Alicia and Kureha approached the warehouse…well, warily. Because they had to be wary of the warehouse. Got it? No? Never mind…
Ahem…anyway, the two girls cautiously approached the front, but Alicia suddenly raised a hand and called for a halt.
"Something's not right," she said as she scrutinized the warehouse from a distance.
There was a huge truck rumbling through the entrance, crates of bottles jangling in the back. The guards waved it in, and then stood aside. The heavy vehicle proceeded past the checkpoint and toward one of the unloading bays, where a couple of workers emerged. As soon as the truck stopped, they hopped up into the back and began shifting the crates of drinks.
"I don't see anything wrong," Kureha remarked, puzzled. "They're just unloading the drinks."
"No, not the truck." Alicia was frowning. "The warehouse. It's too quiet and empty for a warehouse of that size. There are only two workers on a weekday. Where are the others?"
"That's true." Kureha understood what Alicia was talking about. Even with her limited senses, she couldn't detect the presence of any other humans inside the warehouse. Alicia, whose senses had been sharpened because of her role as a ranged gunner, already picked up the unnatural emptiness inside the warehouse. It wasn't like an x-ray vision or radar, but more of a sixth sense, where she could sense the mana signatures of people.
"…underground." Alicia suddenly straightened her back and stared intensely at the back of the warehouse, on the other side of the loading bay where the truck and workers were. She then glanced back at her smartphone, as if to confirm something. "There's a tunnel leading underground. Someone has just gone through it recently."
Kureha shook her head, amazed. She hadn't sensed or seen anything at all. "How do you know?"
"Thanks to these," Alicia admitted as she raised a hand. A tiny, ant-size mechanical drone buzzed in the palm of her hand, its metallic wings fluttering as it took flight. She then turned to her smartphone, which was beaming a holographic screen that displayed multiple videos, each recorded by the many drones she had set upon the warehouse. She selected one of the videos and magnified it, indicating to a hatch deep inside the center.
The drone hovered closer to the hatch, and using its multi-spectrum array, it scanned the interior. An in-built radar showed that it was hollow, and led to a tunnel that gradually sloped downward. Its limited range meant that they couldn't see anything beyond that, and obviously the tiny mechanical drone had no way of opening the door and flying inside to find out.
"We'll have to sneak in."
"Want me to subdue the workers and driver?" Kureha asked, already drawing her sword. Alicia gave her a dry stare.
"I said we're sneaking in, no fighting our way in. We don't know how many people are in there, or even if this is the right place. If we end up mistaken, I don't want to draw too much attention to us, get arrested, and then having to explain to my father why I decided to trespass upon private property and assaulted innocent people." She gestured toward the workers. "We don't know for sure if they're the enemy. Don't be hasty. Let's gather more information first before we start shooting."
"You got a point there," Kureha admitted sheepishly as she placed her sword back in its sheath. "Sorry."
The two girls snuck over to the back, and then vaulted over the fence. The barbed wire that was coiled at the top proved to be ineffective in keeping out intruders…then again, they were designed to keep out normal humans, and not mages capable of casting basic physical reinforcement spells. There wasn't even a basic magic barrier to protect the premises.
That was normal. The warehouse was inside a city, which was itself already protected by a large-scale barrier that kept out low ranking monsters. There was no need for extra precautions against magical foes or monsters, not unless there was something extremely valuable inside. It wasn't as if mages were desperate enough to steal crates of drinks from a warehouse.
Taking a deep breath, Alicia then did her best to cast a stealth spell. She wasn't very good at it, but she had studied the basics as it was part of the class on sniping. Obviously, the best snipers were also the stealthiest, which was why she learned a bit of stealth magic, but she wasn't as proficient as it as her sniper brethren as she tended to be a frontline gunner rather than an actual sniper. The two girls snuck past the workers and driver, who were completely unaware of their presence at all.
Stopping by the hatch, Kureha bent down to lift it, but Alicia quickly stopped her.
"Wait. It's warded. There's an enchantment over it." Taking a deep breath, Alicia closed her eyes and placed her hand above it, but not directly touching it. "Allow me to defuse it first."
