Over the past week, Saki, Heron, and Gwendith found out the rat’s schedule and address. It turned out that Armando Malta was not in Dragon Fall City more than a few times a Season. He wasn’t based in this city after all. Instead, there was another city accessible through the Gate Consortium, but still within what was considered the ground floor of the Eternal Tower, called Chimeric Fields City. It could also be reached by travelling roughly a couple of thousand leagues north through the badlands outside of Dragon Fall.

Armando Malta, the father of the rat who put an abduction order for Yuriko and her companions, was currently in a branch office in a mega building situated in the 5th District, within the first ring, which was the first five leagues from the centre of the city. Gwendith’s base was in Junktown in the 1st District, located nearly twenty-five leagues from the city centre. Thirty leagues or so isn’t a quick trip, and it wasn’t one Yuriko wanted to make on a motorbike.

Heron had purchased a replacement Kanegawa Bladedancer for her, but she hadn’t really used it much. Her lover seemed flushed with ACs nowadays and when she asked idly, he said that his recent earnings were his winnings from ‘underground’ arena battles.

Either way, the first step was to get to the proper tower, and they couldn’t do it on the skyways, not with their current permissions. So the trip had to be made through Junktown and the lower roads. Heron, Gwendith, and Saki accompanied her, though only she would make the assault.

“Are you certain?” Gwendith asked when Yuriko insisted.

“Yes,” Yuriko said, “but I’d like for the rest of you to remain close in case I need help with extraction.” While Heron had given her a nice suit of powered armour, she had to take the outer layers off and replace them with a more generic, and bulky set that made her practically indistinguishable from any other ‘chronian muscle. She wasn’t foolish enough to expose her identity in what was basically an assassination, even if she intended to burst in through the front door. Which wasn’t the plan Saki gave her, however.

Every mega building had a central area that was restricted from entry. It spanned the entire height of the tower though, and should allow her to reach the proper floor, though she would face whatever opposition the mega building had ready there.

“The central area contains the REIon Spire,” Saki said. “It’s heavily defended in the very centre, but surrounding it are the access and maintenance layers. You don’t have to go to the spire, at least, I don’t think so.” She handed Yuriko a phone. It looked similar enough to the ones in Astoria that Yuriko felt both places merge for a moment. But no, the one Saki gave her wasn’t as fragile. “This holds a basic identity and permissions to enter the central area from below the hundredth floor. Any higher and security protocols will require more than a basic ID check. From there, young mistress, it’s up to how you’d like to proceed. I’ll keep track of Armando Malta’s public presence and inform you if he tries to flee. Ah, mistress Gwendith will, or young master Heron,” Saki amended.

Yuriko nodded. The black van they rode climbed onto an on-ramp to reach the lower-level roads. At the speed they were going, it would take nearly two hours to get to the 5th District. Yuriko spent the time memorising information Saki and the others dredged up.

Armando Malta was a good-looking man in his middle years, with the slimy countenance of one who’d always gotten his way by means less than savoury. He had a ‘chronian implant for his eyes and a direct REI-space port at the back of his neck.

He was also always accompanied by a bodyguard. An imposing…creature? It was humanoid for sure, but there was no trace of flesh, only cold metal. She was uncertain if the bodyguard wore a suit of armour or if its entire body had been replaced with ‘Chronian Gear. Perhaps the former. It was laden with heavy armour plates and had several mounted weapons. It was taller than Armando in the picture shown by at least a head. Yuriko barely took note. The things she could discover of its fighting prowess were something she could only sense when she faced it, not from an info packet.

His office was on the 417th floor, quite close to the penthouse. It would be a long climb to get there, and several security measures to overcome. Thankfully, her incarnation touched the Ennoia of the Bladeless Sword, and it would help her fight with a bit more subtlety than her normal toolkit.

They arrived after three hours, the drive taking longer than she expected mainly because of the varied checkpoints once they came close to the inner circle. There was no Junktown within five leagues of the city centre, though there weren’t any people living there either. Instead, it contained the massive machinery of industry. Dozens of factories, assembly lines, and foundries were located in the inner circle, though the toxic wastes were funnelled away through underground lines or thick pipes and metal tubing. Everything underneath the fiftieth level was covered in a haze of fine particles, and heavy noise. There was also a thin film of bluish energy that separated the industrial area from the upper floors.

The van was now taking a road to enter the lower entrance of the tower they needed to go to. Whatever Heron and Saki did to allow them access worked, and they were let into the fifty-fifth level, which turned out to be a large car park. Being late afternoon, it was quite crowded, but there was a steady traffic of men and women on foot as they made their way to their transports. Yuriko alighted from the back of the van and headed towards the central entrance.

