Newly Summoned Demoness - Chapter 66 – Infiltration (Patreon)

Of course, Yolani smiled and said she liked her as well. Elania bit her lip and nodded, realizing the other girl didn’t really understand what she’d really meant. That was okay, they had enough to deal with already, and facing her possibly impossible unrequited feelings was not something they needed right now.

And she was right, they’d only known each other for a few days, it just felt incredibly longer than that. She barely knew about the other girl, but everything Elania learned she liked. And she felt like she really, really wanted to learn more with every tidbit.

The journey through the Artisan District to the Magister one required an above ground route, through curfew’d streets and around dozens of guard patrols. It was nerve-wracking and enough to keep her mind preoccupied and away from stupid Elania thoughts. Security was ridiculous, and probably only possible by the severe segregation of each district and the cavernous nature of the city.

Although the sewers had proved that the seemingly impenetrable walls and ravines that separated the districts were not impermeable.

When they finally reached the gate to the Magister District and looked at it from a nearby alley, Elania felt her heart skip. There were two dozen guards in neat rows lined up with rifles. That wasn’t even mentioning the guards walking along the wall above, looking out over the city!

She pulled back and looked at Yolani with concern. “How are we supposed to get past that?” Elania hissed.

Yolani shook her head and smiled. She pulled out two small brooches and handed one over. “This will make us invisible to the gate’s energy detector wards,” she explained briefly.

Elania attached the silver piece of metal to her shirt with a pin. That was easy enough. “What about the guards?” she asked.

Yolani nodded and went back to her pack and pulled out a simple wooden stick. It looked like a chopstick. “Can you power this?” she asked, her gaze piercing into Elania’s.

Scrutinizing the object in question, Elania reached out and touched it. The feel of a small, empty crystal was there. She nodded slowly. “I can, but…why?”

A ghost of a smile flickered onto Yolani’s face at that. “This will render us completely invisible for about sixty seconds if we both touch it,” she explained.

That was extremely useful. There were several times during the prior day that it would have been really nice to have.

“Oh, well, why didn’t we use one of these before?” Elania asked.

“I only have one, and they are hard to make, and I didn’t remember where it was. Was just luck I spotted it in the mess,” Yolani replied.

Luck. Well, it was about time something went their way.

Elania reached out and took hold of the stick. Yolani’s hand clasped around hers. Power flowed and then they stepped out together, a hurried but carefully silent walk toward their goal. Invisibility meant silent, and now was not the time to sneeze.

As they hurried along, Elania found herself hyperaware of their joined hands; something about that contact felt intimate amidst all the danger and uncertainty surrounding them.

As they passed by the standing formations, the murmur of soldiers filled the air. Some of them were chatting idly. Excellent. Just a normal, boring guard duty. No invisible girls sneaking by here!

They barely made it to a nearby alley between two grand buildings as the invisibility stick turned to ash in their hands. Well, there was no going back now.

The imposing silhouette of the Magister Tower loomed ahead of them, a colossal structure that dominated the district and rest of the city much like the city watch’s citadel on the other side of the city. The Magister tower, though, was dotted with thousands upon thousands of red lights, ringing around it and pulsing in a rising pattern like some type of gaudy skyscraper advertisement.

Well, whatever. They just needed to reach it and break in.

The structures surrounding the tower were laid out in their own grid pattern, and guards patrolled between the buildings in small groups of two at random. With the city light stones deactivated for nighttime, they were easy to spot by the lantern glows. Trusting their concealment skills and items, they hurried, only diverting to avoid getting too close to guards that got in their way.

That got them to the inner edge, but there was a massive gap between the buildings and the base of the tower. Worse, there were dozens of random two-man guard patrols crisscrossing the open area.

“What do we do now?” Elania asked. They’d used up the invisibility stick.

Yolani followed her gaze before pointing towards the ground, faintly visible red lines crisscrossed amongst the cobblestones. “See those?” she asked quietly. “They light up when someone steps on them.”

Elania frowned, glancing over to the nearest pair of guards who were nonchalantly strolling across said lines with no visible reaction. “But they aren’t lighting up for the guards…”

Yolani nodded and then fished out four circular metal disks from her bag and held them up in response. “Two years ago, my father worked on a project—making new boots that could bypass the detection lines for the guards. The design and materials were under strict security…but I peeked at them one night for a few minutes.”

