Chapter 36: Prison Break
Kage stared down from above, perched on a cliff near the prison. The structure was a metal hexagon—a massive black building consuming over five thousand square kilometers of land and containing over ten thousand Purists, Weavers. Of those prisoners, eight hundred and thirty-seven ranked above six.
[The Heretic Inquisitor of Eternal Truth is curious—of all eight hundred and thirty-seven, why this Hwi-Geon? Who is he?]
Kage shrugged uncharacteristically.
"No one special. Aside from his reputation as a prodigious Purist, he’s remarkably easy to control. No ambition, no family, nothing. Just a will to follow."
[The Heretic Inquisitor of Eternal Truth implies how strange it is—says a man without ambition, regardless of strength, is merely weak. He asks why you’d leave your life in the hands of such a man.]
"This is presumptuous, but based on my observations, I think Hwi-Geon’s lack of ambition and his will to follow might be tied to his Pure Armament."
[The Heretic Inquisitor of Eternal Truth asks how...]
"It’s a sacred-rank Pure Armament purified from a Terror-rank Impure called Unyielding Will. Killing that creature took tremendous resources—the more it bled, the stronger and faster it became. The Pure Armament must have retained some of its Supreme flaw. I’m presuming that flaw causes Hwi-Geon’s ambitionlessness."
[The Wolf of the North sighs deeply and says it is a crude, powerful flaw—reminiscent of a barbarian’s valor.]
"If Hwi-Geon grows stronger the more he bleeds, then his only ambition is to bleed—destruction. But he’s a good person. He can’t mindlessly seek destruction..."
[The Heretic Inquisitor of Eternal Truth nods in understanding, completing your statement—so Hwi-Geon settles for someone else’s ambition. To get by or feel better about himself?]
Kage shifted.
’I didn’t think of that before.’
[The Heretic Inquisitor of Eternal Truth laughs and says, naturally. He reverts to the topic—this Hwi-Geon has much growing up to do, apparently. He asks if you’re certain you want your life in his hands.]
Kage frowned.
"I’m not leaving my life in anyone’s hands. But I’m sure about him. His immaturity makes things easier for me."
He focused on the facility. Each moment Shen Fengxi bypassed the layers, there was a subtle shift in the Qi essence flow.
The shattering flow broke in consistent intervals—no way the formation wouldn’t notice the depletion.
The moment it detected the Convergence Array shutdown, it would trigger a fierce lockdown.
The Anchor Core would shift to destroy Shen Fengxi’s soul. But it wouldn’t succeed.
That momentary lapse was all Shen Fengxi needed to free Hwi-Geon.
[The Heretic Inquisitor of Eternal Truth is curious why you think it won’t succeed.]
Kage sighed.
’Don’t underestimate a soul pact’s power. Shen Fengxi’s soul is restrained by the Peak of Ten Thousand Shackles. No hollow-rank ego can reach chains bound to a peak touching the heavens themselves.’
Kage folded his arms.
’But it will try, causing a delay—opening Shen Fengxi’s window. I hope he’s competent enough to seize it and escape with Hwi-Geon.’
[The Wolf of the North’s mouth opens slightly as he realizes—this is why you pointed him toward the Soul Order of Temporal Truth. To create the lapse! But he frowns in confusion and asks if you truly wish for Shen Fengxi to escape.]
Kage looked at the proxy’s panel in raw disbelief, his expression caught between shock and dread—like he was struggling to accept an unwanted reality.
"What the hell was that? Why would I want him to escape?"
[The Wolf of the North contorts in frantic outrage and yells—you disrespectful child, show respect to your elders and wipe that insufferable look off your face!]
[The Heretic Inquisitor of Eternal Truth smiles knowingly and says you expect Shen Fengxi to lose.]
Kage’s expression hardened. He suppressed slight wariness toward the Heretic Inquisitor, sighed, and looked forward.
"Naturally."
Kage frowned slightly.
’Anyways, this needs to happen faster. They’re searching for me everywhere by now. But Ryuu won’t wait... he should already be on his way.’
***
Meanwhile, inside the Black Tower, the structure trembled with violent intensity—as if it wanted to crumble entirely.
