Chapter 114 chapter 114 : Escape part 2
Almost immediately a plan emerged, as crazy as it was risky but there was no choice.
I didn't have time to think about it anymore, I extended my hand towards the ceiling and let the mana flow through my fingers.
‐βολίδα.(Fire missile). –I muttered in a steady voice.
FWOOM! FWOOM! FWOOM! FWOOM!
The fireballs flew toward the rusted locks with incredible accuracy. Each explosion was a sharp crack, a dry pop that ripped off the bolts and released the gates.
Erwing instantly understood what he was planning and without saying a word to him he leapt up and cut the chains of the largest cages. Aziel did not lag behind and with a sideways swing of his sword detached three others.
The cages crashed to the ground with a dull clang.
KRAANG! THRUMP! CLAAANG!
The doors opened with low screeching sounds... and from within emerged hideous beasts.
Deformed goblinoids, with grayish skin and vacant eyes. Chained trolls with disproportionate limbs and drooling mouths plus even more grotesque creatures, unsteady in form, covered in black scales, with eyes all over their bodies, it was so disgusting that for a moment it made me nauseous, it was as if someone had tried to remold the body and remove the skin.
-What is that? -Aziel whispered, taking a step back at the sight.
-Chimeras..." I replied with disgust, "failed products.
The roaring started instantly. Free. Hungry. Blind with rage. The creatures did not know friend from foe. They only wished to destroy.
And that was just what we needed.
We moved through the shadows, luring the beasts with small spells of fire. We ran in the opposite direction to the approaching footsteps, carrying the horde with us like a loose tide of chaos, every now and then some of those beasts would catch up with us, fortunately erwing held them off and when he was overwhelmed Aziel seconded him.
It was then when the guards appeared at the end of the corridor. More than a dozen, armed and ready to intercept us.
But we were not alone.
GRAAAAAHHH!
One of the creatures - a muscular mass with three jaws and razor-like claws - pounced on the first guard before he could react. The scream was piercing.
The other beasts followed, crazed, unleashing hell. Explosions could be heard everywhere.
Swords clashed, spears snapped, and blood-from humans and monsters alike-spattered the walls.
We slipped down one flank of the corridor, skirting the battle. The chaos was total. Smoke, screams, roars and the hiss of magic filled every corner.
I pressed Cyan against me. I felt his breath faint on my back, but at least he was still alive.
-Just a little longer..." I mumbled through my teeth. Just a little more and we're out of this damn place.
Behind, the corridor collapsed, the bodies were falling, mangled, mutilated, without distinction whether they were of the chimeras or the guards, the flesh was torn and the bones were exposed, the screams had become common in this short period of time.
Blood ran through the cracks in the floor, hot, slippery, like a red tongue trying to catch us too.
The air smelled of metal, of death and black magic.
And yet, amidst all that hell, we knew.
It was following us.
Like a lingering shadow, glued to our backs, breathing down our necks. We couldn't quite see it, but we felt it. Every step, every turn of the corner, brought with it a pressure in our chest, as if something invisible was walking right behind, waiting for the moment to pounce.
-It doesn't stop..." Aziel muttered between his teeth, panting, his knuckles white from clenching his sword.
-I know," I replied, barely turning my head.
Cyan was still wrapped in the blankets on my back, his light body still frail. He couldn't fight, he couldn't defend himself. I had to find a way to get him out of there. Whatever it took.
We rounded a corner at full speed. The echo of our footsteps echoed between dark walls full of cracks and runes. We passed by the laboratories we had seen before, their rooms still the same, full of broken stills, burst glass tanks and tables stained with strange fluids.
In one of the rooms I saw what looked like a creature still alive, trapped between tubes and wires, blinking slowly with human eyes embedded in a reptilian head. I did not stop. No one did.
-Keep going! -Erwing shouted, I felt his throat rasp with every word.
We ran. We ran as if the world was going to break apart behind us.
The doors to the hallway we had entered appeared at the back, half-open, bathed in a faint bluish light perhaps from some rune embedded in the ceiling.
But the air became thick. The mana vibrated. A guttural screech seeped through the walls, as if something huge was crawling after us, hungry.
That woman... she hadn't given up, she was following us like a shadow.
Erwing turned sharply, covering our rear.
-Go ahead! I'll stop whatever's coming! -he roared, imbuing his body with electricity. His sword sparked like a miniature thunderstorm.
-Don't be an idiot! -I shouted.
-Go! Get them out! I'll get them!
There was no time to argue. Aziel pushed me, and we kept running down the final corridor.
My heart was pounding painfully hard, as if each beat was a countdown.
My arms burned from carrying Cyan, sweat blurred my vision, but I couldn't stop. Not now. Not when we were so close.
And then... we crossed it.
We passed through the crumbling archway that marked the beginning of the second floor. The air was thicker, thick with soot and residual mana. The walls had been torn apart by a coruscating mana, and the rubble still smoldered. An eerie silence enveloped us, as if even the building was holding its breath.
The traces of the intense battle were still fresh. Blood on the walls. The smell of burning flesh. The lingering distant echo of a roar that no longer existed.
And then we saw it.