Impressive is one of many words Tatsumi would use to describe the Imperial Archive. Huge and dangerous would be on the list too. The moment he, Asako and her father opened the gate, he got to see the largest chamber he's ever been in, easily reaching kilometers in diameter. And depth… Even with Tyrant's eyes he couldn't see what was on the very bottom. And that was only the main chamber, each level of the archive housed at least six archive storage chambers. He was so dazzled by the place he almost didn't notice a Danger Beast flying towards him from above. But 'almost' wasn't even nearly enough to surprise him. In a split second, Tatsumi kicked the creature's jaw and threw it away. It didn't die, but didn't immediately try attacking him again either.

Intimidation meant nothing for the traps though. Still absorbed in watching the giant chamber, Tatsumi fell into at least three traps before he learned to watch where he's going, each time ending up saved by Asako. The traps ranged from classic stuff like spears coming out of walls, arrows and darts shooting from statues, giant saws, gas dispensers and so on, to more sophisticated anti-intruder measures. Such as an artificial Danger Beast that pretended to be normal objects that laid around the place, or even replaced missing bricks and bits of the floor. Tatsumi almost fell victim to one that hid as a chest, but fortunately for him, a few of Asako's man died because of those creatures, so she made sure to let him know he should be watching what he puts his hands on.

It wasn't far from the entrance when he saw first bodies. They were relatively fresh, only a few hours old, but they didn't belong to the group that left right before he arrived. Those were Asako's man. Two of them, both without their heads. "They got killed by one of those Danger Beasts that attacked you before. I don't know why, but they only took their heads and flew away to god knows where..." She couldn't bring herself to look at her dead friends for too long. "I'm not looking forward to informing their families..." With a long sigh, she looked at Tatsumi. "Alright, listen up. Now that you got a feel for this place, let's move on to our objective."

"Right. But remember that I have my own business to take care of in here too." He moved ahead. Asako quickly matched his pace, while Kazuto stayed a few steps behind them, just far enough to not get in their way and guard their rear. Not that he really needed to. Tatsumi could hear rats moving three floors below, and now that he was actually paying attention, nothi9ng could sneak up on them.

"Don't worry, once we're done, you can feel free to look for whatever you want to find. Just, um… This place is kinda big, you know..." She waved her arm around.

"Let me worry about that. So, your objective? General didn't really tell my much. Said you'll fill me up."

"Right. To make things simple, we're here to secure the archive for study. And to achieve that, we need to do two things: get rid of the traps, and get rid of Danger Beasts. The first point is easy, we just need to disable the control mechanism few levels below. Normally this place was manned with people that would make sure the traps are not active whenever someone visits, but ever since the Danger Beasts broke out from their cages on the bottom level and place was sealed all traps stay active. The Danger Beasts themselves… They're gonna be a problem. The good thing is, that we only need to clear the main chamber for now. All storage chambers are sealed and nothing should be able to get out as long as we don't let it out."

She was right about that. Tatsumi could hear at least one Danger Beast sleeping in each of the storage chambers. It's strange that anything's still alive after all this time. Food isn't exactly in high supply in here...

"We still have to deal with everything that's in here though. That's gonna be a pain..." Kazuto rubbed the back of his head, revealing an old scar hidden behind his hair. By the looks of it, it was left by a blunt weapon, most likely a mace.

"Shouldn't there be more of you here then? This sounds like a bit too much to ask of two small teams."

"Yeah… You see, that wasn't the original plan. We didn't know the security systems are actually still working, not to mention the Danger Beasts lurking around. At first we were just suppose to escort the researchers into the control room and secure the area until the Army can spare more people. And ass you can see..." She motioned her head at two headless corpses. "It didn't really go as we thought it would. Hope you can make a difference kid."

"I hope so too. So, where do we start?"

"Let's try to catch up with the others. Hope they didn't kill themselves by now..." She started to walk forward, heading straight towards the staircase that led to the level below, Kazuto right behind her. Tatsumi stood still for a while, trying to find the other team with his senses. It was impossible though. The place is too big for his hearing to pick up anything without any disturbances at distances larger then a couple of floors. He soon gave up and caught up to Asako, jumping over a pressure plate on the floor in the process. Who the hell designed this place? Protecting all this knowledge from intruders was one thing, but the amount of traps set around here is ridiculous.

And this is only the first level.

