The Last Dainv-Chapter 181

The Last Dainv-Chapter 181

Spoiler
Gale's palms burned as he kept Weber steady. His skin bubbled from the heat while the laser continued its onslaught, and the scent of flesh permeated the vicinity. Rachel's hand on Weber's metal smoked as well, but her hand didn't burn as much as his.
The laser stopped, but the giant spider mech was already on the move. Its giant leg raised up into the air above them, casting a shadow against their current position.
Rachel saw it coming. She broke away from Gale, diving left as he went right. The leg crashed down between them hard enough to crack the metal floor and shake the ground.
"Fifteen seconds!" Ollie shouted.
The colossus threw everything it had left at them. Two laser beams tracked where they moved while more missiles popped out from its body. Rockets trailed through the air at their moving positions.
Rachel pulled back her fist as the laser beam raced toward her. She punched forward with everything she had.
The fire wave hit the laser beam head-on. For a split second, they balanced against each other, creating a ball of super-hot air. Then the laser broke through, heading straight for her.
Gale put the blade in front of the laser coming at him. Weber, still hot from before, caught the beam on its flat side.
"Get through the crack now!" Ollie shouted from the elevator. "It's almost closed!"
Gale couldn't move. The persistent beam kept him in place, forcing him to hold on to the blade. His feet dug into the metal floor as it pushed him back.
"Rachel!" he shouted.
She heard and ran straight at him as soon as she saw him.
At the last second, she jumped towards the front of Gale, just outside of the sword. She held onto Gale's collar, and with a snap of her fingers, an explosion blasted them toward the closing elevator door. Their forms slipped through the closing gate, hitting the dock hard. A loud thud could be heard, and the shudder of the gate silenced, no longer moving.
The parts in the spoiler has been moved to the end of chapter 180.
"Everyone okay?" Ollie asked, kneeling beside them.
Kyle looked at the sealed doors. "Those things aren't getting through, right?"
"The gates are eighteen inches of whatever alloy this civilization makes," Lily ran her finger across the seam. "Even that big guy would need time to cut through."
The elevator shuddered, then started moving up. The coil whine grew to a high pitch, accelerating faster and faster, causing the group to grunt under the weight of their own bodies. The speed stabilized after a minute as it reached its peak speed.
Gale pushed himself up, teeth gritted against the pain in his palms. Blisters covered his skin where he'd held the hilt of his blade. Blood leaked from cracks in the damaged skin.
"Need a syringe," he said.
He materialized a syringe gun from his space storage, but fumbled. The pain made it hard to grab anything. Clyde moved beside him, took the syringe gun, and pressed it against Gale's neck without a word.
The needle stung for a second. Green light spread across Gale's body, pooling in his damaged hands. The worst burns started to close up as the healing stuff did its job.
"Thanks," Gale said, moving his fingers as the pain went away.
Clyde nodded once, then stepped back.
Next to him, Rachel didn't move except for shallow breathing. Her gear was burned black in spots, with fabric melted into her skin where the laser grazed her. Blood darkened her right side, and one eye was swollen shut.
"Rachel?" Gale turned to her, checking her injuries.
She didn't answer. Her breathing came in rough, uneven gasps.
Gale moved closer, carefully undoing her jacket. The fabric came away with chunks of skin stuck to it. Under the vest, her jacket had burn holes showing raw, blistered skin.
"Help me get this off," Gale said.
Lily dropped down beside them, helping Gale pull the jacket away from Rachel's body, but the fabric stuck in places made it difficult to take off.
After taking off the jacket, they saw Rachel's injuries looked much worse under. Her right shoulder and chest were covered with third degree burns. A couple of burns went deep, showing the muscle underneath. Her left arm had multiple swelling red blisters covering most of the forearm. Her belly, where the missile had blown up against her, had ripped her shirt and burned a crater like wound into her side. The edges were sealed by heat, but the middle leaked blood and clear fluid. The worst place was her right hand where she had snapped her fingers to blast them to the elevator, a fourth degree burn.
Lily sucked in a breath. "Fucking shit."
"She took that missile head-on," Kyle winced. "Plus laser fire. How the hell was she still fighting?"
"Pure adrenaline," Clyde said.
Ollie crouched on Rachel's other side, looking at the burns. "This is bad. The syringe she took earlier barely healed any of the injuries."
