Chapter 35: Planning and Mission

"The only way to create a Lagmorato is by being inside," Dante said, pointing his finger. He was sure that the idea of only Marcus and him going was ideal. There would be less to worry about. "What happens when we enter is that we'll be warned about enemies, and the enemies will be warned about us too."

The two sat on a wooden crate in the inner courtyard of the Reservoir, waiting for the right time. Marcus didn't hold back his rudeness toward Dante as he strapped the rest of his equipment onto his body. In addition to the carbine in his hands, his waist carried two holsters on each side with pistols Dante hadn't seen before. On his back, there was a kind of backpack that folded into a briefcase.

Silence hung between them. Dante wasn't afraid of going in, but the situation was different. Having someone with him required extra attention. Since his encounters in the Capital, he hadn't fought alongside anyone—perhaps only on his first day on the Raft.

Even Dalia wouldn't have trouble dealing with a few pirates, he thought now.

"I want to know if what you said that day is true," Marcus said, continuously wiping the barrel of the carbine. "When you ended up here, did you really face forty of those creatures alone?"

"As much as I'd like to say I didn't, it's true," Dante said, opening his hands and slowly bringing them together. "My friends were cornered, and they couldn't call for help. I got there before everyone else."

His blood boiling, a smile on his face, the vibration in his muscles—every blow landed sent a Felroz flying. The feeling hadn't faded.

"And you couldn't save them, could you?" Marcus asked somberly. "You ended up here."

"I saved them."

The shooter's face turned slowly.

"What I was doing wasn't about killing or destroying. I was buying time," Dante said, stretching his fingers forward. "My mission was to rescue. The Capital was too far from the camp. They used a portal and escaped. I was the last one."

He lowered his arm, losing some strength.

"And you ended up here," Marcus concluded.

Agreeing with that was a bit depressing. He had chosen to do the right thing so many times. And if his father had told him in a dream that jumping into the portal and fighting had been the right choice, Dante wouldn't do otherwise.

He stood up.

"I came to help, just as those who supported me when I needed it."

Marcus, still with his head held high, let out a muffled laugh. He lowered his carbine diagonally and stood. His suit covered him entirely, making him look like a shadow, and his laugh became somewhat eerie beneath the dark green armor.

"Your naivety is worse than honesty," Marcus said, walking past Dante toward the door. "But it's what I decided to trust today. We need to find the battery while we're in there. What's the plan?"

Dante took a deep breath, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a cigar. Since arriving in Kappz, he hadn't smoked. As he lit it, Marcus let out another laugh.

"The plan is to go in, fight what we need to fight, grab the battery, and come back alive," he said, glancing sideways at the shooter. "Simple and straightforward. Ready?"

"Affirmative."

I

Clara sat once again near the edge. She used a wide cushion to make herself comfortable, placed a book and pencil on her lap, and waited. The city was silent, as it always was in the early afternoon. There wasn't much wind, and the clouds hadn't been heavy in recent days. A deer far off in the rubble grazed with its head down.

This strange sense of peace always left her bitter. It was never like this. When the sun set, creatures emerged from every possible hole. Their noises, groans, and hungry growls carried fear to anyone who heard them.

Even animals tried to flee when night fell.

This feeling never went away, not even when oil lamps lit up rooms or broken spaces. They had no hope beyond living one day at a time.

Thinking about the future felt pitiful. No one should have false hopes.

"They're brave, Clara."

Simone came walking from another building alone and sat beside her. Despite her old age, she had an overwhelming desire to be around. She didn't need to, but Simone always said having company made the day better.

Clara tried to smile but wasn't very successful.

"Don't you trust them?" Simone asked, puzzled. "They're good people. They help a lot, but you seem uncomfortable. Why?"

"It's hard, really hard. I think it's because when I had hope once, it was ripped away from me," Clara said, her eyes fixed on the Reservoir. "Praying every day for better days has always been a way to honor what I lost, but never for what I had. Always asking, never thanking. I didn't want to thank because I knew if I did, I'd be settling for our situation. And I hate being in a place where I don't feel safe enough to tell the kids that everything will be fine."