On the second one, they started passing a lot of dead Danger Beasts, ones killed both during their first venture into the archive and by those that decided to go down there again. There were no human bodes to be seen though, discounting old skeletons of people long forgotten. There was quite a lot of those. Some still had their old rusty armors on and broken swords lying by their sides. No doubt there were attempts to clear this place made long before. Looks like they all failed though.

The question is, why?

The Archive was no doubt an important place for the Empire, so why did they gave up on it after putting so much effort into reclaiming it? Going deeper into the chamber only revealed more skeletons, of both people and Danger Beasts, but no answers as for question that was bothering Tatsumi. There had to be a reason. And he had a strange feeling he's not going to like the answer.


Please…

It still hurt. The endless cycle of drowning in the sea of blood and reemerging continued with no sign of stopping, and she was nearing the limit of what her mind could take. Blood mixed with tears dripped out of her eyes, but no cry could be heard, even though her mouth remained open as if trying to scream.

Somebody…

It was unbearable. Every inch of her body screamed and begged her to make the pain stop, but she couldn't do anything. She found it hard to fight back against the despair as it started to overwhelm her. How much time has passed? Days? Months? Years? She couldn't even tell how long she's been here. How long that pain lasted or for how much longer it will continue... Time seemed to completely lose its meaning in this place.

Anyone…

She felt something touch her cheek, washing her bloody tears away. The gesture didn't bring any comfort though. Because as soon as her cheek was wiped clean, the hand that did it grabbed her by the hair and violently pulled under the surface. Deep into the darkness.

Help me…


Level after level, the three continuously cleared the archive of the Danger Beasts. It was almost as if there was an endless supply of them just waiting at every corner. The first few floors were relatively empty, but the deeper they went, the more danger they would encounter. They kept attacking from above, from below and from every dark hole they could crawl into. Some were as small as a cat, others as large as cart, all equipped in long claws and teeth, with their stinking, almost rotting bodies covered in gray armor, almost as hard as iron. They all threw themselves at the three with equal ferocity, and rage that only seemed to increase the deeper they went. And they were deep. At least 50 levels below already, and they still couldn't see the bottom.

But Tatsumi could at least hear it. The echo bouncing off walls was just strong enough for him to hear something is down below, though he still couldn't tell what or even how deep it was.

The traps were not making things any easier too. Every brick they stepped on could have been a pressure plate, every wall could hide spikes in it. It was tiring to watch out for all of that and keeping the Beasts out of the way at the same time. Tatsumi could take it. The Beasts they encountered so far were all weak even by standards of his old self, from back when he was just a naive kid entering the Capital blissfully unaware of what it truly is. The problem was with the other two.

They were just soldiers. Damn gook ones, but they never trained even half as hard as he did. And they didn't merge with an ancient Danger Beast either. They were just humans. While Tatsumi was effortlessly squashing the beasts that came at them as if they were bugs, they were getting tired. The kilometers of marching, fighting and avoiding traps were taking a huge toll on them. Asako's sword swings were loosing power behind them, Kazuto's aim was decreasing. They needed a rest, and fast.

But the main issue was that there was nowhere for them to rest in the first place. The Beasts kept on coming no matter what, traps were hidden in every wall. The only way for them to rest at all was to get to the control room. They already knew where it was, just three levels below. They just needed to get there without dying. And that was not going to be easy.

"Asako!" The women has finally made the critical mistake that was bound to happen sooner or later. Her sword bounced off the armored side of a Danger Beast she attacked. She aimed at a small space between the plates that could be used to pierce the Beast's heart, just as she did to many more of its kind before now. But this time, her arm just wouldn't move as high up as she wanted it to. This time she missed, and left herself wide open for a counter. The Beast she attacked immediately turned towards her and opened it's wide jaws.

She jumped away just in time to avoid its teeth, but not those of the other Beasts that were after her. Immediately, she felt one of the smaller ones bite into her knee. "Gah!" She lost her balance and fell back on the floor. And with that she activated one of the traps. A spear shot out from the ground, right where the small beast was.

And where her knee was as well.

"AAAAAA!" She screamed in pain as the metal pierced straight through her bones, nearly cutting her legs in half altogether. The pain soon joined with fear has paralyzed her. The larger Beast as closing in again, ready to finish the job and she couldn't do anything. She watched helplessly as the giant jaws full of razor sharp teeth start to close in around her. She felt its stinking breath on her face, almost making her ready to puke. Even though her sword was still in her hand, she couldn't even make it budge. Her muscles went stiff, leaving her powerless to change her fate.

