"I guess you could say that," Renee said while scratching the back of her head.
"Whoa" Adriana gave Renee another glace of admiration before finally dropping down in the passageway.
"Come on. We still have a distance to walk. Hopefully, the guards are gone," Adriana said once she dropped down.
Renee slowly nodded her head and also jumped down, the fire dancing on her palms illuminated the narrow and dark passageway.
The air was humid, and everything felt damp, causing Renee to shiver in displeasure. She glanced at the little girl that walked through the narrow hallway without a change in her expression.
"Have you grown used to this?" Renee asked, somewhat sadly.
"I have practically lived here since I was a child… the madam of this household hated viewing my blemishless body so she would lock me up in here and whip me."
Renee sucked in a breath of cold air and looked at Adriana with pity.
"Thankfully, her son loved my face, or else she would have ruined that as well…" Adriana's voice was much lower than before and contained a considerable amount of killing intent.
"I see… I'm sorry," Renee said in an apologetic tone.
Adriana turned around and flashed a bright smile, "it's okay! If it weren't for you, I would still be living that life after all"
Renee could see the sadness hidden behind her smile but didn't point it out, she smiled back and said: "Well, enough chatter… let's go and save your friends."
"Mmhmm," Adriana hummed, and they walked the rest of the way in silence, after about 3 minutes of walking they finally arrived in front of a metal door with two candles placed on the side.
Adriana quickened her footsteps and looked at Renee excitedly, "the guards aren't here! That man didn't lie after all," She said happily and practically skipped towards the metal door.
Both Renee and Adriana made it to the door and tried opening it.
"It's locked…" Adriana said in an extremely depressed tone.
She searched for the keys to the door but to no avail. Renee patted Adriana on the shoulders and smiled reassuringly.
"Don't worry. I think I can handle this!" She said while rolling her shoulders.
Renee placed both of her hands on the metal doors and unleashed her flames out of her palms, suddenly the temperature in the room raised by a few degrees, and the metal bars started to disappear.
Adriana looked at Renee, shocked, "t-those aren't normal flames."
"Hehe, this is my latent ability, demon fire!" Renee said proudly while sweat started to trickle down the side of her face.
The metal door soon collapsed, and the metal that Renee had 'burned' completely evaporated.
Renee took in deep breaths and barely flashed a smile towards Adriana, "let's continue!" she said.
Adriana nodded her head slowly and walked past Renee. She walked into a much wider area that was still pitch black.
"Who is there…?"
"Huh, is someone there?"
"H-help"
"Please let me out!"
Voices erupted from every part of the room. Some sounded young, while others sounded old. Renee finally caught her breath and walked inside, she ignited her flames on her palms and looked inside.
Dread filled Renee's eyes as she observed the room, large cages filled with the elderly, young, and even the middle-aged were all over the place. They slept in their own excrement and were only skin and bones.
Renee covered her mouth with her hands… "what have they done?" she whispered to herself.
"DON'T WORRY, IM HERE TO SAVE YOU!" Adriana yelled and gained the attention of everyone present.
"S-save?" an old man asked slowly.
"L-let me out!" a younger man pleaded.
"Quickly," A young female implored.
Adriana looked at Renee with an imploring look, "please help me open up the cages," she asked deploringly.
Renee nodded her head solemnly and moved forward, those same bluish flames danced on her palms as she started to melt the metal cages.
"Is this real? Are we finally going to be saved?" A few prisoners started praying and thanking the gods.
Finally, the first cage was opened up, and a few people rushed out as if their lives depended on it.
"I'm free, HAHA."
"Thank you so much!!!" They roared at the top of their lungs.
Renee nodded slightly and put on a somewhat weary smile, she moved to the next cell and continued to melt them.
5 minutes…
10 minutes…
15 minutes…
20 minutes…
Finally, nearly all of the cells were broken open, and a diverse crowd of people were hugging each other with broad smiles while waiting for the last bit of people to get out.
Renee was melting the last prison cell, her face was ashen, and her clothes were damp with sweat. The fire that danced on her hands was much dimmer than before.
Finally, the last cell door's lock was melted, and the door was swung open, Renee fell on her bottom and gasped for breath.
The group of 5 or so people in the cell walked out with thankful expressions and hugged their friends that had gotten out before them.
"I know this is a happy moment, but we should get going," Renee interrupted them and barely said through large gasps of breath.
They ex-slaves all were broken out of their stupor and nodded gravely, Adriana helped Renee up, and they started to make their way out of the underground prison.
