John had used up nearly all his MP to finally break the seals on the chains.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and took a deep breath, gradually calming himself.
The weakening he was experiencing was severe; a single misstep could mean a grave end.
After carefully removing the chains from his wrists and ankles, John felt a slight relief.
At the same time, he noticed that the debuff on him had changed to a 50% reduction in all attributes.
He looked thoughtfully at the chains lying on the ground.
It seemed that not only these chains were suppressing him, but everything in this secret realm had a stifling effect on them.
He could distinctly feel an uncomfortable force in the air, a power he felt he had encountered before, yet it also felt strangely unfamiliar.
He carefully checked the system map and realized that their captors must be very confident—perhaps due to a drug or something else—because there was no one guarding him directly.
There were only a few hostile red dots outside in the courtyard.
But these red dots were at least twenty to thirty meters away from him.
As long as he was careful, he should be able to avoid detection.
He noticed the nearest blue dot on the map was Leopold.
Without any hesitation, John slipped into the adjacent room, knowing that acting as a group was better than going it alone.
He was also uncertain of the condition of the others; if they were injured or otherwise impaired, they would need immediate help.
He moved his body slightly, disliking the feeling of weakness that enveloped him, as if some force had been forcibly extracted from him.
Calming himself, he headed towards the door, following the map's directions to the room next door.
Leopold was there.
After ensuring there was no one at the door, John pushed it open and entered.
Leopold's situation was exactly like his own: previously chained at both hands and feet and still unconscious, seemingly oppressed by the same forces.
John checked his remaining MP and began to unlock the handcuffs on Leopold's hands.
The leg irons shouldn't be a big problem either.
He took out the Bloodthirsty Blade again and carefully traced along the chains.
After channeling nearly 90% of his MP into the task, he finally freed Leopold from the chains...
Indeed, owning such a vast secret realm meant that even if he used it as a storage ring on a daily basis, it would be more than sufficient.
He hadn't expected Leopold to be so perceptive, thinking of things he himself hadn't considered!
After getting up and walking a few steps, Leopold nearly collapsed back to the ground.
Although their strength had indeed been reduced by 50%, it shouldn't have weakened him to this extent.
He could barely walk steadily!
Leopold made a concerted effort to control his emotions before following John again.
They cautiously left the room, but this time John noticed that although Archibald's blue dot was nearby, the two girls' blue dots were not within the display range.
This meant that either the girls were being held further away, or they hadn't entered the secret realm.
However, the latter seemed unlikely since both Leopold and Archibald had entered; how could the two girls have escaped?
They needed to find the girls quickly to prevent any real trouble right under their noses—that would be a true embarrassment.
Fortunately, John had previously liked to store some supplies in his system backpack.
He found that his MP recovery was extremely slow in this place.
After drinking several bottles of MP recovery potions, he finally returned to his normal state.
The two stealthily made their way to Archibald's room.
The young man was still soundly asleep, even snoring loudly.
Seeing Archibald sleeping so soundly, Leopold couldn't help but roll his eyes.
He thought that even if the sky fell, this guy probably wouldn't worry a bit.
To be able to sleep so deeply under such circumstances was truly incredible.
Noticing John's pale face, Leopold could guess that it was likely due to the overuse of MP.
He tried to mimic John's method to unlock the shackles but quickly realized he couldn't do it! He had only managed to trace the first pattern before running out of MP!
His gaze towards John changed in that instant.
He always knew his brother was incredibly skilled, but he had never imagined John could be this formidable!
There were twenty to thirty patterns to be traced, and he could barely manage the first one, while John had traced several and could still continue.
This was the real difference between him and John.