"Do you want me to use magic?"

"Do you know about these handcuffs?"

Ian showed me the handcuffs.

"Ah, aren't those handcuffs that control magic? I read the paper published by Luna recently."

"Luna? Ah, the one who recently joined the Magic Tower, right?"

"Yes, they add interference when using magic, making it impossible to use."

"That paper hasn't been out long, right? It's unlikely that it's already being used. The new handcuffs made are supposed to address the issues present in these handcuffs."

"Yes?"

"Originally, these handcuffs play a role in disturbing mana. They shake the mana inside wizards, making it impossible to use magic."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"No, it's different. The handcuffs made by Luna are magical tools that completely prevent the use of magic. However, the existing handcuffs are magical tools that prevent the use of mana."

"But don't you need to use mana to use magic?"

"That's not entirely wrong, but you know the exception, don't you?"

The exception...

A way to use magic without using mana.

"Necromancy?"

"Yes. Necromancy. It allows you to use magic at the cost of your own life force. Making mana stones from human life is an example of that."

"But why bring that up all of a sudden?"

"It's closely related. Can't you use necromancy?"

"Then."

"There's opening thanks to these handcuffs. An opening to use necromancy."

Kugung

"What's happening?"

The soldiers fell into a state of confusion.

This was clearly the Empire's underground prison.

A place where the most heinous criminals of the Empire were gathered, maintained with strict security.

Something odd was noticed in such a place.

The ground shook violently.

"Everyone, to your posts! The criminals must not be released under any circumstances!"

With Duke Perrian captured, everyone was focused on the underground prison.

They must not show any slack.

'It really happened, didn't it?'

The warden of the prison, who was in charge of the overall operations of the underground jail, looked around.

Perrian had been put in jail, and Ian had sought out the warden.

'It's supposed to be like this'

The warden shouted to the guards around him.

"Everyone, don't panic! Just do as we prepared! Quickly escape!"

"Ah, understood!"

The warden began to lead the other guards.

"Head guard! Immediately request assistance from the Royal Army and notify the royal family."

Since it was unclear who had caused this incident, it was necessary to inform the Royal Army, the largest military force of the current Empire.

Even if it was a rebellion, the Royal Army was needed.

Since the Royal Army wasn't far from the capital, they would arrive quickly.

"Understood."

"Where is the deputy warden?"

"The deputy warden has not come out yet! He is believed to be in the special prison area!"

"Special prison?"

That was where Perrian was imprisoned.

The deputy warden was located in the place dedicated to managing only the wizards among the criminals.

"Some guards went to rescue the deputy warden..."

As the warden tried to speak, the vibrations grew stronger.

And the ceiling of the underground prison began to tilt more and more.

"Ugh..."

The warden frowned and looked towards the underground prison.

Kugugung!

"Let's escape for now! It's going to collapse like this!"

As the warden shouted, the other guards also moved quickly.

"Everyone, escape! Don't worry about the prisoners! Save yourselves first!"

If the underground prison collapsed, they would have to worry about the prisoners escaping, but the guards' survival was the top priority.

Being underground, there would be no chance of survival if the building collapsed.

Even if the prisoners died, the guards had to escape.

"Save us too!"

"You despicable bastards!!!!"

As the guards escaped, the trapped prisoners screamed.

The ceiling continued to collapse due to the large vibrations.

"Save... Huh?"

"Hey, look! This is bent!"

As the ceiling collapsed, the prison bars began to bend.

"This is our chance! Escape!"

"Quickly!!"

The prisoners squeezed their bodies through the bent bars.

The prisoners who barely escaped were busy getting out while the rest were still struggling to do so.

"Hahaha! Freedom! Freedom!"

"Let us out too!!"

The underground prison turned into a chaotic mess with screams and cheers mixing together.

As the prisoners tried to escape from the prison, one of them pointed towards the back.

"...What is that?"

"A monster?"

A monstrous creature, larger than a human, was behind them.

It resembled a human but had torn muscles and flesh in a horrifying appearance.

"Run away!!"

The monster ran towards the escaping prisoners.

"Aaaah!"

The monster caught one person and began to tear their flesh to eat.

The prisoners who had come out shouting for freedom were killed by the monster.

Fortunately, there was only one monster.

It wasn't a situation where everyone would die since there was only one monster.

The prisoners who were initially in despair regained their composure.

"Let's escape! Leave those guys behind!!"

