Chapter 9: Prison Break II

Leo didn’t think. He jumped up and activated [Sprint], taking advantage of the guards’ shock and bolting in the opposite direction.

“After him!” he heard the fourth guard yell, and clanging footsteps rushed towards him from behind.

Leo swerved, sharply turning at the next corner, mind churning as he ran through the structure of the prison and tried to determine how to get to the exit from here. He could feel his [Sprint] skill nearing the end of its effect; he needed to cover as much distance as he could.

At an intersection up ahead, a guard suddenly appeared from the left, jumping in front to cut off his path. It was too late to slow down.

The guard stretched an arm out, and at the last second, Leo threw his body forward, grabbing onto the guard’s shoulders and vaulting over him.

He landed hard on the ground, and piercing pain shot up his right hand. He screamed, stumbling and nearly tripping over himself as his legs struggled to recover from the impact of his landing. Leo heard the guard fall backwards behind him, and gritting his teeth, Leo activated [Sprint] again and kept going.

Behind him, a loud, booming voice echoed from the fourth guard.

“Prisoner in block E has escaped, moving rapidly towards block D. Do not let him get away. Killing is permitted.”

An [Amplification] skill. Leo’s ears rang from the sheer volume, and he had no doubt every guard in the prison had heard. He cursed. Block D, was that what the section up ahead was? Was there another route to the exit?

The [Thief] heard pounding footsteps coming from behind. At the next bend in the hallway, he turned right, catching sight of two new groups of guards. One of them shouted, and the footsteps grew louder. Leo’s heart thrummed in his chest. He couldn’t keep running recklessly like this.

At the next fork in the hall, something crashed into his side and threw him backwards. Leo skidded across the ground from the force of the impact.

He scrambled up, but before he could stand the guard was on him again. Another use of [Sprint] was barely enough for Leo to get away in time. This one was fast—much faster than him.

Leo turned and bolted away, using the remaining time on his [Sprint] skill and activating [Mana Recovery]. He estimated he only had three uses left before his mana ran out, and it would take a few minutes to regain some even with the help of [Mana Recovery].

A hand yanked him backwards and slammed him into the wall, knocking the wind out of him. For a second Leo couldn’t breathe, temporarily dazed by the impact. The guard had him pinned to the wall, the other hand reaching for the sword sheathed at his hip. He must also have [Sprint].

Leo struggled, kicking out with his leg, but the guard easily avoided the blow. His fingers gripped the hilt of the blade, and the [Thief]’s mind churned with rising panic. How do I get out of this, how can I escape, how—

The guard drew the sword back, the metal gleaming in the flickering torchlight. Leo’s breath caught, his gaze fixed on that blade as he waited for pain.

Instead, a booming blast sounded from within the prison.

The walls shook, the ground shaking beneath their feet as the sound reverberated in their ears. The guard yelled in surprise, turning his head to look in the direction of the explosion for just a second.

Leo didn’t waste time. He yanked out his lockpick and dug it straight into the guard’s eye.

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The [Thief] barely processed the man’s scream as he was dropped to the ground, the bloodied lockpick wedged into the guard’s eye socket now dripping red.

The man curled in on himself, gripping at his face while he thrashed with pain. Leo scrambled up and bolted, his breaths quick and harsh.

An unfamiliar voice sounded from across the prison, also amplified with a skill.

“Intruder in block C. Structural damage done to cells. Several prisoners have escaped. Backup needed.”

An intruder, the sound of that explosion, the walls shaking. Leo’s heart raced in his chest. Could it be?

The [Thief] swerved at the next corner, heading in the direction of the explosion and activating [Sprint] again, adrenaline pumping through his veins.

In the party map, Allan’s glowing dot hovered around the prison. There weren’t any further details; for all Leo knew the [Rickshaw Puller] was only in the area and the explosion was someone else, but he didn’t have the luxury to second guess himself. Either he was right or he wasn’t. There was no room for hesitation right now.

More footsteps sounded from behind, the other guards quickly catching up. He heard yells calling after him followed by a crackling sound.

Leo ducked his head, and a sizzling stream of fire jetted over him, burning the tips of his hair. He could feel the heat of the flames.

The [Thief] heard another crackle as a second blast was summoned, and he ran in a curving pattern in an attempt to throw the guard’s aim off.

The next blast whizzed over his right shoulder. Another flew narrowly past his arm. The third crackle came lower, and Leo jumped, wincing as some of the flames singed his leg. The noise paused. The guard must be waiting to recover their mana.

Up ahead, the hallway widened, all the different paths converging together on a wide open space interspersed with stone pillars supporting the roof of the prison.

Scattered debris lay strewn about in hard, jagged shapes. Prisoners and guards alike wove between broken pillars, metal weapons gleaming and bloodied fists moving in furious flurries. Hollers and yells combined into a deafening roar. The explosion must’ve damaged their cells enough for them to escape.

Towards the back of the chamber, Leo could just barely make out lingering wisps of smoke and a few hints of daylight streaming in from the corner. He pressed himself to run even faster.

Activating his [Sprint] skill again, Leo leapt over the first piece of rubble, keeping a close eye on the other guards in the area. Most were preoccupied with the prisoners, and the [Thief] took advantage of the confusion.

Using his [Acrobatics] skill, Leo dodged past fallen stones and wove between fights, hurtling himself towards the back of the room where freedom lay just beyond that corner.

A gleaming blade narrowly whizzed past his nose, and the [Thief]’s shoulder slammed into the corner of a pillar in his haste to avoid the swing. He kept going.

In his peripheral vision, an elderly man in grey was slammed into the ground with a loud crack and fell limp. Three prisoners kicked at a fallen guard. Others bolted for the exit, and a guard’s axe cleaved into the back of a fleeing woman.

Leo jumped over a collapsed guard, and by now, he could smell the lingering smoke from the explosion. He could finally see past the corner of the large room, where a hallway led down into another block. There, a few smaller halls branched off towards the left, occasional flashes of guards’ armor and grey prison uniforms appearing within, caught in their own fights.

Long cracks snaked up the main hallway’s stone walls, originating from a jagged opening blasted into the end of the hall. A scattered pile of rubble and debris surrounded it, and through the crack, the visible strip of blue sky was vibrant against the dull colors of the prison.

Leo skidded as he sharply changed direction, turning towards the hall. He ducked beneath a fallen pillar leaned diagonally against the wall and made for that opening. He was almost there. He would make it.

Just as he exited the large room, just as his feet crossed over that invisible boundary, his muscles seized.

His legs froze mid movement.

Leo crashed hard into the ground, crying out as he landed on his injured hand. He could barely think past the stinging pain coursing up his arm. He struggled to rise, but he couldn’t move his legs at all, could only barely drag himself forward with his elbows. The opening was so close, if he could just—

Footsteps approached. The [Thief] jerked his head around, and his eyes met a familiar flat grey.

Spade stood at the side of the hallway, her movements impassive and casual against the chaotic backdrop behind her.

Leo didn’t even have time to feel betrayed or angry, because walking past the [Executioner], hard eyes gleaming and mouth pulled into a thin line, was the prison warden.