BXBX NOVEL Chapter 71: Raid
As usual, Arishem and the Shadow Runners were leading this operation. The entire force of their branch in this city was all utilized, though they minimized what the rest knew because this was a sensitive mission.
Arishem blended into the crowd with his men and reinforcements. Nobody could sense their movement, they're using several tools to increase their chances of not getting caught to help them move around freely.
Through signals, Arishem gave orders to the rest. He tasked the first squad to create some distraction while the others were to quietly and swiftly infiltrate the hidden base.
Arishem knows that they just can't completely hide their forces, especially with this many people moving around. They could use that to their advantage though...
Send one squad to purposefully attract the attention of the cult, and keep them distracted long enough for the others to safely get inside the hidden base without raising any alarms.
Through close observation, they discovered that the plan was a success. Without wasting any time, Arishem ordered the rest to move in.
Once they got inside, he ordered another squad to secure the central control that the cultist foolishly placed near the entrance of the base. If they secured that place, they would have more freedom to move around the hidden base.
The rest waited for a few minutes, unmoving and hidden until they received the green signal from the men they sent earlier. They secured the central control. With that, they could move without raising any alarms.
Next was to disable most of the traps they would come across, which is probably one of the trickiest parts of this entire operation.
Even with a full day of preparation, they weren't able to invite an expert when it came to dealing with traps. Everyone they knew was occupied with something.
The traps scattered across this base were all deadly. One wrong move and they wouldn't just alert the entire facility, they might also kill themselves in the process of disabling them.
'Follow the plan...' Arishem signed to his companions.
Thankfully, even though they're lacking a trap expert, they have someone who could transport them safely around the traps.
A person covered in a dark hood, much like the rest, stepped forward and lifted both of his arms. A spatial tear then appeared right in front of him with the other end appearing several meters forward.
As soon as the portal was made, the rest of the squad entered it without any hesitation. The skill ferried the entire squad without triggering the traps, fantastic news for everybody.
The downside is that the caster of this skill looked visibly drained after using it once. Not a big problem though since they have buffs and potions to have him swiftly recover from fatigue.
Whoever this person is, he needs to step up his game because failure isn't allowed for this operation.
The squad continued moving through the labyrinth, evading traps that they didn't need to pass through and being ferried by the portal through those that needed to.
Eventually, they arrived at the core of this dreadful place. And if anybody was still doubting the legitimacy of the Shadow Runner's information source, all of those were bound to vanish as soon they laid eyes on the hibernation pods that kept the slumbering demons.
Arishem heard several low curses around him after they saw the sight, deep down he too cursed. He thought that it was already bad seeing it on the report but it's much worse seeing it in person.
The corruption around these parts is terrible. The air was heavy with tension and killing intent, those whose will weren't strong enough would go mad after being exposed to this atmosphere.
Everybody tensed up. Things just got a lot worse from here on out. It didn't help that the slumbering demons looked like they would wake up at the faintest sound they made.
"What a fucking mess." The City Lord grumbled softly but it was loud enough for everybody to hear. "To think that my city has been corrupted this badly without me knowing."
The City Lord clenched his jaw in anger. This was somehow humiliating for him. Whether he'd like to admit it or not, he was also one of the people who didn't think that the cult was that much of a threat to his city.
It's the hubris caused by being one of the most powerful individuals that Humanity had. He carried some form of superiority complex and, to be honest, he had every right to be arrogant.
However, this sight was a tight slap to his face. All of this was brewing right under his nose the entire time and he didn't even sense it. Some kind of Tier 6 Expert he was.
"Let's make ourselves scarce. Most of the cultists are stationed here. If you can't avoid confrontation, kill the enemy that sensed you right away to avoid alarming the rest." Arishem advised as he and the City Lord moved towards their target.
The rest of the squad separated from here. They have their targets, all of which are important to complete the task at hand.
Arishem and the City Lord's target was the 'drill' that Cedric informed them about.
It's located at the very depths of this place. It's also a place that is highly guarded by the cultists.
They need to get rid of that 'drill', so long as that's there, it will continue to siphon vitality from the Ley Line and feed it to demons.
Because they have no idea how long this thing has been here, who knows how much vitality it drained from the Ley Line? Actually, the fact that it's been used to raise Tier 5 Demons, they would guess that it has been here for a long time already.
That just makes it worse, doesn't it? They could only hope that this city's Ley Line survives this.
Through Arishem's skills, both of them managed to bypass security and infiltrate the place where they were keeping the 'drill'. The City Lord knocked out the guards who were blocking their path and Arishem left an illusion of the said guards to make it seem like there's nothing wrong.
Using the keys they plundered from the knocked-out guards, they entered the room and came in face-to-face with the object that they needed to destroy.
The room was filled with a series of connected pipes that ran throughout the entire base. Even just by standing here, they could feel the dense Worldly Vitality flowing through the pipes thanks to the 'drill'.
At the center of the room, they found the apparatus itself. It wasn't that big, and it appears like a regular jackhammer that construction workers use.
However, the materials made to create this thing were all rare ones. Arishem could recognize mithril, adamantium, deep sea silver, and T6 Refined Iron just by looking at its body. Each of these materials cost a fortune, and now he wonders how the hell the cult managed to secure that funding.
The 'drill' itself was connected to a single pipe, and that pipe was connected to the rest of the pipe that's installed all over this room.
"How is it, Arishem? Do you think we can disable this and confiscate it?" The City Lord asked.
"I'm not skilled enough for that, City Lord. I apologize. It seems that we could only try to take it away and hope that it wouldn't alarm everybody." He replied.
"It's fine. We can't have it all." The City Lord replied gruffly before taking a step forward to take the 'drill' away.
However, right before the City Lord touches the 'drill', Arishem receives a call from none other than Cedric.
In a daze, the old man answered it, but before he could speak, Cedric's frantic voice reached his ears:
"The squad you left to the Control Center has been compromised. In less than a minute, alarms will go off across the entire facility. The squad you tasked to guard the trigger that will awaken the demons is in the middle of a confrontation as well and they're losing. I'll see what I can do out here, though you all should prepare for the fight of your lives."
Cedric didn't wait for his reply before cutting off the call. Arishem was left in a daze, what woke him up was the palpitating killing intent from the City Lord.
"Well, fuck this then!" He said, throwing all caution to the wind.
Clearly, he has heard everything that Cedric said just now.
He placed both of his hands on the handle of the drill and yanked it harshly, damaging it in the process. At the same time he did that, alarms blared throughout the entire underground base.
"There goes the stealthy approach then." Arishem sighed weakly.
He hoped...like, really. He hoped that this operation wouldn't encounter any hiccups because they couldn't afford to fail here. However, their luck was just the worst as it seemed.
Now, they're left with no choice in the matter.
"...I'm not being paid enough for this bullshit." Arishem sighed once more as he took out his daggers from his inventory.