Col. Galahad gestured toward us with casual indifference. "These cadets will help provide those answers. If the situation escalates beyond their capabilities, I'll consider direct intervention. Until then, they're our primary investigative assets."
The weight of his words settled over us.
"Understood, Colonel." Lt. Nomi replied.
Before Galahad could continue, his band buzzed erratically with a neon red light.
He frowned, and his expression turned stern.
"Looks like I must take my leave, ensure the cadets are briefed and sent out tonight," Galahad announced, his gaze lingering on me. "Noah. Perhaps we'll have a chance to catch up properly later."
Galahad's tone left no room for response. He walked briskly, disappearing into the tunnel network, his white coat swallowed by shadows until even the echo of his footsteps faded.
Kai nudged my shoulder, leaning close. "How do you know someone like that?"
I kept my voice low, conscious of the lieutenants nearby. "I just met him in the library once." The explanation felt incomplete, but it was all I could offer.
Lieutenant Zamri stepped forward, commanding our attention. "We'll be direct about the situation since the Colonel has already set the parameters." Her tone carried professional resignation. "We need to determine if these recent disappearances are demon-related or something else entirely."
Lieutenant Nomi activated a holographic display between us. The projection showed Marazan's layout, red markers scattered across various districts like drops of blood.
"Each team will be assigned patrol sectors," Lieutenant Kayla continued, her tattooed fingers tracing the marked locations. "You'll monitor designated areas and document everything you encounter."
Lieutenant Jamie's scarred features remained grim. "If you encounter low-tier demons, engage and eliminate them immediately. They cannot be allowed to escape." His voice carried hard-earned authority. "Anything larger, you disengage and retreat. Despite the Colonel's words, your survival takes priority."
The holographic map shifted, highlighting patrol routes with pulsing amber lines.
"The Colonel's theory does have merit," Lieutenant Nomi explained, her synthetic fingers clicking against her tablet. "Lower-tier threats are more likely to reveal themselves to perceived weaker targets than to established Corps members."
Lieutenant Kayla's gaze swept our group. "A group of nine is perfect. We'll split your teams three ways. Each team will take on a different spot in the same level of the city."
She separated us into our respective teams, making us stand apart.
Lieutenant Zamri activated three distinct map sections, each glowing with different colored boundaries. "Team assignments." She pointed to Nico. "Team One takes the Harbour District. It has narrow passages and abandoned structures."
She looked at Sylus. "Team Two gets the Market Quarter. It's crowded during the day, maze-like at night."
Finally, she looked at me. "Team Three gets the Old Quarter. A residential district with underground access points and, unfortunately, the highest concentration of recent disappearances."
The weight of the assignment settled on my shoulders.
"You deploy right now," Lieutenant Jamie announced. " Your bands will help maintain contact with the base and with us, but response time may be limited depending on circumstances. "
"Communication bands with emergency beacon integration. Use the emergency function only for immediate life-threatening situations. It will bring the full squad, but may compromise operational secrecy."
Lieutenant Nomi stepped up, her band glowing amber as its light pulsed and covered all of us. Soon, our bands glowed amber too, as if resonating. "The connection has been established."
"Transport to the surface of Marazan will be via steam tubes," Lieutenant Zamri explained, gesturing toward massive cylindrical structures that hummed with contained energy. "They connect to processing spires throughout the city. Large industrial towers that purify seawater and release steam. The steam discharge will mask the elevator shafts and your deployment. No one will know where you came from."
The tubes gleamed with condensation, their bronze surfaces disappearing into darkness above.
"Each team needs only to stand underneath the tube; it will close and shoot you up to the surface. Is that clear?" Lieutenant Kayla announced.
"Yes"
Our voices reverberated.
"Preparation time: five minutes," Lieutenant Jamie stated.
I approached the designated tube, its opening releasing wisps of steam that carried the metallic scent of processed minerals.
Darius and Mira entered the tube after me, the entrance sealed behind them, and the three of us were boxed in.
"Three minutes."
The communication band pulsed gently, confirming connection with my teammates and the other squads. Whatever we encountered, at least we wouldn't face it completely alone.
"One minute."
My hands drifted towards the handholds, protruding metal bars in the internal channel of the tube. I gripped them tight; Darius and Mira both mirrored my actions.
"Deploy."
The steam tube activated with a powerful force, and the platform we stood on shot upwards.
