Chapter 277: Ch 277: The Escape- Part 2
Sasha stirred with a groan, her head pounding and limbs sore. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she frowned and looked around.
Cold stone walls. Iron bars. A bucket in the corner. She was in a prison cell.
"What is this? This place is disgusting. Do they expect people to live in here? Ugh."
She muttered, sitting up and rubbing her wrists.
The stone beneath her was damp, and the straw scattered for bedding stank of mold and old blood.
Wrinkling her nose, Sasha stood and stretched. Her fingers glowed faintly as she traced a small rune in the air.
With a soft click and a pulse of mana, the cell door creaked open.
"That was too easy. Do they really think this kind of lock would hold me?"
She said, brushing off her skirt.
As she stepped into the hallway, the stale air hit her like a wave. She paused and looked at the other cells—and her stomach twisted. Most of them held corpses.
Some fresh, others long decayed. All of them wore tattered robes or common villager clothes.
"Gods…If I hadn't woken up sooner…"
Sasha whispered, covering her mouth.
A chill ran down her spine. She had no intention of joining those corpses. Staying here even one more day might've sealed her fate.
Carefully, she moved through the underground halls, keeping to the shadows and listening for footsteps—but the silence was absolute. It was as though the place had been abandoned in a hurry.
Eventually, she found herself in a chamber lit by eerie, golden light. Her eyes widened when she saw the source.
A large device—half metal, half stone—stood in the center of the room. Runes etched along its base flickered with power.
From its core, threads of mana were being drawn in from the surrounding walls and channeled upward, where they twisted into divine energy.
Sasha's expression darkened.
"That's… impossible. That's mana conversion. They're transforming raw mana into divine power. But that requires—"
She murmured.
She stepped closer, examining the runes.
"These are… old. Ancient. They've corrupted the whole structure to serve as a conduit."
She bit her lip. Kyle needed to know. Something like this wasn't just dangerous—it was a declaration of war.
If the temple was stealing mana and using it to fuel their god, then the entire balance of power was at risk.
"I have to tell him. But first, I need to get out of here."
She said aloud.
Fortunately, security seemed to be nonexistent. Not a single guard had stopped her. Perhaps they hadn't expected anyone to wake up and escape.
Sasha focused, drew a few more runes in the air, and with a deep boom, blasted open a portion of the wall. Dirt and stone scattered, but daylight streamed in from beyond.
She was out.
When Sasha reached the village, she found it buzzing with tension. People whispered in corners, guards ran in and out of buildings, and a crowd had formed around the square.
"What's going on…?"
She murmured.
Curious, she moved deeper in and quickly spotted the reason. A line of prisoners knelt in the square—robes torn, heads bowed, bloodied. They wore the colors of the temple.
And standing before them was Kyle, arms crossed, calm and cold as ever.
Sasha's eyes widened, but she didn't stop to watch. She hurried past the crowd and made her way to Kyle's office. The guards at the door recognized her and let her through without question.
Kyle looked up from his desk as she entered.
"Sasha. Didn't expect you. What are you doing here?"
He said, raising an eyebrow.
"I found the temple's hideout. It was underground. Hidden. They knocked me out and threw me into a cell, but I broke out."
She said quickly.
Kyle stood immediately.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. But listen, the place—Kyle, they've got something down there. A device. It's converting mana into divine energy. It's… it's bad. Real bad."
She assured him.
Kyle's eyes narrowed.
"Mana conversion into divine essence? That shouldn't even be possible."
"Exactly. But they're doing it. The runes were old—powerful—and they've rooted the system deep into the underground. I managed to get out, but I didn't have time to seal it. So I don't know if it's still stable or—if it's going to blow."
Sasha said.
Kyle grabbed his coat and his sword.
"Then we're moving now. Bruce is already coordinating interrogations. We'll send a unit to sweep the hideout. Can you guide them back?"
Sasha nodded.
"Yes. I remember the path."
Kyle's gaze sharpened.
"Good. Let's put an end to this mess before it gets worse."
Sasha led Kyle through the dense thickets on the outskirts of the village and down the narrow, hidden path that had led her to the underground prison.
Her heart thudded with anticipation, each step echoing with memories of the corpses, the cold iron bars, and that unholy machine.
When they reached the cracked stone wall she had blasted earlier, she whispered.
"Here."
She stepped through the broken entrance and began navigating the dark, winding corridors with practiced familiarity.
Kyle followed silently, sharp eyes scanning every inch. Finally, they arrived at the chamber she remembered all too well.
Only… it was empty.
"No…"
Sasha's voice was a strangled whisper.
The massive machine she had seen, the flickering runes, the pulsing core of divine energy—everything was gone.
Even the corpses from the prison cells were gone. Cleaned. Erased. As though it had never existed.
"No, no, no!"
Sasha clutched her head and spun around.
"It was right here, Kyle! I swear it! There was a huge converter. It was pulling in mana—changing it—and there were runes. Ancient ones! I'm not hallucinating!"
Kyle remained calm, stepping forward as he crouched beside the scorched mark on the floor. His fingers brushed over faint, lingering traces of energy still embedded in the stone.
"I believe you."
He said quietly.
Sasha looked at him in disbelief.
"You do?"
Kyle nodded.
"They cleaned up well, but not perfectly. These marks—faint divine residue, mana depletion lines, and the fractured floor—all of it lines up with what you described. They moved fast. Too fast."
Sasha let out a breath of relief and stepped back, leaning against the wall.
"I thought I was losing my mind."
Kyle didn't answer right away. Instead, he pressed his palm to the ground and closed his eyes, focusing.
A thin thread of mana extended outward from him, spreading like mist as he tried to follow the remnants of the divine trail.
For a moment, it worked—his senses latched onto a thread of divine displacement, like a scent left in the air.
But just as he tried to pull on it, the energy recoiled violently.
A wave of backlash surged through him, throwing him back across the room.
"Kyle!"
Sasha rushed to his side.
He sat up slowly, gritting his teeth as his hands trembled.
"It's been warded. Whoever took it knew someone would come looking."
Sasha stared at him, eyes wide.
"Are you alright?"
"I've been hit harder."
Kyle muttered, brushing dust off his cloak.
"But this… whatever they're doing, they're using forbidden techniques. That reaction—it wasn't just a defense. It was a warning."
"So now what?"
Kyle stood, his expression unreadable.
"Now, we dig deeper. This might take a while, but I will find them."
His gaze lingered on the scorch marks one last time.
"They're trying to start something. And I intend to finish it."