A small army of Teks, Thorns, and Koas unleashed a barrage of spells against the intruders as soon as they had a clear line of fire. Thorns were creatures born from the Awakening of bushes, or in the case of an underground environment, of moss.
Their bodies were short, barely reaching one meter (3’3″) in height. They looked like octopuses made of mold, with glowing yellow eyes and odd protuberances on their backs that almost resembled wings.
Koas were fish type magical beasts, about 1.5 (5′) meters tall. They had big green eyes and humanoid bodies covered in silvery scales as hard as metal. Their razor-sharp claws and teeth made them formidable opponents in close-quarter combat.
All of them had been born and bred in an environment that only allowed the most aggressive of them to survive, so their first reaction was always to try and eat each other. The bloodbath between the different species ended only when the elevator’s doors opened, revealing its cargo of soft, tender meat.
Once again, the entire structure was made of metal, making earth magic impossible to use. The Teks attacked with a hail of ice shards, while the Thorns released their darkness infused spores to weaken their prey enough to feed upon them.
The Koas preferred a much simpler approach, releasing their bolts of lightning against everyone but themselves. Unfortunately, both Teks and Thorns were immune to lightning, so electricity was a threat only to the expedition group.
Between the sudden crisis and the fear that the mechanical elevator had caused them, the humans had no time to prepare their spells. Phloria stepped in front of Quylla while injecting mana into her Skinwalker armor.
The few projectiles that hit Phloria before her conjured tower shield could take form didn’t even put a dent in the silvery layer covering her skin. The soldiers reacted in unison, each one stepping forward to protect the civilians while activating their energy shields and using their wands to return fire.
They had learned from the previous attack that in such a confined space, darkness was the best choice. The projectiles were slow, but the creatures had no camaraderie and would hinder each other’s movements in their attempts to dodge the darkness bolts.
Lith and Morok Blinked at almost the same time. Before first blood could be shed, they appeared respectively on the left and the right side of their assailants. Morok crossed his blades right in front of his eyes as he whispered: “Infiro.”
The two short swords emitted a red light that scorched everything in its path, while Lith released a stream of blue flames from his hands from the opposite direction, leaving the creatures no way out but to move toward the black bullets.
The red light and the blue flames burned the Thorns while heating the Teks’ exoskeletons and Koas’ scales to the point that they ended up cooking rather than protecting their internal organs.
Lith would have liked to use Origin Flames, but ever since they had activated the elevator, Solus had spotted magical cameras, warning him that they were being watched.
“What the heck was that?” Lith asked while using the army signal to alert the others about enemy spies. To a casual onlooker, they would just appear as a nervous gesture.
“I thought your weapons didn’t have energy-based attacks.”
“And you were right about that. The spell was mine, my weapons simply absorbed the flames and released only its heat. I’m not as confident as you are in controlling my spells.” Morok nodded in understanding.
“This is all metal, there’s no way to start a fire.” Lith said, noticing that aside from Yondra, the Professors had only shielded themselves. If not for the soldiers, most of the Assistants would have died.
The two Rangers continued babbling for a while, giving Phloria the time to decide their next move while keeping the enemy focused on them. She retrieved the metal key from behind the glass before stepping out of the elevator.
The compartment had opened after Lith had swiped the keycard the right way, but between Gaakhu’s yammering and the creepy noises from the elevator, Phloria had almost forgotten about it.
“We need to find an easily defensible place.” She said. “Our first priority is to avoid getting blind-sided again. Then, we must find and destroy the meat factories. I don’t care if the magical beasts are willingly helping our enemies or not, they are part of the Odi’s automated defences and we’ll treat them as such.”
Neshal hid behind Phloria to cast a Detector array, following the orders hidden behind her words. The magical cameras emitted a glow visible to the naked eye for a split second before a snap of Neshal’s fingers turned them into dust.
“What the heck is this stuff?” Yondra said while studying the devices’ remains.
They looked like small metal cylinders with a glass lens mounted at their extremities. They would have reminded Lith of some kind of security camera if not for the fact that they were covered in runes and powered by magic rather than electricity.
“First the card, now this. How did you notice them without an array?” Gaakhu had shifted her rage from Phloria to Lith.
“The lenses reflected the lights from our spells.” Lith lied through his teeth. “Also, I get that you are scared, everyone is, but that doesn’t give you the right to vent your stress on those who just saved your useless life.
“Captain Ernas, I propose we leave Professor Gaakhu here. It’s because of her that the enemy ambush almost succeeded. She’s a liability.” Before she could retort in outrage, Lith lifted her by the neck with one hand.
His grip was so strong that she couldn’t breathe and he only needed a flick of his wrist to break her neck like a twig. Except for the Orichalcum boosted by mana, enchanted armors offered little protection against this kind of attack.
“All in favor?” Phloria asked.
The Assistants, the soldiers, and Morok raised their hands.
“The majority agrees.” She said while looking into Gaakhu’s desperate eyes. “Luckily for you, this is not a democracy. You’re the best linguist we have, so your usefulness outweighs how annoying you are. For now.
“So, I’m willing to give you one last chance. Keep your emotions in check and help the others survive, because the next time you mess up will be your last. Release her, Ranger Verhen.”
Lith opened his hand, letting Gaakhu fall butt first to the ground, gasping for air. She was outraged by the treatment she had received, but she kept her mouth shut. Her colleagues had opposed her execution, but none of them had said a word to defend her nor tried to prevent the judgment from being carried out.
Gaakhu was alone and Phloria’s ultimatum was still ringing in her ears.
‘Damn old fossils. I’m too young to die.’ She thought. ‘As much as I would like to teach these arrogant kids a lesson, I need them for my survival. The moment we’re out of here, I’ll use all of my resources to ruin you and your precious careers.’
The group started to move, but no one helped her to get up. The Professors were busy studying and scanning the space in front of them while the soldiers focused solely on the Assistants.
Gaakhu decided to swallow her pride and prove her usefulness to them. She had no idea what this place was, but her instincts told her that she wouldn’t stand a chance alone.
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