Operation Kingpin Part 2
The war room within the resistance's headquarters in the West District of Roake was different from Zachary's office in Loriana. Instead of neat maps and orderly documents, the large table was covered in hand-drawn sketches, mud-stained reports, and scavenged tools. The lingering scent of anxiety permeated the air, making it kind of suffocating.
Adeline stood at the head of the table, flanked by Princess Adreana and Brenda. She looked tired, her clothes worn and patched, but her eyes were sharp, focused on the map before her. Across her, Zachary and Renalla studied the layout with professional intensity. Asep leaned against a support beam in the corner, arms crossed, trying to look casual despite the knot of tension in his stomach.
"Alright, the pieces are in place," Zachary began, tracing a line on the map. "Renalla's contact had confirmed the entry point. It's an old ventilation shaft in the lower commercial district, Sector 4. The Cult hasn't reinforced it heavily because they believe it's blocked by a cave-in. Our team cleared it two hours ago."
"Sector 4 is dangerously close to the main barracks," Adeline pointed out, tapping a cluster of red marks on the map. "If they make too much noise, half the garrison will be on them before they reach the first junction."
"That's where we come in," Zachary said, nodding to Adreana. "The main Coalition force along with the Roake Resistance will launch a coordinated assault on the East Gate. It won't be a feint this time, it's a full-scale push. We need to be loud, aggressive, and threatening enough to force Solus to commit his reserves. If he thinks he's losing the gate, he'll pull guards from the inner sanctum to reinforce the perimeter."
"And that's our window," Asep chimed in, pushing off the beam and stepping closer to the table. "While everyone is busy trying not to get skewered by Sylvanne and Erik, we slip in through the back door."
Renalla stepped forward. "The infiltration team will consist of Asep, Princess Adreana, and Adeline. Asep, your role is primary. Your lack of Lumite signature makes you effectively invisible to their detection wards. Adreana and Adeline, you will act as his shadows and backup."
"Thanks to Stanley and Idia, we have a map of the route to the Deep Sanctum," Adeline added. "But just to be safe, we have to tail one or two Cult executives to show us the way."
"What about the defenses inside?" Brenda asked. "We know they have Thralls down there."
"Expect heavy resistance near the core," Renalla warned. "Solus is paranoid. Even if he drains his guards for the East Gate, he will keep his elite Bloodsworn close, as well as the experimental Thralls. Do not engage unless absolutely necessary. Stealth is your only armor."
"Once we locate the entrance to the Deep Sanctum proper," Zachary continued, looking gravely at Adreana and Adeline. "You two will fall back to a secure position and hold the extraction route. Asep will proceed alone into the inner chamber to place the suppression device and, if possible, neutralize the target."
Asep raised an eyebrow. "Neutralize? You mean stab him in the face?"
"More like stab him in the heart. Anything to quickly eliminate him. If you can't, then escape immediately. But yes, if the opportunity presents itself, end him. If not, your priority is to plant the device Renalla prepared. It will disrupt the ritual and destabilize the caverns, burying the sanctum."
Asep glanced at Zachary, then at Renalla. Can I do this? he wondered. It wasn't that he couldn't do it, but considering his own safety, he would much rather be lazing around in Loriana. Yet, he knew he would never have the chance to laze around again if they failed.
He checked his Hidden Blade, noting that it was coated in a potent poison from Treste's lab.
"Easy peasy," Asep said, trying to sound confident. "I'll be in and out before he even knows he's dead."
"Don't get cocky," Adreana said softly, her eyes meeting his. There was a genuine worry in her expression that made Asep's chest tighten. "This isn't a game, Asep."
"I know, Princess. I know."
Zachary straightened up and looking at each of them. "We move at nightfall. The assault begins at the stroke of eight. Be ready."
***
Night fell over Roake like a suffocating shroud. The tension in the air felt suffocating, the silence heavy and unnatural.
In the shadows of Sector 4, Asep, Adreana, and Adeline crouched behind a pile of rubble. They were dressed in dark, non-reflective gear, their weapons secured and silent. Renalla had blessed them with a minor concealment spell, dimming their presence slightly to normal sight, but it wouldn't help against magical wards. That was Asep's job.
