In a forest somewhere, a group of people stood staring at a man.
That man had long white hair reaching his shoulders, golden glowing eyes, a white cloak, and in his hand, a shining sword.
That man was Sentrie, and the people surrounding him were the ones hunting him down.
"It's time for revenge!"
Both sides charged at each other. The group split into several units — ranged attackers and close combat fighters.
One man rushed forward with his sword, attempting to stab Sentrie.
But Sentrie parried it with his sword. Although bullets flew towards him, no one could harm him. He used his defensive ability, a protective shield. After parrying the sword, he slashed at the man's torso.
The man's body split into two. His sword fell to the ground. People looked on with horror. The weapons in their hands began to tremble. Sentrie paid no attention and quickly rushed toward the ranged attackers because his shield's power was starting to collapse.
So, he quickly ran and lunged at them. He ran at a speed several times faster than a normal human. Bullets started to come close to him, but he was able to slash and split the bullets in two.
People watched in shock. The close-combat fighters wanted to help. Sentrie looked at the ranged group; there were seven people in total. He quickly analyzed the situation before slashing at the two women in front of him. Their necks were severed.
Their heads fell from their shoulders, and blood splattered. The ranged group began to run away. The close-combat group reached Sentrie and tried to attack him from behind, but failed. Sentrie dodged the attack and threw an explosive blast at them. Their bodies exploded.
It was a sea of blood. The remaining four people started to run away. Sentrie smiled, picked up a gun, amplified its power, and shot at those who were running. Their heads exploded. The corpses lay drowned in a pool of blood, bodies without heads.
"So, you're finished with your business," she said.
She looked at him before glancing at the corpses and their blood. Although she showed no outward expression, her heart was filled with fear and horror.
Sentrie sensed her feelings.
"I apologize. This was necessary. They wanted my life. I did this out of necessity,"
he said. He had a look of guilt, but Serin understood, and they continued on their journey. Sentrie buried the bodies in a matter of seconds and followed Serin. He left the place in complete emptiness.
They walked into the forest, following the path provided. They reached the capital city with a prison where criminals were kept. She handed the city pass to the guard at the gate.
Previously, Serin had told Sentrie that there would be a card check ahead, and without a card, he might be investigated and arrested.
"So I think you might have to agree to be arrested, and I will come and help you inside the prison myself."
Sentrie nodded slightly. They separated. Serin went in first for about five to ten minutes, then Sentrie followed. The guard at the gate asked Sentrie for his pass, but he didn't have one.
Sentrie then decided to put on a small show by running through. People looked at him in shock. Some gate guards raised their guns and shot at him, but he managed to hide in an alley. Sentrie saw a gate guard walk past, so he used his power to make him fall asleep and walked past him.
He caused chaos throughout the city until he was eventually caught. He created unrest and assaulted officials, so he was easily sent to prison. He was handcuffed and led to a cell.
The cell was at the very end, but the guard who brought him there was none other than Serin. Sentrie was slightly surprised that she was here, but Sentrie followed Serin to his cell. He was uncuffed and led into the cell.
Serin walked away. He lay down in the cell until he heard someone's loud, harsh shout. He turned to face the owner of the voice: a man in a guard uniform who looked to have a higher rank than the others, but Sentrie could also sense his strength.
"Wake up."
Sentrie looked to the other side of his cage. He found a man with short purple hair and black eyes. They stared at each other until a guard came to open their cells and put handcuffs on them. Serin came to unlock his handcuffs and whispered,
"My sister is a small woman with purple hair. My brother is a large, bald man. They are quite unique, and I believe you can find them easily."
Sentrie nodded slightly before following Serin. Along the way, he found the two people: the small woman with purple hair and the large, bald man were arguing. Serin gave a small nod, a sign that those were the people. Sentrie walked up to them before whispering next to their ears,
"I'm Sentrie. I'm here to help you. Serin and I came together."
Sentrie spoke softly. The two people showed expressions of surprise and disbelief. They simply walked together until they reached the mess hall.
The dining hall had many people. There were iron tables that looked like they were about to break, worn-out wooden chairs, food trays that didn't look clean, dirty-looking spoons and forks, and food that looked unappetizing. Seeing this, Sentrie didn't eat anything.
He, the small woman with purple hair, and the large bald man sat together. They looked toward Sentrie as if inviting him to sit with them. Sentrie walked over and sat down.
"So, have you finally decided to believe my words?"
Sentrie's words hung in the air, his voice soft, almost a whisper. The two looked at each other and whispered briefly before the large man spoke.