The ascent felt eternal. It was a violent journey through scalding darkness where steam hissed against our skin and the metallic groaning of ancient machinery echoed from all directions.
My grip on the handholds turned white-knuckled as we rocketed upward, the tube's bronze walls blurring past in the amber glow of our communication bands.
Then, with a bone-jarring thunk, we slammed to a halt.
The tube's walls unravelled with mechanical precision, revealing an opening surrounded by billowing white steam while rhythmic sounds of machinery filled our surroundings.
"Move." Darius hissed. He moved out through the opening first.
I followed him as I emerged into the processing spire's interior. The space around us thrummed with massive purification engines, their brass and steel surfaces slick with condensation.
Mira trudged up behind me, her face flushed from the heat. "That was..." she started, then shook her head. "Never again."
Through the spire's external vents, I caught my first glimpse of Marazan from a high vantage point.
It was just as I'd remembered.
The city rose from the dark sea in five massive concentric rings, each level ascending the last concentrically. From our position in the historical district, I could see how the entire metropolis defied the ocean's attempts to reclaim it.
It was a testament to human stubbornness carved in stone and brass.
The outermost ring lay partially submerged, its lower levels claimed by restless waves that lapped against salt-stained foundations.
Buildings on that level were unique; their ornate design had a unique weathered elegance. Most of the level had brass steam pipes that stretched from one corner to the other. Cyan magical runes pulsed along the perimeter, their ethereal glow the only thing keeping the sea from swallowing the ring entirely.
Above the drowning outer ring, the second tier stretched upward. A dense maze of 19th-century apartment blocks whose wrought-iron balconies created a skyline both elegant and claustrophobic
Steam vented from countless processing spires here, the white clouds masking the giant spiral towers that connected each ring to the next through telescoping stone bridges.
The Old Quarter, where we stood, occupied the middle ring; its old buildings were designed for a high-density urban setting, with structures pressed together, only separated by narrow alleyways. It was a residential ring, purposefully built to accommodate a large population density.
Magical lamps flickered along cobblestone streets that sprawled across this level.
Higher still was the fourth ring, which glowed with more modern brass and copper intertwined in its open urban architecture; their surfaces were faintly green with patina but still fighting the salt air's corrosive embrace. It was a more recent residential ring that also housed other large markets and different social spaces.
And at the summit was the inner ring, the heart of Marazan, where magical light blazed like a captured star. The central district glowed with opulent cyan radiance, its domed buildings brightening the darkening night sky, akin to a beacon trying to illuminate the sea's incomprehensible depth.
"Incredible," Mira whispered, following my gaze across the ascending rings
"Team Two in position at Market Quarter. Street-level deployment successful."
Sylus's voice echoed from the band.
Kai's voice followed, clearer but distant: "Team One approaching Harbour District streets. All quiet so far."
I activated my own band, speaking quietly into the amber glow. "Team Three emerging in the Old Quarter. Beginning patrol once we descend to the streets."
Lieutenant Zamri's voice responded immediately: "Confirmed, Team Three. Remember, observe and document first. Engagement only if necessary."
I felt a nudge on my shoulder. Darius pointed to a ladder that was stowed in the corner of the spire's interior.
Mira scuttled closer and examined the ladder. It had only one step and hung over an opening to the ground floor. A moment later, she channelled some mana, and the ladder expanded, stretching downwards till its steps hit the floor.
The service ladder brought us down through the spire's maintenance levels until we reached a concealed exit that opened onto a side alley. The door was designed to blend seamlessly with the building's weathered stone facade; it was invisible unless you knew exactly where to look.
Darius pushed it open just wide enough to peer outside. "Clear," he whispered.
We slipped into the Old Quarter.
The difference from the underground base was staggering. The sea breeze felt freeing, but Marazan pressed against us from all sides. Narrow streets branched off in every direction.
"Seventeen people vanished here in the past week," Mira murmured, her eyes scanning the dark alleys between buildings. "What could take that many without anyone noticing?"
"Something smart enough to avoid the Corps patrols," I replied, remembering Galahad's words. "Something that can sense threat levels."
We moved deeper into the quarter, and our footsteps reverberated in the stifling silence of the night.
The magical lamps overhead flickered at irregular intervals, creating pools of light separated by stretches of absolute darkness. In those shadows, anything could be watching.
"Team Two reporting unusual sounds from the market's lower levels," Sylus's voice whisperd through our bands. "Investigating."
