Labyrinth Tower

"In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, grant us pure power to dispel all evil..." Senior Carlos focuses his concentration on the tip of his wand, which glows with a golden light. A golden magic circle appears in mid-air, illuminating the prison cell so brightly that Raymond and I have to raise our hands to shield our eyes. The intense heat of this spell stings our skin, prompting my short front legs to instinctively rub all over my face. "Solus Naota!!" A beam of golden light erupts from the magic circle, following the rhythm of the wand's flick like a signal to attack the prison door with a deafening crash that causes a tremor. Yet, no guards come running to investigate.

Without a doubt, Senior Carlos's full-force attack fails to leave even a scratch on the prison door. I use my strongest spell, "Expul-simus Maximus!!" A red lightning bolt slams into the prison door with great force, but it remains completely unfazed. Raymond uses a spell to enlarge his fist to an enormous size and punches the door. Naturally, the result is the same. Then, the three of us try to combine our spells until our magical power is depleted. We collapse onto the floor of the cell. Luckily, they released our wrist restraints; otherwise, our magical energy would have been suppressed to the point of death.

In the wizarding world of Caronia, everyone's life is sustained by flesh and blood, just like normal humans. But the special thing is the magical power within their bodies, which represents their spirit. If it is suppressed by handcuffs, it weakens them. If they are restrained for too long, their magical power, akin to a flickering candle flame, begins to become completely extinguished until they eventually die.

Believe me, even a human body casting what they think is their strongest spell cannot break this iron door. Kicking and punching ultimately only results in getting hurt. Finally, we return to sitting down to re-plan from the beginning. No matter what idea comes up, it doesn't seem to work in our minds, so we need to rack our brains like never before.

"We keep trying to break the door like this, but it's never going to open," Senior Carlos pants, exhausted.

"My hands are all bruised," Raymond lies on his back on the floor, clutching his fist, which is bleeding profusely. Senior Carlos sees this and casts a healing spell, and the abrasions heal cleanly.

"Cula Tower... I once saw it in a grimoire from the library," the young man says in a serious tone, his eyebrows furrowed. "This must be it. Judging by the color and appearance, it's a fortress tower that demons have used as a hideout since ancient times. It was built by the first Demon God before the Archmage dealt with him in the first Caronian World War a thousand years ago. That means this place is the sunless abyss."

"The abyss?" Raymond gets up, raising an incredulous eyebrow. "It doesn't feel hot at all. The information in that book can't be trusted."

Thwack!!

Senior Carlos raps Raymond on the head, leaving a noticeable bump before casting a quick healing spell to reduce its size. The other boy cries out in pain, groaning, but it's easy to tell he's mostly faking it.

"Today coincides with the Scarlet Moon Festival," the young man says, drawing with his

wand on the floor. "We need to think fast, act fast, and if we manage to get out of this cell, we

must move as silently as shadows."

"That's impossible. The shoes have hard soles; even if we tiptoe, there will always be

noise."

Thwack!!

Senior Carlos raps Raymond on the head again, but this time doesn't cast a healing spell. Finally, I'm the one who heals him.

"You guys haven't learned the Silencing Charm yet, have you?" Senior Carlos asks with a sigh. "That's right, that spell is usually taught in the second term. It's alright. This spell is easier than the Levitation Charm. But before that, we need to plan how to get out of here without going through this door."

"Should we try destroying the floor we're standing on?" Raymond suggests, and Senior Carlos nods in agreement.

"The floor is quite solid. Casting a large spell together might work," Senior Carlos observes before standing up and telling the two of us to back up against the wall. Then, he casts a powerful golden beam spell at the floor with all his might, causing the entire room to shake.

"Hey! What's that noise!?" a demon minion's voice rings out.

"It's coming from the boys' cell! Hurry, let's go check it out!!"

Then, the sound of many footsteps approaches, causing a certain level of panic among us. We have all our weapons back, so we can easily fight back. Soon, the demon minions reach the prison door but don't see us, as we are hiding in the shadows.

"Where are they?" one of the demon minions says loudly, agitated. "Damn it! If the Emperor finds out, we're all dead meat!! Ascendio!!"

