Darius looked extremely intimidating. Midas trembled with a bit of fear when he saw him, understanding that if he tried to do anything near him, he would be crushed by the power of that terrifying axe.

  Midas doesn’t know this man, of course. It’s the first time he has seen him, but he could feel an explosive power coming from him. Perhaps it was because of the magic running through his veins that allowed him to sense things normal people couldn’t.

  ‘How do I get out of here?’ The pce was surrounded by soldiers. Midas was cornered, with no opportunity to escape. Besides, if any soldier—or Darius—were to see the inhibitor on his hands, they would all jump on him instantly.

  Now this poor devil was backed into a corner. Only a miracle could save him.

  Hirious…

  ‘It was too good to be true…’

  Just as Midas was thinking that his freedom had come to an end, among the shadows, Briar moved with great agility despite her arms being restrained by the pillory.

  She crouched between the alleys and the crates, like an animal stalking in the darkness. Her rge eyes scanned the surroundings and her hunting instinct activated, though this situation had become curious to a certain extent. Briar wasn’t stalking the soldiers—she was stalking Midas.

  When the heated fight in the commercial district ended, she immediately searched for him. The man’s scent drew her to this pce and led her to discover his whereabouts, but when she saw that everything was being watched by soldiers, she realized that this wouldn’t be good for anyone.

  With Darius present, something deep within Briar’s instincts told her not to jump into a fight like some idiot. She sensed danger in that guy, however—

  “Who cares?” Briar wasn’t someone capable of reasoning clearly.

  Briar also liked fighting. Seeing an opponent as huge as a mountain made her excited to compare her strength against his. Unfortunately, she also had a very clear objective. Everything had come down to two difficult choices.

  “I have to find Midas, but…”

  Help a friend, or fight a mountain.

  The decision was difficult—so difficult that even Briar’s mind felt on the verge of colpsing.

  “Huh… Maybe another time.”

  She shook her head in disappointment and kept hiding in the shadows. Midas was nearby, surely very frightened from being cornered like a rabbit in a cage, so Briar wanted to know if she could approach him without drawing too much attention. Of course, she wasn’t a professional assassin who knew how to hide or erase her own presence, but she did know how to create distractions.

  There were many wooden crates in this area, far more than in the commercial district. If something noisy caused a distraction, it would be perfect—after all, Briar was an expert at making noise.

  “Sometimes hunger can also help you think.”

  It’s something reted to survival. If you’re starving, the sensation of death will push you to do whatever it takes to survive. Briar knew a lot about that, since she lived with hunger.

  So, with quick movements, gathering a pile of crates—kicking them and trying not to make too much noise—Briar prepared to unleash her crimson scream.

  “Distraction! Ahhhg!”

  The crates went flying toward some of the soldiers and nearby houses, producing a sound simir to a small explosion. All the crates shattered into pieces, causing the nearby soldiers to go on alert.

  Darius, who had been close to catching Midas, looked in that direction and approached. He grabbed the axe with his powerful hands and frowned.

  Seeing Darius move away, Midas breathed heavily. He didn’t know what had caused that distraction, but he was internally grateful. He crouched like a slippery rat and ran out of the area. A few soldiers saw him fleeing, but they paid him no attention since Briar’s description had already reached everyone.

  The target was the murderous girl—not some skinny barefoot guy with a bck cloak.

  It was lucky for Midas that the soldiers didn’t associate him with Briar. Since the two had been separated during the attack, it was fortunate that no one had seen them together.

  A fortunate incident.

  Darius arrived at the site of the explosion. He saw soldiers stuck against the walls after the bst—injured, and some dead. Nearby were droplets of blood that formed a trail along the ground.

  “She’s close.”

  That was obvious to Darius. However, Briar could have escaped without causing this commotion. So why risk her hidden position by making so much noise?

  “But it doesn’t make sense…”

  The immediate report said that the prisoner Briar had escaped together with another prisoner. Most likely, the two of them were together—assuming they had managed to escape together until the end. Even so, the description of the man accompanying Briar was confusing. He looked far too ordinary to find just by scanning the surroundings.

  “Tell all the soldiers to split up. Search every dark alley. We can’t let them escape,” Darius ordered in an authoritative tone.

  Although he had prepared his axe to fight Briar, it was done in vain. She had already escaped, but that trail of blood was the key.

