The Last Dainv-Chapter 158

The Last Dainv-Chapter 158

Gale slid down the ladder into the dark service tunnel that was only lit by red emergency lights at distant points. Rachel and Lily followed afterwards.
The tunnel went two ways, left and right.
"A fork," Rachel whispered.
"Go left. Move forward until you hit a T-junction. There's a room on the right. Get inside and wait until the oncoming guard passes," Mateo said over the earpiece.
They moved single file, Rachel in front, Lily at the back. Breath of the Void fed him the unwanted scent of the service tunnel that made his nose wrinkle. It smelled like the whole tunnel was drenched in Febreze.
At the junction, Rachel found a metal fire door. The handle turned, unlocked. They went in, and Lily shut the door behind her.
"Guard approaching," Mateo said. "Stay put."
Through the frosted glass, they saw a shadow pass, then stop. The guard stood right at the junction, blocking their way forward.
Gale checked his watch. Three minutes. Five. Eight. The guard didn't move. Lily looked at him and pushed her palm down, signalling him to wait. Rachel stood still by the window, breathing silently.
Ten minutes went by. They could just knock out the guard and bring him into this room so that he wouldn't be found. Gale signalled, 'take him out and hide him'.
Lily shook her head once.
Finally, the guard's radio made noise. He spoke into it, then walked away.
"Clear," Mateo said. "Exit and take the right corridor at the junction."
They moved out, following where the guard had been but turning right at the split. The tunnel became narrower as more pipes ran along the sides and the top.
"Stop," Mateo said. "Two Awakened guards ahead at the security checkpoint. They need to be neutralized simultaneously."
"I'll take the near one." Lily looked at Rachel, then Gale.
"I've got the far one," Gale said. He materialized Weber from his storage box.
Lily took out a thin cord. "Silent takedown."
"And permanent," Mateo said. "Don't hesitate, Gale. These aren't innocent bystanders."
Rachel crouched by the side. "I'll keep watch."
Gale nodded to Lily.
"Three," Lily mouthed silently. "Two. One."
Activating Phase Touch on his whole body, he moved through the wall. He came out behind the further guard. Weber released from Phase Touch cut the guard's throat, preventing any sort of sound from escaping. The guard jerked once, and Gale caught him as he fell down. Blood ran down his hands, but he wiped it off on the guard's clothes.
Across the way, Lily had already finished her target. The man's face was purple, eyes bulging from her cord cutting off his air. She waited until he stopped moving.
They dragged both bodies to the storage closet one door down where the guards were guarding. These guards didn't deserve sympathy like John and Dmitry. They're like Marcus. Think of them as beasts.
"Straight ahead," Mateo said. "You'll enter a staging area. Stay to the edges, use the crates for cover."
They continued moving further down the tunnel until it opened to a large underground bunker. Shipping containers and wooden crates created a maze across the whole room. Lights hung from the ceiling that cast shadows for them to move through.
They stuck to the wall, moving from shadow to shadow. Rachel pointed to cameras near the ceiling.
"Wait," Mateo said. "New development. The Resonant is heading your way with four Attuned guards."
Gale froze. "How long?"
"Less than thirty seconds. Find cover, now."
Running down behind a stack of crates, his back hit against the cold hard surface of the concrete. Rachel slid beside him while Lily took a position at the other side of the room behind her own set of crates.
The door at the far end opened. A tall blonde woman with a scar on her cheek wearing black tactical gear walked right into the middle of the room. On her right arm bore the insignia of a Silver Lion.
The woman stopped at a crate, ran her fingers along the edge, then wrote something on her clipboard. Four men in similar tactical gear spread out around her in a square.
"Something's wrong," Mateo said. "Kyle and Clyde's trackers haven't moved in over ten minutes. They should be moving around the perimeter, creating the distraction."
Gale looked at Rachel. They both knew what it meant.
The blonde woman put her clipboard down. She slowly took out what looked like a taser from her jacket. She turned it on, electricity jumped between the two prongs. The woman stabbed the active taser onto her left forearm, letting the electricity flow into her palm.
"Move! Now!" Lily shouted.
The blonde woman held her thumb and middle finger together with electricity between them. Her eyes swept the room, stopping exactly where Gale and Rachel hid. At the snap of her fingers, lightning shot from her hand.
The crates blew up. Wooden debris flew everywhere as Gale fell backward from the blast. His ears rang, eyes couldn't see properly from the flash. He rolled to his side and tried to get up.
Through the smoke, he saw movement at the door. Two men dragged the twins' unconscious bodies, with bloody, bruised faces. The blonde woman turned to the door, smiling like she was pleased.
