Chapter 159: Intel

John led Rin up the winding stone stairs from the dungeons into the main wing of the palace.

The cold, damp air of the lower levels quickly gave way to the steady hum of diesel generators and cooling fans. Wires and heavy black power cables were taped along the marble floor, running through gilded archways into the former royal library.

Two armed Marines stationed outside the double oak doors snapped to attention as John approached. They pushed the doors open, letting them inside.

Rin stopped in her tracks, her dark eyes widening in disbelief.

The royal library had been completely transformed. The massive oak bookshelves were still there, but everything else belonged to another world. Long folding tables were arranged in a wide horseshoe shape, covered with laptops, radio rigs, and satellite uplink modules. Overhead, the crystal chandeliers were turned off. The room was lit only by the bright glow of dozens of monitors and three massive digital projection screens mounted against the far stone wall.

Uniformed staff officers sat in rolling chairs, typing away with headsets over their ears. Low, calm voices filled the room, reporting coordinates, signal strengths, and weather data.

"Sit," John said, pointing to an empty steel chair by the center table.

Rin walked over slowly, her bare feet making soft taps against the polished floor. She still wore her ripped black undershirt and training pants. She sat down gingerly, watching the room with cautious eyes.

A young logistics corporal immediately walked up, set down a steaming ceramic mug of sweet black tea and a small plate of butter cookies in front of her, and gave John a quick nod before returning to his station.

Rin stared at the steam rising from the mug. Her fingers wrapped around the warm ceramic. The heat seeped into her bruised knuckles, bringing back a small bit of comfort she had not felt in months.

John pulled up a chair next to her, leaning his forearms against the table. In front of them, the largest projection screen displayed a high-resolution satellite map of the continent.

To the west, the capital basin and Port Solis were outlined in bright green, marked with small blue icons showing supply depots, air defense batteries, and harbor patrols. But east of the capital, beyond the jagged wall of the Dragonspine Mountains, the map turned into a grid of thermal scans, topographic lines, and moving white crosshairs.

"This is the situation," John said, switching back to clear, simple English.

Rin took a small sip of the hot tea, letting the sweet warmth soothe her raw throat. She set the mug down and looked up at the giant screen.

"East of the capital is still being mapped," John explained, pointing at the moving camera feeds displayed in small windows along the edge of the display. "Our high-altitude drones—Predators and Global Hawks—have been running continuous reconnaissance patterns over the interior provinces for the last seventy-two hours. They fly so high that even your best air detection technology, if you have any, can’t spot them from the ground."

Rin watched the live black-and-white video feeds. She saw tiny silhouettes of horse-drawn wagons, lines of marching foot soldiers, and campfires glowing in high mountain gaps.

"Ever since Viona vanished during the naval strike," John continued, "we’ve been hunting for her spatial signature. We know she didn’t leave the continent. She is hiding somewhere within imperial territory, trying to rally whatever forces she has left. But finding one sorceress in millions of square miles of forest and mountains is slow work."

John turned his head, his dark eyes fixing directly on Rin.

"You weren’t on that harbor quay when the shells hit," John said. "You were held back in the interior. That tells me Viona pulled the remaining summoners together before she went underground. She is gathering every hero she has left to fight for her, isn’t she?"

Rin’s hands tightened around her tea mug. She looked down at the dark liquid, then gave a firm nod.

"Yes," Rin said, her English steady. "She... gather everyone."

"How many?"

"Seven," Rin answered, her voice dropping into a quiet, bitter tone. "Only seven left. All A-rank and B-rank. Like me. Daiki... he died when fire hit the west gate. Ayanokoji and Kenji... captured. The rest of us were kept in reserve behind the inner line. After the harbor fell, Viona was screaming. She was crazy with anger. She told us to drink strange potions... mana boosters that burn inside. Then she ordered me to take your head while she moved the others."

"So the other six are with her right now," John stated.

"Yes," Rin said. "They are forced."

"Then where are they?" John asked, tapping the keyboard in front of him.

The projection screen zoomed in on the rugged, mountainous expanse east of the capital. High ridgelines, deep river gorges, and thick alpine forests dominated the landscape.

"Look at this map," John told her. "Tell me where she would set up her staging base."

Rin leaned forward, squinting at the glowing digital map.

Back in Japan, she had been a normal high school track athlete. When she was summoned to this world, she spent almost all her time confined inside royal barracks, training grounds, and dungeon raids. She had never been allowed to travel freely across the empire. The temple priests only moved them in covered carriages under heavy guard.

She shook her head slightly, biting her lower lip. "I... I do not know whole empire. We were like birds in cage. Priests never show us real maps."

"That’s fine," John said patiently. "Look at the terrain. Think about where the carriages stopped, how long you traveled, or what the ground looked like when you were outside."

Rin stared at the screen, running her eyes along the jagged contours of the mountains.

She remembered the bumpy roads, the biting cold winds, and the distinct landmarks she had caught glimpses of through the carriage slats.

She reached out with a trembling finger, pointing at a deep, narrow gorge cutting straight through the central mountain spine.

"Here," Rin said, tapping the screen right over a choke point marked on the military map as the Devil’s Throat. "First point. High cliffs. Red stone. When we march from the temple, the wind here smells like sulfur and rot. There is an old gate carved into the rock. Viona said... this place has ancient earth runes. It can stop magic from above."

"The Devil’s Throat," John murmured, his eyes narrowing. "A natural choke point. If our armor pushes through there, she can trigger rockslides or trap the lead vehicles."

"Yes," Rin nodded. Then she slid her finger fifty miles to the northeast, toward a high, snowy plateau surrounded by jagged spires. "Second point. Here. Frostfang Ridge. It is very cold. Snow never melts. There is an old fortress... built by ancient empire. Paladins train there in winter. It has deep underground tunnels where people can hide from sky fire."

"A hardened underground complex," John noted, typing a quick note on his console. "A good place to survive an airstrike. And the third?"

Rin moved her hand further south, pointing to a massive, dark forest basin tucked between two steep mountain walls, right beside a wide river crossing.

"Third point. The Ironwood Basin," she said. "The trees there are black and hard like metal. Magic does not spread easily under the leaves. When we did survival training there, our scout skills became weak. Viona said the forest hides mana cores from tracking spells. If she wants to gather many soldiers without being seen, she will put them under those black trees."

John leaned back in his chair, studying the three highlighted zones on the main screen.

The Devil’s Throat for an ambush.

Frostfang Ridge for an underground command bunker.

The Ironwood Basin for mass troop concealment.

All three fit the behavioral profile of a desperate, cornered commander trying to counter superior air and artillery power.

John turned to an intelligence officer standing nearby. "Route drone tracks four and six over Frostfang and the Ironwood Basin immediately. Tell thermal recon to look for underground heat venting and chimney smoke. Keep satellite passes focused on the Devil’s Throat."

"Right away, sir," the officer replied, typing rapidly into his terminal.

John looked back at Rin.

She was sitting quietly, holding the empty tea mug with both hands, watching the digital map with wide, anxious eyes.

"Good work, Rin," John said, his voice calm and reassuring. "That narrows down our search area by eighty percent."

Rin looked at him, her chest rising and falling in a slow, deep breath.

"You... really let me see Miyuki now?" she asked, her voice cracking slightly with raw hope.

John stood up, pushing his chair back.

"A deal is a deal," John said, turning toward the double oak doors. "Come on. The transport helicopter is on the palace roof. Let’s go see your friend."