Kasumi found the first injured hunter before reaching the storage area.
He was sitting against a pillar, one hand pressed to his side and the other still gripping his weapon.
One of the veterans moving with her immediately crouched beside him.
"Can you move?"
The man nodded, though it took him too long to do so.
"Yes."
Kasumi did not stop.
She looked down the corridor.
There were signs of fighting along the walls, a door torn from one hinge, and several dark streaks across the floor.
But no remnants.
"How many?" she asked.
The injured hunter looked up.
"Six."
"All six went this way?"
"No."
He breathed with difficulty.
"Two stayed behind."
Kasumi slowed slightly.
"And the other four?"
The hunter pointed deeper inside.
"They kept going."
One of the veterans frowned.
"Without trying to kill you?"
The wounded man let out a short laugh that ended in a grimace of pain.
"The two who stayed definitely tried."
Kasumi looked down the corridor again.
"But the others didn't."
"They didn't even look at us."
Kasumi's expression did not change.
Since she had started following this route, she had already found three points where fighting had taken place.
The same thing had happened at each one.
Some of the remnants fought.
The rest continued forward.
It was not a retreat.
Nor was it a disorganized infiltration.
They knew where they were going.
"Take him to the medical station," Kasumi ordered.
One of the veterans stayed with the wounded hunter.
Kasumi continued with the other four.
The man walking on her right studied the marks along the wall.
"They're ignoring us."
Kasumi shook her head.
"No."
She pulled one of the fans from her waist.
The metal ribs opened with a dry snap.
"There's simply something they want more."
The internal storage area was divided into several sections.
The first held equipment used on a regular basis.
Weapons.
Seals.
Containment materials.
Tools for field missions.
The second had more restricted access.
Documents, objects recovered from contaminated zones, items confiscated from groups connected to remnants, and materials requiring special supervision.
Then there was a third level.
Kasumi knew it existed.
She had never had unrestricted authorization to enter it.
She did not need that clearance to understand that nothing stored down there should ever end up in the wrong hands.
When they reached the first checkpoint, the door had been destroyed.
Not opened.
Destroyed.
The security system was still flashing a red warning light at irregular intervals.
One of the veterans checked the panel.
"They forced it recently."
Kasumi approached the edge of the metal.
A deep cut.
Another beneath it.
Several impact marks around them.
"They didn't come in here by accident."
A sound came from inside.
Something dragged across the floor.
Kasumi raised one hand.
Everyone stopped.
A remnant appeared through the opening.
Then another.
The first had a torso far too wide for its legs.
The second dragged a limb that ended in a mass of bone.
They were not the same ones that had continued deeper into the sector.
Kasumi understood the moment she saw them.
These had been left waiting.
The first remnant charged.
Kasumi moved her fan.
A line of mana shot from its metal edge and crossed the space between them.
The cut opened the creature's shoulder.
Before it could react, Kasumi partially closed the fan and changed the angle.
A second slash struck the same place.
The arm fell.
The remnant kept advancing.
Kasumi did not retreat.
She opened the second fan.
Two short movements.
One high.
One low.
The creature lost its balance.
One of the veterans came in from the left and finished it.
The second remnant was already on top of them.
Its deformed limb struck the floor.
The tiles shattered.
Kasumi pivoted outside its reach and sent a slash into its side.
The creature raised one arm to block.
Mana cut into it, but did not pass through.
"Tougher," one of the hunters said.
Kasumi was already moving.
The remnant attacked again.
This time it did not aim for her.
It struck the floor in front of her.
Fragments of tile exploded upward.
Kasumi crossed both fans in front of her face.
Two rapid cuts deflected the largest pieces.
The veterans took advantage.
One attacked from behind.
Another struck the knee.
The remnant turned.
Kasumi saw the opening.
A single movement.
The slash crossed its neck.
The creature fell.
Silence.
One of the men took a deep breath.
"If they left these things waiting here…"
Kasumi looked farther inside.
"Then the others already passed through."
She started running.
The second door was open.
There were no bodies in front of it.
That worried Kasumi more than finding another defensive line.
She entered with both fans still open.
The veterans followed.
The inner corridor split into three.
