be seen through them. He removed his hand and the impact of the first shot had completely disappeared, not even his clothes had been damaged. All the other impacts also closed in like a spiral of smoke. His body was intact.

'How?' Saukel, who still had him in his sights, took a step back and leaned against the machine.

'I suspected that you weren't very clever, but at this point I hope for your sake that you simply are deliberately not understanding.'

The expression on the merchant's face was pitiful, he was terrified. He turned back to the machine which, now that it was visible, he realised that it was indeed totally damaged. Despite everything, he persisted in hitting the buttons to call for help. Nothing happened again. He had completely lost control of himself.

'This is ridiculous.'

Saukel turned his head back to the young man, ready to put his pride aside to implore him. Then a shot was heard. With the tip of his finger, the boy had just fired a beam of pure magic, which lodged itself between his eyes. His face fell into the machine before his legs gave out and his body fell to the ground. He died instantly with a single, surgically precise shot, a quick and pathetic death.

'It's pitiful to spend all your effort creating a pistol for the same result. In the end, your ending will be as miserable as your existence as a slave trader,' the boy turned towards the window, leaving Saukel's body lying on the floor of the room. He looked at the rolled-up parchment he still held in his other hand and then tucked it into the satchel around his waist.

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'Now that it's done, I'm nearly there, I've got a chance of finding it before they do,' he said to himself as he straightened his scarf over his nose. He then jumped from the edge of the window and climbed with disconcerting ease over an adjacent wall before arriving on a roof. He looked back at the fortress one last time, watching as hundreds of prisoners fled or gathered in front of it, observing a fight that seemed to be raging inside the fortress.

'Chance was on my side this time, I don't know who caused all this but I thank him for making my task easier,' the red-haired boy then set off again, leaping from roof to roof as he went.

In the dilapidated hall of the fortress, the new fight between Armand and Herman had already begun. Although you couldn't really call it a fight, it was more like survival. The warden was enjoying the situation; he threw his chains roughly without bothering to aim while Armand merely dodged painfully.

'This scumbag, I can't get a hold of him. He won't let me breathe,' he retreated as the attacks went on, to get as far away from his opponent as possible. He felt that he was no match for him in these conditions and that he had to drink the vial he had left as quickly as possible. He didn't expect Herman to come back even stronger than before, at least not to the same extent.

Then an opportunity presented itself: his enemy threw two searchlight chains at him, but he managed to deflect them by hitting them on the flank with the tip, thanks to the speed conferred by his blue aura. He jumped back until his back was against the wall and took advantage of this moment of respite to look for the vial in his small bag. Unfortunately, one of the chains he had deflected came charging back and he narrowly dodged, moving his head to the side. The chain just scratched his cheek.

The chain buried itself in the wall, creating dust and stone debris, and he hid his eyes in his forearm to protect himself, but as soon as he did so he knew he had just made a mistake. His opponent sprang up in front of him and struck him with an uppercut full of anger. Armand crossed his arms just in time, covering himself with his green aura, but it wasn't enough. The blow was so powerful that it pierced the wall he was leaning against and the ceiling of the room behind it.

He fell back to the floor of the western building of the fortress, which no longer had a ceiling, the roof having collapsed as a result of the previous tremors. The warden then climbed like an octopus using the chains on his back as tentacles before landing. He looked to the right towards the horizon and admired the night view of the city.

'It won't be long before dawn,' he said, resting his gaze on Armand again as he gestured wildly with his arms. 'You see? In my immense goodness I'm offering you a magnificent panorama before your death!'

'Speak for yourself, you bastard,' he replies, rising to his feet. He prepares another blow by wrapping magic around his fist, which turns red.

'No sooner up than you want to go at it again? What do you think you are, kid? Apart from a fool I don't see anything else in front of me.'

The giant also prepared himself, the chains around his right arm tightened to increase its power and it grew even bigger. The two men leapt at each other and their fists clashed. Herman's power was far greater than his own and he slid backwards on the stone floor, trying to keep his balance and continuing to push in spite of everything.

'Well then? Is that all you've got? That's what all your determination was worth just now? This is ridiculous!' The embrace around his arm deepened and his power increased even more. He pushed down this time to crush him, who was struggling to gain the upper hand.

