Chapter 176: Mensus Facility Is Falling Apart

The Mensus facility was already falling apart when the Ashcrofts arrived.

Black residue crawled across the outer walls and leaked from the ventilation shafts. An explosion shook the eastern wing, sending glass across the entrance plaza, while a section of the building briefly appeared several meters away from where it should have been before snapping back into place.

Reinhard extended his Mana Perception through the facility. The Heart was somewhere below them, but reaching it would be difficult. Dozens of hostile Mana signatures crowded the corridors, and several others flickered in and out of existence as spatial distortions swallowed parts of the building.

"We’re not the only ones trying to reach the Heart," he said. "Some of those signatures are fighting each other, while others are disappearing altogether. We don’t have time to investigate every room. We move toward the Heart and deal with whatever blocks our path."

Yuna nodded and checked the damaged entrance. Maki had already begun examining the black residue, but Reinhard caught her shoulder before she could approach it.

"Not now. If you find something useful, tell us while we’re moving. Don’t stop to study it."

Maki reluctantly nodded. "Understood."

Emily looked through the broken windows. She had spent years investigating the Black Moon, trying to understand the phenomenon that had destroyed so much of her life. Now she was standing outside a facility that might hold answers, yet the building was collapsing before she could even begin to investigate.

Reinhard noticed her expression and briefly took her hand. "We’ll get answers if they’re here. First, we make sure we can reach them."

Emily squeezed his hand before letting go. "Then let’s go."

Lily adjusted her enormous sword as they rushed inside. "I hope the people in here understand we’re in a hurry. I’d hate to be rude while saving everyone."

"You’re carrying a sword larger than some of the doors," Maki replied. "I think you’ve already given up on looking polite."

"Then I’ll make a good impression with my swordsmanship."

Reinhard laughed. "Please don’t destroy the facility before we find the Heart."

"I’ll try."

The first corridor was already filled with fighting.

Several Baal guards had formed a defensive line around a sealed security door, firing at a distorted humanoid creature that changed shape whenever their weapons struck it. Behind them, another group struggled to keep black tendrils from forcing their way through the door. The tendrils twisted around the metal frame, bending it inward with every pulse of dark Mana.

One guard spotted the Ashcrofts and swung his weapon toward them.

"Another group! Don’t let them reach the lower levels!"

Gunfire filled the corridor. Reinhard redirected the incoming projectiles with Spatial Push while moving forward, sending the shots into the walls behind them. Yuna advanced into the opening, activating her Domain to disrupt the defenders’ coordination, while Maki pressed her palm against the floor.

Faint seals appeared beneath several guards. Their movements suddenly became restricted, leaving them struggling to advance as Lily swept past them with her enormous sword. Her movements were smooth and precise, each swing flowing into the next as her Gnosis’s golden light flickered around her.

The fifteen swords revolving around its central star shifted with her movements, striking whenever an enemy exposed an opening.

Emily turned toward the distorted creature as it lunged at Lily’s exposed side. She manipulated the space between them, slowing its approach long enough to strike it with Aeon. The creature collapsed, but the corridor shook violently before anyone could celebrate.

A guard near the security door vanished as a spatial distortion swallowed the floor beneath him. His companions shouted his name, but the space where he had stood had already folded shut.

"Move!" Reinhard called. "That corridor won’t stay stable!"

They rushed past the fallen defenders and through the opening Lily had created. Maki glanced back as the security door finally tore apart, black tendrils spilling into the corridor behind them.

"They weren’t just defending themselves," she said. "They were trying to keep something inside."

"Then let’s hope it stays inside," Lily replied, increasing her pace.

The next corridor stretched unnaturally as they approached it. A doorway that should have been twenty meters away receded into the distance, while the walls bent inward. Several Baal personnel were firing at another group farther ahead, but their shots kept missing as the distorted space redirected their projectiles.

Yuna studied the shifting passage and identified a narrow section where the distortion weakened. "There. We have a route, but it won’t stay open long."

Emily moved to the front and concentrated on the warped distance, using her control over space to force the passage into a more stable shape.

The corridor straightened just enough for the family to rush through, while Reinhard used Space Tear to cut through a spreading tear that threatened to divide the route behind them.

They had almost reached the other side when a device mounted above the doorway began emitting a harsh pulse of Mana.

Yuna’s Domain faltered, Emily’s control over the corridor became harder to maintain, and Lily’s Gnosis flickered under the interference.

Maki looked up. "It’s suppressing our abilities!"

A Baal operative raised his weapon behind a barricade, expecting the interference to leave them helpless. Reinhard looked at the device and smiled without humor.

