LIGHTNOVELONLINE [Book II Chapter 85] HOPE: A Death Sentence
[Book II Chapter 85] HOPE: A Death Sentence
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“So that’s what we agreed upon.” Hope explained her deal with Argon Blast. “They’ll recuperate you once I’ve escaped down the ravine.”
<
“Sorry, I didn’t know about you at the time.” Hope felt genuinely terrible, but she didn’t see a way out. “Will you go along with it?”
<> Secret stated. <
“Thank you.” Hope whispered with relief.
She rubbed her neck where the severing collar used to be. It’d all be over soon. Starting from the northeastern edge of the Sarada Desert, they’d flown across the Antoros Sea to reach Palos. Now on the return trip, they were twenty minutes from reaching land.
Listening in on the other mechs, the mood appeared jubilant. Dorothy and Horace were busy describing their engagement with the mechanical paladins. I wonder if my sublime vagary was responsible for that. She obviously hadn’t told them about her ‘cursed fate’, but she’d been privately fretting about how it’d affect the operation. She still had no idea exactly how it worked. My passive is supposed to ‘attracted misfortune and life-threatening danger’. I can’t believe so little went wrong in that chaotic battle.
“All right, everyone stop.” Argon ordered. “We’ve come far enough so it’s time to announce there’s been a change of plan.”
Confused, Hope waited with the rest to hear the details.
“We’re going to conduct a field test. My five of masterpieces, Gunhell, Nihilister, Blade Ruin, Mortal Fusion, and Envy Green… Can they shoot down Jenna Crystal’s marvel, Astrolis? We’ll determine the answer to this question.”
“You’re joking…” Hope stammered.
“Why do you think I had my crew train you so hard? I’ve been toying with this idea for a while. When you asked me to remove your collar, that made up my mind. I warned you that Astrolis is useless to me without direct control. Jenna’s enchantments would take decades to unravel, I don’t have the time or inclination.”
Hope struggled to absorb this revelation. Confronting five immortal-level killing machines over the Blue Abyss was a death sense. She saw no escape.
As her stomach churned, she released the emotions bubbling up inside her. “It just doesn’t make sense… Why are you so fixated on destroying Astrolis? To the point of antagonizing the Northern Emperor… Why are you aiming to kill me for such a stupid reason?”
Argon listened quietly to her tirade. “Having no other use for it, Samuel Lithorn made Astrolis a monument celebrating the Dark Age’s end. However, for those visiting, the kneeling titan resembled a weary knight resting after a hard earned victory. The Northern Emperor capitalized on this sentiment by constructing the World Council’s headquarters next to it.”
“Do you have any idea how many conflicts have been averted in Palos under Astrolis’s watchful gaze?” The venom in his voice was plain. “Its presence serves as constant reminder of everything sacrificed for our survival, a symbol of peace.”
“That’s why I want it gone. To make clear the World Council’s era of stifling mediation is over for good. Your life is collateral damage towards this great purpose.” Argon finished coldly. “I’ll give you two minutes to compose yourself.”
“Can we outrun them?”
<
“Do we have any weapons to fight back?”
<
“Then are we doomed?” Hope did not see a way out.
<
“Sure.” Hope affirmed. “What should I do?”
<>
Hope reached out through the controls and felt a complex but faint magic circle somewhere deep within Astrolis. “I do.” She said.
<
She tried channeling power into the array, and it dissipated like drops into a bucket. “I can, but it will take a while.” She announced anxiously.
<
“Time’s up.” Argon boomed. “Are you prepared?”
Ignoring the immortal, Hope vented. “What about the rest of you? Are you fine with this?”
“Sorry, this is the way it is.” Dorothy answered. “We followed Argon when he defected. This betrayal is nothing in comparison.”
“Although,” Dorothy added, irritation making itself plain. “We’d appreciate a heads up next time we are to hunt down someone we trained for weeks.”
“Facing former comrades is part of war.” Argon countered. “That said, I admit it’s a rather abrupt about face I’m forcing on you. As an exception, you can opt out if it’s too much.”
“Not necessary.” Dorothy sighed. “But you’ll forgive us if we don’t pour our heart and soul into this chase.”
“Speak for yourself,” Leon laughed. “I’m all-in on the hunt.”
“Enough banter.” Argon called out. “Hope, I’m giving you a twenty second head start. Go!”
Astrolis shot forward so fast it startled Hope. She instinctively tightened the straps fastening her to the seat. “What’s our plan?” She asked as she focused on channeling power.
<> Secret explained. <
Her heart sank. “Please don’t tell me we are——”
<
Hope froze as they plummeted into the dark water. The light rapidly receded. Through Astrolis sensors, she monitored the giant shadows swimming around them as they dove deeper.
