Moving to the end of the hallway, Ptrek guided Hera and Lysandra to the left, where there was a small entrance. They had to go down a couple flights of stairs, passing by several cells where people were still trying to understand what was happening and why the doors opened. Lysandra told them to follow Sylvi and Nethe, but there was a worry that not everyone would do as they were told. Thankfully, enough of the people here seemed to be part of the security detail protecting the people from the workshop so they could help control the frazzled escapees.
Hera also gave a few more armaments from her [Venomous Arsenal], but not too many. There was already around 10% of her total mana pool unusable because of the weapons she created. One that looked oddly inconspicuous for something that would be close to prisoners. The door was marked as a supply closet, but no prison would keep supplies this close to the inmates for obvious reasons. They tried opening the door, but it seemed to be locked.
"Hornet, can you unlock the supply closet at the other end of the cellblock?" Lysandra asked.
"I can't see any buttons to do that. Even on the map we have here, there is nothing about a supply closet at the other end of the cell block. It's only the showers and cafeteria and a now locked passage to the yard," Hornet's voice was starting to cut as if they were going through a tunnel.
"Daskka, can you see if there is a lock or a button on the other side?" Hera asked the mist that was following them.
'Got it, mum,' the snake tried to push against the door, but the thing seemed to be airtight as she tried to go in the crevasses. Even the lock in the actual wood seemed to be fake. Daskka struggled and found a small hole in the wood where she could actually pass through. However, glued or bolted to that entrance was another heavy metal door without any actual locks. Popping back out, the snake told what was happening, and Hera passed it along to Lysandra.
"Ok… this is not great," the elf looked down, checking something in the pack of tools they received from Eirik, "How sure are you that there are people down there?" she turned to Ptrek.
"Maybe 60%? I never actually saw the door open. I never even left my cell. This was something people told us about, including someone who came back. That guy that is being healed up there," Ptrek stepped back, unable to look Lysandra in the eye.
"So this is just a rumor?"
"I mean. Yeah, but do you expect people to get like that out of nowhere? That tattoo wasn't there when they dragged the guy somewhere."
"I don't know. People are creative when it comes to torture," Lysandra said, staring at Ptrek for a moment before turning to Hera, "We could try to make a hole and break the door, but that would take a while. Every minute we spend here is another minute we risk having the guards wake up or call for reinforcements. We also don't know if she isn't just deeper in the facility."
"I'm not leaving without Silah. I don't care if you all decide to run. I'll figure out a way to go down there if this is where she is," Hera shook her bracelet, summoning the snakes from Viper's Pit, "You all go to the end of the hallway. Let me know if you find any person," turning back to the door, Hera asked Livy to break the wooden door. She considered using her grease fire spell, but that would make a lot of smoke, and it could trigger the smoke alarms.
"Wait!" Lysandra called, making Livy stop, "She will take too long to go through that door. I can use one of the bombs Eirik gave us."
"Aren't those for opening the gate?" Hera asked.
"Yeah, we will have a smaller opening if I use it here. It's your call. Do we do it?"
The Empress turned to Ptrek, "Are you sure this is the place?"
"Like I said, 60% sure."
Hera pulled Yarnball, "Give me a moment," stepping back a little, she whispered to her relic, "Please, please, please, please. Answer this one. Give me an actual answer," she took a deep breath and pumped half a million mana into her relic with her hands trembling in a mix of fear and anger, "Is Silah somewhere behind that door?"
A moment passed, and the visor showed the hologram where the answer would usually show up, 'Try again later.' Letting out a long sigh, Hera was about to turn around when she noticed, on the corner of her eye, her treasure map that was still open. There was something written in big red letters covering most of the map itself that vanished just as she read it.
'She's there. This is all the help we can give you. Give them hell, Kid.'
Hera smiled and turned to Lysandra, holding tears back, "Do it. Let's open this door."
"Ok then," the elf picked a half circle from her pack and placed it against the 'supply closet' door, twisting it and running away with Hera and Ptrek to escape the blast zone. After turning the corner, she warned the rest of the team through the communicator, "We are going to make noise, everyone. Don't freak out."
The breaching charge glowed, and with a high-pitched noise, a wave of purple energy spread out from it, forming a sphere with a 1-meter radius before pulling everything in the range back to the center as if it was a black hole, sucking up everything. Hera didn't bother using her soundproof bubble since that bomb would swallow even the mana from spells in the area. The sound created was strange, like a mix of a blender and a trash compactor. Beyond that door was a long corridor leading down to another room illuminated by an eerie pale red light.
"This is not good," Lysandra mumbled.
"Let's go," Hera moved forward, worried about whatever could be happening with Silah down there.
Ptrek and Lysandra followed her along. There were some sounds coming from below, a heart monitor, and some machinery, only increasing the nervousness of the trio.
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'Nimbus, can you go first? Daskka, stay with me. Everyone else, get ready to come out. Just in case,'
'Got it,' the Sentinel moved forward, still invisible. But as he arrived at the room proper, he gasped, 'Hera! Silah is here.'
"What?" Hera rushed forward, forgetting anything about the idea of being stealthy. Lysandra and Ptrek didn't understand what was going on and hesitated before following along.
As the Empress reached the room, she found herself in a place completely different from the rest of the prison. Directly in front of the entrance, there was just an empty metallic wall, but seeping from the gaps in the wall was the source of that eerie pale red light bathing an imposing apparatus on the ceiling. It was hard to tell exactly what it was, but there were several thick tubes with needles at the ends connected to it and some sort of liquid reservoir that was currently almost empty, only a thin silver line showing at the lower marker in the glass meter. A couple of shelves on the side showed more odd instruments that looked somewhat medical but more twisted. It was as if these versions cared more about easy-to-use functionality than the safety of whatever poor soul was on the other end of the scalpel. Aside from that, there were some notebooks and jars with odd red pieces of flesh.
