Chapter 162: Chapter 231 – The Path Below

“What do you have in mind, Atra?” Bryn asked, taking a glance at the determined face of her friend.

“There is no other valkyrja that knows the ARKs as well as I do. I’m fairly sure you are aware of that already.” Atra smirked at her proudly. “Therefore, I’m going to take you straight into the main archives. Heads up, though, it won’t be exactly easy and comfortable.”

“So, we are planning to break into a highly guarded and tightly secured vault of knowledge?” Grea raised a brow at the caramel-haired Valkyrie.

“Well…” Atra looked slightly aside with a wry smile.

“Count me fucking in!” The demon lady suddenly cheered and threw her fist into the air.

Their new scholar friend clearly hadn’t been expecting that kind of a reaction but everyone else just chuckled quietly, already used to Grea’s everyday nature.

“So, how are we going to do that?” Miria took a curious peek at Atra’s face, arriving at her side.

Atra warily scanned their surroundings before continuing, making sure that they were more or less alone. “There are countless maintenance shafts and industrial passages. The ARKs have no secrets before me. All I need is time and I can get literally anywhere, utilizing those unknown paths to reach places nobody would ever expect to be reachable any other way than through the main entrance.”

“She isn’t boasting, Master.” Bryn nodded softly. “The ledge I showed you, I learned about it from her. Everything I know about those special areas comes from Atra.”

“You took him there?” Atra didn’t hide her shock as her eyes went wide.

An apparent blush plagued Bryn’s delicate cheeks as she tried to avert her gaze from Atra and Asterios. He felt like that place held some importance to the two women, judging by their reactions. Perhaps it was their secret meeting spot that only they shared or something like that.

“Isn’t this dangerous?” Silvia broke the intense silence that had fallen onto them, turning to the shorter Valkyrie. “I mean, dangerous for you as a member of the Council and one of the valkyrjas. If we get caught or noticed, they are surely going to punish you. They already seemed quite unhappy with our situation.”

“Silvia is right.” Bryn sighed wistfully. “I would hate to see another friend banished into the Core Chamber.”

“Another?” Atra furrowed her brows.

“It’s a complex story. I’ll tell you later.” Bryn showed a melancholic smile and Atra chose not to pry any further, nodding at her friend respectfully.

“In any way, they already hate me, as you said. Giving them another reason for that won’t change much.” Atra sniffed while scrunching her nose. “I really want to help you, and not just because there’s a godlike man amongst you. This is clearly the right thing. You seem to have proven yourself in Tyr and Bryn believes in your strength. I trust her judgment. If she says that we can take the Spire back, I will do everything in my power to make it happen. No matter the cost.”

“For the sake of our dream.” Bryn looked ahead, far into the neverending sky.

“Which I might or might not have infected you with by accident through all those overblown stories I kept yapping about constantly.” Her friend chuckled warmly. “The more reason for me to take responsibility for it. What kind of a friend would I be if I hid away while letting you take all the risks and do all the dirty work?”

“You are an amazing person and a precious friend, Atra,” Tina commented, making the lithe Valkyrie hide her faint blush behind her dainty hand, acting as if she was fixing her glasses.

“Where do we begin, then?” Asterios asked after she was done with her act.

“Follow me,” Atra replied and took off in a flash.

Bryn chuckled while shaking her head. “My apologies. She isn’t used to moving around with people who can’t casually travel through the sky.”

“You two go after her, my Lord, and we will join you in a moment,” Selene suggested with a ladylike smirk.

Asterios nodded at the girls and they launched themselves into the air with Bryn soon after. It didn’t take them long to catch up to Atra and she almost lost control of her flight after noticing his very different wings. Slowing down a little, she continued flying all around Asterios, examining him from every possible angle. Bryn just kept shooting him apologetic smiles as their pace was slightly reduced due to that.

A few minutes later, Atra had to pause her curious examination as they reached the place she meant to take them to. She descended towards the ground first and the other two followed shortly, landing on the roof of a quite common-looking house. It was made in the same rectangular style with square columns as most of them. Just like a few other buildings next to it, its roof was perfectly flat.

“We are quite far from the main archives,” Bryn commented as she and Asterios looked around.

“We can’t just waltz inside the biggest library and hope to find a less busy moment to sneak into one of the secret passages. Besides, it’s not like the most restricted section is located exactly in that building,” Atra replied.

“The vault is somewhere outside of its walls?” Asterios pondered out loud.

