The workers equipped themselves with the rifles of the dazed and unconscious soldiers. There were about twenty of us total. A good number — not enough to make this easy, but it does give us options. Tessara was in charge of the group, and keeping an eye on Yuma while she recovered. I went ahead to scout out a path to the others, assuming they were all in the same place.
The corridor took a turn to the left and began to slant downward. This one was smaller than the one we came in from, which most likely meant it was for people and not vehicles. I continued downward for a while before I began to hear voices. I couldn't make out any words, but I started to walk quieter. The voices got louder as the path started to level out.
I had no idea how long I had been walking or how far I had gone, but when I rounded the next corner, I was at the entrance of a huge chamber. It was about twice the size of the previous one, except it was all one level. The chamber seemed to only be thirty feet high at most, and the floor had several stone pillars carved out around the floor. The center seemed to be the loading zone, since it had a large stack of the boxes like the ones on the trucks. There seemed to be far more soldiers down here.
I heard shuffling behind me. I turned around — nothing. The lights flickered as I stared at the empty corridor.
I turned back to the chamber and continued assessing the area. The workers' situation was similar — chains attached to the ceiling and cuffs on their wrists. Soldiers were mainly positioned around them to keep watch, leaving some open areas. There were far more workers down here — about one hundred. There was at least one soldier per worker. Some had more. There were definitely more soldiers down here.
With them so scattered, I wouldn't be able to take them out quick enough. If our group was trained, we could take them out no problem with the element of surprise, but that was the problem right there — they weren't trained.
Based on the situation, we might have to use a similar plan to the previous chamber, except this illusion would be a little trickier. We wouldn't be able to create something large like last time, but I had another idea.
Before I finished my thought, the light behind me flickered off. I looked around to see what happened, when I saw them.
About 2 inches from my face stood a figure.
Orange lights flickered against the dark rock wall, giving me a glimpse of their mask.
They struck so fast I almost didn't see it. I crossed my arms and took the punch. The force pushed me back into the chamber. Their fists were like steel, implanting themselves into my arms as the figure struck.
Great. Now I was out in the open. The soldiers all turned and raised their weapons. I quickly flicked my sword out and took a defensive position. This new opponent was my focus, not these soldiers. I saw them lower their weapons as the figure walked into the chamber.
The figure was covered from head to toe in heavy gray and black armor. Orange circuits pulsed and glowed across the plating. Black, shoulder length hair flowed behind their mask. The armor was fitted to their body and, judging by the design, it was a woman. They were about the same height as me.
Their mask shielded their face, so I had no idea who it was, but something about them seemed familiar.
It was them. The figure from the factory and the Oasis. Finally, I found them.
She reached for both shoulders and pulled out two large handles. She quickly flipped them out to her side and they unfolded into two bright orange swords. I could tell from the atmosphere that this was going to be an intense fight.
I took a deep breath and brought my right foot back slightly, adjusting my position to face her at more of an angle. I brought my sword up and focused on my opponent.
She positioned herself similarly — one sword horizontally in front, the blade facing me at about chest level. Her other one was positioned behind her back in a reverse grip, the blade facing the hall.
Now it was a game of who has the balls — or lack of brains — to attack first. In this situation, I was surely going to take a defensive stance. I was outnumbered. Even if I won this battle, I'd have another to fight against these soldiers. I needed to conserve my energy or find a better option.
Not to mention, with the way she caught me out in the open, it was obvious they had been being watched for a while now — long enough to single me out.
I could tell she was studying the situation almost as much as me. I didn't need to see her face to know what she was thinking. She has the upper hand, so I'm betting she'd make the first move.
Right as I finished that thought, she lunged at me. I quickly brought my sword down to block the attack. She hit with immense force.
Her armor was clearly not slowing her down — or if it was, she'd be almost impossible to beat without it. After that first blow, we exchanged several more in a constant back and forth. Her strikes were so fast I almost couldn't see them, let alone think of how to react, but that was how these types of fights go. That's how real fights go. There's very little thought at this point. It's all instinct.
Our swords flashed back and forth as we danced around the cavern floor.
