It was possibly big enough for a person to crawl through, but as the insect moved deeper, the pipe narrowed as it joined another, smaller pipe. Then it joined another.

Reidar pushed the insect forward, guiding it deeper toward the city.

He tracked the distance in his mind.

200 meters from the wall.

100 meters.

50 meters.

The pipe was intact here, with no leaks to be found.

20 meters.

15 meters.

The Sky-Hunter kept moving, and the dampening field hadn't triggered yet.

10 meters.

The insect crawled past the theoretical boundary, but it remained stable.

Reidar exhaled, the tension in his chest loosening slightly.

"It's working," he said. "The pipe is underground. The earth and concrete must be shielding it from the dampening field, or the field simply doesn't extend that deep."

He pushed the insect further.

5 meters.

0 meters. It was under the wall.

The insect crawled upward now as the pipe angled toward the surface. Light appeared ahead through a grate.

The insect reached the grate and looked through the bars.

Reidar saw a tiled room filled with metal lockers and steam rising from running showers. It appeared to be a barracks bathroom.

Reidar opened his eyes.

"We have a way in," he said.

He looked at Lena and Jake.

"There's a broken access point three hundred meters south. It connects to the main drainage line. The pipe goes under the wall and comes up in a barracks shower room."

"Is it big enough?" Jake asked.

Reidar shook his head. "The main pipe is. But it narrows as it gets closer to the surface. The last section… only a bug or a rat could get through."

Lena was relieved, and at the same time she frowned. "So we can't go in unless we attack the gate, but we don't have to crawl through shit."

"No," Reidar said.

He stood up, brushing dirt from his pants.

"I can send the Vorathid Sky-Hunters at best through the pipes, and once they are on the other side and past the dampening field, I can open the gates, and we can flood the city."

"Of course, I know you're not planning on doing that just yet," Lena said, to which Reidar nodded.

Jake crossed his arms. "So what's the next step?"

"We use the Sky-Hunter to scout," Reidar said. "Map the interior and locate its command structure. Once we know what we're dealing with, we plan the assault."

Inside the darkness of the pipe, the insect scuttled forward. It reached the grate that opened into the barracks shower room. The room was empty for the moment, save for the dripping of a leaky faucet and the steam showing someone had been there recently.

The creature squeezed through the rusted bars. Reidar had already sent the other Vorathid Sky-Hunters through the pipe—they were on their way to join the first—but there was no reason for it to wait in the bathroom.

The bug darted up toward the ceiling, where the shadows were deepest. It found a ventilation duct, a small square of mesh clogged with dust, and crawled inside.

"It's in," Reidar said. "I'm moving it to the outside."

Jake and Lena sat nearby, cleaning their weapons. They couldn't see what he saw, but they watched his face for clues.

The bug moved toward the draft of fresh air that was coming from the ventilation. It emerged onto a rooftop, and the sudden brightness washed out its sight for a split second before its compound eyes adjusted to it.

Reidar's System's Map pinged. A new overlay appeared in his mind as jagged lines of gray and white filled in the blank space that had been Ashwick until that point.

"I'm getting a visual," Reidar said. "And the map is updating."

He pushed the bug higher, keeping it close to the dark stone of a chimney to blend in. From this vantage point, the city unfolded below.

Unlike the disorganized sprawl of survivor camps or Ashford's retrofitted industrial zones, this place had been a proper mid-sized city before the apocalypse. Now it was a militarized stronghold, though the original structures remained—some in ruins, others surprisingly whole.

"The buildings are ok," Reidar said to the others. "Five- to ten-story buildings, mostly. But they've been reinforced. The glass is gone from the lower floors, replaced by steel plating or something similar."

He guided the Sky-Hunter across the gap between two buildings. The wind was stronger up here, buffeting the tiny form, but the summon corrected its flight path since it was far stronger and nimbler than a normal ant.

"The streets are mostly clear," Reidar said. "There is little debris, and it looks like they moved all the wrecked cars. They've bulldozed everything to the edges to create barricades of the sort."

He saw patrols moving in grids.

[Church Zealot, John Virtanen—Level 260]

…

[Church Elite Sentinel, Sarah Korhonen—Level 285]

…

The tags confirmed the survivor's intel. The density of high-level hostiles was high. Every intersection had a checkpoint. Every rooftop seemed to house a lookout or a weapon emplacement.

"They have ballistae on the roofs," Reidar said. "And what looks like cannons, but I can't tell how they work or how effective they are."

Electricity didn't work, but anything mechanical or chemical did, at least up to a certain point.

"The defensive grid faces outward, but they have coverage on the main avenues too. If we breach the gate, we'll be walking into a crossfire."

"Can we disable them?" Jake asked.

"With a bigger swarm…" He paused. "But I'm not sure," Reidar said.

He flew the insect toward the city center. The map in his mind expanded, filling in districts. There was a residential zone where the buildings were less fortified, likely for the lower-ranking zealots. There was an industrial zone puffing gray smoke, probably where they forged their weapons or processed their supplies.

"It's a functioning city," Reidar said. "If they had electricity, I would say the apocalypse didn't touch this place."

"Focus on the command structure," Lena said. "We need to know where the head is. Besides, is Silas still there?"

Reidar nodded. "I'm looking into it."

He pushed the Sky-Hunter further inward. The buildings here were taller, their facades draped in the violet banners of the Church.

Reidar scanned the area, looking for something that stood out. A bunker, a guarded residential block, or perhaps an underground entrance. But everything looked uniform, militaristic, and efficient.

"I don't see a designated command post," Reidar said. "Or at least, nothing that screams, 'Silas is here.' Where would he hide in a place like this?"

"To the biggest building," Lena said. "That's obvious."

Reidar paused. He knew she was joking, taking a jab at the grandiose nature of the Church and its leaders' tendency toward theatrical villainy.

But as Reidar turned the Sky-Hunter's gaze toward the central plaza where the main avenues converged, the joke died in his throat.

In the middle of the plaza stood a structure that dwarfed everything else.

It was a skyscraper, the only one inside the city.

The base was reinforced with heavy bunkers, and guard towers flanked the main entrance. It was a palace, and a fortress rolled into one, utterly dominating the skyline.

Reidar opened his eyes and turned to Lena.

"Actually," Reidar said, his face completely serious. "There is a building that fits that description, but, strangely enough, it's not a cathedral."

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