"We must have missed one." Clara was whispering, but she held her crossbow like she was ready to use it as they crept away from the dorms and towards the maintenance hangar. "How many more do they have?"

Sam shrugged. He crept along much more quietly than the rest of them, his shape barely a shadow in the dark. "Maybe a prototype? I don't think they have much more. At the very least, they weren't using them yet."

"A better question is, why is it here?" Joanna's whisper was almost hoarse from the strain. She looked like she was clutching her sword so hard that it trembled in her grip. "Why wouldn't they try to hide it?"

Alex felt a grim realization settle in. "They can't hide it forever. Not with the other three exposed and broken. The only way to get rid of all the evidence is to destroy everything they can and try to pin it on someone else."

Clara shook her head. "But Royal Purple is part of Greylight, right? They wouldn't pin it on themselves."

Joanna shifted her grip on the blade. "They'd burn down a subsidiary to keep the company intact, though. Especially if they can tie up loose ends."

Alex saw Sam pause. He continued forward a moment later, his footsteps steady as he veered towards the tower. "We have to stop Warner and his goons. Make sure they can't cover anything up."

She shook her head. "No. First, we stop the truck. Break the device before they can turn it on, and make sure it can't disrupt the portal here. Then we find Warner and nail him to the wall if we can."

Sam looked back at her, and she almost expected him to argue. Then he shook his head, and they continued their way across the campus to where the trailer was waiting.

The truck had already been detached from it, and the heavily reinforced trailer stood on its own in front of the hangar. A row of bushes let them get close to where the discarded vehicle had been parked. As they crouched near the truck itself, Alex could tell it was empty. She couldn't see where the drivers had gone, but she could see figures walking around the trailer. When she motioned to the others, Clara crept forward. Her eyes glowed green.

The Acolyte studied the trailer for a moment and then she grimaced. "It looks like three C ranks. I'm not sure, but… I'd say it's Jester, Snickers, and Mushroom."

Alex blinked. She looked back at the trailer. "No Rabbit?"

The Acolyte shook her head. "Not near the trailer. There's a couple of E ranks walking across the back of the building, though. I don't recognize them."

Sam nodded. "The truck drivers, probably. Not real Surveyors."

"Then we pick them off first." Alex hefted her axe. "The fewer people we have to deal with, the better."

Clara held up a hand. "Wait, they're headed away from the trailer. Not towards it." Then she glanced back at the trailer and flinched. "Snickers' coming this way."

Alex snuck a look past her friend's shoulder. Sure enough, the massive, sword-wielding C rank was moving towards them. He walked with a relaxed swaggering stride, as if nothing in the world could stop him. She drew back and looked at the others. "Do we take him?"

They nodded. Joanna eased forward, her eyes intent. "Let me hit him first."

She looked at the Adept in surprise. "Why?"

Joanna looked at her with a serious expression. "We don't know what's going on. We need information." She shook her head. "I haven't used Flash Scan on a person before, but I don't think Snickers has high magic defenses. I should hit him first."

Alex hesitated. Then she nodded. She led the others to hide in the bushes, just a short distance away. Joanna stayed crouched in the shadows of the truck, waiting.

Snickers arrived a short time later. He was grumbling to himself as he walked around the back of the truck to approach the driver's side door, disappearing from her sight. Alex listened to him as Joanna crept quietly along the front of the truck, ready to spring. "Stupid drivers. Didn't they realize we'd need the keys to open the back? It's like they never bothered to—"

He abruptly went silent as Joanna lunged. The Adept paused, her hand extended and trembling. Alex looked left towards the trailer and couldn't see any reaction from the Surveyors near the trailer. She crept back out of the bushes, with the others filing after her.

Joanna's face was locked in a snarl as she maintained her focus on Snickers. The C rank was frozen in place, his hand still reaching for the driver's side door handle. Clara stepped out and around, aiming her crossbow at the man, while Sam slipped around to peer at the trailer around the back of the truck. He looked back with a tense expression. "We're still clear."

Alex nodded. She braced herself to hit Snickers as soon as Joanna finished plundering his memories. He'd be tough to put down quickly; the Knight had put a lot of points into Life and Strength, from what she knew. His armor looked tough too, like the kind of plate armor that could stop a tank shot. If she hit him in just the right place, then maybe—

Her thoughts cut off as Joanna stepped forward. The Adept's sword glowed as incandescent blue flame ran down its length. It cast abrupt shadows across the parking lot, making Alex freeze in surprise and alarm. Most of the light was blocked by Snickers and the body of the truck, but the other Surveyors had to have seen it.

