25 DON'T MESS WITH THIS MAN

He turned quickly to parry the blow with the gladius.

But even if it had been fast enough, its grip had not been quite as firm. The blow of the iron rod against the old sword made him lose his balance and trip. The sword fell to the floor with a shrill sound. Glax bent his knee to get up. Before he took a blow capable of splitting his new helmet in half, he blindly threw himself against his opponent's torso.

Both fell to the ground, Glax on top. He raised his fist to deliver a punch when he recognized the texture against his solar plexus.

"UNIQ! It's me!"

"Lord Kroton?!" The redhead widened her eyes, and paralyzed the bar she had again towards Glax's head. "Uh! I didn't recognize you with that cloth on your face and a luminous helmet!"

Glax rolled away, hearing footsteps behind him.

"Boss!" Hikesias held a small flashlight, which wobbled as he walked with his characteristic stride.

"What are you doing here?" He suspected the answer, but at the same time it seemed absurd. Those people knew him a few hours ago, to risk their necks because of him. As he looked around him with concern, he reached out to help Uniq to his feet. "Uniq, you have a powerful blow!"

"Ah, they always told me that!" She looked proud, leaning on the iron staff.

"We came to resc… Check if you still needed my services, boss. The girls were worried, and I also don't want to ruin my reputation as a guide in Stapolis. What would happen if the rumor that I take the customer, but never bring him back, starts to spread?" Hikesias spoke, looking at the horizon dramatically.

"I thought it was the guy with the gas mask we followed, coming back from the pit. I suspected he was doing this… I mean, stealing from the pit. As soon as Medon got back to the Elevator, he left." The redhead explained. "He always showed up with items stolen from people who disappeared here."

"Is this pit famous?"

"Uh, well, yes. Medon calls it "Bone Cleaner."

"Why?" Hikesias and Glax asked in unison. Glax in particular shivered at the memory of the crabs. Now he was not sure whether people would suffocate or actually end up being eaten alive by crustaceans.

"I have no idea, maybe it's just a lie. He boasts he's not a thief, but that doesn't mean he's not dangerous. They say he coops a species of crabs that only feed on human flesh, or so he says. Apparently, the thief had a very effective way to get in and out without worrying about crabs." she shrugged. "We can go now. Aryn is watching the other corridor, we have to go." She turned around, expecting to be followed.

"Were you going to go down there?"

"We were going to throw you a rope," said Hikesias. "Uniq said that the pit has poisonous gases."

"My father and uncle worked here. I grew up in the Officina, along with my brother. We used to roam around and do little chores," the girl explained, without looking back. "Now we had better go, this area is dangerous."

"Wait," Glax took her arm. "I want to go back to the ovens."

"Are you going to get his weapons?"

"Not exactly, but kind of. You don't have to go with me, just confirm with me the way there."

She hesitated for a moment, but then smiled. "Crazy Kroton! But the guide said you are the champion of Armorion!"

"Ah, he said, is it?" He glanced at the guide, crossing his arms.

"Sorry, it's my Rhytosian blood, I'm very distracted and I end up talking without meaning to." Hikesias shrugged with a half-hearted smile.

Glax just didn't care, the damage was done. "Uniq, just tell me if I'm right. There's no single way to get to the ovens, and what I need is to turn on the gas. "

"There's no gas anymore."

"There is enough in that tube that goes through the pit or whatever," Glax insisted. At least in his head, that caused the harmful effects within the pit. Not any emanations from the fetid mud and decomposing corpses or anything like that.

"Boss… I got a boatman to take us back down the river! He's waiting for us! In fact, it cost three fish… I thought you wouldn't mind!"

Glax's eyes widened for a moment, but deep down it came in very handy. "Uniq?" He asked again, hoping she would decide to help him.

::::::::::

"Sorry, I thought this would be the safest way, but I forgot I grew up ..." she said, looking back.

They were crawling over a beam made of stone, which crossed the forge area. It sustained the truss frame holding the roof. This part of the facility, in one of the lower floors, was in better conditions than the upper floors. Huge old chains still hung there, partially broken.

