Chapter 192: The One Percent

The moment the Ashcrofts crossed the shattered entrance of Baal Family headquarters, the building came alive around them.

Red lights flashed along the walls, and heavy metal shutters slammed down behind them. A warning siren echoed through the enormous lobby as armed Awakeners poured from the corridors ahead. Their Mana rose in unison, forming a defensive formation around the central staircase.

Reinhard glanced at the approaching guards, then at the four women beside him. "I was hoping they’d at least offer us tea before trying to kill us."

"You blew up their entrance," Emily reminded him as she drew Aeon. "I doubt they’re feeling hospitable."

"Then we’ll have to entertain ourselves."

A notification appeared before Reinhard’s eyes.

[Investment Opportunity Detected.]

[Target: Emily Ashcroft.]

[Current Rank: S.]

[Current Value: S.]

[Objective: Defeat the Baal Family.]

[Difficulty Grade: SS.]

[Success Probability: 1%.]

Reinhard’s smile widened. The system wasn’t evaluating their chances of winning one fight. It was calculating the likelihood of defeating an entire Great Family on its own territory, surrounded by defenses and backed by powerful Awakeners. The Baals had enough influence to turn an arrest warrant into a weapon, and their experiments with the Black Moon had already endangered Marvello.

If the Ashcrofts failed here, the Baals would remain free to threaten his family again.

One percent? Fine. We’ll win.

Emily noticed his expression. "Why are you smiling?"

"I was calculating how much it’ll cost to rebuild our house."

"Calculate it after we’ve destroyed theirs."

"That’s my wife."

The first formation charged.

Reinhard lifted his hand, and Spatial Pull caught several guards before they could reach the family. Rather than dragging them directly toward him, he swept his arm around in a broad circle. Their bodies rose and followed the swirling motion, joined by loose weapons, broken furniture, and chunks of stone. Everything spun faster until the mass compressed into a tightly packed ball.

The remaining guards hesitated as Reinhard turned his wrist toward the outer wall.

Spatial Push launched the mass through the damaged facade. Stone shattered, and the guards disappeared into the morning sky with the debris.

Reinhard lowered his hand. "Much better. Now we have more room."

"Try not to throw the entire building away," Maki said, already forming a seal between her fingers.

"I’ll try to restrain myself."

The remaining guards adjusted quickly. Instead of charging into Reinhard’s reach, they spread through the lobby and raised reinforced shields while ranged Awakeners took positions behind them. They had recognized the danger of approaching him directly and were trying to pin the Ashcrofts in place.

Maki watched their formation for a moment. "They’re protecting something behind the front line. Emily, draw their attention toward the left. Lily, wait until they shift their shields."

Emily nodded and advanced.

A guard thrust his spear at her chest. She distorted the space between them, changing the angle of her approach just enough to make his attack miss, then struck the shaft aside with Aeon. When another attacker swung at her from behind, she slowed his reaction for a fraction of a second and stepped past him before his weapon could complete its arc.

She didn’t need a massive attack. Her experience let her recognize the instant when an opponent committed too much weight to a movement, and her new Gnosis gave her the means to exploit it.

As the guards turned to follow her, their shields shifted away from the left.

"Now!" Maki called.

Lily charged through the opening with Crimson Fang. Her greatsword swept across the front line, forcing two guards to brace themselves against the impact. A spectral sword shot past her shoulder and struck a third guard’s weapon from the side, leaving his defense open to her next swing.

She changed her rhythm before the second guard could predict her movement, turning what looked like a heavy overhead strike into a low, sweeping attack. He stumbled backward, and Lily’s spectral swords followed from different angles, keeping him from recovering.

Behind her, Maki placed a seal beneath the foot of a guard trying to escape. His movement locked, forcing the person behind him to collide with his back. A second seal disrupted the Mana flowing through another guard’s weapon, making its reinforcement flicker at the crucial moment.

Emily took advantage of the opening and disarmed him.

The formation collapsed in less than a minute.

