CH26

Explosions rocked the city as artillery and drones shattered buildings and decimated the demon population. While a nuke wasn’t dropping, this would surely be a cleanup. Even a few demons getting through could cause untold damage to the surrounding population.

The last thing World Gov wanted was to be besieged by demons. I was sure the penal army had sieged the city, ready to take out any demons fleeing. Survivors wouldn’t be spared; this would be a complete purge.

While I didn’t know much about demons, I knew about cleanups.

Marie snapped me to attention when she typed a second wrong password. The ground shook as a shell impacted the side of the building and didn’t leave a scratch. Something was powering the runes far beyond what they should be able to withstand.

It wasn’t that runes were weak. Even I wouldn’t call them that. Sometimes, they were incredibly useful, especially when mana was involved. The type of formations, building size, and lack of magical power sources told a fascinating story.

“This was the password. I played the man for it, and not even wizards can beat a devil’s bargain.” Marie said.

I jabbed at the barrier and watched it flicker more than from the shell. My knuckles bled from the impact before scabbing over. Bones moved back into place, and then the pain vanished.

“I’m guessing the bombs you planted won’t do a thing to it.” This was a magic problem, and I was short a mage. The demons didn’t seem like they knew much about Greek runes.

Finding myself lacking knowledge on something surprisingly effective against even my strength was humbling. A blow that could blow a small building away didn’t hurt the barrier much. I raised a finger and blasted the barrier.

Red aura battled against the light green barrier surrounding the building. Bolts of electricity sparked across the ground while my laser scored the barrier. When I cut the energy off, I walked up and touched the barrier to find it wasn’t warm.

I clicked my tongue and stepped outside. A laser impacted my barrier, followed by 7 more threatening to overpower me. 8 drones had waited for me to leave the barrier and ambush me. Expressing the lowest possible reading didn’t matter. At some point, the drones must have received new orders.

My body flickered as I crossed the distance. The lasers flickered off when friendly fire was a problem, letting me in close. I stepped on one of the drones and dug my fingers into an open panel. Hydraulic burst as I gripped one of its energy-draining tentacles and ripped it free. Sparks flew as the drones focused on me and fired with overcharged beams.

I ducked and weaved as they rotated to hit me with their concentrated lasers. My fist collided with the laser panel and damaged the complicated inner workings. Then, I gripped the panel and lifted the drone before smashing it into the closest one. Barriers flared as I smashed the two Mythril chassis together.

Two tentacles launched after me barbed to grab onto me, and I weaved between them and grabbed the things. With a hard yank, I deprived the drones of their tools.

I gripped a drone and flung it at one behind me, unveiling a new weapon. A missile fired, and the drone I threw exploded before colliding with the other drone.

My shoulder popped out of the socket from the throw before a laser hit my barrier. Light flared around me as I struggled to keep up my defenses.

I shot forward with all its power as I did something foolish. I punched a drone. Mythril didn’t bend, but the drone shot away into the building I had just come from. I watched in astonishment as the drone remained embedded in the building’s wall. The Mythril chassis of the drone bypassed the barrier.

I moved, grabbing the other drones and launching them hurtling into the wall, forming a little dam for myself. A hole in the barrier large enough to drive a truck through had opened up for me. I made an energy blade and cut a hole in the wall. The drones remained where they were stuck by the force of the barrier.

“That was incredible,” Marie said.

My shoulder popped back into place.

Inside were rich sports cars, carriers of all kinds, and a land yacht. Shining and covered with polished chrome was a cherry red two-story party bus covered in armor. I stepped onboard and found an MN drive in the back and not the bootleg kind. I flipped on the power, and the party yacht lifted off the ground and hovered in place, awash with MN particles.

The vehicle could move pseudo perpetually and continuously produce charged particles. It was the craft of a CEO’s son from one of the mega-corporations. I doubted the penal army artillery would have the guts to fire upon it for a few minutes. They would at least radio us to check credentials.

“Marie, check the glove box for IDs,” I said.

The demoness held up a chip with bits of flesh attached. I broke the encryption with my cube and uploaded the information. My cube could act upon the information from the chip and help us out of this mess.

More drones would investigate, followed by a company from the penal army. We should leave, but something here was more important than a party yacht.

Down the hall was an elevator leading to basement levels, and the ID Marie gave me unlocked it. We were strapped for time, but I was very curious. The artillery was focused mostly on the outer buildings, ignoring the more expensive heart of the city. My cube could store information like no one’s business, and there was a secret here I had to have.

I scratched some seals on the entrance, hacking into the mana to make a barrier that only I could turn on or off. It was a workaround, like digging a trench around a dam. The power from the mana powering the building still held in place, and after I yanked out the energy-absorbing tentacles, the drones couldn’t affect the barrier.

Really, we were ahead of schedule. I had another two hours before we had to get back.

We took the elevator, and the orange-skinned demon pushed herself against me. With the look in her green eyes, she expected me to break my stoicism at any moment.

Stoicism was a virtue in the face of half-naked lust demons.