Neither of us were wavering.
This was going on too long. I needed space to create a better plan before I get tired out. I could tell she was just buying time; her strikes seemed pointless and unplanned. Buying time for what, though? At the next clash, I pushed off.
We were near the center of the room where the trucks were being loaded. I'm betting she's going to charge me again to close the gap. I landed near one of the trucks. It had a huge gas trailer on the back.
I could work with that.
She darted after me. I quickly swiped the truck behind me then sidestepped, gas started spilling out at her. She landed in the spill and slid toward the truck.
Just as she was about to hit the tanker, she jumped and landed on top of it.
I surveyed the area — all the soldiers were still in their positions, trying to keep the workers in check. I really needed Tessara and the group now. This would have been over if they were here, but they aren't so I had to figure it out. It had been a while since I left. Tessara probably figured out something was wrong.
The figure on top of the truck suddenly threw her sword at me. A dumb move. I simply hit it out of the air.
By the time I realized it was a distraction, it was too late. She stabbed the tank with her other sword, spraying me with gas. Her hand started to glow and the gas was set ablaze, sending a stream of fire toward me.
I quickly dodged. That was too close. I distanced myself away from the spill as it burst into flames.
I wasn't expecting that. Maybe I underestimated her, but at the same time she did slip in the gas and strike at me aimlessly. It seems like she is smart, but lacking in combat experience. The fire caught up to the tank and it exploded, shaking the whole cavern.
She landed in front and began walking towards me. Her swords were gone and her hands were engulfed in fire. This just got interesting. It's been a long time since I've fought anyone with any magic.
That confirmed it — it was her at Garry's shop. I'm gonna make her pay and I think I know exactly how to deal with something like that. Suddenly, I heard a voice.
"Vera!"
It was Tessara. "Wait, who's that?"
I quickly jumped back to be closer to Tessara and the group. Yuma was hiding behind her.
"She's a magic user — a fire one."
"Magic? Been a while since we fought someone like her."
The flames around the girl's hands started to grow. She began to rotate her hands, creating a ball fire. It slowly grew as she walked forward.
"What is she doing?" said Yuma, her voice shaking.
"Just stay behind me, I'll protect you," I said.
This was not what I had planned. I knew I said I'd protect them, but from something like this? I wasn't so sure anymore.
The ball grew to almost the size of her. This wasn't going to be easy to block, but I have to. There was no way we all could dodge it now. I shifted my stance to prepare for it. My brain was scattered searching for an idea, a plan, anything.
Suddenly there was a huge boom that echoed through the cavern. The fire ball shot a beam of flames straight at us. I expected a ball — I couldn't split something like this.
The flames hit hard and flew all around, engulfing me. The temperature rose exponentially. I started to sweat, but that was it. No burning Soon, I felt nothing at all, despite the flames still flying around me.
Suddenly, it stopped all at once. The fire was gone. My insides were on fire, but outside I was fine. I looked behind me and saw everyone was untouched by the flames.
"What the hell just happened?!" exclaimed Tessara, "I'm dead now aren't I? I should be dead, right?"
"I don't know," I said.
The dust began to settle and I could see the figure again. She didn't need to take her mask off in order for me to see her shock.
A lesson I had learned a long time ago came to me — back when Kato was teaching me the basics of eloq magic. I knew the burning inside was a build up of energy, most likely from the intensity of the fight. I took a deep breath and used a technique he taught me that is used for both pushing magic and stress out of the body. I imagined pushing the unsettled burning in my stomach out from my limbs. Hopefully, this would help me refocus.
Suddenly, fire flew out and round my hands and up through my hair. I stared at my hands for a moment, trying to process what I was seeing.
Did I just absorb her blast?
I took a step forward, flames flooding out from my feet and across the ground. They quickly faded. I had fire in my hair, on my hands, and around my feet when I walked, but none of it burned. In fact, I barely felt any heat at all.
I imagined pushing the flames out of my hands and the fire grew around them. I hadn't had a magic ability of my own — not that I'd discovered, at least — so this was an incredible feeling. I almost forgot where I was.
