Early in the morning…
Chrysos woke up in a soft bed. His eyes moved before they opened, revealing his eyes that gloriously gleamed with gold.
His eyes darted around and saw Meiros who fell asleep in a chair. It was clear to him that Meiros took care of him while he was unconscious.
This made Chrysos feel warm inside. He slowly got up and carried Meiros to the bed. He then put on a shirt, went to the kitchen and cooked lunch for them both.
Of course, he washed his face and brushed his teeth and mouth first.
Chrysos examined his body very carefully. Did the rhino enhance his durability? If so, how much did he improve? Chrysos didn't dwell on these thoughts for too long, and he focused on cooking for the both of them. He decided to cook vegetables and he also made some boiled eggs.
Being an alchemist also has its advantages. When it comes to flavor, Chrysos was confident that he could impress an Insilior with what he could make.
Chrysos whistled a song's tune as he finished cooking their lunch. After that, he grabbed plates and spoons for both of them. Chrysos bought wooden utensils and plates to save money. Even though he used to live a rich life, he didn't mind this kind of change in his lifestyle.
Chrysos sighed.
He looked outside the window and watched the sunrise.
He then spoke, "Mom, wherever you are.. I just hope you hear this." Chrysos put down his spoon and rested his chin on his right arm.
"Did you know that my life here has been wild? Haha, I have no idea if my father cared about my death. But if he did, I really hope he recovers soon.. But that's the problem, I have no idea if he cared at all. It's these kinds of things that make you want to know the answers. It's a strange feeling." Chrysos stopped and took off his glove.
"And my new identity as Chrysos... This man is strange. I can't recall his memories, I don't know anything about him, he buried his past so deeply that until now, I have no information about him." Chrysos examined his fingers very slowly as he contemplated his future plans in the Divine Lands that he slowly grew accustomed to.
"These fingers I have are fascinating. They saved my life that one time. When I fought that goblin chief, I really thought that I was done for. Who knew that I would actually survive it in such a way?" Chrysos stretched his fingers out, mimicking that time when he had to use it against Rafouri.
He clenched it shut before loosening it to put on his glove again.
"But then again, I'm not sure if you can hear this.. I just wish that one day. One day, I will get to hear your voice once again." Chrysos looked at the mask in the corner of the room and tears started to flow down.
Chrysos wiped his tears and put on his mask.
Suddenly, he heard knocking from his door.
"I'll be right there." Chrysos walked to the door and opened it.
When he opened the door, he saw his old friend once again, Nadt.
Nadt had a worried look on his face. "Chrysos, have you heard?"
"No." Chrysos shook his head. "Have I heard about what?"
He looked around left and right before saying, "Shalra Avesin, she escaped!" Nadt worriedly whispered to Chrysos.
"What?? How?" This piece of news startled Chrysos.
"I don't know.. Apparently, someone released her last night." Nadt gulped. "And not only that, all of the corrupted ones that were supposed to be imprisoned were also gone!"
"How did the Ironmountain Hall of Defense let them escape this easily??" Chrysos couldn't believe it. The hall of defense was supposed to be a protector and they were responsible for imprisoning the most dangerous criminals and killers. How did they mess up something this important?
"Apparently, the person who freed them was powerful.." Nadt looked unsettled. "Too powerful actually... reports say that Lirgius Alcanar, the warden of the Great Ironmountain Prison was found dead.." Lirgius Alcanar is an Elitius ranked Magic Armorclad with an 8th tier Divinious reserve that guarded the Great Ironmountain Prison for so many years without letting a single criminal escape the prison. All those people who escaped their cells, didn't leave the prison alive because of Lirgius."
To find someone like this dead. Who knows how powerful that person is...
"Alright, but why did you come here?" Even though Chrysos knew that it was definitely bad news, he still didn't see why Nadt had to report it to him in person.
Nadt gestured for him to come closer.
Chrysos leaned his ear forward and listened.
