Chapter 155: Chosen

Serena, Jane, and Aric moved simultaneously as Hugh to dispose of the other bald men with suits. They just had to use a little bit of their strength to take out the obstacles in their way.

Four bald men were thrown at the walls where their shapes are dented into the bricks, while one of them is busy trying to put out the black fire in their clothes.

The only person left was Song, the receptionist. There was fear and panic in her eyes as she saw her four bodyguards get beaten up without much trouble.

The only people that could summon strength and magic like that are the chosen ones in this world. It was rare for them to show up, which was why she did not think that four of them would come here.

"You…you're all chosen?" Song blurted out as she took a step back in fear. "That's impossible!"

To hire a chosen one as a bodyguard would cost a tremendous amount of money, not to mention four of them. If Miser was able to pay off these chosen ones, he could have just paid off his debt instead.

Song then hurried to a pillar next to her and tapped it three times in succession.

*RING* *RING* *RING*

Song activated the emergency alarm for intruders. It blasted out a loud warning throughout the building to come and subdue the intruders.

Hugh ignored Song and threw her aside. He went directly to Mai's jail cell and pried off the metal bars with his own hands.

It took all of his strength, but he was able to make enough room for Mai to escape with her small figure.

"Papa!" She cried out as she had finally released from the jail cell.

She shook Miser's body and made sure that he was still alive, and thankfully, he opened his eyes.

"Am I dreaming? Is that truly you, Mai?" Miser muttered as his eyes watered and a smile grew on his face.

Mai nodded furiously as she tried to hold off the tears in her eyes. In the end, her tears dropped to the floor as she finally got the reunion that she always dreamed of as she slept every night under the jail's ceiling.

"I don't want to ruin your reunion, but…" Aric said as he looked to the entrance of the caves.

They could see several figures coming inside with weapons drawn and their faces savage. It was clear that they had no intention of letting the intruders leave alive.

The halls were filled with bald men, overwhelming Hugh and his group with numbers. Either way, Hugh would make sure that he would be able to escape.

"You guys ready?" Serena asked as pink smoke started to revolve around her.

"On 3. One…two…"Jane muttered however, Aric did not seem to understand numbers as he charged headfirst before the count.

"Ahhhh!!!" Aric shouted as he filled himself with black fire and attacked the nearest bald suit.

Hugh shook his head as he saw Aric charge in first. Then, he turned towards Mai and Miser and spoke to them. "Wait here."

Then, Jane, Serena, Aric, and Hugh, all collectively paved the way to go outside. They beat up every bald suit that tried to stop them.

Weapons were not an effective way to stop Hugh and the others. They would always overpower the bald suits even if they were outnumbered one to five.

"Ruff! Ruff!" Beru shouted as he charged in towards the bald men and bit their legs.

Hugh did not know when Beru got out, but he was glad that he had another help.

Screams filled and echoed in the chambers as the bald men got the beating that they deserved. Hugh and the others had no time to deal the final blow as they got busy making sure that they are just out for the count.

At the end of the first wave, Hugh and the others walked in a sea of bald men. They had defeated most of them, but Hugh found it strange that nobody came after them anymore.

They were at the end of the cave and were near the spiral staircase. They just needed to go upstairs, and they would be at the precipice of freedom.

Just as Aric was going to climb through the spiral staircase, Hugh suddenly got a chill in his back.

"Wait!" Hugh shouted out, but it was already too late.

*BOOM*

An explosion occurred at the very feet of the spiral staircase, exactly where Aric stepped in.

Hugh was in a panic as he understood the physics of an underground explosion.

In a confined space like a cave, an explosion could affect every hole and space inside like a raging fire. The explosion would continue out through every jail cell and every hallway inside the cave.

Hugh tried his best to cover the explosion with his body, but it was not enough.

At this rate, the explosion would continue throughout the cave and burn the prisoners, including Miser and Mia.

Hugh did not leave unscathed from the explosion either. He could only use his armor on two limbs, so he used it on his upper body and his head.

All his other body parts were burnt to a degree.

At the end of the explosion, Hugh was afraid to open his eyes. He did not want to see burnt corpses at the end of the tunnel.

Then, he turned to look at his back.

Miraculously, nobody was hurt. Then, he saw Jane with both of her hands spread wide open with beads of sweat coming off her face.

Jane's complexion was not good, and Hugh could see that she was only hanging on by a thread.

Hugh understood the heroic deed that Jane had to do. With her Desire as the air pressure, she was able to make sure that there was space devoid of air between the explosion and the rest of the cave.

Her action saved everyone inside the cave. If not for her, even the air inside the cave would be used and there would be no oxygen inside to breathe.

When Jane saw that the explosion had come to pass, she closed her eyes and she passed out. Hugh quickly came to her side and checked her pulse.

Thankfully enough, there was still a pulse in Jane's wrists. Jane had only passed out due to exhaustion.

"That was close…" Serena muttered as she also got saved because of Jane.

Jane and Serena had not been that close, but now, she owed Jane big time.

"Let's get out of here," Hugh said as he took Jane's body and carried her out.

Serena escorted Miser and Mai out while Hugh led the way.

*cough* *cough*

Several coughs came out of the smoke from the explosion. Hugh felt relieved as he sensed that Aris was still alive.

"Gahhh…that was hot," Aric said as he emerged from the smoke.

His clothes were burnt as well as some of his skin, but he was okay for the most part.

He was able to endure the explosion because he was able to coat himself with the black cold fire just before the explosion devoured him.

They were able to survive the explosion, but the staircase was mostly destroyed. The stairs at the top were still intact, but they had no way to get there.

"How are we gonna get up there?" Aric asked as he looked at the top.

"We can't climb. We can try to jump, but Miser and Mai can't." Serena said.

Hugh put down Jane on the pavement and went near the walls.

"We'll just dig up," Hugh said as he activated his armor on his fists and started to dig on the walls.

Serena and Aric were both surprised as they saw Hugh dig through the walls like a maniac.

What's more surprising was that Hugh was not throwing it away, but devouring it like a hungry animal. It was a sight to behold for the two of them.

Miser and Mai were both less surprised as they thought that this was normal for the chosen. Now, they both thought that all the chosen could eat pavement like that.

It was not long until Hugh paved a makeshift spiral staircase that led up to the actual staircase. It was small since Hugh had to be fast, so they had to crouch their way up.

———————

"Yes sir. The explosion occurred underground. The intruders are sure to have died," a bald man reported.

He and another bald guy guarded the entrance to the underground. He was sure that nobody survived the explosion, so he was carefree in his shift.

"Hey, you have a mint or something?" a voice asked from behind the guard.

"Oh yeah. I always carry one with…" the guard said as he trailed off his words.

He slowly turned his head to see a man with tattered and burnt clothes. It was Aric, and he had a big smile towards the guard.

Before the guard could even scream, Hugh knocked him out cold with a fast swipe to the chin.