Chapter 194: The Last Flood

The shutters sealed the passage ahead, leaving Lily and Maki facing a narrow opening surrounded by reinforced walls. Mana pulsed through the panels, and the hum of the containment system grew louder whenever Lily moved Crimson Fang.

"They really built this thing specifically to annoy us," Lily muttered.

"They built it to counter us," Maki replied, examining the Mana lines. "The walls absorb ranged attacks, the passage restricts your sword swings, and the barriers prevent us from using explosives effectively. They studied our previous attacks and adjusted their defenses."

"So they’re paying attention. How flattering."

"Try not to sound so pleased about it."

Maki placed a seal against the wall and watched its markings spread across the surface.

The seal could restrict the Mana flowing through the mechanism, but the reinforced structure resisted her attempt to disrupt the entire system. She withdrew her hand before the feedback could damage the seal and examined the corridor beyond.

The passage opened into a broad staircase landing. Several A-Ranks waited behind a line of relic shields, with ranged attackers positioned along the upper railing.

Their equipment formed overlapping barriers, leaving almost no clear path through the center. Close-combat fighters waited behind the shields, ready to attack anyone who managed to cross the first line.

One of the defenders raised his weapon when he spotted the two women. "You made it farther than expected. But this is where your advance ends. The next floor will remain sealed until our commander gives the order."

Lily reached for a paper bomb.

Maki caught her wrist. "Don’t."

"Why not? I have plenty left."

"Because those shields are designed to absorb explosive force. If you throw a bomb at the front, they’ll absorb most of the impact, and the attackers behind them will remain protected. We’d waste a consumable without changing their formation."

Lily looked at the shields, then at the staircase descending behind the defenders. Her expression gradually brightened.

Maki noticed and immediately became suspicious. "What are you thinking?"

"The front is strong, right?"

"Yes."

"And the back is full of people who think they’re safe because the front is strong?"

"That’s an oversimplification, but essentially yes."

Lily grinned. "Then we don’t attack the front."

Maki studied the formation again. The defenders had built their position to withstand attacks from the two women. Their shields faced forward, their ranged attackers covered the passage, and their close-combat fighters waited behind the barriers. They had accounted for swords, bullets, explosives, and elemental attacks.

What they hadn’t accounted for was the entire staircase becoming a hazard.

Maki slowly released Lily’s wrist. "I sincerely hope you’re thinking what I’m thinking."

"I’m thinking we should make their day unforgettable."

"That is not reassuring."

"Come on, Maki. You know you want to."

Maki sighed and checked their remaining equipment. "We get one attempt. If it fails, we won’t have enough resources left to force our way through another prepared formation."

Lily patted the relic secured to her equipment. "Then let’s make sure it doesn’t fail."

They advanced cautiously, firing occasional shots and sending spectral swords toward the shield line. The attacks were deliberately restrained. Maki used Gun God to test the barriers, while Lily kept Crimson Fang ready without committing to a full swing.

The defenders responded as expected. Their relic shields absorbed the projectiles, and their A-Ranks reinforced the barriers whenever Lily’s spectral swords struck. Seeing the two women struggle to make progress, the commander ordered his close-combat fighters to advance.

"Keep pressing them! They’re running out of room!"

Lily retreated around the bend in the staircase, letting her attacks become increasingly sporadic. Maki followed, occasionally firing over her shoulder. The defenders interpreted their movement as a sign that the two women were losing their advantage.

The first shield-bearers advanced into the narrow passage, followed by the close-combat fighters. Their ranged attackers remained behind the formation, firing whenever they saw an opening.

"Don’t let them escape!" the commander ordered.

Lily glanced at Maki.

Maki gave her the smallest nod.

The defenders had committed enough of their forces to the passage. The front ranks were packed tightly together, and the shields that had protected them on the landing now restricted their ability to move around one another.

Lily stopped retreating.

The commander noticed and smiled. "Finally decided to stand your ground?"

"Actually, I was waiting for you to get comfortable."

Lily reached for the Mana Flood relic.

The commander’s expression changed when he recognized it. "Stop her! Don’t let her activate it!"

Several A-Ranks immediately released attacks toward Lily. Maki raised Gun God and fired a concentrated burst, forcing the nearest attackers to defend themselves long enough for Lily to complete the activation.

The relic cracked open.

An enormous surge of Mana-infused water erupted from it, filling the upper staircase before crashing down toward the defenders.

For a moment, the entire passage disappeared behind a wall of water.

The front line barely had time to raise its shields before the flood struck. The force tore their formation apart, sweeping shield-bearers off their feet and driving them into the fighters behind them. The relic shields held against the first impact, but their bearers couldn’t maintain their footing. Once the formation began moving, the overlapping barriers turned from protection into an obstacle, trapping the defenders against one another.

The water continued down the stairs.

Those in the rear attempted to anchor themselves with Mana, driving energy into the walls and floor, but the surge struck before they could establish a stable defense. Some lost their weapons as the current dragged them away. Others were slammed against the reinforced walls or swept down the staircase with the broken shields and scattered equipment.

The defenders’ carefully prepared formation ceased to exist.

Lily watched the flood carry the last shield-bearers out of sight. "Now that was worth saving!"

Maki kept Gun God trained on the passage, tracking the few attackers who had managed to cling to the railings. "It was a limited-use relic, and you used it to flood an entire staircase."

"And it worked!"

"That’s not the point."

"Then what is?"

Maki opened her mouth, paused as another burst of water sent debris tumbling past the landing, and closed it again.

"I’ll explain after we survive."

The flood gradually subsided, leaving the staircase littered with broken shields, damaged weapons, and shattered pieces of the defenders’ equipment. Several A-Ranks had lost their footing and been swept away, while others lay motionless where the current had thrown them. The surviving defenders had lost their formation, but a few were still trying to recover behind the wreckage.

One of them planted a hand against the wall, forcing Mana into the defensive conduits. The lines along the staircase flickered, and a damaged weapon compartment began opening behind Lily.

"Maki, they’re trying to reactivate the defenses!" Lily shouted.

"I see them!"

Maki raised Gun God, but its barrel stuttered as she supplied it with Mana. The earlier battle had drained much of her reserves, and the weapon’s changing mechanisms were beginning to struggle. She could fire once with enough force to destroy the compartment, but she wouldn’t have the power for a sustained burst.

The A-Rank noticed her hesitation and sent a compressed wave of Mana toward her.

Lily returned Heavenly Principal to its harness and drew Crimson Fang. She rushed the attacker, forcing him to abandon his attack on Maki and defend himself. Her spectral swords followed from opposite sides, keeping him occupied while she drove him away from the wall.

"Now, Maki!"

Gun God narrowed into a railgun. Maki steadied her aim and released a single shot.

The projectile punched through the weapon compartment and destroyed the mechanism inside. The defensive conduits went dark before the remaining guards could restore the system.

Maki lowered her weapon as the last flickers of Mana disappeared. Lily finished off the A-Rank she had engaged, then turned toward the remaining resistance. Without the defensive system or their formation, the surviving guards could no longer protect one another. The Ashcrofts cut through the scattered opposition, leaving the staircase quiet at last.

Lily returned Crimson Fang to its harness and stretched her aching shoulder. "See? We make a pretty good team."

"We do," Maki admitted, checking the damaged barrel of Gun God. "But I would appreciate it if our next opponent didn’t require us to flood an entire staircase."

"Where’s the fun in that?"

"That’s exactly what I’m worried about."

A low mechanical hum rose from somewhere above them.

Maki immediately raised Gun God. The Mana lines embedded in the staircase walls had begun changing direction. Their glow faded along the lower levels while growing brighter toward the upper floors.

"What’s happening?" Lily asked.

"Something is changing the tower’s power distribution."

Maki crouched beside a damaged control panel and pressed a seal against it. The markings spread across the surface, allowing her to interrupt the remaining security system long enough to access its output.

The readings appeared in fragments, but the pattern was clear. The lower defensive mechanisms were shutting down, while the upper floors received an increasing share of the available energy.

"They’re redirecting power toward the top," Maki said. "The defenses we destroyed aren’t being replaced. The tower is concentrating what’s left around the upper floors."

Lily looked toward the staircase. "So we actually made a difference."

"Yes. By breaking through the lower defenses, we’ve forced them to reinforce the floors where Reinhard and Emily are advancing."

A grin spread across Lily’s face. "Then every guard we beat makes their job easier."

"Potentially. The upper floors will also be more heavily defended, so don’t assume we’ve made their fight easy."

"I wasn’t going to."

Maki looked at her.

"Fine, I was thinking it."

Maki shook her head and returned her attention to the panel. A warning flashed across its damaged display, followed by several distorted readings. She leaned closer, trying to separate the information from the corrupted transmission.

Her expression changed.

"Lily, look at this."

Lily moved beside her. "What is it?"

"Four signatures. All S-Rank."

Lily’s smile faded as the readings shifted across the display. The four signatures were moving toward the same location on the floor above, where Reinhard and Emily had continued their advance.

Before Maki could inspect the remaining information, another warning appeared.

[Upper-floor defensive network: Reinforcement in progress.]

The Mana lines around them brightened as the tower redirected more energy upward. Whatever waited above was dangerous enough that the Baal Family was concentrating its remaining defenses there.

Lily tightened her grip on Crimson Fang. "Four S-Ranks..."

Maki checked the readings one more time. "They’re converging on the same position. Reinhard and Emily may have to deal with all four."

For once, Lily had no joke ready. Her body ached, Gun God was damaged, and most of their consumables were gone. They had fought their way through the lower defenses, but the tower still had enemies to spare.

Then she remembered who was waiting upstairs.

Reinhard had faced impossible odds before and treated them like an invitation. Emily had fought her way back from a condition that should have ended her career. Neither of them would back down simply because the enemy was dangerous.

Lily let out a breath and adjusted Crimson Fang on her back.

"They’ll be fine," she said, more confidently this time. "Those two aren’t going to lose that easily."

Maki studied her for a moment, then nodded. "I trust them to handle their fight. We just have to make sure the enemies down here don’t get a chance to follow."

A heavy impact shook the staircase below them.

Both women turned.

More Baal guards were rushing up from the lower floors, their weapons raised and their Mana already gathering. The security system’s warning had reached them, and they had come to reinforce the tower before Lily and Maki could advance any farther.

Maki raised Gun God despite its damaged barrel. Lily drew Heavenly Principal, wrapping its edge in wind as she took position beside her.

"So much for catching our breath," Lily muttered.

"Focus. We can’t let them reach the upper floors."

The first guards charged into the landing. Lily and Maki met them head-on, forcing the advancing group to halt before they could pass. More enemies crowded the staircase behind them, and the two women held their ground as the next wave surged forward.

As Lily swept Heavenly Principal through the first attacker and Maki’s shot stopped another in his tracks, she spared one brief thought for the family fighting above.

Please be doing well up there.

Then the next group reached them, and Lily turned to meet it.