As soon as Arthur gave the word, his troops ran towards the entrance of the facility. The entrance was located behind a large monument of Caelum taking off into the sky for the first time built to the side of a large granite hill.
Five minutes after the signal all UMRD personnel in the area were dead and the monument blown to pieces by bombs enchanted with death magic. The first thousand man squad burst through the entrance, and after realizing the first floor of the facility was only 10 ft underground Arthur ordered his men to take advantage, and they quickly blew more holes through the ground.
After 10 minutes all 1,000 cultists made it in through the newly formed holes in the ground, and the 100 elite troops made their way in and began trying to hack any terminal they could find.
15 minutes later the elites accomplished there task, losing only four men in the attempt. Arthur got the facility layout and gave orders to the remaining 8,500 hundred waiting to make their move. The facility was 46 floors underground and a mile across in each direction with multiple sub entrances spanning the distance. The core room was spanned a quarter of a mile and was four floors deep starting on the 42nd floor.
His troops took advantage of the sub entrances and began pouring in from all sides. Casualties were mounting on the 4th floor as 723 troops in initial assault were killed, but Arthur was sure the UMRD was losing more. All he had to do was wait for the main assault to finish pouring in and clear out as many UMRD troops as possible and then he could make his move.
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Inside the facility, Walker was frantic and furious about the situation. He was already annoyed by the influx of refugees in the area, but for almost all of them to be those damn cultists, he was ready to kill everyone in this room for their incompetence. He faced his generals and screamed, “How did they even find out about this place it doesn't even exist in the classified files! Who the hell leaked this!”
The commander of the facility didn’t even say a word. He just stood there watching the situation unfold in front of him. They were already blind on the surface and from a count by the computer there were over 3,000 men in the facility with more invading from every entrance. Of the 15,000 men still stationed there over 2,000 were killed in only 30 minutes. The only saving grace was the fact that by the time the cultists reached the 4th floor they were prepared for a fight. But even then they blew holes through the floor wherever they could and were advancing quickly.
Walker, done waiting for an answer from that fool of a commander, began giving his own orders “Send word to all of our bases and research centers in the area I want everyone that can fight to converge on this location. I want a count of how many are coming as soon as they respond. Have most of our troops retreat to the 11th floor, the ground there is thicker so they won't be able to blow their way through. Thompson, you have experience fighting these roaches go up there and support them.”
Thompson almost shit himself when he heard this. He was just a researcher and, although he was a powerful dual mage, he had only fought in combat a handful of times. But Walker’s desperate gaze let him know there was no way out of it. He just said “Yes sir” and walked to what he knew was his end.
After Thompson left Walker just kept screaming orders “After the 11th floor have our people make choke points at 16th, 22nd, 25th, 31st and every floor below the 39th. They only have a few entrances, and they are mostly data stores so the halls will be smaller don't even bother with the floors between. Have the auto defenses been activated yet?”
An operator called “No sir they got into our network all the defenses above the 19th floor are down, and below that, until the 22nd they are attacking anything that moves.”
Walker yelled out "God damn it! Why are you all so useless?! Do we have a count of our reinforcements yet?"
Another operator yelled out “Yes sir a total of 53,000 men are being pulled from every facility within 100 miles the closet will make here within 15 minutes sir. But they are being impeded by the cultists, bombs, ambushes and even some burning building sir.”
“Ok we make do with that let the troops know and initiate delay tactics what floor have they gotten up to.”
“Sir they've just blown through the 7th floor. They are ignoring our troops and are blasting through as many floors as they can I think they plan on cutting off our retreat down.”
“Shit how many troops above the 11th floor?”
“1,000 sir.”
“Tell the men on the 11th floor to wait until those roaches reach the 10th floor and then force the blast doors leading up closed anyone still up there by then is to be considered dead. How many made it in now?”
“Over 5000 sir but our kill count shows around 1500 dead on their side sir.”
“Alright, then I want a few of you to stay here and finish giving orders the rest of you follow me we're bringing the command center into the Core housing unit.”
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It had taken a full hour before the entire main assault made their way into the facility. Of the 9,600 they lost over 2,300 hundred troops, but in exchange, they penetrated all the way to the 25th floor leading to 6,000 dead on Walker’s side. The 9,000 rear troops were massacring the reinforcements coming in smaller groups without even needing to fight by blowing them up from range or using pre-set landmines to take them out. They only gave up 1,000 of there's 14,000 from the UMRD troops.
Arthur opened the truck door and said: “Time to go. We have to meet up with our remaining elites on the 25th floor. By the time we get to main force, they should be close to hitting the 30th.”
