722 Escape

Hera looked at Silah, unsure what to do to help. She could see how Edge was doing his thing, helping the natural regeneration she already had. But that was the only thing that seemed to be going well. Her face was distorted in an expression mixing rage, pain, and confusion and her body was pulsating red as if the blood was being pushed to the outer layer of her skin. Silah was no longer screaming, but not for a lack of trying. A red, chunky liquid dripped from her mouth, both choking her and showing that the strain in her vocal cords was so intense that the membrane was ripped out from her throat.

The Empress tried to pull Silah's head to the side so she would stop choking. Just as her hands got close, the dwarf tried to bite her, breaking some of her teeth due the strength that her jaw shut close. Her emerald green eyes were now stained with a deep red. Still, that movement was enough for Silah to spit a considerable amount of blood. Most of it fell to the table or to the hospital gown she was wearing, but part of it landed on her reddish-brown hair that was now forcibly cut short and caked in a sweat and whatever mixture was that silver thing dripping from the contraption above her.

Almost in shock, Hera couldn't take her eyes off her ex-girlfriend. That beautiful, strong woman was now reduced to a starved beast who looked a breath away from death. But even with all that, the Empress noticed a thin strand of red mana coming out of her body and flowing toward the back wall. She stepped to the side and tried to see through the gash the Daemon created. On the other side of that metal partition was a giant tank with something inside. Hera tried to forcefully increase the opening, but she was nowhere near strong enough.

"Livy," the Empress looked back, now seeing the Leviathan holding her side. There was a cut in her stomach going almost to the middle of her body. If she wasn't a construct, she would clearly be dead. Pushing her worry to the side, Hera knew she still had to ask more of her titled blade, "I know you are injured, but do you think you can make this hole bigger?"

"Yes... Of course… Hera," Livy spoke slowly, struggling with each syllable, but she still walked forward. Placing both her hands in the opening, the Leviathan roared as her almost 200 points in strength went to work. A few moments passed, and Nimbus stepped in to help. As awkward as their positions would be, this was their best chance to open that path.

Eventually, the two managed to increase the hole enough for Hera to see what was on the other side but not enough for anyone to pass through. With the job done, Livy returned to the legacy to recover from her wounds as the Empress tried to see what they had uncovered. Beyond that wall was a large tank of red liquid with a dozen tubes attached. A small red bear was in the center, inside a cage of energy. She didn't have to use her [Observe] to realize this was a spirit. The mana coming from it was simply incredible, not just due to the sheer amount of it but also due to its purity. It felt almost like the mana pool that gave her her title. But her awe quickly changed to worry. The spirit wasn't peacefully sleeping or something like that. Instead, it was trashing inside that small cage, Silah's face appearing where its head should be. When the spirit moved, the face was distorted, dragging behind as if it was made out of sand. There was no sound coming from it, but the spirit seemed to be in so much pain.

Acting on the first idea that came to mind, Hera created a rare javelin in her hand using her [Venomous Arsenal]. She aimed at the opening and tossed the weapon with a [Weapon Break]. When the spear touched the tank, it exploded in a wave of force and poison that continued traveling through the water, reaching the cage and the spirit inside. A creature like that was typically extremely hard to kill, but that changed when a spirit was under the effects of daemonic energy. It would share the pain of the person it was bound to, and that made it vulnerable. Vulnerable enough for an attack like the one Hera used to kill it.

The moment the spirit died, the Empress could swear she saw its original form looking back at her with a grateful expression, but she wasn't sure if that was just a trick her mind played on her. Immediately after that Silah stopped convulsing, and her skin returned to normal. There was still blood in her mouth, but as Hera tried to move her head to the side, the dwarf didn't react.

Touching the communicator they had, Hera called, "Sylvi, I need you down here. Now!"

"I know, I know. Lysandra already called," Sylvi's voice didn't come from her earpieces but from the hallway that took them here. She glanced at Silah and stopped dead in her tracks, "What the… What is this?"

"She was bound to a spirit and turned into a Daemon, but the people of the prison did something to channel her mana to them. Now fix her!" Hera explained as quickly as she could.

"Hang on," Sylvi stepped forward, frazzled strands of blue hair peeking out from her black hood. She placed her hand on Silah and used a spell that would recover recent injuries, but the magic just hit the dwarf and stopped as if it was hitting a wall. Confused with the reaction, she tried a different approach. Casting a spell that focused more on healing old wounds to deal with this situation her mana hit the dwarf, but the effects were the same. She tried dispelling the magic around Silah and then cleansing debuffs and ailments but every single attempt failed in the same way, "Shit."

"What's wrong?" Hera gasped.

"I don't know. My mana is not getting to her. It's like it's hitting a wall. I… I don't think I have a way to heal her right now," Sylvi replied, her voice showing confusion.

"So what do we do?"

"Now? We leave. We need to get out of here. Zestra told us the rest of the guards started to realize something was going on," the healer replied, turning back to the hallway, but Hera grabbed her wrist.

