Hey! Today’s something a bit different, a chapter without Tobias and Zoe (don’t miss them too much, they’ll be back in the next one), but I felt this part was too important to skip. So here it is Attack on the Lab!

  ---

  Gemma stood in the darkness of the forest. It was over an hour before sunrise. The b they were supposed to attack was nearby, and they were making st preparations.

  “We’re ready to attack, Ma’am,” Cynthia said, approaching Gemma, her centaur that stood behind, and Sage, who stood next to them.

  “Sage?” Gemma asked.

  “Ready,” she replied, smirking.

  “Let’s go,” Gemma said, moving toward the gigantic cage in which Subject One was held. Because of it, they needed to stay quite far away from the b before they could start their attack, as it was easy to spot even from a distance, given how big it was.

  Inside was a monster - an Ice Behemoth, captured in a high level dungeon and brought to their world so Gemma could use it in an attack like this.

  It stood over thirty feet high, huddled, leaning on its hands on the ground, standing like a goril, with thick skin that was additionally covered by icy armor. It was equally wide, close in size to a small house. Its maw was full of teeth, and its big dark blue eyes shifted to Gemma. Its icy mace was lying next to it on the floor of the cage.

  Gemma took a deep breath, reaching her hand between the bars. Her eyes glowed blue before they suddenly closed, while her whole body tensed.

  The next breath she took filled her big lungs, her wide chest, and as she let it out, it came with a growl from her maw as she grabbed the big ice mace lying next to her legs. Her mind was now inside the monster, fighting with it over control of its body.

  “Ready?” Sage asked. Her voice was distant.

  Gemma stomped her left foot three times quickly, letting her people know that she had already taken possession of the monster’s body and was ready to attack.

  She looked over her soldiers, who had blue marks on their chests and backs - signals for the monster that those were friends. The Behemoth had been trained not to attack them many times, but Gemma repeated those commands again and again to consolidate the order.

  A small woman, at least from Gemma’s new perspective, approached the magical lock on the cage and, using her skill, unlocked it. Gemma got out of the cage with a loud growl, stretching her body, standing on two legs before dropping down, leaning on one of her hands while holding her mace in the other.

  The monster's instinct was to kill, and despite the training it wanted to attack and reap the humans around, only her control stopping it. Gemma stomped its foot two times, signaling the attack, and then rushed forward, promising the monster that enemies were ahead so it would cooperate with her.

  With the wards surrounding the b, it was impossible to attack quietly or by surprise, so she decided on a direct assault that would cause chaos.

  Her soldiers followed after the Ice Behemoth as she tore through trees like they were just tall bdes of grass.

  When she finally reached the b, mana strikes shone on both her sides, flying toward the magical ward. When they crashed suddenly against the invisible wall, it became visible but quickly cracked open, leaving the b without protection.

  Gemma took a deep breath, the smell of the forest intense, but she focused on other smells - humans sweat. She forced the monster to ignore those behind it and focus on those in front. Then she sensed it - two humans standing just by the wall of the first building.

  She didn't even need to control the monster, just let it do whatever it wanted, making sure it would not attack her people. As the guards looked toward her, she was getting close quickly with big leaps, reaching two women who stood as if frozen with shock or fear.

  The monster swung its mace. When the spikes hit the woman’s body, she flew with a scream that ended before she even hit the ground a hundred feet away. Then the monster grabbed the other woman in its paw and smmed her against the ground three times, leaving a bloody mess.

  The monster stood on its two legs and roared to the sky. Then Gemma focused and took control again to put the Behemoth down to the ground and continue the attack. It was easier, as the monster was cooperating, satisfied with a win while still wanting more.

  Her people were catching up, reaching the building as arms rang all around. She didn't see any new enemies, so she swung her mace, took a spin, and smmed it into the building’s wall, demolishing it. As she moved away from it, her people ran inside, but she was more focused on looking for opponents to kill.

  She rushed around the building toward the second one, from which more guards ran out. These were just as shocked by the high-level monster attacking their b but not so much as to stand doing nothing.