Before she could react, Snickers suddenly unfroze. He tured partway towards Joanna before the Adept sunk her sword deep into his chest. The glowing sword melted straight through his breastplate, and Snickers' eyes went wide in the blue light. Joanna stepped even closer, burying more of her sword into him even as she reached up with her other hand. She put her palm over his mouth and whispered a single, bitter word to him, like a curse.

"Griefer."

Ice abruptly coated the lower half of Snickers' face, and he dropped his sword to reach up and shove Joanna away. She staggered backwards, pulling her sword free, and Snickers clawed at the ice for a moment. He stumbled back against the side of the truck, the hole in his chest smoking slightly.

Then he slid down the side of the truck. His head lolled to the side, and he went still.

Alex stared at the body, then turned to look at Joanna. The flames had already vanished from the sword, and Joanna was scrubbing the back of her hand across her mouth. Shadows hid her face as she spoke. "I'm sorry Alex. I thought…"

Joanna paused and then shook her head. "I'd rather touch a Grue's mind than another griefer's."

A flash of pity went through Alex's mind, but she squashed it and looked at Sam. "Did they see?"

He glanced back and shook his head. "Don't think so."

Clara spoke up, looking from the dead body to the spot where the trailer was located. "They aren't moving any differently."

She nodded. "Joanna, did you get anything from him?"

"Yeah." Joanna sounded so angry that Alex began to get worried. "I got a lot."

Alex eased her grip on her axe. "Where's Warner?"

"He's in the portal, with Rabbit. Alex, he's not the mastermind, not really. He's the fall guy." Joanna looked at Snickers' corpse and spat. "They're planning on getting us to go in after him, and then firing the truck Anchor Point up. We'd all die to the horde, and they'd wash their hands of the whole thing."

It sounded like the kind of plan that Greylight would enjoy, and a B rank would have no problem getting out through a C rank horde. At least, Rabbit probably thought so. "Do you know where they'll be in the other world?"

"Near the Grain Silos. The little farmhouse to the west." Joanna broke off from glaring at Snickers' body to glance at her in curiosity. "Why?"

Alex braced herself. "After we hit the device, we'll need to get in and save Warner." She saw Joanna start to protest and held up a hand. "Even if he is a slime, he'll have evidence we can use against Greylight. First, though, we hit the trailer."

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Clara glanced at her. "It's still just Mushroom and Jester. Could there be more out there?"

Joanna nodded. "They have a few other Surveyors, for sure. Snickers didn't pay much attention to that part, though."

"Then it's still just us." Alex settled in and gripped her weapons. "Let's go. That device isn't going to wreck itself."

They nodded and left Mushroom's cooling corpse sitting against the step leading up to the driver's side door. Alex crept to where Sam was crouched at the back of the truck. The distance between them and the trailer seemed easy enough to cross, for her and Sam at least. Clara and Joanna would probably need a bit more time.

Sam's eyes were narrowed. He pointed at the left side of the trailer. "We could try to stick to the shadows and come around behind it."

She nodded, and he slipped out from around the truck and across the parking lot. Alex followed, hoping that they weren't making as much noise as it seemed like they were. Her heart thundered in her ears as they closed in on the blocky container. Voices drifted over to her out of the night; Jester was apparently chattering away as usual, and Mushroom was chiming in with strained laughter. It grew a little clearer as they reached the front of the trailer and started around the side, but she refused to focus on it. All she needed was to be ready to charge.

Still, some of Jester's words started to creep through as they needed the far end of the trailer.

"…so they were begging and crying and Snickers was just chuckling away like he does. I mean, really, did they think any of that nonsense was going to work? If they did, they were definitely surprised, cause—"

Alex felt a burst of disgust and hatred, but she clamped down on it as Sam reached the end of the trailer. He glanced around the corner and then held out a hand. She watched as he counted down from three. The moment he reached one, she tensed her legs.

When he hit one, they both charged out from cover and across the pavement.

Jester was lounging up against the back of the trailer, twirling his knives idly as he spoke. Mushroom was a little further away, peering into the dark back towards the truck. She seemed a bit irritated, as if she didn't understand why Snickers hadn't returned yet. Both of them blinked in surprise as Alex's team charged towards them; Mushroom's jaw dropped, while Jester's still-open mouth froze and his eyes went wide.