Adriana looked at Renee with a thankful expression, "thank you. I don't know what I would have done without you."
Renee just shook her head with a smile, "no need to thank me, I am just saving my kind" Renee said while gazing tenderly at a group of three young fox-kin girls skipping and giggling happily.
Adriana also smiled, and they soon made their way out of the long and dreary prison. They got out of the hole one by one, and all took a deep breath of fresh air once they got out.
Once all of them got out, they looked at each other warily "what do we do now? Are we actually free?"
Renee stepped out, "The atrocities that the Rudolph family committed have been brought to light, all of the guards are currently vacant, so the civilians have started a riot… you can run away now and be free."
Renee paused for a second and continued.
"No one will look down nor blame you if you flee. However, you can help the civilians overthrow the family and live here once again as a civilian!" she said quietly, but her voice contained power.
The people around her all entered deep contemplation, and a few slowly nodded their heads.
"Even if we ran away, it's not as though what had happened to us will just vanish… We will never be the same." An older man said.
"I demand retribution. They ruined my life!" A young girl practically growled through gnashed teeth.
Adriana also nodded her head and resentment flashed in her eyes, "we won't ever truly be free unless we take revenge!" she said and started to walk towards the front of the mansion.
"Yeah! Let's go stone those bastards haha" a few middle-aged and ragged man snarled loudly and followed after Adriana.
They all followed after Adriana and headed to the entrance of the building, their group of anorexic and dirty people grabbed the attention of many people.
"Who are they, why do they look so appalling," asked a random man
"Could they be… slaves?" a young woman asked in a slightly fearful manner.
"Those damn bastards… there are children mixed in," Another man said with clenched teeth.
Renee stayed back and didn't walk in with them. She didn't want to show her face because Caesar had told her not too.
She subtly jumped over the outer gates of the manor and passed through the nearly desolate streets, she walked into an alley and put on a dress that was already waiting for her.
She zipped up the back of the dress and headed towards the palace gates, she walked up the stairs and was greeted by t
he two palace guards.
"Good evening, misses Renee." They greeted respectfully and opened up the doors.
"Oh, I had thought all of the military personnel are on the outskirts of the kingdom?" Renee asked curiously while walking through the doors.
"Haha, well, you can't leave the king unguarded now, can you?" they replied smilingly.
"I see" Renee nodded her head and walked past the guards.
----
Caesar stood on a large podium and looked down at the four battles going on, none of them were well thought out, and we're merely just two large forces running into each other with no planning.
Caesar brought out a piece of paper and quill pen, he wrote down... "groups 1 and 2, of sections A, B, C, and D are sub-par."
The battles soon concluded with group 1 taking all four victories, and the next groups soon walked up to the stages.
"HAHA, YOU ELVES BETTER PREPARE YOURSELF FOR I, TOM, THE DESTROYER, AM ABOUT TO WREAK HAVOC"
Caesar shook his head with a wry smile and looked at Section A with interest, "this is an interesting matchup," he whispered under his breath and looked over at the kingdom.
A large amount of black smoke was rising in the air, where the Rudolph household is typically located.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Civilians and the slaves led by Adriana were banging on the large wooden doors in front of the Rudolph mansion. The doors were quite thick, and it seems that some heavy materials were placed behind the door.
Adriana swept her gaze through the crowd to find something that could help them break the doors.
Suddenly, a few ordinary males started to pick up the rocks from the ground. They threw them at the windows and other delicate things they could find.
"Move aside" A deep and husky voice echoed out from the front of the crowd.
Adriana turned her head and saw a huge muscular man. He had a large cloak covering his body, and battle scars were evident on his lower mouth.
Adriana nodded her head absentmindedly and got out of the way.
The man stepped towards the door and let out a deep breath, "no matter where I go, the ugliness of humans is always prevalent," he muttered under his breath and placed both hands on the door.
His muscles bulged as he let out a sound a breath from his mouth. He hunched his back and started using his feet to move forward.
The wooden door started making a weird sound, and large indents started forming where the large man's hands were.
"OHHHHHH"
The man moved one more step forward and let out a battle-cry, the sound of heavy things falling from behind the door resounded in the ears of everyone present.
The hinges started to pop off the door one at a time, the door slowly started moving forward, and the man took another step forward.
The doors flew and impaled the wall behind. Adriana moved past the large man and peered inside, a large amount of furniture, armor, and other heavy things littered the ground. She glanced at the large man behind with wonder reflected in her eyes.