"Well, don't you think God is listening?"

Clara looked at her sideways.

"Is He?"

"You asked for strength, and He gave you battles. You asked for wisdom, and He gave you lessons," Simone paused, taking a deep breath. "The air you breathe is clean. We've gotten more water, and supplies were donated without even causing trouble. It might not seem like it, but when you ask for help, God sends something—or someone—to assist you."

A loud bang echoed from the Reservoir. Through one of the holes in the roof, a Felroz slammed into the metal plates, its chest blown apart by a shot. Roars echoed, drawing people from the lower floors to their windows and holes to observe a strange sight above the Reservoir.

The red numbering—a number.

"That's the famous Lagmorato," Simone said, grateful. "I thought I'd never see one of those. Can you understand, Clara? You prayed so much that God sent you a miracle."

The blue number above the Reservoir showed only 10%, but it was enough for the red number on the screen to pulse constantly. Dante spoke the truth, as her heart and mind believed.

The day she saw him fall in the middle of the highway, she didn't expect that some time later, he'd be fighting for a cause that was never his. A mission so suicidal, anyone would say.

Her hands clasped tightly, pressed between her legs. Her chest pounded harder, and she couldn't take her eyes off it for anything. More than anything, she wanted the two of them to return, with or without the battery.

"Please... just come back."

II

Marcus wanted to take the lead. His weapon could fire faster due to an attached storage magazine. The Cosmic Energy shots shattered arms and chests, cracking the carapace of the Felroz.

The first one fell quickly. It tried to approach through a corridor, toppling several crates. Marcus aimed and fired directly. As it fell, Marcus pulled a pistol from his pocket and shot another that had gotten too close.

When the second one dropped, three more advanced quickly. From the sounds coming from behind, many more were on their way.

Marcus stepped back slightly and clicked his tongue. He holstered the pistol and pulled the lever on the ISE. While it was recharging, one of the Felroz leaped at him with a high-pitched screech.

The demon's four arms contracted, ready to strike, but something powerful hit it in the face, slamming it against the wall and causing a tank to explode. The blast created a massive hole in the ceiling, letting light flood in and brighten the dark entrance hall.

Marcus used the moment to take out a creature that had survived above. He stepped back again, reloaded, crouched slightly, and pulled the weapon's lever, rising and scanning for the next target.

It was then he understood that rationality and honesty worked well together.

It was Dante. How the old man was fighting more than two Felroz at once, Marcus couldn't comprehend. But through the thermal camera, he saw Dante blocking with his right arm, climbing up one enemy's limb, and slamming another into the ground, creating a loud crack and scattering the rest.

Not understanding the danger before, Marcus was puzzled as to why only a few Felroz were coming his way when the Lagmorato indicated there were two enemies. But that was it—the destructive power of Dante resembled a furious shot, creating chaos and wrecking the Felroz's own rational patterns.

The hunter became the hunted.

One of the Felroz tried to attack Dante from behind, but the old man seemed to have eyes on his back. Marcus didn't even have time to warn him. He watched the attack miss completely as Dante's foot extended, creating an air pressure that shattered the carapace.

"I need you to keep the enemies away from me on the right," said Dante as he grabbed two arms and swung them against the wall. "I'll immobilize them, you finish them off. We'll take too long if we separate."

Marcus didn't have to think twice. He was practically already providing cover. The first enemy fell writhing at his feet, and he shot it in the head. The second was slammed into a ceiling fixture, and he finished it off with ease.

Dante's ability to fight in tight spaces was admirable but utterly insane. Marcus hadn't expected that even in a nest, the creatures, despite being eyeless, would appear to have fear etched onto their faces.

"Let's move forward."

Marcus nodded. Dante opened his palm in a straight line toward a corridor. The air distorted even for Marcus, who was behind him, and the Felroz were hurled back by their own force into the narrow passage. Over two dozen were crammed into the tight space.

Swallowing hard, Marcus lowered his carbine for a moment.

"Who the hell are you, old man?"

Dante was already further ahead and didn't hear him. He simply removed the cigar from his mouth and exhaled gray smoke.

It was like facing something worse than a Felroz right in front of him.