A full year had passed.
They had moved Sosuke deeper into the prison's bowels, ensuring he would never escape. This place was beyond the regular cells—past the dimly lit corridors where the walls dripped with condensation, past the iron doors rusted shut from decades of blood and rot. The air was thick with the stench of decay, a suffocating mix of sweat, mold, and something far worse. The screams had long since stopped. Those who still lived had either lost their voices or their will.
Sosuke walked down the narrow hallway, his bare feet pressing against the frozen stone floor. The iron cuffs dug into his wrists, heavier than before, but he no longer felt their weight. A single guard escorted him, the same routine as always. No other prisoners were permitted near him. Isolation had been their greatest weapon against him.
Then, a whisper.
"Psst, Mr. Estrella." The guard at his side leaned in slightly, voice hushed but firm.
Sosuke barely registered it at first. He had long stopped expecting conversation.
"My name's Lumi," the guard continued, her accent thick and unpolished, each syllable rolling off her tongue like someone who had learned to speak on the streets. "I'm gettin' ya outta here, alright?"
Sosuke blinked. His mind, dulled from starvation and suffering, struggled to process the words.
"What…?" His voice cracked, brittle from disuse.
"I had to wait for the right time," Lumi muttered, glancing ahead to make sure no one was listening. "They wouldn't assign me to ya 'til now. But reckon today's the day ya walk free."
Sosuke's thoughts swirled, sluggish but sharp enough to latch onto one truth—this was his only chance.
"Take me to the showers," he rasped.
Lumi shot him a look. "What? Why?"
"They don't guard that area. No one ever gets sent there." He coughed, his throat raw. "It'd be nice to be clean before I kill them."
Lumi let out a low whistle. "Your voice is rougher than a graveyard wind. Fine. I'll take ya."
The showers were as desolate as he expected—broken pipes, rust-stained walls, and a single drain clogged with things better left unspoken. Lumi leaned against the outside door, arms crossed, playing the part of an indifferent guard. She didn't have to try hard. No one cared. The prisoners here weren't threats; they were already dead, walking corpses waiting to drop.
Sosuke emerged minutes later, dressed in a fresh set of rags, his shoulders squaring for the first time in months.
Lumi's gaze flicked to him. "You got a question?" he asked, rolling his shoulders.
"Nah." She tilted her head. "Just wonderin' why ya asked me to take off the chain but not the cuffs blockin' your mana."
Sosuke exhaled slowly. "You'll see." His voice was cold, unwavering. "I've had time to think in this place. Some people are rotten to the core. There's no redemption for Astorians."
Lumi let out a low chuckle, but there was an edge of unease in it. "Right…"
"What do you want me to do?" she asked.
"Hand me the key." Sosuke held out his hand, his purple eyes dull but unreadable. "Then stand back and watch."
Lumi didn't hesitate. She slipped him the key, then followed as he strode toward the security room. Five guards were inside, their posture lax, their attention split between a dim oil lamp and a set of mismatched playing cards.
Lumi gave a subtle nod and opened the door.
A guard turned, frowning. "What the—"
Sosuke moved.
Before the first man could reach for his baton, Sosuke's fist slammed into his throat. A sickening crunch followed as the guard collapsed, choking on his own breath. The second barely had time to register the attack before Sosuke pivoted, grabbing him by the back of the head and driving his skull into the rusted metal table. Blood sprayed across the cards.
The third guard lunged, but Sosuke sidestepped, twisting the man's arm behind his back until it snapped like dry kindling. A knee to the spine sent him sprawling. The fourth tried to run, but Sosuke was faster, seizing him by the collar and slamming him face-first into the wall.
The last guard stood frozen, his weapon half-raised, terror widening his eyes.
Sosuke stepped forward, gaze empty, movements precise. Before the guard could fire, Sosuke wrenched the gun from his grip and smashed it into his face. The man crumpled.
The room fell silent.
Lumi let out a slow breath, her wide eyes flicking between the bodies sprawled across the floor. "Damn. You weren't lyin'."