"That was a bad assumption."

He used Spatial Step to reach it and destroyed the device before the operative could fire. The pulse stopped, but the device’s final discharge sent a violent tremor through the corridor. The distorted walls began folding inward, and the path behind them started to disappear.

"Reinhard!" Yuna called. "We have seconds!"

Emily immediately forced the space ahead into a stable corridor, but the distortion kept pushing against her control. Reinhard looked at the broken device and understood what the defenders had relied on: the suppressor had weakened Awakeners while the warped passage made coordinated movement nearly impossible. Destroying it had restored their abilities, but the corridor was still collapsing.

"Maki, can your seals hold that doorway?" he asked.

"I can restrict the distortion’s movement for a moment, but not stop the entire corridor."

"That’s enough. Yuna, hold the defenders back. Lily, clear the barricade. Emily, keep the route open."

The family moved together. Yuna’s Domain pressed against the Baal personnel, preventing them from advancing into the passage. Lily’s sword cut through the barricade, forcing the remaining guards to abandon their firing position. Maki placed several seals along the damaged doorway, restricting the movement of the warped structure just long enough for Emily to stabilize the space beyond it.

Reinhard stepped into the opening and raised his hand. Space Tear sliced through the spreading tear, cutting its connection to the collapsing section behind them. The distortion folded inward instead of swallowing the route.

The corridor stopped shifting.

For the first time since entering Mensus, the family had not merely escaped an obstacle. They had turned the defenders’ own preparation against them, destroyed the device supporting their advantage, and used their different abilities to force a route through a space that should have trapped them.

"Everyone through!" Reinhard ordered.

They crossed together, and the corridor collapsed behind them before the remaining Baal personnel could follow.

Maki glanced back at the broken passage. "They came prepared to fight Awakeners."

"They knew someone might come here," Reinhard replied. "Whether they expected us specifically is another question. We can ask later if we find anyone willing to answer."

They continued deeper into the facility, passing a laboratory whose outer wall had collapsed into the corridor. Emily slowed when she saw the restraints bolted to the examination tables, the shattered observation windows, and the medical equipment scattered across the floor.

She recognized the arrangement.

Years ago, she had investigated reports involving people subjected to experiments connected to unusual Mana fluctuations. The records had been incomplete, and the people involved had vanished before she could uncover the truth. She had never found a facility that matched the details so closely.

"This place," Emily said. "I’ve seen these arrangements before."

Maki moved beside her, examining the remaining equipment without stopping. "From your earlier investigation?"

Emily nodded. "The restraints and observation windows. They were testing people under controlled conditions, but the reports never explained what they were trying to produce."

Maki pulled out her recording device and copied the remaining data from a damaged terminal. Several measurements remained readable, including emotional distress, Mana fluctuations, spatial distortion, and repeated references to Black Moon activity.

Her expression tightened. "These aren’t ordinary medical records. They were tracking changes in the subjects’ Mana while exposing them to something connected to the Black Moon."

"Can you tell what they were trying to accomplish?" Reinhard asked.

"Not from this fragment. I’d need the complete records and the equipment they used. But this confirms that Mensus was studying the same phenomenon you were investigating."

Emily stared at the broken observation window. The connection was no longer a suspicion based on scattered reports. Mensus had conducted experiments related to the Black Moon, and the people involved had been measuring the same abnormalities she had spent years trying to understand.

A deep impact shook the laboratory, bringing part of the ceiling down between them and the terminal. Maki secured her recording device while Reinhard caught a falling section of debris and threw it aside.

"That’s enough research for now," he said. "We have the data. We can study it when the building isn’t trying to bury us."

Emily looked at the terminal one last time before nodding. She followed him through the damaged doorway as the family hurried toward the lower levels.

The next defensive position was considerably stronger.

Baal personnel had fortified a junction overlooking the stairwell, placing relic weapons behind reinforced barriers and positioning several suppression devices along the walls. Unlike the guards they had encountered earlier, these fighters held their positions with discipline, adjusting their formation whenever the Ashcrofts approached.

Their commander looked directly at Emily.

"Take the woman alive. Everyone else can be killed."

Reinhard’s expression changed. He had heard enough to understand that the defenders were specifically targeting Emily, and rushing toward their commander would leave the others exposed.

"Yuna, break their formation. Maki, seal whatever you can reach. Lily, keep the flanks clear. Emily, stay with us until we open the route."

Yuna activated her gravity, forcing the defenders to struggle against the pressure surrounding them.

Maki placed seals against the nearest barricade and one of the suppression devices, restricting their operation long enough to create an opening.

