Machina Arcanis: Two Worlds Collided
Chapter 116. North Fortress Infiltration II

Like the phantom of the night, Ziyue scaled the tower from its base, defying gravity with her arc boots. In the blink of an eye, she was already atop the roof.

Overhanging the edge, Ziyue poked her head into the sun tile. A knight sat watching football on a side screen to his right, a coffee cup in one hand. Meanwhile, another sniper was stationed on the metal balcony, lying flat on checker plates.

“Hell!” Ziyue cursed under her breath as one of the many surveillance screens panned across the breach she had carved into the wall to enter the fortress.

Luckily, the knight was too absorbed in the game to notice it yet.

Wasting no time, she dropped silently behind the sniper, raising her blade to strike.

“Damn you, Zetius!” A sudden echo of his words froze her mid-motion. She unsheathed her steel and, swift and ruthless, wrapped her arms around the sniper’s neck. His armour groaned with the pressure, his muffled cries fading as he was rendered unconscious.

Ziyue retraced her steps to the door and peered through a narrow slit. Inside, a knight was monitoring each surveillance screen, his body tensed.

Slash!

A sliver of metal plates from the door clattered to the ground.

Startled by the noise, the knight sprang to his feet, coffee spilling across his armoured legs. “What the—?!”

Ziyue lunged forward. As the man twisted open a plasma cannon aimed at her, she slashed with surgical precision, severing his arm.

Blood sprayed across the room. “Ahhhh! Am—UGH!”

Ziyue’s spinning kick crashed into his chest, sending him flying. His body slammed into the wall, denting the metal surface.

Gritting through the pain, the knight muttered into his comms, “Ambush—!”

She delivered a sharp kick to his face before he could finish. He slumped into unconsciousness.

But it was too late—

Bzzt! Bzzt!

The alarm blared. Lights bathed the entire room in red, painting Ziyue’s cold face in the crimson hue.

“Hades’s hell,” she muttered through gritted teeth.

***

As the lights flickered, Zetius dashed forward, swiftly knocking an enemy into slumber. Friederich was doing the same.

Then the red lights flared suddenly.

“What’s going on?” Zetius muttered to Friederich.

His friend shrugged and pulled him into the shadows. “Either we messed up or Ziyue did,” he said, calm and clear as ever.

“Ziyue’s a pro. She couldn’t possibly—”

Ziyue landed beside them from the tower. “Sorry, boyos. I messed up. Let’s sprint for Aurelia.”

“What?!” Zetius gasped, raising his brows.

The enemies scrambled erratically, rushing to secure their crates and valuable containers. The Armatus knights fluttered about, reinforcing around the battle cruiser.

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“Let’s just Hades’s hell ram it!” Ziyue urged, her tone both insistent and focused.

“Really?” Zetius hesitated, but Friederich gave him a solemn nod. “It’s now or never. We need to save Aurelia.”

The trio broke into a frantic sprint toward the cruiser, engaging enemies as they charged ahead.

Zetius elbowed a knight, knocking him out cold. A plasma round sliced through the air toward him. He tumbled forward, narrowly evading the blast as it splintered the wood behind him.

Next to him, Friederich moved in the shadow like a ghost in the night, gracefully weaving through the storm of plasma fire. His footwork danced like that of a master performer — elegant, fluid, and elusive.

A glowing blade, emitting pale blue light, sliced across the battlefield and clashed with enemy barriers.

Leading the charge, Ziyue rolled forward, executing a shadow step. One moment she was in front of the firing squad — then, behind them, blade drawn.

“What a nuisance,” she muttered, cleaving through their armour effortlessly.

Screams echoed as her blade grazed skin beneath metal, blood splattering across the floor.

Enemies retaliated with suppressive fire, but she was already gone.

Whoosh!

Kunai whistled through the air, embedding in their necks. Two bodies dropped with a collective thud.

Keeping pace with her, Zetius landed a crushing blow on a patrol guard’s helmet, shattering it with sheer force. Ziyue and Friederich sliced through the enemy line, their arcane abilities cutting a path.

Only 100 metres remained.

An Armatus mobile suit surged forward, its Arcanite engine humming with menace. Its visor glowed an ominous red.

Zetius clicked his tongue in frustration. That’s when he saw her — Aurelia, confined in a metal cell being wheeled up the ramp into the cruiser by a P.N.I. bot.

Inside, Aurelia squinted her eyes, straining to understand the chaos.

Chaotic atmosphere around her with plasma whirred and fired.

Erratic commands echoed — shouts, moans, groans.

In the distance, she saw glowing blades.

“Fried!” she called with joy, though her hands were chained to the cell, unable to cast a single spell.

“What a bunch of amateurs! I’ll kill them myself,” a voice boomed from the Armatus suit blocking their path.

Zetius focused his mana on his fingertip. “Empyrion ~ fire!”

A fiery beam shot through the night, colliding with the suit. The barrier held, deflecting the blast outward.

A sliver of the beam carved into the concrete, leaving smoke and scorch marks.

Beneath the suit, Ziyue slid in, dodging the remnants of the blast.

“FALL!” she cried, cleaving the suit’s leg clean off. The giant buckled, struggling for balance.

“Shit! Shit!” the pilot screamed, trying to escape with thrusters.

But too late.

Friederich launched himself into the air, bouncing off one of his lampos-spatha and plunging his glowing blade into the suit’s torso.

The mobile suit exploded in flames after Friederich leapt away.

“Let’s move!” Ziyue shouted to the boys.

The thunderous roar of the battle cruiser filled the air. The ramp was reeling in, the cell carrying Aurelia vanishing into the hangar.

They sprinted at full speed, knocking down resistance along the way.

The massive craft began lifting into the air.

At the lead, Ziyue and Friederich leapt into the hull just as the ramp began closing.

“Phoros!” the elven mage chanted, forming a protective sphere. Plasma rounds hurled toward them, bouncing off the barrier.

“Damn it!” Zetius muttered. The door was nearly shut. An idea sparked.

He coiled, planting both hands downward.

“Empyrion ~ Blast!”

A burst of fire erupted as he launched himself into the air.

“Come on!” he shouted, red eyes blazing with determination.

Another burst pushed him further like Armatus’s thrusters.

He stretched his arms, catching the metal edge.

With a grunt, he pulled himself up and slid down the incline to join the others behind the barrier of Phoros.

Before them, enemies returned fire from behind crates. The cruiser’s hull was vast, lined with rows of Armatus units.

At least fifty filled the chamber.

“Hades’s... they’re crawling like ants in here,” Ziyue muttered as Zetius rejoined them.