Chapter 310: Running out of time [3]

“Since we all got caught because we’re together then how about we split up?”

“What a wonderful Idea, Daniel. If you want us all dead, that is. Do you expect us to be some suicide squad knockoff?”

“Settle down Hugh,” Sandra intervenes allowing Daniel to address their major downfall at that time

“We need to act as bait. If Deus has more targets then she’d have to split her troops. Let’s face the facts, we won’t survive an onslaught,” Although disheartening his words were Daniel spoke the truth giving no room for false hope that may cloud their judgment

“Good idea, but remember that most of us are brittle-boned fucks. Heck, I can’t imagine one of you against those golems. Our lady and waiting has the highest chance,”

“Oh, you sure like to talk, don’t you? If you’re complaining so much then tell us your plan. If you have one that is,” Daniel began to retaliate with Hugh’s off-putting remarks, and now all his yapping returned to him tenfold

“O-of course I have a plan! Don’t make everything so complicated. We’ll just have lord Time Keeper hack the system,” Hugh’s plan wasn’t made from the spur of the moment but his idea entails dozens of unpredictable variables

“That’s easier said than done, Hugh. We have an enemy who was once an A. I if you forgot. Mortal or not its processing speed-”

“To hell with its processing speed. That matters when the hacker is the Avatar of Time. So, any other complaints?” Sandra fell silent at Hugh’s remarks and just when everyone was about to root for his plan, Rachel shared her own

“That’s great and all, but I’m heavily restricted. Manifesting might be hard as of now. Still, I have a solution,”

Rachel scribbles the ground with her fingers and draws the workshop layout; she then marks dozens of hotspots. “These Xs I drew contain every backup generator within the workshop. Break them all and the machines go under,”

She took a second for her group to reply, yet their silence was the thing she received, translating to their approval. “Well, if everyone’s on board, let’s get to it, then. Chop chop, we need to go. Just follow my lead, I’ll handle the alarms,”

Rachel and her crew set off to a new goal, and that was to shut every backup generator within the workshop. The only difference this time around was the fact that they moved in a group even after knowing the dangers that lay ahead. However, the workshop’s security system had yet to alert Deus even though these bands of invaders had gathered as one.

’Just as I theorized, as long as we don’t huddle together our natural mana secretion won’t build up and trigger the alarms. It’s only possible because I instructed them all to distance themselves from each other by six and a half meters. Although all of us naturally secret mana, as long as they don’t mix and disperse the moment they ooze then we are practically invisible,’

They finally reached the first generator, which was the one nearest to the entrance, where they spotted a humungous golem. Rachel ran ahead, and her group followed right after. Upon reaching a certain point, she threw a hand-made bomb at the golem. It explodes upon contact but instead of a loud and fiery explosion it lets out an electric current that affects the entire room

“Everyone prepare for battle. We only have about three minutes before this place gets rerouted to Deus. Full assault no. 10,”

“Yes, Timekeeper!!!”

Her group began to move as two tanks ran straight to the golem’s range and blasted out their taunts, taking its aggro for themselves. The Golem then swung both its arms to squash the tanks, but a well-timed parry saved and disrupted its movement. The backlash of the tanks counter pushed the golem backward and their assassins went for a full frontal assault

“Imminent threat detected! Launching counter mobility projectiles. Calculating… demise of targets confirmed!!!”

“Rangers fire at will!!!” The golem’s volley of ammunition aimed at eliminating the assassins was then thwarted by their group of range dealers

“Hugh, go right!”

“As you wish Milady!”

Rachel, along with her assassination group, made quick work of the golem with every swing of their blades. Not a single movement was wasted, and each strike brought about the golem’s immediate demise as they targeted its core. This was only made possible due to the knowledge provided by Rachel, allowing them to eliminate their obstacle in the given time

“Two minutes left, thats a new record-”

“Now’s not the time to celebrate Hugh. Thats the easy part. I’ll now have to hack this generator with the remaining time,”

Although two minutes was a lot, Rachel knew it wasn’t enough, and just as she predicted upon opening the algorithm. The program Deus had placed was incredibly complex but she made use of her pocket watch to her advantage. With it a second felt like a minute, and a minute felt like an hour, and an hour felt like a day within the range of her authority

…

2 minutes later

“Phew…” She let out a sigh of relief and as the lights went on they heard no alarms nor felt the presence of a would-be demise

[You’ve made it in time]

’Quit it with the time puns already. I barely made it with all that programming. Judging by how Deus acted, she must have made every generator have its unique program,’

[Wouldn’t she have found out our whereabouts from that sudden blackout?]

’Not a chance. I made that EMP with the same voltage that of a possible short circuit. Seeing as this place has been unattended for so long, the odds are ridiculously high. And look, no roaming golems, it goes to show that we haven’t been caught,’

[Then what about the generator? Wouldn’t she have noticed if you had tampered even a little? Maybe she’s just waiting at the exit]

’I already have that covered. I never tampered with the generator to begin with. I just installed a device that will hotwire the generator and lock all possible electrical outlets. By the moment she tries to retaliate, all the generators we’d tap will act as a bomb and bring this place to ruin. After that, it’s only a matter of using my authority to slow time and safely extract Christoper Morris right under the enemy’s grasp,’

[If you never once messed with the program, then why did it take you so long?]

’Easy, I just made a program so Deus wouldn’t detect my hotwired installments. Luckily, I procured something from my previous dilemma. I made a drive with my algorithm, it will adapt to whatever program she made and make all my hotwires undetectable,’

[You think that’ll work?]

“How about we continue this talk of ours for a later date? In about 30 minutes? That’s how long it’ll take for my victory?”

[You’re sure about that?]

Rachel raises her right brow and begins to slowly take notice of her deity’s odd behavior, one of which is his demoralizing words. “Yes, of course. Are you okay? You seem so unmotivated, Chronos. Have you, by any chance, lost hope in your Avatar?”

[Don’t mind me. I’m just anxious. Nothing to worry about over here]

Rachel was doubtful, but she didn’t give any thought at first to his indifference and focused on her mission. Just as she promised nearing the 30-minute countdown. The group only had 4 minutes left and now stood before the room where the last generator resides. But the moment they opened the door, an unbelievable massacre ensued, more bloody, and even brutal, than the one before

[It seems you’ve underestimated so?]

Rachel could hardly remember the details of the murder of her group and that oh-so-taunting voice of Deus. The moment she came back to her senses, she was all alone, at the center of scrap and carcasses, and the rooms collapsed. It seems she hadn’t noticed but in her pit of rage she pushed the trigger hook wired to the workshop, which brought the end of her enemy

“Take me back…” Rachel tightly gripped her pocket watch and at that very moment it answered her wish, bringing her back to their last save point

…

38 minutes ago

’Finally, now I know what that wench is plotting, the final generator, she had it tightly secured, as if she predicted my every move. But now, ho ho ho, things are gonna be different, she’ll no longer have the upper hand against me in our next encounter- What the!!? What’s the hells happening? I certainly came back, and this is the same place, but why does it feel like-’

[Time had stopped?]

The whispers of the wise god she had contracted seemingly became clearer and its presence lies not in her noggin. Rachel urgently look to her back, and there she saw her deity, the origin of her power, Chronos the God of Time. As the world seemingly frozen he descended, and upon doing so he had one reason, and thats to consult her Avatar

“Why don’t you take a seat?”

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