“Precisely. There’s a heavily guarded hallway leading to it, which we obviously can’t take. But, I more or less know how long it is and in what direction it’s going. With that, I should be able to lead you through a bunch of maintenance areas so that we end up right next to the vault. Then, we just need to figure out how to get inside and we are home,” she explained.

Finishing up, Atra stopped walking in circles all around the roof and focused her gaze on one of the corners. She pressed her foot into a few different spots over the hexagonal metal pattern and one of the honeycomb-shaped tiles clicked in with a quiet noise. A dozen or more of them did the same and they retracted themselves to the sides, uncovering a hole in the roof with a ladder leading down.

Atra gestured at them with a smile and a dark crimson gate arose next to Asterios. Right after all the girls joined them, the scholarly Valkyrie led them inside the hidden passage. They walked down one by one to avoid accidentally falling on top of each other. Within two minutes, they all stood on the very bottom, inside a quite narrow metal tunnel illuminated by yellowish gems.

“Alright. Let me just recall all the blueprints and schematics…” Their guide frowned deeply while massaging her forehead, releasing somewhat silly sounds as she concentrated as much as she could.

“Are you sure you don’t need to take some of them with you or something?” Tina asked.

“Don’t underestimate the mind of a researcher.” Grea waved a finger at her. “It might be mostly filled with useless shit but it can be extremely precise and detailed regarding the important things too.”

“I got it. We have a little bit of walking to do. Watch your wings. Those of you who have them, of course.” Atra chuckled awkwardly after noticing that it was now only her and Bryn who sported a pair.

Everyone fell into order and they started moving in a single line. Just in case, the toughest warriors took the spots closest to the front and the back. It was never unwise to take some precautions even if they technically were walking through the insides of one of the safest places in the entire realm, with only eleven others floating around the rest of it.

Atra continued leading them through extremely narrow passages, clearly not meant for everyday use. Some of the claustrophobic tunnels forced them into a crouch even. Thankfully, they were all illuminated more than decently well. Even if they weren’t, Bryn would have made sure they knew exactly what was in their close vicinity.

After about half an hour of squeezing through tight spaces, they finally stepped out into a much more spacious section. Asterios quickly recognized the area as one quite similar to the place with the giant cogwheels and pistons back from Tyr. Instead of ending up on a ledge in the shape of a half-circle, they walked onto a metal path with no railings extending forward, right into the dimly lit distance between the massive machinery.

“Be careful not to fall. There are many dangerous things that the light doesn’t reach.” Atra directed her warning towards the women with no direct means of flying. “And don’t get surprised by sudden releases of steam and things like that. It can get pretty loud in places like this one but we have to pass through it. I don’t think I have to remind you not to touch anything, right?”

“I can’t reach it even if I wanted to.” Miria giggled while looking around in awe. “This looks so magical. I knew that the ARKs were made mostly of metal but there’s just so much of it here. Our realm seems so bland in front of worlds like this.”

Asterios smiled warmly and scratched behind her ears. “Your realm has some very beautiful and unique areas too. I don’t think many can boast a gigantic marble mountain with an active city carved right in its side, close to the top even.”

“Plus, you certainly haven’t seen a lot of it yet,” Selene added with a sly grin. “Our little world can make you breathless from amazement too. Perhaps we could travel a little bit with Master whenever we get a moment.”

“That’s an amazing idea!” Miria beamed at her and Asterios. “I think the landing zone of the meteor from the legends would serve as a great starting point! It’s definitely an interesting place to visit and it might even be helpful to Master somehow! It does seem to be linked with fire considering the properties of my blades.”

“We will keep that in mind.” Asterios nodded at the happy panthergirl. “For now, let’s focus on not plunging into this boundless darkness.”

Finally not having to squeeze themselves through small corridors, they moved forward while walking in pairs. There was enough space for three people to traverse the path side-by-side but no one wanted to tempt fate and bad luck. Moving along with a partner was entertaining enough.

Just as Atra had warned them, many of the moving parts in the walls and the ceiling kept releasing some louder noises now and then, whenever the mechanisms switched, changed, jumped, or went through some other shifts in their functionality. One of the jets of steam shot right at Miria’s legs and she squealed in surprise, jumping into Ast’s arms, making him and the others chuckle. She giggled shyly, turning a little rosy as she looked up at his face with a sweet smile.

Fortunately, no serious accidents occurred during their short journey through the long bridge. After something like fifteen minutes, they reached the other side and spotted an entrance to another narrow passage. Tina wondered if they hadn’t gotten too far from their objective but Atra assured her that everything was fine, reminding the Summoner girl that the ominous path they had taken curved slightly from time to time.