"Remember," Adreana whispered, her voice barely audible over the distant wind. "We follow your lead, Asep. If you signal to stop, get down, or run, we do it without question."
"Aye, aye, Captain," Asep muttered, adjusting his night-vision goggles—another Treste prototype that gave everything a sickly green tint but worked surprisingly well.
He checked his pocket watch, noted it's already 7:58 PM.
"Two minutes," Adeline breathed. She looked nervous but determined. "Zachary should be giving the signal soon."
Suddenly, the ground shook violently as a massive explosion echoed from the East Gate. It was followed by the roar of hundreds of voices, the clash of steel, and the distinct, thunderous crack of Erik's Nords smashing into the cultist lines.
"That's our cue, let's move."
He slipped into the ventilation shaft first, moving with the silently like a street rat avoiding police. The shaft was cramped and smelling awful, but it bypassed the main checkpoints. Adreana and Adeline followed close behind him.
They emerged into a narrow utility tunnel deep below the commercial district. The walls were rough-hewn stone, illuminated by the faint, eerie glow of luminescent fungus.
"Clear," Asep signaled, scanning the corridor.
They moved deeper, navigating the labyrinthine tunnels. The sounds of battle from the surface were muffled here, existing only as a distant thrumming vibration in the rock. As they descended, the air grew colder, and the faint odor of mines began to permeate the air.
"Patrol," Adeline whispered, pulling Asep back into a shadowy alcove.
Two cultists walked past, their robes adorned with the sigil of the inner circle. They were arguing in hushed tones.
"...Solus demands more sacrifices. The ritual requires pure blood," one grumbled.
"We're running out of prisoners. The raids have stopped. If we don't find more, he'll start taking from the ranks," the other replied fearfully.
"Just keep your head down. Once the Eclipse is complete, none of this will matter. We'll be ascended."
They passed by, their footsteps fading into the dark.
"Ascended," Asep scoffed quietly. "More like turned into crystal zombies."
"The Deep Sanctum must be close," Adreana murmured. "The concentration of Lumite in the air is getting stronger. Can you feel it?"
"Nope," Asep said, shrugging. "Just smells like burnt sugar and rust to me."
Adeline checked her compass, which was spinning erratically. "Magic is distorting the magnetic field. We must be near the core."
They continued, following the path deeper into the earth. The tunnels opened up into a series of natural caverns, bridged by precarious stone walkways over deep chasms. Below, the darkness seemed to writhe, and Asep swore he heard things chittering in the abyss.
Finally, they reached a massive, ornate door carved directly into the rock face. It pulsed with a sickly violet light, and the air around it shimmered with protective wards.
"That's it. This is the entrance to the Deep Sanctum." Adeline said.
Asep scanned the area. There were no guards visible, which was highly suspicious.
"It's too quiet," Adreana whispered, her hand tightening on her rapier.
"They're relying on the wards," Asep realized and stepped closer, feeling the prickle of static on his skin. To anyone with Lumite in their blood, this door would feel like a wall of fire. To him? It just felt like a mild static shock.
"Alright," Asep said, turning to the two women. "This is where we part ways. You guys find a spot to hide and keep the exit clear. If I'm not back in twenty minutes... assume I did something heroic and stupid."
"Asep, you must come back, okay? I'm not explaining to Zachary why I let his best engineer commit suicide." Adeline said as she grabbed his hand, her face etched with worry.
"Don't worry," Asep grinned, though the warmth didn't quite reach his eyes. "I still owe Treste an explanation on gear ratios. Can't die yet."
Adreana stepped forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. "May the Light guide you, Asep. Even where it cannot reach."
Asep nodded, took a deep breath, and stepped through the shimmering barrier.
It felt like walking through a soap bubble. There's a slight resistance, and then he was on the other side.
The sounds of the tunnel cut out instantly. Inside, it was dead silent. The place was frigid here, even though there's no visible ventilation to circulate the air.