'I... I'm still here...!' He placed his free hand on his forearm to steady himself. He tried to store up all the magic around him, concentrating his energy in his fist. The reddish aura intensified, shining brighter and brighter, but it still wasn't enough. Their power finally seemed equal, but Armand's position was clearly at a disadvantage.

Herman, for his part, began to feel an intense heat. Armand's fist was burning up and his reddish aura was suddenly getting hotter and hotter. He couldn't stay like that any longer, he risked burning himself if it went on any longer. A sly smile spread across his face as the chains springing from his back came to life, snaking through the air, ready to attack in treachery. He didn't think he could counter them, no matter what he tried.

'You won't last long,' Herman murmured, his smile growing wider, and this time I'll crush you completely.'

Armand, for his part, didn't yet realise that his aura was beginning to ignite, too focused on his opponent's twirling chains. Time was running out, he had to release the pressure before those pesky chains attacked him. Which they did, very quickly, as the chains dashed towards him. Then, without hesitation, Armand released his strength under the weight of the colossus, deflecting the force he was exerting on him. Herman was thrown off balance and his fist hit the weakened ground.

Armand swung sharply to the side, narrowly dodging the chains that hit the ground in their turn, shattering the stone into a thousand pieces. Seeing an opening at last, he took advantage of it to strike him with a powerful blow to the right flank with his fist, still full of magic. The warden was thrown sideways across the room. But despite the force of the impact, he righted himself in mid-air, digging his fingers into the ground to slow his run.

He stood up, furious at having been caught so easily, and glanced down at his hand. His fingers were partially burnt and their tips were dripping blood.

'Look at you, those chains and muscles on the verge of exploding, your body no longer looks like anything. You're just using other people's power through your chains. That's what you've done to get here, isn't it?' Despite his fatigue, Armand gave a mocking smile. 'Which of us is the most pathetic? The oblivious one or the one who is forced to steal strength from others to take down a 'vermin'?'

The warden remained surprisingly calm in the face of his provocations and laughed as he hid his face.

'Tell me kid, am I dreaming or are you starting to gain confidence because you've finally touched me? Are you implying that I have no morals? Well, yes! Strength is absolute! You've no idea what a miserable life I had in the guard. I couldn't bear to be a common stooge for people weaker than me, helping people who had no values!' shouted Herman, who was beginning to lose his temper again.

'When I replaced that weakling who was running this prison as if it were just a hotel for criminals, I felt reborn! The satisfaction of knowing that the mere mention of my name terrified them, of no longer having to worry about anyone, of all the power I now had. Their cry of pain as their energy evaporated in my chains and seeing their lives disappear in their eyes... . Only the strong can claim to be at the top! I don't care about your ridiculous judgements, you're just an insect to me. It doesn't matter how you do it, it's only the results that count in the end!'

The chains around his body began to glow with a white light and his power temporarily increased again before he launched himself at Armand at a speed that completely overwhelmed him. He shielded himself with his arms and his eyes turned green but when Herman's blow hit him, his aura broke, it was far too weak for such a blow and he was thrown towards a wall which he smashed through and fell outside the fortress.

'Hmpf, maybe I came on a bit strong,' muttered Herman, shaking his hand. He walked over to the pierced wall and looked to see where it had fallen. 'I can't see him any more, it's strange. But now that I think about it, we can see much better than before. What was all that smoke?' He looked around and then heard an electrical noise whirling through the air.

A bolt of lightning shot down in front of him, sending out small sparks. Once the light had faded, Herman realised without too much surprise that it was someone. A man on his knees, his upper body bare and covered in scars, who carried Armand on his arms. The young man regained his senses as he opened his eyes to see his saviour, whom he recognised immediately.

'Bo... Bojan...? What are you doing here? I asked you to leave...,' he asked him with difficulty.

He put him down and smiled at him before facing Herman. 'I can't imagine that my freedom is due to the sacrifice of a young man who had nothing to do with any of this.' He positioned himself with his arms sparking with the little magic that was left around. 'I must cleanse the little honour I have left, leave it to me, Armand !'

End of chapter 20.