In the dimness of the cave, Asti, standing behind Darlius, caught sight of the exit illuminated by a multitude of flickering torches.
"Is everyone ready, I hope?" Darlius asked, his voice echoing in the darkness.
"What do you expect? Always ready to survive!" Aconé replied confidently, carrying Lucien on his back.
"Asti, you ready? Because there's no room for mistakes now," Simone said, noticing Asti's loud breathing and restless movements.
"They're here!" a voice shouted from outside the cave.
"I hope they're more entertaining than the last ones," another voice sneered.
"Anyway, what can they do? There's at least fifty of us. Unless a rank nine shows up to help them, they don't stand a chance," a third voice added arrogantly.
"That's a bad way of thinking!" Aconé yelled, drawing closer to the exit.
"That must be the prisoner," someone outside murmured.
"Perfect, one more for our entertainment!" several voices exclaimed, their faces twisted into cruel smiles.
At that moment, Simone, with a precise gesture, commanded the steel fragments hovering above her to merge into a massive iron sphere.
"Well, that's an entrance fit for the greatest!" Aconé joked, impressed.
"When I start running, you follow me!" Simone ordered.
Fifty meters from the surface.
Forty meters from the surface.
At thirty meters from the surface, Simone leapt forward and jumped onto the massive iron sphere floating above her.
With a mental command, she propelled it toward the exit at full speed. The sphere, which had been moving slowly until then, shot forward like an arrow.
"That's the signal, right?" Darlius asked uncertainly.
"What do you think? Now shut up and follow her!" Aconé growled, sprinting after Simone.
Asti and Darlius followed suit without hesitation.
Outside, their arrival was awaited with malicious anticipation.
"I hear footsteps—they're finally here! Get ready to make them suffer the worst!" a man ordered.
"Don't give them any chance to escape. Surround the cave's entrance, and as soon as they come out, beat them to a pulp. But don't kill them—we'll make them suffer for days!" he added, positioning himself at the center of the semicircle formed around the entrance. His goal: to be the first to crush any hope of escape.
"You're here!" he said with a mocking smile, which quickly turned to shock.
From his perspective, he saw a massive sphere of compacted iron hurtling toward them at terrifying speed.
Atop her sphere, Simone didn't savor the cool air or the fact that they'd escaped the cave. She was far too focused on their getaway. Seeing the semicircle of enemies, she opened her hand wide while her other hand scraped against the metal.
A piercing screech rang out five times. The iron sphere suddenly flattened, transforming into five long, sharpened bars forming a menacing star.
Not as sharp as a sword, but if I aim for their necks, it'll do the job, Simone thought.
With a mental command, she made the iron star spin three times, then declared in a cold voice:
"It's not quite what you wanted, but they'll die anyway. Kill them, Sea Star!"
The twenty men surrounding the cave saw, for the last time, one of the iron bars of Simone's Sea Star bearing down on them.
Those struck by the sharpened edges were hit in the throat. Simone had ensured the blades caught on veins or any vital organ before spinning the star in the opposite direction, tearing through everything in its path. The others, hit by the blunt sides, were crushed by the bars rotating at tremendous speed.
I've heard rank nines can destroy walls with a single hand. But almost no walls are made of iron. I might have just created an anti-rank nine attack… as long as they attack me barehanded, Simone mused, a glint of satisfaction in her eyes.
The Sea Star stopped spinning, and Simone refocused on the battle.
The remaining Red Shadows stared in horror at the carnage: flattened bodies, half-severed heads. Asti, Aconé, and Darlius looked with astonishment at the pile of corpses on the ground.
Asti, somewhat accustomed to shocking scenes, drew his bow and shot down an enemy still frozen in shock.
"Darlius, what are you doing? I remind you, we need to get out of here!" Asti shouted.
His voice snapped Darlius out of his stupor, but it also alerted the remaining Red Shadows. As planned, Darlius positioned himself in front of Asti, facing the enemies charging toward them.