First, he stopped trying to cast a spell to break free. That was never even the way to go about this in the first place.
Beatrice moved to swing her arm at that point, with another attack in frustration, but right before she made contact, Ethan raised his head, and forcefully, a surge of mana erupted from his body so violently that a shockwave sent Beatrice flying all the way to the end of the room and slamming her body against the door.
Wilson was forced back almost the same distance, but he raised his arm over his face as a blockade.
The sheer force of Ethan's mana had rattled the entire basement, and the mana-dampening cuffs shattered into pieces, falling to the floor in fragments.
The zaranite stones could not withstand pressure neither could the metal cuffs they were embedded in.
The members of the guild above all had widened eyes in reception to that amount of mana, and at once they all rushed to the basement.
"Where did that come from?!" Maya asked while hurriedly coming down the stairs into the basement.
Maya's expression widened even further when she didn't see the captive. "Where is he?" she asked sharply.
"I don't know. He just disappeared," Wilson said as he knelt close to Beatrice, who was struggling to get back up after her head hit the wall like that.
"Get your hands off me!" Beatrice yelled in annoyance as Wilson released her wrists.
Maya and the others looked around but couldn't find Ethan, even though they knew specifically he had been right there moments ago.
There were about fourteen of them in total right there in that basement, save for Wilson and Beatrice slowly getting back up.
But Ethan was actually in the corner, except he was concealed in Stealth mode.
He had borrowed and used Albedo's skill the moment the cuffs cracked away under the influence of his insurmountable mana.
He knew that a surge of mana that high would only bring more attention, which is exactly why he had to disappear immediately.
Ethan slipped through the members of the guild all gathered down here and walked towards the stairs. The Stealth mode concealed all presence, even sound, granting Ethan the most perfect escape.
He climbed the stairs up above, and as he walked out, he noticed a key on the door. And right then, he listened to that part of him that wanted to add just a tiny bit of mischief to this whole situation.
He closed the door leading into the basement and turned its key to lock them in.
The members of Grey Fangs immediately turned their heads in shock towards the direction of the door clicking.
"What the…" one of them muttered.
"Did that door just…" another started.
Maya's eyes narrowed dangerously. "He locked us in."
Ethan had quickly moved towards the guild's living room, and from the window, he could see the darkness of outside.
His body burst into smoke as he vanished from that spot, reappearing in another burst of smoke outside. He turned another random direction again and used the same teleportation, creating more and more distance away from the guild.
Each jump took him farther. At first a rooftop, then an alleyway. A street corner, another rooftop…
He kept going until he was certain he was far enough away.
Then he finally stopped, reappearing in a quiet alley between two buildings. He leaned against the wall, letting out a long breath.
"Well, that was fun," he muttered, with an amused expression on his, while wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.
His shirt was torn in several places. He reached for his Arcphone out of habit, only to realize it was still in his coat back in the basement.
"Shit."
——
A few moments later, the iron door leading into the basement burst open and flew back from its position, slamming against the wall with a deafening bang.
Maya emerged from the basement with an angry face and clenched fists. She was the one who had just slammed through the door.
The others emerged behind her.
One of them said, "Was that an invisibility spell?"
Another replied, "I don't think so. If it was, we would've sensed his mana."
Wilson and Beatrice emerged last, with the Morgenstein calling out in a demanding voice, "Where is that bastard?"
As though questioning the other members of the Grey Fangs.
Maya, who was already in a bad mood, sharply turned towards her and Wilson.
"You should take that bitch and yourself out of my guild!" Maya yelled while gesturing between them both as she spoke, before finally pointing towards the door.
"Hey! Watch who you call a bitch. I'm a Morgen—"
But right then, Maya moved like a blur, catching Beatrice by the throat and slamming her forcefully against the wall.
Wilson instinctively blitzed towards his sister in an attempt to stop her from hurting Beatrice any further, but Maya's free hand shot out with inhuman speed and caught him mid-movement by the throat.
She slammed him into the wall right beside Beatrice, holding both vampires off the ground with ease.
The gap in skill between them was still very much apparent, and they both struggled to break free from her grip.
Her claws left bleeding marks on their throats as she held them.
She turned and glared at Beatrice with fury in her red eyes and said, "If this is the kind of shit your family raises, then I'm utterly disappointed by Lord Morgenstein."
Then she turned towards Wilson and said, "Father will have you desiccated for the rest of the year if he hears of your stupid acts, and this will be the last time you involve me in any of it."
Then she flung them both away to the ground closer to the guild's exit and said, "Get out!"
And with that, they both slowly left the guild.
Maya was steaming mad at Wilson, but more at the fact that a regular student had just slipped past an entire guild and made casual fun of them.
——
Right now in the Stark mansion, Valerie Hemilton sat in the living room watching Francesca pace about the space with a concerned look on her face.
She had been here for the better part of an hour.
Then suddenly, Eduardo stepped down through the stairs. He held a katana at his side while looking at his Arcphone.
Francesca quickly turned towards him with an expectant look.
"He hasn't moved from this location in the last hour. I'm going to make sure he's okay," Eduardo said while raising his Arcphone towards Francesca.
On the phone was what looked like a tracking interface with a red dot beeping steadily in one spot. This was a tracker embedded in Ethan's coat, which was still lying right there in the Grey Fangs' basement.
Eduardo had several such trackers placed discreetly in Ethan's belongings.
Francesca nodded and said, "Call me as soon as you get to him, Eduardo."
He nodded and proceeded to leave. This was one of those few times when there was nothing between them to argue about.
"Hello?" Valerie called out towards Eduardo, half-standing from her seat with both hands raised in exasperation. "I still have to get back home today, remember? I have things to do, and I can't just sit here waiting while you—"
She had already been here longer than she'd agreed to. This old man had shown up at her door, made her an offer she couldn't refuse, dragged her all the way to this mansion, and now he was just leaving her here?
Eduardo turned towards her with a glare and said, "Miss Valerie, you will remain here until I return with Master Ethan."
Then he turned away and left.
Valerie went mute immediately. Somehow, her worry about going home just fizzled out under the instant fear that quaked her heart.
The way that old man just sounded. She wasn't trying to mess with that.
This was at the hour of eight. It was practically nighttime already, and it had been an entire hour since Eduardo had come back to the manor with Valerie.
Ethan had never stayed out this long without informing them, and if anything had come up, he would have called or messaged prior.
Tasked with protecting his young master, Eduardo had been left with no choice but to finally resort to checking the tracker in Ethan's coat.
It was one of many precautionary measures he'd put in place over the years. Small, discreet tracking devices embedded in Ethan's commonly worn items, just in case the worst ever happened.