Chapter 224: Escape
Lindwurm started recounting. "After you passed out, that jerk immediately brought you to his car and left through the normal exit. He drove outside and changed cars after tying you up.
"Then, he drove outside the city. Apparently, there was an accomplice among the city guards. I could point them out once you are safe.
"Anyway, that jerk drove deep into the wilderness. It was a 50-minute drive before they reached an abandoned neighborhood. There were a lot of beasts around, but it looked like he had already secured a path from the start, or the beasts had been thinned out periodically.
"Either way, you’re currently inside a basement. This is not an ordinary basement. It seems to be made of one-meter-thick steel. In addition, it is quite spacious. You’re locked in the middle of the basement. If you use your Void Step to get outside this room, you will be surrounded by at least two dozen men.
"If you go upstairs and exit the house, the beasts will most likely notice you. So, it will be quite reckless to challenge them. In this house, aside from that jerk, the dark element user is also a rank 4. The rest of them are rank 3. It’s clearly a high-level safe house. They might have been preparing to kidnap you from the start.
"That’s how you ended up in this room."
Auric’s silence was misunderstood by Ellia. She asked, "What should we do now? Auric? Can you hear me?"
"I can hear you. Give me a few more minutes. I’m trying to gather information from our surroundings."
"Sorry." Ellia apologized and shut her mouth.
’Do you know who they are?’ Auric asked.
"Yes. They belong to the same organization behind that poison. Apparently, that jerk was a part of them, not someone who got threatened by them.
"Your partnership wasn’t a coincidence because of your skill. He wanted you to lower your guard. He must have thought you were nothing but a clueless student and planned to keep you by his side by using that research as an excuse.
"Then, once you lowered your guard, he would kidnap you. In reality, you managed to solve the research, so he used that opportunity to make you trust him... to make us trust him.
"It looked like the director he mentioned previously took a liking to you. They were debating whether they should just do whatever they wanted with Ellia or not. Ultimately, it was decided that they intended to use her as a hostage, not against the Astler family, but against you.
"You had shown that you were helping her, so they intended to use her to control you. It looked like you were useful to them. I couldn’t figure out why."
Auric contemplated. He never thought that the situation was like this. He didn’t know about the director, but it looked like this director was a high-ranking member of the organization.
In addition, this organization was so terrifying that even a professor from Kallarnos University was their minion.
Auric understood the general situation. It looked like escaping would be hard. Even if they used their Void Step, the enemies were much stronger than them.
Professor Schad could take out Ellia in an instant, so it was clear that their ability wouldn’t be that effective against them.
Still, running away was necessary.
’Since we have been kidnapped, they must have arranged a transport, right?’
"Yes. The transport will come in ten hours. They’re using everything they have to ensure that you get transported, and it won’t be the usual channel. They intend to use the wilderness as their cover."
Auric thought for a moment. ’This is a difficult situation. The only way to escape from this place is by using Void Step, right?’
"Indeed. However, they will catch you and rough you up. In fact, judging from the situation, they’re waiting for you to make your escape. This will show that you somehow recovered from your condition."
Auric had a hard time figuring out a way to escape. But they couldn’t exactly waste their time here.
Auric tried to search for his phone. ’Where is my phone?’
"It fell off after that jerk slammed you into the wall."
That smartphone was quite important, considering his identity as Sunlight might be exposed.
However, it might be better that it fell off that way. At the very least, this organization wouldn’t be able to check his phone.
’We can’t contact anyone then. So, no reinforcement.’
"Ellia should have her phone."
’Ah, right? Ellia should have stored her phone in her storage.’
"The problem is escaping from this place first. The moment she takes out her phone, the light will be noticeable and the enemy will notice it."
’I see. It’s necessary to run first.’
"Unfortunately, I can’t think of a solution to this situation."
Auric was listing out all his battle techniques as well as his elements, trying to figure out what combination he could use in this situation.
It was definitely a dire situation, but he felt that there was a combination that would allow them to escape.
’First of all, I want to confirm a few things. If everything lines up, I might be able to form an escape plan. Do you have any other information about them? Do they have any documents that could serve as evidence?’
"Are you still trying to prioritize searching for evidence? You should focus on escaping."
’I’m just asking. I will tell you about my plan later, and you’re free to object to it.’
Lindwurm gritted his teeth. "Well, you can find the evidence in the safe deposit box upstairs."
’What is Schad doing?’
"Nothing. He’s waiting for the transport to arrive."
’Do you remember the way we came here?’
"I do." Lindwurm was confused why Auric was asking all this, but Auric simply continued, ’Can you find another place where there are not many beasts so that we won’t alert them?’
"Give me a second." Lindwurm flew up to the very limit, trying to see the surrounding area. After a minute, Lindwurm returned to Auric and said, "I saw two, but it was only limited to a hundred meters. I couldn’t predict what would happen next."
’In that case, can you help me find our way after we reach that position?’
"It should be possible, just like how we used to."
’Last but not least, can you erase our presence in this place by using the store?’
