New York’s streets were unusually quiet for the hour, the state of emergency keeping most people indoors. Lauren maneuvered the car expertly through the city, taking advantage of the sparse traffic to make good time. Usually bustling avenues were eerily deserted, the cacophony of city life silenced by the ongoing crisis.
In a city where the populace had grown all too accustomed to supernatural threats, many chose the safety of reinforced buildings over the uncertainty of the roads, especially when Awakeners were actively combating the threat. The general sentiment was clear: better to shelter in place and hope for the best than to venture into the greater, more menacing dangers lurking beyond the city’s precarious safety.
As they approached Coney Island, the iconic silhouette of the lighthouse began to loom in the distance. Its presence made James feel wistful for easier times, when the worst problem he needed to face was Sally’s ex-boyfriend or a pack of rats.
The area around the lighthouse was desolate, and the parking lot was empty. Lauren brought the car to a screeching halt near the lighthouse, the tires skidding slightly on the pavement. The team quickly disembarked, looking around for any signs of danger.
James paused, extending his senses only to immediately pick up on multiple threads of mana weaving through the area. The patterns were complex, intertwined with layers of enchantments that suggested a deeply embedded network of magical energy. There was no mistaking it now that he had already encountered something similar: they were part of a massive ritual.
He didn’t take long to discern that these threads dipped underground, leading directly into the sewers beneath the lighthouse.
Looking deeper in that direction, he found what he was looking for. “There are chimeras down there,” James murmured, his expression grim as he detected the telltale signs of multiple creatures lurking in the darkness below. “They’re guarding something. They shouldn’t be too powerful, but something about the way they move is putting me on edge.”
The team exchanged looks, a silent agreement passing between them. They knew what had to be done.
“We blitz,” Ezekiel stated flatly. “Quick and hard. Disrupt their ranks before they can properly react and push through to the node.”
“Still no idea how many of these we need to get through before the ritual is disrupted?” Maria asked, and James shook his head. No new information had arrived from Command, though he could see that two locations on the city's interactive map were now shown as cleared. Given what he knew of rituals, James had to admit that whoever had built this one knew what they were doing. To be able to direct such an immense work and to add so many redundancies was incredible. It was a pity they were evil.
Lauren checked her equipment, ensuring everything was in place. “I’ll handle the rear; make sure nothing surprises us from behind,” she offered.
James nodded, focusing his senses ahead and gathering his energy. “Stay close, watch each other’s backs. Let’s end this quickly.”
The sewer entrance was exactly as he remembered. There were no rat droppings this time, but the pipes were still chewed open.
James lowered himself gently into the darkness, using telekinesis to prevent any sound from escaping. He then turned around and did the same for his teammates. While he wasn’t expecting stiff resistance, given that the enemies he could sense were around D-rank, it always paid to catch an opponent by surprise.
The air was cooler here. It smelled terrible, too, but that had become an occupational hazard they were all used to. No one turned on a flashlight, their senses enhanced enough that they didn’t need any.
Navigating through the sewer line was nostalgic, and James almost longed for a rat to try its luck now. Still, he kept focused, knowing just how important the current mission was.
They crept through the damp, narrow corridors of the sewer, wading through the shallow water that sloshed gently around their ankles. Above them, the occasional dim light shaft filtered through the grates, casting flickering shadows across the murky liquid and the slimy, algae-covered walls.
James paused as they approached a wider area where the sewer channel split, signaling for the team to halt. Ahead, the pathway branched into two tunnels, each disappearing into the darkness. At this junction, six chimeras stood guard, their monstrous forms silhouetted by the faint light from above. They were grotesque, a mishmash of human and lizard traits, their skin glistening wetly.
Given the way they tasted the air, likely looking for smells that didn’t belong, James felt gratified in having cast a telekinetic bubble to keep their presence hidden. Without it, they would have long since been noticed. He then assessed their position, noting how the chimeras used the flowing sewer water to their advantage, positioning themselves where the currents were strongest.
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“Let’s overwhelm them," James mentally relayed. “Don’t give them chances. Hit hard and fast.”
With a quick nod from James, the team sprang into action.
Maria unleashed the first strike, hurling a barrage of fireballs that streaked through the air, their bright trails reflecting off the wet surfaces. The fireballs hit the chimeras, and rather than exploding, they burned through them. Two of the chimeras were gone before they even realized what was happening.
Ezekiel charged forward, crafting a spear made of light. He engaged the nearest one, the holy light from his weapon searing the beast's flesh as he struck. He quickly dispatched of it and moved to the next.
Simultaneously, Lauren's shadows wrapped around the limbs of another, ripping it apart despite its frantic struggles.
The remaining chimera, larger than the others, summoned a surge of water and violently directed it towards the team. The water rushed at them like a tidal wave, filled with debris and filth from the sewer.
Daniel reacted instantly, throwing up a barrier that shimmered into existence in front of the team. The water crashed against it, its force absorbed, turning into a harmless spray that fell around them.