"How does he have so much physical strength?" She thought inwardly
"I have done my part. Now you lot can do yours" The large man grumbled and made his way out of the Rudolph territory.
Adriana nodded her head thankfully and turned her attention back towards the mansion, blemishless white walls and precious vases were all elegantly placed in the massive hallways.
"COME ON, LET'S FIND THEM!" Adriana roared.
"Follow the little girl!" a middle-aged man shouted in excitement.
"Let's go show these assholes what it means to break the law," an older man shouted through his broken teeth.
The citizens and slaves poured inside the mansion and started to break the things inside. None of them wanted to become thieves, but breaking the expensive stuff was something all of them were willing to do. Of course, some rather sketchy folks started to steal precious looking possessions and furniture.
While the people were breaking through each and every room searching for the Rudolph family, maids and butlers were found cowering in the kitchen and servants quarters.
Adriana and the other slaves looked at them with disgust and just moved on, the maids and butlers had just watched when they were tortured or violated. Although Adriana and the slaves didn't hold a grudge against them, they certainly wouldn't be able to forgive them any time soon.
The slaves and civilians started to grab the candles from the nearby sconces. They showed sinister smiles, "if they don't come out, we will smoke them out hehe," the slaves laughed loudly and threw the lit candles on flammable objects.
The curtains and flooring immediately started to catch on fire and produce smoke, Adriana put a rag over her mouth and ran through the hallways.
She headed towards where she remembered the master bedroom to be located… A few of her friends followed behind her, and they soon arrived in front of a medium-sized wooden door, the handles were golden, and it didn't seem very sturdy.
The three men behind her stepped forward and tried opening the door.
They exchanged glances and shook their heads; they tensed their muscles and started pushing on the door as hard as they could.
"Eehhhhhh"
They let out a weird noise as they pushed on the doors, Adriana also stepped forward and helped.
"We have to hurry, those rash fools set the mansion on fire too early," one of the men said through clenched teeth.
The men kicked it into second gear and started to push even harder; one of them even started to kick the door repeatedly.
The doors slowly started to fall and landed on the floor; the three men looked at each other with weird looks.
"There's no way we broke that?" they all thought to themselves but didn't show it on their faces.
"Haha, as expected… My strength didn't recede in the least" they all said at the same time, Adriana shook her head with a smile and walked inside the room.
A baby's crying entered into her ears right as she walked in, she raised her eyes towards the large bed and saw a middle-aged man hugging a well-aged woman and a baby.
"My foolish son is a disgrace. Many other nobles hold slaves, but why am I the only one being punished?"
The man stood up from the bed with an enraged look, "my father and even his father held an uncountable number of slaves… none of them got retribution, why me? You people dwell in hypocrisy!" The man grumbled loudly and incoherently.
He took out a fancy sword from the wall and pointed it at Adriana and the three men, "move any closer, and I will strike you down!" he spat out saliva with each word.
Adriana and the three men took a step back and looked at the man with hatred.
"It doesn't matter if others are doing it, it doesn't mean you don't deserve to be corrected!" one of the men shouted in retaliation.
"Heh, even if it's not against the law. Your atrocities will never be forgotten!" Another man spat out.
Rudolph ground his teeth in irritation and glanced between his newborn and Adriana… a small amount of smoke traveled through his nose, causing him to furrow his eyebrows.
He shook his body in anger and looked up towards the ceiling.
"AHHH, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?" he roared to the sky.
Rudolph threw his sword on the ground and looked towards Adriana. He hesitated for a moment before letting out a deep sigh.
"Sigh, I can give you my life… but I beg of you to let my daughter live."
"H-honey, what about me?" The woman called out from the bed.
"SHUT UP!" Rudolph glanced at her coldly and roared.
The woman shut her mouth and looked at Rudolph begrudgingly.
Adriana and the three men hesitated for a few seconds looking back and forth between the baby and Rudolph.
"We can't let the seeds of evil grow," one of the men said after a few seconds of thought.
"Bad wombs can birth good sons," another man argued.
"I don't care either way as long as this
bastard dies…" the third man said quickly after noticing the increase in smoke.
Adriana bit her lip and eventually nodded in consent "fine, we will not kill your baby, but you and your wife must die!" she said coldly.
Rudolph nodded his head slowly and dropped to the floor, "Even I have my pride, but, I just want my daughter to live." He said sadly while lying down on the ground.
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