Standing over Jacob, Evan's mind plunged into the depths of darkness - where the demons dwelt.
He found himself in a completely empty space, where several shadows soon appeared. They swept past Evan without noticing him, though he had used the power of each of the demons many times before.
There were 72 demons in total, using their power was the greatest sin in the Empire of Light, and the Knights did their best to completely eradicate the users of this power. However, where there is light, there is always darkness as a haunting shadow.
Each of the 72 demons had a unique power, not always based on destruction, sometimes the demons could impart knowledge, heal, or help escape a curse. However, something they had in common was a price.
More often than not, demons demanded a year's worth of life as the price, and the stronger the demon was, or the more difficult the task at stake, the greater the price, which was usually fair.
'Maybe use him...?' Evan pondered, but the thought quickly left his mind, 'Nah, I'll leave it as a trump card for the head warden, I can handle that bastard easily on my own.'
***
"Help!" A pitiful cry rang out from one cell, in the middle of the night, attracting the attention of not only the other slaves but also the guards who had to wake up due to the emergency.
After a short time, while the screaming one was practically tearing his voice, two figures appeared at the end of the aisle: one obese and the other tall. The second one was the guard who was happily slashing slaves with his whip.
"What happened?" The tall guard asked with a menacing look.
"Here...!" Klaus exclaimed, pointing at two bodies lying on the ground.
The tall guard immediately realized what had happened as he looked at the obese one in fury.
"Idiot! I told you to move him here tomorrow! You know what Mr. Aron will do to us if he finds out about this! His tour of duty ends in the morning, but you decided to ruin it! You always do!" A tall guard with swollen veins and a red face shouted, waving his hand.
The obese guard shuddered, looked down at the floor, and barely audibly muttered, "Sorry... The other guards connected to Jacob asked me to do this... I warned him to wait! In the mess hall, he listened to me!"
The other slaves in similar cells smirked, watching this rare scene when even the guards were in danger. In front of the strict warden, everyone was equal, since except for the head warden they had the most power here.
The head warden, Astrid Einrich was the only magician in the entire prison, and that was enough to keep any of the slaves from thinking of escaping. They knew that in front of the magician's power, all their attempts were useless, at least no one was ready to start a riot.
"Tsk. Whatever, I hope they're alive. In that case, we'll be able to keep this case quiet." The tall guard snorted, opening the door.
Tsk.
Without hesitation, his fist came down on Klaus's face, throwing him back against the cold wall of the cell.
"Don't you dare move." The tall guard coldly looked at Klaus, who could hardly move after such an attack. Then, the tall guard turned to the obese one, "Watch him, you never know what's in these slaves' heads."
The obese guard hurriedly nodded a few times.
"Shit... Jacob, how did that weakling even manage to beat you up so badly that both of you are lying here unconscious?" The tall guard shook his head, touching Jacob's shoulder and flipping him over onto his back.
A grimace of horror froze on his face, like a curse that couldn't be broken or purged, gained from just one look.
Jacob, instead of eyes, now had two nails, rusty and long enough to pierce his brain, sending him into an eternal sleep of misery.
"What the hell happened here...?" The tall guard muttered in a shaky tone, imagining how horrible the battle here was.
The bright light of the blue moon fell upon him, while behind him, a shadow appeared out of the darkness, quickly clenching its arms in a lock, squeezing the guard's neck.
"That was just the beginning." Evan whispered, causing the guard's eyes to go wide and filling his heart with the primal fear experienced only before imminent death.
"I hope you enjoyed this day, beating the slaves once again, for this was your last opportunity."
A loud crunch spread through the dim prison cell, engulfed in darkness as the guard's body fell to the ground with a broken neck.
Evan, with a satisfied smirk, shook the dust off his hands, enjoying the work he had done.
"What...? Weren't you knocked out?!" The obese guard was shocked, unable to even take a step forward. He wasn't prepared for such a gruesome development.
