Author's Note: Unedited Chapter -------------- Matilda was bottling up rage that had been building up within her for over ten years. Silvery liquid gathered around her like orbs as they sped down the structure. They formed shapes according to her will and shot forward with incredible speed as well as power. Twwhhii! Bang! Twwhhii! Bang! Twwiihh! Bang! The entire structure quaked multiple times as guards continuously dropped like flies. After heading down for about ten minutes, the whole place suddenly began to quake uncontrollably. Unfortunately, this time it wasn't Matilda's doing. Scrreeeeevv~ Bam! A massive rock-like covering suddenly phased out of the wall below like a lid and shuttled to the other end of the wall, completely hindering their descent. "Looks like they are aware of our presence," Oola voiced from the side, her figure barely visible as well due to her all-black outfit. "Well this was to be expected but at lea…" Before she could complete her sentence, Matilda suddenly sensed danger and grabbed Riole who was right beside her. Fwwhii~ She leaped backward with him in her grasp as a streak of yellow shot past, missing them by a hairbreadth. Bang! Web-like cracks appeared all over the rocky wall by the side as a small needle-like projectile could be spotted embedded in the middle. It was so little yet it seemed so dangerous because of the intensity of the damage it created. "You managed to evade… good," A raspy voice cooed out as a figure could be spotted phasing out of the wall on the opposite end which was over fifty feet away. A feminine figure in a green armored outfit without a helmet became more visible as they moved closer. -"That's Ivreen… one of the five generals!" -"What is she doing here?" -"We're done for," some of the silhouettes spoke shakily in fear as they identified the figure who happened to be a nearly seven-foot-tall blue being with a raspy voice. 'Only ordinary guards and maybe a few stronger ones than the others should be here… I guess I should take this as one of those unexpected encounters I planned for by setting the timer the way I did,' Matilda said internally as she moved Riole to stand behind her since there was nowhere to hide. "I assume that person must be valuable with the way a person as powerful as yourself is protecting them," Ivreen stated as yellowish glowing dots began to appear around her. What is with that…? Something is wrong… The moment the thought appeared in Matilda's mind, the needle embedded in the wall behind them emitted a yellow glow. Boom! An explosion instantly rocked the vicinity, covering the entire area in a world of yellow. "Ahhh!" Kiiarrhh! Loud cries rang out as debris and smoke completely marred the visibility of the surroundings. There was no doubt that the second blast had caused casualties. Fwee~ Ivreen waved her hand to clear the dust around her as she stepped forward. "That was too easy… now to slaughter the rest of you traitors," The sound of her boots clicking against the rocky floor multiplied the pressure in the vicinity as her raspy voice shook the hearts of everyone around. As the dust cleared, Ivreen paused in her tracks. Her eyebrows furrowed as she spotted a silvery triangular-shaped covering that was only a few feet away from the walls of the structure that had been dented completely. "So you're still alive…" She voiced with a slightly surprised tone. "I'm not so easy to kill," A feminine voice responded from within the silvery encapsulation. Thhhrrrriiihhh~ The silvery encapsulation which seemed to have shielded a number of them from the explosion slowly dissolved. Matilda stepped forward while the dissolved silvery liquid floated and turned into orbs around her. Behind her were Riole and Oola who both had silver-like armor covering their entire being thanks to Matilda. "So he is indeed important… I know who to kill now," Ivreen voiced as her figure suddenly blurred. Twhhii~ She appeared beside Riole with two three-inch needles in her grasp which she proceeded to stab sideways. 'She's fast…' Matilda's eyes widened as she turned around as quickly as she could. Pah! Matilda grabbed Ivreen's hand before the needles could make contact with Riole, stopping her in place with sheer strength. Unfortunately, even at that, both needles emitted yellow lights at their bases and streaked forward. Prrkk~ Prrkk~ Both needles poked through the surface of the armor surrounding Riole's figure but were unable to pierce through any further. However, before Matilda could take any action… Boom! Boom! Another explosion rang out, this time twice as powerful as the last. Matilda and everyone surrounding Riole instantly got blasted away… Ivreen included. Bang! Matilda's body slammed into the other end of the wall, blasting through it and causing a small underground collapse. As the dust slowly began to clear up, people could be seen sprawled across the place bleeding from their orifices. Riole grunted heavily as he struggled to get up beside a wall that had come crashing down. "Grandpa Riole!" Oola dived out of nowhere and pushed him out of the way as a gigantic piece of rock fell from above. Bang! It slammed onto his initial spot and cracked open. "Thank you kiddo," Riole voiced with an appreciative tone as he stared at his bleeding ankle. It turned out that he had taken damage from the blast and some areas on the armored silvery suit had come off. "Your luck has run out," Ivreen's figure suddenly appeared before them with glowing yellow dots surrounding her figure. "Ahhh!" _______________________ "Damn it! Damn It! Damn it! Damn it!" Toldou yelled as he ran from a bunch of guards in a rocky-looking hallway. By his side was a figure in a guard outfit as well, holding onto a rhombus-shaped piece of machinery. "How in the name of Aphris did they find out?!" Tuenviq yelled back as they ran as quickly as they could. "You're the guard! You tell me!" Toldou screamed in both anger and fear. Twwhiiihh~ Twwhiiihh~ Twwhiiihh~ Projectiles from the weaponry the guards had in their possession were being fired at these two as they fled from the disaster. "We have to make sure we protect the separator machine till Old Riole gets down here to work it," Tuenviq stated as they moved in a zigzag format to evade the projectiles. "Death To The Traitors!" The guards behind chanted as they relentlessly pursued. "How are we going to do that with all of these guards chasing after us?!" Toldou cried out. Scrreeeeevv~ The entire place suddenly began to quake as they helplessly stooped forward. "That is not good," Tuenviq's eyes darted upwards with a tone of concern. "What? What isn't?!" Toldou asked with shaky breath while wondering if things could get any worse than they already were. "They closed the rafters…" Tuenviq answered. "What?" Toldou voiced with a tone of confusion. "The palace dungeon has been locked down… which means they won't be able to get down here. They are trapped!" Tuenviq yelled with a tone of urgency as they closed in on an intersection up ahead. "Okay… that did get worse…" Toldou felt like giving up the moment he heard this. The moment they arrived at the intersection, a massive hole could be spotted further ahead along with a massive stairway that led upwards and downwards in a spiral format. About a hundred feet above, Tuenviq could spot the rocky wall in a horizontal format that acted as a barrier blocking anyone from leaving or coming down. Towards their right, was a small path with a ledge that one could fall off if they weren't careful, and towards the left was another one that looked just like the one on the right. The guards behind were still chasing and drawing closer but at that point Tuenviq came to a decision. "Take it," He handed the machine in his grasp to Toldou whose eyes widened with disbelief. "What th…" Before he could say anything Tuenviq cut him off. "Head left and keep going till you see a turn on your right. It should lead you further downwards. Keep heading straight till you surpass two turnings and when you arrive at the one that leads to your right, take it and keep moving forward till you arrive before a massive decorated door," Tuenviq narrated very quickly. "Wait, wait, left right forward for..." Toldou's eyes were rolling in confusion as he voiced out but Tuenviq cut him short again. "There's no time, that is where Her Majesty and the rest of them are kept. Before you get there the drugs should have kicked in," Tuenviq yelled before speeding in the direction of the stairway. "I must unlock that for them to have access," He pointed at the restricting rocky walls upwards while making his way up the stairs. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎 "Wait, what drugs? Did you say right after left…? Oh for the love of Aphris testicles!" Toldou yelled in defeat as he noticed Tuenviq's figure ascending the stairs at a quick pace.