  They sent all sorts of magical attacks at it, but the pain Gemma felt was dulled, and the monster only became enraged, heading toward the mages who had summoned shields at the frontline to protect those standing behind.

  That could have worked for the monster, which would just attack whoever was closest, smming into shields and giving time to those on the backline to get through its thick ice armor. But Gemma, working with the monster, pushed it to jump over the frontline and sm its mace into mages who stood without shields. She sent them crashing into the building or spttered them into a bloody mess, as others screamed, running away and sending attacks at the Behemoth.

  The monster felt pride seeing its opponents’ fear, and excitement as the hunt began. Gemma let it chase freely after a mage who was sending fireballs at it, threatening to melt its icy armor, but before she could do it, Gemma reached her.

  As the monster swept with its mace, the mage dropped to the ground, dodging it. Then she sent a fireball that burned the Behemoth’s leg. Gemma pushed the monster to strike again, but it missed. As her attack hit the ground, the impact pushed the mage down with dirt and all other debris that flew up.

  She summoned another fireball, but the Behemoth was already over her body and put its foot on her. Gemma slipped away from the monster’s mind, not wanting to feel what it was going to do, as it put more and more of its weight down, sensing how the mage’s bones cracked and broke beneath it.

  Gemma waited, knowing it was better to give the Behemoth time to take the sick delight of slowly killing the mage, knowing it would be more cooperative after she let it fulfill its sadistic desires.

  When the monster’s foot stood completely on the ground and the mage was nothing more than a puddle of blood, Gemma returned fully to the monster’s body. It was hitting its icy mace against the ground, roaring, celebrating the victory, but Gemma pushed it to look for the next targets, as the fight was not over.

  The Behemoth's eyes shifted to two groups of people standing opposite each other. Both were using magical shields and sending magical blows against each other. She encouraged the monster to rush at those who didn't have blue marks on their bodies, and the monster didn’t need much encouragement to charge them with a wild roar. It barraged into those humans, sending them in all directions as their shields broke under its assault.

  The monster was hitting them with its mace, its paws, killing one after another in a brutal show of power, as Gemma watched, letting the monster do the fighting, to not get tired controlling every its move, as she only needed to direct the monster in the right direction and it did the rest.

  Her soldiers were spread around, standing at a safe distance from the monster, attacking guards who were trying to run away from the Behemoth.

  When the whole group was annihited, Gemma struck the wall of the building, creating another break, letting her people enter. The monster was too big to fight inside, so she had to leave that to them, but she would take care of everyone outside in the meantime.

  The monster’s gaze lingered on Gemma’s mages, who were running inside the building, but repeating that blue meant allies, she forced the monster to look around for another target. Its gaze locked on two guards running toward the main building in the center.

  The Behemoth didn’t need encouragement to head toward them.

  ---

  When the Ice Behemoth broke the wall in the first building, three women rushed inside, entering the corridors of the b. They were moving fast, quiet, one after another, two of them wielding swords, while the st one held a bow.

  When a guard stepped out of one of the rooms in front of them, the first woman leapt forward and sshed at her with her sword.

  The guard summoned a sharpened rock, blocking the sword, then used her own bde to block the attack of the second woman. But then the first woman moved two inches to the side, and where her body had just been, an arrow flew, piercing the guard’s neck.

  She dropped her sword, falling to her knees, but before she could do anything more, the second woman decapitated her and, without a blink, headed forward through the b.

  All three of them were checking the rooms on both sides of the corridors they were moving through, looking for prisoners. When they stumbled upon two more guards, two women who had their weapons ready, the one on the left instantly sent a bolt of electricity toward one of the attackers.

  The woman dodged it swiftly, spinning to the side, as her friend at the same moment moved aside, making space in perfect synchronization. The archer behind them shot instantly between them, missing their bodies perfectly.

  At the same time, the woman on the right summoned a purple dagger in her hand and hurled it toward the guards.

  The woman who had dodged the bolt moments before was already in front of the guards, she struck with her sword. The guard blocked it, but the other attacker dashed under the arm of the first one and sshed through the guard’s side.

