Chapter 412: Escape
(Prison Cell, 25th Hour, Leo’s POV)
About an hour after Charles left, Leo finally conceived a painful, yet plausible, plan to escape, drawing inspiration from famous escape artists back on Earth who seemingly managed to break out of inescapable binds by dislocating the joints in their bodies.
’If I can dislocate my shoulder... maybe I can slip one hand out of these restraints,’ Leo thought, his eyes narrowing as he made up his mind to attempt the desperate strategy next.
"Dumpy, I have an idea. Let’s see if it works," Leo muttered, beginning to roll toward the edge of the room, dragging his body inch by inch across the cold floor as the mana-locked restraints clinked faintly with every strained shift.
When he finally reached the wall, he let out a quiet groan, his breath shallow and uneven, as he twisted his body into position, turning so that his back was pressed against the solid surface behind him.
Next, planting his heels into the ground, he tried to generate enough leverage to push himself upright, but with both arms trapped behind him and his center of gravity skewed beyond control, he failed to lift himself and instead toppled once again, collapsing like a sack of bricks onto the stone.
"Tsk," he clicked his tongue in frustration, clenching his jaw as he re-tried the process all over again, only to arrive at the same conclusion, as he fell down with a soft *Thud*.
"Lord Father," came a muffled croak beside him, "I do not mean to interrupt your very graceful fish flopping routine, but perhaps this is the part where you consider using me as a stepping stool?"
Leo turned his head slightly, eye twitching as he met Dumpy’s hopeful, upturned eyes.
"You think you can support my weight?" Leo asked, as Dumpy nodded with confidence.
"Most certainly I can, not only am I very strong, Lord Father, but I am also loyal and slightly squishy, which makes me the most comfortable fulcrum in this entire chamber," Dumpy reasoned, already beginning to roll his gelatinous body under Leo’s back. "On the battlefield of life, my body shall be your trampoline."
With a quiet grunt of approval, Leo shifted his weight again, allowing Dumpy to wedge himself beneath the crook of his back and the floor, as with a single sharp breath, he pressed his feet hard into the ground and arched upward, using Dumpy’s squish to gain enough momentum to tilt forward onto his knees.
"GAH–"
The strain that this movement left on his core was excruciating, but eventually, by curling his toes and leaning forward, he managed to angle his body upright, until finally, with a forceful hop, he stood.
"Told you it would work," Dumpy wheezed beneath him, half-flattened but still proud.
Leo took a moment to steady his breathing, feeling the burn in his legs and core as sweat gathered at his brow.
Once steady, he began hopping a few steps away from the wall, turning slightly so that his left shoulder faced it, as he narrowed his eyes in quiet determination.
This part was not going to be pleasant, but he wasn’t about to let Charles whip him for a second time tomorrow, and hence despite his personal hatred for this plan, he decided to toughen up and go through with it regardless.
*Inhale*
Leo filled his lungs and braced for the pain, before jumping forward while twisting his body, as he rammed his shoulder directly into the stone wall with as much force as his restrained form could generate.
*Thud*
A blinding flash of pain exploded through his left side as his vision blurred and his legs buckled, but he remained on his feet, with teeth gritted so hard it felt like they might crack.
"Oh no, no no no, this is one of those human painful things again, isn’t it?" Dumpy gasped in alarm, now fully alert and flailing in place.
"Lord Father, why are you willingly inflicting injury to yourself?" He asked, as Leo ignored him and jumped into stance yet again, this time lowering his center of gravity slightly before launching himself shoulder-first into the wall once more.
*Crack*
This time, something gave.
A sickening pop echoed through his own body as his shoulder dislocated violently from the socket, sending lightning bolts of agony through his torso, and yet, despite the pain, Leo growled low in his throat and began rotating his elbow inward, slowly....painfully.... maneuvering his wrist through the loop of the restraint until finally, with a breathless gasp, he pulled one arm free.
Dumpy’s eyes widened in horror and awe.
"By the Mangroves of the Swamps of Lithos... Lord Father, you’ve escaped using forbidden contortion magic!"
"Dumpy, a moment’s silence please," Leo replied through clenched teeth as he pushed his arm against the wall, forcing the shoulder back into place with a muted grunt.
"Are you sure you’re not part frog, Lord Father? This maneuver is something I can only imagine frogs doing."
"No, Dumpy. I’m sure I’m not a frog," Leo replied, as without wasting another second, he repeated the process with his right shoulder, this time more efficiently, having learned the exact angle and pressure required.
In less than a minute, both arms hung loose at his sides, bruised and internally injured, but free from the bindings, as Leo slipped out of the now loose binds and felt the long-suppressed mana begin to circulate again through his veins like wildfire rushing through dry brush.
From the storage ring on his finger, a faint flicker of light pulsed as he summoned a curved dagger into his grip, letting the weight of it settle in his palm before turning toward Dumpy’s restraints.
With a surge of mana, he activated [Dark Blade], coating the dagger’s edge in a veil of pulsing shadow, and sliced clean through the layered binds wrapped around the little frog’s limbs.
"Let’s go!"
Dumpy immediately sprang up with joy.
"I live again!" he declared, twirling in the air before promptly landing belly-first on the floor. "Let it be known that Lord Father has liberated his faithful steed from the chains of tyranny! And for this favor, I, Dumpy, will forever be grateful to him."
"We’re not done yet," Leo muttered, turning toward the wall as he pulled three more daggers from his ring, stabbing them into the stone in evenly spaced intervals, as he created makeshift footholds to climb.
Once near the top, he reached the small hatch covered by a reinforced grate and carved through it with another slash of [Dark Blade], the steel melting like butter under its corrupted edge.
With one final pull, he hoisted himself up and out, gripping the ledge with his forearms as Dumpy clung to his back like a slimy backpack, as the duo finally broke free from the prison.
"Free at last..... Oh no!" Dumpy declared, before suddenly freezing, as the shocking scene before him came into full view.
In front of them were barracks lined with soldiers, mana cannons primed and mounted on rotating turrets, surveillance drones flying overhead, and training grounds populated with hundreds of soldiers in uniform, all surrounded by fortified walls and watchtowers.
"What the fuck?" Leo muttered under his breath, blinking once as Dumpy let out a low groan.
"RIBBIT—"
"Oh...no. I think we’ve escaped the cell... and entered a battlefield, Lord Father, I think the next step is to kill them all.... But don’t worry, I think I can handle 99% of these germs." He reassured, as Leo looked around in confusion, unsure of what to do next.