Strong wind shoved against Leon’s face when he placed his right palm on his chest while staring at the two Syrs.

The Syrs stood there, watching and waiting to see if the human would get back up.

Just as Liu Yan pushed herself up despite the broken bones, a hoof nudged her back to the ground, while laughter echoed above her.

At a far distance from the Syrs, Leon tilted his gaze from the helpless Liu Yan and closed his eyes as he stepped closer to the wall on his left.

When he cracked his eyes open, he looked at the burning torch flickering at the far end of the tunnel he stood at the front of, then shifted his gaze back to the Syrs and Liu Yan.

A bone-crackling sound echoed around Leon as he exchanged Wu Ze’s sword with the dagger in his right hand.

Without hesitation, Leon slammed the flat surface of the sword’s blade against the wall he stood beside, which created a series of banging sounds.

Small stones and dust began falling off the ceiling of the tunnel as the sound traveled deep into the dungeon.

Both Syrs stopped laughing and swiveled their horned heads toward the tunnel’s entrance.

The Syr sitting on the ground stood up and took a step forward while the one that had nudged Liu Yan crouched down and grabbed her by the arm, then dragged her back into her cell.

When the burning iron gate swung shut behind Liu Yan, the two Syrs exchanged clicking tongues before nearing the tunnel.

One stayed back and watched the other continue into the tunnel.

Leon, on the other hand, had also moved out of the tunnel and ran back into the wolf-beast tunnel. He clutched the red cloth on his nose and mouth when their corpse smell hit him.

When the sound of the Syr’s hooves began to grow and echo louder, Leon pushed himself against the wall inside the tunnel and hid himself in the crevice between two large stones.

The Syr slowed down as it reached the two large stones and moved its wide eyes across the shadows and the wolves’ carcasses while clicking sounds echoed from it.

After the Syr snarled and continued moving forward, Leon counted to ten in his head and moved out. He crossed the tunnel and crouched low behind a wide stone pillar that sat at the edge of the dungeon’s open path.

From there, he saw the Syr walking back to a small raised stone and Liu Yan breathing harshly in one of the cells.

When Leon shifted his gaze to the cell opposite Liu Yan’s, he only saw the back of a beast-like human crouching down and shaking its head aggressively.

The Syr that neared the slightly raised stone shifted its head toward the tunnel’s entrance once, then sat on the stone, turning its attention toward the cells.

Leon waited, exhaling slowly as he watched the Syr place its axes at the right side of the stone. When he noticed the Syr had loosened its grip on the axe and placed it at its left side, Leon moved from the pillar.

He hesitated before setting off into a low run, clutching the dagger while the sword’s blade swung at his back.

As soon as he reached three feet away from the Syr, Leon jumped and drove the dagger forward, letting the blade pierce through the being’s neck, where the horn-ridge met the jaw.

The Syr’s body lurched up onto its feet before Leon could pull the blade back and grabbed the dagger hand, then yanked it free.

A deep, wet growl rose from its chest as blood sprayed out from the wound, while its legs buckled. The Syr went down one knee at a time and hit the ground sideways.

Its growl softened and stopped when it stopped moving.

Leon stood there for three seconds, watching the creature convulse and remain still.

Loud footsteps echoed and made Leon turn and walk behind the Syr’s body, then crouch low against the far wall, where the burning torch could not reach.

The second Syr entered from the left and stopped above the one on the ground for a moment without touching it.

It crouched, slid one arm under the bloodied Syr’s body and hurled it onto its shoulder, then carried it back into the tunnel on the left side.

Leon stood and walked toward the cell he had seen Liu Yan inside. He wanted to open the iron bars with his hands but the heat coming from them made him stand a few feet away.

"Liu Yan," Leon called out, but she didn’t move or answer; only her sobs increased.

Leon picked up a stone from the ground and tossed it, which touched Liu Yan’s legs. Leon’s eyes went soulless when he saw the pale face and bony cheeks of Liu Yan.

"Just let me go." Liu Yan screamed in a dying voice, then lowered her head once again. "Please, Aurelian. Let me go. Please."

Leon crouched down for a moment without saying a word, then looked at Liu Yan’s face, the way her lips moved like she was still repeating the words even after nothing was coming out anymore.

"Liu Yan," Leon said in a quiet tone, then stretched his right arm toward the burning rod. "It’s me."

Liu Yan blinked and focused on the person who had crouched down outside the cell, as if she was still processing what she was seeing.

When she noticed it was Leon, her mouth and whole body pulled inward like something inside her was contracting.

"I’m getting you out," Leon said and drew Wu Ze’s sword from his back, then slammed it against the bar.

The first strike sent sparks across his hands and made the bar ring but did not break it. Leon struck again, and again. On the second strike, the bar bent sideways as Leon hit the base twice more before it finally came loose.

"Leon." Liu Yan called to Leon as she pulled herself toward the bars. "Please, get out of here. We are already dead. Please leave us."

But Leon didn’t even look up, let alone listen; he kept slamming the sword on the second bar.

"Leon."

"I heard you," Leon said and immediately broke the second bar free. When he started on the third, sweat ran into his eyes as heat lanced through the sword’s blade and entered his bones.

Leon wiped the sweat with the back of his left arm without stopping.

Loud footsteps echoed from behind Leon immediately as the third bar cracked at the base and bent inward.

Liu Yan lifted her eyes, followed the direction of the footsteps, then focused on Leon. "Go!"

When Leon broke the last piece of the third bar and turned, countless Syrs were now exiting from the tunnel with sharp air escaping their mouths and noses.

He threw himself through the gap he had made and rolled into the far-left corner, and remained still. The darkness in the corner was dense, just as the one he had used to enter the dungeon.

The Syr that led those entering came back with reddened eyes. It stopped at the gate, looked at the broken bars, then tilted its head and looked at those standing behind it.

The moment it turned its gaze back to the cage, it tore the bars open with its bare hands and dragged Liu Yan out, holding both of her arms in one hand.

Another Syr went to the opposite cell and pulled out a human who seemed to be growing small horns on every part of its body.

Through the darkness in the corner, Leon’s eyes widened when he saw An Lang also get dragged outside. He nearly exposed himself when he saw the green tint across An Lang’s forearms, the veins like tree roots.

The Syr flipped An Lang so forcefully that the war discs slid from his back and hit the ground with two separate clangs.

The lead Syr watched as the other dragged An Lang and Liu Yan through the tunnel at the far left, where the dead Syr had been taken.

When they reached the tunnel, Liu Yan wrenched her arm sideways and pulled herself free, then turned back and looked at her cell, smiling.

The Syr grabbed her and pulled her forward like a rag and disappeared into the tunnel.

Leon remained in the dark corner for a moment before exiting. He crouched down to the war discs on the ground, then looked at the two cells before picking the discs up.

He placed the war discs at his back, on top of Wu Ze’s sword, and tightened his grip on the dagger when he straightened and focused on the tunnel the Syrs had entered.