Lily advanced through the exposed flank, her enormous sword moving in smooth, practiced arcs while the swords of her Gnosis attacked from different angles.

Emily remained near the center of the formation, using her control over space to redirect incoming attacks and create openings for the others. When an elite guard attempted to slip behind her, she distorted the distance between them, causing his strike to fall short before countering with Aeon.

Reinhard moved through the opening Yuna created. Magic Pressure rolled through the junction, forcing several guards to hesitate, while his Eyes of Domination helped him identify the next threat before it could attack. He destroyed one suppression device with a precise strike, but the remaining devices continued interfering with the family’s abilities.

The defenders had anticipated that their equipment might be damaged. The moment one device failed, two guards shifted to protect the others while the commander ordered his people to concentrate their attacks on Emily.

One guard broke through Yuna’s pressure and lunged toward Emily. She twisted the space around his weapon, knocking the strike aside, but another attacker moved in from the opposite direction.

Reinhard intercepted him, while Lily’s sword swept through the opening and forced the first guard backward.

Maki saw the defenders closing ranks around the remaining suppression devices. Instead of trying to disable each one individually, she placed a seal across the damaged barricade beneath them. The markings spread across the structure, restricting its movement and locking several defenders in place as they tried to reposition.

"Now!" Maki called.

Yuna shifted her gravity toward the center of the junction. The defenders’ formation faltered as they struggled against the pressure, and Lily cut through the exposed side before they could restore their positions.

Emily seized the opening, bending the space around the remaining barricade until it pulled away from the stairwell.

Reinhard understood what they had created. The defenders had built their position around the suppression devices and the narrow approach. Once their formation broke, the equipment protecting the stairwell became a liability, leaving them unable to cover every opening at once.

He surged forward and used Space Tear to cut through the spatial barrier protecting the stairs. The barrier split apart, and the route below opened before them.

The commander attempted to retreat, but Reinhard didn’t follow. His anger had not diminished, particularly after hearing the order to capture Emily, yet pursuing the man would cost them precious time and leave the family exposed.

"Keep moving," Reinhard ordered.

They descended without stopping to question the surviving defenders. Maki had copied the laboratory data, and the suppression equipment had given them another clue about how Mensus was prepared to deal with Awakeners. Anything more would have to wait until they reached the Heart.

The facility trembled again, and this time the distortion was strong enough to make the stairwell bend around them. Emily worked to stabilize the space ahead while Reinhard severed the spreading tear before it could cut off their retreat. Yuna watched the structure carefully, ready to pull everyone away if the stairs began collapsing.

"The spatial systems and suppression devices are connected somehow," Maki said as she checked the readings she had collected. "I can’t tell how without examining the intact equipment, but the interference becomes stronger whenever the structure shifts."

"Then we don’t give it time to get worse," Reinhard replied.

The Heart was close now. He could feel its Mana below them, though the signature was becoming increasingly unstable. Whatever was happening deeper inside Mensus was affecting the entire facility, and the clashes between the hostile signatures suggested that the people below were no longer working toward a common objective.

Emily glanced toward the descending passage. "If the Heart stabilizes while the facility is in this condition, we may lose our chance to reach it."

"Then we’ll get there before it does," Reinhard said.

A powerful impact shook the lower levels, followed by a surge of Mana that swept through the stairwell. Reinhard stopped long enough to extend his perception toward the source. Several powerful signatures were fighting near the passage ahead, and the force of their attacks was beginning to distort the surrounding space.

Lily adjusted her grip on her sword. "Please tell me they’re fighting each other."

"They are," Reinhard answered.

"Wonderful. Then we can just walk past them."

Reinhard looked toward the darkness below. "If they let us."

Another impact shook dust from the ceiling. The Mana signature of the Heart surged in response, then dropped so sharply that Reinhard felt the change through his perception. The stairwell split apart beneath them, and Emily immediately forced the nearest section of space into place while Yuna pulled the family away from the collapsing edge.

"That wasn’t just another attack," Emily said, looking down the passage. "The Heart is reacting to the fighting."

Reinhard’s expression hardened. If the combat below continued, the Heart might become unstable before they reached it. Worse, the facility was already collapsing around them, and the route they had just crossed could disappear behind them at any moment.

He cut through the spreading tear with Space Tear, opening a narrow route down the remaining steps.

"Stay close. We reach the Heart before they destroy it, or before this entire place comes down."

Reinhard went first, with the others close behind. Below them, the powerful Mana signatures clashed again, shaking the passage as the Heart’s unstable presence pulsed through the facility.

They were close enough to reach it.

They were also running out of time.