(MC POV)
I covered about half the remaining distance before the second wave of bolts were shot at me.
This time instead of just stopping at my barrier, they were deflected off of it. One of them even flew back to impale itself in one of the guard's eyes, the man dropping his weapon to scream out loud in pain.
I continued my leisurely pace forward as though nothing happened, making a show of putting my hands behind my back as well.
The guards ignored their screaming friend and reloaded their crossbows, firing another wave of bolts at me.
This time they were smart enough to hide behind their barricades so the deflected bolts don't hit any of them.
"Do you know what's the definition of insanity?" I asked idly, not slowing down my pace. "It's doing the same thing over and over again and expecting things to turn out differently, like what you guys are doing now."
There was a loud curse from behind the barricade before a guard popped out and shot me with another crossbow bolt.
Unfortunately for him, he didn't get back to cover fast enough and the bolt was deflected back to pierce his throat.
The guard clawed at his throat for a few seconds before falling backwards with a loud thump, his body spasming for a few more seconds before going limp.
I sighed loudly, "Well, you know just stepping aside and letting me pass is an option too. No need for you all to die so meaninglessly."
Either they chose to ignore me or they didn't hear me, since another wave of crossbow bolts were fired at me. That just resulted in another guard getting his throat pierced by a bolt from the deflection.
Are the Dongs usually this stubborn?
Ignoring their fourth attempt at trying to kill me, I continued my leisurely stroll towards them.
When they stood up from behind the barricade, I actually thought they had given up.
Instead, they drew their swords and tried to charge me.
Seriously, what is wrong with these people?
I raised my hand and concentrated, focusing the Earth Quarks in the ground to form into a spike and shoot upwards, impaling the first guard right between the legs.
The guard let out a short scream before the spike penetrated through his neck from before, leaving him stuck and dying on my stalagmite.
The guard behind him skidded to a halt, gasping, "He... He can use Techniques!"
I raised an eyebrow at him, "What? Did you guys think your bolts were being blown back by the wind or something? We're underground for god's sake. Took you guys long enough."
"M... Monster! R... Run!"
The guards promptly dropped their weapons and ran, not even taking the chance to look back.
Now that's just rude, calling me a monster just because of that. Did they have something against Practitioners or something?
Oh well, at least they saved me the trouble of killing them. Besides, I need them alive anyway.
I used my Quarks to move the barricades aside, clearing the way for me to ascend the stairs unhindered.
"See? Things are working well, right?" I gestured at the empty stairs.
Xun Guan seemed to look at the impaled body behind us with how my clothes shifted, "I don't know Master... I think you could have gotten the point across without needing to make a human effigy."
"What? That's a small thing, they've seen and done worse to the prisoners around here."
"I suppose that is true, but I admit I am not used to seeing Master use such... Well... Brutal methods..."
"This whole thing is to make a point right? The more terrifying the scene I leave behind, the less likely they will choose to go against us when we take over. Those left alive here will spread the news to their friends and that will spread even further. By then, the rumour would snowball into something big and they'll believe it."
"Mmm... As expected of Master to have thought that far ahead."
I shrugged, "I'm speaking from experience actually. Well, hopefully they got the message to the others at the top and I can just stroll on out of here."
Of course I just had to jinx myself and there was a whole group of them waiting at the top, all of them armored with the first row of guards carrying tower shields to block off the corridor.
I looked down to see the guards who had ran off earlier dead on the floor, killed by their own friends' arrows.
"Harsh," I managed to say just as the archers behind the shield bearers fired their crossbows at me.
I made a show of raising my hand to stop the bolts mid flight before disintegrating them into dust.
"To be able to gather such a response in such a short time, they must have been prepared for a breakout at any time," I mused, striding towards them.
They fired another wave of arrows at me, all of them disintegrating the moment they reached two feet from me.
"Master... I don't think they will listen to you this time," Xun Guan noted.
I looked up at the guards' eyes and could see that they held no fear this time, as thought they were prepared to die. I suppose these guys are meant to defend the place to their deaths in case of a prisoner breakout.
"Hmmm... Props to the Dongs for being able to train these kinds of guards I suppose, but it matters not to me."
I walked right up to the shield wall after disintegrating another wave of arrows to put my hand on one of the shields.
I gave the shield a gentle shove and the guard holding it was sent flying back, crashing through his friends behind him before splattering into meat paste at the far wall.
With the way clear, I proceeded through the opening as casually as I could.
The two guards on my left and right roared, slashing at me with their swords from two different directions.
"Using swords on an unarmed person like me... A little too much don't you think?" I asked.
I reinforced my skin and the blades shattered into pieces on impact, not even leaving a scratch.
I crossed my arms in front of me before shooting them out to the sides, striking the two guards in the abdomen and blowing them away.
The force was big enough to blast their innards out from their backs before their bodies smashed into meat pastes on the walls.
One tried to jump on top of me but a backhand slap from me sent him crashing into an empty prison cell.
That made the rest of the guards try to tackle me down as well.
I snapped my fingers and all of them found that gravity no longer affected them, the entire group of guards floating helplessly in the air.
With the wall of bodies no longer blocking the way, I walked right past them while they were still suspended in the air.
I ignored them even as they roared at me to stop, all of them unable to do anything but watched me leave.
I only released them after I had reached outside the gates, finishing my promise of walking out of the place.
"So a prisoner walking his way out of this supposedly inescapable prison. What do you think?" I asked Xun Guan.
"They might try to cover your escape up," She pointed out.
"That is true. Well, I told you I got it covered, so here we go..." I snapped my fingers before nodding to myself. "There, that should do it. No way for them to cover this up now."
"What did Master do--"
Xun Guan stopped herself when she realised there was a large shadow on the ground.
She directed her attention upwards to see a giant meteor hurtling towards our location.
"It should just fall short of the prison, but the shockwave would be enough to destroy part of it at least. No way they can cover this up eh?" I told her cheerily.
Now my job here is done, time to see what my girls are up to~
