Kaydan and Calverd never expected that their footsteps, which had just tasted the air of freedom, would be forcefully halted by a large-scale encirclement.
In the vast palace courtyard illuminated by the dim moonlight, dozens of soldiers of various ranks had tightly surrounded the access building leading to the underground prison. There was no longer any path of hope behind them, and the way forward was tightly sealed by an enemy defensive wall.
Desperate whispers and panic began to echo, spreading among the crowd of newly freed prisoners. Their legs, which had previously been running with fierce determination, now trembled violently when faced with the reality that their escape might end here as a one-sided massacre.
However, at the very front lines, a completely different atmosphere radiated strongly.
Kaydan, whose heart was already filled with a resolute determination to quickly return to living happily with his husband, and Calverd, whose desire for true freedom was burning brightly, did not flinch in the slightest. The two of them glared sharply at the ranks of soldiers encircling them.
Not a single trace of hesitation or fear emanated from the gazes of the two youths. They stood tall, ready to face death in order to break through the barricade.
Suddenly, the sound of very heavy footsteps was heard, causing the tight formation of soldiers at the front to slowly part and make way.
A very tall and burly man, wearing black armor adorned with terrifying ornaments, stepped forward from behind the ranks of soldiers. His face was covered in battle scars, exuding an incredibly thick aura of intimidation.
"All of you... have truly disturbed my precious resting hours just because of this garbage commotion!" the soldier said in a cold tone that echoed throughout the courtyard.
He continued to walk casually, dragging his greatsword across the ground until he arrived at the very front line, standing face-to-face with Kaydan and Calverd. "How many of my subordinates have you killed in there, hm?"
That man was Balden Slawar, an elite troop commander of the Victoriaz Kingdom renowned for his cruelty on the battlefield.
There was not a single one among all the fleeing prisoners who did not recognize the name and bloodthirsty reputation of Balden Slawar. The prisoners' faces instantly turned pale. They became increasingly terrified and plunged into despair with the arrival of one of the strongest commanders in the Victoriaz Kingdom.
Everyone was intimidated, except for Kaydan and Calverd.
Feeling ignored, Balden glared sharply at Kaydan, who had been staring back at him all along with a challenging and deadly gaze without blinking in the slightest.
"Ho..." the commander uttered, the corner of his lips pulling into a condescending smirk, as if slightly surprised but mostly amused. "How interesting! A lowly slave like you dares to look directly into the eyes of a commander of this kingdom's army without bowing?"
The burly man then tapped his forehead lightly in a theatrical manner, pretending to just remember a piece of information. "Ah... forgive me, I almost forgot that your slave tattoo has mysteriously vanished. No wonder you have excessive guts and dare to challenge this kingdom. Do you think you are already free just because that tattoo is gone?"
Hearing the commander's words, Calverd instantly turned his head and stared at the side of Kaydan's face with a shocked expression.
The indigo-haired youth's eyes widened slightly. He truly never expected that the spouse of the invisible man was actually a former slave.
That fact genuinely shocked him.
But a second later, Calverd shook his head vigorously. He immediately cast aside his shock and refocused his mind. He remembered his mission and the man's promise. They had to survive and escape to the border forest located outside the capital. Kaydan's past was not important right now.
"I have no free time to entertain your nonsense!" Kaydan retorted in a cold and sharp voice, completely unprovoked by the commander's cheap taunts, not wanting to waste much time.
"Hahaha!" Balden burst into hearty laughter, his rather loud and echoing voice belittling Kaydan's words. "Yes, you indeed have no more time, boy! Because tonight, this courtyard will become the final resting place for all of you!"
Kaydan did not reply again. He let his magic do the talking.
The gray-haired youth immediately raised his hand forward, using a combination of his sand and gravity magic to launch a large-scale preemptive strike.
Shhhk!
Hundreds of sand bullets with an incredibly heavy gravitational mass shot out in unison at lightning speed, aiming straight to obliterate the arrogant commander's body.
However, right before the sandstorm hit him...