"How many more will it take?" Gale asked.
Ollie shook his head. "8 or 9 at minimum. Maybe more. I really don’t know. And even then, she won't be at full strength."
Rachel opened her eyes, barely. She took a deep breath, then coughed. Blood spotted her lips.
"I can... hear you," she whispered.
Gale leaned closer. "How bad is the pain?"
"Bad but…" Rachel lied, her good eye opening to look at him. "I'll recover."
"No, you won't," Gale clenched his fist. "Not fast enough, anyway. And who knows what's waiting on the next floor?"
Rachel tried to sit up, but fell back with a gasp of pain. "How many... gun syringes left?"
Gale counted quickly. "Kyle has two. Clyde has two. Lily has two. Ollie has one left." He paused. "There's twenty-four more in storage."
"That's not a lot," Kyle said, pacing the elevator floor. "We're burning through them way too fast, and we just got into this rift." He kicked a section of wall. "FUCK!"
His voice bounced off the metal walls as they kept going up.
Gale pulled up the shop's interface.
[Vianne's Express Amazing Store]
[Current Points: 1910 points]
He found the Vit Vial right away, costing 100 points.
[Purchase confirmed: Vit Vial]
[Current Points: 1810 points]
[Item transferred to space storage]
The small red vial appeared in his hand, its contents giving off a soft glow. The others stared at the suddenly-appearing object with looks from surprise to suspicion.
"What is that?" Lily asked, eyes narrowing.
Gale moved back to Rachel, opening the vial. "Something that will help."
Rachel turned her head away before he could pour the liquid. "What... is it?"
"It's a healing potion," Ollie said. "He gave me one back at the hospital. Works better than the syringes."
Rachel's good eye moved to Ollie, then back to Gale. "Where did you... get it?"
"My parents gave me a few," Gale said. "I don't have many left."
Rachel weakly pushed at his hand. "Then save it. I can't impose on you."
"We
need
you, Rachel," Gale said. "It's now or never."
As the elevator continued its ascent the group descended into silence. Even Kyle and Clyde didn't have their usual antics, watching the scene quietly.
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Finally, Rachel gave a small nod. Gale carefully tilted her head, tipping the vial against her lips. The liquid poured into her mouth, the soft glow spreading into her mouth.
For a minute, nothing happened. Then slowly, a soft red glow from her skin spread throughout her whole skin. However, it wasn't enough. The fourth degree burn on her right hand didn't even look like it recovered at all.
Guide, what the fuck.
[Vit Vial has a maximum restore capacity of 200 vitality. One vial is insufficient for target.]
[Vit Vial]
[Description: A vial of vitality essence]
[Consumable]
[Effects: restores 20% vitality of self or target, max amount: 200 vitality points]
[Calculating needed quantity…]
Breath of the Void's tendrils encased Rachel's body, taking in all her information. Sorry Rachel, but your life is on the line.
[11 Vit Vials needed for optimal function, 15 for full restoration]
Fifteen… that's 1500 points and he only had 1810 points. Gale thought about it for a second. His eyes turned down to her form, breathing heavily. Blisters formed and some popped with clear liquid. Blood dripped down the crater on her flank.
She might disappear, Gale. Do it.
Gale popped open the menu again, searching for Vit Vial, purchasing 15 of them. All of them entered his inventory.
[Remaining points: 310]
He materialized another one, and poured it over Rachel's mouth. The red glow seeped into her veins, slowly repairing the burns, veins, and muscle. Not enough, but the change was at least visible this time.
"Gale, I can't." Rachel said.
"
I
need you. Just drink it," Gale said.
"Drink the damn potion, Rachel!" Kyle shouted. "Don't fucking die on us!"
The other three didn't say anything as Gale took out another Vit Vial, the third one. He poured it into her mouth again, and more of her form started to regain its composition.
He took out more, this time going faster. By the 11th vial, Rachel was able to sit up by herself, but the wound on her hand and flank still remained. "Gale, I think I'm fine now."
"No, there's four more you need to drink," Gale said firmly, taking out the rest of the vials.
After taking the 15th vial, her whole body had reformed itself, looking like new. No scars nor blisters. The slight dark circles under her eyes disappeared.
