Chapter 212: Escape Plan

Tristan couldn't stand seeing the bruises on Serene's face. The swollen reddish marks distorted her delicate features, and the longer he looked at her, the tighter he clenched his fists, his rage growing by the second.

The utter indignation he was feeling must have been very evident as well; as he looked Serene in the eye, the look on her face melted into one of concern and slight fear. 

"Tristan…" She began to say in an attempt to reassure him.

"No!" Tristan roared. "I won't let anyone hurt you! You are coming with me now!"

For some reason, Serene's soft voice and dejected expression only angered him even more. His frustration was not directed at her, but rather the individuals responsible for her pain

Tristan began to rattle at the confines of the cell, his [Heat Touch] spell starting to melt the steel bars that were locking him in. It took him three casts of the spell before they fully melted. Finally, when the door could no longer withstand the heat, it cracked open.

"Tristan! You are insane!"

Those were the words that came out of Serene's mouth. 

But when the door swung open, the figure of the man added the fresh air that rushed in from outside somehow began to melt the ice that encased Serene's heart. 

She walked towards him, hand placed over her heaving chest. Although he had annoyed her many times in the past, what girl would not start to melt upon being treated like this?

When the door to Serene's cell swung open, somehow, all the other hostages began to shake at the bars of their cages as well, making loud, rattling noises that reverberated throughout the holding area. It was as if they knew what Tristan was doing. 

Before anything else could happen, Tristan quickly rushed towards the front area. And just as expected, the noble elf ran into the tunnel. 

With his experience against fighting the elder, he knew that these noble elves were very powerful when it came to magic. 

Because of this, before he could react to anything, Tristan jumped ferociously towards the noble like a wild beast taking hold of his prey. He grabbed at his neck with both hands, stopping him from screaming for help or alerting any of his guards.

Tristan quickly cast another round of his [Heat Touch] spell to put further pressure on the noble's neck. 

"Urrgghhh!!!" The noble elf moaned, writhing in agony. 

When Tristan had clung onto his back, the noble had managed to cast some earth magic in defense, which allowed his body to harden into stone. But he was too late as the hardened earth that protected his neck turned into molten rock. Before long, flames erupted out of all the orifices in his face, and as smoke began to pour from his ears, he died. 

Tristan dropped his body slowly to the ground, and not forgetting to grab his bag of spirit stones, and of course,

[Blood extraction]

[950 blood essences received]

He also decided to check the noble's belongings as well. Rummaging through the elder's satchel, his fingers happened upon a cool, metallic object. Bingo! He had found another spatial ring to keep. He fished it out of the bag, smiling triumphantly. 

Meanwhile, as Astrid stood by closely on guard, Serene rushed over to where he was standing. "What now? How can we get out?!"

Tristan forced himself to smile. "I prepared something, but it's kind of risky, so let's just hope it's going to work."

He touched his earpiece and began to speak. "Chieng, operation draw out the rabbit is a go!"

(Affirmative, master) 

Chieng's voice cracked out from the staticy speakers of his earpiece. 

The words only confused Serene even further, but little did she know, an hour away from the Forlorn city, a small flame suddenly began to burn in the forest. With the right calculations, the wind blew the fire in the direction of the city.

Within minutes, the Forlorn elves' citizens and warriors were alerted, and hundreds were sent to check and deal with the flame.

Meanwhile, at the very bottom of the Crystal Palace, Tristan patiently waited. 

"Yes!" He yelled as he began to hear the commotion that was brewing above him. "It has started to turn chaotic upstairs. We will get out during the mess!"

Serene was in awe of the preparation he put into enacting this plan. Upon seeing the astonishment on her face, he smirked. "Just one more touch to perfect the plan."

He then walked confidently towards each of the prison doors, and each time he whispered through each of the bars. "How would you like to escape?!" The more aggressive and enthusiastic the answers were, the more it benefitted him.

[Heat Touch]

The smart thing to do was to not let go of any of the elven prisoners, as they might be Forlorn elves who were still loyal to their kingdom somehow. 

Among the 10 captives, there were two humans, from their claim and stats, both gold-ranked adventurers. From their suspicious appearances, they must have been held captive here because they did something that had offended the elves. 

"You two can go."

Tristan did not have much hope for the two as they did not seem to be in prime conditions. After all, who knows how long they had been held captive there, deprived of the most basic necessities. 

All his hope was laid in the one cell that had been echoing with the sound of loud, repeated thumping. Inside it was a stone troll. A humanoid creature with a majority of its skin covered with blue stone that stood about three meters tall.

[Elder Stone Troll]

[Battle power - 230]

"Now this one looks promising," he muttered to himself.

Unfortunately, upon approaching its cell, Tristan saw that the troll seemed to be too chaotic and uncommunicative, refusing to converse with him at all. But there was one way to make sure this troll could be useful.

[Blood Seal]

[This Blood Seal requires 400 blood essence points]

Tristan was quite satisfied; it appeared that the troll had a low blood essence requirement to be sealed just like the orcs.

Finally, when he thought he had all the components of his plan prepared, Tristan realized that there was still one last room he had not visited. It was perched at the very end of the tunnel, and its steel door was twice as large as the other cells'. 

When he opened the small window, he saw an elf with long, bluish hair sitting solemnly at the corner of the room. To his surprise, the elf was actually handicapped and did not have any feet and with Cloth-covered his eyes.

A blind elf without legs locked in a room with heightened security only brought him more interest. He did not care about other elves that were in this captive, but this one, in particular, had piqued his interest.

"Hey... How would you like to get out of here?"

In the dimness of his cell, Tristan could see a smile spread on the elf's face when he said, 

"I am just a blind disabled elf, but let me out and I will help you"

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