The Game Before the Fall

Chapter 36: Rescue? (Part 1)

Chapter 36: Rescue?

2 years 3 months after the Fall:

"Are we really doing this?" Quyen asked as she crouched down beside me. We had a clear vantage point looking over the entrance to a dungeon. The dungeon was on the outskirts of Crysis City, formed beneath the once powerful wall that guarded the city. Two guards stood barely within the entrance, watching and waiting. It was a small dungeon, much smaller than ours and would house a few hundred people at most.

Quyen continued, "Clara was my friend... but...."

"Quyen, do you believe in karma?" I asked, eyeing the guards below.

"You mean like when people do bad things, bad things will happen to them?"

"And good happens to good people."

"Umm I guess so? Why, do you?"

My eyes hardened on the dungeon, "Not anymore. I've seen enough to know that evil gets a free reign where it can. There is no universal karmic justice. It's our job to ensure that punishment goes where it's deserved."

Quyen gulped, nervous at my words, "Ardent, this dungeon is registered in the alliance. We can't just barge in."

"Not yet at least," I replied and waited. These were the bastards that attacked one of our teams. They used our common enemy to kill Clara. She had only just graduated our team and was accepted into another. The news of her death hit hard.... When we lost Endi, we swore never to be pushed around again. Justice needed to be served.

"I'm back," a voice resounded beside us causing Quyen to nearly jump out of her skin. Her training however kept her silent. Gary shimmered into existence beside us. His large Oni form somehow stealthy.

"What did you see?" I asked.

"Just under two hundred inside. About thirty combatants. The civilians inside have been blindfolded of the truth. They have been told that the world outside has ended. That they are the only safe haven left. They are controlled, treated like slaves."

"Good work Gary," I smiled, not bothering to hide the sinister undertone. "We've got our just cause. Send the evidence to the alliance."

"Yes Captain," Gary nodded and sleuthed away.

Aria, are you there? I communicated through my mind, feeling her presence reply.

I'm here. We're ready. Her voice was short and sharp, an anger that hadn't absolved lying beneath her words.

Do it. I issued the command and immediately the sky above the dungeon entrance began to cloud over as ripples of visible mana flashed like lightning. A bright light struck the dungeon entrance, shattering the protective barrier that couldn't be seen. A split second later the boom followed.

"Move in," I held my hand forward as a dozen men and women stood. This wasn't just revenge from my team. They had attacked our people and we, our dungeon, would fight tooth and nail to right the wrongs committed against us.

**

Zen:

Zen sat on a plush sofa. Diagonal from her a man sat over a desk, leaning in and smiling. In front of her were the array of cameras, and behind them a live audience. Truth be told Zen was nervous. She had faced many things but speaking to a live audience on national television was new. It wasn't something she could fight her way to victory in. So far however, with Arthur's guidance, she had done swimmingly.