Chapter 2:

Aslagard in chaos

“What was that?!?” Screamed Shinko

“You planted a bomb in the city to create a distraction for us...” Noted Collar.

“This is what you did with my explosives? Are you insane?!?” Yelled Skass.

“Is that not what you use them for?” Valerria asked, amused.

“You use them to destroy reinforced doors or blow holds in shields, not to commit terrorism!” Skass whined.

“Ah, ah, the time for complaints has long passed! We need to get ready!” Yelled Yon excited.

“Let’s go.” Commanded Yon.

The group followed Yon out of the back alley they were in and into the district’s main square. Just as expected, the citizens were very distressed about the explosion.

“Why are we here? We stand out too much!” Said Tor.

As if waiting for Tor’s words as its cue, another explosion occurred within the city, this one much, much closer to the group than the previous one. Its shock wave alone sent Shinko and many other people in the city falling off their feet. Cries could be heard across the city as the panic grew.

“Oh, that must have been mine.” Said Valerria.

“Twenty seconds late, naturally. Always late, always late.” Replied Yon.

“Haha, but hers was bigger!” Laughed Mirage.

“Warn me next time!” Whined Shinko.

Skass grabbed the two leaders by the collars of their shirts.

“Have you two gone mad? The guards will execute us for sure if we get caught!”

Yon pushed the frail lizard man away and then readjusted his collar, gently pulling and tugging on it until it was perfectly aligned to how it was before the lizard touched it. Valerria, in turn, kicked the lizardman in the stomach, making him bend over in pain.

“Idiot. We won’t get caught. That’s what our plan is for.”

Yon patted Skass on the back as the lizardman was still recovering from the hit.

“No, no, no, you misunderstand me, Skass. The guards are exactly what will get us in.”

Yon pushed Skass back into an upright position despite the latter’s pained grunts, indicating that he still had not recovered.

Without waiting any longer, Valerria motioned to the group to follow her.

Somewhat hesitantly, the group followed her lead, mixing in with the mass of townsfolk. A few minutes later, the gates to the next section of the city opened up, and from them well-armed, and armored men flooded out into the district. Most of them rushed past the townsfolk and towards the locations of the detonations. The remaining soldiers focused their efforts on bringing the populace deeper into the city to safety, including Yon’s group.

They passed through the opened gates and into the next section of the city to the sounds of more explosions going off. The mob risked dispersing in their panic, but the guards managed to calm enough to prevent a rout.

“Ah, I was sure that would have got the cowards running.” Said Valerria.

“You better pay up this time. I’m quite tired of you ignoring bets you lose.” Responded Yon, amused.

“What the hell are you two doing?” Asked Skass.

“Calm yourself, Tor. Nobody can register what we are saying at the moment.” Assured Yon.

The shaken-up mob continued as best as they could. At the soldiers’ command, the group split off into two, one part composed of citizens, the other outsiders. The purpose behind this split was clear from how this district was set up. Its structure was strikingly different from that of the business district. Save for a couple of food vendors found at the corners of streets, the entire section was filled with a combination of houses and yards. It was where the citizenry lived.

The citizens were instructed to return to their homes, while the outsiders, composed of merchants, travelers, and so on, were led to a special containment area.

As the group approached the containment area, it became overwhelmingly apparent that they could not allow themselves to be brought there, for the area consisted of one huge concrete dome with no windows and only a single entrance.

“We won’t be able to sneak out of that one.” Whispered Shinko.

“We won’t need to. It’s your turn, Mirage.” Replied Yon.

One of the women bodies nodded. The other two mirage bodies split off from the group, pushing through the large crowd of merchants and other outsiders. Once they arrived at the back of the mob, they broke off, sprinting towards the civilian houses.

“That’s our chance, move.” Yon commanded his group.

The group pushed through the mob, moving away in the opposite direction the mirages had taken, their movements unnoticed by the soldiers who rushed after the two mirages. The soldiers, however, were quick and ruthless. Within mere seconds they had tackled their quarries to the ground, a scant five meters away from the mob.