Regulating her breathing, Alicia did her best to disengage the enchantment, while Kureha kept watch to ensure that the workers didn't discover them. Perspiration dripped down her face as Alicia struggled with the complex mechanism of the spell, meticulously dismantling floating runes and symbols of lights that were now hovering above the hatch.
With a click, the enchantment vanished completely, and Alicia wiped the perspiration from her pale face. Raising her head, she smiled tiredly.
"It's done."
"Let me go in first. In case there's a trap or ambush."
Alicia snorted at Kureha's concern, but she couldn't argue against the need for caution. Nodding, she stepped back and allowed her friend to enter first. Kureha drew her sword as she descended the slope, scanning the area for any traps, or anything out of place.
They found nothing.
"…how far does this tunnel go?" Kureha asked impatiently as she swept her gaze across the dimly lit corridor. The tension was getting to her, especially when she found nothing.
"Just ten more meters." Alicia was studying her smartphone, tracking her drone's view. Her done spotted nothing, and triggered no traps. The tunnel was practically deserted, but then again…of course it would be. Why would anyone hang out in a dark, dreary tunnel? Of course they would go inside the room at the end of the tunnel. "There's a chamber at the back. I suspect that's where the people are." She paused and closed her eyes for a moment. "It's faint, but I can sense a few presences behind that door."
"Have they detected us yet?" Kureha asked tersely. Alicia shook her head.
"No reaction. They're milling around in the room. I'm not sure what they're doing…I can't see anything past the door."
"Let's hurry then."
The two of them hastened their pace and reached the door in fairly short order. Coming to a stop just before the huge, metallic door that barred their way, Kureha raised her sword.
"Mind if I cut it?"
"Uh…"
"No time for stealth now, unless you have a way of opening the door without alerting them."
"No, wait! Look out!"
Alicia suddenly drew her guns and let off a couple of shots. Kureha dodged on instinct as the magical bolts soared above her and struck something.
Clang!
Looking up, Kureha watched in horror as two gigantic golems detached themselves from the walls on either side of the metallic gate. About three meters tall and two wide, they lumbered forward like mechanical giants, their single eyes whirling about nosily as they tracked her.
Bang!
Alicia fired off a barrage of shots that pelted the Golem on the left, and one of them struck its optical lenses, which fizzled. The Golem staggered, but didn't fall.
But that was more than enough for Kureha.
The Golem on the right continued its inexorable advance, its massive fists swinging toward Kureha. Unable to evade in such tight confines, Kureha instead faced its attack head-on. Dashing forward, she flipped herself above its punch and landed on its gigantic arm. Running along the metallic length, she dove forward and swung her sword. In a single, graceful stroke, she decapitated the Golem. Its head crashed onto the ground, sparks flying violently from severed wires.
Even so, the Golem refused to die. It continued to swing about wildly, almost dislodging her from its shoulder. Gritting her teeth, Kureha plunged her blade deep into its now open neck and unleashed a white blast of energy that seared through its insides.
Smoke billowing out of exposed hatches and its hollow neck, the Golem toppled over like a puppet whose strings were abruptly cut. Without any hesitation, Kureha bounced off the fallen Golem and attacked the other. It was currently occupied by Alicia, who was relentlessly bombarding it with countless anti-armor rounds.
The magical projectiles left craters on the now pockmarked body of the staggering Golem. In truth, Alicia should be able to take it down in another few minutes, but Kureha wasn't willing to wait.
Vaulting across the corridor, Kureha stabbed the Golem in the chest, in a cracked crevice where Alicia's shots had left a small but deep hole. White energy crackled from her blade and erupted inside the stumbling Golem, frying it from the inside. Yanking her sword out, Kureha spun away before the Golem could fall on top of her. The mechanical warrior crashed face first, sparks scattering from its ruined body.
"No choice. If they didn't know we were here before, they definitely know now."
Gathering white mana into her sword, Kureha wasted no time and sliced the door open. Two segments of metal slid down and toppled inward with a thunderous thud. Without waiting for the echoes to die away, Kureha stepped through the entrance she had just forcibly cut open and glared at the occupants.