"I believe these belong to you," she called out with a thick Russian accent. "The Path should train their agents better. They never even saw us coming."
Rachel pulled Gale deeper into cover, whispering, "That's Olga Popovic. Ex-Russian special forces, current Silver Lions enforcer and Resonant Ranker. She's got bounties in twelve countries totalling over a million."
"I can hear you whispering," Olga called out. "Why not join the conversation properly?"
Lily stepped out from her cover with two Deagles in her hands. "Let's talk then."
Olga laughed. "A Blue Witch. How unexpected."
"Take Rachel and go," Lily said to the two of them. "I'll handle this bitch."
"Four against one seems unfair," Olga said. "For them, I mean."
"Go," Lily said. "Find Ollie. I've got this."
"Change of plans," Mateo said. "Rachel, Gale. There's a service corridor on your left. Take it."
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from NovelFire. Please it.
Gale grabbed Rachel's arm. They ran for the corridor as Lily's deagles barked twice. Behind them, lightning crackled once again and then crashed on to concrete. Three more barks of Lily's deagle echoed through the tunnel.
Three guards left Olga to chase them. Bullets hit the wall near Gale's head as they ducked into the service corridor. The passage went downward and the only source of visibility were the red emergency lights.
An explosion shook the building. Dust fell from the ceiling. Lily and Olga's duel continued.
"Straight ahead, fifty metres," Mateo said. "You've got three hostiles coming after you."
Gale and Rachel continued dashing ahead, fork coming up ahead of them.
"Left turn, ten metres ahead," Mateo called. "Then immediate right."
They turned left then right through a maze of corridors. The footsteps behind them got fainter as they lost their pursuers.
"Stop," Mateo said suddenly. "Door on your right."
In front of them stood a heavy metal door with a keypad.
Rachel reached for it. "Mateo, what's the code?"
No response and the sound of footsteps behind them came in hot.
No more waiting. Gale kicked the metal door once, bending it inwards. One more kick and the metal door flew from its hinges.
Going inside, they came into a dark dome like room. One light hung from the ceiling, revealing a chair right dab in the middle. Ollie sat in it, head down, hands tied behind his back, barely conscious as drool dripped down his mouth.
This whole thing smelled like a trap, but Ollie was right there. There was no way to leave Ollie alone.
"Check the room," Gale whispered.
Rachel moved along the walls, feeling for hidden panels or devices. Tendrils spread out from the room, but something blocked them from moving past the domed walls. Its vision fed him the hundreds of sutras littered across the walls.
It was definitely a trap. Whatever. Deal with it later.
"Clear," Rachel said. "No immediate threats. But this feels wrong."
Gale knelt in front of Ollie. He tapped Ollie's cheek. "Ollie. Wake up."
Ollie's eyes fluttered. He groaned and slowly lifted his head.
"Gale?" Ollie said, trying to smile. "What are you doing here?"
"What it look like," Gale said. "I'm here to get you out."
"Heh. You were right. About me. I'm not cut out to be a cruel asshole." Ollie forced a laugh out of himself. He coughed. "I think I'm more cut out to be an idiotic asshole instead. This whole shit is a trap so I guess we're all idiots, eh?"
"It doesn't matter." Gale snapped off the metal restraints on Ollie's hands.
The lights suddenly blared on, revealing the place to be a laboratory filled with sutras stuck on the walls of the dome.
Three metal pillars rose from the floor, curving toward the centre. Each pillar had needles protruding at the centre. It looked similar to the device in the haunted asylum, but more advanced.
A glass wall at one part of the top of the dome separated part of the lab from the rest. Behind the glass sat an old man, white haired and a pot bellied. He watched them as if he were looking at guinea pigs. It was the same old man who Ollie had the video conference with about the Origin Shard.
"The
Dark Hunter
," a raspy old voice crackled along the PA system. "You're just in time. You and your friends are about to witness the finished product."
Gale stood between Alexei and Ollie. "Finished product?"
Alexei smiled, laughing like a maniac. "What else but Project Threshold, of course. You've been a thorn in my side the whole time, destroying my research facilities one by one like a rat chewing on wires. But… you've been an inspiration."
Rachel moved next to Gale. "We need to get out of here. Now."
"I'm afraid it's too late for that," Alexei said.
Lightning burst through the broken door, and Lily launched backwards as her arms crossed in front of her face. Static electricity ran across her body, blocked only by the blue shield of light that she wore on her arms.
"Shit," she said, "so it was all a trap."
Two guards dragged the unconscious Kyle and Clyde and threw them at the centre where Ollie sat.
