Soul Merger

The rest of the fourth layer was nothing more than traps and various giant birds. But Alissa was still drained as they got to the layer shift. The area here had a number of trees in front of the chalk lined ramp leading to the final area. "Is it safe to take a break here?"

"The ramp down should be safe," Clara said. "Though we'll want something for siren song just in case."

"I've got a spell to create some background noise," Fili said. "That will drown out distant sirens."

Alissa sighed in relief. "Clever. Let's get back in shape for the final run."

"Indeed. We'll need some time to go over the route as well since we're going to have to do some of it while fighting," Rosalina said. "Ibaraki should start as our lovely frontliner."

"Nope," the oni said. "Akari can learn all that. I'll just take it from her memory." The catgirl stumbled as the oni left leaving her unbalanced under her club's weight. Akari gave a little laugh. "First let's eat something. We can only rest so long."

"Why can't we take a nap?" Kotori whined. "This area's safe right?"

Alissa forced her annoyance down. The harpy had to be as tired as she was. "It's usually safe. Abuse it though and that'll change quickly."

Fili pulled out some fruit jerky. "Eat this. Something sweet is always good to refresh your mind."

"Ah that is true," Raiel said. "And salty foods are good for all the walking we've done. I suppose that is what those peanuts are for."

"You think it was a bad bird joke?" Clara asked with a grin.

"It crossed my mind," the angel admitted with a blush.

Alissa followed Fili's advice, forcing her mind to relax. Let the others go on high alert right now. She needed to be at her best for when they hit the last four levels.

The others were preparing as well. Eating some snacks, setting in new spell chips, and going over the route. Clara was also setting out the protective gear for everyone.

After a bit she stood, stretched and walked over to where Akari was pouring over the maps. She should probably get an idea on what they'd be doing as well.

Fortunately since this place had been raided a lot, several good paths had been found. The one they'd decided on was a quick loop to a hidden staircase that bypassed the second and third floors, but required a long push to the gate itself. The hard part would be finding the staircase it seemed. After that it was just a straightish line.

Akari looked up over her shoulder. "I'll try to keep Ibaraki in line, but it'll be hard to check for traps. We're likely to be under constant pressure. Will you be okay?"

Alissa nodded. "Yeah. If we're being hard pressed there probably aren't traps. But if Ibaraki can handle things I'll hold back and stick to trapfinding. We're going to need to rely on Rosalina and Fili to do most of the killing anyway. Especially with the sirens.

"At least the sirens won't follow us. We'll just need to deal with the ones right in front of us." Akari sighed and stood. "I've got the plan memorized as well as I can."

"Right. I'll try to cram the secret passage into my mind." Alissa looked over the writings again. They needed to find a metal door with rust on it, then enter a secret code on the front. At least she'd memorized that one. Twenty three, thirty one, seven. It'd probably be easier to pick the lock, but she had no idea if that would open the door fully, and Clara wasn't slipping through a partially opened passage.

After a bit she thought she had the twists and turns handled. She stretched again and walked over to Clara. "Alright. I'm ready."

"Think we all are," Clara replied. The woman held out ear and eye protection. "Ready to look really stupid?"

"Wonder if this will weaken my succubus aura," Alissa mused as she took the items. The glasses were a little weird, but not too bad. It didn't have the darkening effect most devices to block light did. The ear protection however was as miserable as she feared. She hated the silence that fell over her. It made her constantly want to look over her shoulder.

Clara passed out the rest of the gear, which everyone accepted. Kotori looked as miserable as Alissa felt, while Raiel was serene. Everyone else gravitated towards mildly annoyed. At least until Ibaraki shifted in. The oni seemed personally offended, and was using the group's inability to hear to say a lot of things, most of which were probably very rude.

Still Ibaraki moved to the front of the group and waited. Alissa took her place behind the catgirl, and waited. She forced herself to keep looking down. The others would signal when they were ready.

Finally the signal came. A flare of light from behind dimmed the colors around them. Raiel had summoned her light. And so they began their descent.

Her first view of the fifth layer was two horrors trying to shield their eyes, and three spears of ice falling at her. She rolled to the side, the soft turf making it fairly easy. The spears slammed into the ground silently, at least to her dimmed senses.

She turned her attention back to the front. Ibaraki had already smashed one of the horror's rounded heads halfway into its torso and was ripping off the other's leg. A third was charging blindly into the fray, and Alissa moved to intercept. She stabbed up under its hand right where the dark space where its eyes should be. A second's resistance and then the bade pushed through until a bone rattling impact on the rear shell. It took all of Alissa's strength to keep her grip and wrench the blade free.

She looked up just in time to see Ibaraki crush a siren's head by throwing a horror's helmet shell at it. The rest of the chorus had been already slain by arrows and fire spells. It looked like the first area had been cleared.

Alissa carefully moved ahead of Ibaraki and checked the turn they needed to take. The first room was clean. But the second had a pressure plate right at the entryway hidden under a chalk line. She held her hand out so Ibaraki wouldn't try to pass her then quickly staked out the dangerous area.

She looked back and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw two more horrors had attacked. Ibaraki was standing over their corpses, but she hadn't noticed a damn thing! These stupid earmuffs were a huge liability. Alissa said a few choice curses before waving and pointing to the trapped area. The others nodded so she decided to wait for Ibaraki to press on.

They carefully moved over the trap then continued three rooms down. She was about to make the turn when Ibaraki tapped her on the shoulder and pointed down the opposite way. A group of sirens was there, singing. Alissa nodded and did her best to look over the area before sprinting around the corner. Ibaraki scurried next to her just as a barrage of ice slammed into the dividing line between the two rooms.

