Hao. The Awakening of the Chosen (Finish)

Chapter 8.2

"Viktor didn't understand what had just happened. He had seen Lua kill three men in the blink of an eye and still didn't know how she had done it. He remained in shock.She approached him and gave him a hug followed by a long kiss."I missed you," Lua said."Yeah, me too.""We don't have time.""We need to save my parents.""Come on, 'boyfriend.'""I'm coming, Lua."Next, I handed Lua another cartridge for the image-changing device, and we left the village, this time walking hand in hand. When we reached the camp's limit, Lua suggested I throw a small energon grenade towards the camp to erase any evidence of what happened there. So, I grabbed a small energon grenade from my pocket and tossed it. The grenade exploded in the air, creating a space vacuum that compressed all matter and then expanded, resulting in an explosion much larger than any conventional grenade. The camp exploded, and several camp members tried to run, but at that moment, Lua grabbed the railgun pin from my waist, enlarged it, and then started firing at the civilians and soldiers coming out of the camp.I forced her to leave the area immediately. Time was not on our side for my parents, and we couldn't waste it on those poor people. We entered one of the tunnels nearby. I released my reconnaissance drones into the duct to document the tunnels for me to find a safe path based on the information they gathered.Once the path was mapped, we followed it. My parents were close. The tunnel was wide but not very tall, so we had to crouch. After several hours of walking, we arrived at a large room filled with screens showing Citadel cameras. We were initially startled and frightened as we didn't know where we had ended up, so we hid.After a while, a mythical creature, a small troll named Champi, emerged from a secret door and sat in a chair, inspecting the cameras one by one. When he spotted us crouched due to one of the cameras pointing directly at us, the troll stood up and started searching for us, saying,"Whoever you are, I won't harm you. I'm Champi."We had been caught, and the only way out alive was to negotiate with this Champi."Good afternoon, we're Viktor and Lua. We apologize for intruding, but the tunnel we followed led us here," I said."All good tunnels pass through me; I designed them," Champi replied."Did you build the tunnels?""Indeed, young man. I could say I'm the founding father of Antler Citadel.""A pleasure. Whose child are you?""Well, truth be told, my father is Halfonso Valtorium, the grand master of the citadel.""I coincided with him in its creation; your father is an excellent specimen. I don't think he remembers me," I said."Thank you, but right now, we have a problem. My parents have been captured, the sages have them locked up, and we planned to save them. Can you help us?""Of course, for Halfonso, I'll do anything. Come here," Champi said, pointing at his more than a hundred computers.We approached the computers, and Champi pointed out a specific screen where we could see my parents chained to a wall. Both bodies were malnourished and showed signs of physical violence, likely from the sages. I felt powerless; not being able to do anything to save them made me nervous.After thanking Champi for his help and promising to visit him again, we followed a tunnel Champi recommended to quickly reach the dungeons.Later, from the tunnel, we started hearing noises from the surface. We shuddered but continued walking. The tunnel was high enough to walk comfortably. Lua started running; she seemed happy, and I didn't know why. The situation was unsettling at least. I was nervous, trying to devise a plan to rescue my parents, but that day, I wasn't thinking clearly. I had been beaten badly by Kaki in the morning and couldn't think clearly.Upon reaching the location Champi had marked on the tunnel map, we saw an obscured trapdoor above us, covered in vines. Lua took out a knife she had taken from one of the guards earlier and began cutting the vines. One by one, she freed the trapdoor from the plants until it was completely uncovered. Then, I started turning the latch of the trapdoor until it opened, creating a loud noise.Upon opening it, we saw that the trapdoor connected to one of the fortress's storerooms, so we took the opportunity to grab a bite. When I tried to use another cartridge for the image-changing device, I realized I was out of cartridges. I thought it best to proceed without getting caught, but Lua had other plans. She believed a swift attack was the best option to rescue my parents as soon as possible.Without giving me time to find an alternative, Lua dashed out of the room, and I followed. At the entrance, I saw a guard lying unconscious on the floor; it was probably Lua's doing. I took out the map Champi had given me and plotted the quickest route, then followed it. Every corner I turned, I found unconscious guards where Lua must have been, but I couldn't see her anywhere.After running through corridors for 20 minutes, I finally saw Lua. She was surrounded by ten guards, seemingly unconcerned about the uneven odds. She grabbed one of the guards with immense strength, flipped him, and used him as a bat against the other guards, incapacitating them. One by one, she finished them off to clear the way for me. I tried to greet her, but suddenly, in the distance, I saw the captain of the sages' personal guard approaching atop a Leviathan, their ancestral pet."