The Escape

Shiro POV

Well we got in the castle but... we had no idea where the treasury was located. After the Prince led us to the royal kitchen, we decided to slip away.

"Excuse me, but who are you two? I've never seen either of you here before." a guard questioned as he had never seen us before.

"We came in with the Prince, but decided to give him space when he was about to talk to the chef about his cooking." I responded without any hesitation. I mean it was the truth.

"Ah, a wise decision. Last time one of the guards was stopped for a taste test, he was bedridden for a week. Carry on then." The guard cringed a little as he let us go. I wonder how bad the Prince's burgers actually were.

"Tsk, it'd be nice if there was a map of the place. The place is huge, how are we supposed to find the treasury." I muttered out loud

[Quinn: Perhaps it's the place with large letters that spell out 'Treasure Vault']

"As if it would be that easy...." I blinked at the sight of an entrance that was literally labeled 'Treasure Vault'. "I stand corrected." Who's idea was it to make the Treasure Vault so obvious?

We ended up moving through the giant entrance to see a huge magical formation blocking the entrance to the Vault. It looked incredibly grand as I could see the mountains of treasure behind the barrier.

[Quinn: There seems to be only one guard.] I'm not surprised, they must be very confident in the barrier.

"I need to examine the barrier closely, but we'd have to take out the guard without making a scene." I say. It'd be difficult despite the fact that it's just one guard. These Royal Guards are probably all at the first awakening. If they brought out one of those eyes, then it'd be a difficult fight.

[Quinn: leave it to me.] Quinn signed as he walked right up to the guard who seemed to tense up. What is he doing?

Quinn seemed to gesture for the guard to get closer. I saw the Guard move his head closer to him as if to listen to a secret, but since Quinn's back was turned to me I couldn't see what happened. One moment the guard had his face close to Quinn and then he just dropped without warning. What the hell!?

"The hell just happened?" I asked incredulously. Quinn just shrugged in response so i sighed. "Fine, keep your secrets." I said as I went to examine the barrier.

It's a multi-layered Barrier. Zero engravings involved so it's not actually connected to the wall, but this barrier is definitely more powerful than the walls. The whole thing seemed to be powered by the mana vein. There doesn't seem to be an alarm in place. I guess they assumed that if someone wanted to destroy it, the power needed to do it would cause noticeable destruction.

Whoever made this did good work, however it's completely energy based. I wonder, will it pop in the face of divinity like the ship?

[It should work, as long as it is pure energy.] The system responded to my thoughts. I grinned as I pointed Hyorinmaru at the barrier. With a thrust, the floating runes lost their color and were destroyed by the presence of pure divinity. With the runes gone, the magical energy in the air dispersed.

"You got the bags?" I asked Quinn who was supposed to carry the stuff. He raised up a few dozen brown leather bags. Excellent.

'Ice clones' 6 copies of me grabbed the bags and began looting the place. So much coins, it was beautiful! Stuffing my own bag of Midas, i turned to see Quinn reaching out for something on a pedestal. My pupils contracted as I subconsciously examined a small formation around the item.

"QUINN WAIT!" I called out but it was too late, Quinn's hand made contact with the relic.

∞

RANDOM MEETING ROOM

"Commander Sotenn.... his highness, the Prince seems to be in the kitchen again." a guard reported to the large burly man reluctantly.

"Just... relay to everyone to stay away from the kitchen for the rest of the day." Sotenn sighed as he had thought the Prince had finally given up. "For now, we are to focus on the priests and healers that have come today. The King's health is our primary concern."

"Understood, should we-" the guard was cut off as an alarm came from a jewel in the middle of the table. Commander Sotenn put on his burger helmet and stood up displaying his massive frame. "Call all available men to the Treasury!" he ordered with bloodshot eyes.

∞

Shiro clicked his tongue when he noticed another barrier appear blocking off the entrance. He flash stepped towards it and swung his blade, shattering the magical formation. He glanced up for a moment to see the wall moving.

"Quinn! we need to get going now!" he shouted as they ran out before the entrance closed on them.

[Quinn: Sorry] Before he could continue, Shiro just waved off his concern.

"Don't worry about it, it was going too well for my taste anyway." Shiro was pretty chill about it.

"Stop right there!"

"They're over here!"

The Ice clones immediately jumped towards the new arrivals and a brawl quickly broke out. The guards found themselves incapable of piercing through the clone's skin, eventually getting knocked out.

"We need to go before stronger guards get here." Shiro spoke as the duo and ice clones ran off with their loot towards the courtyard instead of the entrance that they came through. Since they were already discovered, then it wouldn't matter if they tripped the silent alarms by climbing over the walls.

"Were flying over!" He called out to Quinn as an ice dragon was released from his sword. The duo and ice clones jumped on and began their ascent, soaring to freedom. Unfortunately that would have been too easy.

"Where do you think you're going?" The duo became startled at the deep voice as a figure appeared right above them.

"Oh shit." Shiro blurted out

"Since you've come, why don't you stay for the evening!?" The Burger Commander rammed his great-mace right on the dragon's head. The serpentine dragon was sent to the earth, shattering on contact.