“I got caught.” The female body said.

“This fast? We’re not even out of the mob yet!” Said Tor.

“I’m rather surprised myself.” Yon said nonchalantly.

Two enormous explosions went off behind them, right where the two mirages had been caught. The blast enveloped the soldiers that had pinned them to the ground in flames, and the shock wave of the explosion hit the mob immediately, slamming dozens to the ground.

The soldiers quickly rose from the smoldering craters. Their bodies were enveloped in a faint, blue aura that had protected them from the blast. They immediately moved to try to get the situation under control, but it was too late. Their voices failed to be heard over the screams as panic gripped the heart of the crowd.

Against the orders of the soldiers, every member of the mob began to run for their lives in whatever random direction they happened to be facing at the time of the explosion. The gathering quickly dispersed, leaving soldiers struggling to reel them back in.

In the ensuing chaos, the group was quickly able to escape the sight of the soldiers. Yon’s squad kept running through the streets, not willing to waste even a second of the time they brought for themselves.

“You were supposed to detonate those the very instant they caught you. They could have disabled the bombs.” Yon chastised Mirage.

“I…” The remaining mirage attempted to answer, only to lose control of its voice, shifting widely between pitches and tones, both male and female.

“Alright, never mind. Just rest and regenerate.” Yon said.

“Is it ok?” Asked Collar.

“Mirage experiences all of its body's sensations simultaneously. The pain of being ripped to shreds in an explosion two times, both happening in the same instant. You try taking a good guess at how it’s feeling right now.” Answered Valerria.

“Hmm.”

“Where are we even going now, Yon? Soldiers are going to be crawling all over this place soon, thanks to you!” Tor asked, exasperated.

“Now? Well, now we are moving to our next destination, of course. Shinko, get ready!”

Yon took the group to the north-eastern corner of the citizen section. What greeted them were the same azure walls they had already seen so far.

“What are we here for?” Asked Tor.

“Well, we-”

“The city’s waste tunnels are only accessible from the four corners of each section of the city.” Collar pointed to a circular structure in the street before them. In its center was a mouse-sized hole.

“And the only way to go open them is to pass through the hole and unlock them from within.”

“Oh, I see.” Shinko took another look at the tiny hole.

“I think I can manage that! Here I go!”

The small girl held her nose and shrank down to the size of a baby mouse and then slipped through the hole.

“How did you know that this is what my plan was, Collar?.” Asked Yon.

“I could tell when I looked at your map. There was nothing else here that we could have used to sneak deeper into the city.”

Valerria placed her hand on Collar’s shoulder.

“Not bad, but next time.” Valerria grabbed Collar’s shoulder so hard he nearly toppled over.

“Don’t interrupt us.” She said and let go of Collar.

Valerria returned to Yon’s side as Collar rubbed his aching shoulder.

“Maybe the kid wouldn’t have talked if the two of you laid all of this out for us at the meeting.” Said Skass.

“I would have, but someone got caught up playing the hero, and we ran out of time waiting for him.” Yon said while staring at Tor.

“Stop arguing guys, I unlocked it!” Shinko yelled at them as she climbed back out.

As she got out, the cover split in two, each section retracting away and revealing a large open passage. Once fully opened, the faint glow of crystals appeared, highlighting a ladder leading into the darkness of the sewers. An air of anxiousness began to set in as the group stared into the dark abyss before them.

Breaking the hesitation of the group was Yon, who turned to Collar and gave him an ultimatum.

“Go down.”

“Shouldn’t the leader take the lead?” Asked Collar.

“Every city protects its secrets in different gruesome ways. The last city’s sewers I tried had its walls try to crush my team into a fine red paste. I do not particularly fancy experiencing this kind of death.”

Yon placed a hand on Collar’s shoulder.

“Now you? You, you’re new, and I couldn’t care less if you die in my stead. Go down, now.”

“You took one hell of a beating during your initiation, so I’m sure you can manage this too.” Added Valerria in an almost mocking manner.

Collar chuckled.

“Very logical, indeed.”

The tall man walked past Yon and to the ladder. As he started his descent into the darkness, the very last thing he saw was the looks on the faces of his comrades. They were all staring at him, expectantly waiting for him to test the waters for them.

“Be careful down there.” Said Tor.

“...”

Collar stopped briefly.

“I will.”

With his comrades gone from his sight, Collar continued his descent. Perfectly Identical azure crystals started glowing on the surrounding walls to help guide him. As Collar reached the bottom, more crystals shone along the wall next to him, lighting up the tunnel in a fading blue hue.

A deathly silence like that of a graveyard surrounded him, only broken rarely by droplets falling into the water running to the left side of the concrete Collar was standing on.

Collar took a glance at the ladder behind him.

*How am I supposed to signal them that it’s safe?*

Collar grabbed hold of the ladder. Instantly he felt a strong pull on him, making him crash headfirst into the wall the ladder was fixed to.

“What is-” The man was interrupted as he felt himself being pulled again.

This time he let go of the ladder. The strength of the pull vanished the moment the ladder was out of his hands, and together with it, so did the ladder disappear into the wall.

Collar was stranded.

“Well, I suppose it’s not safe then.” He whispered, annoyed.

As if on cue, the silence of the tunnel was shattered. Buzzing sounds began to fill the air. First faint, then loud, then ear-splitting.

Collar clutched his ears.

Wet and warm, it flowed from his ears like a waterfall and painted the blue walkway beneath red. It was as if a thousand wasps had been trapped in his brain and were now desperately seeking to escape.

Collar looked around for what could be the source of the sound.

There was nothing.

He was alone, in an empty tunnel that looked to burst his head open with a cacophony of noise.

And then, out of nowhere, a blue glimmer appeared in the corner of his vision. Collar turned his attention to it to find himself with the wall again. Something was off. Previously the light of the crystals placed across its length could only hold a candle to those of fireflies. Now their light was equally weak, and yet somehow, the wall appeared more well lit than before.

Remembering the story Yon told him about the previous sewer dive, Collar reached out to touch the wall.

Collar screamed. Blood and skin were torn from his hand and thrown onto the wall. Collar stumbled as the combined pain now ebbed at his senses. It felt as if his mind was being torn from his head the way one would tear skin away from flesh.

The man regained his footing and shook his head, refocusing his senses. He looked at the wall again. Despite splattering the outer layer of his palm and fingers on it, there was no trace of the lost tissue on the wall.

The man groaned heavily as he ripped out a chunk of concrete from the walkway and then tossed it at the wall. Before Collar’s eyes, the concrete slab vanished, leaving only a very faint dust cloud behind.

*The walls are vibrating!* Collar thought as blood began to seep from his lips.

Surprised by the sudden wound, Collar touched his lips. He felt no pain from them even as the bleeding intensified. It was then he noticed a certain feeling creeping up his spine. It was a feeling that until now went unnoticed from the relentless assault of the noise.

He was hot. The temperature inside the man had risen a tremendous amount, and it continued to grow. He could feel it in his lips, their blood, now boiling, had burst through their walls. If this continued, the rest of the body would soon follow. Both his mind and his body were melting.

Collar turned back to the wall. He couldn’t be sure if it was the vibrations that were behind the damage done to his body or if they acted as a deterrent to protect the thing that was, but it mattered little. He needed to put a stop to them as soon as possible.

Just like before, Collar ripped out a piece of concrete. This one was much bigger, almost as tall as his torso and twice as wide. He wound his arms back and then threw the chunk of concrete much, much harder than before.

The concrete crashed into the wall, sending dust and small bits of it flying right back at him.

Once the dust settled, Collar took another look at the wall. He could see what appeared to be ant-sized cracks through the ceaseless vibrations where he had thrown the chunk of concrete on.

“It’s not enough, it’s nowhere near enough!”

Collar clenched his uninjured fist. Even with his strength, this was certain to hurt.

...

The vibrations ceased, and so did the horrible noise.

In that soundless tunnel alone stood a man. His arm, bruised and bleeding, stood shoved inside of a shattered wall. The destruction spread for dozens of meters past the man, revealing a circuit of black and blue wires running behind the tunnel walls. Every couple of seconds, a blue pulse flowed through the wires, signaling the transfer of magic energy as well as the commands to be performed by that magic.

That pulse glowed the brightest in the section of the wires Collar held in his hand.

“Security will probably be able to tell if these take any damage.”

Collar took a look at the destroyed wall. As if under the effects of a healing spell, the destroyed section began to reattach and mend itself. The wall was only a minute away from fully recovering its form, as well as functionality.

“No choice then.”

Collar ripped out the wires. Static, electricity-like bursts of magic shot forth from the ripped apart wires, vaporizing whatever they happened to collide with.

Not yet done with them, Collar ripped out a third chunk of concrete and shoved it into the destroyed wall, where he had ripped the wires apart. If those wires, too, possessed the ability to mend themselves and reconnect, they could no longer do so with the concrete slab in the way.

With the danger finally removed, Collar took a step back and breathed in. It was good to have peace and quiet at long last.

Once his ears stopped ringing, he ripped off part of his shirt and gently patted it on his ears and cheeks, wiping away a good amount of the blood that had been running down his face before tying it to his wounded palm.

“Alright, now what?”

Collar looked to where he had descended from. The ladder was still gone, and it was likely not coming back. Whatever mechanism made it appear and disappear, too, was controlled by the magic instructions running through the wires.

The wires Collar had ripped apart.

“Oh well.”

Collar gripped the wall, sinking his fingers deep into the concrete.

---

“Shouldn’t he have come out by now?” Asked Shinko.

“Yes, he should have.” Yon said as he fiddled with his pocket watch.

“How are we going to save him?” Asked Skass.

“We aren’t.” Answered Valerria. “The most we’ll do is scrape up his remains and use them to figure out what kind of trap got him.”

Tor raised his hand.

“I’ll go. He helped me out, so I figure I owe him this.” He said solemnly.

As the red-haired man reached for the cover, the ground beneath everyone shook.

“What was that?!?” Asked Shinko.

“Good question. Defense systems are not supposed to let their effects be known outside of the room they protect.” Stated Valerria.

Yon turned to the group.

“We run dangerously low on time, but we should go to another cover. I do not trust whatever happened down there.”

“Yeah...Sorry, Collar.” Shinko said.

The group turned to leave. All of them, except Tor.

“Guys, just give Collar a bit more time.”

“Ah, time. Time we do not have. No. Move, buffoon.” Yon answered without even glancing in Tor’s direction.

“...” Tor remained silent but still refused to budge from the spot.

The reply this time came from Valerria. Without saying a word, she walked up to Tor and then pulled out a knife to his throat.

“If you believe in him so much, then you are free to join him. Down there. As a corpse.”

“...I understand.”

With Tor’s dissent put to rest, the group finally began to leave Collar behind.

*Bam!*

*Bam!*

The sounds of metal being bashed sounded from behind the crew. They turned around to be greeted with the sight of the cover being dented and malformed more and more until finally, a pair of blood-soaked hands erupted from the broken cover. The hands then pulled apart the metal to reveal Collar’s expressionless face.

“It’s safe.”

The group looked at each other and then to Collar.

Collar smiled.

---

“Wow, what happened here?” Asked Shinko as she stepped around the debris to join the rest of the group on the walkway.

“I would like to know that too. This is the kind of destruction I would expect from Tor, though even he would not survive the aftermath. How did you destroy the defense system?” Yon asked.

“I found a vulnerability, an opening to the circuit hidden behind the wall. I managed to break it that way, though that caused a pretty big explosion.”

Collar raised his two bloodied arms. There were multiple wounds of various sizes engrained across their length, each leaking blood. Some of the flesh was even darker after being burned by the energy.

Shinko visibly winced at the sight.

“I am lucky to still be alive after that.”

Yon gave a quick look over to the destroyed circuit. Magical energy still coursed through the wires’ crushed ends, frying the same bits of concrete repeatedly.

“No doubt the warning systems in the lord’s castle informed them of this the moment the explosion happened. We need to move quickly.”

The group proceeded through the tunnel. With the circuit destroyed, the crystals that have previously illuminated the tunnel no longer shined, which would have left the group in total darkness, were it not for the torches Shinko had carried in her bag. With a small measure of light in tow, Yon, Valerria, and Skass walked in the front, the mirage in the middle leaving Collar, Tor, and Shinko in the back.

As they walked, Collar felt a tug on the back of his shirt.

“What is it?”

“Your arms, aren’t you going to bleed out? Maybe we should take a break to bandage them.” Shinko suggested quietly.

Collar remained silent for a second.

“I’ll be fine, the bleeding isn’t as bad as it seems.”

“Oh…”

Silence fell over the group again. They continued to travel through the tunnel.

“Wait.” Said Skass.

“What is it?” Asked Yon.

Skass stepped forward and crouched down. He gently waved his hand in front of him.

“I feel magic on my scales. Different from the defense system.”

“Additional defenders, I assume. Are they human?” Asked Yon.

“No, I doubt it. Their armor would only exude so much magic if it was used in combat. Drones, most likely.”

“Not a problem.” Said Yon.

“What are we going to do about it?” Asked Collar.

“You, nothing. Mirage, Shinko, you are up.”

Yon instructed the two members on what to do next. The last remaining Mirage body starts shaking violently. Two new pairs of arms burst out from its current limbs, and the rest of the body parts followed suit. When they were all done, two new bodies stepped out of the old body.

“Are those real bodies?” Asked Collar.

“In a sense. Mirage creates its bodies by generating and separating temporary mass in the form of a human body from its current body. As it does that, it imprints its consciousness unto it, and with it, its magical illusion power. On its own, it's nothing but clay molded to look anatomically like a human, but when paired with its magic, as long as the thing it's trying to make you see has the same proportions as the body it produced, there is nothing Mirage can’t make you see.” Answered Valerria.

“Does it have a limit to how many bodies it can produce?”

“Yeah, ‘bout twenty-five or so. That’s when its mind is too taxed to handle controlling another body and also when it can no longer generate any more mass to create a new body. I made sure that both parts of the process were balanced.” Explained Valerria.

“You created it?”

Valerria smirked.

“Yep.”

With the two new bodies generated, mirage changed their appearance to look like the guards on the surface. Shinko followed it up by shrinking down in size and climbing on one of their shoulders.

“Go in without torches. In the darkness, the automatons will have a harder time telling the discrepancies between you and real guards.” Ordered Yon.

The two bodies did as asked, slowly venturing into the darkness. After a dozen steps, they began hearing the noise of metal parts clanking. The automatons had detected their presence and were now approaching them.

The two stood still as the presence got closer. Though the darkness still concealed their forms, the putrid smell of oil that permeated the air betrayed them. They were standing right in front of Mirage.

In an instant, the metal automatons lunged forward from the darkness, ready to bite their quarry in half.

And stopped.

Upon seeing the guards’ familiar uniforms, they pulled back and began to examine them closely, their systems returning conflicting results.

Using that opening, Shinko jumped to the automatons. The moment she landed, her magic took effect, shrinking the machines to the size of mouses.

Left powerless, the automatons were crushed to pieces beneath the feet of the fake guards.

With the threat eliminated, the three returned to the group.

“Done!” Said Shinko.

Valerria covered her nose as the smell of the destroyed drones started to spread.

“Oil? Really? I thought that the empress banned its usage decades ago.” Complained Valerria.

“Maybe they’re just leftover early models?” Suggested Collar.

“Wow, what a cheap ruler.”

“It doesn’t matter. Let’s move.” Said Yon.

“See, this is how you are supposed to take care of a problem. Shinko didn’t even have to get her arms shredded.” Valerria said to Collar as they passed over the remains of the robots.

Collar raised an eyebrow at her remark. From behind, Tor whispered to him.

“Don’t respond, she does that with everyone.”