Shen Fengxi faltered, trembling with fear. Of course, he knew the facility couldn’t crumble—it housed too many important prisoners for the lockdown to cause that.
However, he never anticipated the lockdown would trigger so early. Seconds faster. He clenched his fist and threw talismans through the iron cage entrance.
The talismans landed on Hwi-Geon’s chains and wrapped around them.
"The metal’s aging fast, rusting. You can break it now."
Hwi-Geon, eyes distant, shifted slightly and moved his limbs—his hands first. The chains shattered into fragments, followed by his legs. Those bindings shattered too.
Then he reached out as though calling for something.
Shen Fengxi waited, confused. The man was supposed to break the prison, but he was just... reaching out?
Moments later, something tore through the prison’s metallic walls, burrowing at an alarming rate.
Shen Fengxi stood there, waiting for Hwi-Geon to break out and carry him along.
That was his contingency plan. Getting out was as difficult as getting in, so he’d latch onto Hwi-Geon, make it back to the Forge of Knowledge, and pin everything on the Seventeenth Young Lord—who was distracting Ironstorm’s forces.
Suddenly he sensed something approaching at impossible speed and shifted away. In a blur, the chamber bars shattered, and Hwi-Geon floated out, feet inches above the ground.
The chamber walls stretched toward them. But Hwi-Geon was fast—he grabbed Shen Fengxi by the collar and shot forward like an explosive arrow.
The walls stretched in pursuit. Thick metal sheets dropped from the dark ceiling in rapid succession, locking down the tunnel.
But Hwi-Geon crushed through them effortlessly, leaving deep, impossible holes through the metal doors.
The tunnel walls were persistent—they began shrinking backward, quickly closing the distance Hwi-Geon had covered.
"Move faster, you twerp!"
Hwi-Geon surged forward with even greater speed, but the walls matched him instantly. As he smashed through another metal door, the sharp edges hooked Shen Fengxi’s clothes, delaying him a fraction of a second.
The other wall twisted sharply, distorting his path. The wall that had hooked Shen Fengxi’s clothes reformed, transforming into a cocoon.
As Hwi-Geon pulled, the collar tore, and the metallic cocoon wrapped shut around Shen Fengxi.
Hwi-Geon frowned darkly at the cocoon and clenched his fist. The silver metal bracers on his forearm extended to cover his fist as he lunged forward to crush the cocoon.
A vast amount of air exploded from the other side, but only a dent of knuckles showed on the surface he’d punched.
Worse, the cocoon immediately reinforced itself and bounced away from Hwi-Geon. He was about to give chase but suddenly stopped.
Then looked the other way—the walls were extending endlessly, making his distance to the entrance infinitely longer.
Hwi-Geon looked back with a rueful expression and exploded forward, vanishing with incendiary speed.
Kage narrowed his eyes and bent down, touching the floor.
’He’s close.’
And so were his brother and his forces.
Kage sighed heavily and jumped off the cliff’s lowest edge onto the prison entrance ground. He stood there... waiting.
Barely ten seconds later, the wall in front of him exploded as a great force broke through. Steam seeped out, forming fog, and a man levitated from it, stopping five meters away from Kage.
Kage looked up at him.
"Where is Shen Fengxi?"
Hwi-Geon looked down, wistful expression on his kind face.
"I couldn’t save him."
Kage’s expression darkened.
"We pull the entire world to save you, and this is how you repay us?"
He clenched his fist, visibly angry, but immediately restrained himself.
"This isn’t the time. Ironstorm’s forces will catch up to us. I want you to follow the trace of my death qi."
Kage released a faint Qi essence into the air.
"It’ll lead you to a piece of paper. You’ll know what to do from there. Avoid being seen—that should be easy for you."
He sighed and mentally prepared himself.
"Lastly, punch me as hard as you can."
Hwi-Geon looked at Kage worriedly.
"Are... you sure?"
Kage answered urgently.
"Yes! And do it fast!"
He hesitated.
"Wait... if I die, I won’t forgive you."
Hwi-Geon sighed. His expression darkened as he surged forward and delivered a devastating blow into Kage’s gut.
The blow released a massive shockwave of air through his back, sending him reeling through the air and crashing through the clouds of the lower cliffs.
Even though he’d expected it and prepared his body for the hit, it still hurt like hell!