'No! I have to do something! I'm the guard, and he's a mere slave! Moreover, he's unarmed!' The obese guard thought for a moment before raising his club high, preparing to strike.
However, when he wanted to attack, he realized that the club wasn't in his hand, it had just vanished.
"Agh...?"
Crackle.
The black club came down on the obese guard's face, breaking his nose and crushing his face. Before the guard could regain consciousness, Klaus attacked several more times, each time with even more force, turning the guard's head into a bloody mess and breaking his skull.
"What do you think? What grade do you give my performance?" Evan chuckled, casting a curious glance at Klaus.
Klaus shook his head, rotating his hand from side to side with a thoughtful expression.
"Eight out of ten. Minus one point for getting punched in the face and another one for having to scream like an opera singer to get noticed."
Evan shrugged, taking off the tall guard's clothes and putting them on himself. The guard's clothes were simple enough - a dark blue short coat, a hat with a pointed peak, and thick leather boots.
On his lean body, the clothes were a little big, but in the dark, no one would have seen the size discrepancy. Klaus was in the same situation.
Step. Step. Step.
Evan and Klaus walked out of the cell, passing prison cells filled with other slaves who looked on enviously.
Everyone wished for freedom, or at least a chance to become one.
"Wait! Let us out! You have the keys!" One of the slaves said menacingly, banging on the bars.
Evan, stopped, slowly turning his head and casting a cold stare at the slave.
"Why? What do I get in return? I risked a lot to get these keys, if you want freedom, you have to give something in return." Evan lifted the bundle of a dozen keys swinging leisurely on his finger.
The slave's face contorted in anger as his massive fist came down on the rusty bars, shaking them.
"Bastard! Don't you dare talk to me like that! Until this day you've been nothing but a punching bag for someone like Jacob! I wanted to ask nicely, but you forced me... Either you let me out now, or you die!"
"Fine." Evan said nonchalantly, "Go ahead and kill me."
Evan killed the emperor, survived countless battles, and in an empire worshipping light he was able to become on top of the dark forces. The threats of a common slave were nothing more than an annoying barking dog to him.
Slave's eyes went wide, in a mixture of puzzlement and exasperation, he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"What happened? A second ago you were very formidable. Show me what you're capable of. Maybe you have a hidden weapon? A shiv? A secret way to open the lock and make me regret what I said? No? Yeah, you have nothing." Evan's voice as sharp phantom knives pierced the slave's mind.
"You're just a pathetic piece of shit incapable of anything but asking others for help. Pure abomination." Evan's face creased as if he were looking at garbage.
That finally pissed slave off.
"AAARRRGGHHHHH!!! I'm going to kill you! Those words will be the last thing you say!"
"Indeed." Evan uttered, taking a step forward.
At the same moment, the sharp tip of the nail cut through the slave's neck on the left side, vertically, going straight through the angry swollen veins that were clearly visible.
Streams of blood rushed outward, while the slave tried to stop the bleeding, holding his palm with a rapidly emptying gaze. However, his attempts were unsuccessful, and soon he fell to the ground as his hand fell far forward, passing through the bars and touching the stone floor of the hallway.
Evan turned around, looking at the dozens of slaves sitting in the cells, the path to their freedom was right in his hands.
Then, he nodded and placed the bunch of keys on the ground, far enough away for the other slaves to reach it, but they would have to spend a lot of time doing so.
"Let's go. To the second level and then to the top." Evan said confidently, walking past Klaus.
"Whatever you say. I'm expecting another show from you, and hopefully, this time will be with special effects." Klaus smiled slyly, fixed his hat, and followed him.
On the second level, unlike the third, work was still going on, even into the night. It took more than eight hours to heat up the cauldron where the crystals were melted, so the best option was to have several slaves working at night.
It was this cauldron, with tons of molten crystals more like bubbling metal, that was Evan's target.
'Head warden... You wanted Kellan to be yours, so... I'm coming to you.' Evan smirked while shadows ran across his coat, shifting in the moonlight, unable to illuminate the grim passageways of this blighted place.