But the fate never came to claim her. She soon watched as the Beast is pulled away from her. It closed it's jaws right before her face as Tatsumi pulled it by it's tail, throwing it away at a group of smaller ones. The boy dashed back to the Beast so fast he was barely a blur. Hell, if she didn't know any better, she would have said he teleported.

Once next to the Beast, Tatsumi smashed his hand into it, splattering its head over the floor like it was nothing. He quickly did alike with another big one, getting rid of it as if it was just a pest, all the while squishing the small ones under his boots like bugs. He wasn't even using any weapons, just those clawed hands of his. It really did seem like she and Kazuto weren't even needed here. That boy was leagues above them. They simply couldn't compete with the sheer magnitude of the power he displayed.

But she won't allow herself to give up just yet.

There was still something to do. Someone for her to live for.

With her hand lightly touching her stomach, she lifted her sword into the air. Fighting the pain, she swung at the closest Beast, killing it just as another took it's place. She aimed the blade straight into its eye, but the damned thing dodged and grabbed the sword with it's mouth instead. It threw it away as it ripped it out of her weakened grip, only to take a bullet to the head.

Her father run over to her side, sending bullet after bullet into heads of approaching Danger Beasts. Asako quickly reached for her sidearm and started firing as well, though hardly able to compete with her father with accuracy of her shots, especially in her currant condition.

But then, without any warning a light shone throughout the archive. A light that came from fire.

A wave of flames suddenly enveloped the last group of approaching Danger Beasts, quickly turning them into molten, carbonized statues whether they were big or small. Both Asako and Kazuto could clearly feel the heat against their faces even from a few meters away. It only lasted for a few seconds but the heat was intense enough for their clothes to start catching fire. Kazuto even had to put down the flames that started to appear on his beard.

They didn't waste too much time on that though. The source of the fire was a more pressing issue. They quickly turned in the direction the flames came from, only for their jaws to hit the floor. "Asako, are you alright!?" Tatsumi started to approach them; the inside of him mouth still almost shining from the heat. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have allowed them to overwhelm you like that."

He knelt down and looked at her leg. It's not good... The spear completely broke the knee... The kneecap is shattered into pieces. No way I can do anything about it. He doubted even professional doctors could do anything either. The damage was simply too large, and on top of it not only was the spear still plunged through her leg, they were not exactly in a great place for providing medical attention. There was really only one kind of treatment he could offer. "Asako... I'm sorry, but I'll have to amputate your leg." He said with no hint of reluctance in his voice.

She looked mixed for a moment but nodded anyways. "Do it." He pulled his belt out of his pants and wrapped it tightly around her thigh. There was absolutely no hesitation in his moves as he lifted his arm into the air, ready to slam it into the leg.

"Now, wait just a second!" Kazuto yelled out. "You can't just do it here! We're in the middle of Danger Beast infested archive and she'll bleed out before we can get any help!"

"I know this is not ideal, but that's the best option we have." He looked back at the old man. His eyes almost piercing him with sheer determination.

"He's right, dad... We can't go back now, and I will only slow us down on the way below. Leave me at the control room... I'll barricade myself there." The man didn't press on with the issue. He turned away from the scene as Tatsumi raised his hand again, unable to bare looking at his daughter being subjected to such a crude treatment on her own volition. Asako herself placed her scarf into her mouth, only now realizing how much her hands are shaking.

Tatsumi started without any warning. His hand smashed down so hard and so fast it cut her lag clean off, right above her knee. The pain quickly engulfed her body, making her scream out into the scarf in her mouth as her teeth closed around it. With her eyes closed, she shot her head back with tears soon starting to roll down her face. Hearing his daughter in pain, Kazuto quickly knelt down at her side, hugging her to himself. Her hands immediately clenched onto his arms.

This wasn't over though, and she knew it once she felt heat against her leg. Tatsumi has heated up the scales on his hand and placed his red-hot palm over the bleeding wound. This only brought more pain and screams. Her face was getting pale from the lack of oxygen just before she started to calm down. Blazing pain was still washing through her body, but she slowly opened her eyes and calmed down her screams, turning them into pained pants.

Tatsumi got up, allowing Kazuto to calm his daughter down. He looked down at his hand, still radiating with heat. He didn't know he could do that. He didn't even imagine being able to breathe fire before now. But when he saw Asako getting hurt, he knew he has to take care of the Danger Beasts fast, and hacking and slashing wasn't going to cut it.

