Chapter 84: Escape Under Fire

The tunnels shook violently as explosions rumbled from above, sending dust and loose stone cascading from the ceiling. Elias could already hear the distant sounds of battle—Academy forces had breached the ruins, and time was running out.

Lira sprinted ahead, flipping a dagger between her fingers as she scouted the path forward. "Okay, we are officially out of time. Exit's just up ahead—if we can make it without getting vaporized."

Reinhardt adjusted his grip on his hammer. "Wouldn't mind a good fight before we leave."

Ivy exhaled. "You always want a fight."

Cecilia rolled her eyes. "Focus. We don't need a fight—we need an exit."

Marco tapped furiously at his console as he ran. "Good news! The Vanguard supply route is still intact. Bad news! The Academy just dropped an entire strike team at our only way out."

Elias clenched his fists. "Of course they did."

Varian, keeping pace with Elias, spoke evenly. "We will have to force our way through. There is no alternative."

Elias nodded. "Then let's make it fast."

They reached the final tunnel before the exit gate, a massive reinforced doorway that led to an abandoned outpost on the other side. Marco pulled up his scanner.

"Alright, we've got two squads—high-level war mages and their fancy constructs. If we rush in blind, we're getting cooked."

Lira smirked. "Then let's not rush in blind."

Elias's mind worked fast, scanning the battlefield layout. "Alright. Marco, jam their communication channels. Lira, Cecilia—flank them from the sides. Ivy, stay back and suppress. Reinhardt—"

Reinhardt grinned. "I smash?"

Elias smirked. "You smash."

The moment Marco disrupted their comms, the team moved in.

Lira and Cecilia vanished into the shadows, moving like phantoms, cutting through enemy ranks before they could react. Ivy loosed a barrage of arrows, each shot striking precisely, keeping the war mages from focusing their spells.

Reinhardt charged in with a roar, swinging his hammer straight into a battle construct, sending it crashing through a wall.

Elias fired his thrusters, dodging a mage's attack before driving his gauntlet into their chest, a shockwave of kinetic energy sending them flying.

But the Academy forces were fast.

One of the war mages slammed a hand to the ground, triggering a runic array that erupted beneath them. A shockwave of raw magic burst outward, forcing them to scatter.

Varian darted through the chaos, his golden sword cutting down constructs and mages alike. He moved like a blade through water, his strikes precise and lethal.

Ivy's voice rang through comms. "We need to move! More reinforcements are dropping in!"

Elias scanned the battlefield, spotting their opportunity. The control console for the exit gate was just ahead—but it was heavily guarded by a siege construct.

Marco swore. "They brought a siege unit for six people?!"

Lira dodged a strike, grinning. "That's how you know we're a problem."

Cecilia phased through an enemy attack, flipping mid-air. "Less talking, more breaking through!"

Elias boosted forward, dodging the siege construct's cannon blast just as Reinhardt brought his hammer down on its leg, forcing it to stagger.

Varian seized the opening, his blade flashing in an arc of golden light, cutting straight through the construct's stabilizer core.

The siege unit collapsed.

Elias slammed his gauntlet into the control panel, overriding the security system. "Gate's opening! MOVE!"

The massive doors groaned, gears grinding as the ancient exit hatch slowly slid open, revealing the path to freedom.

But just as they started rushing through—

A new presence stepped onto the battlefield.

The air grew heavy.

A single figure stood in their way, his violet cloak barely shifting in the chaos around him. His cold, piercing eyes locked onto Elias.

Arvane.

Silence fell across the battlefield as the Grand Inquisitor regarded them with quiet disappointment.

"You continue to defy order," Arvane murmured. "And yet, you have learned nothing."

Reinhardt gritted his teeth. "Oh, for once, can we not do this?!"

Lira sighed. "Yeah, yeah, intimidating monologue. We get it."

Arvane didn't react. Instead, he simply raised his hand.

The world twisted.

Elias barely had time to process the sudden shift in gravity before his suit's stabilizers overloaded. The air itself compressed, pressing down on them with immense force.

Marco's voice crackled through comms. "Oh—oh NO. He's not just warping gravity this time—he's rewriting local physics!"

Varian's sword glowed, his stance unwavering. "Then we must break his control."

Elias forced his thrusters to recalibrate, adjusting to the shifting gravity. "Lira! Cecilia! Get through the exit! Get to the outpost!"

Lira scowled. "Not happening."

Elias glared. "We can't win this fight right now! Go—NOW!"

Lira hesitated—then cursed and grabbed Cecilia's arm, pulling her toward the exit.

Ivy followed, covering their retreat with rapid-fire arrows.

That left Elias, Varian, Reinhardt, and Marco standing against Arvane.

The Grand Inquisitor exhaled. "You should have stayed in your world."

Elias clenched his fists. "You should have let me go home."

Arvane lifted his hand.

The battlefield collapsed into chaos.

Elias moved on pure instinct, dodging as the very ground warped beneath him, columns of force erupting where he had been standing seconds earlier.

Reinhardt charged, swinging his hammer with all his might. Arvane barely lifted a finger, redirecting the force and sending Reinhardt crashing through a broken pillar.

Varian moved with deadly precision, golden sword clashing against Arvane's gravitational pulses, but even he was being pushed back.

Marco was typing furiously into his console. "I need ten seconds to overload the exit gate! Keep him busy!"

Elias's mind raced. They couldn't beat Arvane here.

But they could escape.

He activated his gauntlet's last remaining energy reserves, focusing everything into one final attack.

With a burst of speed, he charged Arvane head-on.

The Grand Inquisitor narrowed his eyes. "Foolish."

Elias swung.

Arvane caught his fist—but that was exactly what Elias wanted.

The shockwave from the Vanguard Core's energy pulse disrupted Arvane's gravitational field for half a second—just long enough.

Marco slammed the final override.

"Gate's OPEN! MOVE!"

Elias twisted away, his thrusters firing as he and the others dove through the exit, just as the massive blast doors slammed shut behind them.

Silence.

Then—

Marco let out a shaky laugh. "We're alive!"

Lira punched Elias's arm. "Never pull that stunt again."

Elias smirked. "No promises."

Varian dusted off his cloak. "This was merely the beginning."

Elias exhaled, glancing at the horizon beyond the outpost.

They had escaped.

But the war was just getting started.