Alice didn’t need to speak. A mad gleam in her I eye said it all and they raced towards the facility as fast as they could. It took them only 10 minutes to get to the 25th floor and link up the elites. Only 56 were left at this point, but they still pushed through to through to 31st floor where only five entrances led to next floor, and that's where things started to go wrong.
When Alice and her group made it, they saw a familiar face impaling their forces with ice and burning them alive with fire. It was Thompson. And the sight of him made Maria go berserk.
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Thompson was desperate to stay alive ever since the 11th floor fell they were getting steamrolled by the cultists they just blew through the walls and floors ignoring their defenses he hid in back giving a few commands here and there but was waiting for the order to retreat from each floor. But the 31st was special only 5 points leading to the next floor and 20 ft of solid rock preventing them from blasting below.
Good for the UMRD defenders but for him, it was a nightmare it meant he wasn't allowed to retreat any further, and soon enough he was fighting at the front. He was a master mage with two elements under his command, but even that was only enough for the small fry if he fought the skilled members of the cults that used either death or chaos magic he was in for a real deathmatch.
He managed to hold on for some time but then he saw her those rainbows looking at him and a twisted smile on her face he tried to shout “Why are you-” but was cut off by an insane scream filled with bloodlust calling his name “THOMPSON!!!”
He looked to see some insane woman throwing chaos spells with no thought of her surroundings she hit his and her own men alike. As if they felt her drive to kill they ran at anyone close by without a thought of defense.
He’s was going through his mind why anyone other than Alice would come at him like this, but no one rang a bell. The psycho woman closed the distance and slashed with a sword filled with chaos and yelled: “It's been awhile you bastard I've been looking to ripping you in two!”
“Who the hell are you!” Thompson shouted as he used Circle of Flame to keep her at bay and roast anyone affected by the chaos that surrounded him.
Maria smiled and removed her magically created shadow appearance. Thompson could feel her cold blue eyes see right through him as she spoke: “Remember me now!”
“No,” Thompson said dumbfounded at the women in front of him.
Maria face contorted in anger “You fucker, four years you used me as a lab rat!”
She used her natural wind affinity and ran through Thompson’s flames her hands cladded in wind as she rushed for his throat.
Thompson looked at her with piety in his eyes and said: “I'm sorry, but if that's true you're just one of the thousands we used, besides I always tried to forget the faces.” He waited just before Maria was within reach he used an ice blade to take her arm off.
Maria didn't do so much as grunt in pain, she just spun and with her other arm cladded in wind aimed to take his head. But for all Thompson was he was still an expert mage but barely dodged but lost his left eye in the process. Unlike Maria, he could only wail in pain.
Arthur was about to rush in to help, but Alice with a single elbow to the stomach brought him down to his knees. She whispered in his ear “I'm was kind enough to let Maria try to kill Thompson, so she's going to even she dies in the process. So move again, and I'll rip your heart out k.”
Arthur looked at Maria but froze when he saw her face both her and Alice had the same psychotic smile, and it terrified him to no end.
Maria kept attacking with reckless abandon if she hadn't taken Thompson’s eye she would have died a while ago, but she felt herself losing momentum as she bled out through her arm.
Thompson sustained more injuries as time went on his new blind spot costing him dearly. He tried to keep her at bay with fire and ice, but the woman just ignored and dodged them he knew that he would win if it kept up like this but he was sure Alice would finish him off after.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Maria also knew they were both screwed at this point but she wanted to be the one to end it, so she rushed at him head on. She could tell he was a coward from the way he fought he could have killed her instantly if he had fought head on, but he was too scared to ever try that.
She screamed out “Come on you cowardly little bitch let’s see who dies first!” She used almost all her remaining mana to propel herself forward the force even breaking her legs and stuck out her remaining arm aiming for the heart.
Thompson the coward he was just launched as attacks at random a calm, precise attack would save him but the thought never crossed his mind, but he still managed to take her remaining arm with a lucky hit. But in the end, it wasn't enough to stop her and they collided and slammed into the wall.
Maria sat on top of him with a twisted hatred filled smile staring down at him she screamed: “You're dead bitch for Lyssa!!!” And leaned forward and bit down on his throat.
Thompson flailed about and rammed two ice spears in her chest, but he soon bled out on the floor. The last thought he had “I just wanted to live.” His life of turning a blind eye to the pain he caused had caught up with him. As he laid dead on the floor staring at the crazed smile of a mad woman he unwittingly created.
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Alice couldn't help but laugh at the situation Maria had literally done what she had threatened the day before “Well if isn’t everyone's favorite doctor come closer so I can tear your throat out with my teeth.” She didn't think it her threat would actually come true.
“Although it wasn't me still pretty fuckin funny right.”
