The group exited the sewer and walked for a while longer, arriving at a staircase.
After climbing the stairs, the exit door was already visible.
Mika further confirmed with the map.
"Beyond this door is the outside."
Everyone gathered around to look, their faces filled with hope.
Mika looked up at everyone, and his expression suddenly changed.
"Where did Taichi go?!"
Only then did everyone notice that someone was missing.
"I was just talking to Taichi!"
Byakuya Akane stomped her foot in distress.
"Mika, Yuichiro, what should we do?"
Mika thought for a moment and said seriously,
"We've made it this far, we can't give up. I'll go back for him, you all run out first!"
"I'll go with you!"
Yuichiro immediately declared.
Mika shook his head, rejecting Yuichiro's request.
"No, Yuichiro, you're a boy, you need to take care of the children and escape! I'll go alone, don't worry, he probably got lost by accident while playing. I'll find him and come right out to find you."
Mika comforted everyone, including himself.
Yuichiro was still worried.
"Then I'll go, you take Akane and the others out!"
Mika smiled, tilting his head as he looked at Yuichiro.
"Yuichiro, I proposed this plan, I have to ensure everyone's safety!"
At this moment, Byakuya Akane interjected from the side.
"Mika, why don't we go back together to look for him, and find another chance to escape next time."
"No, Ferid will definitely discover that the map is missing. If we don't escape this time, everyone will be in danger!"
"Then you..."
"It's alright, Ferid really likes my blood, he won't kill me, so don't worry!"
With that, Mika handed the map to Yuichiro.
"Everyone is counting on you, Yuichiro! I will definitely bring Taichi out with me!"
Yuichiro didn't speak, his expression complex.
Mika went down the stairs. Byakuya Akane looked at Mika's retreating figure, feeling a pang of reluctance, then turned to Yuichiro.
"Yuichiro, what do we do now?"
Yuichiro squeezed out a single word with all his strength.
"Go..."
Then he led the way towards the door.
But when the door was less than a hundred meters away, a voice made everyone's nerves tense.
"Aha~"
Yuichiro looked up and saw the Vampire noble he had seen before blocking the doorway.
"I've been waiting for you for a long time."
Ferid stood at the door, looking down at the human children below, and only then did he notice something was off.
"Oh dear, where's Mika? Did he sacrifice himself to distract the patrol on the way? That sounds like something that good child would do."
While Yuichiro's brain was still rebooting, Ferid had already come up with a reason for Mika's absence.
Ferid looked at the children's terrified expressions, feeling pleased.
"That's right, my poor little lambs, that's the expression—the human expression when hope is shattered. That's why this game is so irresistible to me!"
Upon hearing this, Yuichiro immediately understood that Mika had been tricked by this guy! He had known all along that Mika had stolen the map, and perhaps the map itself was a trap set for Mika from the beginning.
"You bastard! What exactly..."
Before Yuichiro could finish his question, he realized the other party was no longer in his original position.
Ferid swiftly ran towards a child, his hand poised to grab. He wanted to deal with these annoying small fry first, then find an opportunity to let the brat named Hyakuya Yuichiro escape.
But what happened next clearly exceeded his expectations.
The sound of rushing wind struck.
"Again?!"
Clearly, Ferid recalled his experience in Shinjuku, being hard-cc'd in place by hidden weapons.
Ferid didn't have his sword, so he could only change his direction, instinctively dodging to the side. After steadying himself, Ferid's cold gaze turned towards the stairwell.
Two children stood there, the silver-haired child still holding the posture of having just thrown something.
As Ferid paused, Yuichiro realized that Ferid had appeared beside him from dozens of meters away in the blink of an eye. He quickly led everyone away from Ferid's position.
At the same time, he recognized one of the two children.
"Taichi?!"
Why wasn't Mika bringing Taichi out?
Because Yuichiro was the last to join the Hyakuya Orphanage, he didn't recognize Luke, but the other children did.
"Luke!"
"It's Brother Luke!"
Yuichiro turned back in surprise and asked Byakuya Akane.
"You all know him? Why don't I?"
Byakuya Akane nodded, then shook her head.
"It's not convenient to talk about now, but he's also our family."
With the unexpected turn of events, Ferid no longer had the mind to attack the children of the Hyakuya Orphanage.
"Two more human brats. Was it you who threw the hidden weapon just now?"
Ferid turned to look at the object embedded in the ground, a purplish-black English longsword.
Luke retracted his movement.
"How selfish, Ferid, to have a game and not invite me to play!"
Ferid was momentarily stunned after hearing that.
Are we close?!
Ten minutes earlier.
Luke quietly followed behind the group. When Yuichiro arrived before the team and Mika was talking, he precisely applied an Illusion Curse Talisman to Taichi, who was at the very back.
A few years ago, after Luke signed a contract with Kyle, he retrieved the Curse Talismans stored in the human item warehouse under Kyle's guidance.
Not only his own share, but also those of children from other prominent Jujutsu Families.
In Taichi's eyes, everyone's speed grew faster and faster until they disappeared into the distance. No matter how he chased, he couldn't catch up, and no one even paid attention when he spoke.
Little did he know that after he fell under the illusion, to outsiders, he was just standing still.
Afterward, Luke pretended to coincidentally meet Taichi, taking a detour that made them just miss Mika, who was returning.
Only this way was it possible for others to escape safely while leaving Mika behind to "cover their retreat."
Yes, Luke had no intention of letting Mika return to the human faction... Mika was searching for Taichi in several corners near the sewer exit.
The Vampire patrol was nearby, so Mika dared not call out Taichi's name.
"He shouldn't have gotten separated inside the sewer..."
Bang!
A dull gunshot suddenly rang out, making Mika tremble all over.
"This is... Yuichiro!"
Mika didn't have time to think and ran towards the stairwell.
Mika's search for Taichi was only three or four hundred meters from the exit. Moreover, in the empty underground space, the sound of the pistol traveled even further, allowing Mika to hear the gunshot... "Huh, isn't that my gun?"
Yuichiro looked at Ferid, who easily dodged the bullet, his palm sweating and arm trembling as he held the gun.
Ferid was about to act again to deal with the others when Luke made another move.
"Am I invisible to you?"
Luke made a sword-finger gesture with his right hand, pointing it at the demonic sword. The demonic sword, which was embedded in the floor, actually flew up and shot towards Ferid, following the trajectory of Luke's finger.
"Sword Control! Haven't seen that before, bumpkin!"
You will get 90 chapter ahead for this fanfiction.
patreon.com/AZOFFICIAL1