Chapter 1294: The Escape and The Transformation

By the time the alarm was finally raised, Timothy and the others had already reached the outer courtyard.

"Intruders!"

"Capture the prisoners!"

"Don’t let them escape!"

The shouts immediately attracted the attention of the knights stationed throughout the building, and within seconds, more than thirty members of the Order of the Sky Sword had surrounded the courtyard. Several stronger knights also emerged from the building after sensing the disturbance, leaving Timothy and the others with enemies approaching from almost every direction.

Gar’s expression became tense as he looked around.

"Are we trapped?"

Timothy didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he looked toward the sky.

The bats were already there.

Hundreds of them had gathered above the courtyard, circling the building in complete silence. The knights noticed them as well and couldn’t help but look upward in confusion.

"What are those?"

"Why are there so many bats?"

Timothy raised one hand.

"Now."

The darkness beneath their feet suddenly expanded.

It spread across the courtyard like black water, quickly covering the ground and rising into a thick layer of darkness that blocked the knights’ vision.

Within moments, the entire courtyard had been swallowed by the Dark Arts, making it impossible for the knights to see one another clearly.

"What is happening?"

"Stay together!"

"Don’t let them escape!"

The knights shouted as they tried to maintain their formation, but Timothy had already moved.

"Run."

He grabbed Gar by the shoulder and led the group forward while the other Dark Arts users surrounded Mira, Holden, and Hera. They moved quickly through the darkness, using the confusion among the knights to slip past them without engaging in a direct battle.

A knight suddenly appeared in front of Timothy and swung his sword.

Timothy immediately stepped to the side, allowing the blade to pass within inches of his mask. He then grabbed the knight’s wrist, redirected the sword away from himself, and struck the man’s chest with his palm.

Thud!

The knight immediately lost consciousness but Timothy caught him before he could hit the ground and carefully lowered him down.

"Don’t kill them..." he reminded the others. "The Young Miss will scold us."

The other seven nodded. They had no idea that someone wanted to turn these knights as Vampires. They only knew about the order not to kill them unless they were forced to do so...

Indeed, they understood the order perfectly. Ruth had allowed them to use force if necessary, but she had specifically instructed them not to kill anyone.

The Order of the Sky Sword might be their enemy, but Ruth clearly didn’t want the situation to escalate into a war between the two organizations... and of course, she wanted to honor Lisa’s orders.

The eight continued moving through the courtyard, using their Dark Arts to confuse and restrain anyone who attempted to stop them. Some knights were trapped by shadows around their legs, while others were temporarily blinded by the darkness. Whenever they encountered a stronger opponent, the Dark Arts users simply avoided them instead of trying to defeat them.

Their objective was not to win the battle.

It was to escape.

After several moments, they finally reached the outer wall.

Timothy looked back and saw that the Order had almost completely surrounded the courtyard. More knights were arriving, but none of them could determine where the prisoners or their rescuers were hiding within the darkness.

"Let’s go."

Timothy gathered darkness beneath his feet and used it to propel himself upward.

The others followed immediately.

The eight Dark Arts users and the four rescued adventurers jumped over the wall and landed on the other side.

Several knights rushed toward the wall, but by the time they reached it, the group had already disappeared into the darkness beyond the city.

The bats above the courtyard also began flying away, following the group as they disappeared into the night.

Several minutes later, Timothy and the others finally reached a secluded forest outside Valenridge.

Once they were certain that nobody had followed them, the darkness surrounding their bodies gradually disappeared.

Gar immediately removed his mask and took a deep breath.

"I thought we were dead."

Mira glanced at Timothy before removing her own mask.

"Who are you?"

Timothy removed his mask as well, revealing a young man with a calm expression.

"We’re Dawnblades."

The four exchanged glances.

Holden couldn’t help but smile.

"I figured."

Timothy looked toward the distant lights of Valenridge.

"We were ordered to bring you back."

Gar frowned slightly.

"Who gave the order?"

Timothy looked at him for a moment before answering.

"Ruth."

The moment they heard that name, the four visibly relaxed.

Gar let out a relieved laugh.

"Then let’s go home."

Timothy nodded.

The twelve continued deeper into the forest, leaving Valenridge behind.

As they walked, Mira occasionally glanced toward the sky.

The bats were still following them.

She had noticed them earlier as well, but she hadn’t paid much attention to them because of the situation.

"Are those bats also part of the Dawnblades?" she finally asked.

Timothy looked upward.

"I don’t know."

"You don’t know?"

Timothy shook his head.

"They’ve been appearing around the organization recently. They seem to be gathering information for someone, but none of us have been told exactly where they came from."

Mira looked at the bats again.

"They’re strange."

"Very."

Timothy continued walking.

"But they helped us today, so I’m not complaining."

The group continued their journey through the forest while the bats silently followed them from above.

Meanwhile, back in Valenridge, the Order of the Sky Sword was still trying to understand what had happened.

The courtyard was filled with unconscious knights, but surprisingly, none of them had suffered serious injuries. The prisoners had disappeared, and the masked attackers were nowhere to be found.

Roland stood in the middle of the courtyard with a dark expression.

He had expected the Dawnblades to attempt a rescue eventually, but he had not expected them to accomplish it so easily.

The prison had been heavily guarded.

There had been more than thirty knights in the courtyard alone, along with several experienced members of the Order inside the building.

Yet the attackers had infiltrated the facility, reached the prisoners, and escaped without killing a single person.

Roland couldn’t help but feel troubled by that fact.

They had clearly possessed enough power to kill. Instead, they had deliberately avoided doing so.

"Who were they?" one of the knights asked.

Roland remained silent for several moments.

"I don’t know. They might be the core members... They were definitely connected to the Dawnblades."

"Should we report this to Commander Arthur?"

"Immediately."

Roland’s expression became grim.

"Tell him everything."

The knight nodded and quickly left.

Roland remained behind, staring at the traces of darkness that still lingered across the courtyard.

However, as he considered chasing after the escapees, he suddenly saw a terrifying scene...

Just a few meters away, he saw a bat transforming into a human figure!