Aloe and the rest clearly weren't pleased upon hearing that they were being taken as well, but it was not like their reluctance would change anything. Nero was not concerned about them. Instead, the thought of working together with Arter made him feel like there might be trouble.
Although it was nothing personal, and it was for a mission, he wouldn't doubt that the others would hold a grudge against them - especially since Arter had been suspecting him of betraying their agreement to begin with. Working with Leonard, however, should not be an issue. He had a very straightforward personality,
Upon hearing that they had a chance to rest, all of his teammates finally allowed their shoulders to slump. The cathedral had a mix of rations that everyone helped themselves to before they found a corner, leaned against the wall, and dozed off while in a sitting position.
While cards such as Rejuvenate and Raise the dead were effective, they could not replace real rest. There was no room for personal space, and everyone was leaning against each other.
This was also a protective measure, so that none of them could be targeted while they were asleep. Remi, who had finally stopped trembling, and seemed a little more sure of herself, even used protective spells around them before she too went to sleep. Her spells also kept random noise from interrupting those sleep, which is why Nero went and sat in a different corner.
He could allow himself to rest, in fact he needed it, but after offending an heir to a prestigious family he could not lower his guard.
He sat in a meditative position with his eyes closed, and in about an hour when Leonard and his team came, Nero opened his eyes, made sure nothing was amiss, before going back to sleep. A short while later, Arter came as well, clearly displeased. Upon seeing Nero still there his expression worsened even more, but he did nothing.
The night passed uneventfully, though sounds of distant fighting could still be heard from time to time. On a couple of occasions, Nero even woke to a few tremors. But that was it.
Their rest, however, was finally interrupted when the door to the cathedral was opened and a few figures stepped inside.
Nero was immediately woken up by the noise and jumped up to his feet, his spear still in hand. A few others were just as quick, but most were still sleeping.
Major Liam, who was in the lead, surveyed the room until his gaze landed on Nero, and then he smiled.
"You have everything?"
Nero nodded.
"The situation in the basement is complicated. There's a chance that we might have missed some hidden rooms or compartments, but those cannot be found in a short time."
The major nodded.
"Hand over the artefacts. Your full debriefing can wait till later."
"We also-" Nero began to say as he unzipped his bag, but the major interrupted.
"Later. The situation has changed. We're short on time. Hand over the artefacts and wait till your debriefing."
Unable to mention the key and the Eldrim card, Nero simply handed over the two artefacts to the major. But the major did not grab them. Instead, the two soldiers behind him put on rubber gloves and grabbed the two items.
Without pause they used three or four cards on the artefacts, their purpose unknown, before sealing them in metallic cylinders, sealing them.
The major then looked at everyone else in the room.
"Whatever missions or orders you had before this are being overridden," the major said. "As of right now, you have new orders. Stand at attention and receive your new mission."
In unison, Nero, his team, and all the others straightened their posture, clapped their right feet on the ground once right next to their left ones, put their hands by their sides and looked forward.
"All of you may know that the fog covering half the city recently receded, giving us access to a large part of the city. Originally this phenomenon was supposed to last for a couple of months, but due to external interference, we cannot be certain how long it might last. According to the latest reports, we may have only a few days before the fog returns."
Nero felt a chill go down his spine. The fog might return ahead of schedule? How? Why?
"We are doing everything we can to buy as much time as possible. That is because there is a certain objective we must accomplish at all costs before the fog returns. Do you understand what I mean when I say at all costs?"
Nobody answered, because it was a rhetorical question. Of course they knew what it meant. It meant that the army was willing to spend their lives if it ensured the mission was a success.
"In the part of the city that has been uncovered there is a massive research facility. We have thousands of arcanists, hundreds of Mystics and dozens of Ascendants scouring through the facility levels on and above the ground, but there is a certain objective that needs to be completed in the lower levels as well, and all incoming Neophytes have been diverted to completing this task.
All other exploratory missions have been put on hold. This is the foremost objective for the army right now."
The major paused, and fixed his gaze on Nero. It seemed like he had some expectations from him.
"The gist of it is that we need something from the facility, but to get it we need to disable the security systems of the facility. But disabling it is not so straightforward. As of the latest information, two security nodes have been disabled on the upper floors. I have been told that we are expecting there to be at least as many security nodes in the basement that need to be disabled as well.
"In essence, your mission is to go down into the basement and disable the security. Since everyone has a common objective, you will only find support, not competition from your cohorts. That is important because… for the past few hours… hundreds of monsters have run out from the basement, with many more still down there. The exact number of such monsters is unknown."
"Monsters? They wouldn't be massive, muscular creatures with metallic grey skin, would they?" Harold asked, unable to hold back. Who could blame him? His hands were still hurting from slapping so many berserkers yesterday.
"I see you've already encountered them," Liam said, looking towards Harold. "Some of the monsters indeed look like that. Others don't. Regardless, they are not infallible, and you will have the advantage of numbers on your side. You all must find a way to deactivate the security of the building as soon as possible. More rides on this mission than you know."
Liam was extremely troubled. He was speaking in circles mainly because he wasn't sure how much to reveal. Revealing too little might not make them feel the sense of urgency that was required for this mission, while revealing too much might overwhelm them.
How could he tell them that Kolar had declared war on the entire known world just to buy time or this one mission? The forces of every country in the world were being kept occupied so that they wouldn't be able to disrupt the winds that pushed back the fog.
Nova was the only country Kolar was not fighting against, and only because some kind of accord has been struck with them.
Even so, it was estimated that they would only be able to delay the process by two or three days at most, of which one day had already elapsed! After all, disrupting wind patterns wasn't hard. It would require only a single sage, which is why every living sage in the world was currently being kept occupied.
But even lower levelled card masters, with enough numbers, would be able to cause a disruption.
In reality, this mission was not supposed to have taken so long. Who could have guessed that the research facility… actually turned out to be a manufacturing plant for monsters. Or even if they weren't being manufactured there, they were definitely being kept there in large numbers.
"Prepare yourselves and let's go," Liam said. "I will have to escort you to your new mission site personally. You have to stay within ten metres of me, or else you will be targeted by the city's defences. Trust me when I say you won't survive."
A loud thud sound attracted everyone's attention. Nero looked over and saw that one of Pipo's teammates had collapsed, his eyes rolling back into his head.
He looked back at the major to see what he would do, but the major had already turned around and was stepping outside the room.
"Let's go," Nero said to his team and quickly followed the major out. As he turned once more to look back, his eyes locked onto Vanessa's. They weren't worried, but rather excited. She definitely knew something about this.