<
For a second, Hope entertained the notion that this short dip would end without issue. Then something gigantic slithered towards them from a distance, its form growing larger and larger. Right, ‘cursed fate’, what was I thinking?
The monster was almost upon them when they breached the surface below. Not content to lose its prey so easily, an enormous maw shot after them. Astrolis twisted to avoid the hundreds of sharp teeth, and they descended past mountain peaks.
With a screech of frustration, the gargantuan eel fell back into the churning water. She estimated it to be nearly three miles long. The creature tracked them from above as they traveled down a valley.
“I can’t believe that worked…” She said in shock.
<
The Blue Abyss had twisted into a huge whirlpool. As its movement quickened, its center sunk inwards, and seven figures emerged from the tunnel it formed.
“That was quite the daring feat.” Argon roared. “This is turning out more entertaining than I dared dream.”
<
“So what now?” Hope asked, dismayed.
<
“Oh…” Hope grimaced as they soared upwards and leveled out a hundred feet from the surface. The creature was baited into lunging at them repeatedly, which Secret evaded by hair-raising margins. Between the waves and its colossal thrashing body, Hope couldn’t make out their pursuer. Ideally, it was the same for them.
The deadly game of cat and mouse went on for a minute before the shockwave from an explosion sent them tumbling. The eel shrieked and turned on its attacker. Hope made out Mortal Fusion glowing in a way she’d never seen before.
The monster lurched towards the mech, and there was a blinding flash of light followed by a deafening boom. Opened her eyes, Hope found a headless corpse crashing back into the water.
<
Nihilister, Gunhell, and Blade Ruin barreled through the splashes of the felled beast, War Machine and the remaining mobile armors trailing behind. “You’ve made this way tougher than it needed to be.” Leon yelled out. “But that ends now.” Blazing fireballs shot towards them.
<
Dropping towards molten streams of lava on the new crust, Astrolis’s graceful, erratic trajectory weaved between the flurry of attacks aimed their way. Hope was forced realized the inadequacy of her own skills before the display.
“I know I instructed you to teach her to fly.” Argon said. “But I didn’t expect these kinds of results. I don’t know whether to be impressed or annoyed.”
“Unless she’s improved drastically in the span of a day, this was not our doing.” Horace reported back. “I suspect Astrolis is flying itself. If this is true, we may need your help to bring it down.”
There was a brief silence than Argon chuckled. “No, that’s not happening. Participating myself would make this contest a farce. I have faith in my work and my pilots. If they fail me, so be it.”
“Sorry, Hope.” Dorothy said. “Looks like I’m going to have to get serious after-all. It’s a matter of pride.” Her mech’s exterior shifted to deploy all its gun barrels.
That’s bad. Gunhell excelled in taking down targets in wide open spaces. She somehow doubted even Secret could contend with what was coming.
Her suspicions were proven correct by the barrage of ballistics rained down on them. Several found their mark and Astrolis was forced to erect a energy shields to deflect them.
“How long can you hold her off?” Hope asked.
<
“And where are we headed?”
<
Memories of navigating the ‘Corkscrew’ flashed through Hope’s mind. With a sinking feeling, she was certain what was coming next. She groaned audibly but forced herself to swallow her objections.
The onslaught of attacks ended once they squeezed into the narrow ravine. In its place, Hope was gripped with a different kind of terror. Emerit Blaze jaunt down the Wine Trench had been brief. This was not. Rock walls zoomed by them on all sides as they zig zagged through the infernal trench.
When a showy blade sailed by them, Hope glanced back. Blade Ruin and Nihilister were somehow chasing after them. She was astounded that human pilots could keep up with Secret’s insanity.
Except they couldn’t. Whenever Astrolis reached a challenging section, it pulled further ahead. Soon, Nihilister was gone, and only Blade Ruin was struggling to keep up. It was obvious this was a losing battle.
“For the record, you’re lucky Blade Ruin’s right arm was damaged fighting those mechanized paladins.” Horace said flatly.
<
“Almost.” Hope said.
<
Panicked, Hope poured everything she had into the enchantment. Before long, they shot up into open sky. War Machine and the others were a couple of miles away.
<
<
Before Hope could relax, Leon’s voice rang out. “I predicted this. You won’t escape.”
She turned to see Nihilister descending towards them from behind like a blazing meteorite. That’s why he disappeared. He must have waited high in the sky in case we tried something like this…
<
“What do you mean?” Hope asked.
<
“So we are going to die?”
<> Secret offered.
Hope clenched her fists in frustration. We were so close… … No, I won’t let it end like this.
Taking a deep breath, she shouted out, “Cursed Fate!”