General storage to the left.
A cataloguing room to the right.
Restricted access straight ahead.
Kasumi looked at all three routes.
No sound.
One of the hunters approached the wall.
"Which one?"
Kasumi looked at the floor.
Dust.
Pieces of metal.
A long, almost invisible mark ran along the central corridor.
Something heavy had been dragged through there.
"Straight ahead."
They started moving.
They did not get far.
Three remnants emerged from the cataloguing room.
Kasumi stopped.
They did not attack immediately.
They positioned themselves in the middle.
Blocking the way.
One of the veterans raised his weapon.
"Again."
Kasumi looked behind them.
Nothing.
The three enemies advanced.
And then she understood.
"No."
The hunter looked at her.
"What?"
Kasumi took one step back.
"They're not protecting that door."
The first remnant charged.
Kasumi sent a slash across its chest.
"They're delaying us."
She turned toward the main corridor.
There was another connection farther ahead.
A secondary passage that went around the cataloguing room.
"Two with me."
She pointed at the others.
"Hold them here. Don't pursue them if they retreat."
The veterans nodded.
Kasumi took two men and moved into the side corridor.
The fight started behind her.
She did not look back.
Akuryō waited beside the final door.
He did not look hurried.
In front of him, two remnants worked on the locking mechanism.
They were not simply trying to smash it open.
One held the structure in place.
The other fed mana into several specific points, causing the seals to flicker irregularly.
Shizuku watched.
"They're taking too long."
Akuryō did not look away from the door.
"It was built to make us take too long."
"We could have brought more."
"And attracted more attention."
Shizuku looked back toward the corridor they had come through.
Fighting could still be heard in the distance.
Not only there.
Across several levels of headquarters.
Alarms.
Metal.
Shouting.
Impacts.
All happening at once.
"How many died?" she asked.
Akuryō turned his head slightly.
"Ours?"
"Theirs."
"I don't know."
Shizuku remained silent.
One of the remnants near the door spoke without looking at her.
"There were groups we could have finished."
Shizuku looked at it.
"Yes."
"Why didn't we?"
Her answer held no anger.
"Because we didn't come for them."
The primary seal went dark.
Akuryō smiled faintly.
"Finally."
The second seal failed.
The door opened a few centimeters.
Then wider.
Beyond it was not a massive warehouse.
It was a relatively small chamber.
Containment structures lined the walls.
Several boxes.
Two reinforced display cases.
Three individual pedestals.
Akuryō entered.
He did not look at any of the objects near the front.
He walked directly to the back.
Shizuku followed.
On one pedestal rested a circular object roughly the size of a hand.
Two concentric metal rings surrounded a dark core.
It did not glow.
It did not release any obvious mana.
At a glance, it looked less important than most of the other objects in the room.
Akuryō extended his hand.
"This one."
One of the remnants approached.
"You're sure?"
Akuryō looked at it.
"We wouldn't have come all the way here if I wasn't."
He touched the display mechanism.
The seal reacted.
A pulse of mana ran across the transparent surface.
Akuryō pulled his hand away.
"This is going to be annoying."
Shizuku stepped closer.
"How much?"
"Enough."
An explosion echoed from the corridor outside.
Akuryō turned.
Then came a different sound.
A cut.
The metal of a secondary door fell to the floor.
Shizuku looked toward the entrance.
"They found us."
Akuryō turned back to the case.
"Then buy me time."
Shizuku did not answer.
She simply walked toward the exit.
Kasumi cut through the final door before the locking mechanism could fully engage.
The fan passed through the metal joint.
The first cut was not enough.
The second was.
The plate fell.
Kasumi drove her shoulder into the door and forced her way inside.
One veteran followed.
The other stayed behind to cover the corridor.
Kasumi saw the chamber.
And the remnants.
She also saw Akuryō.
He was standing in front of one of the pedestals.
She did not need to know what was inside to understand that it was what they had come for.
She raised her fan.
The slash flew.
Akuryō reacted immediately.
A small dark portal opened in front of him.
The line of mana entered it.
Disappeared.
Kasumi stopped.
A second portal opened near the wall several meters to her right.
Her own attack came out through it and sliced through a metal cabinet.
Kasumi looked at the hole.
Then at Akuryō.
"Annoying."
Akuryō smiled.
"I hear that a lot."
Kasumi threw her second fan.
This time not at him.
The weapon spun through the air and cut through one of the supports a remnant was trying to release.
The object resting on it fell back into its containment structure.
The remnant tried to catch it.
Kasumi sent another slash.
The creature backed away.
"That one stays."
Akuryō briefly looked at the object.
Then at the main display case.
"It wasn't a priority."
Kasumi advanced.
Something stepped in front of her.
Shizuku.
Kasumi attacked without slowing.
The edge of the fan moved toward her neck.
Shizuku raised her forearm.
A dense layer of mana covered her skin just before impact.
Metal struck against it.
Small sparks flew.
Kasumi pulled the weapon back and attacked from below.
Shizuku turned her body.
The second blade passed only centimeters from her side.
Kasumi switched hands.
A mana slash came from the other fan.
Shizuku extended her palm.
The attack struck a concentration of mana and deflected into the ceiling.
Concrete split open.
Kasumi stepped back half a pace.
Shizuku did not advance either.
For a moment, the two stared at each other.
There was no surprise in Shizuku's eyes.
That bothered Kasumi more than anything else.
"You knew we'd get here."
"We knew someone would."
"That's not the same thing."
"For this, it is."
Behind her, Akuryō placed both hands against the display case.
The seal began to distort.
One of the veterans tried to enter from the right.
A lesser remnant intercepted him.
Kasumi moved one fan.
A slash cut into the enemy's leg.
The veteran used the opening to bring it down.
Shizuku attacked.
Not with a technique.
With a simple strike reinforced by mana.
Kasumi blocked with both fans.
The impact forced her to slide several steps backward.
Her arms trembled.
Shizuku did not follow.
She only remained between Kasumi and Akuryō.
Kasumi lowered her fans slightly.
"So you really didn't come here to fight."
Shizuku watched her.
"There was no need."
A dry sound came from inside the chamber.
The seal on the display case broke.
Akuryō reached inside.
He took the circular relic.
For a second, nothing happened.
Then a faint vibration ran through the two rings.
Kasumi saw it.
"Put it down."
Akuryō held the relic in front of him.
"No."
Kasumi attacked.
Two slashes at once.
Shizuku moved between them.
She did not try to stop them head-on.
She deflected one with her reinforced arm.
The second opened a shallow line across her shoulder.
Shizuku barely reacted.
Kasumi was about to advance when a portal opened behind Akuryō.
Dark.
Wide.
One lesser remnant entered first.
Then another.
The veteran beside Kasumi managed to impale one before it reached the portal.
The creature fell.
Kasumi used the opening.
She ran toward Akuryō.
He already had one foot inside the portal.
Kasumi threw her fan.
Akuryō turned.
The weapon passed beside the relic.
So close that one of the metal rings vibrated.
But it missed.
Shizuku caught the fan by the edge before it returned to Kasumi.
The blade cut into her palm.
She did not let go.
Kasumi pulled on the thread of mana still connected to the weapon.
Shizuku lost her grip.
The fan returned.
Akuryō crossed the portal.
Kasumi moved after him.
Shizuku stepped in front of her one last time.
Kasumi attacked.
Shizuku blocked.
Two strikes.
Three.
Fast.
Neither was truly trying to finish the fight.
One wanted to pass.
The other wanted to stop her.
Akuryō's voice came from beyond the portal.
"We're done."
Shizuku stopped attacking.
It took Kasumi a fraction of a second to understand.
Shizuku stepped back.
"See you."
Kasumi sent another slash.
The portal began to close.
The attack crossed the dark edge and struck something on the other side.
A short sound.
She did not know what she had cut.
Shizuku crossed through.
The portal disappeared.
Silence.
Kasumi remained with both fans raised.
For several seconds, she did not move.
The veteran behind her was breathing heavily.
"They're gone?"
Kasumi looked at the empty space.
"Yes."
"With what?"
Kasumi slowly lowered her weapons.
She approached the pedestal.
The compartment was empty.