  As an arrow flew and struck the arm of the other guard, the woman who had leapt behind them kicked her in the back. The guard fell forward and was impaled on the sword of the attacker in front, who was ready, waiting in perfect position for that moment.

  The first guard, holding her wounded side, raised her hand and sent a bolt of electricity at the attacker who had her back turned, but she moved out of its way without seeing it. As the attack struck the wall, the second attacker cut off the guard’s hand, following with a stab through the left side of her chest.

  The guards were dead in seconds, and the attackers moved forward, checking the next rooms until they found one in which an older man was hiding. One of the women went inside without a word, while the other two remained in the corridor, protecting the door.

  “Please don't kill me!” the man screamed as she entered, her sword covered in blood.

  “Where are the shapeshifter wolves held?” she asked, kicking the man’s legs so he fell to the ground with a painful scream. She pressed the tip of her sword to his neck, hard but without wounding him.

  “T-There,” he stammered, pointing at the window. “I-In the next building. Follow through the main corridor and you will get there.”

  The woman pulled her sword back. “Stay here,” she said as the other two entered the room, moving toward the window. They jumped out through it and quickly moved toward the building at some distance from them.

  Even before they reached it, the one with the bow raised her hand and sent a purple orb at the window, opening a way into the building. They entered another b room, swiftly moving through it to end up in a wide corridor.

  Two of them looked left, one right, as there were only doors on both sides. Without a word, they all turned right and moved along, checking the rooms on the way.

  After taking a turn, they noticed two guards standing by a door with their weapons ready. A fireball and a stream of water flew at the attackers. One of them jumped in front of the other, summoning a purple shield that blocked the attack. Then she turned sideways, letting the woman behind her pass and leap at the guards.

  She sent a purple dagger at one of them, but it was blocked with a shield. Another fireball flew at her, and she jumped to the side - onto the wall, but her foot bounced off a purple disk floating in the air, which summoned the woman behind her. She changed direction mid-air and barged into her opponent. She kicked her sword aside and pierced her in the arm with her own, just as an arrow pierced the guard’s stomach.

  The other guard tried to attack her, but a purple disk of mana summoned in the air between them blocked the attempt. The first woman sshed at the guard, but it was blocked with a shield. Then she attacked from the other side. A magic dagger flew under her arm while an arrow flew over her head, narrowly missing her body. Both projectiles struck the guard as the first woman pierced her sword through the guard’s neck.

  The second woman finished off the guard that had been knocked down first, and then they all rushed through the door. A wider corridor stretched before them, with the letters B, C, and D painted on the ground. There was also a corridor to the left marked with the letter A, and one to the right marked E.

  The women immediately split up without any signal, one into each corridor. The one who ran into the right corridor looked into the first room through a small window. The room was small, maybe six feet in both directions. A young woman sat in the corner, beaten and weak, not even looking up.

  “Hannah?” the woman asked, but the one inside didn't answer. She shifted her gaze to the badge next to the door:

  ‘Subject E0456’

  “Hannah?” she tried again, but the woman remained with her head between her legs, unresponsive. Then she moved on, trying her luck in other rooms, but all the women inside looked barely alive and didn’t respond.

  The one who turned to the left was doing the same, but she had far fewer doors to check, as the rooms on this side were much bigger, with beds inside. She stopped by one beled ‘Subject A0086.’

  “Hannah?” she asked.

  The woman inside was standing by the door. “What’s going on?” she asked. She seemed to be in much better condition.

  “Are you Hannah?”

  “Please take me from here,” the woman inside said.

  “We will, but first I need to find Hannah. Do you know her?”

  “Please,” the woman inside begged.

  The woman outside moved further through the corridor, skipping over the rooms where children were held, repeating Hannah’s name. But as no one responded, she stopped.

  “Azura’s mother?” she screamed, hoping that maybe this would bring a response. The two other women checking rooms did the same at the same time in their corridors.

  “Azura?!” one of the women in the cells in the left corridor shouted. The attacker turned and moved back toward the door, where a woman well over forty was standing by the small window.

  “Hannah?”

  “Do you know Azura?” the woman inside asked.

  “She sent me here to get you out,” the woman replied, as her two companions moved toward them through the corridors.