"From what Alor told me, that person is after people who have killed corrupted ones or imprisoned corrupted ones even if they were only accomplices.. And according to Alor, you're one of them." Nadt said with a grave tone. "If you see anyone with a mask filled with pure corruption energy with a red orb in the middle of it, you need to run."
This news made Chrysos frown. "Thank you for telling me this."
"It's not a problem, I had to tell you." Nadt nodded and quickly left. "See you then.."
"See you." Chrysos waved his hand at Nadt as he left.
Chrysos was then lost in thought. He wasn't worried, but he thought about it for a while.
"Masked man with pure corrupted energy.." Chrysos muttered to himself. "Why is he so familiar??" He thought about it for a while before remembering something. "That man who gave Meiros his abilities? That's a bit of a coincidence though."
Chrysos felt that he was close to the truth. But he knew that he couldn't do anything even if he worried about it. While he was standing there, he noticed that Meiros was finally awake.
Meiros was still stretching and yawning. He had just brushed his teeth, so he had freshened up a bit after waking up.
Seeing his student and remembering what Meiros did to save his life yesterday, he sincerely thanked him.
"Meiros, thanks for taking care of me yesterday." Chrysos gestured to the table. "Come on, let's eat."
Still yawning, Meiros replied, "Master, I didn't know what happened to you yesterday. You just started twitching randomly and I got worried." Meiros went to the kitchen to wash his mouth with water before eating.
"But hey, I'm glad that you helped." Chrysos sat down in his chair and continued eating his food.
Meiros, with a mouthful of food in his mouth, smiled before he continued to chew. "Master, you saved my life... this is nothing." Meiros felt nice. Being thanked by someone he treated as family, it was natural that he felt touched.
"So I guess we're even then?" Chrysos laughed for a bit, then he asked. "Say, can you use heroic Divinious in the first place?"
"Huh? I never tried." Meiros scratched his head. "From what I heard, switching to the opposite Divinious is difficult and it needs a strong emotion to switch."
"Have you tried it?" Chrysos looked him straight in the eyes.
"No." Meiros responded. He also ate another spoonful of vegetables.
"Why don't you try then? I'll even help you later." Chrysos said as he ate the boiled egg on his plate.
Meiros' eyes brightened. He was looking forward to it. "That's great, but please don't test random potions next time. I really thought that you'd die last night."
"Hahaha, if that makes you feel better." Chrysos laughed lightly.
The two of them ate their meal peacefully. But what happened during the previous evening was something of a tragedy.
Last night in the Great Ironmountain Prison…
In a certain prison cell…
Shalra looked mindlessly at the steel bars as she sat on the floor, leaning on her bed. She has been here for a long time and all she wants is to escape.
"How much longer do I have to stay here?" She sighed and buried her head into her knees.
Outside the cell, in the corridor..
Carlon is a guard that was instructed to one of the cells in the prison. It was already nighttime and he just wanted to go home and sleep. Why was he even picked for the night shift?
Carlon yawned but was knocked by his friend's elbow.
"No sleeping, you know that the corrupted ones are imprisoned here. We can't take our job lightly." Tiro, his friend who has been working as a guard for the prison for years said with a stern tone.
"You take this job too seriously.." Carlon rolled his eyes in annoyance. "It's not like they're going to get out."
"I doubt that. Not all prisons can hold corruption forever." Tiro shook his head. He was a man who firmly believed in justice and truth. He was always alert at any given time.
"Mhmm.. I get that." Carlon didn't pay Tiro's words any mind. He was still sleepy.
The other guards next to them talked for some time. They do this because of course, they also get bored.
Psshhh...
Dark violet mist slowly filled the room.
"What the hell?" Tiro frowned at the mist and when he realized that it had corrupted energy, he sounded the alarm. He placed his hand over a large blue crystal connected to sound magic circuits.
"Corrupted Divinious cannot get this deep in the prison!" Tiro alerted his fellow guards clad in special iron armor.
Carlo's sleepiness disappeared without a trace. His mind became fully alert.
The two of them drew out their weapons and not too long after, many guards were staring at the mist with a serious expression.
