[Third Person POV]
Monet slid down the corridor on a path of ice, using her observation haki to guide her to the prison section of the facility.
It was the most noticeable area, with several dozen people there, all much weaker than everyone else. There were a few guards within the large group, but several other weaker signatures were also scattered throughout the facility, probably in the middle of tests before their attack.
Hajime made clear that, though her priority was to rescue as many as possible, it was understandable if a few couldn't be saved. While she might be capable of dealing with most people there, if they started killing prisoners, then there wouldn't be much she could do.
The entire situation was a trolley problem. By doing the raid, any lives that died would directly be Hajime's fault, but not raiding the place would mean any deaths were indirectly his fault since he knew they were going on.
As such, Hajime could only prioritize saving as many as possible and screwing over the Nebiros clan as much as he could to avenge anyone who died.
Approaching the prison wing, Monet saw two initiate ultimate-class guards standing by the door. It was expensive, but given that nobody conducting these experiments would want anyone to escape, keeping the prisoners locked up tight was crucial.
Luckily for Monet, none of them were on their guard. Why would they be? They're basically just there to ensure there aren't escapees, and from their perspective, who'd be crazy enough to attack the main house of one of Lucifer's Six Houses.
Not only do they have a decent-sized army, but the last major fight in Devil territory broke out around 60 years ago, during World War 2. After so many decades of relative peace, of course, they'd be more relaxed. Judging from their expressions, they were probably scolded in the past for slacking off, so they won't dare while they're on duty, no matter how much they want to.
Using her snow fruit to lower the ambient temperature, Monet sent chilling gusts of air in preparation for her next attack.
Monet saw the two devils quickly start shivering, already affected by the cold.
Suddenly, a large explosion rocked the facility, sending the two guards tumbling to the ground, only to recoil from the cold metal floor.
Realizing the facility probably knew they were there now, Monet threw caution to the wind. Stepping out from behind the corner, she found herself besieged by the two ultimate-class devils.
Luckily for her, despite their level, they were unprepared for her appearance.
Having stumbled from the vibration, one devil even falling to the floor, Monet struck.
Her body shot forward, two ice spikes condensing in her hands before releasing them, sending them flying at the two devils like arrows.
The devils, now alert, reacted to the ice spikes, dodging them as soon as they noticed. One of them, the one who had fallen, was grazed in the arm.
Seeing their foe approach, they immediately started casting whatever fire spells they knew, assuming Monet's use of ice magic was her main one.
Sadly for them, her earlier preparations had already begun to affect them.
The cold air naturally weakened the flame's effects. At the same time, the wind, filled with little particles of snow not even big enough to form a snowflake, buffeted the fire magic in a way that forced the two ultimate-class devils to expend more magic to maintain the spell.
It wasn't that either of them was weak.
Compared to the average peak high-class, these two would easily beat any of them in terms of raw power. Unfortunately, that was all. These two had mostly reached their current level through aging. As devils age, their reserves naturally expand. These two weren't born to nobility and were thus forced to work to advance in society. They had both reached high-class two centuries ago when they were noticed by the Nebiros Patriarch, slowly inching their way toward ultimate-class.
Their magic control and combat ability were decent, but for their level, it was atrocious.
Monet closed in, the cold winds blowing stronger. As a logia, her attacks were a part of her, with the energy cost not much different from a few quick exercises.
Once she got close to them, Monet pressed her hands on their shoulders, covering them both in a casing of ice before pressing the ice inward, crushing them inside like an iron maiden.
Ignoring the key, Monet broke the lock with armament haki and unleashed a blizzard, quickly taking down the closest guards.
Stepping into the prison wing, it was small compared to the rest of the facility, with at least a few dozen cells.
Monet didn't waste any time.
Using her ice-make magic, Monet created multiple ice eagles, flying them deeper into the prison kamikaze-style.
Blocking off the doorway with a thick ice wall, she methodically moved through the prison, taking down one guard after another.
Funnily enough, the guards inside the prison were even easier to kill than the two that were standing watch earlier.
None of these guards were at peak high-class, giving her a distinct edge in strength and allowing her to take them down with ruthless efficiency.
With the last guard dead, Monet moved to the nearest inhabited cell, inside which was a child, removing the suitcase from her back and opening it.
Using the same maternal feeling she cultivated on Punk Hazard, Monet unlocked the cage with her ice-make magic by making a key, explaining that she and her friends came to help them after hearing about the atrocious experiments the Nebiros clan was performing.
The scared child, hearing her words, refused to speak, unwilling to even look at her.
Monet didn't give up, though. She needed at least one person to go into the suitcase, and she knew the rest would follow.
So she kept talking. She talked about the time since Hajime had resurrected her in this new world, leaving out any identifying information, but talked about the different things she'd done. She talked about the different restaurants she visited and the food she ate, about the magical zoo she visited, about how she was a gardener, and more.
The more she talked, the calmer the child became.
Reaching out her hand, Monet asked if the child wished to stay down here forever.
Slowly, the child reached their hand back, clasping Monet's hand. Monet slowly walked them out of the cell before whispering in their ear.
"Listen, child, I have a way to get everyone out of here, but there's a good chance they won't trust me. I'm going to need your help to convince them to leave, okay?"