She carried an assault rifle and a couple of pistols on her belt. The weapons were standard for security forces within the tower, though she quickly noticed that her outer armour didn’t quite match the set the door guards wore. Still, she could only trust the identity her lovers created for this mission, otherwise hostilities would have started way too early.

She activated the phone mounted on her right wristguard, though she used her Anima to manipulate it, rather than her fingers. She coursed it through the Ossifrum circuitry across her bodysuit, then through the hard points on the interior of her outer armour. The servos that aided movement whirled and clacked annoyingly as she walked. The HUD on her faceplate informed her of every little detail of the armour, plus the identification request that the phone received. A moment later, she received the all clear and the door in front of her opened. The door guards didn’t move to acknowledge. In fact, they looked as still as statues.

Curious, Yuriko released a tendril of perceptive Anima and snaked it into the small gaps of their armour. As soon as she breached into the helmet, she heard moaning sounds and heavy panting. Huh, the guards were watching porn. How unusual? The other guy was dozing and probably relied on his suit’s sensors to wake him up. Were their duties so dull that they could get away with this?

Snorting in derision, she entered the central area. None of her noises made it out of her helmet though by now, she was somewhat disillusioned by the challenge she would face. Sloppy guards. Hmm, although, she was only at the lowest entry level, so perhaps security wasn’t so strict.

Behind the door was a small airlock. Invisible sensor beams and REI-space tethers connected to her suit and to her phone. She waited at the ready. Should the authentication fail…

The door at the other end opened easily and she moved through. Across the door was a window that showed the REIon Spire. Yuriko blinked in surprise. It wasn’t what she expected at all.

The spire was orange crystal and was about ten paces thick. It was a pillar that rose and had a gap of about twenty paces from it to the window. That wasn’t what she found astounding. No, it was the absolutely dense ambient Chaos and Elemental energy that swirled around and into the pylon that confounded her. As thin as the density of ambient energies outside were, here they were more than a match for back home. In fact, it was at three iarvesh. It was contained behind the barrier though, and she could only visually examine it. But the sight broke some preconceptions she had. REI-space tethers branched out of the pylon and connected to hard points all over the wall.

Tap, tap, tap.

Footsteps broke her out of her reverie and she spotted one of the interior guards walking along the corridor. His fellow marched behind him. Yuriko turned to her left and marched in the same direction they were headed. She carefully noted hidden security cameras visible only because she could see the tethers.

As they expected, the hallway surrounded the open space. There were stairs at the northern and southern walls, which were restricted to one-way flow that alternated between floors. There was also a lift on the eastern and western sides, but those had security measures that her device wasn’t prepared for.

She headed to the north side and climbed up the stairs. Her device pinged the checkpoint and since she had permission, she wasn’t flagged. But she would be if she kept going up. Her mind whirled as she considered her options. Stealing someone else’s security device wouldn’t work since it was keyed to them. Just running up should work, but she would be assaulted and probably pinned down.

She looked at the pylon and the dense energies within. There was no one inside the open space, not even someone with a heavy, filtering suit. Three iarvesh was deadly to mortals, though she didn’t know how those with ‘Chronian Gear were affected. To her, it would be just like home. And, it was a straight line to the top. She moved closer to the window and checked. Yup, it was unobstructed.

Sparks from the pylon touched the window she pressed against, crackling with discharged power. She paused to reconsider, then shrugged. It was her best shot. Even if she couldn’t fly using her normal technique, her Anima could just as easily grab onto the walls. If she braced and jumped or ran, she could reach the upper levels in less than a minute. She wondered if security forces would be fast enough to intercept her.

She kept climbing up the levels, however, determined to come as close to the hundredth level as she could.

“Saki, is the target still there?”

“There are no reports that he left the building.”

“Thank you.”

She was on the ninety-ninth floor. She touched the window, knowing that it was not mere glass. It was a transparent alloy with energy-insulating properties and nearly a pace thick. She pushed against it, checking how much it would give. She determined that she needed to hit it as hard as she could to break through, or she could cut it open. A quick check with the Invisible Edge showed that it wasn’t all that resistant to cutting. Or perhaps her Edge was just that sharp.

She glanced at the cameras. There were two that were pointed in her direction. She reached with her Anima perception to both, then smothered the REI-space tethers. A moment later, she slashed three Edges in a triangle. The Edges cut through the window as if it wasn’t even there, but the wedge stayed there. She kicked it out, and it plummeted to the depths.

She leapt out, latched her Animakinesis against the opening and flipped herself so that her feet were against the wall and she faced the ceiling. There were no convenient floor labels she could see, so she’d have to rely on her senses and Saki. She pushed off against the wall, rocketing towards the top.

Behind her, the alarm rang as the spire’s secure containment was breached.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep