CALAMITY CORE : FREE THE WORLD

CH.84 'TRUE IDEAL SHELL'

Having cleaved through the gates of the Tenryu-ji's fortress, Alpha and Saionji now raced through the maze-like halls, their haste leaving them open to several small-scale ambushers. Pulling back her rapier, Saionji glared at one of the fanatical Tenryu as three perfect holes pierced through his robes and shot through his back from his front. The man dropped to the ground, and Alpha threw out her hand, a blast of heat splintering the screen door before her. Peering inside, she saw no Hattori, and she grimaced.

Turning to Saionji as she sheathed her sword with a clacking of the handle on its scabbard, the two locked eyes, a glint of light flashing across Saioinji's eyes and catching as Alpha's own eye widened. Her brow shot up, and she recalled her sword to remain close by her arm. If the android could sweat, she would've broken into a cold sweat in that moment, and Saionji could see that drawn on her face. Alpha's voice was low as she reached to grab at her sword as it floated at her hip, as if hesitant. "Saiji, there's a reading spike-..."

"Alpha. I won't leave, not without Hattori. Don't even suggest it." Saionji butted in, her determined look unwavering as she figured what it was that Alpha had picked up on. "No Chimera has stopped us before, and we're stronger than ever."

Saionji, it's... Alpha was about to say, the words processing in her mind before they could reach her tongue. The tension between the android and the girl was cleaved in half as both their eyes went wide, and the hallway beneath them began to fall away. "A Niente!" Echoed a rugged, borderline masculine voice through rasping breaths.

The gravel slowly fell away though to reveal the gasping of a grown woman in the smoke and debris. A burst of purple energy carving through the stone beneath the wooden floorboards, Saionji and Alpha both leapt backwards, each of them taken aback by just how close they came to being caught in the attack. ... Incredible! This strength is on par with... Alpha's throat was tight with her nerves, and she had forgotten to take a breath. It was why her words remained still in her mind, being swept away by her more instinctual processes. "Contact! Saionji, on guard!"

Hearing Alpha's call, she relayed a confirmation before peering into the depths of the castle's sublevel. They hadn't even seen stairs down, and it seemed that there was a hefty lair of stone beneath the floorboards. Saionji had seen that this place was massive, perhaps even larger than her old home in the Tokyo Dead Zone, but... what more could it hold secret from them and their search, even at their fullest speed? She had to push her questions aside once more though, because she was prepared to fight whatever this thing was. "I'm with you, Alpha. Can't see anything through this dust, but I'm here!" Saionji shouted across the ravine between them now, something which felt as though it spanned the world.

The glint of a blade cut through Saionji's confidence now that she was alone, and she reflexively went for her rapier to defend. That same purple-tinted glint gave Alpha all the information she needed, even in the plume of smoke veiling the divide, and Saionji on the other side. Her feet heated the ground beneath her, and she pushed off the ground, immediately forcing herself to reach her maximum output. Her teeth gritted together as she crossed the gap, and she felt a shadow beside her, almost as though it were floating beside her like a spirit.

In the misery that was the darkness, before the ceiling had collapsed under her strength, a husk of a woman sat in a mound of her own filth and sorrow. Had it been days? Weeks? Maybe months... She couldn't tell anymore; time had seemingly mended all rifts between lengths in order to spite her. The only company she had was herself, and Yuyami. She hadn't spoken in forever, to the point that her lips had practically sealed themselves permanently. Her hand grasped at straw on the ground, and she released it, closing her eye and feeling the empty half of her face. Two scars formed an upside down cross on the left side of her face, spanning from her jaw to the edges of her lips, and from her jawline to above her brow.