Below the large apparatus and a bit to the left was a small movable table with a tattoo machine and some used transfer paper. However, Hera only focused on that for a short time since she saw a larger metal table in the center and it had her undivided attention. Not because of the table itself, but because Silah was currently laying there, her body covered in scars, a couple of the tubes coming from the ceiling still attached to her veins. They seemed to have removed her clothes, but she was at least wearing a hospital gown. There was also a black tattoo around her neck. Although calling it a tattoo was a stretch. It was just a thick black line, almost like a choker or the prison collar, that would stop people from being able to use skills or mana.
Rushing to her side, Hera called Edge out and used an Elemental Reinforcement in the knife, already placing him on Silah's hand.
"Silah? Silah? Can you hear me?" Hera removed her mask and touched the dwarf's head, gently tapping her cheeks in hopes of waking her up.
After a few moments, but before Lysandra and Ptrek arrived, Silah managed to speak up, "He…Ra? Am… I… De..ad?"
"No, no! You are alive. I'm taking you out of here."
"But… Him.."
"Wh-" before the Empress could ask who Silah was talking about, she felt Nimbus slam on her arm, pushing her to the side. This wasn't enough, as a large blade attempted to pierce her stomach. Her armor was able to hold down the sword, but not enough not to let it pierce her body.
Hera yelled and called her entire court out while spinning in a backhand to attempt to hit her attacker. The man saw that attack coming and jumped back, blocking DJ and Chris, who went for his throat right away with his arms. Somehow, the man was able to turn his skin into steel, blocking the blades. Amber took advantage of that, going for an upward strike at the man's chest. She had the [Dragon Fire Strike] skill to increase the fire damage, hoping that this would help lower his defenses.
"What the hell did you do to her?!" Hera yelled in rage, grabbing Viper and Crimson as she lunged at the man. He had a similar type of clothing that the guards had, a uniform of the place, but he was also wearing a lab coat over it all. He had a clean, shaved face, short brown hair, black eyes, and a pronounced nose with a scar going across it.
"She is helping make the MAZE safer for us. If you know that one, you should be proud. And sorry for attacking you. I didn't realize you were one of us," the man had a righteous tone to his voice.
"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Hera yelled as Lysandra and Ptrek finally arrived.
"Them," the man snarled at the newcomers, noticing the dwarf and the pointy ears appearing from the side of Lysandra's mask, "The MAZE was a paradise until we had to start dealing with your kind! We had everything. With enough resources to go around a way to get rid of hunger and poverty, the Earth could be a Utopia. But you appeared. You stole our rooms. Refused to give us the materials we needed to return home and you stopped our progress at every turn. Each new race that pops out tries to screw us over and take what is rightfully ours."
"You can't be serious. You could have all that, but everyone chooses money over helping others every time!" Lysandra asked in disbelief.
"Quiet! You are nothing but a monster created by the system! A creature to be harvested. We are human. We exist beyond the MAZE, and you don't! This is the ultimate proof that we are superior. Plain and simple," he turned to Hera, "Come. Help me get rid of those fake living beings so we can continue our work here."
Hera wanted to jump on the man's throat and rip him apart, but she was thinking about Silah. She had to figure out what was going on with her to help, "And what is our work here?"
"I'll explain to you later. Help me kill those two," the man turned to Lysandra, getting into a fighting stance.
"Tell me now, I'm already doing my own work. I need to know if yours is more important," Hera bluffed. Her poker face was far from being good, but she hoped this man was far enough gone to just accept whatever lie she spat out as long as it seemed she was on his side. Lysandra understood what the Empress was trying to do and made sure not to attract the attention of the man.
"Like I said, they are animals to be harvested. And now, we are very close to having them as batteries. Imagine that, never running out of mana again. Being able to use your full power all the time."
"And did you do it?"
"Not yet. But we are close," he nodded towards Silah without taking his eyes away from Lysandra, "That one shows promise. I did make some mistakes, but she is still alive. I would have made fewer mistakes if she wasn't screaming during the process to distract me, but anesthesia interferes with the compound we are using, and even loud music wasn't enough to drown out her voice."
After he finished speaking, the man felt a fist slam against his face, making him fall to the ground and into a shelf full of supplies that crashed on the ground.
Hera was so angry that she didn't even use Crimson, who was in her right hand, "I'm going to fucking kill you!"
The man looked back at Hera with genuine surprise, only for that to be turned into unfiltered rage, "You fucking traitorous cunt! How dare you go against your own kind!" he slapped his neck, making a glowing red tattoo appear. The entire room flickered, and Silah started to scream as the tattoo around her neck glowed in the same shade of red. The man's muscles started to swell up, and his veins popped, ripping his clothes in the process. Blood dripped from his mouth as his eyes turned black.
"That's a Daemon! Kill him quick!" Lysandra yelled and started launching ice and wood spikes at the man with her magic, but the man was already over 2 and a half meters tall. A monstrosity of overflowing mana.
Hera told her entire court to attack and followed right after them, brandishing her weapons. Even Ptrek fired a couple of spells; they were much weaker than the rest, but it would still do some damage. That is if any of the strikes hit their target.
Before any spell or attack connected, the man roared as a wave of red light pulsated from him, pushing everyone back and forcing them to close their eyes. When they were able to see him again, the man was completely different. He was back to his previous size, but every muscle in his body seemed to be made out of stone. His skin was blood red, and his eyes white. Taking a deep breath, he smiled, showing his black teeth to the group, "I'm going to enjoy killing you all."
Hearing that, Lysandra froze in place, "You have daemonic energy…. How are you talking?"