The cracked concrete walls, damp and cold, surrounded the ghost village where Elysian and Echo remained in tactical silence. The night was dense, moonless, and the sound of trees twisting in the wind was muffled by the acoustic barriers it activated. Outside, the world seemed asleep. But inside... the siege was about to close in.
Elysian was finalizing calculations on the hologram suspended in front of the table. Delta-V drones were positioned with surgical precision. The synchronization between seismic sensors, EVP frequency triangulation, and extraction routes was pinpointed. Not even his footsteps carried sound, only cold, red projections, like his expressionless gaze.
Echo rested her chin on her palm, sitting at the edge of the table. "You know that 'traumatized mathematician' look of yours could win an award, right?" Elysian didn't answer. She simply slid another sequence of coordinates into a secondary terminal.
"So, tell me... were you born this way, or did you fall into a pit of coldness as a baby?" She tapped her fingers in the air, staring at the ceiling. "Besides, if you were an ice cream cone, you'd definitely be 'underworld ice with a hint of contempt'." Nothing. No eyebrow movement. No facial wrinkles. Just the faint sound of the holographic interface accepting commands.
Echo huffed and got off the table. "I'm trying. Really." She glanced sideways at the screen showing the latest images of the base where Cinder Knight was hiding. "But if you don't want to talk, fine. I'm sticking to the plan. No jokes during the mission. Okay?"
"Correct," Elysian finally replied, his voice neutral. "Memorize the maps I projected. Entry route, security system reaction time, EVP detection fields. The attack begins at 04:00 UTC."
She paused, surprised by the direct answer, not by the content, but because he had finally addressed words to her that had some meaning. "Understood," he replied in a more restrained, professional tone. "I'll review everything."
Elysian continued projecting images and battle simulations. He activated 3D models of armed drones, sonic distortion fields, and heat maps. Every gesture, every line of code, seemed to exude a single truth about him; he made no mistakes. And he didn't allow anyone to make mistakes around him.
In the abandoned underground transportation complex. Belarus. The portal Echo had opened had catapulted them straight to a hillside behind concrete structures covered in snow and moss. It was a Soviet-era train station, now hiding the Alliance's temporary base.
"E... Vot zdes'," Echo whispered, adjusting the collar of her jacket. "Perfect place for romantic encounters with villains. Seriously, you should bring Phina here sometime... dinner by the light of motion sensors and forgotten corpses." Elysian remained silent. "Yeah, I know, no jokes on a mission."
Elysian was already advancing. Each step was carefully executed, as if he were reading the environment in front of him through mere statistical analysis. Echo activated his EVP at a very low frequency. Sound vibrations spread across the ground like invisible serpents. "There are metal plates at 17 meters. Ventilation and escape routes. Two narrow corridors. And a live electrical line spiraling down. That's... an entire base down here, Ely."
"Visual confirmation in ten seconds," he replied. One of Elysian's visor lenses glowed, adjusting to spectral reading.
Echo looked at him. "Okay. I'm impressed by your calm. I mean, we're in the middle of nowhere, invading one of the most dangerous places in the region, looking for a hero who can sell us to the system, and you look like you're solving Sudoku."
"You're still breathing," he replied dryly. "Consider it my form of kindness." She bit her lower lip, controlling her laughter. "You should write a self-help book. 'How to Be Rude Without Breaking Your Classmate's Spirit.' I'd sign it Oblivion Sage, of course."
"Concentrate," Elysian said, pointing to the metal wall she'd identified as the auxiliary entrance.
Inside the Underground Base, the base's interior lights were still on standby. The place breathed in slow pulses, as if the ground itself had a heartbeat. The two entered like shadows, sensors off, drones floating in formation.
"There are signs of life," Echo whispered. "Several. But they're spread out, as if at... surveillance points."
Elysian consulted the map: "Invisible siege tactic. They're pieces to trap any intruders in the central corridor. Prepare a distortion pulse on signal B."
Echo nodded, crouching down and placing her fingers on the ground. A low hum echoed through the concrete, shifting frequency sensors slightly off-axis. The soldiers guarding the scene seemed oblivious, but now they were blinded by 30 degrees of peripheral vision.
Elysian advanced. "Two minutes to arrival at the data center. If attacked, don't react, run away." Echo looked at him, somewhat embarrassed by the comment, and questioned him. "That's not the kind of order that inspires confidence, you know?" she muttered. To which Elysian responded coldly. "Well, it wasn't supposed to inspire anything."
A little later, they reached the main access room. A triple steel gate stood ahead. The EVP reader recognized only live codes. Echo watched as Elysian approached... and extended his arm, allowing his own energy reading to destroy the authentication system. The door opened. Inside were monitors, circuits, and a central panel flashing with the Alliance symbol. Elysian was already walking toward it.
"Echo," he said, without looking. "Monitor the corridors. If anyone approaches, take them down. But don't kill them yet." She nodded calmly and precisely. "Okay. I'll take the sounds. You take the data. No role reversals."
Elysian was already extracting the data when a discreet notification appeared on the display. [Confirmed Presence: Cinder Knight, Location: Corridor D14. Status: Active.] Elysian paused for a second. His fingers froze on the panels. The reading confirmed what he expected. "He's here."
Elysian activated the intercom with Echo. "Brace yourself. He's approaching. Final question, Resonance…" Elysian paused before asking Echo a serious question. "…can you handle Cinder Knight on your own in your current state?"
