Chapter 362


    CHAPTER 362


    PRISON BREAK (I)


    Three Goddesses -- that’s who he gazed at inside a small, damp cave . There they stood, beneath a dim light, their visages ethereal, otherworldly . He couldn’t understand, couldn’t even begin to fathom where they came from, or why, or even the simple how . He could but sit and stare, woeful in his silence . His mind still believed it to be a dream, or perhaps a sh of joy before he’d finally depart, yet, in his heart, he had hoped it was real, that it was happening, even if it be thest day of his life .


    Tensions within the cave were so high, Lucky mused inwardly, that they could practically be cut with a knife . Alison stared at Hannah frigidly while thetter stared back bitterly and apologetically . No one spoke; the two of them mostly trying to contain their emotions, while Lucky merely wanted to find out how long could they keep this up before boiling over . She wagered if it were up to Hannah this could go on probably until the end of time, though Alison was another story entirely . She was proven right shortly after, as Alison was the first one to crack and speak .


    "You certainly always knew a way to weasel yourself into things," Alison said, scoffing coldly . "I’d only imagined you had a shred of dignity left . . . I guess you don’t . "


    " . . . I don’t think I ever had all that much dignity," Hannah said, sitting down and cracking a faint smile . "It’s too exhausting . "


    "You have nestled yourself finely, though," Alison smirked . "Protected by both the Empyrean and the Sword Maiden; you must be over the stars . "


    "I really am," Hannah still retained her smile . "What about you? Who’s your friend?"


    " . . . Lucky," picking up on the cue, Lucky waltzed over and shook Hannah’s hand with a contemptuous smile . "I can’t believe there’s a whore out there who could make Ally angry . You must have done some batshit insane stuff . I don’t like you . "


    " . . . . " Hannah’s eyebrows twitched angrily for a moment as she shot a re at Lucky who merely stepped back with a grin on her face . "Another foul-mouthed moron? Ally, Ally . . . wasn’t I a proper lesson? Don’t make friends with two-faced idiots . That tale never ends well . "


    "Two-faced?" corners of Lucky’s lips twitched as she fired back without giving Alison a chance to speak . "If you mean loving and understanding, then I certainly have two faces . . . unlike you, vile-shriveled cunt . "


    "At the very least," Hannah fired back immediately . "My shriveled up cunt hasn’t been seen already by half a world . "


    "Because the half that had seen it had died from sorrows . "


    "Oh my, I did not know I had such power; perhaps I should sh it to you so you can finally die . "


    "If it would mean finally never needing to see your wretched face, dly . Go on, lift that skirt and show us what you got . "


    "Rather than angry, you sound quite horny . Could it be this is ye old child’s ploy -- those who fight love? Ah, I’m sorry, I am a woman taken; look elsewhere . Perhaps thatd crouching there . He seems like he’d be your type -- a breath away from death . "


    " . . . . " Alison stared in wonder, fear, and absolute embarrassment as words and sentences she never imagined leaving even the vilest of mouths were spewed out of two beautiful, graceful women . She had read horror stories before, and even enjoyed some of them, and had heard many-a-man curse and spew filth in taverns . . . but nothing, allbined, ever came close to what she had heard today .


    By the end, she had begun shaking, tears forming up at the corners of her eyes . It was only then that Lucky and Hannah realized something was wrong and stopped; reflecting, they figured they may have gone slightly overboard with their y . Though the two of them might have enjoyed it, Alison certainly did not .


    " . . . you alright?" Lucky asked Alison who quickly backed into the corner, away from her .


    "S-sister Lucky . . . I . . . I . . . "


    "Ah, I know; I’m sorry, alright? It’s just that seeing that face woke something very ugly inside of me . "


    "Inside of you?" Hannah chuckled . "That’s adorable . "


    "Hey, shut it," Lucky growled . "Can’t you see we’ve already scarred her more than anything has before in her life . Do you really want to continue?!"


    "No, you’re right," Hannah sighed, smiling apologetically at Alison . "Don’t worry . We’ll stop, alright?"


    " . . . h-how . . . how can you say all those things . . . think those things . . . aaah . . . "


    "It’s because we’re terrible people," Lucky replied, shrugging and sitting down, whipping out a bottle of wine . "As simple as that . "


    " . . . you barely know me," Hannah nced at Lucky, smiling wryly . "How do you know if I’m terrible?"


    " . . . really? Like, really?"