While the upper floors were facing this chaotic situation.

"What on earth is happening?"

The deputy warden was in the special prison.

It was the special prison where the biggest vibration occurred.

The ceiling collapsed severely, and the deputy warden was barely keeping himself safe under the desk.

Just as he was unable to grasp the situation, the sound of his door opening was heard.

"Is the deputy warden there! Deputy warden!"

A voice was heard.

The deputy warden poked his head out from under the desk towards the door.

In front of the door stood Perrian Astria.

"Deputy warden! There you are!"

Perrian quickly ran towards him.

"Unlock these handcuffs immediately."

"What? What are you talking about?"

The deputy warden swallowed his saliva upon seeing Perrian.

Just a few days ago, he was sitting as a duke, but now he was a criminal.

He was a dangerous individual worthy of being locked in the underground prison, so the deputy warden looked at him apprehensively.

"Right now, a strange monster is rampaging outside. Hurry and unlock this."

"I can't do that...! More importantly, where did this monster come from...?"

"A wizard could have implanted a tool into their body. Even if these handcuffs block the body's mana, they might would not control the mana from an implanted magical tool."

"So, are you saying a wizard turned into that monster?"

"I'm not sure of the reason myself. More importantly, unlock these handcuffs quickly! Otherwise, all the criminals in the underground prison might escape!"

The deputy warden looked at Perrian with suspicious eyes.

Should he trust this man?

"Don't look at me with those eyes. I've lived my life as a Duke. I've been loyal to the Empire. Even though I'm imprisoned due to some misunderstanding, my loyalty to the Empire remains."

Perrian spoke as if he was pouring out his frustrations.

"If we leave it like this...!"

"Ah, alright. I'll unlock it."

According to Perrian, if the people in the special prison were released, the Empire would fall into great chaos.

Among those who used magic to commit crimes, the individuals locked in the special prison were tremendously vicious criminals.

The deputy warden reached out to Perrian's handcuffs.

Click.

The deputy warden moved mana, and Perrian's handcuffs were unlocked.

"Duke, I entrust this to you."

The deputy warden unlocked Perrian's handcuffs and looked into his eyes.

Perrian's eyes had grown cold.

They shined differently than when he first entered the room.

"...Duke?"

"Deputy warden, thanks for unlocking me. But."

Perrian straightened his body that had been bent over and extended his hand towards him.

"Where is the amplifier?"

A sharp smile appeared on Perrian's lips.

"If we were just a bit later, it would have been a disaster."

Perrian looked at the amplifier in front of him with a smile.

He approached the amplifier and swept off the dirt that had fallen on it.

"It could have been broken."

In his arms was the deputy warden, looking no different from a corpse.

He couldn't move a single finger, covered in blood.

"Leaving such precious equipment in a place like this. Those uncultured fools."

Perrian raised his hand and used spatial magic.

He cleared the stones that had fallen on the amplifier with spatial magic.

"They don't even know how precious this equipment is. It's something I spent years creating. Tsk."

Perrian clicked his tongue as he checked the condition of the amplifier.

Although it was good that he escaped using necromancy, the amplifier was in bad condition due to the stones that fell from the ceiling.

"I'll have to take it for repairs."

Perrian opened a subspace with spatial magic.

The subspace was a small hole, but it swallowed the large amplifier.

"Deputy warden, thank you for your guidance."

Perrian smiled at the deputy warden lying on the floor.

Then, he used spatial magic again to hide his presence.

"Well then."

Perrian used spatial magic to head to a laboratory near the Astria family's territory.

It was a laboratory he hadn't used much recently, but since it was where he first created the amplifier, it had the equipment needed for repairs.

Perrian opened the subspace again, intending to take out the amplifier.

"...?"

He tried to use spatial magic to retrieve the amplifier, but nothing appeared before him.

Only a black hole opened, without any response.

"Did I use too much mana?"

He had used mana to escape from the underground prison and to travel to the Astria territory, so he did use a lot of mana.

But it shouldn't have been enough to prevent him from opening the subspace.

Perrian furrowed his brows and stared at the open black hole.

The very presence of the black hole meant that the subspace was open.

However, no object was coming out of it.

Perrian tried to take out other objects from the subspace as well.

Still, there was no response.

Perrian swept his hair back, annoyed by the situation not going his way.

And he looked into the subspace.

"What?"

There was nothing inside the subspace.

Not the amplifier.

Not the stacked documents.

Nothing at all.