He found himself in a vast, circular chamber. The ceiling was lost in darkness, but the center of the room was dominated by a massive, crystalline structure that looked like a jagged, bleeding heart. It pulsed with sickly light, pumping violet energy into the floor.
***
Asep was in the belly of the beast: the Deep Sanctum. He had passed through the barrier that would have incinerated anyone native to this world. Now, he hid in the shadows of the vast, circular chamber, waiting for the distraction to work its magic.
The chamber was dominated by the massive, pulsating crystal structure—the "Artificial Heart" Solus was building. In front of it stood an obsidian throne, and sitting upon it was the Hierarch himself.
Solus looked to be a man of indeterminate age. Asep couldn't tell exactly, but he appeared to be anywhere between thirty and sixty years old. Asep waited in the deep shadows where eyes could not reach. A few moments later, several robed figures hurried into the chamber, their footsteps echoing sharply on the stone floor. At their head was Estella Aria, her face flushed with excitement and urgency, followed by three High Priests of the Eclipse.
"Hierarch!" Estella called out, not bowing but stopping short of the throne. "The Coalition forces have breached the East Gate! They've brought monsters, those shapeshifters and berserkers! The Outer Defenses are crumbling!"
Solus did not move. His voice, when it came, was like grinding stones deep underground. "Breached? Already?"
"It is a full-scale assault," one of the High Priests gasped while wringing his hands. "Zachary Valente leads them personally. And the Princess... she rides with the Avalon Knights. They are pushing for the Mining Complex within the hour!"
Solus slowly stood up. He was tall, his limbs encased in ornated dark armor that seemed fused to his body. "Valente... Adreana... They seek to disrupt the Great Work. Ignorant fools. They cling to a dying world while I offer them salvation."
He turned his gaze to Estella, his eyes glowing with violet intensity. "Take the Bloodsworn. Take the remaining Thralls. Hold the inner junction. Do not let them pass the Antechamber. Buy me time to complete the infusion."
"With pleasure," Estella said, her eyes flashing with manic delight. "I've been dying to test the Spatial Rupture on a denser target. Maybe I'll finally get to kidnap that little mechanic if he shows his face."
That's scary as hell! Asep thought.
"Go," Solus commanded, waving a hand dismissively. "Leave only the silenced ones. I require absolute concentration for the final sequence."
Estella and the High Priests bowed hastily and turned, rushing back out the way they had come. Asep watched from his hiding spot behind a towering stalagmite, counting the seconds. He waited until the heavy thud of the great stone doors echoed through the chamber, sealing Solus inside.
Now.
The room was silent save for the pulse of the crystal heart. Solus stood with his back to Asep, raising his hands toward the crystal, chanting in a language that sounded like tearing metal.
Asep moved. He slipped forward with the fluidity of a ghost, his soft-soled boots making no sound on the smooth obsidian floor. He activated the mechanism on his wrist. With a barely audible click, his Hidden Blade extended, its edge glistening with Treste's potent neurotoxin—a cocktail derived from Wyvern venom and concentrated nightshade.
Ten meters. Solus continued his chant, the energy in the room growing heavier and more oppressive.
Five meters. Asep held his breath, his heart hammering against his ribs but his hands steady. Just like in the simulation. Aim for the gap between the ribs. Left side.
Three meters.
Two.
"Hmm... The Great Eclipse, where the twin moons meet, will come in a few days... With this, Rodinia will... Hrk—"
Solus's eyes widened. Something sharp, cold, and burning entered his chest. Blood began to seep from his mouth. I-I can't move...
He tried to look behind him, but the darkness covered his assailant's face. He tried to speak, to chant, to call upon his magic, but his throat seized, paralyzed by the venom coursing through his veins. Then, Solus fell to his knees. The last thing he saw was a man in dark clothing, devoid of any signature of life. A literal phantom.
"...Y-you will... pay for thi..." He tried to say something but blood filled his mouth.
The cracked halo faded, and the Hierarch's lifeless body fell heavily onto the cold stone floor.