I looked up at the figure. Fire grew around my hands, my hair flew up with flames flowing through it. I had an idea.
"I wonder," I said.
I waved my hands and brought them together. A ball of fire formed in between them. My wrists were touching with my palms facing out at the girl.
"Now, let's see how you like getting blasted," I said, launching a column of flames almost as large as hers towards her. I knew she wasn't going to be able to dodge that. The blast left my hands and soon faded. I felt the energy completely leave my body with the blast and the fire around me faded away. I quickly got an idea. No time to process, I had to act quick while we had the advantage.
"Yuma?"
"Y-Yes?" she said shaking
"Do you think you can form an illusion around the room again, and one of us all, make it look like I'm still fighting her and you are all standing here."
"I-I think so."
"Do it quickly. It may be our only chance to get these people out of here."
"Ok, ok," she said, sitting down and closing her eyes. "Il-dep-dar-spa-cov-ar-n-il-dep-lit-spa-li-anima-vera"
A thin black light formed around all of the people and the room. I moved and a black silhouette of me continued to stand there. It seemed to work. "We should be hidden now," Yuma said.
"Let's move. We need to get them out of here quickly."
"Right! Everyone help me," said Tessara. "I'll shoot the chains. You help the people escape. Stay away from the soldiers."
"Got it," said one.
"Yes, ma'am!" said another.
Tessara began shooting the chains. The plan was to take them back up and out the way we came. That way there were less soldiers, and with all those eloq crystals at the top of the mountain, we could easily collapse this place by blowing one of the trucks up.
I looked at the surroundings. The black silhouette of me darted around the figure. Her armor was badly damaged, or was it armor? Her arms and legs were exposed, but there were only wires and electronics.
Could it be that her body wasn't human? That would make sense. She was moving quite fast back then. I thought the whirring noise was her swords, but maybe it was actually her body.
She turned slightly towards me and her mask was gone. I stopped moving. No — it couldn't be. That long black hair, those deep blue eyes — it was unmistakable. It had to be her — Anasu, but it couldn't be. She's dead. I saw her die at the village with mom, or so I thought.
I couldn't take my eyes off her. I realized where she was. She was a few feet away from Yuma and heading straight for her. The illusion hid us, but didn't remove us from the area. So we could easily knock into someone not hidden by the illusion and give ourselves away.
She couldn't know she was there, there was no way. Or so I thought, up until the point her sword flew across Yuma's neck. My heart dropped, it happened so fast I couldn't have stopped it. The black cover over the area faded and so did our false selves. Anasu stood holding her striking position then slowly turned towards me.
"Anasu!!! STOP!" I screamed.
"How do you know my name?" She said, turning to me. Her face was tense with fury, covered in soot from the blast. Her armor — or body — was damaged pretty badly. It had burn holes all over and it was sparking.
I slowly took off my mask.
"Please stop."
Her eyes went wide, then tightened back up into an even more furious look.
"YOU! I knew I recognized that fighting style! I'm going to rip you to shreds!!" She charged at me full speed. Her swords slammed against mine and nearly knocked me over. I dropped the mask and braced myself.
"What are you doing?" I said, as our blades met once again.
"That's none of your business! What do you care, anyway!? You made it very clear you never wanted anything to do with me!" she yelled, pushing harder against me.
"What do you mean?!" I said, pushing back.
"Oh, don't play stupid! You know exactly what I mean — or was I so insignificant you forgot?!"
"I thought you died!"
"Bullshit, you left me!" she said. She kicked me and slashed at my torso, melting part of my chestplate. I was getting too distracted by her words.
I needed to end this fight now and get to Yuma. I don't want to kill her, but the fight has to end somehow. Maybe I could convince her to let me help Yuma without having to hurt her. It's worth a shot.
"Please stop. If we don't help Yuma now, she'll die." I said it as sincerely as possible, but it seemed that sincerity and people didn't matter to her anymore.
"What do I care if she dies?" she said, then her expression shifted. "Oh, I see. So you would help her when she needed it, but not me?"