“Yeah though we should have killed him we had more reasons than her only 4 years of torture compared to 33.”
“True but we killed him in a way if we treat it like we sent our dog after him.”
“Again you're the smart one Alice but shit both arms and two ice spears in the chest all to kill him. Wait a sec she’s breathing let's put her out of her misery.”
“Yeah let's aren't we merciful!” Alice skipped over to Maria but before she could finish her someone yelled: “Wait!!!” It was Arthur.
Alice turned and stared daggers at him until he spoke: “We might be able to save her.”
Alice couldn't help look at him dumbfounded by his words “We're destroying mankind once we activate the cores everyone dies what’s the point moron?”
Arthur didn't say anything he knew she was right and even if they did save her, she would be useless in that state. Alice tired of waiting flicked her wrist and cut Maria’s head off quick and clean.
In silence, they headed down blasting there way through the remaining defenders on the floor by the time Maria died other entrances fell, and the one they were at was already being attacked from the rear.
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Walker had seen the fight through the monitors, and he couldn't help but feel annoyed by Thompson’s incompetence. He was at least twice as strong then that psycho but he still was killed because he was too afraid to get close. Walker mumbled, “How useless can one be.”
But what he was even more annoyed about was that the experiment was there cutting its way through all of his men. The 39th floor was taken too quickly, and the subject was better armed than he could have dreamed the strength of the enchantment rifles rounds was ridiculous.
How could a single round have the power to take out a reinforced machine gun possession? At this rate, they would be here in only 20 minutes. He already lost 12,000 men, and the cultists still had 2,600 remaining. The death magic users were just too effective in this situation with few places to hide, and tight hallways it meant death for most of his men.
His reinforcements had made it but were useless a few cultists took control of their positions on the 31st floor, and they were being cut down with ease. Only 31,000 of his 53,000 reinforcements made it, but most were being bogged down around the entrances to the facility by the cultists. They were using hit and run tactics and slowed their progress to a standstill.
The situation was bleak, and he knew he was going to lose everything if nothing happened soon. It was only a matter of time before they got to the core room. So Walker did the one thing that he hoped would save him he prayed to his god Thoth. It was well known that the Cult of Thoth ruled the UMRD and Walker like everyone else with some level of power was a member.
He sent everyone out of the core room and began to pray “Please Lord Thoth you're humble seeker of knowledge begs for your guidance how can I save Caelum.”
He kneeled in silence waiting for some sign seconds turned into minutes, and he began to lose hope. Until he started to hear a whisper “Kill the girl she is the key to your destruction.”
Walker felt relief rush through his body all he had to do was kill the subject, he would be damned before he let that abomination in a child's skin destroy everything he worked for. He was a master of fire, lightning, and wind magic after all and would not be taken lightly.
He was fine with losing Alice she was, after all, she was only an experimental prototype meant to bent and broken in order to test its limits. He had the data create another even better one. All he had to do was wait there in the core room. “Come on you abomination I'll fix the mistake I made when I created you.”
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Alice ran along like she was on a stroll through a park from one floor to next whenever they hit a strong point she would just aim and fire a round from her enchantment rifle or take a swing with her adamantium sword. It was a one-sided slaughter, and if Alice were ever in too much danger, she’d just use one of the elites as a meat shield.
It didn't take long to make it to the 42nd floor only some massive blast doors were blocking the way. Arthur and a few men were cutting their way through, but Alice was growing impatient she only had a few enchantable rounds left for her rifle, but her adamantium sword might do the trick. With heavy swings infused with dense mana smashed against the door a few weak spots gave out, and it came crashing down.
Arthur was pissed at the turn of events and was going to yell at Alice but stopped seeing her face. She had the same twisted smile from when she saw Thompson, but this time she had a much more brutal glint in her eyes. He turned to see Walker standing there pointing his arm out and before Arthur could say or do anything fire and lightning burst into existence.
It rushed towards Alice at a frightening speed she managed to create a mana shield as her liquid orichalcum armor hardened. She only received a slight shock and a few burns, but the people behind her weren't so lucky. The air was filled with the stench of burned flesh from dozens of cultists. Some were killed instantly with many more heavily injured.
Arthur reacted quickly and ordered everyone to help defend against the reinforcements coming from above. Walker was infamous for his combat ability every attempt to kill him failed miserably he was an extremely rare master of 3 elements. While Arthur only had his death and very basic water magic.
Alice ignored the dead they were just cannon fodder in this situation anyway. She hadn't seen Walker fight before but didn't care all she had to do was make it to a Dungeon Core, and it would be over. She ran towards Walker as fast as her magic and implants could take her she but Walker was faster, and a blast of lighting smashed her into a wall.
