Ch.5Chapter 5 – Escape (3)

In a remote island laboratory, activity was bustling at a frantic pace.

‘Surely there won’t be any kind of rampage at this point, right?’

Hudson, a priest of the Emiris Church, was desperately hoping that wouldn’t be the case as he spread out a magic circle to check on the test subjects.

Until just a while ago, he thought there wouldn’t be any problems.

Subject No. 13.

Until they discovered something strange about this one.

It was a specimen that had survived exceptionally well and fought exceptionally well.

At one point, when collecting field data on the test subjects, the priests even jokingly referred to that number as “the number of faith and trust” while gambling among themselves.

In truth, its direct abilities weren’t much different from other specimens.

It was probably just lucky or something like that.

Anyway, they had judged it to be superior and specifically selected it as one of the five special subjects.

‘But why is this one causing problems now!’

Hudson scratched his head as he thought.

When the priests made the test subjects kill death row inmates in the arena or fight against each other, they weren’t just letting things happen.

Everything was being recorded.

Everything was being analyzed.

Minor errors were collected and corrected, or commands were adjusted with caution, but…

-THUD

The laboratory was filled with all kinds of noise.

Heavy magical instruments were being transported for precise examinations, priests were constantly coming in and out moving equipment and data, preparing for an emergency inspection that had just properly begun.

“So we’re working overtime today?”

“Yes, overtime~”

Hudson sighed.

The preparation work alone had already delayed them by three hours.

Overtime was definitely confirmed.

“Was the solution properly supplied?”

When one priest asked this, another priest nodded.

He was the first priest who had been sent here.

“Yes, it was properly supplied at high concentration.”

“You definitely confirmed that, right?”

“Who doesn’t know that high concentration is needed for the paralytic effect?”

The paralytic effect only works when it’s in water.

He sighed looking at the expensive drug that loses half its effectiveness just from contact with air.

-THUD

“I was shocked when I heard that container was smashed three months ago.”

“When we placed a bulk order with the Alchemists’ Association, those association guys got suspicious.”

“They do plenty of live experiments themselves, as do the magicians. Those alchemists, I swear.”

It had been a famous story among them for a while—how the bishop had been losing his mind trying to bring in specialized containers through various routes to avoid suspicion.

-THUD

“Anyway, let’s all calm down now.”

“Right, it’s not like the test subjects are going to suddenly soak in that experimental solution, break out of their containers, and crush our bones.”

Hudson said this as he resumed his work.

Thinking that he’d appreciate it if they could move the heavy loads quietly now.

“We’ll check everything from mental and memory manipulation to defensive spells. We won’t be sleeping for days.”

“Ah, damn.”

Soon the priests raised magic circles and began examining the test subjects.

-THUD

“Do we still have things to move?”

Only after asking this did Hudson notice something strange.

There were 8 priests inside.

The priests who had been moving equipment and the guards had already left.

There had been no one moving things for quite some time.

“What are you talking about?”

“Haven’t you been hearing something heavy being moved?”

“Are you just tired?”

Was it an auditory hallucination? Hudson briefly doubted himself.

“…Let’s check No. 13 first.”

“Yes, that makes sense.”

The priests moved to the container where No. 13 was kept, and only then could Hudson identify the source of the sound he had been hearing.

“Hey, this is insane.”

There was a crack in the container.

Small, but definitely a crack.

“Senior Hudson, what is this…?”

“The experimental solution, hey, you did put in the solution properly, right?”

Looking at the cracked container in utter disbelief, Hudson unconsciously took a step forward.

-SPLASH

His shoe stepped into a puddle of water.

Hudson finally looked up at the top of the container.

A hose made from some magical beast’s intestines had been torn.

It was a special material designed to prevent the green solution from leaking or air from getting in.

And it had been torn.

Hudson was not someone who didn’t understand what this meant.

“Hey, call the guards right now, hurry…”

“Senior?”

“Hurry up and call them, quickly!”

-CRASH!

At that moment, the container shattered.

Hudson instinctively raised his hands to prevent the solution from splashing into his face.

The solution with nowhere to go soaked the priests’ clothes.

“How on earth…?”

Even though the test subjects’ bodies were much stronger than ordinary people’s, Hudson had thought they couldn’t break this container with bare hands. Then he saw a fist—specifically, a fist that had broken through the container and emerged outside.

“…A hammer?”

The fist was gripping a hammer head.

Where did that come from?

More importantly, how did it get that?

Hudson’s mind went completely blank from the sheer absurdity of the situation.

The other priests were in the same state.

Because of this, they missed their last chance to move a step ahead.

“Huff, *cough*!”

Having regained freedom of movement, there came the sound of coughing and movement from inside.

-SPLASH

An incongruous sound in what had become a sea of water.

“Surprise.”

A voice that seemed almost nonchalant.

The priests’ eyes widened.

Because it wasn’t one of them who had spoken.

The owner of the voice was No. 13.

What they feared most was happening.

+

They seemed quite startled, so I said it jokingly, but as expected, the response was cold.

No reaction is the most hurtful thing.

I guess that was unnecessary.