Then she froze.
"…Uncle Frank?"
The man in the center, surrounded by a bunch of hooded mages, slowly turned around. Adjusting his necktie casually, he smiled.
"Oh, Kureha. You're still fine, I see." His grin grew. "How is your sister?"
"You…!"
White mana exploded around Kureha, causing the entire chamber to shake violently. Dust and stones rained down as tremendous tremors coursed through the room, and the hooded mages stumbled as they tried to regain their balance.
"I'm going to kill you."
"Oh? Are you sure about that? You can't afford to be wasting time on me, you know?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Alicia asked as she entered the room behind her friend, keeping her guns trained on Frank Franklin. He shrugged.
"Ah, I guess it's best to inform you. At this very moment, there are 3,000 monsters heading toward Jing Tian City from the north. If you go now, you should be able to inform your local military force and rally a combat force in time. You'll need every second." His eyes gleamed mischievously. "After all, even a city's barrier is not going to be able to stop an army of 3,000 monsters. There are a few rank B's in there as well."
"You…what have you done?" Alicia asked, horrified. "How…?"
"That's our job. As the Research Foundation Group. We conduct research on monsters." He glanced upward. "Those drinks in this warehouse? They act as bait, giving off pheromones that attract monsters. That's why the barrier that renders the city invisible isn't going to work. They know you're here. Oh." He raised a finger. "You can destroy the drinks if you want, but it's too late. As I said, they already know you're here. Even if you get rid of the bait, they're already on an unstoppable path toward this direction."
"I'll kill you," Kureha growled, holding her sword in both hands. White mana continued flowing into it. "It won't be a waste of time. I only need a second to kill you."
Then she charged forward and stabbed Frank. The middle-aged man looked stunned as he jerked and clutched the blade. White mana continued to erupt from Kureha's sword, surging through his body and ravaging his insides.
"Ouch."
Kureha froze as she stared at her uncle's face. Frank's surprised expression vanished, replaced by a smile. He slowly caressed the sword and shook his head.
"I'm aware of your excellent sword skills, my dear Kureha. As such, do you really think I would be stupid enough to hang around and explain everything to you when you barged in here?"
"…what?"
Kureha's jaw dropped when Frank's figure fizzled and he vanished. The hooded mages around him also flickered and disappeared along with him.
"The moment you began fighting with our Golems, we had already started evacuating. The illusions were just to distract you, to buy us a bit more time and delay you from pursuing us as we made our escape."
The voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere. No matter where Kureha looked, she couldn't find any trace of her uncle. She glanced at Alicia, who shook her head bitterly.
Even the long-ranged gunner couldn't sense where the group of mages had escaped to. Her drones were buzzing about, but they met with dead ends and solid walls, unable to locate any alternate escape route.
"Where did they go?!" Kureha snapped, kicking the table in the middle and sending it flying.
"Out of here!" Frank's disembodied voice continued in that taunting manner. "Why, don't worry, my dear niece. If you survive the onslaught from 3,000 monsters, I'm sure we'll meet again! But first, you have to survive the invasion! You probably don't want to waste too much time chasing me…the lives of the people in this city depend on your quick, decisive actions!"
"Damn it!"
With a scream, Kureha swung her sword and obliterated a good portion of the room, scorching the walls and floor with devastating white mana.
"I'll kill you! I swear, I'll find you, and I'll kill you!"
"…Kureha."
The Sword Saint turned to her friend, still trembling with fury. Despite the murderous intent radiating off her, Alicia was not the least intimidated. Instead, she gently reached out and grabbed Kureha's shoulder.
"We have to go. We need to inform my father and the city's militia. If what your uncle said is true, then we don't have much time left. We must prepare to defend Jing Tian City from the monsters."
She paused and took a deep breath.
"…can I ask you for your assistance? We are going to need every combat mage we can get."
"You have my sword," Kureha promised, offering it to Alicia. As the Sword Saint of her generation, she knew she had a duty to protect the citizens of the Federation. Even so, her wrath had yet to be sated. "And once we slaughter all those monsters, I will hunt down my treacherous uncle and bring him to justice. This, I swear."