Chapter 126: Descending Into Mehko
Reinhard and the others finally reached the Mekhko Research Center, and the devastation was overwhelming.
The building’s front walls had been torn open like paper with massive holes in the walls that should have been reinforced. Glass from shattered windows covered the ground that crunched underfoot.
Bear-Terrors rushed into the walls with their massive bulk, each impact creating new cracks and expanding existing breaches.
One beast was halfway through a wall, its body wedged in the opening it had created, still pushing forward with single-minded determination.
Reinhard’s eyes glance to see Werefangs descending on visiting civilians. They were wearing formal attire, normal clothing, and researchers in lab coats, and all were caught completely unprepared.
The wolf-like creatures moved with terrifying speed as they lunged with claws extended at the running businessman.
The Werefang caught the man from behind, and its claws sank deep into the man’s shoulder. He screamed with tears leaking down his face, displaying terror and fright.
Reinhard and the others rushed out quickly.
Reinhard reached the Werefang first before Zenuken swept in a horizontal arc that severed the creature’s spine.
It dropped instantly, its grip on the businessman releasing, and the man collapsed, bleeding but alive.
Two more Werefangs pounced on a young woman frozen in fear. Marie’s Longinus intercepted both with her spear, piercing out towards both beasts. The first blow plowed through the throat of the first Werefang before the next blow pierced through the other’s chest.
As this happened, a Bear-Terror turned from the wall it had been assaulting. Its small eyes fixed on the new arrivals before it charged towards them, the ground trembling with each step.
Scáth’s crimson-purple spear appeared in her hands, but as the Bear-Terror closed the distance, the weapon rippled and reformed.
The spear became a massive warhammer, its head easily three feet across as it trails off with a crimson glow.
Scath met the Bear-Terror’s charge head-on with a swing. The Warhammer connected with the creature’s skull with devastating force.
The impact created a shockwave that blew dust outward in a perfect circle. The Bear-Terror’s charge stopped instantly, its legs folding as consciousness left it.
"Alright, hurry up and go, lady!" Scath shouted at the young woman, who blinked before nodding and rushing away.
Joseph moved to another civilian, being cornered by a Werefang, it was an elderly researcher trying to ward off the beast with a clipboard. Arondight thrust forward, punching through the Werefang’s ribs from the side.
Joseph twisted the lance and withdrew it in one smooth motion, causing the creature to collapse.
"Get inside and out!" Reinhard called the civilians. "Hurry up and go away from the fighting!"
They didn’t need to be told twice, with those who could move helping those who couldn’t, and they fled with desperate speed.
Reinhard led his team through the damaged entrance and into the building proper. The interior was chaos incarnate.
Guards and workers clashed with Phantasm Beasts throughout the ground floor. A guard with a glowing sword faced off against a Cheronos, their weapons meeting in showers of sparks.
Workers huddled behind overturned desks, some throwing whatever objects they could find at approaching beasts.
A Tonothus had somehow gotten inside, its massive bulk trapped in a too-narrow corridor.
It thrashed wildly, horn gouging chunks from walls as it tried to turn around. Workers fled before it, scrambling over debris.
Scáth whistled at the sight, her weapon shifting back to spear form. "I guess some of the Beasts recall the workers and guards who put them in the cages."
Niki nodded, her crimson eyes tracking the movement patterns. "That would explain why they’re ignoring the people running out."
Reinhard frowned, watching a Werefang pursue a guard with single-minded focus while a civilian ran past it. "Let’s leave them to handle this. We need to go straight down."
The others nodded before they pushed forward through the chaos, cutting a path toward the back of the building where the elevators waited.
A Cheronos lunged from behind a pillar, but Gran stepped into its path and blasted out with a fist.
His first punch caught the Cheronos in the face, snapping its head back. Then his second fist drove into its ribs, where the sound of bone cracking echoed out.
The creature tried to retaliate with its claws, but Gran’s Vector Path showed him the attack trajectory three seconds before it came. He sidestepped, grabbed the extended arm, and threw it into a wall, which broke.
Then he rushed forward and caught up with the others.
Two more Werefangs appeared ahead, blocking the corridor. Roana’s hands moved in precise gestures, and an ice rapier appeared before her. She stabbed out with her rapier and plunged into the Werefang fur. Before then thrusting into its throat, then slashing it across its eyes, and then finally through the heart.
The attacks were too fast for the Werefang to react as it fell. The second Werefang tried to attack her from behind, but Nikki grabbed the Werefang on its head from above before forcing it down into the ground.
And then flames exploded from her arms, the heat burned through the beast’s fur and flesh. The creature shrieked as it died while Nikki continued moving forward, Roana nodding at her.
A section of the ceiling collapsed ahead, debris crashing down to block their path. But Marie didn’t slow down as she shot out with her left hand and grasped the largest piece, which was bigger than three people combined.
She lifted it effortlessly before hurling it aside, and the slab crashed into a wall twenty feet away, creating a new hole.
They continued forward with the sounds of combat surrounding them. Reinhard guards shouting orders, beasts roaring, weapons striking flesh, and the crash of bodies.
Flying debris started to become something they had to contend with. Such as a desk flew through the air, thrown by something unseen. Reinhard ducked, feeling the wind of its passage above his head, and it crashed into a wall behind them. While Marie and Joseph swept out with their weapon and cut through a desk coming their way.
Even people seemed to be treated as debris.
As the body of a guard was flung across the corridor by a Tonothus’s horn. Marie caught it mid-flight, absorbing the impact and setting the guard down gently before continuing forward. And then after a bit, they reached the area where workers were trapped. The workers were pinned behind collapsed structures and cornered by beasts too focused on their prey to notice new arrivals.
A worker screamed as a Cheronos closed in, her back against a filing cabinet. Reinhard’s Shadow Striker activated, spears erupting from the creature’s shadow to impale it before it could strike. The worker fled immediately, not pausing to thank them.
While Gran rushed towards the two researchers trapped in an office with a Werefang staring at the door but not entering. Gran swiftly dealt with the Werefang as his fist hammered into its body, smashing its jaw and shoulder, and creating a hole through its chest.
Once the Werefang was down, the researchers quickly left the room and ran away.
Once they were past this part, they saw the elevator finally appearing ahead. But Reinhard’s frown when he saw the elevator was destroyed, with everything crumpled and smashed into pieces.
Scáth chuckles in appreciation at the destruction. "Well, you’re up, Marie! Show us your terrifying strength again!"
Marie giggled despite the situation as she walked to the bent elevator blocking the area, and then her hands grabbed onto it.
Marie pulled.
The metal groaned in protest while the entire area trembled before the broken elevator came free from where it had been wedged. Marie turned before hurling it aside, and the elevator flew through the air, then crashed into the wall.
Reinhard approached the edge, peering down into the darkness. The distance was about the same height as a three-story building, which wasn’t bad for them.
"Let’s just slide down using the walls." Reinhard said, already positioning himself.
He jumped without hesitation.
His boots landed on the stone wall while his hand dragged itself onto the wall. Even though he was moving down quickly, his skin wasn’t hurting or being ripped apart by the wall. Metal framework, his hands catching ladder rungs.
The others followed immediately in their own unique way, and then after ten seconds.
They dropped into the underground level one by one, landing in crouches that absorbed impact. The space was familiar from their previous infiltration, and Reinhard dusted off his hands as he glanced around.