"Hmm," Astarte released a soft hum as she stared into the darkness of the pit she had just created, her purple eyes flashing with a peculiar light.
Without hesitation, she took a step forward!
Harsh winds roared in her ears, whipping her hair backward as she plunged into the depths, yet Astarte showed no fear; if anything, she looked almost bored, as if this was just another mundane task.
However, soon, her expression changed as she remarked a soft blue light coming from the abyss. The light seemed to pulse gently, illuminating the rocky walls with a mystical glow.
The deeper she fell, the clearer her view became, and soon she could make out where this blue light came from.
What she saw was a translucent dome, shimmering with a soft blue light. Its smooth, curved surface glowed gently.
The dome seemed ethereal, as if crafted from pure energy. On the dome, strange and unique characters that Astarte hadn't recognized moved like living beings all around it.
'A mana protection barrier?' Astarte frowned, 'these things are not cheap.'
She knew that each and every one of the night group's bases had a lot of resources and money, but she still didn't think they could afford a barrier made of pure mana. The reason for this was that not only were the ones who made such barriers few in all of Imperion, but the price of these barriers was insanely high.
'It seems we are still underestimating this organization,' Astarte thought to herself, a solemn expression settling on her beautiful face.
Pretty soon, her figure hurtled dangerously close to the barrier. Given the velocity of her descent, there was no doubt that the instant she made contact with the barrier, her body would be obliterated into countless pieces!
However, just as her feet were about to make contact with the barrier, a pair of translucent purple wings appeared on Astarte's back.
These wings, coupled with her captivating face, gave Astarte the appearance of an angel. In fact, one might doubt the truthfulness of this statement, as comparing Astarte to an angel might not do the former justice.
The purple wings on Astarte's back, seemingly formed of the same energy she used to create the chasm, flapped once. That single flap was enough to significantly reduce the speed of her fall, stabilizing her in mid-air.
She gracefully glided through the air and lightly stepped onto the shimmering barrier.
The instant she stepped on the barrier, her wings transformed back into ethereal energy and wrapped around her odachi.
Astarte swung her odachi once, and the mana barrier shuddered, yet it didn't collapse as Astarte thought it would.
"This barrier seem to be really sturdy," Astarte murmured to herself, "well, at worst it will just delay me, nothing more."
Although the barrier was surprisingly sturdy, having resisted an attack twice as powerful as Astarte's that created the chasm, she didn't entertain the thought that she couldn't cut it apart.
In this world, there was nothing she couldn't cut apart, nothing!
'I wonder how many blows it will take me to destroy this barrier,' Astarte mused with a wild grin on her face.
****
At the same time that Astarte was attacking the barrier, in the monitoring room of the tenth base, the members of the tenth base were practically shitting themselves.
That was due to two reasons: firstly, they had just been informed of Astarte's identity, and secondly, witnessing that same woman they had just learned about casually swinging her sword and creating such a deep chasm that immediately exposed their base.
The tenth base was situated dozens of meters underground, so cutting apart the ground to directly reveal the base was a daunting task, yet Astarte did so effortlessly, without even appearing to exert herself.
Approaching the base boss, one of the subordinates spoke with a grave tone, "We can't deal with her on our own. I think you should ask for help from the other bases."
"No, absolutely not!" The boss exclaimed. "I won't be asking for help from those bastards. It's too humiliating!"
At that moment, a sound of an explosion came from above the base.
As they gazed at the monitors, the expressions of the base members soured at the sight of a small crack emerging on the barrier. It was barely perceptible, yet its presence caused the hearts of the night group members to skip a beat.
"Boss, we can't deal with her on our own," another person said, his voice slightly quivering, "we need the help of the other bases."
The boss' expression became somber, his mind racing to find another solution to their predicament rather than seeking assistance from the other bases. He knew he would never hear the end of it if he asked for their help.
'Dinos, yes! We can ask Dinos!' the boss thought, his expression brightening momentarily before darkening once again. 'I doubt he will help us,' he sighed.
Dinos was none other than the supervisor of the tenth base and the most powerful fighter there.
However, much like the other supervisors of the bases, Dinos had only two tasks. Besides these duties, he wasn't supposed to engage in anything else. Unlike Rangyl, he didn't even interact with the rest of the tenth base members, deeming them too inferior for his attention.
Dinos' primary task here was, as his title implied, to oversee all activities within the base.
The second task was to defend the base. However, he was only assigned to do so if the base was under the threat of destruction. If he deemed the threat level to be insufficient, he wouldn't lift a finger, even if all the members of the base were slaughtered. That's precisely why Rangyl didn't make any move, even when Eric and Stanis were killed right before him.
The boss knew that a similar scenario would unfold here. It was almost certain that Dinos wouldn't intervene until every single one of them was slaughtered. Even then, if Astarte's goal wasn't to destroy the base or plunder their treasury, there was still a chance that he would let her escape.
"I can't rely on him," the boss concluded.
He walked to a corner, took a deep breath, and retrieved a small, round device.
He took another breath and activated the device.
Suddenly, several screens lit up around him, though nothing could be seen from the other end. That was because no one had reacted to the tenth base boss' call.
Fortunately, seconds later, several of these screens lit up.
"What is it, Gogis?" A deep and aged voice sounded from one of the screens.
The one who spoke was an elderly man who had a bald head on which several tattoos could be seen. He also possessed a long and white beard that reached up to his chest.
This man was Karda, head of Night thirteenth base.
"Yeah, why did you call us here?" A woman with cheeks looking like those of a hamster inquired, "you know, a beauty like me needs to sleep to remain beautiful all the time, and you called just as I was going to bed. So, what are your reasons for bothering me?"
This woman was named Alveidi, and she was the head of the Night Fifteenth Base.
"Can you make it quick? I have to find a buyer for a half-virax I've kidnapped," Tobias, the head of the Ninth Base, stated with a boastful smile on his face.
"W-What, a half-virax? Where did you get one?!" Alveidi exclaimed in surprise.
All the other heads of the base, upon hearing Tobias's statement, immediately turned to question him about the half-virax he claimed to possess, completely disregarding the one who had summoned them. In fact, even Gogis was curious about this half-virax, but he understood that there was no way he would learn more if he were to perish today.
"Please," Gogis cleared his throat, "can you concentrate here?"
The others head of base turned and concentrated on Gogis once again.
Can you make it quick?" Alveidi said with an annoyed expression, clearly frustrated from being interrupted.
"Okay," Gogis nodded his head and went straight to the point, "our base is under attack and I require your...assistance."
"Hoh? Did I hear it right? Did the mighty Gogis ask for our help?" A man with black and blonde hair spoke, his voice dripping with sarcasm and amusement.
This man was none other than Kurdent, the head of the eighth base of Night, one of the strongest bases in the region.
Gogis gritted his teeth and nodded his head, "Yes, I'm asking for your...help."
"Now I'm curious, who is attacking your base?" Kurdent asked in a bright tone.
"Astarte," Gogis replied.
"Then count me out," Kurdent said, his cheerful expression nowhere to be found.
Before Gogis could add anything, the screen showing Kurdent blinked out.
*******
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