The break time ended.
The slaves returned to work,
and Riley and Ascaron returned to Sector Three,
but this time…
they were no longer just slaves.
They were thinking about escaping.
Between the strikes of pickaxes and the sound of chains, Ascaron drew close to Riley and whispered in a low voice:
Ascaron:
"Every five hours, the guards are rotated…
and during the rotation, Sector Two becomes almost empty."
Riley's heart stopped for a moment.
Riley:
"And this… is our chance?"
Ascaron nodded slowly.
Ascaron:
"Yes… the only chance."
He fell silent for a moment, then added in an even lower voice, as if he feared Hell itself might hear him:
"I once saw someone from the Dragon race try to escape.
He entered a gate in Sector Two…
and at that very moment, an alarm was triggered throughout all of Hell."
Riley swallowed.
Riley:
"What's beyond the gate?"
Ascaron's body suddenly trembled.
His hands shook… and his eyes lost focus.
Riley noticed immediately.
Riley:
"Ascaron…?"
Before he could answer—
Riley felt a terrifying pressure behind him.
He slowly turned.
A Hell Guard.
Standing right behind them.
His aura was suffocating, black, filled with killing intent.
Hell Guard:
"Why have you stopped working, slaves?"
Riley's blood froze in his veins.
As for Ascaron, he tried to speak:
Ascaron:
"We were—"
But his words were cut off by a massive explosion.
BOOOOM!
The entire first floor shook.
A horrifying wave of aura swept through the place.
The Hell Guard shot forward like a black flash and vanished.
Riley and Ascaron fell to their knees.
Ascaron (panting):
"If the Ruler of Hell were here…
we would have died from his aura alone."
He stood up quickly and looked at Riley with sharp eyes.
Ascaron:
"Now…
we need to escape. Immediately."
They rushed through the corridors.
They were running…
but these were not the footsteps of slaves.
They were the footsteps of those seeking freedom.
Ascaron:
"When we reach Sector Two…
be careful.
The slave guards protect the gate directly."
Riley nodded without speaking.
In his mind passed the image of the forest.
Alexeron Forest.
Leaving it… loneliness… pain.
As for Ascaron…
he was thinking of something else.
Where do I go… after all these years?
They arrived.
Sector Two.
Ascaron lowered his voice:
Ascaron:
"From now on… one wrong step means death."
They moved forward slowly…
with extreme caution.
Then—
Ascaron suddenly stopped.
He froze in place.
The gate…
was open.
And it bore traces of an explosion.
Riley (stunned):
"What happened?"
Ascaron did not answer.
He himself did not understand.
They entered.
The sight inside the gate was shocking.
Blood everywhere.
Torn bodies.
The fresh stench of death.
Riley stepped back in fear.
But Ascaron…
his eyes filled with tears.
Ascaron (whispering):
"I have… returned once again."
Riley raised his head.
The inside did not resemble the outside.
A completely white room.
Terrifyingly pure.
And in its center—
a massive gate.
Ascaron:
"At last…
we've arrived."
But—
A harsh voice cut the moment short.
Not one guard.
But twenty.
Hell Guard:
"We've caught escaping slaves."
Riley and Ascaron ran.
They ran like never before.
Freedom was in front of them…
slavery behind them.
Tears poured from their eyes.
And at the final moment—
Ascaron was seized.
Riley screamed and stopped—
Ascaron (shouting):
"Go on, Riley!
Don't stop!"
Riley's heart froze.
Then—
he ran.
Crying.
Remembering the first meeting.
The first kind word.
The first protection.
He entered the gate.
It closed.
The Ruler of Hell appeared.
Furious.
Terrifying.
He looked at Ascaron.
Ruler of Hell:
"Well done, you cursed ruler."
He stepped closer.
Ruler of Hell:
"Are you still thinking of escape?
You sacrificed yourself again and again…
did you gain anything, holy elf?"
Ascaron released a killing aura.
Ascaron:
"I'll kill you."
The Ruler of Hell laughed.
Ruler of Hell:
"I could kill you now…
but the Rulers of the Races forbid me."
He leaned closer and whispered:
"Hell is your home, slave."
Then he turned to the guards:
"Throw him into Sector Four…
with the corpses."
Elsewhere…
Riley opened his eyes.
A cave.
The same cave.
He looked at his right hand…
his left leg…
Both intact.
He burst into tears.
He cried for leaving Hell…
and cried for Ascaron.
Then he turned—
The bones of an old man.
His former body.
He trembled.
He stepped out of the cave.
The sun…
burned his eyes.
He looked into a pool of water.
The face of a young man.
No wounds.
Eighteen years old.
Riley (whispering):
"It's time…
to begin my journey."