96 The End of The Tower

I should become an interior decorator if this whole rebellion thing doesn't work out.

Really, I think I have a talent for the job.

As an example, I've turned this gaudy hallway into a lovely shade of ReD, and the ostentation decorations have been removed with great detail.

It's nice now, at least if you're a fan of the post-apocalyptic look.

My gaze briefly shifts towards a beautiful luminary composed of carefully arranged floating crystal balls, or at least what's left of it.

As it turns out, high-octane battles aren't good for expensive furniture.

Who knew? I wonder what I'll do with such precious knowledge.

But let's get back to reality, things went downhill ever since Mary punched her way through the door leading to the upper floors. I thought the barrage I faced when I got out of the Lift was already quite something, but it pales in comparison to the one we are currently enduring.

"What are we supposed to do?" Krognar, who is taking cover behind a broken stone panel, shouts.

"Is there anything important on this floor?" I ask the Goblin.

"Not as far as I am concerned." He replies.

Good, then we can have a bit of FuN!

I risk a peek above my cover, and my shield wince when a ton of spells focus on me. I do my best to act like this is normal, even though I almost shat my pants.

There are at least a hundred soldiers all hidden in this massive multileveled reception room, and magical attacks are coming from all sides. Mary is lobbing fireballs at the Enforcers, while the others are staying down on my order. I can't risk them dying because they wanted to take a potshot.

But there's a lot of Enforcers, and it would take quite some time to clear out every single one of them without damaging the structural integrity of the Tower. If I weren't worried about the building collapsing under our feet, then I would have already fired a few shots of the Hammer to calm all those fuckers down.

Furthermore, Mary and Krognar confirmed that someone briefly observed us when we exited the Lift. It looks like the Enforcers noticed our little intrusion and decided to act. But it's a bit too late, although I'm still on the lookout for any last-ditch effort to stop us. It wouldn't be surprising if the Enforcers of this planet also had something up their sleeves to deal with this situation, especially since they don't seem to care about collateral damage.

I switch to the comms, "Everyone, load MH Shells! That's also valid for you Mary!"

The hybrid stops halfway and fumbles with her rifle that has been uselessly dangling at her side ever since the campaign began. She also arms her under-barrel shotgun and turns her head towards me. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"It's very simple!" I say as I casually walk into the middle of the room. The spells are bouncing off my shield and singing the carpets. The various projectiles are destroying everything in their path.

I pay attention to the ammo in my shield; it's going down a lot faster than I anticipated. I grit my teeth, I hope this will be enough. I need to make myself look cool to impress Krognar and to convince the others of my supposed godhood.

"We just FiRe!" I say as I empty my shotgun as fast as I can. The others do the same, and the entire reception area is engulfed in raw mana.

What a beautiful, even if somewhat blinding, sight.

The powerful vortexes of mana only last a few moments, but there's not a lot left when they subside. The room has been ravaged, it has been stripped bare, and only a few of the walls are still standing. Everything else, including the Enforcers, is gone.

"Fucking hell," Krognar mutters as he surveys the destruction.

I'll be honest; I was expecting something more. The Enforcers we just fought, who are supposed to be elites if I understand the Tower correctly, were nothing special compared to what I'm usually facing.

But there's no point on dwelling on trivial matters. Our target shouldn't be too far now. I'm almost certain that the bastard must be hiding at the top of the Tower, or close enough. This place looks nice, but there's still quite a bit of floors left before we reach the top of the Tower.

"I bet the Enforcers will send another wave. Follow me!" I warn the others, and we step in the corridor that was once blocked by a wall of soldiers.

Now there's only ash left.

