Supreme Magus - Chapter 701

Chapter 701
Well, at least the chains patched you up just fine . Let's move . " Yondra said .



"What about the others?" Rainer asked .

"Good question . " Yondra sneered, looking at her colleagues who had yet to move a finger .

"My Assistant Nilla died at the hands of the fungal creature . I have no obligation towards any of these kids . I already failed to protect myself, taking care of someone else is out of the question . " Gaakhu said .

"I'm sorry, Onma, but Professor Gaakhu is right . " Ellkas said . "I promise you that if I manage to escape from here, I'll send the whole army to your rescue . If I fail, I hope you'll be able to kill me, because whatever the Odi have planned for us I'm certain it's worse than death .

"But all of you are powerful mages!" Rainer stuttered . Quylla's voice calling him a coward still echoed in his head, driving him to be a better man . "Is there really nothing you can do?"

"Kid, grow up . " Gaakhu said . "Saving everyone, beating the odds, those are all fairy tales . I bet that our story will end with 'and then they died too' . If Yondra wants to burden herself with you, it's none of my business . "

She then freed the imprisoned soldiers, who immediately started to eat and drink to recover their strength .

"As the head of the expedition, in the absence of Captain Ernas I'm the highest-ranked officer . " Gaakhu said . "I order you to help me find a way out of Kulah to alert the Kingdom of the threat the Odi still pose . Is that clear?"



The soldiers gave her a salute, turning to look at the weeping Assistants only once . As members of the military, they were all too familiar with collateral damage, but that didn't mean that they liked it .

Yet, there was nothing they could do . The Assistants had proved to be dead weight more than once . Sure, the soldiers had fallen by the hands of the Golems as well, but they had gone down fighting, not crying and begging for mercy .

Phloria's soldiers had all someone waiting for them at home and none of them was willing to die for nothing . They would either get out of there or die trying to alert the Kingdom . Everything and everyone else was irrelevant .

"You heard her, she only cares about herself . " Yondra whispered to Ellkas while her esteemed colleague was playing her part as Yondra had predicted . "I need you to read the Odi gibberish and you need me to operate the Odi technology . Deal?"

Ellkas nodded and shook her hand . The door to the prison was open as well, which gave everyone an eerie feeling . It could only mean that no one had ever managed to escape .

They entered in a wide room, from which branched several corridors, each one with its own tag . Gaakhu guided the soldiers in the second hallway to her right, without even looking at her colleagues .

"Where is she going?" Yondra asked .

"To the warehouse . " Ellkas replied before reading and pointing the other signs one at a time . "Mana Reactor, Meat Shields, Golem Factory, bathrooms, administrative office, stairs, and canteen . "




"It's a good idea, that's why we'll go to the Meat Shields room . " Yondra said after scanning the corridor of her choosing .

"And why is that?" Ellkas trusted no one, but at least Yondra needed him . He was afraid of outliving his usefulness and needed to be ready to fend for himself .

"Because when she triggers the alarm, because she will, I want to be as far away as possible . Plus, Lith and Phloria took a look at the room and told us what kind of arrays we can expect . It's our safest bet . "

Ellkas nodded, realizing that the Odi must have had prepared multiple exit points for their guards, and maybe one of them was near a town whose name he might be able to recognize .

Yet he kept that idea for himself . After abandoning his own Assistant, leaving Yondra behind to increase his chances of survival was easy as cake .

***

Meanwhile, on the upper floor, Lith and Phloria had reached the door leading to the research are . The Flesh Golems had managed to find them a few times only to witness the humans Warping away .

With the cameras down Lith was free to go back to any place he had previously visited, forcing the constructs to split up and search for them .

"Now this is the reason why I waited . " Lith used Invigoration on the others, restoring about half their strength .



"How long was I unconscious and where are we?" Neshal asked while stretching her limbs .

"Three hours . " Lith replied . Barely ten minutes had passed, his lie almost made Phloria yelp in surprise . "We decided to rest before moving, but we were forced to Warp several times to avoid the Golems . "

"Thanks for letting me rest and for not leaving me behind . " Neshal gave Lith a deep bow . "Now let's get out of here . "

While she operated the door, Morok and Quylla wolfed down quite some food, both amazed by their perfect physical condition despite all the wounds they had sustained . Just watching them made Phloria hungry, forcing her to eat again .

"Bad news . This door is full of arrays but none of them is linked to the lock . They are all linked to that slot . " Neshal pointed to the keycard reader . "Which means this is a work for a Forgemaster . "

After thanking her for the great news, Lith chanted gibberish and used Invigoration . Just as he hoped, there were two relays again, but this time only the wrong one was linked to the arrays .

All he had to do was to send a pulse of mana to the relay associated with the lock to make it click .

'Sure a keycard energy signature is much harder to mimic compared to a key, but with such a design, I don't need to . ' Lith thought . 'Unlike the holo-pads on the upper floor, there is no such thing as repetition or correct order of characters, only right or wrong impulse . Against a true mage, it's like not having a lock at all . '

'Good gods, I should have learned Forgemastering . ' Neshal thought . 'No one of us knows how to read the Odi, but at least if we can open all the rooms, we are bound to find a way out . Without Gaakhu and Yondra, these guys are my best bet . '

Quylla had taken down more Golems than anyone else, Morok seemed to be immortal, and Lith appeared to Neshal's eyes like a genius .

They found themselves in a T junction with several doors spaced between them so much that each room had to be as big as a hotel's suite .

"Wait, before we continue, I need to know which array do you prefer . Earth Blocking, Air Blocking, or the Power Detection?" Neshal asked .

"Can't we have them all?" Morok asked .

"You wish . Keeping an entire magical formation at the ready is already draining, two would make me collapse in just a few minutes . "

"Do you have more of those enchanted nails?" Lith asked .

"Yes, but the last time the Golems were completely still . I can't kill them on my own if that's what you're asking me . " Neshal replied .

"Then the Power Detection . That way all three of us can destroy the Golems and use dimensional magic . Okay?" Phloria and Morok nodded at his words, both shapeshifting their weapons into thin, high density blades that would more easily pierce the constructs' thick shell .