“How far do we still have to travel through these extremely enclosed spaces?” Silvia asked as they were moving through one.

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“Hey, at least we aren’t knee-deep in shit in some smelly sewers.” Grea snickered.

“Our destination isn’t that far. There will be a few more narrow tunnels but we will soon be moving through bigger corridors and chambers,” Atra answered from the front. “Trust me, I want nothing more than to get there already too. My wings are all bruised from continuously hitting and scratching them against literally everything.”

“I’ll save my spells for that moment, then,” Bryn added. “We would get new bruises in a flash after I took care of the current ones. Hopefully, this is going to be worth it.”

After a while of torturous squeezing and crouch-walking, they entered a pleasantly wide and quite long hallway with a high ceiling. The loud noise of running water filled their ears and they found multiple thick pipes poking out of the walls on both sides. They came out of the ceiling and continued down through the floor, with the protruding part passing through the room open and exposed to the onlookers. A clear liquid flowed down the huge metal tubes.

“Ah shit. I took a wrong turn.” Atra clicked her tongue.

“How bad is—”

The metallic thud of something hitting the floor behind them interrupted Grea and they all turned around to see the entrance blocked by a slab of metal. The yellowish gems sporadically placed over the walls suddenly turned red and the sound of creaking mechanisms echoed through the spacious hallway. 

A bunch of holes showed up over the walls and the ceiling as concealed hatches opened inwards and quite unusual structures emerged from hiding. At first, their shape confused everyone greatly, but most of them quickly realized that they were now against what looked like automatic crossbows mounted on mechanical stands. All the weapons spun and turned, pointing straight at them.

“Nevermind. That is bad.” Grea chuckled wryly.

“Selene!” Asterios shouted and his vulpine mate hastily stepped forward.

Right before the first projectiles were launched their way, she brought the number of her tails up to five and created a multi-layered barrier in front of them. The crossbows shot their bolts one after another, perfectly synchronized with each other. There was almost no break between their shots as they maintained a steady stream of sharp metal bolts.

“Do you know a way to disable those? Or do we have to fight our way through?” Asterios asked, turning to their guide.

“I’m afraid that I’m not certain about the former. I think the safest option will be to take those defenses down. It shouldn’t be that much of an issue for the ARK since no monsters, beasts, or other things make it in here. This automated system was certainly designed to stop those from polluting the water through these inspection shafts,” Atra replied with a shake of her head. “I’m sorry. We were supposed to go around this area. I confused the path.”

“We all make mistakes. It’s alright.” Tina smiled at the distressed Valkyrie softly. “What do we do, Ast?”

“Bryn, cover the pipes just in case. We don’t want some stray spell or whatever else to get into the water,” he answered, receiving a firm nod from their winged companion. “Other than that, we should minimize the damage as much as we can. Use only precise attacks to strike the turrets.”

“I’ll use the bow if someone covers me, then,” Tina said, quickly taking position with Hydran in her hands.

“Master, if you support me a little, I can deal with the bolts while freeing Selene. She can use her spiritual arts to shoot the turrets after that,” Miria suggested.

Asterios felt how eager she was to prove herself and nodded, preparing the technique that boosted his summon’s senses and reaction speed. He waited for Miria to finish drawing on her bloodline and pressed a palm into her lower back, now covered with smooth black fur. He completed the necessary sigil nevertheless and took his hand away, quite sure that he didn’t have to keep direct contact for the technique’s effects to be strong enough.

Miria unsheathed her dual blades and stepped in front of everyone. Taking a deep breath, she lowered her stance and locked her gaze on the path ahead. She gave Selene and Asterios the signal, and the barrier disappeared as she felt her surroundings slow down. The previously barely noticeable projectiles flew at her at a walking speed now. She smiled to herself and took a swing.

In everyone else’s eyes, Miria started sword dancing in the middle of the corridor with incredible speed. Bright sparks and distinct sounds of metal hitting metal echoed through the chamber as she parried every single bolt coming at them in the same, quick pattern. Their velocity and number didn’t faze the panthergirl in the slightest as she kept wildly swinging her shortswords and letting none of the fast projectiles pass.

Tina wasted no time and shot her own spiraling arrow of pure water at the closest turret and nailed the structure right through, taking it out of the fight for good. As she prepared another shot, Selene sent a group of thin javelins hurtling forward, skewering the second mounted weapon with them. Asterios didn’t leave all the fun to them and activated his Spellslinger after slotting a new Runic Chip in it. An arc of lightning struck the third crossbow and damaged its mechanical parts, causing it to jam and cease to function.