Escaping from the tank was almost a gamble.

Above all, because I didn’t properly understand the properties of this green water.

If I’d had enough time, I would have had the opportunity to study its properties slowly, but it couldn’t be helped.

I had seen the hammer in a toolbox when they were moving cargo last time, broke it off, and smuggled it out.

When I first hid it, I didn’t have a good hiding place, so I put it on top of the container, and somehow it wasn’t discovered.

I figured out where the water was flowing with a nail, then made sure the water couldn’t properly enter before breaking out—that was the plan, but…

‘Still, I was really surprised when it filled all the way to the top.’

And my body wouldn’t move.

In my head, I recited “I’m screwed” more than 10 times and was about to give up completely when, for some reason, my body started moving little by little.

I don’t know the exact reason, but it must have been related to tearing the hose.

From then on, I worked hard to move my body and struck with the hammer.

It was difficult to strike properly underwater, but I desperately hit and hit until it cracked.

I struck desperately, thinking I would die if I couldn’t break through.

Honestly, it was on the verge of complete failure, but I survived.

It really felt like I had escaped death.

Though those priests wouldn’t know that.

“Uh…AAAAAH!!”

One priest immediately turned around and tried to flee.

I quickly threw the now-useless hammer head and hit him.

Seeing that the other priests were still too shocked to move, I immediately rushed at them.

“Run away quickly…!”

I kicked the face of a priest who was trying to say something.

The priests started to flee, and I started to chase.

Naturally, the research priests’ legs couldn’t be faster than mine.

“Ugh!”

I quickly caught another one.

I struck his head hard to knock him out and caught yet another.

“Call the guards, quickly!”

One man gave quick instructions and then threw himself somewhere.

I saw one priest quickly creating a small magic circle.

I immediately tried to stop him, but suddenly there was a thudding sound.

“Senior Hudson, what are you doing?!”

“Release all the test subjects!! Make them fight that one!!”

Clicking my tongue at the priest who was quick to think of a countermeasure, I picked up a nearby priest and threw him at those two.

“AAAAH!”

Soon the priest who was creating the magic circle and the flying priest collided and fell.

The priest who had shouted to release the test subjects somehow managed to dodge the two by throwing himself aside, then created a magic circle with a determined look and sent it toward the containers.

-CRASH!

“Senior?!”

“It’s an emergency! We have no choice!”

I never expected him to break the containers to wake them up.

Seeing this, several other priests also started breaking containers.

Those inside fell to the floor and staggered as they got up.

It was the muscular man, the kid, and the woman who had carried luggage from the church before.

What a coincidence to see them again like this.

A priest shouted from behind.

“Subdue No. 13!”

As the two clenched their fists and charged, I kicked off the wall beside me and jumped into the air.

I put all my strength into my legs and kicked them both hard.

The muscular man and the woman crossed their arms to block, but the little one seemed to be trying to dodge using his small size.

I simply avoided him as he lowered his body and aimed for my legs, then kicked him away.

‘Their movements are sluggish’

Perhaps it’s because they were forcibly awakened from that liquid?

Their movements were much slower than mine.

Despite being outnumbered, I could handle them with ease.

Still, it wasn’t a good situation.

The water containing the test subjects behind me was gradually draining.

These guys just need to buy time.

Then all the remaining ones will jump out, and I’ll be finished.

I’m not going to let that happen.

I grabbed the sluggish kid and threw him at the woman, then dove into the muscular man’s body.

I repeatedly punched him in the stomach.

The man whose movements had become sluggish couldn’t respond to my movements, and his body bent with each punch.

“Damn it, wake them up quickly, quickly!”

Looking at the priest who was shouting urgently, I put strength into my fist.

I struck the man’s abdomen with all my might.

The man’s body flew into the priest.

“What the…!”

The priest and the man became one mass as they crashed into the wall.

As if he hadn’t seen that sight, the kid came flying at me, so I easily caught him and threw him back.

The kid regained his posture, and the woman raised her guard.

The other test subjects hadn’t awakened yet.

And behind those two test subjects, a priest was trembling.

“Now what should I…”

As I slowly approached, the kid and the woman tensed and raised their guards.

Then, as if he had remembered something, the priest raised his head.

“…Right…the suppression formula…!”

He immediately deployed a magic circle against me.

Light radiated from the magic circle.

“What is this…?”

My head started to hurt as the light shone on me.

It reminded me of the headache I suddenly felt in the experimental solution before.

But it’s not unbearable.

“AAAAAAAAHHH?!!!”

Instead, the test subjects who were also caught in the light began to writhe on the ground, clutching their heads in pain.

Ignoring my slightly painful head, I walked toward the priest.

“The spell, why isn’t that spell working, why, how?!”

“Don’t know.”

Since things seemed to be progressing easily by chance, I rewarded him with a punch to the stomach to make him bend over, then kicked his head.

I looked around for other priests, but they all seemed to have been subdued as there were no more signs of movement.

This one was the last.

Looking back, I saw the woman and the kid barely able to move, just breathing heavily.

I didn’t expect them to be completely incapacitated just from being exposed to that light.