The pressure wave of an explosion touched them before the rest of the group rushed over to their area. That probably had been the smarter move, Alissa admitted. They'd have to discuss plans more before they moved back up. At least they'd have experience before trying to get the kids out.

Alissa looked over at the wall where the secret entrance was supposed to be. Her eyes narrowed when she saw two of the metal lockers had rust lines.

She waved her arm to get attention, then pointed out the inconsistency, before making a rude gesture. Fili waved her staff in return then closed her eyes and started invoking.

The spell looked to be similar to the steam spell Fili had used in their first encounter. It washed over the wall, and the mimic clinging there peeled off with what was likely a horrible screech. The left one, Alissa noted. The creature oozed an inch towards them before being hit with fire and lightning.

That completed, Alissa stepped up and entered the code on the locker. The panels shifted to the sides, revealing the stairs down.

She did one more pass for traps, then began the descent.

Halfway down she found a tripwire. Something small and easy to step on. She glued the wire taut at the source, then cut the now useless section out before hurrying past. She hoped the others would follow her example.

Finally they reached the bottom. She looked up to see everyone had made it there. Now for the run. She let Ibaraki take the front.

The oni stretched, opened the door, and rushed out. Immediately the air was filled with feathers. They'd apparently found a siren chorus. Another annoying bit about being deaf.

Alissa stabbed one of the creatures that might have been alive before moving through the mess. A long stretch of lined green was before them, along with an entire horde of armored horrors and at least two groups of sirens.

She pushed forwards along with Ibaraki and Kotori, making some space for the rest of their team. They needed to keep the front row back. A Dismissing Slash, kept three from circling round, and a cut with her knife sent another into pained spasms. Still she had to retreat a bit before a heavy crossbow bolt killed one and gave her the room to stab another.

Then the heat hit her.

Time seemed to freeze as the air a few meters past Ibaraki rippled and churned. The grass burst into flames along with any armored horrors on it. A moment later and the ripple rushed down the green, leaving smoldering black behind it. A breath later and it was gone, leaving only the smell of smoke and char. Alissa couldn't even recognize what had been burned by smell. The sirens, horrors, and grass all seemed the same.

She managed to pull herself together enough to knife the last horror near her before looking back. Fili was panting and leaning on her staff. The small mage had unleashed pure hell somehow. But now she was paying the price.

Clara scooped the woman up and motioned with her head to Alissa. Right. They had to take advantage of this. Alissa looked back and saw a few horrors already wandering in to fill the void.

She broke into a jog, Ibaraki easily moving a few steps ahead. They'd need to keep up the pace to make it to their target.

The first room was free. The second required Ibaraki to club two horrors aside. After that things got busy.

Alissa fell back to the side of the group. She couldn't focus on anything else except cutting and slashing at the horrors as they approached. The massive creatures were blind and flailing, but their need to kill humans forced them on. Her sword plunged into eyes and through cracks in protection. Meanwhile her knife pierced shells and sent monsters toppling. And all through it she forced herself to keep moving forwards. She couldn't stop. The fights were meaningless in the end.

A shard of ice struck her thigh, tearing her cloak and leaving a bloody red line. She stumbled, but a wave of healing hit her, sealing the wound. Alissa pushed herself forwards even as she realized the healing had cleaned up a lot of smaller icicle wounds she hadn't even noticed.

Her side was starting to cramp when the flare of the portal they were headed to appeared in front of them. It was surprisingly close, but she knew they were at the limit of their luck. She forced herself to speed up.

Just then a larger horror carrying a long metal bar rushed her from the side. She swung to bat the weapon aside, and realized her mistake as the creature's fist slowly eclipsed her vision. She stabbed out with her knife, as pain erupted in her head.

Something pressed against her neck before popping off. Wind hit her ears and wasn't that a huge relief. She was so glad she could hear again, even if it was mostly screams and violent crunches. The important thing was she could follow the noises and head to where she needed to be.

The joy of hearing was cut off by a horrid scream. She looked up to see Kotori yelling at her. That stupid bird...

A moment later Alissa realized she was looking away from the rip in reality they were heading towards. She turned towards the portal and threw herself at it. "Black Wings!"

She hit the portal, and suddenly she was somewhere else. She flopped face first onto hard concrete. "Fuck!"

Ibaraki pulled her upright. "Landing's gonna cost ya."

Alissa looked around. They were in the darkness of the fallen world, a faint red light the only source of illumination outside of Raiel's orb. Kotori had just popped through behind her, leaving them all on the other side of the labyrinth.

Fili took off her ear protection. "Are you okay, Alissa?"

"Just a little embarrassed. Siren song is insidious," She shook her head. "Sorry. Well at least we made it."

"Indeed," a heavy voice said, rolling over the group. "Welcome honored guests. Allow me to get you to your proper places." The air shimmered revealing a massive black dragon. Alissa froze. What now?

The dragon decided for them. "Chains of Wind" it intoned with a flap of its wings. The air turned into violent green chains that rushed towards them.

Fili slammed her staff into the ground and Alissa moved behind her. "Chaotic dismissal!" Fili yelled out. Rosalina raised her own scepter, shining power flowing outwards.

The winds hit Fili's barrier and shattered. The gust smashed into Alissa, flinging her back.

A moment later she realized there wasn't any ground beneath her.

The top of the building moved away as she fell. Fili was in the air above her, looking dazed. Could the woman cast like that? Probably not.

Alissa grabbed her sword. "Dark Wings," she screamed, trying to break their fall. Fili slammed into her, but she felt like they were slowing down. Would it be in time?

She hit the ground solidly, but there was no pain. She wondered if that was good or bad, as darkness fell over her.