  “She’s alive?!” the woman inside asked, tears appearing in her eyes.

  “Yes. Move away from the door,” the woman outside said.

  “Oh my gods,” the woman inside gasped, moving away.

  The attacker summoned a purple mana orb and sent it toward the lock, destroying it completely and opening the door. At the same time, the other two attackers arrived at the corridor.

  “Let’s go,” the woman with the bow said to the woman inside the cage.

  Hannah ran out of her room, but as she looked at the women who had come to help her, she stopped, staring at all three of them.

  ---

  “I found her,” Sage said, standing by Gemma’s side.

  Gemma was in the process of fighting against mages, the Behemoth wounded and getting tired, but still deadly against their opponents.

  “Put her in a safe pce,” Gemma said, slipping back into her body for a moment, letting the monster do whatever it wanted while passively observing to make sure it didn't attack her own soldiers.

  “On it,” Sage replied.

  “They set a new ward around the main building, Ma’am,” Cynthia, standing on Gemma's other side, said.

  “Level?” Gemma asked, still watching over the actions of the Behemoth.

  “At least eight, maybe nine,” Cynthia replied.

  “What is the status on the bs?” Gemma asked.

  “We’re getting control over them, but the guards are hiding in the rooms, waiting, so we move slowly to make sure there aren’t any casualties.”

  “Continued,” Gemma said. “Don't attack the main building for now. Cut them off and wait until we clean the other buildings," she said, then slipped back into the Behemoth’s mind as it killed all opponents nearby, and she needed to guide it to other guards.

  ---

  “I’m one person. Those are my clones,” Sage said. Or rather, all three versions of her standing in front of Hannah said at once, gesturing at each other. “We need to go,” she said.

  Hannah nodded, still looking shocked and overwhelmed, but quickly shook her head. “My daughters," she replied, moving toward another cell door.

  “Azura sent me here to take you away,” Sage with the bow said as the other two moved toward the exit.

  “Anna and Alysson,” Hannah said, stopping at one of the doors and trying to pull it open, but the lock didn't budge.

  “Mom!” a girl’s voice screamed inside.

  “Please!” Hannah turned toward Sage with a pleading expression.

  Sage moved to the door. “Where’s the other?” she asked.

  “There.” Hannah pointed at the other door. One of the Sages with a sword rushed back into the corridor and destroyed the lock there, as the one with the bow destroyed the first one.

  Hannah rushed into the room, where a small girl jumped at her, crying and squeezing her hard.

  Sage opened the other door and looked inside, where a girl looking around fifteen stood in the corner, looking at her, scared.

  “I came here to save you and your mother,” Sage said, pointing to the corridor. The girl moved slightly until she noticed her mother holding a small girl in her arms.

  “Mom, what’s going on?” the teenager asked, still standing in the room.

  “Come on, baby, let’s go. I will expin everything, but we must go.”

  “Who’s that?” the teenager asked.

  Sage wanted to expin that it wasn’t important at the moment, but then noticed that the teenage girl’s gaze was locked on the small girl in Hannah’s arms.

  “Alysson, we must go!” Hannah replied louder. “I will expin everything ter.”

  “Let’s move,” Sage said as Alysson moved out of the cage.

  Two Sages moved toward the exit, while Hannah and her two daughters moved after them.

  When they reached the exit door, two Sages with swords moved outside, but as Alysson wanted to follow them, Sage with the bow stopped her, putting her hand on the door, not letting her go.

  “Wait,” she said.

  At the same time, two Sages rushed into the guards coming toward them. In perfect synchronization, they attacked together, blocking and sshing, not giving the guards any chances.

  “Go,” Sage with the bow said, opening the door when the guards were dead on the ground.

  “Don’t look,” Hannah said, pressing her smaller daughter against her chest, running past the bodies.

  All of them ran until one of the Sages in front opened the door to a b room.

  “Go inside, hide,” she ordered, and as the three shapeshifting women entered, one Sage with a sword followed them inside. Two others remained outside.

  “We will wait here until it’s safe to get out,” the Sage inside the room said, standing by the door.