Sosuke didn't respond. His gaze drifted across the room until it landed on a glass-encased alarm system mounted on the wall.
"That's the alarm," Lumi muttered. "You're lucky they didn't push the button, or—"
Before she could finish, Sosuke drove his fist through the glass and pressed the button himself.
The effect was immediate. A deafening wail tore through the prison, a high-pitched mechanical shriek that sent vibrations through the metal framework. Red warning lights flared to life, casting the halls in a pulsing, bloody glow.
Lumi took a step back, her throat tightening. "Heh… What's that about?" She forced a chuckle, though her fingers twitched toward her weapon. "This some kinda master plan?"
"I told you to watch." Sosuke's voice was calm, almost indifferent, as he stepped past her and out of the security room.
He emerged onto a grated walkway overlooking the heart of the prison—a vast, circular chamber that stretched upward into darkness. Towering steel walls lined with cells stacked upon cells. The lowest floor, far below, was a pit of shadows, and above him, the ceiling was lost to the gloom. This place wasn't just a prison. It was a tomb built skyward, trapping its prisoners in layers of misery.
The moment the alarm blared, the hive of guards erupted into motion. Dozens rushed onto walkways, rifles raised, barking orders. Heavy metal doors groaned open, releasing more from the barracks. Hundreds mobilized with machine-like efficiency, flooding the levels like a tide of black uniforms.
Sosuke smirked.
Without hesitation, he climbed onto the railing and leapt.
Air whistled past him as he descended, a freefall through the prison's core. At the same time, he raised his wrists and unlocked the cuffs.
The result was instantaneous—chaotic.
Mana, which had been drained from him for a year, now rushed back with terrifying speed. The air around him warped violently, as if space itself were being pulled inward. Every stray particle of mana in the vicinity was drawn to him, collapsing toward his core like a dying star devouring its surroundings. The walls groaned under the sheer force. The steel walkways trembled.
Then, in a blinding flash, his lightning roared to life.
Jagged bolts of violet erupted from his body, lashing outward in a storm of uncontained fury. The first wave of guards staggered, eyes wide with horror, before the lightning shredded through them. Some were incinerated on the spot, their bodies reduced to blackened husks. Others were torn apart by the raw energy surging through the air, their screams drowned by the crackling storm.
Sosuke barely registered them. A sharp, searing pain stabbed through his skull—his body, unprepared for the sudden flood of power, rebelled against it. He gritted his teeth, gripping his head as arcs of electricity spiraled out of control around him.
The guards who remained standing scrambled to flee, but it was already too late.
The prison's foundation trembled. The storm spread without restraint, a wildfire of destruction. Metal railings twisted, steel beams melted, and the very air crackled with the raw intensity of his unleashed power.
Sosuke exhaled, eyes glowing with streaks of violet.
Finn barely had time to react before Sosuke closed the distance. Their clash wasn't one of swords but of raw strength and speed—Sosuke's fist crashed against Finn's hurried guard, the impact sending a violent shockwave through the air. Finn staggered back, his arms numb from absorbing the blow.
Sosuke didn't relent. He surged forward again, lightning bursting from his every movement. Finn ducked beneath a strike aimed for his head, countering with a sharp kick toward Sosuke's ribs, but Sosuke caught his leg mid-air. Before Finn could react, Sosuke twisted sharply and hurled him across the battlefield like a ragdoll.
Finn barely managed to roll with the impact, landing in a low crouch. His instincts screamed at him to move, and he did—just in time to avoid Sosuke's foot slamming down where he had just been, the force leaving a crater in the stone.
He struck out with his sword in a desperate arc, aiming for Sosuke's exposed side, but it was useless. Sosuke weaved around the blade with unnatural speed, slipping inside Finn's guard and driving a lightning-clad fist into his gut. The blow sent Finn reeling, his body convulsing from the surge of electricity that followed.
