Collision
Both hesitated in the first turn, being unable to move as quickly as they could. But with each corner, they became more and more comfortable with that. It reached a point where it felt like they were both part of the same body. As if they were not two people moving, but limbs of the same person. Hera couldn't explain how that happened. Maybe it was the clear vision of the movement in her mind, or the trust she placed on her first titled blade, but she never had felt this connected with him before.
That feeling didn't last long, and only in the last three turns they reached that peak of teamwork. As they were about to reach the last corner, where they would see the staircase, the Empress saw Liraelle being pried off a wall. Something splashed her with a large ball of goop that hardened as it hit the wall.
"What the hell?" Hera gasped as she dismounted Nimbus and he returned to his bipedal form.
"Get this off me! It smells," the elf gasped.
"What happened?" Hera asked.
"There was this large ball with eyes that showed up and spat on her. There were some people with that thing, and they all rushed downstairs. That's where the cells should be located. I can tell that the floors above are empty, but there is something blocking spells from reaching below." Syrinx explained.
"Ok, what do you need to do?" Hera asked as Borin and Korrin finished taking Liraelle out of the wall. Even if she was still sticky and covered in an unpleasant odor.
"They should have data upstairs that we can get, but since people are going downstairs, we might need to follow," Borin replied.
"Did you catch their levels?" Hera glanced at the staircase going down. If they were not too strong, her court could take them. She could also awaken someone in a pinch.
"I only saw two, a 41 and a 43. There were a couple of others that I missed. All humans," Liraelle groaned and used a device to clean herself quickly. The original function of the item was to clean an area off any tracks, but it worked to get rid of the remaining goop.
"Ok, then go get the data on the floors above. I'll take care of them," Hera turned to Nimbus, who gave her a nod. They started moving to the staircase as the Ophidianite summoned a pair of uncommon daggers with her [Venomous Arsenal]
"I'll go with Hera. In case there is something she can't do," Syrinx quickly flew towards the Empress, who just nodded. Understanding that her skill set might not be enough to actually find things down there.
"Be careful, we'll do a once over and go help you," Korrin nodded as the two groups split up.
Hera took the lead and started walking downstairs with Nimbus by her side. Robin, Glacia, Pyro, Viper, and Crimson were also out, but on their weapon forms. According to the blueprint, the underground was narrow, and large weapons would struggle to move properly.
Along with Syrinx, the Ophidianite moved quickly but quietly, reaching the next floor without seeing or hearing anyone. Hera even noticed when she the noise created by Nimbus' footsteps vanished less than a meter behind her, only for the sound to return after he got closer. It seemed like there was a sound dampening spell in the area. The Empress was somewhat sure that this wasn't just a single effect, or a onetime barrier she was crossing. She couldn't hear anything coming from the basement, no footsteps, no doors being opened or close, nothing. It was more likely that several layers of soundproof barriers were placed here. Maybe so different people could work on different experiments without being disturbed by nearby sounds. That might be great for the scientist, but it was awful for Hera and Syrinx. They wouldn't be able to hear the other team getting close until it was too late.
Still, neither of them hesitated. They quickly reached the bottom of the stairs and saw a few marks on the ground where something wet had passed by. Maybe it was a pet of one of the humans, or a skill they were able to use. Either way, they didn't have time to worry about it and continued moving forward.
The cells here were simple, and better set up than the Empress expected. The last time she was in a lab, the captives were packed inside tiny rooms with only one or two beds for half a dozen people. Here, the beds were wide and well maintained, and there was nothing that made it seem like more than one subject ever inhabited each cell. However, everything was empty and clearly not used in a while. A thin layer of dust covered the bedsheets and the bars. The trio passed by three of those cells before Hera saw something that made her stop dead in her tracks.
"What?" Syrinx asked.
"Are we supposed to go after them or find something useful here?" the Empress asked.
"Both? But it would be better if we found something before them. Our goal is to get shit and leave, not fight," the harpy replied.
"Ok, then come here," Hera walked to a room other right.
This place was different, it looked almost like an empty storage room, but what caught her eye was the back wall. Metal beams were placed in an X shape and between them, a tinted glass that made it extremely hard to see what was on the other side. Even so, a glint caught the Empress' attention. As she approached, the dark screen lightened, not by a spell or some device, but an optical effect that made this casing to darken the farther away someone was. Behind it were some large metal tubes with small glass openings, revealing an eerie red liquid that glowed with power.
Hera couldn't forget that light. It was the same light she saw when she found Silah being bound to a Daemon. The same light that was inside the container where the Spirit who became Vulcan was. The surrounding structure was also similar to the previous lab. And for it to be here, there had to be a test subject in the area. She wasn't sure if it would be another version of the Soldiers of Strength, or one of the people that were forcibly bound to the Daemons.
"Do you see a lock? A doorknob or something?" Hera turned to Daskka who floated to the sides.
