Reinforced Steel Armor clanged as Daru ran with everything he had towards the stone gate exit.

He was indeed free to flee to wherever he wished now, but the wraith army would be right behind him.

To make things worse, there was always a chance that he had already been locked inside.

'I'm…kind of in trouble…' Daru thought inwardly as he sprinted with everything he had.

He was not allowed to stay still anymore, with around seventy Forsaken Legionaries on his tail, but at the same time, the more he ran, the higher the number of his pursuers became.

If something was working to Daru's advantage, it was that he was slightly faster than the wraith army.

He was even gaining on the few Condemned Centurions steadily.

Only, it was unknown whether his stamina would last until he found safety. Would he even find it?

Daru wasn't thinking too much, though, and only ran towards the direction of the stone gate without hesitation.

If only his internal compass were reliable enough…

He turned a hallway, then another…frowning.

'Huh? Isn't it around here somewhere?' Daru was perplexed, but what else could he do except continue running?

He momentarily turned, assuming an L-stance, firing a Crescent Dicer, and reaping the lives of a few Forsaken Legionaries who were caught off-guard by the sudden counterattack.

Daru quickly turned again and continued to run.

"Tch." He clicked his tongue, turning to another hallway after noticing that three squadrons of Forsaken Legionaries had already blocked the path ahead.

Unfortunately, this path was already blocked, too, although by fewer enemies.

Daru didn't hesitate and charged right at their formation, then somersaulted forward to bypass the formation.

He couldn't be held down by even a few moments, or he was done for.

Somersault Slash wasn't as efficient as Tornado Slash when bypassing troops of enemies, but the latter was still on cooldown, so it will have to do.

Daru swung his sword mid-air, firing a cutting red crescent at his enemies.

It was deflected by the Condemned Centurion, though, causing the sword projectile to veer off-course…and strike a certain stone statue, turning the head of a cat slightly before it automatically returned in place.

Something strange and subtle happened, but he caught it on his way down.

A part of the wall seemed to have rotated slightly before seamlessly fitting back the moment the cat head of the stone statue fixed itself.

Unfortunately, he didn't have the luxury of immediately contemplating the strange occurrence.

Somersault Slash landed him behind the formation of the two squadrons of wraiths led by a centurion, but it didn't gain him much distance.

Stone swords were upon him.

Daru was stalled for a moment, having been forced to do a horizontal slash to sweep the Forsaken Legionaries back.

He then jumped back to dodge the Condemned Centurion's counterattack before turning and running again, barely avoiding the follow-up attack.

The elite spawn was clearly unhappy.

It stabbed on the stone floor, its weapon miraculously passing through as though something ethereal.

A moment later, the stone floor in front of Daru turned into three swords that attempted to impale him.

He blocked it, but he was delayed again.

'These things are persistent…' he mused in utter displeasure, continuing to flee.

The hectic chase continued like so for half an hour.

Daru would gain a decent distance from his pursuers, only for that distance to be lost due to a new squadron or two joining the chase.

Had it not been for Azure Swordfall, he would've long been surrounded already, perhaps even killed.

The trusty SS-tier Sword Skill always opened up a path for him.

Only, it also drained a sizable portion of his stamina with every use, and those portions have piled up now.

He had also not stopped running since earlier.

Daru breathed heavily; his legs felt like lead, and his chest was burning.

'Well this…this is quite the workout…'

Of course, he wasn't simply running.

No.

Daru had a plan in mind. 'It's that hallway…right?'

He had been running around the entire castle in an attempt to make his way back to the strange hallway where his Somersault Slash accidentally turned the cat head of the Three-Headed Spider King.

He would've been more confident if his navigation skills were more reliable.

Unfortunately, Daru could only trust it now. He was out of steam.

Turning the hallway, he glanced at his pursuers. He had gained considerable distance — enough for a shot at safety.

And Daru took that shot.

He rushed at one of the statues and turned the cat head…but it wouldn't turn.

'What? Isn't it this one?!' he clicked his tongue and rushed towards the other statue.

The heavy sounds of the footsteps of the wraith army were drawing closer and closer from both ends of the hallway.

There would be no escape.

Only, there was, as the cat head of the next statue turned, and the wall rotated, revealing a hidden passage.

Daru's eyes brightened.

Dark corridors had never looked so pleasant.

Without hesitation, he dove in, barely making it before the cat's head fixed itself.

The rotating wall closed, and his world was covered by darkness…for a moment, as, in the next, wall torches lit up the entire passage.

Daru's pupils constricted for a second as his ragged breathing echoed.

The flames…were crimson — a surprising color in the monochrome realm.

If he still didn't realize he was in a special location, then he was a bit lacking in common sense.

'Is this the king's escape path, or something? These torches are quite fancy…why not decorate the entire castle with them?'

Daru shook his head, a bit disappointed at the castle ruler's rather questionable tastes in aesthetics.

Why hide such good torches in a place nobody could see?

Standing up from his kneeling position, Daru dusted himself, ignoring the chaos in the hallway and proceeding to walk deeper into what he believed was The Crown's escape path.

Perhaps it would lead him to the ruler's room?

Maybe it would've…had the passage not been descending.

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