556 Soul

Upon reaching the surface, finding it to be at the crack of dawn, Hebi gave one last final reminder before they emerged out of the underground stairs.

"Remember, I can cast and release my fog out to lower their range of vision, but it won't be as powerful as when I cast it underground, as I can't condense it enough to obscure them entirely. And even then, we don't want to, because the dekans will feel it, too much magic and they'll know something's up. Just a little amount, just enough to make it feel and look like a natural morning fog is the best I can do."

Whilst Victor and the templars simply nodded,  as they were the ones who kept hounding her with suggestions and questions regarding her arsenal of abilities, Asai planted a hand upon her shoulder, leaving her with supporting warmth that helped calm her nerves as she was finally seeing the beautiful open sky once more.

Clasping her palms together in prayer, with the natural lingering moisture within Armenes, a kingdom that had rivers, lakes and large bodies of water covering the majority of their land, even Asai and Robin found the newly summoned fog to be believable even whilst watching it appear like magic.

Taking the front, Asai and Robin took over the vanguard as their memories were still fresh enough to recall the lay of the kingdom. Leaving the templars to guard the rear whilst their prince was positioned within the middle alongside Hebi, who was shaking and shivering like a rattle-snake as her nerves continued to violently shake due to overwhelming freedom, or the promise of it.

Heading east, scaling the walls as if they were a shortcut, Asai led by example whilst Robin kept a close eye on the men who were trained for open warfare, and not that of the shadows. Fortunately, the dekans had stripped them of their usual heavy full plate armour sets, leaving them in rags barely identifiable as tunics, and their feet bare, resulting in quiet scampering across the halls and walls.

..

Hours into their escape, the group had easily left the castle grounds itself whilst still stuck traversing the dekan city. Like rats, they remained within the shadows of buildings and infrastructure, abusing the early morning fog to conceal their every movement as they continued on without pause. Believing it to be only a matter of time, Asai de Trichia was absolutely correct as trumpets and horns began to howl, screeching and roaring its signal to all. Like a siren that concurred throughout the city in sequence, the dragonkin were spurred into action as even their woman were marching out of their homes and huts with spears.

Seeing as the others were nervously funnelling their eyes upon him, Asai solidified his heart as he formed up a possible plan.

"Your Highness. Do you trust me?"

Victor nodded in response, deciding not to vocally answer, in case the fright within his voice betrayed him.

Whilst the prince was willing to place his life-savings upon whatever plan or scheme the duke of war may have in mind, Robin was only now becoming greatly unnerved. "S-surely not? No. He wouldn't would he?" 

Continuing to follow the man who slipped, dipped and hid within the shadows, precisely coordinating their movements through alleys, back streets and even traversing through structures, Robin's eyes began to widen as she realised where exactly the man was taking them.

The templars had also realized that their direction was no longer eastwards, but north. Which was literally the opposite direction to homeland. Even with such awareness in mind, the templars remained silent as their prince and lord had already given his word. 

Whilst they were extremely close to recalling the man's prior title, being referred to as a man man, to begin questioning his sanity, the very fact that the patrols, the dekans and warriors were rushing eastwards to catch the escaped prisoners cleared their worries away. Naturally, the dekans would believe the prince and his templars to be running eastwards on foot, which made sense as they would equally think the same, and had been.

..

"Duke, w-wait, really?" "Isn't this taking it too far? I understand that hiding in plain sight works when the enemy thinks we're too busy running, but... This?"

Asai wore a smile, before diving into the dungeon portal, swiftly followed by Robin who didn't even bat an eye towards the templars.

"Your Highness, are we really entering another dungeon!?" Istvan's voice snapped Victor's attention away from the vortex, the void that connected their world to another. "You've received my report, the dungeons in this dekan kingdom are dangerous! These aren't like the ones back home, it's not just kill monster swarms to survive, the dungeons here test us with horrific trials!"

Inhaling a deep breath of fresh air, reaffirming his mind and heart, Victor Del Lagos left one parting advice before marching in.

"Istvan, man up."