My pulse quickened. We'd been on the surface for less than ten minutes, and the other teams were encountering... something.
"Stay alert," I told Darius and Mira. "Whatever's out here, it's not waiting for us to find it."
Darius clicked his tongue, "I don't need you to tell me that." He unstrapped the greataxe from his back and lobbed it over his shoulder, eyes darting from one pool of shadow to another.
The narrow streets we walked stretched deeper into the quarters, winding between towering tenement buildings that rose six and seven stories above us, their brick-and-stone facades creating canyon-like corridors.
Wrought-iron balconies jutted from upper floors at irregular intervals, while the occasional external staircase provided access to higher apartments, though most buildings relied on internal staircases and the network of connecting passages I'd memorised long ago.
It was exactly like the game. In short, it was a city I knew like the back of my hand.
"This way," I said, leading us down a street that curved sharply left.
"Why are we following you?" Darius frowned.
I glared at him with a frown. "Do you know the way?"
He glared back, but chewed a response. "No."
"Then follow. Because I do." I shook my head and continued.
"This place is a nightmare," Mira whispered, her hand drifting toward the staff at her hip. "You could chase someone down an alley and lose them in a dozen different stairwells and basement entrances."
"Thirty-seven," I corrected absently, scanning the building fronts with recognition. "There are thirty-seven distinct escape routes within a three-block radius of where we're standing."
Darius shot me a look. "You've been here before?"
"Something like that." I pointed to a narrow passage between two buildings that most people would mistake for a dead end.
"That connects to the Silversmith District through covered walkways. And that basement entrance there? It leads to the old merchant tunnels that run beneath half the quarter."
Above us, window shutters lined the buildings. Hundreds of them. Steam pipes ran along the brick walls between floors, hissing softly as they carried heated water to the cramped apartments above.
The magical street lamps mounted on building corners cast their azure light in pools I could navigate with confidence.
A distant high-pitched muffled screech echoed from somewhere ahead, followed by the scrape of metal against brick, and finally by what might have been a hiss.
We froze, listening intently, but when the noise didn't repeat, we carefully made our way towards its source.
"That came from the direction of the old Chandler building," I said as we quietly crept along the walkway.
"Team One checking in," Kai's voice crackled through our bands. "Harbour District showing signs of recent disturbance. Broken crates, drag marks near the water. No visual contact yet."
"Team Two here," Sylus responded, his voice tense. "Found what was making those sounds. Empty maintenance tunnels beneath the market, but they weren't empty long. There are fresh scratches on the brick walls, like claw marks."
My eyes narrowed. If the creature was using the tunnel systems, it had access to nearly every building in the quarter. The passages I'd studied were extensive, a labyrinth built over centuries.
"Noah," Mira said quietly, pointing down a side passage between two apartment buildings. "Look at that."
Twenty feet into the alley, one of the mounted street lamps had been completely shattered. But more disturbing than the darkness was what lay beneath it.
A woman's handbag, torn clothing, and pieces of jewellery were spread across the grimy pavement.
"Recent?" Darius asked, his knuckles white around his axe handle.
I studied the scene and walked closer, brushing my fingers against the leather bag.
"Very recent. The bag is still dry, but most of the stone walkways here are wet." I crouched down.
"Team Three reporting potential evidence. Personal effects scattered in the Old Quarter's northwest sector. The victim is likely identified as a resident. Investigating."
"Proceed with extreme caution," Lieutenant Zamri's voice responded immediately.
Using [Insight], I could already read the story in the scattered belongings and the way they'd fallen. The woman had struggled, her bag spilt open as she was dragged away. The tracks led downward towards a dead end.
"Was this what we heard earlier?" Mira bit her lips.
"Could be." I nodded, my grip on the spear tightened.
"The old tunnels," I said, pointing to what looked like a solid section of building wall. "There's a concealed door there that leads to the sub-level tunnels. The tunnel network connects almost every major district in this ring. This is where the tracks lead."
Mira looked where I was pointing, but saw only weathered brick. "I don't see any door."
I walked up and pressed against a specific section of the wall, and a narrow panel swung inward on hidden hinges, revealing darkness beyond. " Most of the tunnel access points are disguised. But whatever dragged that woman away was smart enough to use them."
The communication band pulsed twice against my wrist; it was an emergency signal from another team.
"Team two is in immediate danger!" Sylus's voice exploded through the crystal, no longer whispering. "The market tunnels are not safe. Requesting—"
The transmission cut to static.