But instead of retreating, the guards behind it pulled a lever on the wall. The floor beneath the Ashcrofts illuminated with a web of blue markings, and the weapons concealed in the surrounding walls unfolded.

Maki’s expression changed. "That wasn’t a retreat signal. They were buying time to activate the floor."

Turrets emerged from the ceiling, and mechanical weapons unfolded from hidden compartments. Mana gathered around their barrels before a barrage tore across the lobby.

Reinhard raised his hand. Attraction Anchor spread across the space, drawing broken pillars and shattered furniture into a field in front of the family. The debris locked in place, forming a barrier that absorbed the first volley. Stone fragments burst from the impact, but the anchored mass held long enough for Emily to move.

She crossed the remaining distance on foot, using a short spatial distortion to alter her approach. Aeon cut through the Mana conduit beneath the nearest turret. The weapon sputtered and went dark.

Yuna lifted several fragments of a broken statue from the floor. She accelerated them toward the remaining turrets, changing their trajectories through gravity so the projectiles struck from different angles. One machine buckled under the impact, while another lost its support and crashed onto the floor.

The last turret continued firing until Maki projected a seal onto its rotating base. Its movement stuttered, allowing Yuna to send a final piece of stone through its barrel.

The turret exploded.

For a moment, the lobby fell quiet.

Then Maki looked at the exposed machinery behind the destroyed weapons. A panel had broken open, revealing a cluster of glowing relays connected to the blue markings beneath their feet.

"Wait. These aren’t just weapons," she said, crouching beside the panel. "The turrets were drawing power from the same network controlling the spatial interference."

Emily looked toward the staircase. "So the defense that stopped my spatial movement is connected to the weapons?"

"Most likely. The relays are feeding power into the floors above us. If we disable this connection, we might weaken the interference."

"Can you do it?" Reinhard asked.

Maki examined the markings, then placed two small seals on opposite sides of the relay. "I can interrupt the local connection, but I can’t dismantle the entire network from here. Give me a few seconds."

The surviving guards realized what she was doing and rushed toward her.

Yuna stepped into their path. She increased gravity around the leading attackers, forcing their knees toward the floor, then reduced the friction beneath the next group. Their feet slid forward, and they collided before they could coordinate their attacks.

One managed to launch an electrical discharge toward Maki. Yuna redirected it into the metal frame of the exposed machinery, where it dispersed harmlessly.

Maki activated her seals.

The blue markings across the floor flickered, and the pressure that had been weighing on Emily’s Gnosis weakened. Emily immediately tested her spatial manipulation. This time, the distortion held long enough for her to move several meters in an instant.

"It’s working," she said.

"Locally," Maki warned. "The network is compensating already."

The warning came too late to prevent the tower’s response.

A deep vibration passed through the walls. The blue markings turned red, and heavy panels slid across the corridors. A metallic crash sounded from the staircase as reinforced barriers descended between the floors.

A new announcement rang through the lobby.

[Local defense relay compromised.]

[Activating secondary spatial suppression network.]

The pressure returned, stronger than before.

Emily attempted another spatial step. She appeared a short distance from her original position, but the distortion dragged against her movement, forcing her to land awkwardly. She steadied herself before a guard could take advantage of it.

"So they can increase the interference when a relay is damaged," she said.

Maki stood up, her expression serious. "And the secondary system is connected to more relays. We weakened one section, but now the tower is reinforcing the others."

Reinhard glanced at the staircase, where the red markings continued to spread. "Which means we made them spend more power defending the upper floors."

"And made the next section harder to cross," Emily added.

"Both can be true."

A new group of guards appeared beyond the shutter. This time, their weapons were designed for narrow corridors, and several carried devices that projected barriers across the stairwell. The Baals had adapted their defenses instead of sending another group into the same losing formation.

Maki studied the devices. "We can’t keep disabling every relay while fighting through these numbers. The central controls must be higher up."

"Then we go there," Emily said.

They advanced toward the stairs, with Yuna keeping the incoming projectiles away from them while Reinhard used Spatial Pull to tear a heavy weapon from its mounting. He twisted his arm, drawing the machine into a rotating arc, then used Spatial Push to hurl it into the barrier generator ahead.