And then he saw another vision. In it, Tyrant was facing a Humanoid looking rock monster on a lake of blazing magma. It kept throwing giant boulders at it, some covered in lava. The fight didn't last long though. The rock monster was quickly able to overwhelm Tyrant with the magnitude of its attacks and its sheer size. By then the Tyrant was still young, relatively speaking. Barely over a century old. It's opponent towered over it by nearly a hundred meters, and had no problems with overpowering Tyrant and throwing it into the magma.

The Beast was quickly devoured by flames as it sank into the molten rock. And it embraced that heat, made it fuel for the fire on the inside. It wasn't going to let some heat beat it after all. When its scales melted away, it replaced them with newer, stronger ones. When its skin burned into a crisp, it grew a better one. When the heat started to overwhelm it, Tyrant mad it its own. And just as the rock monster was readying itself to leave, Tyrant gladly allowed all of that heat out onto it. Slowly, Tyrant melted away bits and pieces of the beast, removing its legs, its arms, and finally its head.

And now Tatsumi could feel that heat too. It started to build up in his lungs, pushing against his throat. He let it all out, just as Tyrant did. And he did it without even thinking. It just came over him like a divine message.

He honestly wanted to think more about it, but for some reason he couldn't find anything about for him to question. It felt so natural to him... Enough so that it filled him with fear. "Mr. Kazuto." Tatsumi spoke up as he turned towards the man. "We have to move out. The sooner we get to the control room, the safer she will be." Looking at the women, Tatsumi quickly realized she is still awake, just unable to bring herself to speak up. Her hands were still holding onto her father's clothes as her body trembled. She was breathing heavily, though barely able to catch her breath, even with the scarf out of her mouth. He could still see tears in her eyes as she rested her forehead on Kazuto's shoulder.

Hearing him, the man slowly nodded and gently lifted Asako with his arms, careful to not cause her more pain. "Let's go." They broke into a slow run. Tatsumi couldn't hear any Danger Beasts nearby, so he deduced that they must have taken out any that were standing in their way to the control room. He could still hear them though. And they were closing in, both from above and below. They needed to move fast to make it to the control room before them. Tatsumi himself might be able to make it there alone with no issues, but he wasn't sure if he can fend off the Danger Beasts and protect the other two at the same time. Not with this many of them lurking around.

The traps weren't making the way down any easier too. It was nearly impossible to deduce any pattern for them, as they were clearly placed at random. Tatsumi could only trust in his senses. The mechanical traps had a short delay between their activation and the time they actually took effect, so he was able to jump away in time, but that didn't extend to all traps. There was no way to detect a poisonous gas before you actually inhale it after all.

It was a good thing that Tatsumi could take some poison without any issues, but Kazuto and Asako weren't so lucky. Because of that, Tatsumi had to stay at the front to make sure the path is safe to use, relatively speaking. The mimics were no problem though, despite how many issues they've caused during the first expedition into the archive. They might be able to mask themselves as almost any object, but they can't mask their scent, and once Tatsumi picked up on it, he quickly learned to recognize and detect them before they become a problem. None that would be in their way would remain alive for long.

The way down was long and hard, but they eventually made it there, just barely before another wave of Danger Beasts attacked. Tatsumi all but shoved Kazuto and Asako inside before closing the entrance and dealing with the Beasts by himself. The two soldiers inside could hear nothing but the sound of flesh being ripped apart and screams of dying creatures as they sat there and tried to figure out how the mechanisms in the room work. "Damn… We owe our lives to him…" Asako spoke up. The pain was still driving her crazy, but she managed to get used to it just enough to speak up.

Kazuto turned away from the console. "I know…" He sighed. "But I'm afraid to be honest. You saw how he fights. He's wild, savage even. And yet somehow, he is also calm, calculating, precise… That's a really terrifying combination. And a dangerous one… I've only ever seen few people who can fight like that... Gene- Esdeath was among them..."

"Yeah, makes you wonder what made him like that… But still, he is the only reason why we made it this far. But that just brings a new question. Why didn't we see anyone from the other team? Not even any bodies..." Her eyes drifted back to the manual in her hands. "Damn, couldn't they have made it a bit clearer? Umm… Try to pull down that lever while pressing that button on the right." She felt her eyes being drawn to the ring on her hand. Please be alright…Her hand closed into a fist as she bit her lip. I can't lose you like this… Not now… Not when I'm…


Song of the day: Beyond Unbroken - Overdose