Morning arrived quietly.
The prison never truly slept, but there was a difference between night vigilance and morning routine.
At night, guards expected trouble.
During the morning rotation, they expected boredom.
That difference was everything.
The familiar dragging footsteps echoed down the corridor outside our cell.
Slow.
Heavy.
Tired.
The same guard.
Right on schedule.
I sat against the wall with my eyes half-lidded, posture relaxed enough to appear harmless while tension coiled quietly beneath the surface.
Across from me, Lyra remained perfectly still, silver hair falling softly around her shoulders as she listened to every sound beyond the bars.
Armor shifting.
Keys rattling.
Breathing uneven from exhaustion.
Three days of observation had carved the rhythm of this place into our minds.
The prison thought routine created order.
Really, it created weakness.
The food cart squeaked faintly as it rolled closer.
The guard yawned under his breath, muttering complaints to himself that neither of us cared enough to fully listen to.
Metal scraped softly.
The tray lifted.
The slot beneath the bars unlocked with a click.
The guard crouched slightly and shoved the tray inward carelessly.
Lyra’s eyes opened.
“Now.”
I moved instantly.
My hand shot through the bars and clamped around the guard’s throat before he could even register what was happening.
His eyes widened violently as I yanked him forward.
“Hk—?!”
CRACK.
His forehead slammed against the iron bars hard enough to shake the entire cell.
The sound echoed through the corridor.
The guard went limp immediately.
“…Damn,” I muttered quietly.
Lyra was already beside me.
She reached through the bars smoothly, fingers slipping to the unconscious guard’s waist before pulling the ring of keys free with practiced precision.
“No alarm,” she whispered.
“Way ahead of you.”
I grabbed the unconscious body before it collapsed loudly against the floor and lowered him carefully instead.
The corridor remained silent.
Good.
Lyra tested the keys quickly.
One failed.
Second failed.
Third—
Click.
The cell door unlocked.
For a brief moment neither of us moved.
Not because we were hesitating.
Because after days trapped inside a cage, freedom almost felt unreal.
Then Lyra stepped forward calmly.
I smirked faintly and followed her into the corridor.
Cold air brushed against my skin immediately.
The prison hall stretched ahead of us beneath dim mana lamps embedded into the walls, their pale blue glow casting long shadows across the stone floor.
Quiet.
Too quiet.
Our footsteps stayed soft as we moved down the corridor exactly the way we’d planned.
Left turn first.
Avoid the central checkpoint.
Use the maintenance route instead of the main hall.
Three days of listening.
Three days of memorizing patterns.
Now every second mattered.
“You hear anyone?” I whispered.
Lyra tilted her head slightly.
“One guard ahead.”
“…Alone?”
“Yes.”
“Strong?”
A brief pause.
“No.”
Good.
We rounded the corner carefully.
The guard stood near the end of the hall leaning lazily against the wall, half-focused on a small mana device in his hand.
Probably counting the minutes until his shift ended.
He never saw me coming.
I crossed the distance in seconds and slammed my fist directly into his jaw.
CRACK.
The man dropped instantly.
Lyra glanced at the unconscious body briefly.
“You hit hard.”
“I’m offended you sound surprised.”
“You complain too much to seem threatening.”
“…Wow.
That’s actually insulting.”
“It wasn’t inaccurate.”
I opened my mouth to respond—
Then stopped.
Footsteps.
Different from before.
Heavier.
More controlled.
Coming fast.
Lyra’s expression shifted slightly.
“…Someone stronger.”
Mana rolled faintly through the corridor before the man even appeared.
Then he stepped around the corner.
Tall.
Broad shoulders.
Dark iron armor marked with silver insignias along the chestplate.
Unlike the others, his eyes sharpened instantly the moment he saw us outside the cell block.
No hesitation.
No confusion.
An [F+] ranker.
His hand moved immediately toward the sword at his waist.
“Prisoners—”
Lyra moved first.
Silver flashed through the dim corridor like moonlight cutting through darkness.
The guard reacted fast for his rank, drawing his blade just in time to intercept her first strike.
CLANG.
Steel rang sharply through the hallway.
The man slid backward slightly from the force, eyes narrowing in surprise.
“You’re fast—”
Lyra disappeared from his direct line of sight.
The guard’s instincts screamed at him immediately.
He twisted sharply and slashed behind himself—
Too slow.
Lyra ducked underneath the blade with terrifying precision.
Then attacked.
A flurry of strikes slammed into the guard before he could properly recover.
Palm to ribs.
Elbow to throat.
Kick to knee.
Every movement flowed perfectly into the next with almost unnatural smoothness.
She wasn’t overpowering him physically—she was dismantling his balance piece by piece.
The guard gritted his teeth and released a burst of mana.
The shockwave forced distance between them.
He steadied himself quickly, sword raised carefully now.
“You little monster…”
Lyra didn’t respond.
Her silver eyes stayed calm.
Cold.
Focused.
The guard lunged forward suddenly, mana gathering around his blade as he aimed directly for her chest.
Fast.
For an [F+] ranker, very fast.