  An explosion tore through the building as the ground shook.

  “What was that?” Hannah asked.

  “Don't worry, you’re safe here,” Sage replied.

  “A-Azura sent you?” Hannah asked.

  “Yes,” Sage replied.

  “M-Mommy, who’s Azura?” the small girl still in her mom’s hands asked.

  “That’s a good question,” Alysson said.

  “Oh girls, I’m so sorry. I will expin it all to you ter, but… you’re sisters. And Azura is your oldest sister, who ran out of here years ago,” Hannah expined. “I thought…” she trailed off as tears rolled down her face.

  “Is Azura okay?” Hannah asked, turning toward Sage. “What happened to her? How is she? What does she do? Is she healthy? Is she safe? Is she happy?”

  “I don't know Azura personally, but from what I heard, she’s safe, healthy, and happy,” Sage replied, standing by the door, looking outside, her two clones no longer there, as they had run into the room with cells to make sure that other captives were safe.

  “Y-You said she sent you here,” Hannah said.

  “Our shared boss did,” Sage replied. “In a way. I will take you to Azura soon, and she will expin everything.”

  “Thank you,” Hannah sobbed, cuddling the smaller girl against her chest, while the older one hugged them both from the side.

  “Fuck,” Sage murmured. “Hide, and stay here,” she ordered before she slipped out of the room and closed the door quickly. Sounds of fighting followed a moment ter.

  Hannah pushed her daughters toward the desk where they could hide underneath it. Ann moved first, running toward it but stumbled over her own legs and crashed into the table. A gss vial fell to the ground, shattering, and a green substance oozed out.

  She screamed as Hannah caught her, preventing her from falling.

  “Are you okay?” Hannah asked.

  “Agh! Mom! Help!” Alysson screamed as the green goo leapt at her and tched onto her leg. She tried to kick it off, but no matter how many times she did, the blob clung to her skin. “Mom! Help! Mom, please!” the teenager cried out in panic.

  Hannah reached for the blob and tried to grab it, but it kept slipping through her fingers. When she tried to pull her hand back, the goo stuck to her instead. As she tugged harder, it detached from her daughter and clung to her arm instead. She tried to shake it off, but it climbed up her arm, over her shoulder, and slipped under her shirt.

  “Mom, are you okay?” Ann asked, her red, tear-filled eyes wide with worry.

  “Yes,” Hannah said as the green goo shifted to her back and settled somewhere along her spine. As disgusting as it felt, sending shivers through her body, it didn’t seem to harm her, just sticking there. She didn’t want to scare her daughters any more than they already were.

  “Are you okay?” Sage asked, stepping back into the room. “I heard screams.”

  “We’re fine,” Hannah replied. “They’re just scared,” she added, not wanting her daughters’ defender to waste focus on some green ooze instead of protecting them.

  “It’ll be okay,” Sage said. “We’ll wait here until it’s safe to leave. Then I’ll take you to your daughter.”

  “Thank you,” Hannah said.

  ---

  “They’re safe,” Sage said to Gemma.

  “They?” Gemma asked, momentarily slipping from the monster’s mind.

  “Hannah and her two daughters,” Sage replied.

  Gemma gave her a slight frown but turned her focus back to the monster.

  She reentered the monster’s body, looking around. There was no more fighting outside, her people had taken over the facility. Most were already inside, securing control of the building, while the rest surrounded the main structure, waiting to breach the ward.

  Gemma took a deep breath and concentrated, willing the monster to return to its cage. It resisted, but she forced it to move. After a moment of struggle, it finally relented, and she guided it back into the cage where it had been held before the attack.

  When the cage was closed and the monster was secured, she returned with her mind completely to her body. She jumped on her centaur, just as Cynthia and Sage did on theirs, and they moved toward the b.

  “Status?” Gemma asked.

  “We’re sweeping all the bs, capturing the scientists, and killing the remaining guards,” Cynthia reported. “We’re ready to attack the main building.”

  “The sves?” Gemma asked.

  “Most are still in their cages. Only a few were hurt during the fighting,” Cynthia said.