The mist was thick and almost looked like it was alive.
A hand slowly appeared from the mist followed by a hooded figure of a man slowly crawling out of it. The man's mask flickered with dangerous light.
The man was looking at the guards quietly. The atmosphere was quite eerie. The man looked at the guards as if they were mere weaklings. He didn't see them as prey, he only saw flesh about to be cut open.
The pressure exuded by the man was quite unbearable. It made several guards step back in fear.
"Should we attack?" Carlon whispered.
"No, let's wait for reinforcements." Tiro said with a hushed tone.
"It's just one guy, we can take him." One of his fellow guards said.
"I don't know… it's risky." Another guard spoke his mind.
However, all of these words didn't help against the feeling of dread gripping their throats.
One guard couldn't take it anymore and attacked. "Azure Beam!" The guard pointed his sword at the masked man and a bright blue beam of light shot forward.
Swish!
When the beam was about to hit the masked man, he merely reached his arm out and grabbed the beam of light.
The beam of light gathered and condensed into a ball in his hand. Like a powerful magnet gathering iron dust. And from an azure color, it turned into a ball of pure darkness.
The masked man flicked his hand and the dark orb shot out at an extremely fast speed towards the man.
The guard didn't even manage to react when the orb of darkness engulfed him completely. After the attack, not even a piece of him remained.
It was quick, silent and powerful.
The other guards didn't even dare to attack anymore. They were afraid that they would die if they acted rashly.
"Not coming?" The masked man's voice was deep and distorted. This made the guards feel very unsettled.
The orb in the hooded figure's mask glowed as he exuded pure bloodlust.
"Then I'll be killing all of you." The masked man darted towards them without warning.
Swoosh!
"Dammit! We need to stall this man!"
"Alright!"
The guards made up their minds and attacked. They raised their weapons and they didn't hesitate to kill this man.
"Pitiful scum." The masked man reached both of his arms and caught two swords. He applied a bit of force and shattered them in an instant.
Before the guards could even react, the masked man punched a hole through their armor. Killing them in an instant.
"No!" Carlon couldn't bear to see more people die in front of him. He activated his transformation ability.
His veins popped out from his arms and his muscles grew bigger. His height almost doubled and he looked even more powerful than he used to. Carlon threw a punch towards the masked man.
"You weaklings need to know your place." The masked man reached out three fingers.
Boom!
Carlon's powerful punch was caught with only three fingers from the masked man. No matter how much force he applied, the man wouldn't budge.
"This is the difference between us." The man's hand glowed with a bright purple light. After that, Carlon's veins exploded!
Bits of flesh and bones scattered everywhere.
"AAAHHH!" Carlon couldn't bear the excruciating pain.
Agonizing screams filled the corridor.
The guards stood as far away as they could from this man. They didn't feel like they could defeat him. All they wished for now was to survive.
"Monster!"
"Stay away from us!"
The masked man took a deep breath as he spoke with a delighted tone. "The smell of dread is beautiful." The man didn't waste any more time and snapped his fingers.
All of the guards exploded into bits of meat and bones.
The man approached the cells holding the corrupted ones and destroyed the seals. Just by using a simple pulling motion.
The metal bars holding the corrupted ones inside creaked as if they were withstanding an extremely heavy load stacked above them. Unable to hold on for so long, they collapsed, leaving the cells open for the corrupted ones to go out.
Sure enough, they walked out of their cells one by one.
"I- I'm free?" A necromancer looked around.
"The hell is that ruckus?" A corrupted berserker grunted as he walked out.
Shalra also walked out of her cell after seeing the steel door and the steel bars getting destroyed in front of her. When she walked out, she saw a very familiar figure.
There was no doubt about it.
Her eyes were filled with shock. "You?" Shalra pointed at the masked man.
It wasn't only Shalra who recognized the man.
Seeing familiar faces who still remember him after all these years, the masked man could hold back the proud feeling in his chest.
"It warms my heart to see that you've all grown, my legion." The masked man spread his arms as if he was basking in the moonlight.