As Claus rattled on about the prisoners, the guard captain grimaced.
"Your ignorant insights mean nothing. The girl is a bandit who uses her appearance to deceive travelers. And whatever the woman's background may be, she was one of the terrorists who attempted to thwart the Academy's efforts to secure the lucid crystal! And the old wo-"But before he could continue, one of the prisoners had put up a seemingly lit gun to the detentionee's head.
"Wh-? How did you-"This is bad! We can't let them escape!But as the young soldier rushed in, the guard captain tried to halt his advance.
"It has to be a trick! An illusion! I don't know how he managed to sneak a firearm into Praesidium, but he couldn't possibly fire it in a cell!"Then what am I looking at?! Something's wrong wit the cell!Despite the captain's best efforts, the young recruit rushed past his superior, axe in hand, and leaped into the room! But as he took a step forward-
Silence.
The air, once simply oppressive, now felt frozen in time. Inside and outside the cell. The guards. Viverna. They couldn't move an inch. The guards struggled to even think, save for the dread that burrowed into them. Only the prisoners and Claus weren't suddenly more affected by the dread than before.
And then... the old woman wasn't there. No. In that very instant,
something slammed the guard captain's head against the floor outside the cell.