The area is eerily silent, but I'm not letting my guard down. Each of my steps could activate a flurry of deadly traps, and I'm not entirely convinced that we aren't going to face some kind of strong opponent. So far we've only fought what I would qualify as standard magical soldiers, they are nothing more than cannon fodder while the powerful elites hide in the back, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

We finally reach the end of the corridor; it's blocked off by yet another door. This ornate blockade is even more pretentious than the last one. It's engraved with a golden coiling dragon that flows in the metal and moves like it's alive. The door is emitting so much power than even I can feel it. This kind of defense can only mean that the real top floors are behind the door.

I take a step back to let Mary do her job. I'm a bit surprised that there aren't any defenses this time around. Turrets defended the last door, so I was expecting something of this nature, but it seems like there's nothing.

"It's a bit too calm if you ask me." Krognar says, "I don't like it."

The Goblin also thinks that something is off, it's a bit reassuring since it means that it's not my paranoia acting up.

I nod in silence while Mary punches the door. The sound of her hits echoes in the otherwise silent corridor, so I use this brief moment of respite to check on my equipment. My ammo reserves are still alright, but I'd rather not get into a heated battle without preparation.

"How much ammo do you have left?" I ask the members of my group over the comms.

"I don't have a lot of mags left; we used a ton in the last attack." Alex declares.

"Alright, then teleport an ammo crate," I order, and the Legionary nods. A few seconds later and a few crates of ammo appear from a portal. Krognar wasn't expecting this, so the startled Goblin jumps back at the sudden appearance.

"What is that?" he asks while we rummage through the crate and take what we need.

"Nothing you have to worry about, you'll understand soon enough," I say. The Goblin isn't yet a member of the Order, so I won't reveal our secrets to him just yet.

"Got it." He grumbles before focusing back on maintaining his own weapons. His armor has lost a bit of its luster, and his weird liquid metal seems to be sluggish compared to before. If I had to guess, then I would say that his armor is starting to wear down.

That liquid armor is nice, but it seems that it has quite a bit of drawback compared to ours.

But ours wasn't pummeled as much as his own suit, so maybe there's also that to take into account. It's true that the self-repairing feature of my armor sometimes takes a bit of time to work when it's heavily destroyed, so it must be what's happening to the old shopkeeper.

"I-I can't do it." A huffing Mary interrupts my thoughts, and turn towards the door that has been the unfortunate target of the hybrid's wrath. It is barely scratched, there are signs of melting here and there, but it's just on the surface. The dragon also looks like it's observing us, which could be very likely.

That's the problem with magic. You can't ignore a possibility because it's too removed from logic or reason.

"I'll take it from here," I say to Mary. I hope that the penetrators will work, or I don't know what we'll do.

"Everyone, take a few steps back," I warn before clicking my laser pointer.

It doesn't take long for portals to appear, and a moment passes before its deadly payload flies towards the heavily decorated door. There's a massive shockwave following the impact between the two objects, and I'm surprised to see that the door is still standing. It's quite damaged and half-melted, but it's still firmly blocking the way.

The dragon on the door looks like it's hissing towards us, but I ignore the angry engraving and fire again. The penetrator roars as sparks and mana spew from the point of impact, the white pearl coating on the wall melts off the bricks, but the door is still standing.

I'm not giving up; we're not going to be stopped by a fucking door.

Another penetrator hits the door, and this time the metal makes a satisfying groaning noise. I wait until the smoke dissipates, and my jaw drops.

The polished surface of the door shattered, but what greets us is an even bigger piece of metal.

I take a deep breath; this is going to take a while.

...Wurk's PoV...

"What is this place?" I can't help but mutter as I enter an eerie corridor for the first time. The walls are almost as black as night, and large pulsating engraved rods are embedded in nearly every inch of the wall. Each pulse creates a ripple of mana that is slightly disorienting. It just shows how much power must be circulating in those tubes if I can be affected despite my numerous protections.

I turn towards the Elder, but he doesn't seem to be in the mood to chat.

I wonder why.

Oh well, I resume my gawking since this is a rare opportunity. Maybe I'll be able to figure something out. I bet there are a lot of people who would be willing to pay for information regarding one of the most secret areas of the planet.

