"So, from the *'gates'*," I recalled what the locals called those guarding the catacomb exits. "Didn’t recognize me, huh?"

"Ah, Boryan, that you?" grunted the "sergeant," rubbing his eyes. It didn’t seem to help much. "Why didn’t you say so earlier? Can’t you see I’m a bit out of sorts?"

"I’m not exactly in top form myself," I replied, feigning hesitation. "A little foggy upstairs. Can I go through?"

"Whatever," he waved me off. But as I walked past, his meaty hand clamped down on my shoulder. "You know how it is; I just came back from there myself. Don’t go into the second stall, ha. And get back to your post right after. Olubert’s in a foul mood. Marcus kicked the bucket, the bastard, and now those idiots have vanished. And guess who’s taking the blame? Me! I swear, if they make me take that psycho’s place, I’ll lose my mind. I was fine being the second-in-command, not bothering anyone. Who could’ve seen this coming? I don’t want this!"

What a drunkard—deciding now was the perfect time to vent. Never mind that we were in a bit of a hurry! Still, it was somewhat intriguing, even if he didn’t reveal anything new—aside from the gnome’s name, which was a useful detail.

"Can I go now?" I patted his shoulder. "Unless you want me mopping the floor later."

"You too, Borya?" The "sergeant" finally let go of me with a sigh. "Nobody gets me! Fine, go. Just get back right away, and don’t vanish. If someone else disappears, especially now, Olubert’s going to lose it on all of us..."

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"I’ll be quick," I reassured him. "In and out. Not much chance of getting lost, anyway."

"True enough," the brute muttered, shaking his head. "Though those bastards still managed to disappear somewhere..."

Ignoring his muttering, I hurried down the corridor toward the exit.

"Good thing discipline here is practically non-existent," Dima exhaled with relief, breaking his silence. He’d been quiet, not wanting to distract me earlier. "Although, looking at these morons, it almost makes me feel bad—for myself and all the prisoners."

"Fair point," I admitted, shaking my head. "Still, it’s not like the guards here are entirely slacking off. Take that drunkard we just saw. Don’t let his state fool you—any Master can sober up in under a minute if they want to."

"I know," Dima grumbled. "But still, if things were different here..."

"If things were different, we’d be worse off!" I cut off his complaining. "So let’s use the opportunity and sneak out quietly!"

We kept whispering back and forth as we navigated the grim corridors, not wasting time checking the wards along the way. I’d briefly considered escaping through a window, but Dima had immediately shot that idea down. Given the nature of this place and the lax guards, it was highly likely the area was rigged with alarms. That left us with only one option—exiting the guarded third compound through a checkpoint.

But at some point, everything suddenly started going off track.

Turning a corner, we found ourselves face-to-face with the *operating room.* It wasn’t hard to recognize—the doors and part of the wall were still missing. As soon as we rounded the corner, we were in full view of the local deity's domain. Judging by the faint glint in its open eyes, it had definitely spotted us.

I couldn’t tell if the clinic’s layout had been deliberately designed to funnel us here or if we’d simply stumbled into this by chance. Either way, this was the last place we should’ve been.

It was too late to retreat. With each passing second, I could feel Olubert’s presence more acutely. Standing still wasn’t an option, and turning around abruptly would be far too suspicious. Besides, the exit was clearly further down the corridor.

Forcing myself to stay calm, I kept walking, projecting an air of nonchalance and deliberately avoiding looking toward the statue. I’d almost made it halfway down the hallway when—

A loud crash echoed behind me, the floor reverberating with the force of the impact.

"Vulkan..." Dima stated the obvious. "I think we’ve got a problem."

Turning around, I couldn’t help but agree.

The gnome’s statue had just leapt off its pedestal and was now striding straight toward us.