But none of that drew more attention than the adorable sight of Uniq's wiggling ass, in her revealing outfit, right in front of him.

Glax wanted to take his eyes off the perky mounds and the valley between them, but he couldn't concentrate fully at this point.

'Oh! This is amazing!'

Right now, crawling was being ... hard.

But he took a deep breath and looked down there. Two guys were playing a board game that resembled chess or checkers.

He had seen the same two henchmen when he came with Medon's group to that part of The Rust. He still didn't understand what was going on in his mind when he believed he would just take the powder keg and leave happily.

He saw the oven where the weapons were. He had no idea why Medon kept that arsenal there. Maybe because he believed the ashes protected the metal or something. But thinking about the reasons was impossible when his face was almost touching the redhead's ass.

'Hey!' She turned to face him, whispering, and it startled him. His guilty mind went on alert. He'd deserve the scolding. It's not because he had been migrated from the 21st century to Stygia that he should forget his principles.

He had principles, didn't he?

Well, at that moment, Glax had to admit that everything he had done so far was merely for the sake of survival. Except for a few moments where he was having fun, of course. And now, when he was spending his time executing his revenge plan.

He still hadn't stabbed his principles, though. But he would be an idiot if he didn't know that, at one time or another, he would have to choose. Choose between his mentality of a 21st century guy from the western portion of Planet Earth, and what he should do to survive in Stygia...

Uniq waved her fingers, pointing to the platform where he could access the gas valve. It wasn't very clear to see, but he had a notion. He would make it to the valve without difficulty, but that didn't mean he would leave the area unseen.

He gave a thumbs up.

Uniq did not recognize and was perplexed. He motioned for her to come back where they came from.

Clutching the beam and slowly lowering his body, Glax tried to descend, as discreetly as possible, into a dark corner.

His fall was not the best, however, and he made some noise when he fell. Despite some pain in his ankles, he ran behind a pile of debris, while listening to the men react.

"Did you hear that, man?"

"Shh. I think there's someone here. "

Glax held his breath. He looked past his hiding place, thinking of his next step to get to the valve. Glax could see, by the projected shadow, the two men standing up to survey the huge place.

At that moment, he heard a loud banging on a metallic object.

"Geminos! What is that? The sound comes from the crabs' pit!"

"No, not from there. It was out here. I'm sure of it."

"I thought the guy was already dead..."

"Yeah... Tougher than I thought."

Glax thanked Hikesias for taking the rope ladder out of the pit. The noise the thief was making was a good distraction.

He took advantage of the moment to move forward, and crouched behind a large pipe that was on the ground. He could peep, through a crack or two, and even risk his head up a few times. Just in case, he took out the old gun he had found in the pit from his shoulder bag. If needed, he would throw the useless object somewhere as bait to take them away from him.

He could see that one man was patrolling closer to the pit's door, which was a long way from where he was. Now he could clearly see the door he went through so innocently was a maintenance door to the gas tubing. 'So stupid…' he scolded himself. But refocused on his task ahead and surveyed the surroundings.

He couldn't see where the other guy was.

Suddenly, another metallic sound overlaps from above. Chains started to move, sending a rain of rust as usual.

He didn't know what was going on, until he realized that the guy who was missing was on a platform. He turned a huge crank, which made the belt loop move.

And then, a trapdoor at the top opened, from which a lot of water vapor came out, and a luminous bulb came down the chain.

Glax didn't have time to think about how it all worked, but his new problem was clear in his mind. As clear as the place was getting because of that huge incandescent lamp!

The enormous bulb emanated red radiance and heat.

From where he was, he was able to see Uniq freeze over the beam, which was dangerously in the path of the incandescent bulb.

The man with the hand on the crank was not looking up, but checking the newly lit room. His gaze swept for intruders, from his position about five feet from the ground.

Only Glax could barely take his eyes off the incandescent bulb that was going towards the red-haired girl, too big to be deflected in time on its course.

Glax had a drastic decision to make at that moment.