"Men! It's an ice user, Heat Formation!" Sotenn shouted from above.

"Right!" Shiro noticed they were surrounded from all sides. Stabbing his sword into the ground, a wave of ice erupted from beneath towards all direction. The royal guards showed their professionalism and didn't flinch at the sight. Each guard slammed a greatshield into the ground, etched runes lit up on the shields.

"Heat wave!" Red light flooded out and supressed the cold nova. The clones found themselves beginning to melt, however they still stood strong.

"Seriously!?" Shiro complained as he could feel the moisture in the air around him disappear as the heat wave was concentrated in the small area.

"Not a bad skill, however." Above each guard, a golden eye manifested as the duo became supressed. The Ice clones finally shattered under the supression of the mind's eye, dropping their bags of loot.

Shiro could still move under the supression as he had been under worst in the past. However his movements were still a bit sluggish, Quinn still stood strong in his armor ready to brawl.

"Looks like we gotta force our way out then!" Shiro spoke as he and Quinn went different directions and rushed towards one of the guards in formation. The guards stood firm against the clash of shield against blade and countered with their spears.

"Commander! Their defenses are high!" The guards noticed that they weren't able to pierce through Shiro's skin and Quinn's armor. However they forced the two back by spectral avatars manifesting above the guards.

"Prepare for Sealing Formation then!" Sotenn ordered as he entered the heat field and taunted the duo. "Come on! You won't escape unless you can take me down!"

Shiro responded first as he blitzed straight towards the man with a serious expression. Deciding not to take any chances, he dodged the man's swing and coiled his chain around his great-mace.

"Hado no. 11 Tsuzuri Raiden(Bound Lightning)!" yellow arcs of lightning rippled towards Sotenn as he dropped his mace, he was cautious towards the spiritual attack. Sotenn didn't know of kido, but he felt something different from magic when he saw the lightning. He wasn't sure if it could hurt him or not, but he didn't take his chances.

Quinn appeared right at the next moment to hurl his large gauntlet towards the man. The fist made contact with the helmet, sending it flying. The commander wasn't phased as he stared right at the armored man.

"Well, either you are to be sealed or die to my claws. Let's see what happens first." he spoke as his face started to morph. Fur sprouted out from his skin as Shiro widened his eyes.

"Freakin werewolf!" he exclaimed as Sotenn finished his transformation. Two golden eyes flared out above him increasing the supression. Without warning, Shiro found himself smashed into the ground.

Quinn attempted to face the werewolf head on but was knocked through the air. Shiro looked down at his chest to see some blood before his wound closed up. "Those are some sharp claws." he muttered before standing up sluggishly under the supression.

"Hado no. 31! Shakkaho! (Red Flame Cannon)" if he couldn't use Ice, he would use Kido. The werewolf noticed the red energy blast headed his way before nimbly jumping over it. "SHAKKAHO!" Shiro tried to spam it causing red explosions in the courtyard as Sotenn continued to dodge the blasts.

"Shakkaho!" Unfortunately, Shiro's mastery of kido wasn't very proficient yet as the red energy in his hand exploded before being shot out. "Fuck!" he cursed as the werewolf jumped out of the heat field.

"Sealing formation ready!" a guard announced as the shield light changed colors. Chains were released from the 20 shields, binding the duo. A spell formation lit up with runes as Shiro found himself incapable of movement.

"Well... this isn't good." Shiro became nervous as he wasn't able to move. He glanced at Quinn to see him clenching his teeth through the open slot of his helmet. His pupils constricted at the sight of Quinn opening his mouth to take in a deep breath.

"It's over." Sotenn announced in victory as the guards began to cheer.

"AAHHH!" A shriek exploded, shaking space itself as the guards were sent flying away with the shattered sealing formation.

"MY EARS!" Shiro shouted as he covered his ears now that he was free. He was tearing up as that was one hell of a scream. He felt the energy in his body in disarray for a moment.

"A banshee brat!?" Sotenn exclaimed as Shiro jumped on Quinn's large pauldrons.

"Run towards the corridor!" he yelled as his partner complied with a sprint. "Get ready to slide!"

"Chill Spout!" Sitting above Quinn's shoulders, Shiro released a wave of frost from his mouth towards the ground beneath their feet. Quinn shifted his stance and started sliding on the ice as shards rose up behind them, blocking the path.

"Don't think you can escape from me, banshee brat!" Sotenn's size seemed to grow exponentially as his royal platemail popped off from him. The large wolf man broke the sound barrier as he collided straight at the ice.

∞

"Nice work, I think we lost them." Shiro breathed heavily as he was out of energy. Quinn seemed to also be experiencing fatigue as he leaned on a wall.

"Alright, let's get go-" before he could continue, the duo snapped their heads towards the ice obstruction behind them.

*RUMBLE*

"YOU BRATS WON'T ESCAPE!" the duo shivered a bit when they heard the muffled roar of the wolfman.

"Fuck it, run!" The two began their escape again despite their exhaustion as they started running on nothing but steam. Behind them, the furious werewolf commander was plowing his way through the ice like a wrecking ball.