Special Guard Hammon and Leo were surprised to see the formation get deactivated. They both grabbed their batons, their bodies letting out a white light as they got stronger.

“But what is this? Am I feeling a qualitative increase of the ambient Mana?”

Emil Red, the Painter, was the first to exclaim as he laughed while circulating his Magic.

However, the cells were sturdy even without the Anti-Magic formation, and not all 15 inmates of the 5th floor got to action.

6 of them, to be exact, reacted swiftly, half banging on the cells using brute force and the other half channelling their spells and techniques. Although there were only two Special Guards, they were still a force to be reckoned with.

If they weren’t that strong, the Warden wouldn’t have just let two people guard an entire floor.

“Stop!” Shouted Hammon as he rushed to the leftmost cell and glared at an elderly yet muscular man who was trying to force his way out.

The baton let out a crackling noise and then, when banged on the cells, let out a burst of electricity that shone brightly and zapped the prisoner.

With just one hit, the old man fell to the ground, foam coming out of his mouth.

However, even after seeing this, the other prisoners didn’t stop. They held the numerical advantage and just needed to get out of their cells. There was the possibility that more Special Guards would show up, but soon enough, they heard a loud explosion followed by deafening fall of the elevator, which crumbled all the way to the bottom.

Special Guard Leo held his baton and blocked the only path leading outside of the 5th floor whereas Hammon was trying his best to control the prisoners and make sure none escaped from their cells.

When it was Emil’s turn to be zapped by electricity, he raised his hands in surrender and backed as far away from the door as possible.

“I’m doing nothing!”

“Bullshit!”

Hammon unleashed another round of lightning, but this time, it surprisingly went through the Painter’s body. Before he could try again, Hammon hears his colleague’s muffled shout.

When he turned his head, he saw a green mist creeping from a hole next to the elevator.

It mist swirled around like a tornado as icicles flew from within. Leo was caught off-guard at first, but even when the icy projectile struck his body, he was hardly injured.

He just leapt back and stomped on the ground while swinging his baton at the approaching mist.

The blue-coloured electricity pierced through the mist, but it did no damage to the shrouded parasite.

Arthur used [Enhanced Spell] followed by [Infernal Cry], which caused Leo and Hammon to be momentarily stunned by the ear-piercing demonic shout.

Right after, he used [Black Swirl] and then [Pyromancy] at Leo; The guard crossed his arms and used ‘Strengthening’ to increase his defences, but even then, he was blasted to the back and crashed into one of the cells.

After coughing some blood, he slowly stood up only for a pair of slim and scarred arms to appear from the rear and hold onto his head and neck. He tried flailing and resisting, but the inmate who had immobilized him was decisively merciless.

His head was twisted to the side and his neck broken, causing a crisp and clarion sound to echo within the 5th floor.

“No!”

Hammon, who couldn’t deal with the unknown attacker and the prisoners at the same time, retreated away from the cells and glared at the ominous green mist which was expanding and about to reach him.

Seeing no way to escape except for fighting, the Special Guard let out an angry roar and rushed right into the mist. He felt a freezing chill as the ground under his feet turned into ice and his movement was slowed.

Still, he diagonally swung his black baton and let out a ridiculous amount of lightning, this time succeeding in completely extinguishing the mist.

However, when he saw a normal guard holding an exquisite sword standing a couple of paces away, he was momentarily stunned.

Arthur, with the special weapon given by the Principal, kicked the ground and shot at the Special Guard while using one of his skills: [Sword Blast].

The unidirectional sword attack, imbued with a high concentration of Mana, burst from Arthur’s sword and ripped into Hammon’s torso, shredding his outfit and cutting a deep and fatal bloody wound.

As a last desperate attempt to survive, Hammon let go of his baton and punched the enemy, but his fist didn’t connect. A split second later, a hand grabbed the top of his head and unleashed a mental blast that knocked him unconscious.

Arthur unhesitantly stabbed the guard’s heart, finishing him off, at last. Right after, he put the two corpses together and swiftly possessed them.

Just then, an alarm started resounding across all of the Shadow Keep Penitentiary.

“Hey you! Are you the one?”