The child looked hesitant, but soon nodded, bringing a smile to Monet's face.
"Good, let's get to work."
Moving to the next cell, while Monet unlocked it, the child spoke to their fellow prisoner, exclaiming that this would be their only chance to escape. Seeing that the older prisoner seemed unmoved, Monet decided to interject.
"This quite literally might be your only opportunity for freedom, you know," she bluntly stated. "My team only found this place because it's below the Nebiros' mansion. Those devils'll probably move now that they've been found, and erase any records that might reveal their new lab. They'll probably also increase the number of guards and restrict prisoners' freedom even more. At that point, even if we try this again, the odds of saving you would go down even more; that's, of course, provided they don't kill all their current prisoners to avoid loose lips."
Monet painted a bleak picture for everyone who could hear her.
She knew it might make them even more afraid, or even hate her for appearing at all, but as someone who had been on the other end, she knew what she was talking about.
If there weren't already a commotion, their escape would draw the Nebiros' security into the city, alerting everyone. At that point, they'd do whatever they could to keep this incident under wraps. It was already bad enough that their home was broken into so boldly; they absolutely could not have the secret laboratory and inhumane experiments revealed.
It might be annoying having to get more test subjects, but if it meant ensuring silence about their actions, the choice was obvious.
Hearing Monet's cutting words, murmurs of agreement were heard from many other cells.
None of the prisoners was stupid after all. They all realized this place was hell, but they didn't exactly have any other options. Besides, as long as they behaved, things remained tolerable, if incredibly uncomfortable. And though a few thought, 'If you knew the risks for us, then why come here?', most understood that they should be grateful they'd get a chance to escape.
"Where will you take us after this?" the man Monet was freeing asked.
"For now, you'll all probably stay in the suitcase my boss owns to escape," Monet said, gesturing behind her. "At least until we know where you all want to go. However, it'll probably be better if you stay with us. I don't know how you all got here, but returning to wherever you came from would potentially put you on their radar again, and I doubt they'll be as friendly as they were the first time."
The older prisoners understood what she meant.
Many of them were captured years ago, and while they'd been imprisoned, they'd learned it was because of their magical talent, which the Nebiros were trying to exploit. Even if their families were still alive and living safely, there's no way the Nebiros wouldn't think to look there at least once for an escaped prisoner. At that point, they'd just be signing everyone's death warrant.
Hearing that most people were agreeing, Monet finished unlocking the cell and moved to the others, creating more ice keys inside them.
"When you're out, go unlock another cage. Once you're all out, hop into the suitcase. It's been spatially expanded on the inside, and there's food and water in it." Monet delivered instructions as she worked. The prisoners joined her with an enthusiasm they hadn't felt in years, finally having the chance to regain their freedom.
Some were gruffer than others, not willing to risk staying any longer than they needed to, but a simple glare from Monet had them unlocking more doors in no time.
After nearly five minutes, all the cells were unlocked, and the prisoners were freed.
However, none of the prisoners was who she was looking for.
Hajime had given her clear instructions: there were two rare yokai in the facility, and they needed to be extracted.
Gathering up all the prisoners, Monet had them form an orderly line to get inside the suitcase.
Hajime had put a few clones inside, so she didn't need to worry about dealing with them after this.
As the last of the prisoners was getting inside, the boy she had freed earlier walked up to her.
Quietly, with a voice barely louder than a mosquito, he asked her, "Th-they won't f-f-find us after this, r-r-r-right?"
"Don't worry about that. From what I can tell, even the strongest person here can't beat my boss in a fight. Now hurry up, I can sense more prisoners elsewhere."
Her words calmed the boy down before he climbed into the suitcase after the others.
With all the cells empty, Monet broke the ice wall that she used to keep the devils out. When the wall shattered, she saw several devils waiting outside, trying to ambush her.
Not wasting her time, Monet unleashed a blizzard, blocking their sight, sneakily impaling them with icicles, and heading to where she sensed more prisoners.
__________
Author's Note:
I mentioned this in my Riser Reborn story, so check that out if you haven't, but I went on vacation with my dad to Italy for the last week, and now I'm back home. I edited this chapter in my hotel room the night before my dad and I returned home, so I'll give a small summary of what we did.
(For reference, our hotel is in Milan)
Thursday: We walked around Milan, checked out the Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Science and Technology, the Duomo, and the Galleria.
Friday: We visited Turin and went to the Museo Egizio, a museum dedicated to ancient Egypt.
Saturday: We went to Lake Como, checked out Varenna, took a ferry to Menaggio, and played a game of mini-golf before barely making the ferry back.
Sunday: We went to the Parco Faunistico Le Cornelle, where I got 2 cheetah souvenirs, and later visited Bergamo Alta.
Monday: We started in Brescia, checked out the twin cathedrals and Capitolium of Brixia, before heading to Lake Garda. We ate lunch in Desenzano and ferried to Sirmione for an hour or two.
Tuesday: Lastly, we went to Verona, checked out the colosseum there, and a cathedral.
It was a great trip, but I can safely say I want to die after all the walking.
Thanks for reading; I'll see you next time!