  “Good,” Gemma replied. “I’ll handle the ward now.”

  She passed the way on the back of her centaur this time, not in the monster’s body. The area bore heavy signs of battle, walls scorched by spells, remnants of magic still lingering in the air. She saw only the bodies of guards. So far, they had no casualties, and any wounds had been quickly healed. The attack had gone well so far.

  All three women on their centaurs reached the main building and stopped at the edge of the ward before they slipped to the ground.

  “We believe it’s a level nine ward, Ma’am,” one of the women reported as they approached.

  Gemma nodded and closed her eyes, focusing on the barrier in front of them. She probed it with her senses, analyzing its structure. It was strong, well-crafted, but no ward was perfect, especially if made in haste. She searched for inconsistencies and quickly found a weak point - an area where the bindings were sloppier, not reinforced as tightly.

  “I found a spot,” she said, walking along the ward’s edge. She pulled a parchment from her bag. Even a weak point in a level nine barrier required powerful tools to break. Standing before the weak spot, she drew mana from the stones embedded in her neckce and chanted the spell inscribed on the parchment.

  It ignited in her hands, but the fmes didn’t harm her. As the parchment burned into ash, the dust swirled toward the ward, spreading across its surface. The barrier began to glow, and her free hand pulsed with swirling mana as she gathered energy for the final strike.

  A loud rumble tore through the air as the ash exploded against the ward. The bst pushed them slightly back, but the ward held. Then, a beam of energy shot from Gemma’s hands, striking the weak point directly. A deafening crack echoed through the forest as the ward glowed, then fractured. She swept the beam sideways, and the crack widened rapidly until the entire barrier colpsed and vanished.

  Gemma lowered her hand. “Wait,” she commanded, seeing her people ready to charge. The order rippled through the group, and they held their position.

  They waited in silence until, finally, the door to the building creaked open.

  “They’re coming out!” Cynthia shouted.

  “Wait,” Gemma repeated.

  A woman emerged first, her hands raised. “We surrender!” she called out, dropping to her knees on the grass.

  More women followed, all with hands in the air, with no weapons and not attacking.

  “Give them the mana-blocking colrs,” Gemma ordered.

  A few soldiers moved quickly, tossing bags to the ground and magically unching the colrs toward the surrendering women. As they pulled them from the bags, expressions of resignation and dread crossed their faces. One by one, they pced the colrs around each other’s necks.

  “Put them in cells and begin interrogations, I want an initial report by the end of the day,” Gemma ordered. “Sves to the quarters, free them, feed them, clothe them, provide medical attention if needed. Tell Monica to investigate what was being tested here and give me a full report by the end of the day. And tell her I want everything she can find about Azura and Hannah.”

  “Subjects A256 and A322,” Sage added. “And her two daughters. A349 and A393.”

  “Everything she can find on them,” Gemma confirmed. “Also, I want a full medical report on the other sves, including a power estimate. But make sure Monica isn’t pushy. Let them rest and recover first.”

  “Yes, Ma’am,” Cynthia replied, heading off to oversee the prisoner processing.

  Gemma mounted her centaur and looked at Sage.

  “Make sure Hannah and her daughters have everything they need. Then, once Zelda finishes healing here, pick her up and head to Ortas. She knows what she’s supposed to do.”

  “Finally, I get to meet him,” Sage said with a wide smile.

  “Remember, you’re to limit all contact with him. I don’t want anyone to know he’s working for me,” Gemma said sternly.

  “Don’t worry, baby. Everything will be fine,” Sage replied, turning to leave.

  Gemma sighed. She knew Sage wouldn’t let go of that curiosity easily, but if it had to happen, better to get it over with now. And she trusted Sage not to sabotage anything.

  She looked around at the b she had searched for so long. Finally, it was under her control. Dozens of women had been arrested and would face interrogation. This wasn’t just any rogue facility, it had all the marks of a major guild operation.

  On her territory.

  She needed to find out who had been bold enough to authorize this. Then she would demand retribution.

  Or deliver it herself in secret.

  For now, she had to return to the guild, oversee the aftermath, and handle the most boring part of victory - paperwork and reports.