The ladder took them to a third level, even further beneath the city.Here, the tunnel walls were entirely covered in golden halo-like markings, pulsing faintly like a heartbeat.
The air was heavier, almost pressurized, as if the tunnels themselves were under the influence of some unseen force.
Lenny whispered as he adjusted his scanner.
Lenny: "… It's stronger here. Whatever they're doing… it's centered down below."
Emilia's voice was quiet but tense.
Emilia: "I feel it too. Like the air is bending…"
Henry narrowed his eyes.
Henry: "We're close to something important. Keep moving, but silently."
They reached a vantage point overlooking an even larger chamber.
This one was massive, like an underground cathedral.
Hundreds of Halo Disciples stood in precise formation, facing a giant holographic projection of a perfect golden halo suspended above a massive black pedestal. Around the pedestal, strange gravitational distortions warped the air, making it ripple unnaturally.
And there, on the pedestal, was a sealed black container—the same type they'd glimpsed earlier.
The energy radiating from it made the entire chamber feel heavier.
Jack's eyes narrowed.
Jack (whispering): "…What the hell is in that thing?"
Emilia leaned closer, her voice barely audible.
Emilia: "This is bigger than we already thought it would be. They're… worshipping something."
Henry's gaze hardened as he memorized every detail.
Henry: "… We document everything. Then we leave before they realize we're here."
As they quietly pulled back from the vantage point, a faint sound behind them made everyone freeze.
A single Halo Disciple stood at the end of the narrow hallway they'd come from—completely silent, staring at them with glowing eyes.
Then it opened its mouth.
And instead of a scream, a deafening, inhuman metallic wail filled the tunnels, echoing into the chamber below.
The chanting stopped.
Every disciple in the chamber turned toward the sound.Henry's eyes sharpened.
Henry: "… We're exposed. Move!"
The metallic wail echoed like an alarm.
Within seconds, dozens of Halo Disciples turned toward the narrow passage where Henry's group was hiding.
Their glowing implants pulsed in perfect rhythm. Without a single word, they moved—one mind, many bodies—rushing toward the intruders.
Henry's eyes sharpened.
Henry: "We hold this corridor. Don't let them surround us."
The first three disciples lunged forward.
Their movements were unnervingly precise, their implanted halos humming faintly as they enhanced their strength.
Jack stepped in first, his dragon scales hardening over his arms.
He forms a scale-blade out of his arm, slashing in a wide arc, cleaving through the first disciple's weapon, and with a punch sending him crashing into the wall.
Jack: "They're fast—but not that fast."
Emilia dissolved into mist as two more disciples swung batons at her, reforming behind them and striking their exposed implants with surgical precision.
Emilia: "Hit the implants. It disrupts their coordination."
Ichiro darted in with precise strikes.
Ichiro (curious, to himself): "Finally, I can test my wind aura."
His wind aura was faint but controlled, pushing two attackers off balance before finishing them with sharp, efficient blows.
Henry moved at the center, his calm focus directing the fight.
He parried a disciple's blade, disarmed him, and delivered a decisive strike to the halo implant at the base of the neck.
Henry: "Focus. Don't waste movement. Take them out clean. Also, no flashy attacks; it could break the tunnels and bury us alive."
He turns to Jack.
Jack quickly nods, punching another disciple into the ground.
But the next wave came, and they adapted.Instead of rushing blindly, the disciples moved in perfectly synchronized patterns, flanking from both sides of the narrow corridor.
Their implants glowed brighter, and suddenly their strikes flowed in unison, as if guided by a single invisible conductor.
Lenny shouted a quick warning as he threw a flash charge to disrupt their advance.
Lenny: "They're adjusting to our moves!"
Jack blocked two at once, but a third came from behind—only for Emilia to intercept with a mist-formed blade.
Jack: "It's like fighting a damn hive mind!"
Then the sound grew louder.
From the larger chamber below, dozens more disciples were now moving toward them, their collective footsteps pounding in eerie unison. The chanting had stopped completely.
Henry's expression hardened.
Henry: "… We can't hold this. Not against all of them."
Emilia glanced down the corridor.
Emilia: "If we keep fighting, we'll get boxed in."
Ichiro nodded, already shifting his stance to a more defensive one.
Ichiro: "We need another route. Now."
Henry made the call without hesitation.
Henry: "We're pulling back. Lenny, find us a path deeper in. Jack, Ichiro—cover the retreat!"
Jack grinned despite the situation, slamming one disciple into the wall with brute force as Ichiro covered the other flank with precise sword strikes.
Jack: "Anytime now, Lenny!"
Emilia rushed to the front, creating a brief barrier of mist to obscure their retreat.
Meanwhile, Lenny hacked into an old control panel on the wall.
Sparks flew, and a sealed maintenance door hissed open further down the corridor.
Lenny: "Got it! Move!"
Henry nodded, leading Lenny through the opening first while Jack and Ichiro fell back in perfect sync, slamming the door shut just as another wave of disciples lunged toward them.
The new passage took them even further down.
The air grew heavier, the faint glow of the halo-markings on the walls stronger now.Behind them, the muffled pounding of disciples trying to breach the door echoed faintly.
Jack wiped sweat from his brow.
Jack: "They're not going to stop, are they?"
Henry kept moving, his voice calm but clipped.
Henry: "No. They'll keep coming. Which means whatever's deeper… is what they're protecting."
Emilia's gaze hardened slightly.
Emilia: "Then we're heading straight into the core of it."
As they descended further, they reached a vast cylindrical shaft with spiral walkways winding down into darkness.
And far below, dim but visible, was another massive chamber—larger than the last, filled with even stranger structures and a faint gravitational hum that made the air ripple unnaturally.
Lenny stared down, uneasy.
Lenny: "… Whatever's down there… It's not just human tech. It's something else."
Henry clenched his fists.
Henry: "We keep going. But we stay unseen this time. We need more information before we make our next move."