Chapter Fifty-Eight: The Prison Break Begins!

After discussing with Natalie, Edwina Cecelia had spent about three days in the dim cell, roughly figuring out the situation here and the enemies’ activity patterns, waiting for the right moment.

There were two types of guards: one type was like those she had seen before, cloaked in black, their faces obscured, modified puppets. The other type was more casually dressed, appearing as typical residents of the kingdom, seemingly retaining full sanity, but up close, one could catch a faint scent of decay.

The latter were likely the formal members of the so-called “Throne of Immortality,” the kind of things that kidnapped little girls, and Edwina had previously encountered.

Those drug-controlled puppets seemed to be acting under the direction of these undead-like individuals.

However, the undead didn’t often come to the dark, damp, and terribly conditioned cells; most of the work was done by puppets.

This was the opportunity that Natalie had mentioned.

Clang! The iron door was pushed open once again with a heavy thud.

Four or five black-cloaked puppets filed in, checking the forms in their hands, moving back and forth, eventually arriving at Edwina’s cell.

The leader slowly retrieved a large bunch of metal keys from his pocket, took his time in finding the right one for the gate before opening the barred door, and they began to crowd around the blonde girl, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed with her eyes closed, resting.

Without a word, they silently reached out to tug at her face, which looked a little haggard after three days of hard prison life.

The puppets had no concept of cherishing beauty; they pulled with such force that Edwina nearly stumbled and fell. Lowering her head, she offered no resistance nor shouted in anger; it seemed she had completely given up hope.

Since Edwina was quite compliant, the puppets didn’t inject her with the strange drug that could make someone lose consciousness, and the two parties pulled and walked, slowly exiting the cell, moving toward the outside world.

However, the few puppets, capable only of executing simple commands and judgments, failed to notice the slightly opening and closing corners of the Holy Knight’s lips or the pure holy light waves that she deliberately suppressed within her body.

In the adjacent cell, another young woman with shoulder-length silver hair, though somewhat disheveled, leaned against the bars, quietly watching the group heading outward, just as she had every time before.

Yet, the corners of her mouth also twitched slightly, seemingly in response to the Holy Knight’s chanting.

As soon as the entire team left Edwina’s cell and passed in front of the adjacent bars, a sudden change occurred!

“Omnipotent Lord, grant us your great power!/ Merciful Goddess, please descend with the pure light!”

The silent chanting suddenly transitioned to a loud plea as two rich golden lights simultaneously spread from the Holy Knights inside and outside the cell, transforming into pure holy light power.

“Connection Prayer – All Exceptional Purification Light!” x2

The light summoned by Edwina spread outward, forming a golden barrier that enveloped herself and all the puppets around her, while Natalie, who had long been ready, infused golden brilliance into the veil at the same time.

An invisible light mist filled the space within the barrier, and under the combined chanting of the two heavenly Saint Knights, this high-level faith-based magic instantly unleashed its full effect.

The few puppets, caught somewhat off guard, couldn’t react immediately; their frantic signals were completely blocked by the barrier, and as the light mist spread, they suddenly stiffened in place as if struck by lightning, and then…

Clang, plop, plop, plop.

Weapons fell to the ground as the puppets cried out in agony, collapsing like fish drowning, their hoods falling away and revealing their true faces.

“Huh? You are…”

As Edwina rummaged through the pockets of the leading male puppet for keys, she inadvertently caught sight of one of their faces, her mouth dropping open in shock, momentarily halting her movements.

This girl with a ponytail haircut was precisely the adventurer she had seen when she first woke up, the one captured for experimentation!?

Ever since that incident, she hadn’t returned; it was unimaginable that only three days had passed, and the once vibrant adventurer who had fiercely resisted was already reduced to this lifeless state, something Edwina hadn’t even noticed before.

The girl was now rolling on the ground in terrible agony, just like the other puppets caught in the white mist, clutching her head and writhing in pain.

The “All Exceptional Purification” cast by Natalie and Edwina wouldn’t kill her; it merely weakened the drug’s influence over her. Both sides were now vying for control of her body, resulting in the current situation.

This was exactly as Natalie had predicted.

Compared to how she appeared when Edwina first glimpsed her, she had clearly lost a bit more weight, her delicate features looking slightly pale; her ill-fitting black cloak and exposed skin were covered in dirt, with numerous injection marks visible on her arms and neck.

The girl rolled her eyes back, drooling uncontrollably, her mouth letting out only hoarse moans, clearly affected by a harmless purification magic but transformed into such a state, demonstrating how much abuse and cruel experimentation she had endured.

“Damn it, those inhumane bastards! I will not let them off the hook! I will definitely burn them all at the stake! Bastards!!!”

Edwina angrily pounded her fist against the ground, overlooking the droplets of crimson splattered from above; this was the only way she could vent her intense negative feelings right now.

“Alright, stop with the useless rage. What’s the point? Just help me unlock the cell door; we’ll figure everything out once we escape.”

The other Holy Knight appeared much calmer; she had likely grown accustomed to similar situations and was inherently more mature in experience and mindset than Edwina.

“Ah… Sorry, I forgot when I got angry; I’ll do it right away!”

Fumbling to find the keys, she soon freed Natalie, and the two sisters, now allies, began to prepare their escape from the dark prison and the iris flower orphanage outside.

Though it was disappointing, they currently lacked the ability to save others.

The capable ones were merely a minority; most of the over a hundred cells contained ordinary residents from the capital who had been kidnapped, many of whom were still quite young.

Due to the rudimentary environment and harsh treatment, compounded with various experimental torments, they had become extremely weak, finding it even difficult to walk. The two Holy Knights, struggling to ensure their own safety, had no means to take along so many burdens while escaping.

They were already the strongest prisoners here, and it was only due to their shared identity as Holy Knights that they could maintain mutual trust. Taking along others was simply unpredictable.

After all, the more perilous a situation was, the more it tested human nature.

Of course, this was something that Miss Natalie proposed and had already discussed with Edwina as the conditions for their collaboration, or else the latter’s naive thinking might result in some foolish actions.

Now that they had agreed, Edwina wouldn’t shamelessly bring up the idea of “saving everyone together.”

“Miss Natalie, do you know where our equipment and personal belongings are? Without weapons, it will be very difficult to rush out of here.”

The “Pure White Lion” who had been tortured to the point of extreme weakness, and had just released high-level faith magic, was calming her breathing rhythm, slowly nodding her head.

“I know. When I was taken for the experiments, I caught sight of others putting the items of freshly captured victims in a specific room. If nothing unexpected happened, our things should be there. Follow me.”

“Alright, thanks a lot.”

Casting a reluctant glance back at the several puppets who had fallen into a coma, her gaze swept over the innocents in the cells looking at her with pleading eyes but were too weak to move or speak loudly…

The young Holy Knight turned around and, together with her companion, stepped toward the sliver of light shining through the iron door, hurrying away.

   

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