After leaving the dungeon gates, the rescue team quietly split from the main group of prisoners. The secret passage chamber lay in a different direction from the castle gates. There was no telling whether any of those prisoners could truly escape, and even if they managed to flee Fortress One, the land outside still belonged to the enemy.
But those were not matters Ronan and the others needed to consider. What they needed to consider was how to escape successfully. Most of the guards had been drawn away by the fleeing prisoners. The rescue team encountered few guards along the way, and those they did meet were generally hurrying toward the site of the prison riot. The unlucky ones who ran into Ronan and the others were dealt with before they could cause any trouble.
With Ronan leading the way, Dario supported Prince Gaogen in the middle of the group while the elves brought up the rear, and they hurried toward the secret passage chamber through which they had entered. Upon reaching the previous location, Dario handed Prince Gaogen over to a nearby soldier, then crouched before the hidden chamber door, which looked no different from an ordinary wall, and began feeling for the mechanism.
Hogul had told Dario where the mechanism was, but Dario had never been here himself. He could only slowly search according to the general location Hogul had described.
A dense burst of footsteps came from around the corner. Another squad of guards was clearly approaching. Ronan gestured to the Templar Knights beside him, then pressed against the wall and waited at the corner.
The guards had barely rounded the corner when they were met with a crushing blow. The guard at the very front was sent flying by a Templar Knight's warhammer. His helmet caved