Arthur ignored Emil’s questions or the different hostile and confused gazes he was getting from the inmates. He walked to Christopher’s cell and narrowed his eyes, his lips slowly opening,

“It’s me, Arthur.” He spoke fluent English instead of Astria’s universal language.

“Y-you… for real?”

Arthur touched the cell bars and used [Wither Touch], easily getting rid of them in a matter of a couple of breaths.

A dishevelled and flabbergasted Christopher walked from the gloomy corner and, wide-eyed, stared at the unfamiliar face in front of him.

“There’s no time to explain no-”

Before he could finish, Christopher took one large stride and tightly hugged him.

“You motherfucker! You’re really alive and kicking!”

The hug didn’t last for long, but Chris was teary-eyed and had a bright smile on his face. He didn’t seem the least bit doubtful that this man was Arthur, his one and only brother.

“We can postpone the emotional reunion for later, Chris. Stay close to me.”

[Sanguis Barrier], empowered by [Enhanced Spell], manifested around Chris. It protected him from all sides and let out a beautiful resplendence as it illuminated the gloomy floor.

“I can fight too.” Said Christopher, but the parasite shook his head and motioned for him to follow. The cubical magical barrier followed its designated target, guaranteeing his safety even from swift or strong attacks.

Just then, the Painter’s body appeared at the center of the circular room. He was standing in a comical pose, pushing his greasy hair to the back and cackling maniacally.

“I require a bit of time to complete my spell! Guard me with your lives!”

Alas, he was totally ignored as Arthur used [Mist of Decay] to carry himself and Chris out of the floor.

Emil didn’t chase after them, instead moving his head and emitting Mana as his lips were quickly chanting a very long incantation.

It didn’t take long for three additional inmates to break out of their cells, the mysterious woman who had tried to kill Selene included.

Two of them immediately headed toward the destroyed elevator and started climbing the walls like monkeys, hoping to reach the surface before any more Special Guards intercepted them.

As for the woman, she stood next to Emil with deeply creased eyebrows.

She was holding an old sharpened white bone that looked like a blade, but there were also magical bandages spinning around her body.

“They’re here!” She anxiously said as there was a momentary bright light, followed by the appearance of four Special Guards.

Since the elevator was unusable, they had to rely on teleportation artifacts, which were costly and very rare.

The majority of the Special Guards were sent to the 6th floor, which was where the real dangers awaited.

While still using English to converse, Chris, who saw how the Mist was carrying him in the air and gliding toward the deepest floor, was fascinated and slightly excited.

“We’ve got a lot to talk about, brother! I have some sort of teleportation skill, but I don’t know how to use it correctly!”

“Save it for later. I have a plan.”

“Gotcha!”

Chris didn’t argue or object. He fully trusted Arthur, even though he didn’t look like his old friend. He was certain, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that his current rescuer was Arthur, and the rush of adrenaline made his face flush and a wide smile appeared on his face.

Despite the dire situation, Chris was more than overjoyed. For him, there was nothing better than to be reunited with Arthur, someone whom he thought had died.

Arthur and Chris descended to the 6th floor within a minute. A single [Wither Blast] turned the wall into nothingness and revealed the narrow and circular-shaped 6th floor.

As expected, the single Special Guard there seemed more than ready. The Black Guard was a stern-looking man with a bushy beard, brown and narrow eyes, long eyebrows, a long nose that ended on a blunt plane, and an unusually pale skin.

He had been standing at the center of the room, but just as the wall crumbled and the mist crept inside, the man sped towards them with an outrageous speed.

He swiftly unsheathed his black katana-like blade and thrust it forward.

The mist spun rapidly as Arthur retaliated with a big fireball, which was extinguished immediately.

The Black Guard’s blade cut the mist and the flames as it stabbed Arthur’s chest..

Upon seeing this, Christopher panicked and angrily shouted as he stretched his arm and cast a spell.

Surprisingly, the air itself cracked like glass, making the Black Guard hastily retreat and avoid any damage. He seemed shocked by the spell and was about to focus on the second target, but when he saw the parasite stand there, seemingly unscathed, he realized something.

“I see…”

He glanced at the cell in which the second parasite was imprisoned before smirking.

Arthur had a serious expression on his face as he touched the stab wound. For a couple of moments, he felt an invasive energy try to destroy his body, but it was soon expelled outside.