Beside it, the second object the remnants had tried to take was still inside its containment structure.
At least that one had not left headquarters.
Kasumi stared at the empty space.
"With what they came here for."
Kana received the communication almost immediately.
Tatsu was beside her, reviewing three different reports at once when the communicator signaled.
Kana answered.
"Kasumi."
The voice came through with interference.
"We reached the restricted storage room."
Kana stopped looking at the screen in front of her.
"Status?"
"They got there before us."
Tatsu raised his head.
Kana's expression did not change.
"What did they take?"
A brief silence.
"One of the containment objects."
Kana's jaw tightened slightly.
"Which one?"
Kasumi looked at the empty pedestal.
"The barrier relic."
Tatsu stopped writing.
Kana closed her eyes for barely a second.
"Confirm it."
"Two concentric rings. Dark core."
Nothing more was needed.
Kana opened her eyes.
"Yes."
Tatsu looked at her.
"What does it do?"
Kana kept the communicator close.
"It isolates an area."
"A barrier?"
"More than that."
Tatsu waited.
Kana continued.
"When properly activated, it creates a sealed dome. Getting in or out stops being simple."
"How large?"
"Depends on how much mana it receives."
Tatsu looked back at the screen.
"Can they use it now?"
"They shouldn't be able to."
Kasumi could hear from the other end.
Kana added,
"It needs to accumulate a considerable amount of mana before activation. But if they knew exactly where to find it, there's a good chance they also know how to feed it."
Tatsu frowned.
"Then we don't have much time."
"No."
Kana spoke into the communicator again.
"Kasumi."
"Yes."
"Anything else missing?"
Kasumi looked around the chamber.
"They tried to take another object."
She looked at the damaged support.
"They failed."
Kana exhaled slowly.
"Good."
Kasumi did not sound satisfied.
"I wouldn't say this went well."
"I didn't say it did."
Silence.
Kana continued.
"Do not pursue them through the portals."
Kasumi looked at the place where Akuryō had disappeared.
"I wasn't planning to."
"Check the rest of the storage area and tell me if they touched anything else."
"Understood."
The communication ended.
Tatsu looked at Kana.
"They knew which one it was."
"Yes."
"They knew where it was."
"Yes."
"And they knew how to reach it."
Kana did not answer immediately.
That was the worst part.
Not that they had stolen a relic.
Not that Akuryō had been able to remove it through a portal.
But that, from the beginning, the remnants had entered headquarters with enough information to ignore dozens of possible targets and move directly toward one specific object.
Tatsu lowered his voice.
"How many people knew its location?"
Kana looked at him.
"Fewer than I'd like to suspect."
Kasumi inspected the chamber after securing it.
The veterans began checking the seals.
One collected pieces of the destroyed mechanism.
Another checked the object the remnants had tried to take in addition to the relic.
It was intact.
Kasumi closed one of her fans.
Her palm hurt.
Not from a wound.
From the impact she had blocked.
Shizuku was strong.
Stronger than she had expected.
And Akuryō had shown no intention of fighting her directly.
That bothered her too.
They had entered.
Found the object.
Taken it out.
And left.
The confrontation had only happened because she arrived before they were finished.
One of the veterans approached.
"At least we stopped them from taking the second one."
Kasumi looked at the support.
"Yes."
"That counts."
Kasumi put the fan away.
"It does."
Then she looked at the empty compartment.
"But they got the one they wanted."
The portal opened far from the storage area.
Akuryō stepped out first.
He was still holding the relic.
Two lesser remnants emerged behind him.
Shizuku came last.
The portal closed.
They had lost one during the retreat.
Another had a deep cut along its side.
No one commented on either.
A remnant waiting there approached when it saw the object.
"Is that it?"
Akuryō lifted the circular piece slightly.
The metal rings vibrated between his fingers.
"The first."
Shizuku looked at the small object.
Then toward the corridor descending to the lower levels of headquarters.
"How many left?"
Akuryō followed her gaze.
For a moment, the distant sounds of fighting could be heard again.
Not there.
Farther below.
"Two."
Shizuku started walking.
Akuryō put the relic away.
And both continued deeper inside.