Chapter 37: Escape From The Black Tower
Ryuu tore through the mountains with fluid speed. White mist engulfed the slopes on all sides. Nightfall made everything nearly impossible to see clearly.
But none of that posed any issue for him. He blazed forward with almost no sound to his steps.
Then suddenly, the entire mountain shuddered. Ryuu and his subordinates racing through the terrain froze in their tracks. Ryuu’s half-lidded eyes, grey irises glowing faintly, fixed forward.
His speed exploded. He vanished and surged at a vicious pace, leaping across mountain edges and treetops until he finally landed within range of the Black Tower structure.
Immediately, he whirled toward the crater gouged at the mountain’s base. He sprinted toward it, stalking through the carved hole.
Then his eyes widened.
There lay his blood—fainted and drenched in crimson.
At that moment, his subordinates in black robes, black leather belts, and bracers landed behind him. The first widened his eyes in terror the instant he saw it.
"Take the youngest to the Healing Halls this instant. If he dies, none of you will survive either."
The subordinates trembled and quickly seized Kage, vanishing from Ryuu’s sight.
He turned to the prison and studied the hole carved into the wall.
"The prisoner has escaped. Command an emergency lockdown of all exits within the clan. The rest of you search every corner of this place. That prisoner must be found!"
They all roared in unison.
"YES, SIR!"
Then vanished.
Ryuu stared ahead, clenching his fist, his expression strained.
’Was I too relaxed? How could I let this happen? What was the youngest doing here when I’ve been searching for him?’
He strode to the prison’s main door, which sensed his blood and opened naturally. He entered. For a blood of Ironstorm, the mechanism paved the way—Ryuu had no trouble navigating the tunnels.
After a while, he reached the particular chamber that had held the escaped prisoner. The bars were shattered.
Ryuu slowly traced the torn edges with his fingers.
’Moon metal was shredded like this?’
Ryuu’s gaze sharpened with cold light as he looked beyond the twisted bars to see a cocoon sitting in the cell’s center.
He stepped into the chamber and drew one of the swords from his back, glancing down as the metal cocoon began to unveil itself. It bloomed like metal petals, revealing the person within like icing on a cake.
Shen Fengxi was still curled up in fear when the cocoon opened. He jolted upright, only to meet a blade at his throat—held by the tall, black-haired, handsome man he immediately recognized as the fourteenth young lord.
He slammed his head to the floor.
"Young lord! Forgive me!!"
Ryuu’s gaze darkened.
"Forgive you? After breaking into my clan’s prison?"
The firekeeper jerked his head up, eyes wide.
"Lord Ryuu! It wasn’t just me—I’m not the only one. Another person orchestrated all of this and sent me to do his bidding!"
’Since it’s come to this... I have to be smart... I’ll use this information to preserve my life until my brother finds Hwi-Geon and they rescue me.’
Ryuu stared down at him with a frigid expression.
"And who is this person?"
Shen Fengxi looked up, trembling slightly.
"Lord Ryuu, please—keep me alive. I’ll tell you the name of this person and the organization they’re connected to."
Ryuu’s expression twisted in disgust.
"I despise treacherous people most of all. You’re quite shameless. If you were going to do something, shouldn’t you have committed to it fully? Now you fail and want to preserve your life by betraying your allies."
He shook his head in pity.
"Speak."
Shen Fengxi hesitated for a moment, thinking about what the fourteenth young lord had said—but then, he wasn’t outing his subordinates. He was going to pin all of this on the clan’s youngest lord.
"Thank you, sir! The person who aided me... his name is K—"
His voice suddenly choked.
He clutched his throat but continued to choke on his words. His eyes widened, recognizing what it was. He was confused to his core.
Why was the curse of the soul pact activating on him? What was wrong? What had he missed?
Those were the questions Shen Fengxi’s widened eyes reflected. Unfortunately, he’d never get the answers because he writhed and continued to choke on the floor as though his entire organs were being ripped out by chains through his throat.
Ryuu’s eyes darkened coldly as he watched blood pour from Shen Fengxi’s eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. His skin went pale and paler until he finally gave up the ghost—his skin a purplish tone with maroon veins.
Ryuu continued to stare at the head firekeeper’s corpse for a few minutes. Then he looked up and heaved a terrible sigh, thinking to himself.
’I should start writing a will.’
***
Three days later.
As Kage opened his eyes, the first thing that registered was the tranquil scent—the delicate sweetness of fresh lilies with an undertone of faint pine resin from outside, underlined by the subtlest trace of sandalwood from the carved beams.
Then came the light filtering through the latticed ceiling panels.
He shifted to take in the meticulously arranged room, one with an elegance born of balance, not excess.
A young lady in a light-green hanfu dress patterned with flowers entered with a bamboo bowl in her hands. Her eyes widened as she realized Kage’s eyes were open, and immediately she bolted out, shouting.
"The young lord has awakened! The young lord has awakened!"
Mere moments later, Kage’s elder sister came strolling in.
This time, she wore a pale black dress that barely reached the top of her knees.
She sat on a stool right beside Kage’s bed, looking at him with a tender expression.
For a moment, Kage actually wanted to believe she cared. But he merely smacked his lips—mentally, of course, since he was still too weak to even move them.
’That bastard...’
[The Wolf of the North laughs widely at you, says you must have overestimated yourself when you asked a prisoner who easily tore through metal to punch you with his best]
Kage sighed internally, ignoring the Wolf of the North.
’How long was I out for?’
[The Wolf of the North looks at you with disdain, asks how you expect them to know when they all had to pass out too, thanks to your reckless decision]
’Oh... that’s how it works, huh.’
Kage was almost grinning—internally, of course.
He turned to his elder sister, looking at her for a while before managing to force a smile.
She patted his hands gently.
"You must feel very weak. Don’t worry—I’ll brew a special potion for you. It will restore your strength. Your body was in shambles, but I managed to put it back together over the past three days. This potion will give you back all your strength, trust your elder sister."
Kage’s eyes widened.
Three days!!! The Academy!!! Shit!!!
His eyes said all that, not his mouth.
Seraphine, looking at his horrified expression, suppressed a little laugh.
"Don’t worry about the academy. A special word was sent in for you by father himself, and the Academy has agreed to push the date of the entrance examination back a bit."
Kage sighed in relief.
His sister touched his forehead.
"Hmm, your temperature has cooled considerably. I’ll be back with a potion, and you’ll regain your strength completely."
She smiled again before leaving the room.
Kage stared up at the ceiling light.
’I must have caused quite a stir in the clan...’