The impact shattered the generator’s casing. Its barrier flickered, and Emily passed through before it could reactivate, Aeon cutting across the weapon of the nearest guard. Lily followed her, spectral swords forcing the defenders back, while Maki’s seals restricted the movements of anyone trying to surround them.

They reached the next landing, but the tower’s defenses had changed again. The stairwell narrowed between reinforced walls, and a dense Mana field pressed down from above. Emily tested her spatial manipulation and felt the distance distort in an unfamiliar way. The interference no longer simply resisted her Gnosis; it changed according to where she stood.

She studied the staircase, then adjusted her approach.

Instead of trying to cross the entire distance with one spatial step, she used a small distortion to move past the first guard, slowed his reaction, and struck with Aeon. She then returned to ordinary movement, parrying the next attack and using her swordsmanship to drive the defender away from the narrowest part of the stairs.

Her old experience remained useful even when her new Gnosis refused to cooperate.

Reinhard noticed the change in her approach. "Found a way around it?"

"I’m learning how the interference behaves. The field changes between sections, so I can’t rely on the same spatial technique every time."

"Good. I’ll try not to throw you through any walls while you’re adapting."

"Try not to throw yourself through one."

"I make no promises."

They pushed through the remaining defenders and reached a broad landing connecting several stairwells. A-Rank Awakeners waited there in disciplined groups, with ranged fighters covering the upper stairs and others positioned to attack from behind. The moment the Ashcrofts entered, the defenders began moving to surround them.

Maki immediately recognized the danger. "If we all advance, they’ll use the other stairwell to attack our rear. We need to hold this landing while the rest of you reach the upper floors."

Lily rolled her shoulders and raised Crimson Fang. "Then Maki and I will stay."

Emily turned toward them. "You’re sure?"

"Of course." Lily’s grin remained, but her grip on the greatsword tightened. "I’ve spent enough time letting everyone else protect me. I want to be the one who keeps our family moving forward this time."

Maki nodded, already placing the first seals across the floor. "The narrow approach favors my Gnosis. I can restrict their movement and keep them from surrounding us, while Lily handles anyone who breaks through. We know what we’re doing."

Emily hesitated. She knew both of them had grown stronger, but the enemies here were A-Ranks, and the Baal Family had yet to reveal its strongest fighters.

Maki met her gaze. "Trust us. You taught me that I don’t need to stop every enemy completely. I only need to restrict the right movement at the right moment. I can do that here."

Lily lifted Crimson Fang onto her shoulder. "And if they get through, I’ll send them back down the stairs. You just make sure you leave some important people for us upstairs."

Emily finally smiled. "All right. Don’t take unnecessary risks."

"That’s a very unreasonable request," Lily said.

"Lily."

"Fine, fine. I’ll take only the necessary risks."

Yuna gave them both a warm smile before turning toward the stairs. "We’ll meet again above. Stay safe."

Reinhard looked at Maki’s growing formation, then at Lily standing ready to meet the approaching guards. "Don’t destroy the entire tower."

"No promises," Lily replied.

Maki sighed. "That’s exactly what I was afraid you’d say."

Reinhard led Emily and Yuna toward the next stairwell. Behind them, Maki’s seals spread across the landing, each one restricting a different movement or closing off an escape route. Lily advanced to meet the first wave, her spectral swords appearing around Crimson Fang as the guards charged.

The moment the first attacker crossed Maki’s formation, his legs locked in place.

Lily’s greatsword came down.

The Ashcrofts climbed toward the summit as the battle behind them erupted into noise and light. Then the tower’s warning sirens changed pitch.

[Lower-floor defense compromised.]

[Multiple security formations disrupted.]

[Redirect available defensive resources to the upper levels.]

[The Ashcroft family must not reach the summit.]

Reinhard heard the announcement and smiled. "They’re finally taking us seriously."

Emily tightened her grip on Aeon. "Then let’s give them a reason to panic."

The three of them charged upward.