“What do you think we will find down here? Let's make a gamble. I have a few souls if you’re willing to bet your own. It's not like you’re doing anything with it. I doubt you would notice if it was gone.” Marie said.

“Marie, we should not piss off the mortal that tossed World Gov’s death machines around like ragdolls. I know it’s not official, but will you be our master. We’ll teach you the spells, and I promise you’ll get the best deal from us. My name is Belda; you must know it for the binding.” Belda said.

I lowered my hand, and she flinched before I patted her head between her curled ram horns.

“You are lucky. I like your look.” I rubbed the demoness’s head while we descended. “I’m willing to bet concealment lessons,” I said.

“Oh, then I will bet demon rune lessons. We have a pact.” Marie cheered.

Belda sighed.

“I bet there is a new artifact down here,” I said.

“That’s an interesting position. I suppose I bet there is a new interface to assist mages in growing stronger much faster.” Marie said.

I raised an eyebrow. “I wonder who will be correct. Isn’t this bet fun. What will we do if we are both right or wrong?” Marie asked.

“Then I suppose I will teach you concealment techniques, and you will teach me about demonic runes,” I said.

Belda sighed as we stopped, and the door opened. Lights flared to life as we walked over the corpses of mage researchers. The presence of a powerful demon made itself known to me as we crossed the distance.

“Who dares approach Zaxia the bottomless?” A demoness, clearly not wearing pants or underwear, sat on a throne of stacked bodies showing off everything. Possessed struggled against invisible bonds struggling to get to me.

Morgen was far different from this Zaxia. The demoness exuded sex.

“Zaxy, this is my friend; we’re busting out of here and taking all the loot. So pack your shit and get to the elevator. No possessed so pack light.” Marie said.

“You are as annoying as ever, half-demon. What of you human you are less than a mage, but carry yourself with no fear of me?” I passed by the possessed and showed the demoness my energy blade. All of the possessed died then and there. Heads fell around me, and the demoness stared at me wide-eyed. Then, the black blood of the possessed rose from the ground and entered my black halo. “Are you going to kill me?”

She had killed many humans in her hunger for souls. Zaxy, as Marie called her, would be a boon to my black halo. On the flip side, she could be useful.

“That depends on what’s down here and how can it help me?” I asked.

“Boo Zaxy is a friend; we can count on her if we vote. Don’t be scared of him, girl; just show off the goodies down here, and he’ll help.”

“I tried changing the password; you would think you would get the hint.” Zaxy gave me a long, hard look. “Your power is undetectable. Are you some kind of mage assassin?” I smiled but kept silent; letting other people talk when I could was always better. Better to be a fool with my mouth shut than to open it and reveal the truth. “This facility was created to build an artifact that vastly improves a mage’s chances to rise through the ranks.”

In other words, it was useless to me in its current state. Like demons, it needed to be filtered to become its best self for demons; that meant dying and having their demonic power condensed and literally filtered into my energy.

“Give me the artifact and the research. Even if it's just a paperweight, I’ll find a use for it.” I said, and Zasy’s eyes widened.

“This is what mages have been after for centuries, and you would turn it into a paperweight. That’s what I would expect an archdemon to say.” Zaxy said.

“See, he’s a good guy; just don’t piss him off, and we will ride out of here in style. Hey Zaxy, I bet 10 souls that he’s the guy who collapsed the wellspring.” Marie said.

“A suckers bet I’m not taking it,” Zaxy said.

“Well, I’m glad he did; otherwise, this place would be a nuclear parking lot by now,” Belda said.

The greater demon stood to her full height of 8ft and turned around, shaking her hips toward a room behind her. We followed her through winding halls filled with other experiments. Possessed mutants struggled against their bindings as we made our way to a massive room filled with mana crystals.

“This stuff is outlaws wherever the UCS holds power,” I said.

I was tempted to try and bring them with us, but detectors around the state would go off. There were seals to hide them, but I had no time to put them together. Instead, I was focused on a blue ball of slime roiling in a glass case. Within it, I could sense tens of thousands of empowered runes stacked upon each other.

“Mage symbiotes always fail; what good will this do anyone,” I said.

My cube was busy scanning and recording the artifact from a molecular level. I could practically feel the billions in research funds poured into it. This entire city might have been a tool to fund research on this single artifact. Even if it was a failure, that didn’t mean it couldn’t work as a jumping-off point for a similar project. If it worked, I could give it to Jason as a souvenir since he couldn’t visit the city. If he wanted the mage thing to work out, a mage symbiote wasn’t a bad place to start.

“This was the first success. I sensed it when it turned miasma into mana.” That gave me pause. It was like my black halo, or was it something more. I pushed some energy against it and watched it absorb it, and the mana in the room increased slightly.

My eye twitched, and I quickly surrounded it with my aura and crafted layer after layer of seal, isolating the artifact from the outside world. When I finished, I tore off a piece of my shirt and wrapped the thing up.

“Get your shit we’re leaving,” I said.

Half an hour later, we were driving through the warzone like the hounds of hell were chasing us.