The worst of her injuries had completely disappeared. Even the parts where the fabric had melted into her skin peeled off, leaving no sign of damage. The swelling of her left eye grew smaller and smaller until it was normal again.
"That's... impossible," Lily whispered, reaching out to touch Rachel's shoulder where blackened flesh had been. "Not even gun syringes can do this."
"Okay, that's some serious magic. Where can I get some?" Kyle said, but his voice actually sounded serious this time.
"You can't," Gale said. "Like I said, mom and dad only gave me limited supply."
Rachel moved her arms, testing the new skin. She looked at Gale, questions in her eyes. "Thank you."
Ollie helped Rachel to her feet. "How's the inside feel? Any pain in your lungs or organs?"
She took a deep breath, then shook her head. "Nothing. I feel brand new."
"Better than new," Clyde said. "Your skin looks better than before you got burned."
"Shut up, Clyde." Rachel looked at her hands, seeing the truth in his words. The potion had healed not just the recent injuries but old scars and calluses too. Her skin looked younger, fresher. "What exactly was in that?"
"Family secret," Gale smiled. The points don't matter if Rachel disappeared on him. He could always farm points again anyway.
"One thing's for sure. We can't have Gale use his family's supply on us," Ollie said. "Let's just hope none of us get fucked like that again."
"There's three or four more levels to go after this," Kyle said. "Who knows what those ones have in store."
Gale looked left and right, now finally able to take in the view of the elevator. The platform was easily 50 metres across, with their group bunched near the centre.
"How much farther up do you think this goes?" Kyle asked, looking at the shaft stretching into darkness above them.
"Control panel says 45 minutes left till we reach the next floor," Ollie replied. "Next stop is Agriculture level. Fuel up. Gale, bring out the nutritional bricks."
Gale pulled the nutritional bricks and metal bowls from his space storage, giving them to each team member. The elevator's steady hum filled the quiet as water formed around their fingers, drops falling into their bowls.
Kyle crushed his brick into chunks before adding water, stirring the mix into a gray paste. "You know what's bugging me about that whole mess down there?"
"Everything?" Clyde said.
"No, seriously." Kyle's spoon scraped against metal. "We had gear. Good gear. Null field generators, breach charges, the works. But we used exactly none of it."
Ollie looked up from his bowl. "We got through fine."
"Fine?" Kyle's voice went higher. "Rachel almost got turned into charcoal. Gale's hands looked like hamburger meat. You call that fine?"
"We're alive," Ollie said flatly.
Kyle put down his spoon onto the metal floor hard. "That's not the point. We could've planned beforehand. Set up shit. Whatever."
Clyde swallowed a mouthful of paste. "Kyle's right. We rushed in without a plan."
"What plan?" Ollie stirred his food faster. "Press button, doors open, things try to kill us. Pretty straightforward."
"Exactly the problem." Kyle stood up, pacing the small space between their group and the elevator wall. "You saw those alarm lights. We all did. But you hit that button anyway without thinking about what came next."
In a way, the twins were kind of right, but no one knew exactly what would have happened. Gale glanced at Rachel eating, sighing ever more. As long as everyone was safe, there was no point in arguing about things that already happened. Hindsight was 20/20 after all.
"Those null field generators sitting in storage," Kyle continued. "Two of them. Deploy them before pressing any buttons. Might've stopped the alarms, might've masked our signatures. Instead, we announced ourselves to every piece of metal in that district."
Ollie's jaw worked as he chewed. "Hindsight."
"Basic tactics," Clyde said. "Suppress first, then activate. Standard procedure for any unknown system."
"Exactly. And positioning? You had me and Clyde at the elevator doing nothing. We couldn't move, couldn't get proper angles on targets," Kyle said.
"Your bullets did jack on that big one," Ollie said. "Besides, you were protected."
"Protected and useless," Kyle said. "Buildings on both sides of that plaza. Height advantage, clear fields of fire. Put us up there with overwatch while Gale and Rachel handle close work."
Lily looked between them while chewing on paste. "That actually makes sense."
"Course it makes sense." Kyle kicked at a loose piece of debris on the elevator floor. "But instead, we're all bunched up at the target point like amateurs."
Clyde nodded. "Breach charges could've brought down sections of those buildings. Create barriers, funnel the spider mechs into kill zones."
"Or just drop rubble on their heads," Kyle said. "Four charges, four controlled collapses. Clear the approach before anything nasty shows up."