Walker yelled at Alice “You damned abomination I won't let you live another second.”
Alice provokingly yelled back “Hey you old bastard just give me a damn core so I can leave already. You're dead anyway now get out of the way.” She started shooting the last of her enchantable rounds at Walker as she ran at the door.
Walker responded with a wall of wind blocking her bullets and blast of fire to block her way directly. He monitored her entire life and knew every spell and trick she could use. He would not be killed by something he helped create.
The fight dragged on like this for a while Alice rushing Walker and avoiding his attacks as best she could, but the injuries and fatigue were taking its toll. Arthur was useless in this situation his death magic didn't even distract Walker. All he did was through a few minor spells to absorb deaths corroding effect and Arthurs water magic was nowhere near powerful enough to make a difference.
Alice knew that she would lose this fight if it dragged on like this. She could use the 4 basic elemental magics, but they were proving useless. She had 3 other advanced elements, but they were costly and not many spells existed for them. They were the advanced elements of light, darkness, and metal. Her dark magic was useless because the spells she knew in that element were meant for stealth, light was only good for blinding in this fight and metal was an element that was almost unheard of. She had read that there were some born with it, but it was practically useless in combat because of the extreme mana consumption.
But Alice had one thing going for her she had an absolutely insane amount of mana. She even surpassed Walker when came to the amount of mana they had, but Walker had better control and more experience.
Alice only had 4 enchantable rounds left but needed to act fast, she had gashes all over her body, and her regeneration just wasn’t able to keep up she looked towards Arthur and yelled “Stop being so damn useless and help me already we just need to get past him. Be ready to move when I say.”
Arthur couldn’t respond in time and just saw Alice rush Walker and fire her rifle at him. His wind wall still in effect but when the bullet hit it exploded in a burst of light. Arthur knew it was what she meant to do and ran towards the door. Alice didn’t even take a second to reach Walker and swung her sword with the intent to take his head. “I finally got you!”
But she was stopped and looked down to see a hand cladded in wind in her stomach. Walker smiled and said, “No I got you.”
Walker new when the light hit what she was planning, and cast Air Detect around himself, and when she got in range, he knew where to strike. He knew it was over all he had to do now was finish her off, and his other hand went for her throat. But it never made it he looked to his side and saw his arm fading away into dust.
Arthur had barely made it in time with his bolt of death magic, but he made a single mistake he didn’t kill Walker outright. When Walker turned to see Arthur firing more bolts, he yelled: “Disappear you trash!”
Walker blocked with another wind blast and with all his fury he fired as much lightning as he could muster at the man. Arthur couldn’t even react to the speed of the lightning and when it hit he was wordlessly turned to dust.
But this gave Alice the chance she needed, and she poured her mana into the metal floor and forced it to rip into Walker’s chest. She tore Walker's arm out of her with a smile spoke to the barely alive Walker “Watch your precious city come crashing down.”
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She walked into the core room to see dozens of cores floating in glass tubes each one pulsing with light. She cut the closest one out of its container and poured the last of her mana into. She watched as it floated up into the air and began sucking in the mana around and then saw what looked like an oversized bear mixed with gorilla come into existence. It started smashing all the other cores tubes, goblins came to life and began to bring them over one by so she could activate them.
As more and more were awakened, more monsters came to life some easy to recognize like goblins, trolls, and minotaurs while others looked like mutated mismatched animals. They began to run out of the core room and up to the surface undoubtedly to finish off the city. When all the core were activated 20 of them began to emit a black light and converge on Alice.
She was too injured to do anything if they attacked and her mana was completely used up. She thought “Shit looks like I’m getting screwed in the end.”
But nothing happened to her as the cores began to pulsate and spin the crystal bodies started to melt into a black liquid that pooled floor in front of her until all of them had melted completely. The liquid pooled and together and took shape. Its color became paler and when it finished it transformed into an almost transparent horse.
The horse kneeled down and let Alice climb on its back it then began running to the surface she passed Walkers now mauled corpse and Arthur's ashes at the entrance of the core room she only said: “I hope Mania keeps her promise.”
The horse kept running it passed Maria and Thompson, but Alice felt nothing when she saw them, and when they hit the surface the horse evaporated into mist the converged in Alice's chest. She looked to see the flames rising everywhere, and then everything shook as the monsters continued to pour out, but everything started to rise into the air. But to be more precise it was Caelum finally running out of mana to keep itself up in the air.
At that moment a void opened and smiling goddess walked out caught Alice in the air and softly spoke: “Oh Alice you're falling.” Mania with Alice in her arms walked towards the void in mid-air. The city falling further below them unit it finally crashed into the Atlantic signaling the end of humanity on Earth.