CHAPTER 199: FINALLY (UNEDITED)

AN: Couldn’t fix it, will try today.

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With [Ninja]’s [Scout], [Executioner]’s [Scan], and [Sky Sentinel]’s [Attuned], we had a complete picture of the place using my Wifey and Darling’s {Fates}.

My Avatars that a simple formation, [Defender] and [Gladiator] were our vanguard. The middle of our group had [Maestro] as our center, with [Ninja] and [Sky Sentinel] flanking him. Finally, our backline had [Heavy Gunner] and [Executioner] bringing up the rear.

’If you think about it, it’s amazing I managed to learn how to do formations just from RPG and turn-based strategy games.’

My seven bodies slowly made our way forward. Only whenever we came to a wall. We demolished it the American way a second later.

When our abilities actually found an enemy, everyone was racing to blow a hole in it. Soon, after about twenty minutes, we no longer encountered anything.

[My lord, even bears would be paragons of prudence in front of your style of exploration.]

"Hey, if it works why fix it? Rather than run around to try and solve this maze like crap, I’ll just take an elevator down. It’s fast, easy but kind of boring."

[Statistically speaking, there should be more enemies littered around the floor. But as you have not even tried to check what your opponents are, they all died without leaving behind corpses.]

What Exa just mentioned was true. I didn’t know what I was shooting at. Only that they were dead. Even if they were Africa Shifters, monsters, or demons, it did not matter. Nor did I care.

’I just want to be done with this crap and go home,’ I complained inwardly.

If at first shooting stuff felt exciting, the novelty fades after some time. Luckily I had the {Fates} of my girls, so I did not have the typical issues soldiers get when diving into deep tunnels such as this.

"Exa, where are we?"

[This location cannot be scanned by satellite imagery. But I estimate you to be around 200 feet below ground, based on the angle of descent and the pace your unit had been moving at.]

In this dark place, I only had myself to keep me company. Like a squad of one will, my soul avatars and I covered each other as we moved. To keep myself from getting bored, I began talking to them as I would normal humans and responded in kind.

’It’s kind of pathetic, but it helps with training my multitasking at least.’

"Alright, time to settle this once and for all."

The things I liked brainstorming about the most revolved around three topics: the Sirens, guns, and the Sirens with guns.

"You all noticed that the current couple’s arms are already at their limit, right? We will be upgrading, but what of the girls? As their man, we should plan this out. Let’s call their next arsenal Specter tier. Share your ideas."

Despite the rumbling and chaos our guns made, my avatars and I spoke and heard each other with crystal clarity. Be it the noise, vision, weight, the availability of ammunition, recoil, or stamina, one of the girls gave me the exact {Fate} to make the situation better.

’Sigh, they really are perfect for me. I need to show my appreciation when I meet them after this.’

My squad was making our way forward through a long corridor in absolute darkness as we chatted. That was until...

"Five on the left."

"Five? That’s it? Where is the rest of them?"

"Tsk, they won’t even come out of the wall, scared fuckers."

"So? Shoot them and the wall behind them."

"Whatever, firing Denel FT5!"

"I will too."

"Shred them to dust."

Without any semblance of ammo scarcity, we all pulled the trigger. Over ten miniguns and twenty FT5s all fired at the poor saps that just arrived. We blew them, the wall they hid behind, and the wall behind even that all away.

A large cloud of dust blew back as the explosions rocked the passageway. But we all marched on like machines with a single-minded focus.

"As I was saying..."

In the next, I felt a burning sensation on Thursday’s neck.

This was the feeling of [Sky Sentinel]’s [Attuned]. Within a single moment, my soul avatars moved in perfect harmony.

Thursday, the target ducked.

Monday and Tuesday cast skills to tank the hit.

"[Proxy] target Tuesday, [Wall]. [Vortex]."

"[Duel]."

At [Gladiator]’s taunting skill, I felt the danger shift from Thursday to Tuesday. Our vanguard in front let their weapons whirl to life and fired everything they had in the general vicinity.