As the light from the tip of the wand illuminates, chasing away the dark shadows that serve as our hiding place, all three of us appear before firing Stupefy spells through the gap in the door with precision.

"How did these guys get their wands back!?" one of them shouts furiously before trying to cast an unlocking spell on the door. It fails. He has to cast it two or three more times before he pauses for a moment and looks up at something above the door. In those few seconds, we don't let the opportunity slip away easily. I lunge forward, slamming into the iron door and firing a Stupefy spell at him, knocking him down. But as I pull the door towards me, it opens easily. However, I don't have time to be surprised by this because there are still two demon minions trying to kill me.

"Get out of the way, mutt!!" Raymond bellows before swinging his enlarged fist, hitting one of the demon minions squarely in the face with such force that we can see a ripple of air expand and disappear in a split second. Then, Senior Carlos leaps forward, spinning in mid-air and kicking the last demon minion in the face, sending him crashing face-first into the ground, blood oozing from his mouth.

"Why did the door suddenly open, Nappo?" the young man asks, grabbing the door and pulling it towards him, his face contorted in annoyance. "If I had known it could be pulled open, I wouldn't have wasted so much energy and time casting those desperate spells."

"Well, you didn't think it through, Senior," Raymond says disrespectfully, which results in Senior Carlos rapping him on the head again.

At the same time, I step out of the cell and look up at something above the door, just like that demon minion did. Then, the truth appears, making me quite annoyed.

"I unlocked the door for you. From Drogadres."

I pause for a moment before firing a red beam spell at the message from that fire lizard, blasting it into smithereens.

...…..

Then, we run along the winding paths inside the tower. Everything around us is built from obsidian, or volcanic rock. Strangely, this type of stone exists in the world of Caronia and in such large quantities that can be used to build an entire tower. Its surface is fine and has a shiny, jet black color, reflecting the torchlight flickering along the way. The atmosphere around us is eerie, damp, and the air for breathing is limited.

"What's the plan now, Senior?" Raymond asks as we run down the corridor. "We have our wands back, so what do we do next?"

"We have to go and help Anya first," Senior Carlos replies firmly. "If we have her, the chances of escaping Cula Tower will increase."

"But where are we going to find her?" I ask a question I should have asked a long time ago. This causes both of them to brake almost instantly, and I can't stop in time, crashing into Raymond's legs and squashing my nose. "We don't have a map of this tower, and running around randomly is like running blind in the dark."

"Then we need to find a map first. But where can we find something like that?" Raymond observes.

"I don't think we'll find one, and it will only delay us from helping Anya. Finding a staircase down would probably be the best way," Senior Carlos suggests a temporary solution to the problem, which is the only option for this situation. We move quickly and silently like shadows, taking down enemies with a single spell, as powerful as a cannon. The Demon Emperor has stationed his demon minions at various points throughout Coola Tower. Of course, each demon minion has noticeably different combat skills and abilities. Some can be dealt with in a single attack, while others require engaging in both offense and defense, wasting some time before they can be easily defeated.

The inner paths of the tower are wide and confusing, like running in a maze. Carlos uses his wand to carve glowing marks to indicate that we have already passed this way. Of course, five minutes later, we encounter the same mark again.

"Why are we running in circles?" I observe when we come across the glowing mark for the third time. "We changed directions earlier. Why are we still ending up back here?"

"Something's starting to feel wrong," Raymond points his wand at the empty space behind

us. Senior Carlos and I sense the same thing as Raymond, so we stand back-to-back, looking around. Even though there are only two paths, who knows if the dark arts have spells that can make them disappear into these obsidian walls? They reflect faint shadows of the three of us all around and reflect into many endless dimensions, as if we've fallen into the fifth dimension.

"Be careful. I don't know if they're trying to mess with our heads or if this is some mechanism of this crazy tower," Senior Carlos says, pointing his wand forward, his dark eyes darting around. Amidst the silence, only our heavy breathing can be heard in a rapid rhythm. "But what's certain is... they probably know we broke out of our cell."

Within the shadows, someone is hiding with a wide, sinister grin.

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To Be Continue Ep.33