Whoosh!
Balden's figure vanished from where he stood in the blink of an eye. The speed of his wind magic, supported by high-level physical enhancement, enabled him to evade the rapid-fire attack.
As a result, the sands wrapped in deadly gravity magic continued to shoot straight ahead without obstruction, slamming directly into the ranks of soldiers who had previously stood in neat formation behind their commander.
"Aaahhh...!!!"
A barrage of piercingly loud screams of agony instantly shattered the night. Kaydan's steel-hard sand magic continued to tear through, ripping apart armor and penetrating the soldiers' bodies as if they were made of thin paper.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
One by one, the bodies of the unfortunate soldiers collapsed onto the grass of the palace courtyard. Blood instantly pooled from their bodies, which were now riddled with horrifying small holes caused by thousands of high-speed sand grains that had struck and pierced their vital organs.
That attack managed to wipe out dozens of soldiers in a matter of seconds.
However, before Kaydan even had a chance to draw a breath, Balden, who had previously disappeared, was now shockingly standing right in front of him.
A feral smirk was painted on the commander's face as he raised his greatsword high, swinging it with full force, preparing to cleave the gray-haired youth's body.
Kaydan widened his eyes. The time was too short for him to form a sand shield.
Seeing the highly critical and dangerous situation, Calverd reacted as fast as lightning. He immediately extended his hand and focused his telekinesis magic on Kaydan's body.
With one powerful jerk, Calverd displaced and pulled the gray-haired youth's body back several meters.
Shiingg...
The slash of Balden's sword only cleaved the empty air, mere centimeters away from Kaydan's previous body position.
The impact of its residual energy split the rocky ground in the courtyard until it cracked.
Kaydan survived the powerful slash thanks to the forceful pull of telekinesis magic. He realized how responsive and accurate Calverd's telekinesis magic truly was.
"Thank you so much!" Kaydan said with a slight pant, feeling indebted for his life.
"Stay focus!" Calverd exclaimed, warning him with a sharp tone, not wanting the youth to let his guard down. His eyes kept tracking Balden's movements. "That burly man is an army commander! His speed is illogical for a body size that big. There is not a single second for us to be careless!"
"Yes, you're right!" Kaydan replied, his eyes sharpening again. He refocused his mana, preparing to welcome the commander's next attack with Calverd's defensive coordination.
Behind the two of them, dozens of other prisoners who were initially stricken with despair now fell silent.
They witnessed with their own eyes how the two youths on the front lines not only dared to fight back but also managed to evade the commander's deadly attack and even flattened a dozen elite soldiers with just one combined strike.
Kaydan and Calverd's bravery was like a spark over a puddle of oil.
The fear that had once taken root in the prisoners' hearts slowly evaporated, replaced by a surge of adrenaline and a burning euphoria of anger.
"Even the two of them dare to fight back! Why should we stay quiet waiting to die?!" shouted a prisoner holding a stolen sword.
"Yes! Let's attack those bastard soldiers! Destroy them all!" another chimed in.
Hearing the spirited calls of resistance, the remaining fear within every prisoner was utterly crushed. With a haphazard formation yet driven by incredibly deep vengeance, everyone immediately surged forward, charging at the remaining ranks of soldiers while screaming their battle cries.
Boom!
Several prisoners used fire element magic to launch long-range fireball attacks that shattered the formation of the guarding soldiers. The blinding light of the flames instantly illuminated the dark palace courtyard.
The prisoners who were not adept at magic did not hesitate to run and pick up swords, spears, and shields from the dead soldiers lying on the ground due to Kaydan's earlier sand attack.
In just a short amount of time, a deadly, small-scale war had truly broken out in the courtyard of the Victoriaz Kingdom's palace.
The clanging sounds of metal swords and spears clashing against one another, the spirited shouts mingling with screams of agony, and the booming explosions from various magic elements were now echoing back and forth.
The fierce battle fought for freedom continued to echo endlessly amidst the previously silent night atmosphere.