"He is not coming in my scans; I have no idea where he is. Saturday, do you see him?" I declared with Friday.

While [Executioner]’s [Scan] used {Sonar}, [Ninja]’s [Scout] used {Imaging} and {Insight}. So the two often complemented one another.

Using Saturday, I crouched and tried to figure out where the target was coming from. [Scout] showed an enemy’s presence like a silhouette in my vision. I felt it but did not know where it was until I saw the highlighted figure.

When I looked around the entire floor, I looked down and up. There was still the gigantic, ominous presence below, which represented Hannibal. There was hardly anything else. But when I looked up, I saw many powerful silhouettes descending towards us.

"I do. He’s not on this floor. It seems to be coming from up above. He’s falling down rapidly. And he’s not alone."

My brains synced and I got everyone up to speed. The things coming for us were several times the size of an average man. They appeared to be as big as demons. But since African Shifters also tended to become very large, the ones coming could as easily be reapers.

"Maestro. What is the plan?"

[I suggest waiting. We can shoot him all we want afterwards. His speed suggests that he did not expect us to reach this far. He might be the one tasked with security.]

"Heh, then rather than waste time on him. Why don’t we just raise downward?"

[My lord, I would suggest against that. Unless you are certain you can subjugate a Revenant in a short period, leaving enemies at your back will just cut off your means of retreat.]

"Hmm... that is true. But I can just copy the technique from the Sirens. This fucker is just a side objective. No matter who he is, he doesn’t even matter. We just need him out."

[Yes, that is certainly true. I will handle the preparations. Where should we send it? The Sirens chose the bottom of the Mariana Trench as their end point.]

"Where is that?"

[It’s the deepest part of the Earth’s crust, 36,000 feet deep. With immense water pressure of 16,000 psi capable of imploding submarines and a temperature of near freezing.]

"... Didn’t they send Specters? Would they all die instantly?"

[We assume that it would not. Their physical bodies are expected to be destroyed instantly. But the Sirens believed the soulgems would survive. Specters are quite unorthodox.]

I shiver ran up my spine. I tended to forget how merciless my girls could be at times.

"What happens to a human body if it is teleported there?"

[The person would be crushed in milliseconds. The air-filled spaces in the body, like the lungs, sinuses, eardrums, etc., would collapse instantly. Next, the body would be compressed, deformed, and flattened. The skin would be the only thing that would remain intact.]

"I know I am going to regret asking, but would Lilly and Jo survive if that happened to them?"

[Yes, they would. Lady Lilly aside, Lady Jo would simply engage her domain and command the water to stay out.]

"... Exa, you have to be fucking with me. That can’t be real."

[No my lord, I am most certainly not. Lady Jo’s domain is a direct recreation of Lady Vela’s power. You remember how she commanded elements, both living and not, to her will, do you not?]

I did. It was a demonstration few could ever forget. Vela manifested using Jo’s body and cleared out the Hellsborn we had so much trouble with. With a flick of her hand or a single word, she commanded the world itself.

When I fought them before we came to Africa, only Lilly was a Specter. I mapped out her domain through painstaking effort. I haven’t been able to do the same for Jo, but I saw how she made the Hellsborn fight each other.

’If she can control even objects, then isn’t she like a demigod already?’

[Lady Bella and Aki analyzed the results of the battle. Lady Vela can command molecules with her voice. At her most extreme, she can separate hydrogen from water and turn it into oxygen. Commanding pressure to build or deflate is also possible.]

"Wow. And that’s just in her domain?"

[Yes. However, much like other Specters, the size and range of their domains grow with their ascension. By the time they become Revenants, Lady Jo would be no less than a living deity.]

Dumbfounded, I suddenly forgot all about the battle. While I was feeling good about guns and bullets, my girls were literally turning into demigods.

And it wasn’t just Jo. Each of my girls already showed the makings of future powerhouses. Their {Programs} and soulgear all pointed in the direction they aimed for. All of which were vastly superior to what I could do.