The windowless hallway is rather long, but I'm not bothered by the lack of conversation since I'm too busy burning every single detail in my memory.

The only thing that makes me aware of the passage of time is the regular shockwaves echoing through the walls of the Tower. Those noises can only mean one thing, that the invaders reached the entrance to the upper floors. The door should keep them busy for quite some time, so we will have plenty of time to deploy our ultimate weapon and make them pay.

If we're lucky, then they will not be able to pierce the massive defensive mechanism, and we'll quickly take care of them.

But the other option is also quite attractive. I would like it if they broke through, with a bit of luck they'll take care of some loose ends for me, or I could also take advantage of the chaos to-

"I thought I would never see this place again." The Elder says in a solemn tone as we arrive in front of a large bulkhead. I can feel at least ten barriers from here, and the fortification isn't made of anything I know.

The Elder places his hand on a panel somewhere on the wall, and a small needle enters his arm before beeping. A helmet emerges from a secret compartment and the Elder places it on his head. The strange device hisses while various knobs and gears move on their own. The device slowly adapts to the head of the Elder, and a loud beeping comes from the mysterious helmet.

"I request access." The Elder says, and the device strapped to his head beeps before folding on itself. It soon turns into a small pendant the size of my palm.

My jaw almost drops at the sight. It wasn't living metal, so it's very likely that some form of spatial manipulation was used to transform the artifact. I restrain a chuckle, the information I gained from this place will be worth millions!

The Elder sighs and presses a button on the pendant, the walls behind us move and form a tight seal that would make escape impossible. In the meantime, many high-power turrets emerge from the walls and are aimed at our head. I gulp, this kind of firepower would be enough to annihilate even the most powerful soldier with ease.

It's hard to stay calm with so many weapons pointed towards me, but I keep my poker face and observe the complicated procedure. Now the Elder shoves the pendant into a thin slot that appeared on the wall, and the door rumbles.

It's honestly a sight to be seen, the massive hunk of metal must be thicker than a few city blocks, yet it moves at a tremendous speed. The newly created opening reveals a plain wooden door, it looks out of place in this high-tech environment.

"Of course, anything you see here is strictly confidential. If we learn that any information leaks, we'll know it will be coming from you, and you'll be executed on the spot." The Elder warns.

And here goes my plan to become even richer. This time I won't risk it, I doubt the Elder and his cohort are joking around when it comes to anything related to this place.

I nod and follow the Elder into the new hallway; this one is a lot shorter than the last corridor, so we soon reach the wooden door. I won't lie and say that I'm not nervous, all those security measures are serious business, so they must be protecting something that is beyond anything I can imagine.

The door creaks open, and it reveals an old stairwell. This place must date back from a very ancient time if the wear on the steps is any indication.

"This will lead us to the top of the Tower. Forget about any rumors you might have heard about this place; they are completely off the mark. But brace yourself, I don't want you to faint or have a seizure even if I loathe you. I don't want to clean up behind you." The Elder warns, and I nod.

This old fool can speak all he wants, I'm nothing but excited for what I'm about to witness. The ultimate weapon must be a fantastic feat of engineering. I wonder if it's a massive artifact or something I can carry? I want to wield such a powerful weapon and smite the invaders out of existence. The people would love me, and my popularity would skyrocket. It would also become an invaluable political tool if-

We reach the end of the stairwell, so I put a stop to my delusions. The Elder opens another wooden door. The sudden gust of wind forces me to close my eyes for a second, but I push them open. I look around, I see a very thick barrier above us, and the floor is covered in ancient dust. I wonder how old this place really is. There have been records about the Tower from the beginnings of our history, but the descriptions varied a lot, not to mention that-

That's when I finally see it.

The ultimate weapon hidden at the top of the Tower is in front of me for the first time, and my mind goes blank.

...Good lord.

T-This is the 'ultimate weapon'?

It's too late to go back, isn't it?