"Alright, I believe you. The guard who looks like my younger sister is watching us."
Sentrie nodded. Getting them to trust him was much easier than he thought.
"And what is my sister's plan?"
Sentrie sighed before saying,
"The plan is quite simple. There is a mine here. We just have to dig from the mine to the outside."
The two talked amongst themselves, and he couldn't hear them, but a small voice reached Sentrie's ear.
"What if someone finds out what we are doing?"
Her voice asked with curiosity. Sentrie smiled slightly.
"I have the power to create illusions or use rocks to cover up what we are digging."
They nodded in understanding. The woman's voice spoke up.
"But I believe people have tried to do this before, but no one has ever succeeded in this prison. There are people with abilities like yours here, people with special powers."
Sentrie nodded in understanding.
"But we need to make a new plan, because this one has quite a few flaws."
Sentrie spoke softly. Both people nodded in understanding. They continued eating their food.
Sentrie tried using his sensory ability. There were a total of 13 people with powers, divided into 3 people in the prison and 10 guards. The 10 guards were divided into 9 zones. They used their powers to control the people in this prison, so no one dared to even think about fighting back.
The 10th person was the warden of this prison. He was likely the strongest person, so Sentrie had to be very careful of him.
As for the other 3 people with powers who were inmates, Sentrie wasn't very concerned, as there was no reason for them to interfere. In fact, they might even cooperate.
But he also heard news that he wasn't very interested in: two people had mysteriously disappeared from this prison. Even though he didn't care much, he asked the two people about it.
"Who were the two people who disappeared, and how did they disappear?"
The two people smiled slightly. The large man spoke up.
"The first one was an old man. He was the one who was in your cell before, but we dealt with him already because he talked about us so loudly without thinking about manners, and he also doubled our workload."
He spoke with a bit of pride and a slight hint of anger. The other woman then spoke up.
"The other person was a woman with white hair and gray eyes. She came here because she killed someone at her wedding. But no one knows the reason for her disappearance, but before she disappeared, she was close to the short purple-haired man who is across from your cell."
She spoke with a little sympathy but didn't care much. Sentrie nodded. It was possible that the man took her away to perform a ritual or absorb her life force. Therefore, he might be someone with an evil power. But Sentrie then thought of something.
"We've been talking for so long, and I still don't know your names. Who are you two?"
The two people nodded and spoke in a whisper.
"I am Albert. I came here because my younger sister, Serin, was being chased for some reason. So I dealt with 3 or 4 of the people who were chasing her, which is how I ended up here. But others understood that I was a soldier and killed people in my own unit, which is why I am being held here."
Albert spoke with anger and sadness. The other woman then spoke up.
"I am Lefia. I came here for a similar reason as Albert, but others understood that I was a thief and accidentally stole from a noble, which is why I was arrested. The reason others understood it that way might be because the people chasing Serin were nobles, and they didn't want the matter of their pursuit to be revealed, so they had to change the story."
Sentrie nodded, and then a voice rang out.
"It's time to work."
He spoke loudly. It was the head guard he had met, the one who oversaw Zone 9, Sentrie's zone. After the voice sounded, individual guards came to put on handcuffs. Serin walked toward him and whispered softly,
"How is it going?"
Sentrie replied softly, almost a whisper,
"Our plan might have flaws. Can you get to the mine?"
She nodded slightly before putting handcuffs on Sentrie. They walked together until bright light shone in his eyes. He was at the foot of a mountain. There was a cave with many ores in front of them.
To his left were equipment for descending into the cave. He saw people grabbing equipment and going down into the cave. He walked to grab the equipment and looked for Albert and Lefia, seeing them standing and waiting at the cave entrance.
They walked down the cave until they reached a depth where no one was present. They quickly rushed to each other with a sense of longing and talked a lot. Sentrie just watched.
On the way, he found a spot that didn't receive much attention and people rarely went to. Furthermore, there were magic ores which might help conceal his own power.
"So, what is our plan after all?"
Lefia asked with a determined voice. As they talked, they discussed the flaws. Serin analyzed and tried to come up with a new plan.
"I still can't really think of one right now."
Serin spoke softly with a feeling of guilt. But she glanced at Sentrie and quietly asked,
"Can you use your power here?"
Sentrie replied,
"I can use it, but the power of teleportation seems not to work."
Serin nodded in understanding.
Just as they were consulting, Sentrie felt a malevolent power. Sentrie pulled them in close before using his defensive ability, and then the malevolent power completely filled the entire cave.