Roughly a hundred Neophytes set out at late noon, but this time there were no problems with others trying to take control of the chain of command. Leading them this time was not a draftee, or a new recruit. Instead, it was a veteran named Jack who suffered from a strange injury that brought him back to the Neophyte level.
Although in a fight he was not the strongest, owing to his injuries, he was still the best choice to lead the group of teenagers. He had the most experience.
The command centre had come to the conclusion that while the excessive number and formidable strength of the enemies was definitely a major factor in the high casualty rates they suffered, the fact that everyone became relaxed, let down their guard, and didn't keep sentries to look out for incoming enemies was just as significant a factor.
Considering the severe lack of experience and impromptu nature of their missions, this was not listed as a demerit for Maximilian, but pointing out how their inexperience could get them all killed was an excellent way to get everyone to behave.
From the very start, the procession felt different under Jack's command. It was no longer one continuous line of soldiers walking through the corridors, but rather countless, broken up teams following each other with a short distance in between. At the very front was a team dedicated to scouting, to watch out for any enemies that they might encounter.
Most of the combat force was evenly spread out, though Nero and his team were stationed right in the middle, and were in fact told to avoid fighting unless necessary.
Jack wanted them to not only conserve strength, but avoid sustaining any injuries that the fights may cause. Shirly was near the front, right behind the scouts, passing directions. Moreover, in case they encountered enemies, based on where they came from, Jack even outlined which teams should attack first.
The closest teams would naturally attack head on while the rest supported while also ensuring no other enemies came in from other places.
While this sounded good, as someone who had been to the lower levels, Nero knew how dense the fog would get. But he didn't say anything for now. It was best not to interfere with Jack's command.
The grizzly, middle aged man did not look like he particularly welcomed criticism or unwanted advice.
Nero reentered the research facility, and this time the descent was not slow. Since the stairwell went down all the way down, probably even below the fifth floor, and they didn't need to check the other floors for anything, they just kept descending.
By now, the faint chill of the fog was a familiar sensation for Nero. But as they went down from the first level to the second, and then the third, their entire group started to become extremely uncomfortable, and Jack had to change his arrangement.
Everyone came closer together, and the scouts were spread out across the whole group, using their various sensory abilities to check the fog for any dangers.
Then, when they descended to the fourth level, where the fog became so thick that they could barely see the people in front of them, everyone started to panic. Fighting a dark berserker in these conditions seemed next to impossible.
"Silence!" Jack roared, his voice carrying through the fog even to those who couldn't see him. "Maintain discipline. There are protocols for low visibility conditions. Captains, call out your position after every 100 metres. Move slowly and stay close to one another, but not so close that you inhibit movement."
Everyone was not necessarily reassured by Jack's screaming, but at least they did stop making noise. But that hardly did any good when the fog seemed to suppress even sound to an extent.
Very faintly, he heard Shirly's voice directing everyone to go one floor even lower. Nero couldn't imagine what the situation must be like on levels lower than this. But then again, he didn't need to, for soon he found out.
The fifth level could only be described as white silence. The white fog made it so that Nero could no longer even see those right beside him. His eyes may as well have been closed for all the good that they did. What's more, the world felt muted. It was as if Nero had put on a pair of noise cancelling headphones, and all sounds died.
Just Nero was wondering if he should head back up, since he could no longer see nor hear anyone, he felt a cool wind blow past his head, and suddenly he could see everyone again.
The fog was still there, but Nero felt like a strange, illusory string was passing through his head, as well as everyone else's, allowing them to see and hear one another.
But quickly Nero noticed that, even when he closed his eyes, everyone was still visible. So it wasn't that he could see everyone else, but rather he was perceiving them directly in his mind through whatever means that was connecting them all.
"Everyone keep quiet and continue moving at a slow speed," Jack said, though for once he didn't need to scream. His voice naturally reached everyone as if he was standing right beside them. Hesitantly, Shirly gave directions, and everyone could hear them easily.
Even though Nero could 'see' everyone, he held the lower end of his spear out in front of him, as if he were a blind man trying to find his way. Considering the fact that he couldn't see the floor at all, this was absolutely necessary.
Nero paid special attention, hoping that like the cathedral, this lower level would be devoid of cursed energy. But that was not the case. In fact, the cursed energy here was particularly thick.
"Contact on the forward-left," someone with an unfamiliar voice. Nero couldn't see any enemies, but he did see one of the teams up ahead start shooting out spells towards their left.
But, from what he could tell through the image in his head, they seemed to be shooting randomly.
"Target is coming closer. It might be a berserker. Take preventive measures."
The team rearranged themselves, and a few soldiers came up in front and began using various abilities and spells. Nero could not see the effects of the abilities themselves, but from how they positioned themselves it seemed like they had raised a wall to block the berserker.
Their movement suddenly changed, as if they were hit by something, but quickly recovered. The fight ended without any casualties.
"Can confirm, it was a lone Mutt. Due to its size, it managed to avoid all our attacks coincidentally. Take note, use more area of effect spells in the future to determine target type."
With that battle being resolved without issue, they continued to move forward, yet only a short while later, they stopped again when another enemy was detected.
It was impossible to avoid fights, especially due to how many of them there were, but with each fight the team actually adapted to blind combat. The unfamiliar voice which detected enemies and gave out instructions was very concise yet effective.
What surprised Nero the most was that, even when they encountered larger groups of foes, they managed to hold them off without much trouble.
Perhaps it was the fact that they could see each other, while the enemies could not see anything at all, which gave them a significant advantage in fights. Through it all, Nero and the rest never needed to lift a finger.
It was both intense and anticlimactic at the same time. see-MVLeMpYr-for-more
With slow and steady progress, Shirly eventually brought them to their destination after an arduous two and a half hours.
The distance actually wasn't so great, but with no visibility and continuous fights, it took a long time to reach.
Nero, Arter, Gabriel and Maximilian walked up to her, with Maximilian carrying the bomb in his bag.
"This should be the door to the high security zone Remi talked about," Shirly said, her hand held out in front of her. She was touching the door, not that any of them could see.
"The problem is, once we go through it, how will we find the security node?" Nero asked. "Even if we are just going to set off the bomb, we at least need to be sure that it's next to the node?"
None of them, not even Jack, had a good solution to this problem. What was worse was that once they went too far away from the group, the ability which allowed them to see and hear one another would become ineffective.
While they all discussed possible strategies, no one noticed the slimy tentacles on the ceiling right above them. They crawled slowly, so as to not make any significant sounds, and reached towards the very door Shirly was touching. It was as if the tentacles, too, were waiting patiently for the door to open.