"It's not that simple and you know it."
"Like hell it isn't!" She ran at me once again, but I was done playing this game. "What the hell are you even doing here anyways?!"
"I'm here to figure out what had been going on with the talamite and what this whole operation is," I said as I swung. We clashed again. "And to find the person who killed my friend, but I guess that question is answered!"
"Oh, I see! the talamite, how wonderful. You know — now that I know it was your friend, my only regret was I didn't do it in front of you! But let's be honest, throwing aside the ones who cared for you is exactly who you are. So why do you even care about all of this?!" She swung at my feet.
I quickly dodged. "Because something is going down in Nazul, and I'm here to figure out what. I have a guild to protect."
"Oh? So it's your home we get to ruin. This just got a million times more fun! Now I get to ruin your home just like you ruined mine!" She smirked.
She pushed me with her swords locked. I ran at her and she swung both blades at my left side. As she swung, I sidestepped right, dug both my feet into the ground and pushed left. I flew under her arms trailing my blade behind me like a fin. I heard the noise of metal being burned and two clangs on the floor.
I turned to see Anasu's arms on the ground. She started screaming. There was no blood. Yellow, translucent liquid flowed from her arms as sparks flew.
"What...What have you done?! My arms!!" She screamed again, reeling on her knees back and forth, holding her stubs to her chest.
"You idiot! I'm going to kill you! KILL YOU! I won't stop until I burn everything you've ever loved to the ground, just like you did to me." She screamed, tears running down her face. I did feel bad that our first reunion in seven years was as enemies, but there was nothing I could do to change that.
This is what she chose, not me. A few soldiers ran to her side.
"Commander, we need to get out of here now! The structure is not stable!" said one of them. The mountain shook. The soldiers started retreating out of the main tunnel.
"This isn't over! Your city, it's mine!" Anasu said as she stumbled into one of the mining trucks. The mountain shook again.
"Everyone out through the back tunnel," I yelled. We couldn't go out the front for obvious reasons, and the other two side entrances have already collapsed. It seems I didn't notice the amount of damage those three blasts had done to the structural integrity of the mountain.
"Tessara! Get Yuma."
"Already got her!" she said, picking her up. She must have been by her side already, because she was on her knees next to her. As she lifted her up and ran to the doorway, I saw tears roll down her face.
"Let's go, get in the tunnel now!" I yelled as the last group of people ran into the corridor.
I brought up the rear of the group while Tessara was leading them back up the tunnel. It only took about two minutes of running to get back to the original room. Leading a group this large was a process.
As we continued up the ramp to the exit door, the mountain continued to shake. The mountain shaking wasn't enough for me, though. I wanted to make sure this place went down for good. Eloq crystals are relatively stable until given a catalyst, like a shockwave from an explosion.
We made it out to the door and everyone began climbing down the ramp. I stopped the guy in the back.
"Could I see your rifle?" I asked.
"Sure. What for, though?"
"I'm going to make sure this place falls. Just keep running. No telling how large the blast will be."
"Be careful," He said.
"Don't worry, I'm a professional," I said as I ran in. I'm a professional? Sounds like something Tessara would say. Ew, she better not be rubbing off on me. Who cares? My focus right now was taking out this mountain. I noticed there were still trucks on the floor where we came in, since there was no one still conscious to move them. I don't know how much time I'll have to get out once the truck blows, but I'm sure it'll be enough.
I ran to the ledge and spotted the nearest truck. I aimed for the gas tank and fired. Gas started pouring out. I quickly aimed at the next one, and the next one after that. There were eight in total from top to bottom on the floor and ramp. I had gas spilling out, but no fire. I could keep shooting and hope a spark would be enough, but I had a better plan.
I aimed for the ceiling and spotted several collections of eloq crystals. I found a small patch of fire crystals. They were glowing a bright orange. I aimed and shot at them. They cracked, split and fell to the ground, right in the middle of the gas. Fire erupted from the crystal as it shattered on the ground and the truck blew up, sending shards of all sorts of eloq crystal flying across the room and exploding.
Now was definitely the time to leave.