Elania’s eyes were drawn to the four disks in realization.

“I memorized everything from the schematic that I saw. A few days later I redrew it and then made these as just a funny side project. Never really thought they’d have a use,” she said wistfully.

“That’s…amazing,” Elania breathed out, genuinely impressed.

A sheepish laugh escaped from Yolani as she shrugged. “Well…don’t celebrate yet,” she admitted awkwardly. “They’ve never been tested…and the formula was complex. But in theory, these should throw off the sensors.”

The uncertainly was a minor damper on the confidence, but given their situation, they didn’t really have a choice. Their luck had been good so far, so hopefully, it continued to hold.

“What about the guards’ line of sight? This isn’t going to hide us from that,” Elania questioned, observing the patrolling soldiers with a frown. It was one thing to fool the magical detection, but there were guards with eyeballs still.

Yolani turned towards her, giving her a weak smile. “I was hoping your new skill might work.”

Elania felt a pang of apprehension. Using her [Presence Concealment] skill would use some power, but more importantly, she wasn’t sure if… “I don’t know if it will work for both of us,” she admitted reluctantly.

Yolani’s eyes roamed over Elania before quickly averting them. “It should,” she said with a determined edge to her voice, “as long as we stay very close together.”

Elania blinked. Well, there was only one way to find out. She closed her eyes and focused on picturing how her [Presence Concealment] skill worked and then pushed [Power] into it. They both attached the disks to their boots, and then Elania scooted close enough to Yolani to bump shoulders. “This close enough?”

Yolani shook her head in response.

Feeling her cheeks heat, Elania stepped closer, looping her arm inside Yolani’s. The other girl pressed even closer, until they were glued together, her arm going around Elania’s back and squeezing her side.

“This should work,” Yolani said.

Elania could feel herself blushing as the other girl’s body heat radiated against her. The walk went slowly, and as they reached the first detection line, both their hearts pounded synchronously. The line didn’t activate when Elania did a test step on it.

Slightly relaxed, they carefully picked a path between the guard patrols until they reached the base of the tower itself. Each step felt like it was bringing them one bit closer to salvation or… No, better not to dwell on the ‘or’ part.

They ducked behind a large statue for cover and to take stock of the situation. The two massive entry gates were ceremonial in purpose and remained perpetually closed. That left access through a set of double doors on the structure’s cardinal directions, or a smaller stairwell access in between them.

Yolani pointed to one of those. “The guards pass by every sixty seconds… It’ll take me approximately forty to unlock the door.”

Elania looked between the door and Yolani several times. It was not exactly close. “That’s…quite some distance,” she pointed out hesitantly.

“I know,” Yolani responded with a nod. She bit her lip, then looked Elania in the eyes. “That’s why I need you to carry me while you sprint over there at max speed.”

Elania blinked in surprise. “Excuse me?”

Yolani repeated the request quickly. “You’ll have to be silent while doing it, too,” she added.

Elania let out a tense breath. “Okay, let’s try.”

There was no turning back, anyway.

Yolani got her tools ready and in hand, and then Elania lifted her up into a princess carry. There was too much stress to even be nervous about that, as her attention was riveted on the passing guard patrol. The second they turned the corner, she leapt out from the statue and sprinted as fast as she could without slapping her feet on the marbled tiles.

As soon as they reached the door, Elania set Yolani down and the girl got to work, placing some type of sticky thing just below the door handle while tapping it with a set of small wands.

Elania couldn’t discern any pattern to the work. Constant glances for the next set of guards kept her busy enough.

When the telltale light began to diffuse around the corner, she began to feel panic. “They—”

The door clicked open, and they both scurried inside. Yolani quickly turned and pulled off her door cracking tool and then sealing the door quietly and quickly.

They’d made it.

The interior was a narrow room with a door on the other side of it leading deeper. More importantly, was a stairwell in the corner that led upwards.

“We’re in,” Yolani gasped out between breaths. “This is…the western stairwell.” She pointed towards the ascending steps with shaky fingers. “It should take us up to…to the twentieth floor.”

