Prison Break

"I'm one of the great Rave Queen's husbands," says Zuriel.

"Are you serious?" I ask.

"I don't like being serious about anything but what I'm saying is true." He shows me his info.

So, it's true. . .

"Zaori told me a lot about you," he says. "Notably, that you were easy to seduce."

What nonsense has she said to him about me? "That's just her spouting lies," I say.

"Well, I don't blame you." He looks to the side. "She's one heck of a woman. Strong, cunning, and beautiful—the perfect package!"

"Not in the real world," I say. "She looks so horrible."

"Nah, she's not."

"Trust me. I saw her in person."

"Well, me too."

"Huh? You're a player too?"

"Yeah, player of hearts, I am."

"No, what I mean is that you're from the normal universe."

"That's right, bro. And I've been here for six hundred years."

This is quite interesting to have another guy who comes from the same world as me. This is very rare.

"Shall we get started, then?" he says. "The only thing that Zaori told me is to help you with whatever you want to do as well as protect your daughter. Don't worry, she's gonna be safe. I also sent a lot of toys for her to keep her occupied if ever this takes longer than expected." He's talking too much. "A very cute daughter, you have. She kinda looks like—"

"Just stop talking and let's get this over with."

"Alright, alright," he giggles as he removes my handcuffs.

I feel a surge of relief after. "What is that thing made of?"

"Ferrumecia," he answers. "It denies your access to the System, leaving you powerless."

That explains it. . .

"Anyway," he continues. "there's gonna be only two of us against thousands of enemies in this building. We couldn't just unga bunga our way out. So, let's devise a strategy."

"But do we have time for that?"

"Hmmm. . . probably?"

"That's not reassuring."

"Okay, so, I'm here to defeat the All-Seer for his exp, loot, and gold as my responsibility as part of the harem. Then you're here to find information about your daughter's power. We could only gain access to the library if we beat the All-Seer since he's the one who can open the Grand Library where he hoards all of the important knowledge in the Underworld." He breathes heavily after saying that long sentence in a single breath. "Our objectives are coinciding. So, are you in?"

"I'm not sure. I don't even know if we can do this. Say, how powerful is he?"

"He could be more powerful than both of us combined. That's why we need tactics to defeat him but we also need a strategy to get to him as he is located at the tippy top of this tower. We would need to clear hundreds of floors just to get to him. By then, we're gonna be so spent."

"What do we do then?"

"I trust that you have an Atasaia Frame?"

"I do."

"Good. For the rest of the common floors, use only that, nothing else."

"But—"

"Risky in a way that you'll lose control? I understand. That's why you have me to knock some sense into you just in case."

"How about you? Do you have an Atasaia Frame?"

"Unfortunately, no." He grins.

"Take this."

"No, I shouldn't."

"Why?"

"Because if both of us have gone mad, who's gonna knock some sense to us?"

"You just want me to do all the work for you, you sly!"

"Hey, once we get to the All-Seer, I'll be doing all of the work."

"Fine! Let's just get in with it."

I transform into my Atasaia Frame—which is Carmilla. I'd like to call it Carmillo since it's male now. He busts the cell door open, alerting the nearby guards.

"Stop!" they demand, pointing their guns at us.

I take them out before they could pull their triggers using my fists to be merciful. But one of them shoots at me but misses. I knock him out with a kick to his head.

"Nice, nice," Zuriel nods as he walks with his hands behind his back, feeling like a boss. I glare to let him know I don't like the way he's acting. However, he has no ounce of shame.

The other prisoners chained in ferrumecia handcuffs are looking at us in envy. They are reaching for us through the bars.

"Yo!" he greets them. "Do you guys want to get out?" They cheer yesses.

I know what he's thinking! "That's a bad idea," I comment.

He's not listening to me and goes, "I have but one condition: Cause as much havoc as you can in this place!"

Their roars of celebration are too loud. My sensitive ear is ringing. Then all the doors of the cells have been sliced open wide by an invisible force. What did that? The way Zuriel is smirking tells me that he's behind it. He didn't even flinch. The prisoners leave their cells and run past us. He's using them as cannon fodders.

"Let's release as many prisoners as possible," he says, looking like a cunning serpent.

I got a bad feeling about this. Getting the prisoners to fight against the guards on this floor works well for us but what are we going to do about the other floors?

We climb the first staircase and the sign says,

"Dungeon Level?" I mutter asking.

"That means we have to climb 52 floors to reach just the ground." That's gonna be a lot of work. "Don't be disheartened. Your daughter's future depends on you."

All the floors are in chaos as he continues freeing the prisoners. More and more guards have been deployed but I am able to find opportunities to break through because of the chaos the prisoners make. Those opportunities become few floor after floor. A lot of prisoners have been taken out but the guards and mages just keep coming. There is no end to them.

We now only have thirteen floors left to climb and I have to create opportunities for myself now. The other prisoners fled and most of them are exhausted.

"Freedom is only ten floors away, lads!" Zuriel shouts. "We're almost there!"

Looking at their faces, they don't have much strength left. Even the number of Frame Users has significantly been reduced.

"This is hopeless," some of them mutter as they walk back slowly.

"They're tired," I tell Zuriel.

"It's fine. This is what we call, 'Natural Selection'." He spreads his arms. "ONLY THE STRONG SHALL SURVIVE!!!" he roars, cackling. "Die here or take the chance to live outside the bars!"

This guy is nuts! How will that help to inspi—

The faces of the prisoners. . . changed. Those who turned their backs, face in the same direction as us. They look tired but they want to climb more floors. What's going on?

"Well, then. . .," Zuriel smirks. "claim your freedom! CHARGE!!!"

I lead the way up to the staircase to help the whole group gain momentum. A wall of guards using barrier shields is before me. They open fire, spraying hundreds of bullets. I use Shadowstep and emerge in between them.

There, I transform into my Angelus Frame to destroy their formation with "Light of Dawn: Explosion!"

They cry in pain as the light coming from my fist blows them all up. However, not all of them were affected. Instead, the prisoners make use of the opening I created for them to finish the remaining guards.

"I told you to use only your Atasaia Frame," Zuriel reminds me, looking all serious.

"But I need Angelus Light to—"

"No excuses. I know the abilities of an Atasaia. Drink Angelus Blood from anyone you can find and use it."

He walks past me, acting like a boss. I hate his demeanor. I'm doing all the work and this is how he treats me. If I have a choice, I wouldn't even speak a word with him. But he put me in this situation where— Wait, this is his plan all along. This is like how Zaori tricked me to enter this world. He might be as cunning as her. Even his aura is similar to hers. And their names. . .

*Shakes head*

Stop mind-wandering. Focus on surviving. You still have hundreds of floors to climb and your cute little daughter is waiting for you.

Eventually, we arrive at the ground level. There are only a dozen of us left. The enemy's numbers are still great. There's no end to them!

"Well, well, well!" Zuriel says. "This floor is really packing, huh?"