Echo's eyes widened. The weight of that responsibility hit her hard. "Yes. If it's to show I can... I'll deal with him."
The muffled sound of silent alarms echoed off the steel walls as if the structure itself were breathing in contained agony. The complex was on gray alert, sensors disturbed, surveillance routes redesigned without the occupants even noticing. Elysian had redesigned the battlefield.
Echo walked beside him, more serious now, eyes alert, as if finally understanding the weight of each step. "He's really here, right?" she asked, her voice low, her eyes fixed on the ghostly projection of the corridor ahead.
"Corridor D14. Coming your way," Elysian replied with surgical precision. "Your mission is to intercept him. Engage him, if possible. And kill him, if necessary."
She took a deep breath. Her heart pounded in contrast to the complete silence around her. "And you?" she asked, without turning her head. "I'll take care of the rest. Data. Contacts. Elimination," she said, already moving away, like a shadow dissolving into the metallic darkness of the base. "Don't follow me."
Echo wanted to say something, maybe a joke, maybe a wish for good luck, but held it back. The words would be a mistake now. She simply nodded firmly and took the designated route. The mission had truly begun.
Transmission sector on sublevel 3. The corridor Elysian moved through was narrow, with exposed wires and the smell of burning ozone. He had activated full infiltration mode, erasing his energy signature to the point where he resembled a specter. No sensors detected him.
At the end of the corridor, two soldiers in Alliance gear snickered as they watched the monitors. "Did you see that new idiot trying to calibrate the sensors? He thought he was sensitive to sparrow chirping!" They both laughed. For a moment, the environment seemed almost normal. Almost safe.
Until the first of them fell, his throat slit open by a translucent wire that retracted before the blood even dripped.
The second turned, not even having time to scream. A razor-thin projectile penetrated his temple, piercing his skull and searing the synapses with precise heat.
Two dead. Zero noise. Zero hesitation. Elysian walked among the bodies as if they weren't there. Her hands returned to the controls. The surveillance section's data began to be extracted.
In corridor D14, Echo's footsteps echoed with a calculated rhythm. Each movement was accompanied by small vibrations that she sent into the ground, identifying heartbeats, movements, microscopic sounds. She stopped.
There he was. Tall, encased in shimmering red armor, with metallic fragments that resembled live coals. Cinder Knight. The Rank 57 hero, corrupted by convenience, an executioner disguised as a savior.
Echo watched him from afar. At an angle that allowed her to follow him without him noticing. "Okay, Ely," she murmured to herself, activating her internal communication with him. "Target in visual range. I'll keep my distance for now."
From the other side, the answer came firmly. "Don't engage him immediately. Assess his capabilities, reactions. Maintain contact."
"Understood." She slid to the side, invisible among the sound frequencies. "Oh, and just for the record... I'll survive. Because you told me to." No answer. She smiled to herself and disappeared into the shadows, following Cinder Knight.
Sublevel 2, where the containment lab was located. Elysian was now approaching the experiment wing. Four agents. All armed. None aware of what awaited them.
Without hesitation, he threw two microgrenades that embedded themselves in the ceiling and released an anti-sensory mist. The men reacted too late. One was decapitated by a blade of concentrated graphene.
Another took three projectiles to the chest, fired from an impossible angle by Elysian's invisible and silent drones.
The third tried to run. Elysian raised her hand and, with a mental command, activated a plate on the floor that exploded in white heat. The body charred instantly.
The last one tried to surrender. He screamed. He trembled. "Please! I just—" The sound died before the shot. Elysian didn't respond. He didn't even hesitate. "Spare me your false excuses, maggot. We have data on all of you corrupt bastards," Elysian murmured to the body before he died.
Forward Surveillance Sector, where another group of five soldiers were positioned, nervous, near the data core. Elysian arrived like a shadow.
The first was felled by a sharp EVP wire that pierced his shoulder and into his heart.
The second died with his neck broken by a snake-shaped drone.
The third ran to activate an alarm. He never arrived. A neuroparalytic dart left him catatonic before he fell.
The fourth tried to react. He fired. He hit... nothing. Elysian was no longer there. She appeared behind him, plunged a blade into the base of his spine, and let him collapse.
The fifth... knelt. "I... I'm not armed! I just archived the data! Please... I don't even know who I'm working for..." Elysian stared at him, cold, unmoving. Then he slowly turned his wrist.
The hovering drone beside him spun in the air and released a blast that paralyzed the man. Elysian approached, his voice icy. "You'll serve better as a prisoner."
In corridor D14, Echo approached ever closer. Cinder Knight already seemed to scent his presence, her metallic eyes narrowing suspiciously. She braced herself. Tension in her shoulders. Her fingers flexed. Her sensors were on high alert.
The battle was about to begin. Echo then activated her communicator again to warn Elysian that it was about to begin. "Oblivion Sage, I am less than fifteen meters from the target. He has noticed something. I await instructions."
Elysian quickly responded directly and calmly. "Keep the field under control. When he attacks, react." Echo then asked one more question, just to be sure. "What if he's stronger than I expect?"
"Then you can release the restriction," Elysian replied before the transmission was cut off. Echo smiled nervously. "Classic Ely... motivational as a rock." She positioned herself. Cinder Knight took the first step toward her.