Chương 207

"It's a deadman's switch," Orion muttered as he stood over the rusted canister, his hands buried in the pockets of his lab coat to hide the slight tremor in his fingers. The device sat innocently in the hot spring mud, puffing out its toxic silver clouds every so often.

"A what?" Dorian asked, eyeing the growing green puddle warily.

"A fail-safe," Orion explained, working hard to keep his tone of voice relaxed.

"This device has been here for months, maybe even years, but it wasn't active. It was in standby mode until very recently, receiving a signal from somewhere else, likely the factory in the sewers." He kicked a pebble into the water. It hissed as it sank.

"When the factory collapsed, the signal must have stopped, causing it to start spewing its toxic contents." Selene must have realized what was affecting him, because she gently took hold of his hand, unclenching his fingers.

"We couldn't have known, and even if we had, the threat posed by the factory was greater than any fail-safe might present."

"Yeah," Orion sighed, but the guilt sat heavily in his gut. He had made the call back then, and he would do the same again if needed, but he had made the mistake of thinking his role in this whole matter was finished. He'd believed there wouldn't be any more consequences. I should have known. Again and again, the Iron State has shown it can create multiple layers of deception. Why would this be any different?

"We're fixing it, aren't we?" Luna said firmly. She stepped up beside him, resting her hand on his shoulder.

"You didn't know, Orion. You made the best call you could with the information you had, and now we'll make sure to take care of it. That's all anyone could ask for." Sensing he needed another push, Dorian nudged his other shoulder.

"Now that we know the problem exists in the first place, we'll be able to find it much faster. If there are more. Are there more?" Orion didn't hesitate to nod. The contaminated spring could have caused significant damage to the local environment if it had continued unchecked, but it wouldn't have been a major issue for the Sanctum. Considering how deadly the Iron State could be, he honestly doubted this was the only artifact they would find.

In fact, it's more likely they scattered similar objects throughout the range. That was a bigger problem than he could handle alone, but before giving up, he turned [Hypotheticism] on his surroundings, searching for something specific. The others fell silent and stepped back, realizing he was doing something, and formed a perimeter around him.

It took several minutes before anything changed, and it was so subtle that he might have missed it if he hadn't been looking for it, but Orion was, and so the ripple passing through the clearing, echoing off the artifact, confirmed his suspicions. It passed by without doing anything, seemingly getting the response it wanted, and Orion followed its traces to the upper reaches above them, where the Silvermount was hidden by storm clouds.

"The signal is trying to handshake with a secondary relay," he deduced.

"If we can find that relay, we might be able to send a 'stand down' command to every canister in the range. Or at least find out where the rest of them are." That was a far better plan than inspecting every peak and slope, searching the range for signs of corruption. It might have taken them years to cover the whole area, and by then, Cyril could have already been overrun. Still, he needed to be honest with his team first.

"It's going to be a tough climb. That signal leads directly into the upper peaks, and I expect we'll face both stronger monsters and a more chaotic Field, with lots of lightning, wind, and ice. I won't think any less of you if you decide not to participate, but I'm afraid I have to check it out." Judging by the looks on their faces, his friends knew exactly that this was his way of absolving himself of guilt, but he didn't want to hide it from them.

He'd already made the mistake of leading a mission into the unknown once, and while he doubted they'd find another factory here in the open, the threat of encountering powerful monsters was very real.

"Sounds like fun," Dorian grinned, and the girls nodded in agreement, sealing the deal. Orion's lips twitched. He really should have known better than to doubt them. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. As they rose above the first cloud layer, the snow ceased falling, and the haze that had been with them was cleared away.

That should have been a good thing, since they could have flown with their brooms, making travel much faster, but unfortunately, things weren't that simple. The air here was so charged with ambient electrical mana that the snow transformed into vapor, leaving only exposed black rock and howling winds that made any attempt to fly nearly impossible.

Orion might have managed it, given his skill with gravity magic and flight spells in general, but he sincerely doubted the others could have, and as much as it might rankle him to admit it, he simply wasn't skilled enough to shield them in the same way his mother had. [Atmospheric Centrifuge] might be enough to stop the winds, but that would demand a lot of my focus, and the ambient mana is quite hostile. It could even cause more problems for us, given the high charge in the air.

Orion's hair prickled, and sparks flickered between his fingers each time he touched the stone face of the cliff.

"Remember to keep grounding yourselves with earth mana," he warned.

"I know it's annoying to gather it, but we do not want the lightning to strike us." As if to emphasize his words, a massive bolt roared down from the sky, crashing into a lone tree just a few hundred feet away from them and sending a shudder through the mountainside. They kept climbing for another hour, and he had to admit that they were making better time than he'd feared. I guess there is a benefit to having a superhuman body attribute.

It wasn't anything to brag about in Cyril, and Orion was sure that several of the more demanding artificing classes, like blacksmithing, could boast much better stats than he had, but he was still able to walk through a freezing gale, far beyond what any normal human should be able to endure. Even the others were keeping up, mostly thanks to the warming charms they kept reapplying.