"So that's it? Are you telling me to leave her here?!" the Empress yelled, tears forming in her eyes.

Sylvi turned slowly to Hera before pulling her arm free and reaching for the explorer's ear, grabbing it like a mother scolding her child, "We've known each other for a while already, so don't you dare think I'm telling you to abandon someone in need! I'm saying there is nothing we can do right now. We don't have time, space, or, honestly, the calm I required to start to work this out," she let go, pushing Hera away, "You know how healers can tell if someone is close to dying, don't you?"

"Yeah," Hera replied while rubbing her ear.

"Well, that skill tells me that she," Sylvi pointed to Silah, "Is both dead and alive right now. What does that mean? I don't fucking know, but I know we can't figure that out now. Until today, I had no idea Daemons were real. I only heard stories, and they all sound genuinely insane. I never studied that shit, so I need time to see what I can do about it. Now pick her up and carry her out like a knight in shining armor, and when we reach a safe house, I'll see what I can do. I can tell that your knife is already doing some work, and that's all we can do until we get all those people out!"

"Ok. Sorry," Hera nodded, already moving to remove the straps holding Silah.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help too, but here," Sylvi used a healing spell to fix Hera's face. It wouldn't solve all the problems, but it would at least mend the bones enough, so she wasn't in constant pain. The spell also solved some of the muscle strain that the Empress was feeling after the fight. During all that time, Lysandra was taking pictures of this lab with a hidden camera she had. Making sure to capture everything, including the man they killed and Silah's state, both before and after the spirit died. Hera also told Nimbus and Lurize to return to their weapon forms so no one would be able to recognize her. She knew it could be pointless. After all, her mask was broken during the combat. Someone stepped on it, and the item wasn't particularly sturdy.

With all the 200 prisoners out of their cells and without their collars, which stopped them from using spells or skills, any chance of stealth had been tossed out of the window. Lysandra and Nethe took the lead, with Hera and Sylvi keeping to the middle of the pack as they passed through the hallways as fast as they could. The guards they knocked out were still out cold, now wearing the same collars they forced onto the prisoners. The group reached the metal gate where the numerous traps were waiting for them and faced a small contingent of four guards at the other end of the hall. The most senior officer amongst them pressed a button on the wall with a smirk, expecting the traps to activate. However, as the mana started to course through it, the stickers Eirik created were triggered, stopping all the traps and torrents from working. Seeing that, Nethe started to walk forward, his wings working as a shield, when the guard who pressed the button stepped forward with both his hands up.

"OK. Do you want to leave? We are not going to stop you."

"Captain!? What are you doing?" another of the guards asked.

"Making sure we live till tomorrow," the captain turned back to Nethe, "I can only imagine what the people in the back made you all go through, but we only take care of the front. Let us stay in the cafeteria, and you all can go. The path to the gate doesn't go through there."

Nethe just stared them down. Knowing they couldn't waste too much time here. Still, he was waiting for his team leader to speak up.

Lysandra took a step back and hid behind a few other people, "Zestra, how many exits does the cafeteria have?" she spoke in the open channel with their communicators.

"Only one. But there are vents. If they leave through there, it would give us 10 minutes."

The team leader smiled under her mask, "And can Hornet open the gate?"

There was a pause before Zestra's voice replied, "Yeah, and the outside crystals are fresh out of mana. Even if they try to use them, it would take half an hour for the first shot to be fired."

"Nethe, tell them to go."

The harpy nodded, steeling his gaze, "This place has seen enough suffering. If you go to the cafeteria and stay there, we don't need to add to that. But if you try anything, we are killing you all."

The guards slowly started to back away, with Nethe and a few of the prisoners following at a distance. Eventually, they reached a long hallway where the harpy decided it was best to wait. After all, Zestra was on the other end. Thankfully, the guards didn't try anything funny, and after they went inside the cafeteria, Zestra created a magic lock in the door. He wasn't an expert on that, and anyone with decent magic knowledge would be able to break that lock in around 20 minutes. If they had an expert, this should last only 10, but that would match their other options.

Lysandra tried to keep everyone calm, but when the prisoners saw the open gate leading outside, any semblance of order went out of the window. They all started running as fast as they could towards freedom. The leader of this operation called Hera right away, "Can you have Nimbus out as a mount? We need someone to lead them to the doorway.

"Sure," Hera called Nimbus in his griffon form while still carrying Silah. She jumped on his back, followed by Lysandra. Carrying 3 people, the Sentinel couldn't fly, but he could still move at a decent speed.

Being on top of a griffon made it easier for the elven team leader to guide the prisoners in the right direction. Just as they left the range of the sensors, she sent a signal to Eirik, Becca, and Freya. Now, they had around 30 minutes to clear the outpost where the doorway was located and lure the clockwork golems to give them cover. After all, no one was expecting the guards to just stay still. As soon as they were able to get out of the cafeteria, they would trigger the alarms, and the entire Gear Shift Nexus would be going after them.