Asep stood over the body, his breath coming in shallow gasps. He stared at the motionless form of the man who had terrorized an entire region. It felt... anticlimactic. No grand speech. No final transformation. Just a quiet death in the dark.
Is it... over?
He nudged the body with his boot. No reaction. He checked for a pulse at the neck, avoiding the spilled blood. Nothing.
"Well," Asep muttered, retracting his blade and wiping the blood on Solus's robe. "That was surprisingly easy. Treste's poison is no joke."
He reached into his pouch and pulled out the suppression device Renalla had given him—a hexagonal metal box pulsating with white light. He needed to plant it on the crystal heart to begin the destabilization process.
He stepped over Solus's corpse and approached the massive crystal structure. Up close, it was hideous. He could see veins of organic matter pulsing within the crystal, like a tumor trying to mimic life. The heat radiating from it was intense.
"Alright, you ugly, glorified lava lamp," Asep grumbled, finding a flat surface on the crystal's base. "Time to turn you off."
He pressed the device onto the crystal. It magnetized with a thrum, and the white light began to bleed into the violet, disrupting the rhythm of the pulse.
Mission accomplished. Time to go back.
***
"Overseer Estella! We're losing ground!" one of the High Priests shouted, clutching his wounded arm. "The East Gate is lost! The Coalition has breached the perimeter!"
Estella Aria stood atop the highest rampart of the building that had once served as the Mining Guild's Roake headquarters. Below her, the courtyard was a cauldron of chaos. The Coalition forces, a roaring tide of steel and fury, were pushing back her precious Thralls.
"Don't panic, you fool," Estella hissed, though her nails dug into the stone parapet. She was losing control, and she hated it. "Very well, I'll join the front lines!"
She leaped from the parapet, her figure enveloped in a distortion field as she landed gracefully amidst the fray, her spatial magic tearing through a group of mercenaries like a scythe through wheat.
"Oh my, you're quite energetic," a voice called out. Zachary stood atop a pile of rubble. His armor gleamed under the chaotic light of battle.
"Valente," Estella sneered while straightening up. The air around her hummed with unstable energy. "Finally getting serious to eradicate us? Hah! I won't let you!"
"Hardly," Zachary replied calmly. "My job is done here."
As he spoke, a four-winged raven landed on his shoulder, cawing softly. Zachary listened for a moment, then nodded. A faint smile touched his lips; the plan had worked perfectly.
Ignoring her, he turned away. "All units! Pull back! Secure the perimeter! Let them rot in their hole!"
"What?!" Estella blinked, confusion warring with rage. Retreating when they have the advantage? What game is he playing?
"You think you can just leave?!" she screamed, gathering a massive sphere of spatial energy. "I'll crush you all!"
But before she could unleash it, the ground beneath Roake shuddered violently. A deep thrumming sound echoed from beneath the city, followed by a sickening lurch in the ambient mana. The violet light pulsing from the mines flickered and dimmed.
Estella froze, her face draining of color. The Sanctum. The Heart. What happened?
"No... The ritual!"
Without a second thought for the battle raging around her, she abandoned her position. Using her spatial magic to fold distance, she vanished from the courtyard, reappearing in flashes as she raced desperately back toward the mines.
***
Estella burst through the heavy stone doors of the Deep Sanctum, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
"Hierarch! The Ritual is destabilizing! We must—"
Her words died in her throat.
The chamber lay in oppressive silence. The pulse of the crystal heart was erratic, weak, struggling against the white light of the suppression device Asep had planted.
And there, at the foot of the obsidian throne, lay Solus.
"Hierarch?"
Estella walked forward slowly, her steps echoing in the dead quiet. She knelt beside the body. His eyes were wide, staring sightlessly at the dark ceiling. His skin was already cold. There was no mark on him, no massive wound—just a small puncture over his heart and the telltale discoloration of a potent neurotoxin.
"Dead... he's... dead?" she murmured in disbelieve.
It wasn't grief she felt. It was a sudden, terrifying vertigo. Solus was the pillar. Without him, the Eclipse, the Great Work, her experiments... everything was rudderless.