Elania arched an eyebrow at that but didn’t question it further, trusting in Yolani’s knowledge of Neftasu’s bureaucratic structures.

“Once we get there,” Yolani continued, regaining some of her composure. “We’ll need to find…the directory.” She paused for a moment, catching her breath before finishing, “that will tell us where Relain’s office is.”

The stairwell was dark and silent, which was perfect for their ascent. Each step felt odd to Elania, though. It felt like a pressure at the back of her head was building. It wasn’t painful, but it was impossible to ignore. “Do you feel that?”

Yolani looked back at her questioningly. “Feel what?”

“Some kind of pressure?” Elania asked weakly.

“Probably just need to pop your ears. Try swallowing?” Yolani asked.

Elania shook her head, and they continued upwards.

Their climb finally reached the 20th floor and Elania peeked inside the door. The room was expansive and open, but filled with endless shelves and desks—dimly lit and eerily silent. They slipped inside unnoticed, and [Darkvision] made it easy enough to pick a path.

Yolani’s hand settled on her shoulder and she followed closely, having a hard time seeing anything.

Just when they had nearly reached the primary reception counter, the diffuse light of a lantern approaching behind the shelves sent them scurrying from cover. It was a single guard, quietly walking through the room on patrol.

He passed by without noticing them and both girls let out breaths of relief.

There were dozens of paper manuals, and Yolani pulled out a tiny crystal that worked as a miniature flashlight to read them by. Elania stood near, watching for any more guards, but the pressure in the back of her head was getting worse.

It felt like she needed to go somewhere nearby… like it was calling to her. Before she could complain about the odd feelings again, the entire world flashed a bright yellow, blinding her.

Things returned to normal quickly…except she was no longer where she had been standing. An ornate looking door with a ruby encrusted handle stood before her, and Yolani was tugging on her wrist.

“Elania! What are you doing?” she hissed. “That guard almost saw us! You walked right past him!”

Elania shook her head. She had no memory of that. They’d just suddenly appeared at the door. The pressure was less, but the compulsion to go inside was stronger than ever. “I need to look inside,” she murmured.

She placed her hand on the handle, and a multitude of clicks from the bolts sliding open echoed with an almost alarming amount of noise. Nothing prepared either of them of the brilliant yellow glow that erupted as the door opened.

Yolani pushed her inside in a panic as the light spread through the other room, then pulled the door shut.

Both stood in silent awe as they took in the sight before them—a massive golden artifice of rotating rings and metal disks, golden gears and long piston rods—all chugging away and spinning nearly silently as they floated over a central white disk far below the balcony they were standing on.

Yolani finally broke the silence. “The Celestial Engine.”

The sword on her back had been silent the entire trip to the tower, but now Eziel spoke, his system text taking on the same golden hues as the engine.

[The Celestial Engine is dying. It has been misused. Its power nearly is depleted. The cause of the city’s dungeon is apparent. The Engine can’t support it with its diminished energy. Without the capacity to maintain it, there will be no new mana shards. The Engine will fail catastrophically.]

Well, that was another piece of the puzzle. Elania shook her head. Eziel had spoken, but it felt like the Engine was trying to communicate with her. It needed help.

Yolani turned to Elania, her eyes fixated on Eziel’s hilt over her shoulder. “Is this…is this an artifice?”

[It’s a divine artifice. Created using similar skills as yours, but crafted by the gods themselves.]

The word ‘divine’ echoed in Elania’s head like a bell. Eladu’s gods were real then? Actual, omnipotent deities running around rampant at some point? She hadn’t seen anything or anyone overtly religious, not even the monks, and she had a feeling that most people were…rather lax in any worship.

How did that happen with something such as the thing before them?

She answered the question herself: no one was really allowed to come see it, were they? Probably only the Magisters themselves. Why would they want the Engine to fail? Was it related to the election thing that Yolani had mentioned a few days ago when they met with Gaston?

Yolani stared at the machine in awe for a bit longer before the fierce determination that Elania loved appeared in the girl’s eyes.

“How do we repair it?” Yolani asked.

[An infusion of power on a massive scale.]

A momentary silence fell over them as they processed Eziel’s message before realization dawned on both of them.

They shared a knowing look as they both spoke in unison, “The mana shards.”