"I can." It was an easy answer. He never stopped Auric when he suggested a hidden room in his store. That was because he was confident in erasing his presence when it was necessary.
This way, the enemy wouldn’t be able to find them.
Auric understood everything. This time, he whispered to Ellia. "Do you have your smartphone in your storage?"
Ellia was startled. It had been a while since Auric had fallen silent. Still, she couldn’t figure out the situation, so she decided to entrust this matter to Auric.
"I do."
"Don’t take it out yet. We’ll use it to call my phone. It fell out of my pocket earlier, so the police or someone else should have picked it up. We’ll call for reinforcement."
"Understood. What’s the plan?"
This time, the message was for both Ellia and Auric.
"I have a plan, but I need your full trust. If we fail, something worse might happen."
Ellia smiled. "Nothing worse than this can happen. Anyone who has gone outside the city needs to prepare themselves to die. You’ve done a lot for me, so the least I can do is to trust you completely."
"Thank you." Auric took a deep breath. "This is my plan..."
Auric explained everything to Ellia. Lindwurm, of course, heard it as well. He calculated whether his plan could work or not.
It turned out that Auric surprised him once more. The way he used his ability was completely different from what Lindwurm had in mind.
But his plan might work.
Ellia also agreed to the plan. It might sound ridiculous, but if Auric could provide everything as he claimed, this plan was reasonable.
Since Ellia and Lindwurm had agreed to the plan, Auric said, "Let’s begin."
...
On the first floor, a guy put on his sleeping mask. "Anyway, you guys watch him. I’m going to take a nap. We still need to wait another eight hours after all."
"You should wake up. What if they’re attempting to escape?"
"Escape? From here? I know they’re strong. They might be able to escape if there are only three to four people like us. However, it will be different since there are twenty-two people with adult-form avatars. We even have two people with mature-form avatars."
"Don’t let your guard down. The boss wants us to ensure that they don’t escape, especially that Auric Elfe."
"That guy is quite famous right now, isn’t he?"
"What are they planning to do with him?"
"Dunno. Don’t ask."
"Well..."
Suddenly, they noticed an energy fluctuation.
"!!!" All of them looked up. They heard a sound on the rooftop as if someone had just stepped on their roof tiles.
Then, that person leaped away.
Roar!
Roar!
Two beasts seemed to notice them.
One of them also saw two people running toward the neighborhood.
"It’s time! Rough ’em up." They couldn’t help but smile.
They rushed outside.
"Just beat them up to the point where they can’t do anything!"
"Half-dead should be fine. Just ask someone to heal them later."
"Go!"
They rushed outside and found two people running. They were wearing similar clothes to those of Ellia and Auric, but they were much more covered. The only thing the others could see was their clothes.
The two figures rushed away, trying to use the building to lose them.
"They’re escaping!"
"!!!"
Professor Schad immediately stood up and took a look out of the window. He saw two silhouettes escaping.
Without hesitation, Professor Schad opened the window and joined the chase.
As soon as he landed outside, another figure appeared.
"You’re going as well?"
"It can’t be helped." Professor Schad nodded. "The director has put an emphasis on Auric Elfe. Ellia Stroph Astler might be the key to controlling him. So, they can’t be allowed to escape even if I have to work myself to the bone."
The middle-aged man nodded.
They leaped into the air while the others were chasing from the ground.
"There they are!" Professor Schad locked on to Auric and Ellia.
As if noticing Professor Schad, Auric and Ellia shifted their direction and broke through the window, trying to hide inside a building.
The rest of the team was rushing into the building, but they suddenly noticed something.
"What?"
"They’re not here?"
"!!!" Professor Schad raised his eyebrows. "Don’t underestimate Ellia Stroph Astler. That girl has a space element. They might be using this house as a cover to teleport. Split up! If they think that this neighborhood is enough to hide from us, they’re wrong."
They nodded and immediately dispersed, searching for every single house.
Unbeknownst to them, Auric and Ellia had just teleported themselves to Professor Schad’s room.
"There it is. The safe deposit box. Store everything, and we’ll bail out immediately," said Auric while using his ’Edict’ to activate the enhanced version of Void Step.
Ellia nodded and stored everything she could. She couldn’t help but recall what Auric had said earlier.
...
A few minutes ago.
Auric smiled. "It’s fortunate that I’m a bit obsessed with clone techniques to help me escape. To think that I would end up relying on them."
That was right. Auric had Night Silhouette and Shadow Clones. He carefully controlled his power to the minimum so that the enemy wouldn’t notice.
"Ellia, put your clothes on that clone." They couldn’t see each other anyway, so it was fine for them to strip and let the clones take their clothes. "Make sure they don’t have anything that shows they’re clones."
Ellia took out a few more clothes so that the entire body was covered.
"We will use Void Step, not on us, but on these two clones at the same time. Send them up and I’ll make them run away. Hide inside a house and then disappear." Auric added inwardly, ’Also, Lindwurm. Tell us if the people here are completely gone. If they’re gone, we can snatch the evidence. If they’re not, I will use my power to teleport us far away immediately.’
