He moved the shadow faster, twisting it as quickly as possible. He tried– he kept thinking of his shadow becoming harder, becoming solid. But it was nearly impossible. Still, he didn't stop. He continued twisting it at unimaginable speed.

His brain felt like it was on fire. Then, at one point, he got the result.

Click.

The metallic sound was faint, but to Amon, it was deafening. The handcuffs loosened.

They fell away from his wrists and clattered softly against the metal floor.

Amon froze, breathing heavily, disbelief flooding his mind.

Then relief. Sharp, overwhelming.

He looked at his freed hands, shaking uncontrollably. The body that had felt sealed and locked by something finally felt free. Suppressed mana inside his body started to circulate throughout him, just like blood.

Warmth spread all over his body. Amon clenched his fists and unclenched them.

"…I did it."

His escape had begun.

Amon got up and moved toward the cage door.

'Shit, not again.'

But this time, Amon tried to bend the metal bars rather than unlocking them.

Mana gathered around both his arms, enhancing them as much as possible. Shadows moved and wrapped around his arms, increasing his strength further. He grabbed two bars and started to bend them in opposite directions.

He clenched his teeth.

'Fuck, what are they made of?'

His head throbbed, the wounds on his body screamed in pain, yet he didn't stop.

He forced everything. Using all his power, all his will.

"Ahhhh!" He let out a scream, not from pain, but from exerting all his strength.

The metal bars slowly moved.

They bent more and more, forming a large gap. Big enough for Amon to move through.

Finally, Amon stepped out of the cage.

"Hah… I'm out," he muttered. But he wasn't happy. His eyes moved toward the corner.

He couldn't see well.

Amon slowly moved to the entrance of the tent. He opened the flap and saw a lantern at the entrance.

There was no guard outside this tent. Amon knew the reason, those shadow ghosts. They could also control minds.

Amon still didn't know why they hadn't controlled his mind before

'Are they this careless, not having a single guard for the prisoners?'

But then his eyes landed on a tent a few meters away. At the another entrance of another tent. A demon soldier sat outside near a lantern.

Amon frowned.

He gazed at the forest. Inside it, he could see shadowy figures– not clearly, but they were there.

But unlike usual, they were silent.

'Aren't they supposed to keep screaming from time to time? Wait… now that I think about it, I haven't heard any weird noises here for the last three days.'

He couldn't tell.

He then took the lantern and looked around the other sides. Very few demon soldiers were out.

Most of them were far away from this place, near the center of the camp. Lighting up a campfire and sat in round.

The prisoners tent was on the edge of the camp. Near him, there was only one demon soldier, asleep.

Amon went inside, toward the cage where Harvey and Mira were.

"Shit, it's locked," he muttered.

They were in the same cage, so that was good.

Amon did the same thing again. With all his power, he bent the metal bars as much as possible.

He entered the cage and pulled the two of them out.

"Hah… Harvey! Mira!"

After taking them outside, Amon tried to wake them up.

"Harvey… Harvey," he called in a low voice, slapping his cheek and shaking his body.

Then he stopped. His trembling hand moved toward Harvey's nose.

'No! Please no! Please!' Amon prayed.

'Shit!'

Amon bent forward, dropping to his knees. Tears streamed slowly down his cheeks.

"Fuck! He's dead… he was just awake a few hours ago." He bit his lips until blood came out.

Then Amon hurriedly moved to Mira.

"Mira! Mira… wake up, Mira!"

She was still breathing. She wasn't dead.

But she didn't respond. Slowly, she opened her eyes.

Her eyes were dazed. Broken.

"Mira! Reply to me, Mira." His tears fell onto her face as she stared at him.

He continued calling her name while crying.

"A-A-Amo-n…" she muttered weakly.

Amon's eyes lit up. "Mira! Listen, Mira… we can get out of here. We can survive. Let's go… I'll take you from here," Amon said with relief.

Mira looked at Amon with an expressionless face.

Mira looked at him with an expressionless face.

Not fear. Not confusion. Just emptiness.

"Amon…" her voice was barely a whisper, fragile, as if it might disappear if she spoke any louder.

Amon nodded desperately, gripping her shoulders. "I'm here. I'm here. We're leaving, okay? I broke the cage. I got the cuffs off. We can run right now. Just hold on to me."

Her gaze drifted past him, unfocused, as if she wasn't really seeing the tent anymore. Her lips trembled.

"…You shouldn't try to save me," she murmured.

Amon froze. "What… what are you saying?"

Amon had only known her for a week, but he had grown quite close to her.

Mira slowly shook her head. The movement was weak and painful. "Amon… I can't."

"You can," he said immediately, his voice breaking. "You will. I'll carry you if I have to. I don't care. I'm not leaving you here."

Lucien, Derrick, Kaelra, and even Harvey. They were all dead.

Even in such a short span of time, he had grown very close to all of them.

And now, even Mira was going.

She finally looked directly at him. And that was when Amon's heart beat faster in pain.

Her eyes were alive. But hollow. Like something essential had been torn out and never returned. There was pain there, yes. But deeper than that was resignation.

"…My body doesn't move the way it should anymore," she said softly. "I don't feel my legs. I don't feel… much of anything."

Amon shook his head violently. "No. No, that's just shock. You're injured, that's all. Once we get out, once we find help—"

Mira raised her hand with great effort. Her fingers trembled as they reached his face.

Amon fell silent.

Seeing her expression, Amon could guess what she wanted. What she was going to say.

It was painfully sad.

---

[A/N: Alright guys with great effort I will try to write a sad scene for practice. I was going to make I short...but thought why not practice. So I stretched scene between him and Mira. Heheh~]

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