While deep in thought, Auran drew a mystic symbol in the air using the electric current flowing from the rope-like object in his hand. The object was actually a Tentagun block, reshaped to stretch like a rope. On one end, he had modified it to connect with the necklace, while on the other, he made it capable of leaving a trail of electricity in the air. All of this knowledge had come from the past, granted to him by his new ability—which he still hadn't named.
As the rune spell completed its formation in the air, Auran's eyes lit up. The neck-mana suppressor showed a reaction: the concentrated mana that had been blocking the mana veins in his body began to shift, redirecting itself toward the newly emerged massive mana sensitivity source. As a result, however, even the mana that had been keeping the two circles inside his head intact began to drain, causing immense pain to surge through Auran's skull.
All the mana being drawn out funneled into the necksuppressor, then guided through the Tentagun, as if it were obeying a silent command.
Clink!
Suddenly, a sound echoed from the door. From the other side, Auran heard the voices of several approaching officers.
"Argh!"
Enduring the overwhelming pain, Auran gritted his teeth until the last bit of concentrated mana had drained from his body.
Clink!
The door to the room opened, and a few officers stepped inside. Seeing Auran standing in a strange pose, with what looked like a spell being cast in the air, they froze in confusion.
"What the...?" one of them muttered, but then instinct took over, and they rushed toward Auran.
At that very moment, the final stream of concentrated mana left his body. Auran dropped the Tentagun rope and leapt backward, his hand moving swiftly through the air.
"{Release: Time Vault!}"
His own mana surged through his body. The circle of space—drawn in the air—suddenly activated. A blade of time erupted from within, slicing cleanly through the first, second, and third officers who had charged in. The last officer was left behind, soaked in the rain of blood that now painted the walls.
"Argh!"
Seeing the blood, the officer's first reaction was to scream, and then fear completely overwhelmed him. He was just a lowly officer—not nearly strong enough to deal with a magician. Turning around, he tried to flee, but only managed a few steps before a blade slid across his neck, and he collapsed to the ground.
"That was close... if not for the blade of time stored in the Time Vault, everything could have ended there," Auran sighed.
The Vault of Time was the third spell he had learned. It had the capability to store any basic spell within its body, allowing Auran to instantly cast it later. More importantly, it didn't carry the same casting delay as some of his other spells. Since casting this spell opened a space portal to draw time mana, Auran could also use that mana to cast other time-based spells—cutting their cast time in half. That was the very reason he had been able to cast another Time Blade fast enough to stop the fleeing officer.
Thump!
Thump!
Stepping past the pool of blood and the dead bodies, Auran exited the room, leaving behind bloody footprints on the floor.
"Now to escape from this damn prison."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In Section Two of the mining area, three individuals—Henry, Marina, and Nimuk—stood silently, gazing toward the far-off headquarters of the prison, visible in the distance.
"They just took him like that, and there hasn't been any news about him until now... Do you think something has gone wrong?" asked Marina.
"What if they put him into another jail?" added Nimuk.
"I don't think that's the case, because I don't see any reason for that to happen," muttered Henry while looking at Marina.
"Has anything like this ever happened in the past?" he asked.
At his question, Marina fell into thought.
"There were some occasions where prisoners got terribly sick and had to be removed from prison before infecting others. As a matter of fact, the prison cell you two are in now is the same one that had one of those prisoners who got sick and was taken away," she answered.
But then, another voice interrupted—not from her, but from behind them.
"True, but that's not the reason for the last few days."
The three of them turned to the source of the voice and saw someone they recognized.
"Octo?! What do you mean by 'the last few days'?" Marina asked.
"It started after those two brats arrived," Octo began. "From time to time, officers would come and drag out prisoners from Cell One. Although most of these cases weren't noticed by anyone—since Cell One was more peaceful compared to the others, and almost all the prisoners there just worked instead of caring about others—I still managed to spot those bastards' movements." Octo said, proud of his observation.
"Do you know where they were taken or what happened to them?" asked Nimuk.
"Nope. Not a clue. But one thing I'm sure of—none of them ever returned back to the section one."
Hearing Octo's response, the three individuals looked at each other with growing dread.
"Should we barge in and drag him out?" Marina said arrogantly.
However, Henry waved his hand.
"Calm down. We shouldn't jump to conclusions without any real clues. I'm sure Auran is fine. He's Auran, after all."
Boom!
Suddenly, a loud explosion echoed from the direction of the prison's headquarters, and when they turned toward it, they saw a column of smoke rising into the sky, touching the clouds.
"What's going on there?"