The woman stared at Luna, her gaze filled with irrepressible astonishment and caution, but in the end it softened into admiration. She exhaled a long breath and raised her hand in a crisp, standard military salute.
"To toy with high-grade mechanical soldiers so effortlessly, 'Traveler'... you truly are remarkable." Her voice was clear, tinged with a metallic coldness. "Thank you for your help, Luna. I am Tactical Analysis Officer Elia of the Central Technical Administration."
Luna arched a brow, clearly not expecting such a formal gesture. Elia had already lowered her hand, speaking faster: "The Black Wing Organization came prepared. Their target is the Dome Core Device—either to seize it or destroy it. That squad was just the vanguard. The main force is likely already at the core. Communications are being heavily jammed, I cannot call for reinforcements."
She paused, her eyes hardening. "I must head to the core immediately. No matter what, we cannot let them succeed."
"I'll go with you." Luna answered without hesitation, her tone light, as if agreeing to a casual outing.
Elia froze for a moment, then quickly smiled in relief. "Thank you. With you here, maybe we can truly carve out a path."
The two hurried down the corridor. Under Elia's emergency authorization, the lift platform hummed as it descended, cables and gears whirring rapidly. Halfway down, the platform jolted violently, its indicator lights all went dark, and after a screech of friction, the device died completely.
"Power's been cut." Elia gritted her teeth, stowed her weapon, and climbed out with Luna through a mid-level maintenance hatch. They switched to the emergency stairwell, the steel steps echoing hollowly beneath their feet.
Turning past an arched skylight, the view suddenly opened wide. Outside was a high vantage point overlooking the inner city. In the distance, blocks of streets were ripped open by bombardments, charred black scars tearing across them. Facades crumbled, windows burned with dim red flames. High above, an armed patrol skimmer circled, its energy cannons spitting strings of blue-white projectiles. On the ground, civilians fled toward shelters under the guidance of security forces. Screams, cries, and alarms layered upon each other.
At a street corner, a barrier device strained to hold up a semi-transparent shield. Fire struck against it, splashing waves across its surface. The shield was like an overstretched drumskin, its glow steadily weakening, on the verge of collapse.
Luna's fingers tensed, magic gathering into a shard of clear light in her palm.
"Leave that to our comrades." Elia caught her wrist, her voice urgent yet steady. "We don't have the time. If the core falls, the entire city collapses."
Luna pressed her lips together and let the light disperse. "...Let's go."
They pressed deeper. The overhead lights flickered, sometimes plunging the hallway into darkness before pulling it back into dim glow with a low hum. The metal floor beneath their feet quivered faintly.
As she ran, Elia scanned her terminal, her brow furrowing tighter. "Their anomalous hackers are interfering with the energy engines... the district reactors are destabilizing." Before she could finish, an explosion tore from the corner ahead, blinding light and a gust of hot wind sweeping toward them.
"Watch out!" Elia instinctively pressed herself against the wall.
Luna flipped her right hand, conjuring a shield thin as ice. The blast wave and shards slammed against it, rippling outward in tight rings. When the smoke cleared, the corridor ahead had been blown into a gaping black hole. Nearby energy conduits had ruptured, molten power spilling like liquid gold, the heat warping the very air.
Elia patted her chest, still shaken, then turned to Luna. "Just now... thank you."
Luna only smiled faintly. "Save it for later."
They skirted the crater, moving forward through dust and fractured light. The sounds of firefights and surging energy grew sharper as they advanced.
"We're almost there," Elia murmured.
At the corridor's end loomed a heavy arched alloy gate, etched with intricate runes—a final barrier to the Dome's core. But the doors now gaped wide, their locks pried apart, metal shards and scorch marks littering the ground.
Elia drew her energy pistol. She and Luna shared a glance, then burst through together.
The Core Control Hall was a vast circular chamber. At its center stood a towering crystal pillar, molten-gold currents of energy flowing within. It upheld the city's protective dome. Now, its base was entangled in a web of black devices, red light creeping along it like parasitic vines. Scattered across the floor lay ruined drones and guard machines, sparking and smoking.
Beside the crystal, a cloaked figure manipulated a holographic interface, fingers weaving rapidly as dark-red runes spun around his hands.
"Stop!" Elia shouted, firing her weapon.
Blue-white blasts streaked through the air. The Black Wing operative—a hacker—reacted swiftly, raising a red forcefield to deflect the shots, staggering only a step back. In that instant, Luna had already lunged like a thunderbolt toward a heavy guard golem.
The hulking four-armed automaton stood over three meters tall, two arms tipped with plasma blades, the other two with heavy cannons. Its four eyes blazed red as it struck and fired at once.
Luna's body skimmed the ground, darting forward before springing high, narrowly evading the crossing blades. She twisted midair, planting her boot on its armored shoulder to flip behind it. The golem turned with surprising agility, its cannons already tracking where she would land. But before her feet touched down, a lance of blue-white light burst from her fingertips, piercing its backplate.
She had been charging the piercing spell since she leapt. The beam drilled straight into its core, the giant collapsing to its knees as all four arms went limp.
On the other side, Elia battled two advancing mechs. Using consoles and pillars for cover, her shots were sharp and precise, felling one. She then released an EMP burst, disabling the other temporarily. Seeing Luna down the golem, she called out, "I'll disable the intrusion terminal! Handle the rest!"
Luna nodded, sliding toward the hacker. He finally sensed the tide turning and snarled, drawing an energy dagger.
Unlike the machines, he moved with frightening speed, his crimson eyes burning like embers. Blades and magic clashed, sparks flaring. Luna fought barehanded, her movements clean, dodging at the last instant and striking back. Their figures crossed in rapid succession, the air itself sliced by their exchange.
Suddenly, his visor beeped sharply. He retreated with a cold grin. "Time's up... you'll all die here."
Before Luna could pursue, a surge of power flared behind her—the parasite device on the core lit up with blinding red, the crystal column quaking violently.
"He triggered a core overload!" Elia cried out.
Inside the crystal, energy roared wildly, arcs lashing out like whips of lightning. The control hall shook as fractures spread across the pillar, groaning under unbearable strain.
If it ruptured, hundreds of meters of underground structures would be obliterated.
A heartbeat away from disaster.
Luna inhaled deeply, channeling all her power into a single point. She hurled herself against the raging storm, pushing toward the core. Elia reached to stop her, but the violent winds tore her hand back. All she could do was watch as the girl pressed forward.
Shards burst free, dazzling light leaking from the cracks. Luna stopped just before the crystal, raised both hands, and slammed them against its surface.
The world froze for half a second.
Then came a thunderous roar. Energy exploded outward, blinding brilliance engulfing everything. Elia squeezed her eyes shut, HUD flashing static, bracing for searing death. But it never came.
When she opened her eyes, Luna stood against the core, her body engulfed in gold-blue light. The floor caved beneath her boots, metal around her cracked and warped. Her hands pressed hard, veins straining, white-knuckled, as the storm's energy poured into her, devoured and converted into her own magic.
Light flickered across her face—youthful, yet unwavering. Sweat streamed down her cheek, vaporizing into mist before hitting the ground.
Elia held her breath, awestruck. Never had she seen such brutal yet precise control—forcing the wild surge back, reversing its flow.
Luna cried out, voice clear, as she absorbed the last of it. The crystal's light shifted from crimson to brilliant white, the tremors fading, its cracks glowing as if healing.
The storm subsided.
Silence, broken only by the hum of stabilizing circuits. Luna staggered back, Elia rushing to catch her.
"Are you alright?"
Luna's breath was heavy, but she smiled faintly. "I'm fine... just a bit overstuffed."
Elia's throat tightened. She had braced for annihilation—yet this girl alone had pulled the city back from collapse.
"Thank you," she said, more earnest than any salute.
Luna waved it off, her gaze hardening toward the passage. "He escaped."
"Yes. He triggered the overload and fled immediately. This was only the first step." Elia replied.
Luna paused, glancing up at the crystal's conduit. "Can you reset the outer defenses? At least sever their intrusion terminal."
"I can. Give me two minutes." Elia sat at the main console, fingers flying. She scrubbed malicious code, adjusted frequencies. "They've invested heavily. This parasite device is tailored against us."
Luna approached the web-like terminal, conjuring a thin blade to peel it away from the crystal. She sealed its remnants with runes. "They know the city's nodes."
"More accurately, they know how we think." Elia locked the final circuit, exhaling. "Outer defense back to seventy percent. The core is stable below critical. Safe, for now."
Luna approached the web-like black device, brushing it lightly with the back of her hand. A thin blade of magic formed, carefully peeling it away from the pillar. She then sealed the remaining curse-lines with a binding rune. "They know where the city's nodes are."
"More precisely, they know how we think." Elia pushed the final lock back into place and exhaled deeply. "The outer defenses are back to seventy percent, and the core is stable below critical. No problem for the short term."