Rather than be stuck outside whilst the entire dekan population was swarming the city in a violent hunt for the escaped prisoners, Ian and Hebi also decided it to be safer alongside the duke and prince. Thus, they plunged themselves into the portal with shaky hands, leaving Istvan behind on his lonesome, questioning his luck. Lost in a daze, contemplating life, heavy sounding marching from relatively close by pushed him into action as his legs automatically carried him in.

Barely seconds after the last templar had entered, a hundred dekan knights marched through the area as they continued to hunt, failing to catch sight of the little human footprints due to the fog, whatever traces the humans had left behind were swiftly covered over their own two large feet and dragon tail.

..

During their flight inwards, Asai de Trichia and Robin Sol had caught sight of a few dungeon portals due to their bird's eye view of the landscape. Whilst the underground and indoor dungeons were hidden to them, the wild portals were as clear as day to them, as they'd naturally portray themselves as a vortex of light, a fusion of colours that mixed and clashed infinitely.

Having a few ideas he wanted to test, the man decided it to be best to enter first, prior to attempting his latest card.

Having entered the dungeon, he naturally began to observe and inspect his new environment, in search of any potential hostiles or resources.

"Welcome~ A pleasure to meet you~" Blinking a few times, the man in the top hat readjusted his monocle as he came to a sudden realization. "Ah! That's right, you're no longer capable of inspecting us. Ahem* You may address me as Dolos." Having finished his introduction, Dolos, the god of trickery was full of delight as he was receiving more guests, more players for his fun and games.

Standing within the great cathedral, Dolos patiently watched and helped himself to his latest visitor's thoughts. Heavens represented by crystals that illuminated the great hall, benches decorated with luxuriously red cushions, hundreds of pillars with banners upon them. However, rather than the usual depictions of the heavens and angels, live images were cycling on repeat like short videos. Hundreds of inhuman farms, similar to the one he had destroyed prior.

"Yes, you're correct, you humans refer to this place as headquarters, or as the control room. A place that connects all others like a spider's web, the centre." Perhaps the man with the cane had learnt from his prior fumbling, pots of tea and refreshments popped up before the two men. Suddenly, rays of light fell from the ceiling like beams, within them, the members of his party fell from the skies as they were forcefully seated upon the benches as if glued to them.

"Wait. I didn't come here to conquer your dungeon." Asai's eyes observed his fiancé's expression, seeing as she was fine, he sighed a gentle breath of relief.

"I know~ You wish to cause an artificial dungeon break, to allow the monsters within the dungeon free-reign over Armenes, to wreck havoc in your position and thus grant you and your little group better chances at escaping unnoticed." Enjoying his tea, and gesturing to the man to do the same, Dolos waited for the man's attention to return to him before continuing. "I'll tell you now, it won't work. Even if you do manage to cause a dungeon break by using both that man's and your blood, the goblins within the portal are too weak to even matter.

So here's my suggestion. Let's play a game you and I. A one versus one~ Defeat me, and I will switch the original dungeon out for one filled with beasts that are strong enough to stall them. Do we have a deal?"

Having finished his cup of tea, Asai swiftly refilled his cup as he made his way to Robin. Now being exactly next to her, it was clear to him that the half-elf was under some negative effect, as her usual lustrous golden eyes were now dulled. Gently feeding her the warm liquids as if she were a hospital patient, Asai's heart ached in pain having to see her in such a state.

"Relax~ They're basically asleep, once we're done with our game, they'll be back to normal. Trust me."

Emptying the cup, Asai shifted her position into one that afforded greater comfort, laying her down upon the cushions and leaving a kiss upon her forehead, he finally gave Dolos his full attention.

"What kind of game are you thinking of?"

A wicked grew stretched, saliva dripped, his fingers buzzed in excitement as his brain cycled through the games he had in mind.

"Human, just an FYI. This realm doesn't belong to me, it actually belongs to my neighbour... Who's a tad bit too lazy. I'm only here to look after his interests, as such, it's going to cost me quite dearly to change the dungeon around~"

"Get to the point Dolos."

"Since it will cost me more, naturally, you must also place something on the line~" He pointed with his golden cane, at none other than Robin Sol. "If you lose, I want her. Forever."