Lyra stepped sideways at the last possible second.
The blade missed her by inches.
Then—
The air vibrated.
Low.
Sharp.
Dangerous.
[Sound Pulse].
BWOOOOOM—
The sound exploded through the corridor like compressed thunder.
The guard’s eyes widened instantly.
Blood burst from one of his ears as his balance collapsed violently.
His sword arm twitched out of rhythm while mana destabilized around his body.
Internal disruption.
Not physical force.
Precision.
Exactly like she said.
The guard stumbled backward desperately trying to recover.
Lyra didn’t let him.
She closed the distance instantly.
Silver hair flowed behind her as she stepped inside his reach before he could stabilize his stance again.
One hand grabbed his wrist.
The other sliced upward.
A thin blade of compressed mana formed around her fingers for a split second—
—and cut cleanly across his throat.
Silence.
The guard froze.
Blood spread slowly across his neck.
Then he collapsed heavily onto the stone floor.
Stillness returned to the corridor.
For a second, I forgot where we were.
Forgot the prison.
Forgot the escape.
Forgot literally everything.
Because Lyra stood there beneath the dim blue mana light with tiny crimson droplets scattered across her pale skin, silver hair swaying softly as she exhaled slowly.
Beautiful.
Terrifyingly beautiful.
Like moonlight covered in blood.
“…Damn,” I muttered quietly.
My face suddenly felt hotter than it should.
Lyra turned toward me.
“…What?”
“…Nothing.”
“You’re staring.”
“…Can you blame me?”
A pause.
“…Yes.”
I let out a short laugh under my breath.
“That skill is insane.”
“…[Sound Pulse].”
“Very comforting name.”
“It ruptures internal balance and disrupts mana flow.”
“…Somehow that explanation made it worse.”
“It wasn’t meant to comfort you.”
“Fair enough.”
Her gaze lingered on me briefly before shifting toward the corridor ahead again.
“Let’s keep going.”
Right.
Focus.
I forced myself to look away before my brain completely stopped functioning.
‘Then again…
when I checked her status before, she didn’t have any skills listed.
Meaning—’
[ Yes host she created it during the three days you spent together]
‘Damn seriously?
What sort of talent is that?’
[Says the one who mastered teleportation the moment he knew he could do it]
‘Are you sure that’s noteworthy?
I mean creating a skill in less than three days seems way more groundbreaking’
[You wouldn’t understand host]
‘Heh oh well’
I shrugged in my mind glancing at Lyra who looked laser focused.
‘She is really pretty though..’
I didn’t realize I was staring until Lyra glanced at me
“You’re staring again,” she said quietly
I quickly turned away
“Sorry…”
We moved deeper into the prison quickly after that.
The farther we went, the more obvious it became that the prison wasn’t designed for ordinary criminals.
Mana circuits lined portions of the walls.
Reinforced doors blocked certain intersections.
Some corridors even carried faint pressure from suppression formations hidden beneath the stone.
This place held dangerous people.
Or things.
A distant metallic dragging sound echoed faintly from somewhere below us.
Chains.
Big ones.
I glanced toward Lyra.
“You hear that too?”
“Yes.”
“…Any idea what it is?”
“No.”
The way she answered made it clear she didn’t particularly want to find out either.
Good.
Because I definitely didn’t.
We reached another intersection and paused.
Voices echoed faintly nearby.
Two guards.
Distracted.
“…Left side,” Lyra whispered.
I nodded.
Then we moved.
The first guard barely managed to turn before I drove my shoulder into his chest and smashed him into the wall hard enough to crack stone.
The second reacted faster, reaching for the alarm crystal mounted nearby.
A sharp vibration filled the air.
CRACK.
The crystal shattered instantly.
The guard froze in shock for exactly half a second.
That was enough.
Lyra stepped behind him silently and struck the back of his neck.
The man collapsed immediately.
I stared briefly at the destroyed alarm crystal.
“…That skill is actually unfair.”
“It’s efficient.”
“That’s a dangerous word coming from you.”
Something faint crossed her face then.
Small.
Subtle.
Almost invisible.
But definitely there.
A laugh.
I blinked.
“…Did you just laugh?”
“No.”
“That was absolutely a laugh.”
“You’re hearing things.”
“…Wow.
Lying already.”
“I never claimed perfection.”
I grinned despite myself.
This was insane.
We were escaping a heavily guarded prison and somehow having casual conversations in the middle of it.
Then again—
Maybe that was why it worked.
No panic.
No wasted energy.
Just movement.
Footsteps suddenly echoed ahead again.
Several this time.
Lyra tilted her head slightly.
“…Three.”
“…Strong?”
“One close to [E+].”
I rolled my shoulders slowly.
“…I’ll take the strong one.”
My blood was already boiling at the thought of fighting a stronger opponent.
“Sure.
Just try not to get injured,” she said, gazing forward
“Of course.
You too.”
“I’ll try.”
“…That’s not reassuring.”
“It shouldn’t be.”
I stared at her for a second before laughing quietly under my breath.
Then the guards rounded the corner.
And chaos erupted again.
See you next chapter
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