She looked at the throne, empty and looming. A strange, cold clarity settled over her.
If he is gone... then who leads?
She stood up, her gaze shifting from the corpse to the crystal heart. It was still salvageable. The suppression device was crude; she could reverse it. She knew the formulas. She knew the biology of the Thralls better than anyone.
"Tch... This is all useless! What a letdown. What should I do now? Lead this project on my own?"
Then, a voice, smooth and cultured as aged wine drifted from the shadows behind the throne.
"What a pity. I had expected more resilience from him."
Estella spun around, spatial energy crackling at her fingertips. "Who's there?!"
A figure stepped into the dim light of the failing crystal. He didn't wear the Eclipse's deep indigo robes, instead, he wore a plain simple black robe. A balding old man approaching, but the aura around him was unmistakable, carrying the vestigial grace of a man who had once served the cloth.
"... Master... Castillo? What are you doing here? Aren't you still imprisoned by the Pope?" Estella asked, her tone laced with irritation.
"How rude! Is that how I taught you?" The old man snorted. "And besides, even the grandest cage has a key if one knows where to look. A little compromise goes a long way. But I must say, seeing my former apprentice playing in the mud with these fanatics... it's almost nostalgic."
He walked past her, ignoring the dangerous energy in her hands, and stopped beside Solus's body. He nudged it with his cane and shook his head with a mild distaste.
"I expected Ardenia to be destabilized by now, but I see my investment has been squandered by this lowly heretic," Castillo sighed. "Solus was really a useless pawn. But they had intended to use him regardless."
"They...?" Estella narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean 'they'?"
"The Curia, of course."
"... What? What do you mean?!"
"Oh, sweet summer child, you're as naive as ever. All of this..." Castillo spread his hands, "...was nothing but a political move."
A political move...? Does that mean... all of my research... was nothing but a political pawn?
"But... But what about... The Evolution? The truth of Lumite? You knew, didn't you? That's why you were imprisoned! You knew the Church was lying!"
"Hehe... Hahahaha!" Castillo laughed so hard that tears welled in his eyes. He then gazed at his former apprentice as if she were a fool. "By the Radiance... Estella, I can't believe you're still a foolish little girl. You didn't even realize, did you? I don't give a damn about Lumite, nor its nature! The Church doesn't care either, as long as they have it. And do you know which land possesses an abundance of Lumite?"
Ardenia... He used me... to destabilize Ardenia?
Fury bubbled in her chest. She had killed, tortured, and sacrificed for the Great Work, believing she was saving humanity from a parasitic god. And now, she was being told it was all just a glorified land grab?
"You used us," she siad slowly. her voice trembling with rage. "You used my research... my life's work... for politics?"
"Politics is the only magic that truly matters, my dear. Everything is for the sake of the Papacy and the Holy Empire at large! For every people in Saxonia and Gallia! If you're dissatisfied, you can go and complain to the wall!"
He turned his back on her, examining the crystal heart with academic interest. "Now, this device... Heh, foolish Judge. We can repurpose it. The destabilization can be accelerated. Why simply poison the well when you can collapse the entire mine? It would bury the evidence, kill the Coalition leaders, and leave Roake a ruin ripe for 'reconstruction'."
He glanced over his shoulder, his eyes gleaming with ambition. "So, Estella. Will you continue to throw tantrums over shattered ideals? Or will you help me salvage this disaster and earn your place in the new order?"
Estella looked down. She realized it now; it was all politics. But she had fallen too deep into the abyss and there was no light waiting for her, save for the Light of Judgment. There was no turning back, and there was no running away. All she could do was embrace the darkness and dance with the devil under the moonlight.
After all, for a witch like her, there was no better partner than the devil itself.
But that only made her hatred toward the Empire grow stronger.
"Fine. I'll help you," Estella said, her voice turned cold. "But you must remember, I'm doing this for my own gain. Not for you, and not for the Papacy or The Empire."
"Yes, yes. Whatever you say. Now, let's start with this useless rock, shall we?"