The smell wasn't just bad. It was aggressive. The toxic air aggressively assaulted them, a physical, chemical fist punching directly into their sinuses.
Lack Flameheart trudged through the knee-deep sludge, his Atlas Frame Mk-II whirring softly. The black void-plating repelled the worst of the toxic mana, but the odour lingered—a cloying mix of chemical runoff and decayed magic.
I hate this, the Light Devil complained, projecting a mental image of himself wearing a hazmat suit and vomiting. I am a primordial entity of the cosmos. I have seen stars born. I have seen galaxies die. And now I am wading through the University’s toilet.
"Quiet," Lack muttered, his voice amplified by the suit's helmet. "We’re almost at the junction. Kip, what do you see?"
Kip (Echo) was walking in the centre of the formation, his eyes closed, holding onto Borg’s belt for guidance.
"Ping..." Kip whispered.
The sound rippled down the dark tunnel, bouncing off the wet stones. "Ping... squish... squish... many squishes."
"Squish?" Torin asked, aiming his bow at the shadows, his knuckles white. "What is 'squish'?"
"Rats," Kuro growled from the rear guard. The Tiger Beastman was limping, but his eyes were sharp, cutting through the gloom. "Mana-Rats. They feed on the discarded potion waste. They grow... large."
"Borg hungry," Borg said, looking at a floating piece of glowing debris.
"Borg, do not eat the sewer," Terra ordered, slapping his hand away. "We don't have enough antidote for that."
The tunnel widened into a massive, circular cistern. The sludge here was deeper, swirling around a central drain that looked like a gaping maw.
"Stop," Volt raised a fist, sparks dancing on his fingertips. "Movement. Twelve o'clock."
The sludge in the centre of the room began to bubble. It wasn't a single creature rising. It was hundreds.
Massive, hairless rats with glowing green eyes and tumours pulsing with unstable mana scuttled over each other, forming a pyramid of gnashing teeth. Then, they began to fuse.
A Rat King.
A hive-mind monstrosity made of a thousand vermin tangled together by their tails and fused by toxic mana.
[System Identification: Abomination - The Sewer King] [Tier: High Executor (Swarm Type)] [Abilities: Plague Bite, Acid Spit, Swarm Dispersal]
SCREEEEE!
The Rat King shrieked, a sound that vibrated in their fillings.
"It blocks the path," Kuro drew his blade. "We cut through."
"No," Lack stepped forward, his hydraulic pistons hissing. "We don't just cut. We practice. This is a live-fire exercise for the Illogical Club."
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
He looked at his team. "Formation B! Control and Delete!"
Rian (Ice) and Serra (Friction) moved first.
"Executor Art: Flash Freeze!"
Rian didn't freeze the rats. He froze the sludge under them. The floor turned into a sheet of black ice instantly.
"Physics Glitch: Zero Friction!"
Serra snapped her fingers. The Rat King tried to charge. Its thousands of legs scrambled frantically, but it couldn't gain an inch of traction. It was a treadmill of nightmares.
SCREE? The Rat King looked confused.
"Target is immobilised," Volt grinned. "Mina! Wash it!"
Mina (Tears) stepped up. She wasn't crying from sadness anymore. She was crying from focus.
"Hydro-Cannon: High Pressure!"
She fired a beam of compressed water that hit the Rat King like a physical wall. The impact shattered the "King"—breaking the mana-bond fusing the rats together. The pyramid collapsed into hundreds of individuals, wet, angry rats sliding around on the frictionless ice.
"Now!" Lack shouted. "Kip! Sync with me!"
Lack raised his right fist. The Flashlight integrated into his gauntlet began to hum. He activated Vibration.
Kip placed his hand on Lack’s back. "Echo... Echo... LOUD!"
"Mixture Art: Resonance Cannon!"
Lack didn't fire a laser. He fired a Concussive Light Wave. Kip’s echo multiplied the vibration by ten. The beam of light widened into a cone of pure sonic force.
BOOM.
It didn't burn the rats. It shook them apart. The vibration matched the frequency of their bones. The swarm exploded into mist instantly. The tunnel was cleared in a single second.
"Nice," Ratchet nodded, adjusting his goggles. "The heat venting is stable. Good job, Kip."
Kip gave a double thumbs-up. "Boom."
"We move," Lack ordered, stepping over the remains. "The vent to Sector 98 is just ahead."
Sector 98 - Beneath the Central Plaza Time: 1 Hour Later (Just before the Ceremony)
They reached the top of a rusted ladder. Above them was a heavy iron grate. Blinding lights from the surface bled violently through the rusted slats. The roar of a fifty-thousand-strong crowd shook the iron grate, dominated entirely by a single, amplified voice.
They could hear the crowd. Thousands of students. And they could hear a voice.
"...and so, we honour the memory of those we lost," High Councilman Aamon's voice boomed over the loudspeakers. "The tragedy of the Tournament showed us that Chaos is the enemy. That Logic and Order are the only path to salvation."
"He's giving a eulogy," Sarah whispered, her face pale in the gloom. "For me."
"He's spinning the narrative," Lack said, checking his suit's chronometer. "He's about to announce Phase 3."
"The grate is locked," Torin noted, poking it with an arrow. "It's a Mana Seal. High grade."
"Olan," Lack whispered. "Wake up."
Olan (Sleep) yawned, leaning against the ladder. "Five minutes?"
"Now," Lack pointed to the glowing lock mechanism. "I need you to overload that seal. Pour raw energy into it until the circuits fry."
Olan sighed. He touched the glowing lock.
"God Ability: Power Nap Discharge."
He dumped his entire mana pool—regenerated from his 20-hour nap—into the lock in a split second.
ZZZ-POP.
The seal didn't just unlock; the mechanism melted. The iron bars glowed red hot.
"Open," Lack grinned.
He looked down at his team. They were covered in sewage. They smelled terrible. But they were ready.
Borg cracked his knuckles. Volt charged his aura. Kuro unsheathed his blade. Sarah began to glow with a soft, vengeful light.
"Ratchet," Lack tapped his comms. "Is the connection ready?"
"I've tapped into the University's broadcast tower," Ratchet's voice crackled from the ship holding position in the pipes. "The moment you breach, I override the feed. You have 60 seconds before they cut the signal."
"60 seconds is all I need," Lack said.
He looked up at the grate. Above them, Aamon was speaking.
"And that is why, today, I am announcing the formation of the Divine Guard. A new peace-keeping force to ensure that no 'Glitch' ever threatens us again..."
"Illogical Logic Idea," Lack whispered to the Devil. "If you want to clear your name... make sure everyone sees the dirt."
Make it flashy, kid, the Devil cackled. I want to see the look on his face.
Lack crouched. The Atlas Frame hissed, pressure building in the hydraulic legs. "Ready?"
The team nodded.
"Then let's crash the party."
? ? ?
[System Record: Character Progression]
- Infiltration: Successful.
- Current Status: Positioned directly beneath the Main Stage.