“Noted…”

Seeing how aggressive the leadership of the group was, Collar got an idea.

If it was not just him that was treated poorly, then getting on the good side of everyone else could help tip the scales in his favor. This time he was forced to go along with being the sacrifice since he had nobody on his side, and he suffered great damage for it. Collar’s status as the newcomer would ensure that he would always be chosen for this role, but if he had Tor, Shinko, and perhaps Skass on his side, their support could allow him to talk his way out of it.

The group continued onwards until they reached a ladder identical to the one they had used to climb down. They had, at last, arrived at their exit.

Following Yon’s order, Shinko climbed up the ladder and undid the lock on the cover. Shrinking to the size of a mouse, she climbed through the opening-

“Wha!”

And got hit with what was to her a cart full of snow.

The girl was sent falling back down together with the snow. Her fall went unnoticed in the pitch blackness of the tunnel as the snow covering her drowned out her voice.

*Splat*

Snow hit the concrete, splattering all over.

“Are you alright?” Asked Collar.

Inside the tall man’s hand laid a heavily breathing Shinko.

“Thanks...Thanks. How did you see me fall?”

“I didn’t, just figured that this could happen so I held my hands out just in case.”

“Good catch.” Said Tor.

“We don’t have time for mistakes. Go back up there.” Said Yon.

“Let her catch her breath.” Said Collar.

“Shinko. Out, now.” Reaffirmed Valerria harsher.

“After a near-death experience like that, she won’t be able to think clearly unless she recovers. I’m sure you want her to be at her best for what comes ahead, don’t you?”

Yon remained silent. Seeing Yon’s response, Valerria shrugged her shoulders.

“Very kind of you.” Collar said and turned his attention back to the small Shinko. The tiny girl gave him a thumbs-up as she kept resting in his palms.

After Shinko regained her bearing, Collar placed her back on the ladder. Shinko climbed back up through the open cover. After a short while, the cover opened fully, allowing the entire group passage to the outside.

Once they exited the tunnel, the group was met with the sight of the section of the city dedicated exclusively to the upper echelon. In stark contrast to the previous two’s strictly utilitarian nature, the streets here were filled with all sorts of ornaments and distractions meant to impress. Large fountains, exotic trees brought from far away countries, and various minor magical artifacts laid across the street corners, forming complex, multi-colored light images in the air around them.

The only similarity they held with the rest of the city was the color of its architecture and the snow. All blue, all white.

“Looks abandoned.” Noted Tor.

“They must have completed evacuation already. We arrived too late.” Said Yon.

“Too late for what?”

Yon sighed.

“My plan was for us to blend in with the servants during the evacuation. It would have gained us access to the lord’s fortress and bypassed quite a bit of security.”

Tor looked at the clothes he and the rest of the group were wearing.

“Oh, so that’s what you bought us these expensive-looking clothing for.”

“But now it’s too late.” Yon said, defeated.

Tor’s eyes sunk into the ground.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have wasted time outside like I have.”

“No, no, for once, it’s not your fault. Your escapade had nothing to do with it. In fact, thanks to Collar, we arrived slightly sooner than I had anticipated, but still…”

“They responded to the threat and completely evacuated the noble sector in only 20 minutes.”

Collar continued.

“I counted around two hundred and fifty-two houses when I looked at the map. Assuming only half of them housed a couple with children and the other half a single individual, that would still amount to over five hundred people. If you add in the servants, it would be over seven hundred.”

“So, they were teleported out of here then?” Asked Skass.

“Probably.” Said Valerria.

“Uh, guys. I think I know where they were teleported to.” Shinko said and pointed towards the sky.

“You’re kidding.” Said Tor, dumbfounded.

Hundreds of meters above them, casting a shadow over half the noble sector, levitated the local lord’s fortress. Ethereal chains waned in and out of existence as they held the fortress in place, binding it to the earth beneath as if stopping it from floating away.

The view was almost serene in a way. The castle serenely floated up and down, as if removed from the world of chaos beneath it.

It was also far, far out the reach of the group.