I'm Trapped Inside a Prince as the Most Powerful Entity-Chapter 65: Reunion and Escape

The moment Alina heard the familiar voice call her name, "Alina?", her heart leaped into her throat. She spun around so quickly she almost lost her balance, her eyes desperately scanning the dim, torch-lit corridor lined with prison cells.

Her gaze locked onto a pair of hands extending through the iron bars of a cell a little further down, urgently waving, gesturing for her attention.

She knew those hands. She recognized the figure silhouetted behind the bars, even in the poor light.

Without a second thought, she broke into a run, her footsteps echoing loudly in the otherwise silent corridor. Eric, startled by her sudden movement, watched her go, then quickly followed a few paces behind, his own senses on high alert.

Alina reached the cell in seconds. Peering through the bars, her eyes adjusted to the dimness within. And there they were. Her older brother, his face pale but instantly recognizable. Her father, looking tired, but alive.

And her mother, leaning weakly against the cold stone wall, her eyes closed as if in exhaustion. Several other prisoners, strangers to Alina, were also huddled in the cramped, dark cell, looking equally weary and defeated.

They all looked stunned, disbelief clearly etched across their dirty, weary faces as they saw Alina standing outside their prison. It was as if they were seeing a ghost.

Her mother’s eyelids fluttered open slowly. She saw Alina, and her eyes widened slightly. A faint whisper escaped her dry lips, filled with confusion. "Alina? Is... is that really you? Why... why are you here?" Her voice was barely audible, weak from weeks, of captivity and mistreatment.

Alina didn’t answer immediately. Tears of overwhelming relief welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision. Her family. They were alive. They were here.

The wave of emotion was so strong she couldn’t speak for a moment. Instead of words, she acted. She quickly fumbled with the heavy iron latch on the cell door. It was locked, of course.

But then she remembered the strange, powerful energy pistol Adam had given her. Could it...?

She pulled it out, her hand trembling slightly. She didn’t know how to use it as a weapon, but perhaps its energy could somehow affect the lock. She pressed the cool metal of the pistol against the heavy iron bolt of the cell door.

There was a faint sound of energy blast, a soft blue glow from the pistol. The lock was open. Alina stared at the pistol for a second, amazed, then quickly pushed the heavy iron door inwards. It creaked open slowly, revealing her family and the other prisoners within.

With a sob of pure, unrestrained joy, Alina rushed into the cell. She threw her arms around her mother first, then her father, then her brother, hugging them tightly, tears streaming down her face. "Mama! Papa! Brother! You’re alive! You’re okay!" she cried, her voice choked with emotion.

Her parents, still looking dazed and deeply confused by this sudden, impossible rescue, clung to her, their own eyes filling with tears. They held her as if she were a dream they were afraid would vanish. The other prisoners in the cell watched the emotional reunion with a bewilderment.

Standing slightly apart in the corridor, Eric observed the heartwarming scene. A gentle, genuine smile crossed his lips. He felt a deep sense of satisfaction, a warmth spreading through his chest.

Knowing that his actions, had ultimately led to this moment, to Alina being reunited with her family... it made some of the guilt and fear he had been feeling lessen just a little. This was good. This was right.

After a long, tearful embrace, Alina’s father gently pulled back, holding her at arm’s length, his eyes searching her face. He looked older, more worn, but his gaze was still sharp.

"Alina?," he said, his voice rough from disuse, "how did you find us? And all those... those noises we heard from outside... the screaming, the... explosions... Was that... was that your doing?" Concern and curiosity were clear in his eyes. He couldn’t imagine how his young daughter could have caused such chaos.

Alina quickly wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand. She smiled reassuringly at her father, then at her mother and brother, trying to project a confidence she didn’t entirely feel.

"Father, Mother, Brother," she said, her voice a little shaky but firm. "I promise I’ll explain everything later. Everything. But right now, we don’t have time. We must leave this place quickly. We need to get everyone here to safety."

Hearing her decisive tone, her mother exchanged a quick glance with her husband. She saw the determination in Alina’s eyes, a strength she hadn’t seen in her daughter before. She trusted her daughter. She nodded urgently at her husband.

"She is right," Alina’s mother said, her voice still weak but now filled with a new resolve. "Listen to Alina. We need to move. Quickly now," she instructed her husband and son, and the other prisoners in the cell.

Alina’s father, a man clearly used to taking charge despite his recent captivity, promptly nodded. He turned to the other dazed but hopeful prisoners who had been confined with them. "You heard my daughter!" he said, his voice regaining some of its former strength. "Let’s get out of this accursed place! Follow us! Stay together!" He began to guide the freed prisoners out of the cell and into the corridor.

Eric, seeing them emerge, moved forward as well, his earlier hesitation gone, replaced by a desire to help.

He began to gently usher the weaker prisoners, helping them stay on their feet, guiding them towards the direction from which he and Alina had come, the direction that led back to the ramp and the hidden exit into the forest.

He might not be a great fighter, but he could at least help these people escape.

The journey back through the winding, bloody corridors was tense. But they encountered no more resistance.

Adam’s earlier rampage of the silver spinning disc he had unleashed, seemed to have neutralized all remaining Syndicate presence in this section of the base.

The only sounds were their own hushed footsteps, the occasional sob from a traumatized prisoner, and the steady, reassuring voice of Alina’s father as he kept the group moving forward.

After what felt like an eternity, but was probably only fifteen minutes of tense, hurried travel, they finally saw a faint light ahead. It was the bottom of the wide ramp Adam had created, leading up to the surface.

They had made it. One by one, the group of rescued prisoners, led by Alina’s family and escorted by Alina and Eric, emerged from the darkness of the Spider Syndicate’s hidden base and into the dim, filtered sunlight of the Forest.

Outside, near the disguised entrance to the base (which now looked like a wide, dark cave mouth in the side of a mossy boulder, the illusion of the three trees still gone), a group of the former prisoners who had escaped earlier were waiting. They were huddled together anxiously, their faces clearly reflecting the fear and uncertainty of their situation.

They had escaped the immediate danger of the base, but they were still deep in unknown territory, in a hostile kingdom, with no idea where to go or what to do next.

Seeing Alina, Eric, and the new, larger group of rescued captives appear from the hidden entrance brought a slight flicker of relief to their worried faces. But a lingering dread still clouded their expressions. They were out, yes, but were they truly safe? What happened next?