Olga looked to the side, seeing the broken door. She snapped her fingers once, and the bent door straightened. Another snap of her fingers floated the door back to its original position on the doorway, and the screws on the hinge turned into place.
"Welcome to our little family reunion. Everyone's here now." Olga walked out of the dome, closing the door slowly behind her. She smiled at them as it closed. "Do not try to run little piggies."
Gale turned back to Alexei. "What are you trying to do?"
Alexei pulled up a chair and sat, leaning back on it. "Project Threshold was supposed to be our gateway. It was our path to creating our own dust without the gatekeeping of the Arcanes, without the meddling of corrupt major factions. It's unfortunate that Oliver didn't hold up his end of our deal, using the shard on a lowly mundane."
"That shard was technically mine," Gale said. "I was the one who found it."
"Congratulations. And now it's gone." Alexei smiled. "The Silver Lion family has only found two in the past century. How naive you both are, wasting that one chance to bring a cure."
"We wouldn't need a cure in the first place if the Silver Lions hadn't put all that dust out in the mundane world," Gale said.
"Necessary sacrifices for the greater good. And now, with our finished product, you'll be the first test subjects." Alexei pointed to the machines around them. "You should be honoured to contribute to the progression of technology and magic."
Rachel's hands burst into flames. She thrust her palms forward, sending a wave of fire toward the glass wall straight at Alexei. But before the fire hit the glass, it fizzled into embers until it disappeared.
Lily raised her Deagles and fired fast. The bullets either flattened against the glass or changed direction, falling harmlessly to the floor.
"Impressive. The twins, the Ann family heir, the Blue Witch leader, and finally, the
dark
hunter
." Alexei's smile widened with teeth. "A pity that this new generation's stars are going to die. But it's all part of the plan to topple the Path. Pick them off before they bud."
"You won't get away with this, Alexei." Oliver glanced sideways at Rachel. "The Ann's will get you."
"Oh, but I already have." Alexei reached for a control panel beside him. "The device is ready."
The metal pillars started to hum. Electricity and ether ran through the copper wires, building up. The air density changed, thinning enough that it was hard to breathe.
[Detecting rift break at current position. Recommend immediate evacuation.]
Alexei pushed a button. The machine revved up, blue light pulsing from the emitters and probes of each pillar. The world around Gale began to blur. Light bent and warped, stretching and squeezing all at the same time.
"What's happening?" Rachel shouted.
Gale couldn't answer. The familiar feeling of vertigo hit him, causing him to collapse, his vision narrowed, and darkness creeped in from the sides of his eyes. The last thing he saw was Ollie disappearing into the darkness.
Then nothing.
His eyes fluttered open, and the headache hit him like a garbage truck. Looking around him, he saw none of his friends.
—He was alone
again
.
Ollie, Rachel, Lily, and the twins no where in sight. Instead, what he saw stopped his breath.
This wasn't Earth. He was back inside a rift, different from the Eclipsed.
Standing back up, he took in the view around him that looked like a street. It wasn't asphalt or concrete, though. The floor was smooth, metal, and had a satin sheen or texture. Buildings rose around him with strange architecture of twisted spires of metal and glass, structures that curved in organic and floral ways.
Everything was empty. Derelict. The rust on the metal spoke of the age. All the light poles in this street were either bent or snapped off. Shattered windows of the buildings told him this place was either abandoned or dead.
Gale looked up.
Three tiny moons hung in the sky: red, blue, purple. They filled the night sky, creating different coloured rays along the floating dust of the dead city. Stars filled the whole view, twinkling against the atmosphere. But something told him those weren’t moons or stars.
Weber blade materialized in his right hand. Head turned left and right. "Rachel?! Ollie?"
No one answered.
Gale touched his earpiece. "Mateo? Do you copy?"
Nothing came through. Just static noise from the earpiece. He took it off. Just a useless piece of junk now.
Before, he would've said being alone here would've been a good thing. Now, he was just worried about Rachel and the others.
Notifications suddenly popped up in front of him.
[Status: Location unknown. Unable to determine coordinates.]
[Mission list updated.]
[Available Missions:]
[Attain Core Class: Attuned]
[Attain Lv. 3 in all basic skills]
[Close a Rift][Repeatable]
[Practice skills][Daily]
[Exterminate the Corrupted][NEW!]
[Find the City's Energy Source][NEW!]
[Create the Exit Rift][NEW!]
[???][NEW!]
[???][NEW!]
[Current Active Missions:]
[Vianne's Origin Fragments][1/8]
[Alert: Vianne's Origin Fragment detected within the city. Find the Fragment before exiting the rift.]

Chapter 158