"I don't, but this is a door. There is a groove on the ground, but it's sealed too tightly for me to pass through," the herald replied.
"Shit," Hera grumbled and started to think. Her only idea was to break the wall, but that could kill the person who was inside.
"So? Is it a door?" Syrinx asked.
"It seems so. Electronic I think. The mana coming out of the tubes should be too strong to allow any sort of magical lock to work," Hera replied.
"Back off," Syrinx reached for a pouch in her belt and pulled a small device that looked like a calculator, "Move! Let me try this. If it doesn't work, we need Liraelle."
Hera took a step back and watched as the harpy placed the device in the middle of the wall. She pressed a couple of buttons and moved away. There was a tiny flash on the screen of the calculator looking object before a current of electricity visibly coursed through the entire metal structure. A loud 'clunk' noise followed and the entire wall shifted to the side, revealing that same eerie red light from beyond it, and a considerable amount of red liquid splashed onto the ground. The energy was so strong that the Ophidianite didn't need to pay attention to understand what that was. Liquid strength mana. But it was weird. It felt stronger than the one inside the jar where Vulcan's Spirit stayed. More wild and aggressive.
"Be careful with that. It is pure mana, but… on steroids?" Hera said.
"Is it toxic?" Syrinx asked.
"I don't think so. But it might have a bad effect on us. Maybe that's the type of mana that Daemons use, not Spirits," Hera wanted to call Vulcan out, but that felt like a bad idea.
Syrinx glanced down, the harpies wore little to no clothes, and their talons were exposed almost all the time, "Then you go inside. I'll keep watch."
Hera nodded but noticed the liquid being drained. It seemed like the door was not just airtight, but also a way to dispose of the liquid. Unfortunately, trying to look through the small gap was useless. Beyond it was just another path that led in a diagonal. She pulled the metal wall to the side, hoping the mechanism wouldn't stop her from doing so. Nimbus helped, but it was hard, not just due to the weight of the door, but also their position. They were pulling it from the side instead of pushing away so as to not be in the way of whatever was inside. Once there was enough space for Nimbus to pass through comfortably, the Ophidianite asked Daskka to peek through the door.
In her black mist form, the herald moved quickly. Unfortunately, her stealth form wasn't as well hidden against the black light, but it still worked.
"There is a man inside. He is strapped to a gurney and…" Daskka moved back and floated up, getting a view from the top of the door, "Yeah, I think he has the black line tattoo. It's hard to tell, his hair and beard are really long and his skin looks charred."
"Any signs of the Spirit?" Hera asked.
"Not from this angle, but the light is stronger to his left, our right."
Hera turned to the harpy, "Syrinx, stay here. If something goes wrong, run back to the team. I think we have another hostage here."
Without waiting for a response, Hera rushed inside. Like Daskka said, there was a man here, but he was human and the tattoos he had were very different. They weren't the line, but various different black shapes. His skin wasn't charred, instead, the tattoos were being used to cover something. Not even the soles of his feet were free from the black ink. Only a few spots on his shoulder, neck and hands were still showing the natural color of his white skin. Aside from it, the man was in a rough shape, and that was being kind. He was so thin that his ribs were sticking out, and the smell was putrid. If it wasn't for the heart monitor on the back connected to him, Hera would assume this was a corpse.
She didn't know what to think, but focused on the task at hand. Turning to the side, she saw the Strength Daemon, clearly already transformed. Its shape was twisted with limbs of various creatures mashed together and various different faces spread all over its body. Thankfully, it was sleeping. All its numerous eyes closed. But, in a stroke of luck, Hera realized that the Daemon was inside a carrying crate. The same kind that was used to carry Vulcan's Spirit.
"Nimbus, help me," Hera said as they tried to work out a way to detach the thing from the rest of the tubes. The design was very intuitive and in less than a minute, the Daemon was free. Still inside the case, but no longer attached to the wall. The Empress called Viper and Crimson to carry the crate while Nimbus and she pushed the gurney with the man out of this place.
When Syrinx saw the man, she gasped, "What the fuck are you doing? How are we supposed to take this man out of the room?"
"I don't know. But we can't leave him here. Even if we have to kill him later. It's better than whatever they are doing to him. Let's just go and we figure this out later," Hera replied without stopping.
Syrinx groaned but didn't stop her. As the Ophidianite moved the gurney out into the hallway and was heading upstairs, she heard a squeaky toy behind her and felt the rush of air being pushed in her direction. Moving quickly, she summoned a venomous spear to block. Her move was just in time as a gigantic rain frog, the size of a panther, slammed against her, a couple of the barriers Nimbus created helped slow the creature down. A spear came flying towards her face, but she was able to move out of the way and parry the strike with her tail. Shifting back, she glanced at the frog's rider only to be met with a familiar face. A man with short black hair, now sporting an unshaved beard and brown eyes on a suntanned skin. He was carrying a spear in one hand, and a shield in the other.
"Leo?" Hera turned back to the rain frog, "Tiger?"