  “It won’t be long before they have nowhere left to run.”

  One of the nearby soldiers nodded and went to notify the others.

  ***

  ‘I almost got caught. That was way too close.’

  Midas was once again running for his freedom. Soon he would leave this pce and be close to the pins of Noxus. If he managed to stay hidden, he could reach the horizons of Noxus in just a few days.

  ‘The road is far too long and dangerous.’

  But it was better than dying while rotting inside a cell.

  ‘But… it doesn’t matter… I’ll get there, no matter what I have to do.’

  Suddenly—

  “Excellent escape, my scrawny friend!” Briar’s voice rang out beside him.

  Midas was so startled by Briar’s sudden appearance that he tripped over his own feet and fell face-first onto the ground.

  “Damn it! My heart almost jumped out of my chest! Are you crazy?!” Midas shouted while getting up.

  Briar listened attentively with a cute, friendly smile, though she didn’t care that Midas’ forehead was bleeding from the impact. When she heard soldiers behind them, she grabbed him by the cloak with her teeth and lifted him effortlessly.

  After that, she took off running with all her strength, making Midas look like a fg fluttering from the top of a pole.

  “Ahhhhh?!”

  Midas’ voice faded into the darkness of the alleys.

  Thus, this extremely comical moment continued until they finally left the capital.

  They were chased by different soldiers along the way, but Briar was relentless in every sense—fighting and running while carrying Midas like a rag doll between her teeth. Fortunately, Darius couldn’t catch them due to Briar’s nearly infinite stamina, which allowed Midas to be dragged out of the capital without problems and without a single wound.

  ‘I felt useless…’

  While Briar fought and did everything she could to help them escape, Midas had only hidden like a coward and done nothing.

  “What a terribly nostalgic sight…” Midas whispered as he looked back.

  The open field stretched before them, far away from the powerful and imposing Immortal Bastion that loomed ominously over the ndscape as far as their eyes could see. The towering buildings, the troubles, and the secrets of that pce—locked within the heart of the Empire—were finally distant.

  When Briar dropped Midas after running for an entire hour, she y down on the ground looking at the sky. Midas looked at her, noticing she seemed more normal than she should, and then he closed his eyes.

  ‘The first time I came to this pce, I thought that moment would be the beginning of my story as a hero.’

  No one could bme him. Midas had only been a child when he arrived in Noxus. He came here with the desire to help someone.

  “—! Briar, get up! Quickly!”

  Ignoring the thoughts reted to the past, Midas nudged Briar’s side with the tip of his foot.

  “What’s wrong, Midas? Why are you so tense?”

  Midas didn’t answer. He simply stared toward the entrance of the Immortal Bastion.

  Briar followed his gaze and noticed that a small squad was leaving the Bastion. At the head of the squad was Darius, who looked at Briar with a frown.

  They were far enough away to run, but in this pin it was very easy to see where someone was going. By not taking that fact into account, Briar and Midas had no real escape to begin with.

  “This is very bad after all,” Briar said, standing up and looking at Darius with curiosity.

  But something strange happened. Darius didn’t order his soldiers to advance. They simply stood there, staring at the two individuals in silence. Darius’ expression remained serious the entire time, accompanied by a cold and calcuting gaze.

  Neither Midas nor Briar could read the emotions of that soldier.

  A moment ter, Darius lifted his axe and began walking forward slowly while his squad watched in silence.

  Midas swallowed hard, because what was coming was more than obvious.

  An imminent battle…

  As he thought about that, Midas noticed Briar step forward.

  “Hey, Midas. I’m about to go completely crazy. While I fight that big guy, you should take your map and get far away. I’ll catch up with you after I beat him.”

  “What…?”

  Too frightened to understand Briar’s intentions, Midas froze in pce.

  “I don’t understand. That person is far too powerful. I can feel it in every particle of my bones. You couldn’t—”

  And it was understandable. Midas knew what Briar was about to face even without knowing the enemy. He could feel the imminent danger.

  But Briar only shook her head and ughed.

  “Hahaha… Run or fight… that’s too many choices.”

  The hemolith trembled slightly. Briar looked at Midas in a way that made it clear she found this fun.

  “So I’ll choose to fight.”

  By that moment, Darius was already standing right in front of them…