The end of the novel.
Just kidding. Our MC wonât die so easily.
After a dozen minutes, the earth split apart. Large vines pushed the earth away and exposed Lawrend and Ember. Valentina stood before them and controlled the vines.
A bright flame floated on Emberâs hand and lit up the darkness.
Lawrend helped Valentina by controlling the earth. It wasnât as strong as an Earth Mageâs control over the earth, but he could still ease the burden on her.
âHeâs lucky we are underground. I wouldâve killed him with my leftover Heaven Mage energy,â Valentina said angrily.
She used some of her leftover Heaven Mage energy to cover them with powerful plant vines. Her control over them was so excellent that not a tiny bit of plant mana leaked out.
She knew fighting him down here would be a death wish, so she restrained herself. She also saved Kenova, albeit somewhat unwilling. She didnât want to spend more of her energy to save him.
âOpen the path towards Kenova,â Lawrend ordered.
The vines grew, and a passageway split open. It revealed the unconscious Kenova, who was barely hanging on. A single large vine was keeping him from getting crushed to death.
Lawrend exuded a gentle light, and he grabbed Kenovaâs shoulder. His bruises and broken bones healed in the blink of an eye.
âH-huh?â
Kenova opened his eyes and saw Lawrendâs dark face blocking Emberâs fire.
âA-ahh!â
Kenova sat up and crawled away from him.
âWhy are you scared? Come. Letâs go,â Lawrend said.
He stood up and headed in a particular direction with Valentina and Ember.
âIf you keep staring, my vines will not be able to support the earth above you anymore,â Valentina muttered as she followed behind Lawrend.
Kenova regained his wits and stood up to follow after them. The vines behind him pulled out, and the earth fell down. It would have surely crushed him if he stayed there.
He felt chills run down his spine and kept himself close to them.
Valentina controlled her vines and separated the earth to form a tunnel through the prison.
Ember was still worried. She looked at his face and saw that he was still calm. She furrowed her eyebrows and became confused.
How could he stay calm when they were so deep underground?
They walked for several minutes. Suddenly, the path ahead opened up and revealed an undamaged tunnel hallway. The old man was waiting for them, with Von standing beside him.
âYour Majesty,â Von greeted and bowed.
Ember widened her eyes and became astounded. She looked at Lawrend again and realized everything had been in the grasp of his palms.
Earlier, the old man ran here and severed the connection of the formation. It allowed this part of the prison to survive without being affected by the collapse.
âMm. How did it happen?â Lawrend asked, still calm as before as if he expected this.
âThe envoy from the Blumin Empire bribed some of the influential noble clans in the city and convinced them to gather support from the other nobles. It was a positive feedback loop. The more nobles supported them, the less the remaining neutral nobles could stay neutral.
âEverything finally fell last night. The Merchant Guild had always been a sore in the nobleâs eyes as we control a lot of power in this city. They sneaked in with the envoy leading them and ousted us from control.
âWe couldnât struggle. My old man here got cursed. He became a puppet to them. They will declare this city to be a part of the Blumin Empire next week,â Von explained clearly.
Lawrend listened silently and sighed. The nobles in this city were weak kids before the behemoth known as the Merchant Guild. They couldnât expand unless they got rid of this behemoth.
It made sense they would gain courage after getting the backing of the Blumin Empire. After all, being a part of an empire only brought more benefits compared to staying as part of a kingdom.
âI apologize, Your Majesty. I could only obey their commands,â the old man said and bowed deeply.
âItâs fine. I knew you were under their control when I first saw you.â
âThank you for your grace, Your Majesty! May you live forever!â the old man shouted.
âLetâs go back. I want to see what that clown would do once he realized Iâm still alive,â Lawrend said and smirked evilly.
Ember and Valentina felt a shudder in their spines when they both saw his smile. It was the smile of death.
Kenovaâs knees went weak. He thanked himself he had eyes and became her highnessâ subordinate. [AN: Humilityâs]
Valentina nodded her head.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
A small platform lifted them up, and she split the earth above them using her vines. They kept going up and up and up for almost half an hour.
âFinally. This hard earth was hard to break through,â Valentina muttered.
The blue skies were revealed, with one last vine pushing away the earth above them.
âNice, fresh air.â
Lawrend took a deep breath and smiled. He flew up and headed to the city in the distance.
Ember carried Kenova and Von by grasping the back of their clothes. Valentina wrapped some vines on the old man and carried him as she also flew.
They arrived at the city a minute later.
Lawrend and his group flew over the city walls.
Contrary to their expectation, the city was silent. There were mages from the army every street or so.
âYour Majesty!â
A person noticed them from afar. It was none other than Otor. He hastily flew towards them.
âHow are things?â Lawrend asked.
âYour Majesty, we mobilized into the city when we realized you didnât show up on schedule. That was when we found out that the Blumin Empireâs envoy led you to a trap,â Otor answered.
âWhere is he?â
âWe have him captured, Your Majesty.â
âHahahaha! Excellent. I want to see the look on his face when he sees that Iâm still alive,â Lawrend laughed.