    "Yeah, alright . "


    "Uhm . . . " Alison seemed to have slightly recovered for the time being, taking a deep breath . "L-let’s just . . . let’sy out a n properly, now that Hannah’s arrived . "


    "Sure . " Lucky and Hannah nodded as thetter turned toward the man in the corner and hollered at him . "Get your skinny ass over here . We need your help . "


    "Hey! Be gentle with him!" Alison growled, walking over and helping the man stand up, pulling him over gently and sitting him next to her, never letting go of his arm . "You really haven’t changed one bit!"


    "She was always like this?" Lucky quickly chimed in . "Why were you friends with her in the first ce?"


    " . . . should you really be asking that question?" Alison fired back at her with a faint frown and a pout, causing Lucky to chuckle .


    "Alright, enough of the nonsense," Hannah said, taking out a bottle of wine as she realized Lucky wasn’t going to offer her own . "E gave me the most urate map of the ce she could find," she added, taking out a medium-sized parchment with fairly few explicit drawings . "As you can see, it sucks and tells us nothing . The best I could read is that the Submerged area is somewhere around the eastern part and that it’s most-likely heavily guarded . "


    "I could easily go over and sneak in," Lucky added . "But that’s about as much as you’re gonna get from me . I caught a glimpse of a few beasts and guards, and they’d all wipe the floor with my skinny ass in no time . "


    "L---uh, the Empyrean had given me these," Hannah took out a few, strange-looking talismans that neither Lucky nor Alison recognized . "These are like ordinarymunication talismans . . . except forged through Magic, meaning that nobody here should be able to detect them . This vile creature will sneak in first and use the talisman to describe the general outlook, and then we’ll see . "


    "What happens if I get caught?" Lucky asked .


    "You’re on your own then . "


    "No, she’s not!" Alison eximed, growling at Hannah . "We’re not separating! This ce is too dangerous, and if we get caught, we can’t count on external help! Very few powers are willing to offend this ce!"


    " . . . fine," Hannah sighed, relenting in the end . "That will mean, however, making this far more difficult of a journey . "


    "Can either one of you two inform me what . . . exactly are we supposed to do?" Lucky suddenly asked . "I mean, I know we’re after the Cult members, but . . . what when we find them? Do we kill them? Kidnap them? Follow them around and spy on them? What exactly is the goal here?"


    "Eeerh . . . . "


    "Seriously?!" Lucky eximed as both Alison and Hannah went mum . "Ugh, no wonder you two are friends . You are both idiots . "


    "Were friends!" Alison quickly corrected .


    "Yeah, yeah, that’s why your eyes lit up like fucking stars when you saw her," Lucky said . "Because you were friends and now you absolutely hate her . Geez, you’re many things Ally, but a good actor ain’t one of them . "


    "S-sister Lucky!!"


    "Kidnap them?" Hannah proposed .


    "Yeah, gun straight for the most difficult one," Lucky sighed, realizing that it was probably the salvation of the entire mission that she had tagged along . "We have two options: make this a short-term or a long-term assignment . If we make it short-term, I’ll sneak one of you into their area and we’ll grab two of them and bolt out . The third one will be in charge of cover-fire, and we’ll no doubt rock the entire world with a fight . If we settle on the long-term one, we’ll set up a set of bases and merely keep an eye out on them for the first few weeks, jotting down their patterns: guard rotations, cycles, strengths, weaknesses, potential gaps, that sort of a thing . Hopefully, this will reveal some sort of a hole on their defenses that we can exploit . "


    "I-I know some . . . some good blind spots . . . for . . . for guards . . . " the man who had remained silent so far suddenly spoke out; he didn’t care anymore whether it was a dream or reality . Whichever it may be, he felt his heart start for the first time in eons . It was a feeling he wished to hold onto for as long as possible .


    "You do?" Lucky, Alison and Hannah asked uniformly, ncing at him .


    "Y-yes," the man replied hoarsely, nodding . "T-their defenses are especially l-loose in-between the boundaries . . . S-submerged Quarter, uh, borders Hanging Chains and Gardens o-of Nightmares . . . t-the borders are loosely d-defined, and g-guards are careful n-not to cross into a-another territory . . . so they al-always make extra space . . . t-that can be used t-to find a good ce f-for a base . . . "


    "Well, what do you know," Lucky cracked a grin, patting the man’s head . "You just might be very useful!"


    "Hey! He’s not a tool!" Alison quickly reprimanded, swatting Lucky’s arm away . "Thank you," she turned toward the man and smiled warmly . "If what you say is true, it will be extremely helpful to us . When we are done . . . I promise to take you out of this ce with us and give you a proper life that you can enjoy . I promise . . . " Hannah and Lucky remained silent, holding back on the sighs; they pondered deeply, just how much will Alison be able to endure this ce before breaking down at her seams .