Chapter 177: Betrayal
Apophis and Antanria both exited the passageway and entered the huge room.
A whole set of lights snapped on, illuminating the chamber. The room was about five hundred square meters, and was filled with many office-like divisions and banks of equipment unknown to Apophis.
He quickly inspected his political menu and fine-tuned the description to find out the name of the place they'd just entered.
╔══════════════╕
╟─╼ POLICY
╟─╼[Stellar Year] 7099/06
╟─╼[Galactic Sector] Distant Suburb
║ ╰╼Novice Difficulty
╟─╼[Stellar Faction] Imperium Of Man
╟─╼ [Planet] Terra
║ ╰╼ [Biome] Ecumenopolis
╟─╼ [Continent] South Industrial Zone
╟─╼[City] Imperial City
╟─╼[Sector] 31 - Imperial Warehouse No. 4 "Souley"
╟─╼[Room] Archaeological Advanced Research Laboratory
╚═══════════════╛
Apophis was both relieved and disappointed: relieved because he'd finally found something useful after almost an hour of intensive searching, but also disappointed because nothing he saw indicated that a usable weapon could be found here.
He was really hoping to read something else in the "room" description... "Strategic and Nuclear Weapons Depot," for example!
But then Apophis realized he was in a unique position to take advantage of the information in front of him. After all, his Passive Skill ~ Archaeologist ~ would let him learn ancient, dead languages 90% faster than normal.
Considering the rapid way it was already possible for players to learn languages in Horus, he would be able to learn the basics of any ancient language in just a few minutes at most, even if he wouldn't have a complete understanding of all the idioms and complex vocabulary without some more study. It would still let him read whatever he found here fairly well.
In Horus, paradoxically, the ancient civilizations which had disappeared were often much more advanced than those which currently existed across the galaxy. Because of this, and the fact that most of its documentation was lost to time, the technology of dead civilizations was often difficult to find and even harder to use.
But if Apophis could figure out how to use it...
...The mechas outside might not stand a chance.
Apophis and Antanria started to inspect the room. Many of these objects they discovered were simple pieces of rock which were being studied by military scientists because they gave off a little energy which was similar to Cosmic Energy. However, Apophis didn't think they had any real potential. However, one of these "rocks" caught his eye. It was small and round, seeming somehow different from the others.
╔══════════════╕
╟─╼ ITEM
╟─╼[Name] Archaeological Artifact
╟─╼[Type] Unknown
╚═══════════════╛
Suddenly, another notification popped up.
SYSTEM: Your Passive Skill ~ Archaeologist ~ has activated. You have learned the language [Demonic-(lvl 1)].
Apophis looked at the artifact again with new eyes.
╔══════════════╕
╟─╼ CONSUMABLE ITEM
╟─╼[Name] Demonic Irradiating Grenade
╟─╼[lvl] 50
╟─╼[Quantity] 1
╟─╼[Effect] Generates huge amounts of deadly radiation within a 1-mile radius.
╚═══════════════╛
Apophis felt like crying...
The Assault Mechas were hermetically sealed machines. Their armor resisted 99% of the harmful spectrum of radiation, such that they were sometimes deployed in areas that were unsafe for normal living creatures due to heavy solar radiation.
This object was therefore totally unusable for the problem at hand. The most Apophis could do was cause some slight damage to the pilots inside the mechas, but nowhere near enough to take them out of the fight.
Nevertheless, he put the grenade into his inventory, intending to study it more later, and then continued searching.
Suddenly, Antanria shouted, "Father, come here!"
Apophis ran to see what Antanria had found, and his mouth fell open in astonishment as he beheld on the workbench: a petrified hand holding a transparent sphere.
Even as Apophis automatically opened his inspection menu, he knew very well what he'd find.
╔══════════════╕
╟─╼ CONSUMABLE ITEM
╟─╼[Name] Pandemonium
╟─╼[Rarity] Artifact
╟─╼[Civilization] High Zetark
╟─╼[Quantity] 1
╟─╼[Effect] ???
╟─╼[Quote] "Bring the Infernos to Earth." -Unknown
╟─╼[Description] Through savage bloodshed, the Zetark have used objects such as these to subdue the whole galaxy.
╚═══════════════╛
As Apophis stared at the object, old memories surfaced. In his former life, the [Pandemonium] was one of the most coveted objects in the galaxy, both by players and by the great galactic civilizations. If it were made known what he'd found, galactic wars could break out just to contest the ownership of this object.
In fact, the value of this item was probably worth more than all the items collected by every player since the launch of the game over six months ago.
Antanria, who saw Apophis staring at the object, said, "It is a—"
Apophis cut her off. "This is a [Pandemonium]."
Antanria was shocked! How, she wondered, could a non-Zetark like Apophis know about one of the most secret weapons from the height of her people's power?!
Apophis tried to put the [Pandemonium] in his inventory, but then received a notification.
SYSTEM: [Pandemonium] is too powerful to be stored in your inventory. Please instead "wear" or "use" the object.
He was afraid this would be the case. An item of this power level can't be stored in his inventory. This was the case with some extremely powerful unequippable items.
So Apophis grabbed the [Pandemonium] and turned towards Antanria. "What kind is it?"
Antanria answered, still confused, "According to what is written, it's a young female."