Rather than dropping the barrier, he gathered it into a shield and charged down the last monster in an almost nostalgic move.
The lizard-human hybrid braced itself but could do nothing against the combined might of its own spell’s force and Daniel’s Bash skill. Its broken body fell into the murky, churning waters once the tank stepped back and allowed it to fall from where it was pinned on a wall.
James observed the scene, noticing that one of the monsters was still breathing and finishing it with a telekinetic crush. He nodded to himself, satisfied, “Let’s keep going. The mana is becoming denser, and I suspect we’ll find more where the Boss originally was.”
The sewers soon began to slope downward, the water flowing more rapidly as they approached a larger, centralized chamber. The stench grew potent, a mixture of decay and blood's tangy, metallic scent. The air felt heavier here, with a palpable dread and anticipation.
The mana was thick enough that it was becoming difficult to distinguish the presences he could feel.
As they reached the mouth of the chamber, James halted, holding up a hand for the others to stop. Peering around the corner, he surveyed the scene before them. The chamber was wider than the tunnels they'd navigated, the ceilings vaulted high above and supported by thick, moss-covered columns. Water cascaded down one wall, feeding into the pool that filled the floor.
Guarding a smaller figure knelt at the center of the chamber, a group of six chimeras stood vigilant.
These were not ordinary guards; their postures were tense, ready for confrontation, yet there was an unmistakable air of solemnity about them. The figure they protected was engrossed in manipulating threads of mana that spiraled upward, intertwining and glowing with an eerie luminescence.
James felt his gut twist at the sight. For a moment, he couldn’t believe his eyes. The chimeras, upon closer inspection, bore familiar faces.
It was Rei and her team, who had been reported missing and then declared dead under mysterious circumstances weeks earlier. Their bodies were now twisted, fused with various animalistic features that made for a grotesque sight.
James felt more than heard his teammates gasp at the scene. They were still ensconced in the darkness, and his telekinesis muffled any sound they made, but they needed a minute to recover.
Having personally been present at the woman and her team’s funeral, James felt a burning rage lit up inside him. Just the thought of those distraught families learning of the horrible, horrible fate their loved ones had gone through…
"We can't let them suffer like this," James said quietly, his voice resolute yet heavy with sorrow. "We need to end it quickly. A mercy kill."
The others nodded mutely. They had no words left to give. They readied themselves, each member steeling their emotions as they prepared to face their former allies in battle.
Without another word, Team 0 launched into action. James initiated the attack, telekinetically hurling a barrage of sharp debris at the central figure, trying to disrupt its work. He followed through with a mental assault, though he was surprised to find resistance.
Lauren's shadows swirled forward, enveloping the legs of two chimeras, yanking them off balance and exposing their vulnerabilities.
Maria followed through, boiling magma exploding at her command. She forced the remaining chimeras to split up, opening them to be picked apart. Ezekiel didn’t let that mistake go unpunished, shooting golden beams at the monsters. He hit several, taking limbs and disrupting any attempt at resistance they could hope to form.
The chimeras fought back desperately, their movements coordinated despite their monstrous forms. One of them, a chimera with Rei’s torso and the lower body of a serpent, managed to break free from Lauren's shadows, lunging at James with bared fangs. There was no recognition in its eyes. No regret for what it was doing.
This, in a way, put James’ heart at ease. He had been afraid that he’d encounter another Poison Snake. A human so warped that they lost their mind but still recognizably themselves. These chimeras were simpler creatures whose bodies only acted on instinct.
Daniel was there in an instant, his barrier springing up to intercept the attack, the impact sending shockwaves through the water. He countered with a powerful shove, his shield smashing into the chimera's head with a crunching sound.
James charged a beam of ether, shooting through the watery defense one of the last standing had crafted. The murky liquid sublimated on contact, turning into a blistering gas. Luckily for it, death came sooner, as the ether cut it in half.
Seeing that the others had the situation well in hand, James marched forward, aiming for the being in the back.
He felt Daniel bring down his glowing shield on Rei’s head, eliminating the thing using her body. He saw Maria incinerate a male chimera that bore tusks like a boar, only ash left in her wake.
By the time he reached the being, the fighting was over.
The human, and now that he was closer, he realized it was a human, was frantically waving his hands in the air, keeping the threads of mana from unraveling.
Considering the backlash one could suffer from a ritual going haywire, James doubted the man was paying attention to anything else. Still, he prepared another mental attack.
Whatever defense the man possessed, likely from a bracelet made of red chainlink on his left arm, was swept away by James’ blind rage. He pushed until the barrier fractured, uncaring of the danger the man would suffer.
What he found shouldn’t have been as surprising as it was. Money. The man had agreed to participate in a ritual he didn’t even know the result of because he was being paid half a million. That had been enough to sell out.
He retreated from the man’s mind, not even bothering to learn his name, and killed him, crushing his skull with telekinesis.
That was when the ritual’s mana went haywire and latched onto the closest still-living source. James.