‘That headache, could it be…’

I briefly wondered if it was related to the headache I felt when I regained consciousness, but there were more urgent matters, so I quickly put the thought aside and looked around the laboratory again.

Some containers had completely drained of water, and I could see that others were starting to drain as well.

It wasn’t too late yet, but other test subjects were gradually waking up inside.

“Argh, damn it!”

I quickly ran out of the room.

+

Now, what should I do?

Eliminate each test subject one by one?

They’re almost on the same level as me.

By the time I eliminate one, another will jump out.

If calling for guards was done by creating a magic circle as soon as possible, they might be rushing here by now.

I ran with all my might to the front of the stairs.

‘Come to think of it, there were robes.’

Those were robes they occasionally made us wear when taking cargo outside the island.

They seemed to be a precaution against people outside the island, not the guards.

I quickly took a robe from the storage box in front of the stairs and put it on, then went up the stairs.

Then I heard what sounded like someone running from afar, so I ran up.

It seemed like one or two test subjects were chasing me now, if not all of them.

‘Did I miss someone?’

Without someone giving orders, I didn’t think they would chase after me as a target, but I didn’t have the luxury to think about it in detail.

As I quickly ran up, I saw that it had grown dark, and armed people appeared in front of me.

About 6 people, with one person carrying a lantern on their waist.

“Stop, who goes there!”

One guard extended his spear toward me.

All 6 of them together, and they were armed too.

Right now, I’m unarmed.

I might be able to take down one or two with a surprise attack, but fighting 6 well-armed people head-on, without any weapons, in a semi-surrounded state, would be disadvantageous.

And behind me, test subjects were running up.

At this rate, I could be caught in a pincer attack.

‘Wait? Who am I?’

If they knew my face, would they need to ask that question?

“I said who are you!”

“Help me!!”

I immediately ran toward the guard.

“The test subjects are trying to escape and coming up right now!”

Shouting like that, I ignored the spear and approached him, grabbing his shoulder and pointing at the entrance with my finger.

He could have stabbed or restrained me, but he seemed too flustered or surprised to think of restraining me.

“Wait, who are you…?”

“There, you need to attack as soon as they come up! All 8 priests have been taken down!! Don’t let your guard down at all!”

I naturally moved behind him and spoke to the person next to him.

“We’ll need reinforcements, can anyone come with me? This force is far from enough!”

“But right now…”

“No arguments! Do you all want to die?!”

One guard tried to argue, but I kept pressing urgently, not allowing any rebuttal.

Momentum is important.

“Hey, calm down…”

“How can I?! I just saw 8 priests get smashed right before my eyes!”

I did it, but still.

I said “smashed” to create fear, though I didn’t actually smash them.

Soon, with the sound of people running up, two people appeared.

Sure enough, they were the test subject friends that the priests had released earlier.

They were chasing me with a menacing aura.

“Ahhh, damn it, they’re already up here!”

I shouted like that and hid behind one of the guards.

“I thought we just received an emergency signal! You, go with this priest and call for reinforcements!”

The guards, thinking I was an innocent priest, soon bravely began fighting the test subjects with their spears to protect me.

Seeing this, the test subjects seemed unsure how to handle the situation and began to resist the guards half-heartedly.

“Ugh, let’s hurry and call for reinforcements! The test subjects are incredibly strong! It’s dangerous like this!”

“Damn it, follow me!”

After my urgent prodding, one guard started running hard.

I followed him, not even looking back to see what kind of fight was unfolding.

After all, neither side was on my team.

After running briefly toward the dock, we took a slight detour and came across a small building.

“The test subjects have escaped!!!!”

Shouting loudly, I entered the building with the guard.

The guards resting inside got up wondering what calamity had befallen them, but after hearing about their comrades’ struggle and the menacing test subjects, they immediately armed themselves and rushed out.

“Priest, please rest here, you must be tired”

The guard who had run with me said this and ran out.

After pretending to catch my breath about 5 times, I got up.

“Are they gone?”

As if a body tampered with by fanatical mad scientists would get tired from a little running.

I stop pretending to be tired and get up.

It was a desperate act, but it worked well.

“Still, no time to relax.”

Although the number of test subjects had been reduced significantly and they would fight the guards half-heartedly, the guards wouldn’t be able to hold out for long.

If the confusion was resolved quickly by bad luck, they might band together and come after me.

With no time to spare, I quickly searched the guard post.

I had to grab only what was worth taking, so I just skimmed through hastily.

Whether they were spare weapons or under maintenance, there was a sword, an axe, and a dagger, so I took one of each.

I would have liked some armor too, but unfortunately there was none.

There wasn’t anything else worth taking.

No matter how urgent, I couldn’t take a bottle of alcohol, and there was no bag to put things in.

I left the post and ran to the dock.

The area was quiet, suggesting the guards and test subjects were still fighting hard.

The priests might be coming out to quickly resolve the confusion, but I’ll get the boat started faster than that.

“I win, you bastards.”

After confidently entering the dock, certain of my escape, I immediately had to click my tongue.

For some reason, a knight in full plate armor was standing there.