Apophis nodded. "That's fine... That's just fine. I'll go back to the surface immediately. Stay here in safety and keep searching the lab."
Antanria looked worriedly at the object in his hand. "Alright, father. Be careful with that..."
Apophis exited the lab and asked his team to assemble. The fifty players quickly gathered around Apophis, eager to see what he'd discovered.
Hulk said, "You find something, then?"
Apophis answered, "Yes, finally! We're going to go back to the surface to help the main group! Jiraya, TripleDog, Aurora, Starlight, and FantasyDoctor... You all will stay here and protect my NPC."
TripleDog was quite annoyed by this. "Hey! We want to go too! You're still asking us to play nanny while the rest of the guild goes to battle?!"
Apophis answered, "Antanria has special access knowledge. She'll allow us to access some otherwise unapproachable places. Therefore, it's in my best interest to keep her alive for the sake of the future of the guild. You can hit level 30 some other day!"
TripleDog and the other players whom Apophis had commanded to stay behind seemed quite disappointed, but Apophis had no choice. The situation on the surface was simply too dangerous to let Antanria participate in the battle.
Without further delay, Apophis and his remaining guild members finally took the elevator back to the surface. In Apophis' left hand, he rubbed his thumb thoughtfully against the [Pandemonium's] ancient surface.
After a few minutes, the elevator finally reached the top floor and opened. Apophis got out and said, "Go on, everyone. Get moving! I'll activate the [Pandemonium]!" Then he sent a private message to Lotus
"We've found what we were looking for! Invite me back into the party!"
Silence.
There was no response from Lotus. Apophis stared at the screen and then tried sending another message, but he received nothing in return.
Apophis slowly stepped out of the elevator into the darkened passage, following after his guild members who had just exited. "What the..." he muttered, his voice trailing off as he saw the looming shape in the darkness in front of him.
Suddenly, Apophis felt a strong electric shock!
SYSTEM: You have received the "Electrocution" status effect.
Apophis fell to the ground, unable to react. "Electrocution" restricted all his movements by 99%. It wasn't as powerful an effect as "Petrification" and usually didn't last as long, but those facts weren't exactly reassuring to him then! All he could do was stare in surprised fury at the forty team members who were lying on the ground near his head, all of whom were just as affected by "Electrocution" as he was.
***
ONE MINUTE EARLIER
TERRA—OUTSIDE MILITARY WAREHOUSE 'SOULEY'
Lotus was still supervising the movements of her troops, which was more difficult with every minute, as she had fewer troops to command. They'd lost over half the base group by now, and her grip on the remaining players was tenuous.
The Vk.6 Assault Mechas were using their long bionic swords to slash the ground with waves of destructive energy, crushing thousands of players every second. The whole area around the warehouse was painted with blood.
The remaining groups of players were trying their best to shift aggro around to avoid being annihilated, but the amount of damage the Vk.6s could dish out was impossible to mitigate. Many among the players were beginning to think even an army full of people as strong as the 7 Gods wouldn't be able to withstand this kind of power!
Lotus received a message from one of the Raid officers. "I just lost 10 whole groups in 1 minute!"
Lotus replied with a template message, "Hold on! That's an order!"
Lotus was stationed quite a distance from the combat zone. She looked grimly out at the scene. Though they had no chance to defeat these steel titans, there was even less to be gained by withdrawing.
Suddenly, Lucifer appeared before Lotus in a beam of light. At the same moment, Lotus received a message from Apophis.
Lotus glanced at Lucifer, surprised. "What are you doing here, Lucifer? Have you found something?"
Then she noticed something quite strange. Lucifer's player name was gray, which meant that they weren't in the same party anymore.
Without saying a word, Lucifer used a light Skill and cut through Lotus' legs, making her collapse to the ground!
Only then did Lucifer speak. "I'm here to finish this."
***
INSIDE THE WAREHOUSE
Still frozen on the ground, Apophis watched a dozen players appear from nowhere, having just deactivated their invisibility armor. The lights flickered back on in the tunnel, revealing their identities.
It was Joker and players from his guild.
Apophis growled, "Traitor!"
Joker answered, "This is nothing personal, Apophis. I'm not to blame in the slightest. All this was decided before the expedition even began."
Joker's eyes narrowed as he noticed the object still clutched in Apophis's hand. "Let's see what you found." Then he bent down and picked up the [Pandemonium]. Unlike Apophis, who had deep knowledge of the Zetark language, Joker only saw an unknown object that he didn't find very impressive.
Apophis laughed bitterly. "Unfortunately for you, it's totally unusable without a special Skill... and I don't think you have enough time to learn it! So either you free us and we save everyone, or the thousand BlackJack members will die and lose their levels along with everyone else!"
Joker smiled in a way that was almost apologetic. "I think you misunderstand our mission. We're not here to save the players stuck on this planet, but for the Coalition to acquire a weapon capable of keeping the big NPC nations in check. Nothing more!"
He examined the [Pandemonium] for a moment longer before continuing. "The guild leader of Lord of War was right. You have access to a lot of data that most other people don't."
Just then, a beam of light split through the corridor, so brilliant that even some of Joker's minions took a frightened step back.
There, in the middle of everyone, was Lucifer carrying Lotus on his back.
Joker looked back at Apophis and pointed at Lotus. "And you will help us in our mission!"