Alex ran straight at him, while Sam veered off to charge Mushroom. She mentally approved of the choice; pressuring the magic user would keep her busy and allow Alex to cut down Jester herself. The Archer shoved himself off the trailer just in time for her to slam into him. The shield-check was stopped short as he hammered a slash into it, but he was still driven back as she hacked and chopped at him. His responses were frantic stabs and slashes that hissed through the air and struck fountains of sparks from her shield.

Each hit felt like a massive impact, and she wondered if her shield would hold up under the assault. Still, she kept after him, wanting to make sure he was on the back foot. Flame and ice roared out to her left, only to be stopped by blasts of wind and lightning. Joanna rushed forward, her sword blazing, only for Mushroom to bat her aside with a fist of wind. Alex gritted her teeth as she continued her assault, seeing the shock turn to recognition and hatred on Jester's face. He kicked at her leg and smiled as she dodged back. "Finally coming to die, Flygirl? Well, you're going to—"

Jester abruptly paused, his expression turning to shock. A glittering spearpoint punched out of his armor just below the left side of his collarbone. He turned slightly to see Sam glaring up at him from where he'd driven his spear into his ribs. "Forgot about somebody?"

The C rank tried to turn, but Sam just raised his hand and delivered what had to have been a mental attack. Jester jerked once, his eyes rolling back in his head, and then Sam twisted the spear and yanked it out. With a single weak cough, Jester collapsed, his daggers clattering across the pavement.

Alex turned from him to face Mushroom, but the other C rank was already staggering. One of Clara's crossbow bolts had punched into her torso, and another had exploded into a tangle of thorns and vines that wrapped around her staff. As she watched, a third bolt sailed in out of the dark, was barely deflected by a desperate bit of wind. The fourth bolt, right behind the third, caught the C rank right in the head.

Mushroom jerked once and went down, her staff falling from her hands. She didn't move again.

Alex looked back into the dark and saw Clara crouched in the shadows, nearly invisible except for her glowing green eyes. The Acolyte lowered her crossbow and drew in a shaky breath.

A moment later, Joanna came running back in from the shadows where Mushroom had thrown her. She looked around and let out a slow breath. "All right. Let's get inside that thing and destroy it."

Alex nodded, and the Adept stepped forward, her sword already glowing. It acted as a far better cutter than any blowtorch Alex had ever seen. As Joanna began her best can-opener impression, Alex walked over to Clara. "Are you okay?"

Clara was still staring at where Mushroom lay. She nodded, glancing at Alex. "Yeah."

"Are you sure?" Alex put a hand on Clara's shoulder, and the Acolyte flinched.

She still nodded, though. "I just… it wasn't what I wanted to do."

"I know." Alex looked back at the bodies and then gave Clara a brief shake. "We'll talk about it when it's over, all right? Just hold it together through this, and it'll all be fine."

Clara gave her another quick nod, and then they both flinched as a large portion of the trailer's back door peeled away with a crash. The still-glowing hole started to cool, but Alex didn't wait. She jogged back to peer inside and drew in a quick breath.

The device looked different from the one at Golden Swallow. For one, it was much, much smaller. It still had the ring, though it was shrunk to maybe a third of the size she'd seen before. There were still all sorts of instruments and computers set up around it, along with some sort of hulking generator in the back, crouched like an ogre. She pushed her way through the opening, looking around for a moment.

Alex walked up to the crystal ring and brought her axe up. It took her three good swings to smash it. Fragments of crystal bounced across the rest of the trailer, and then the whole ring seemed to fall apart at once, splashing down in a waterfall of crystal that cascaded throughout the trailer.

She looked around at the mess and then picked up one of the crystals. It looked very similar to the Concentrated Impurities she'd found after the Mages died. If she focused her abilities in the same way…

A moment later, orange lightning leapt throughout the trailer. It sizzled across the equipment, reducing it to broken slag in an instant. As the crystal finished fragmenting, Alex stepped back and surveyed the destruction. Then she made her way back out of the hole.

There would be no Escalation Event tonight, but that didn't mean it was over. They had one more thing to take care of.

When they entered the training room, it was empty. The lights were on, but no Surveyors were standing guard, and no support personnel were waiting.

Alex looked around and nodded. "All right. We're going in, and our only goal is to get Warner back out. Don't do anything that would get you killed, okay?"