Magistrae had much less trouble handling such harsh conditions, thanks to their ability to cast tier three magic, which was known to be essentially impervious to the environment, but that didn't mean they couldn't do it with enough precautions.

"Orion," Selene warned.

"Above us." Not needing to ask for clarification, Orion looked up just in time to see the secondary layers of clouds part as something massive dove from the storm. It was a bird, but only in the loosest sense. Its wingspan stretched easily thirty feet, with feathers that looked like galvanized steel, sparking with barely suppressed charge. Its eyes were four points of burning red light, and its beak was a hooked nightmare of conductive metal.

He barely managed to get off an Inspect before he had to call for them to dive.

"Scatter!" [Thunder Roc - Mutated Beast] Class: [Swooping Lightning] [C-rank] Level: 88 Mind: 40 Attunement: 421 Body: 189 Traits: Mana Manipulation [C-rank]; Storm Caller [C-rank]; Aerial Ace [C-rank] He grabbed Luna and pushed her behind a rock outcropping just as a lightning bolt struck the path where they had been standing, barely aware that Dorian had hunkered down with Selene. The rock shattered, sending superheated shrapnel flying around his [Event Horizon].

The Roc didn't seem satisfied with its performance and sharply banked, expertly riding the wind currents with supernatural grace, then opened its beak. A screech that sounded like tearing metal battered their ears.

"Shut up, you stupid chicken!" Luna roared, sending forth a wave of [Holy Fire]. Orion had to take a moment to appreciate how she transformed a spell, whose very name was rooted in faith, into something based on scientific principles. She had also seemingly mastered it enough to summon it at will now. Although Luna often lamented being the least talented in battle among their group, she was quite skilled at adapting.

The white lance of fire hit the Roc's wing, but the creature simply rolled with the impact, letting its metallic feathers reflect the mana harmlessly thanks to a layer of wind around them.

"We need to break through its defensive barrier first," Orion cursed.

"Dorian, prepare to stop it from retreating! Luna, charge up and wait! Selene, tell me where it's going!"

"It's looping back!" Selene cried as she pressed her hands to the ground, causing a subtle tremor.

"It's going to dive on you!"

"Good," Orion growled, then jumped up, casting [Flight] and [-g] as he did. The Roc saw its target dare to encroach on its territory and shrieked, adjusting its path instantly. It folded its wings, transforming into a missile of feathers and lightning, plummeting toward him at terminal velocity. Orion waited. He watched the massive beak rush toward him.

He calculated the speed, the angle, the wind shear, all the while aware that the others were setting up their own spells, preparing to unleash them the moment he gave the go-ahead. Come on. A little closer. A little more. Now! At the last second, Orion threw his hands out and cast [Collapsing Wormhole], creating a rip in space right before it. And yet, despite forming a fraction of a second before it, the roc was still able to make an adjustment.

Not enough to avoid it entirely, no, but it did limit the damage to a single wing, which was completely shorn off, falling to the side and being swept away by the gale-force winds. It was too late for the beast to change its course by then. Not that it wanted to, considering its screech, and Orion was forced to rip himself away from its path with a rougher touch than he would have liked, feeling his neck and spine strain under the g-force.

"Now!" He shouted to the team below as the roc slammed into the ground. By all rights, it should have been enough on its own to kill it, but Orion had studied enough of its wind armor to know it could resist far more than it should, and even full-body contact with the mountainside wouldn't be enough to end it. It did daze the beast, however, allowing them to unleash the first round of spells.

Light mana flashed repeatedly, pinning the beast to the ground and stopping it from taking flight, while Orion chugged down a health potion, feeling his neck finally straighten and the stabbing pain fade away. Of course, that was when the roc had had enough and thrashed, releasing a huge burst of electricity from its feathers.

"Get away!" Dorian screamed as they huddled behind his shield, but Orion couldn't dodge it. [Event Horizon] came online around him once more at the very last moment, and though his vision went completely white from the sheer amount of lightning the roc was throwing his way, Orion was able to gather himself and, through the thunderbolt, unleash his own counterattack.

"[Gravity Cannon!]" he roared, pouring his mana into the spell. The gravity well pulled everything down, and the Roc screeched as it was pressed against the cliff face, flattened by its own weight multiplied ten times. The rock beneath it started to crack.

"Dorian! The neck!" Orion yelled, struggling to hold the spell as the bird bucked, showing an incredible resilience even under the crushing weight. Dorian didn't hesitate. He jumped from the ledge above as his shield glowed with a bright white light and struck the monster like an executioner's axe. The [Hard Light Shield] sank in deep, crushing its windpipe and vertebrae. Yet again, it wasn't enough. The roc shrieked, a choked sound that had to be painful, but it was still alive.

That was when Selene's delayed trap sprang.