Chapter 286: Assault! Attacking The Claymore Enterprises Mana Reactor!

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"Hah!" Vladimir grinned. "I’m always right." He crossed his arms again, looking pleased with himself.

"Shut up," Riven said flatly. He had little patience for the man’s attitude. "Daniela, stay with Noir inside my shadows, okay?"

Daniela hesitated, then nodded. "Ok..."

Riven was not going to let a girl her age get involved in an open assault. This was something he would handle himself... along with Vladimir.

"So how are we doing this?" Vladimir asked. He cracked his knuckles. "Want me to distract them while you break the barrier and the walls?"

Riven shook his head. "First we cut off their means of communication. See that tower in the middle of the compound?"

A tall metal tower rose near the center of the walled area. A thick tube ran from its base underground and connected to another engine linked to the Mana Reactor.

"That’s a Communication Tower," Riven explained. "It keeps all the technology inside this gate linked to the outside world. You know how regular phone signals and wi-fi stop working the moment you step into a gate? That tower is the reason they can still talk to headquarters and call for backup. If we take it down first, they won’t be able to request reinforcements or alert anyone outside right away. That gives us a window to move before the whole place goes on full alert."

There’s no phone signal either, usually. That’s because gates are different dimensions. Even when the gate itself stays open for people to walk through, the entrance acts like a dimensional door. It only lets people, oxygen, and mana pass. Nothing else gets through, including regular signals.

"I see," Vladimir nodded. "You want to blow it up."

Riven nodded and began gathering Ki into his palm, compressing it the way the frog had shown him during their training. "We’re going to take back what belongs to the people."

"Heh. I don’t give a shit about this whole ’giving it back to the people’ idea of yours, Riven," Vladimir said with a grin that showed too many teeth. "But I’m in if it means I get to kill as many Claymore fuckers as I can."

"Whatever," Riven sighed. "Once we take down the communication tower, everything inside goes offline. They won’t be able to report what’s happening to the outside. We’ll probably have about an hour before someone notices the silence and comes to check. Maybe less. We need to finish this in half an hour or less if we want a clean window."

"So what’s the plan?" Vladimir asked. "Go crazy?"

"...Yes," Riven answered after a short pause. He looked past the walls at the Mana Reactors tearing into the gate’s land. The sight reminded him of the same damage happening to the planet outside. "We blow the tower. When it goes down, the barrier and the walls should drop at the same time. My veil will lift, but that doesn’t matter. You charge ahead and handle the soldiers. I move straight for the reactor and shut it down. You follow right after me. Then we push past the inner wall and into the dungeon boss area."

"Got it," Vladimir said. "So when do we start?"

"At the count of one," Riven replied and began counting down.

As the numbers dropped, his aura rose higher. Ki poured into his hands and compressed tighter with each second. The guards standing only a short distance away saw nothing. The Veil of Invisibility hid both the men and the rising energy. Even the scanners and sensors built into the soldiers’ gear picked up no trace.

"Three..."

The Ki kept packing tighter. The color shifted from blue to white, then slowly turned red as the pressure climbed.

"Two..."

The energy shrank until it was no larger than the tip of his index finger, a dense point of force that hummed against his skin.

"And..."

The ground under their feet gave a low rumble as the compressed Ki reached its limit and prepared to release.

RUMBLE!

At its maximum condensation the sphere of Ki seemed to vanish completely, as if space itself had swallowed it.

Then—

"ONE!"

TRUUUM!

The sphere shot forward at high speed. It punched straight through the walls, shattered the barrier in an instant, and slammed into the communication tower.

BOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!

The upper half of the tower disintegrated on impact. The lower section cracked apart, melted, and set off a chain of smaller explosions as the connected wires and tubes caught fire and ruptured one after another.

At the same moment Riven appeared in front of the nearest group of guards. Shadows covered his body and a mask of hardened abyssal and spiritual energy, shaped like a dragon’s head, hid his face.

"W-Who...!"

"What the?!"

"What’s going on— the communication tower?!"

"You did this?!"

"He appeared out of nowhere— Calling all units, there’s someone attacking—"

Their panic was cut short by a loud laugh.

"Hehe... HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Vladimir stepped out of Riven’s shadows. His body shifted, growing larger until he stood as a red werewolf. He charged the guards at once, claws tearing through them in seconds.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

"Gwaaaaaack!"

"A-A werewolf?!"

"Gaaaaahh! Shoot! Shoot!"

The soldiers opened fire in every direction. The bullets were powerful enough to kill most C-Rank monsters that lacked strong defenses. Riven and Vladimir moved faster than the shots. Their senses tracked the trajectories and they stepped aside or ducked under each one.

They closed the distance quickly.

Vladimir kept laughing as he swung. One claw ripped open a man’s stomach, spilling intestines, then finished the cut from neck to waist.

"G-Gaaaaaahhhhhh!"

Riven struck with his fists instead. Each blow landed on a helmet or temple and dropped the target instantly with a heavy concussion.

"Ugh?!"

"Aaagh!"

"W-Wait— aagh!"

"Who are you people? UGH?!"

The last guard, a C-Rank, was caught by Vladimir. The werewolf lifted him off the ground and squeezed his neck with one large hand.

"W-Wait...! A-Aaack! W-We’re just working here...! Please...! I have... a family...!"

"Oooohh, you have a family?" Vladimir said, still smiling. "I couldn’t care less what you have. I’m going to enjoy this."

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