A bit of blood leaked the injury, but other than that, he wasn’t in any pain whatsoever.

The showdown between the Black Guard and the Parasite continued as the two charged at each other, the former grabbing his katana with both hands and swinging it vertically. The latter, on the other hand, leapt in the air as he took out a corpse from his storage and threw it in the direction of his kin.

Alas, the body was instantly cut into pieces by the Black Guard, who expected this. What was more astonishing was that he had also managed to attack Arthur too.

“Arthur!”

Christopher tried to assist, but when he saw Arthur get back to his feet and wave his hands reassuringly, his expression eased up.

“Try to destroy that wall on your left side.”

“What? That one? Okay.”

Christopher stared at the stone wall and extended his hand, his Mana bursting forth.

The Black Guard couldn’t understand them, but he didn’t need to. His aura multiplied and a malevolent black light emanated from his body before clinging into his weapon.

A soul-rending growl reverberated across the 6th floor, making Arthur’s body twitch and instinctively back away.

‘The fucker is very strong…’

He still had the Cydian Ant’s body for ‘Last Possession’, but it was too early to use it. He had yet to go all-out or focus wholeheartedly on the guard. His objective was to break out of this penitentiary along with Chris, not engage in a serious fight.

Yet again, the Black Guard kicked the ground and like an unstoppable cannonball, charged at Arthur while thrusting his blade multiple times.

Blurry and black projectiles flew at Arthur, but he managed to block all of them by using [Enhanced Spell] and [Wither Blast].

In fact, the dangerous wither energy was enough to scare the Black Guard and make him diverge his rapid charge at the last second; He rolled to the side and swung the katana horizontally.

He actually used [Sword Blast], so the parasite grabbed his own sword and counter-attacked with [Lunar Blade].

A beautiful silver moon appeared above Arthur's head, doubling his stats and then exploding thereafter. The resulting blast had blown the Black Guard away, but he landed on his feet and apart from his slightly shredded outfit, he looked unscathed.

However, Arthur continued with [Half a Moon], which manifested a brilliant half moon that, just like its complete predecessor, also caused an explosive blast within a radius of 35m.

The entire floor shook violently, but the cells weren’t destroyed. As the Black Guard was recovering, the green mist returned and robbed him of his ability to breathe.

Moreover, [Infernal Cry] momentarily immobilized him, allowing Arthur to throw a small corpse right into the parasite’s cell.

He even used [Wither Blast] again, finally freeing Selene’s lover. The muscular and gloomy-looking man didn’t waste this opportunity.

His large physique notwithstanding, he moved with a speed superior even to the Black Guard or the parasite’s: He let out a bestial roar and punched the guard, who raised his katana to block at the last second.

As things were getting escalating and getting more and more chaotic, Arthur used the mist to shroud himself and then started bombarding the thick and tough wall that led right into the Shadow Pit.

Christopher’s strange spatial Magic along with Arthur’s Pyromancy eventually destroyed the wall. Alas, before they could escape, the Black Guard was able to stab the Southerner’s shoulder and pin him to the ground.

Right after, he grabbed the baton holstered on his waist and spun around while unleashing a literal tornado of thunderous lightning.

Everyone nearby was affected by the lightning. The Sanguis Barrier, which was empowered, crumbled within seconds and Arthur was forced out of his semi-intangible misty state.

The Black Guard took one other item, a hand-sized transparent orb and unhesitantly threw it to the ground, causing it to shatter, thereby twisting their surroundings unnaturally as if it was an illusion.

Before he could react or recover, Arthur found himself in the familiar ground floor, at one of the wide corridors.

The Black Guard, who sustained some a couple wounds after the Southerner had attacked him, was breathing unsteadily and one of his arms was trembling uncontrollably.

Arthur, Chris, and the Southerner were teleported to the ground floor. The other parasite, however, seemed to have avoided the orb’s supposedly unavoidable teleportation effect.

This made the Black Guard inwardly curse and take out another orb. He smashed it again without even looking at Arthur and co.

Dozens of guards ran from both sides of the corridor, blocking any escape route and armed to the teeth. They seemed to be ready for such an eventuality as they faced the two inmates and the parasite.