Finn gasped, barely able to get air into his lungs before Sosuke was on him again. A brutal knee to the ribs. An elbow to the jaw. Every attack landed with precision, each one carrying enough force to break bones. Finn fought to keep up, parrying with his sword where he could, but it was like trying to hold back a storm with a shield made of glass.
A punch aimed for Finn's face forced him to duck, but Sosuke anticipated it—his other hand shot forward, gripping Finn's throat. In a single motion, he lifted him off the ground and slammed him into the stone floor. The impact sent cracks spiderwebbing beneath them.
Sosuke loomed over him, his eyes glowing with raw power, his grip tightening. "You're still standing," he muttered, his voice unreadable. "Fine. Let's see how much more you can take."
And then he lifted Finn again—only to throw him straight into the nearest wall.
Finn's hand shook as he stretched it toward Sosuke, his voice breaking with desperation. "STOP! I beg you! Spare me—I know I've done wrong…"
Sosuke barely recognized his own expression in the reflection of Finn's terrified eyes. There was a time when the thought of taking a human life would've made his stomach turn. But after a year inside these walls—after the screams, the blood, the endless agony he had endured—mercy felt like an insult to every soul that had suffered in this place.
He took a slow step forward, his eyes burning with a violent, unrelenting hatred. "You tortured them," he said, voice low but seething. "The prisoners in these cells—you never even cared whether they were Westorian or not. It was a sport to you. Amusement. Do you think they would want me to spare you?" Another step. Finn scrambled backward, his breath ragged, eyes darting for an escape that didn't exist.
"You had no regrets. None." Sosuke's voice hardened. "You couldn't even develop your core technique because you strayed from your real path. Had you stayed loyal to your nation, you might've been great. Instead, you're just a disgrace—a pitiful imitation of what could've been."
Finn collapsed to the floor, his sword slipping from his grasp with a soft clatter. He whimpered, tears pooling in his eyes. Sosuke crouched, grabbing Finn's face in a crushing grip, forcing him to meet his gaze.
"There are consequences," Sosuke whispered. "Death is the only one you deserve."
The air around them crackled as a surge of lightning exploded from Sosuke's palm, coursing through Finn's body in a blinding flash. Finn's shriek of agony barely lasted a second before his body convulsed violently—his muscles seized, his skin blackened, and the light in his eyes faded. By the time Sosuke released him, Finn's corpse crumpled lifelessly to the ground, smoke rising from his charred flesh.
A slow clap echoed through the ruined hall. "Enough of the show. It's about time you made your way out of here."
Sosuke turned his head slightly, already recognizing the voice.
Lance.
"What? Not going to fight me?" Lance's voice was lighthearted, but his expression twisted with mild irritation when Sosuke didn't react. "Oh, come on. That's your Star Eyes, right? You must be wondering how I know about those." He grinned. "Not telling, of course."
Sosuke said nothing.
Lance raised an eyebrow. His grin faltered. "Judging by your silence, you already figured it out. I'm nothing but a weak clone." He sighed dramatically. "You really think I'd waste my real self on a prison where rebellion was impossible? You just got lucky."
Sosuke moved in an instant. He snatched up Finn's fallen sword and hurled it through the air like a spear. It pierced through Lance's chest before the clone could even react, and his form crumbled into a pile of dust.
A shaky breath came from behind him. "M-Mr. Estrella… is it time to leave?"
Lumi.
Sosuke barely turned his head. "The rest of the guards are evacuating. I have to chase every last one down."
"Don't worry 'bout that! I called backup a long while ago," Lumi declared, hands on her hips with a smug grin. "I made a lotta preparations for today—quite proud of it, if I do say so myself!"
Sosuke exhaled sharply. "Westorian soldiers…? They won't stand a chance against an Astorian one-on-one. There will be casualties." His expression darkened. He closed his eyes for a brief moment before turning away. "Don't follow me."
"Eh…?" Lumi blinked, watching as Sosuke walked off, his silhouette fading into the distant corridor toward the exit.