Ollie scooped his bowl audibly louder than before. "We didn't know what we were facing."
"Which is why you plan for multiple scenarios," Kyle yelled. "Light resistance, heavy resistance, overwhelming force. We walked into overwhelming force with no backup plan."
"The plan was to get through the doors and up the elevator."
"That's not a plan," Kyle faced Ollie directly. "Plans have contingencies. What happens when the big stuff shows up? What's our fallback position? How do we handle casualties?"
Rachel spoke up. "The medical situation was tight."
"Exactly." Kyle pointed at her. "You took massive damage in that memory chamber. Any smart leader would've prioritized healing before the next engagement. But we burned through syringes because we went in unprepared."
Clyde finished his meal, setting the bowl aside. "Resource management basics. Heal up, plan out, execute clean."
"Instead we barely survived through luck and Gale's magic potions," Kyle said.
"They're what my parents gave me," Gale mumbled.
"Whatever they are, we can't count on them." Kyle waved dismissively. "Point is, we had options. Good options. But nobody took five minutes to think it through."
Ollie stood up, facing Kyle. "You think this is easy? You think I wanted to rush in blind?"
"I think you panicked," Kyle said.
"Panicked?" Ollie said. "You have no idea what I'm dealing with."
"Then tell us," Kyle looked down on Ollie. "Because from where I'm sitting, you made a call that nearly got one of us killed."
Ollie's hands clenched into fists. "I've got six people counting on me to get out of this shit alive. I've got a rift that doesn't follow any known patterns. There's technology beyond anything we've ever seen, and now I've got you second-guessing every decision I make."
"Maybe because your decisions suck," Kyle said.
Clyde put a hand on his brother's arm. "Kyle."
"No, let him finish." Ollie stepped closer to Kyle. "You want to know why I hit that button fast? Because every second we stood around talking was another second for whatever's hunting us in this place to find us. Those watchers Gale mentioned? You think they stopped watching just because we broke one memory?"
Kyle's expression changed slightly, showing a different expression aside from the previous anger he showed.
"You think I don't know about tactics?" Ollie said. "You think I don't know about positioning and contingencies and resource management? I wrote half the protocols you're quoting at me."
"Then why didn't you use them?" Clyde asked.
Ollie turned toward him. "Because protocols are for situations we understand. This place breaks every rule we know. Those Guardians moved faster than anything their size should move. That colossus appeared out of nowhere. The entire memory system was compromised by entities we can't even detect."
He clenched his fist and hit the metal floor. "News flash. This isn't a fucking standard rift run. We're fighting in unexplored space and shit we don't understand, as well as other shit that's hiding in the back. Standard protocols were meant for a company, not one squad."
Kyle opened his mouth, about to say something, but Ollie continued.
"You really wanna know what I'm thinking?" Ollie yelled. "This is only the second level. We've got four more to go, and each one's probably worse than the last. We're burning through our gun syringes, our ammunition, our options."
Gale watched Ollie, knowing full well it wasn't just leading the group that was heavy on his mind. Even asking the team to watch the medical memory instead of whatever they had watched. If he had taken the leadership position earlier, would he have made the same mistakes or worse?
"I'm making it up as I go, ok?" Ollie said. "Every call, every decision. None of us know what's up there and I don't know if the gear we have will even work. It's all guesswork."
Ollie looked at Rachel, then back at Kyle. "You think I wanted to risk Rachel like that? You think I enjoy watching team members get hurt because I made the wrong call?"
"Boss..." Kyle mumbled.
"I'm trying my best, ok?" Ollie said. "But I don't know. If my best is not enough, and if we don't make it out of here. That's all on me."
Ollie turned away from the group, facing the elevator gates. "So yeah, maybe I should've deployed the null fields first. Put down some breach charges somewhere. Maybe I should've positioned you better. Maybe I should've done a hundred things differently…"
Silence fell on the group.
Rachel stood up, moving to Ollie's side, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You got us this far."
"Barely."
"Still counts." She squeezed his shoulder. "And Kyle's right about the tactics. We can do better next time."
Ollie laughed bitterly. "Next time. Like there's going to be a next time."
"There will be," Gale said. "Agriculture level can't be worse than giant robots."
"Famous last words," Kyle said, this time with apathy.

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Chapter 181