Sam snorted. "You mean like trying to rescue a hostage that a B rank Surveyor has taken?"

She grimaced. "You know what I mean."

Clara spoke up, her voice still a bit too soft for Alex's liking. "Couldn't we just wait for them here?"

Joanna shook her head. "If there are more out there, they might get the drop on us. Better to pick them off when we know they are alone."

Alex nodded. "Besides, if things go wrong, Rabbit could still kill Warner and run. We have to stop her before she does."

The others nodded, though Clara still didn't look happy about it. They filed through the portal, their faces set in grim expressions.

Alex followed them. She checked her phone one last time before she set it aside. Her last text message had gone through, which was nice, but there was no telling how long it would take for an actual answer. She couldn't wait. Not with so much on the line.

She stepped into the vortex and let the light take her…

[D Rank Pioneer Alex]

[Ascension Level: 9]

[Role: Porter (Role Skills: None)]

[Role Level: 4]

[Experience: 1340/5500]

[Attributes: Strength -> 9, Speed -> 10, Life -> 8, Devotion -> 0, Control -> 0]

[Current Skills: Combat Balance(45), Motion Trance(25), Combined Arms–Axe/Shield(45),

Holy–Storm(45)]

[Permanent Skills: Battle Maneuvers**(30)]

[Current Titles: Empress of War (Increases Skill grade of Melee, Combined Arms, Weapon Mastery, and Battle Maneuvers by five.),

Aggression (Increases Skill grade of Melee, Weapon Mastery, Combined Arms, and Combat Balance Skills by five.),

Fated Hero (Increases Skill grade of Dodging, Anticipate, Battle Maneuvers, and Inspect by five),

Eternal Motion (Increases Skill grade of Recovery, Running, Marathoning, and Motion Trance by five.),

Tireless (Increases Skill grade of Recovery Skills by three.),

True Sentinel (Increases Skill grade of Deflect, Dodging, Blocking, Resist, Zeal, and Combat Balance by five.),

Still Flow (Increases Skill grade of Meditation, Focus, Recovery, Arcane, Sense, and Motion Trance by five.),

Elite (Increases Skill grade of Combat Balance, Battle Maneuvers, Battle Mastery, and Battle Dance by five.),

Lethality (Increases Skill grade of Melee, Weapon Mastery, and Combined Arms Skills by five.),

Consecrated (Increases Skill grade of Holy by five.),

War Prowess (Increases Skill grade of Battle Maneuvers, Rush Assault, and Heavy Assault by five.),

War Momentum (Increases Skill grade of Combat Balance, Riposte, and Battle Dance by five.),

Blitz Master (Increases Skill grade of Combined Arms, Lunge, and Charge by five),

Deliberate (Increases Skill grade of Battle Maneuvers, Anticipate, and Combined Arms by five.)],

Fleet (Increases Skill grade of Motion Trance, Evasion, and Charge Assault by three.)]

Alex drew in a breath and let it out. Her heart was beating hard, but she tried to take confidence in her Skills. They were all at maximum. If she was ever going to be ready for this, it was now.

[Current Portal Status: Stable, Magic Level Steady]

[Current Portal Level: C3]

[Warning: Portal Level Higher Than Current Potential]

[Warning: Portal Currently Contains Higher Level Individual]

[Anomalous Readings Registered!]

[Immediate Retreat Recommended]

[Local Area Population: 1 B rank, 1 D rank]

Well, that could have been more encouraging. At least she could confirm that only Rabbit was present. If the B rank had more lackeys involved, it would have been far worse. Hopefully, the entire thing would be over before Liliana could make an appearance, though she didn't know if she could count on that.

[Current Objective Budget: 500]

[Select Priority Objective]

She grimaced. As long as she was doing this, she might as well go for broke.

[Priority Objective: Defeat B rank Surveyor. Possible rewards: 300 Experience. Accept?]

With a snort about the Screen's apparent evaluation of her chances, she accepted.

[Select Additional Objectives]

[Additional Objective: Save D rank Surveyor. Possible rewards: 80 Experience. Accept?]

She accepted again. Warner had to get out. It was the main thing that mattered. Aside from her friends' safety, of course.

Faced with the last choice, she shrugged it away. It wasn't like she was going to be hunting Grue this time.

[Additional Objective: Eliminate at least twelve Grue patrols. Possible rewards: 120 Experience. Accept?]

Alex accepted it with a shrug and allowed the light to sweep her forward…

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