With half of the turrets gone, the pattern of the incoming bolts got slightly delayed and everyone could observe Miria’s refined movements much better as she didn’t have to react as fast as before. It still was an equally mesmerizing and awe-inspiring sight seeing her parry each projectile with incredible finesse, having quite some fun while at it too.

In the meanwhile, Asterios moved with Umbra through the shadows and resurfaced on the other end of the hallway. With his artifact sword already in his hand, he filled it with his scorching hot energy and made short work of the furthest turret, slicing it into bits with ease. 

The last two weapons turned to aim at him but the girls didn’t even let them prepare to shoot at their beloved. Tina raised a wall of chaotic water in front of Asterios just in case while Miria and Selene lunged forward. The former latched onto the closest still functioning crossbow and stabbed her blades into the vulnerable holes and openings while the latter gathered some mana in the external circuits of her right arm and sent a ghastly apparition of a demonic hand to grab onto and squeeze the other one into a chunk of deformed metal.

No more threats showed up after they had dealt with all the crossbows, even though the light crystals remained red. The two beastfolk ladies returned to everyone alongside Asterios. Miria had a wide, proud smile on her lips while Selene hid her small grin behind her slender hand.

“Congratulations. That was amazing.” Silvia applauded them lightly and the others soon followed. “I decided not to intervene this time because my fire could have damaged or melted too much. My apologies for that.”

“A good decision. No need to apologize for that. The situation was under control.” Asterios shook his head. “Everybody fine?”

They all nodded and Atra chuckled quietly. “Now I see why you think this might be doable. You guys fight so well together. Your coordination is something else.”

“Being able to communicate mentally and exchange thoughts in a flash does help a lot,” Selene commented with a gentle smirk.

“In any way, do we remain locked in this facility or…?” Grea glanced around, checking the entrance and the exit.

“Let me see if I can do anything about this,” their new scholar friend said and jogged to the end of the corridor.

Just as promised, Atra found a hidden compartment with a lever resetting the chamber back to its dormant state. The damage had already been done to the offensive systems but the doors would still be able to lock themselves up the next time the trap was activated. Atra mentioned that this room had some other surprises installed so it wasn’t like they made the area completely defenseless.

Afterward, she made sure to recall the blueprints correctly before every other exit and turn, leading them through the narrow and writhing passageways. They often passed by sticking out pieces of machinery or crystals infused with various elements. The underbelly of an ARK was truly fascinating, especially for Grea and Asterios.

About another half an hour later, Atra stopped in a slightly wider but still small space and turned to the metal wall on the side. “If my calculations are correct, we should be standing right before one of the vault’s chambers. Unfortunately, there isn’t any secret, hidden service entrance that would let us pass easily. We need to figure something out.”

“Maybe Umbra can roam around and try to find a gap to flow inside?” Miria suggested. “Or just travel through his shadows?”

~I could try the former but I’m afraid that the latter seems to be disrupted. There’s some kind of a light aura that repels shadows and magical darkness,~ Umbra replied.

“Most of our barriers and defensive spells rely on Light Magic so I’m not surprised about that,” Bryn commented.

“Do we know what exactly is on the other side of this wall?” Silvia asked.

“Well, not really. It can be shelves, cabinets, displays, but also nothing. Why?” Atra glanced at her curiously.

“I thought about trying to melt it but I don’t want to risk destroying something important,” she replied.

“Let me try, then. My sword should be precise enough to penetrate just the wall if I’m careful enough,” Asterios offered.

Everyone gave him some more space to work with and he brought out his artifact blade. They watched as it heated up until almost its entire surface was glowing crimson, with mischievous tongues of dark red fire licking the air past the sharp edge. He stepped closer to the metal wall and began slowly and cautiously sliding the tip into it.

Bit by bit, it sank deeper, causing the edges of the created hole to melt and drip down to the floor. After a few long seconds, Ast’s grip jerked and he hastily pulled his hands back, sure that he had pushed through the thick obstruction. Finding the perfect depth to avoid damaging anything on the other side, he unhurriedly traced an arch big enough for them to comfortably walk through after it was finished.

It took him a moment to melt through that much metal but nothing interrupted his focus in the end and the forcefully created entrance was completed. Selene assisted him with her energy and pulled the cut archway into their chamber, revealing a shining, golden room on the other side. Thankfully, it looked like they had breached the archives somewhere in the middle of an empty corridor, avoiding destroying or damaging any important items and structures.

“Ladies first.” Asterios smiled at Atra and they carefully walked through the hole.

 

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