65th Move | Opening Salvo

A week ago. The residence of Youm.

The room was pitch black with not a single artificial light lit inside. The only other source of light was that of the moon and the streetlights, all currently shining through the uncurtained window.

Youm sat in his home office and started brooding. Due to his position as the unofficial mascot of the Republic, he was paid generously and was able to have a relatively expansive and well-furnished home. Off to the left side of his desk lies the unactivated metal body of a drone currently being charged, the drone that houses Mjurran's soul, something that the Director had sought fit to place into as a punishment.

Throughout all these months, Youm searched far and wide for a solution to his problem. Exhausting his wealth and connection, the man was no closer than he was at the start, as all who could provide solutions either turned out to be conmen or are unwilling after word got out concerning how the Ambassador had fallen out of favor with Demon Lord Scientia Tempest and would be on the chopping block soon.

Youm opened up a cabinet and took out a bottle of whiskey and an empty glass. Being unable to do anything but watch as the drone which houses the one you love occasionally beeps. The utter powerlessness hurt him on an emotional and psychological level, more so when there is nothing he could do but watch.

Opening the table light, Youm's hair was messy, his eyes were bloodshot, he looked like he hasn't had a bath for ages, and his attire looked to fit more on a homeless man than an Ambassador.

Pouring himself another drink, Youm ignored the fact that there were many empty bottles off to his sides and gulped it down in one sip.

"Ahhhh..." Feeling the familiar burn in his throat, the ambassador leaned back on his chair, staring at his deactivated computer, just waiting for a message concerning his layoff to come in.

Youm stared up at the ceiling and sighed heavily like an old man sick of life. The drone beeped as though it wanted to comfort the man, yet it only seems to hurt him even more as his mouth formed into a grimace.

'Ultimate mercy'

How patronizing. Youm really should've punched Scientia's face when she said that.

"God damn it." He said as he leaned forward onto the table, Youm rubbed his face silently as he tries to think of a solution, except none comes up. He sighed once more, most of him had already given up on the prospect of ever seeing his Mjurran again, yet a tiny sliver of his mind tells him to not give up, to continue to find a way out of this mess.

Pouring himself a drink, Youm once again finished the glass in one sip. Just as he was about to finish the entire bottle, a killer migraine assaulted his head.

"Ahh!" Clutching his head hard, the man squeezed his eyes shut to try and ignore the urge to puke in his stomach. After a few moments, the migraine disappeared, and Youm was finally able to have coherent thoughts once more.

He sighed again like an old man on his deathbed, in fact, his general outlook on life after having Mjurran taken away was more in line with younger people who were on death's door.

With the amount of alcohol inside his blood, Youm could not sense the fact that someone was in the shadows.

As he opened a hologram, the shadow continued to stalk the unaware disgraced ambassador.

"If you're going to kill me, just do it." He said after pouring himself one last shot and downing it, "I've got nothing I can offer you anyways."

He stared at his left side, expectantly and waited for the intruder to speak.

However, instead of coming from his left side, the voice came from the right, "How interesting, for a human to be able to sense me? And not even Enlightened? Well, I guess you at least had the manner to show your neck for an easy kill."

The voice sounded like one that belonged to a noblewoman, like the wife of a duke with the amount of 'posh-posh' and implied superiority in her tone.

Youm turned to face the source of the voice, surprise colored his face as his jaw lowered, "uh... I expected you to be over there." He pointed towards his left side.

"..."

"..."

The silence dragged on, Youm was unwilling to be the first to speak due to the sheer awkwardness that his comment has caused.

"I take it back, you humans are just useless." A plastic stick was thrown onto Youm's desk. Due to how dark the room was, Youm couldn't decipher the color or any details.

Cautiously, Youm flipped on the table lamp, and the room was bathed in light. The plastic stick was revealed to be a blue USB drive. Staring at it, Youm's eyes slowly moved towards the source of the voice, now that he can finally see that it belonged to a female Demon with albino features.

The man almost had a heart attack at the resemblance to the Director before she became a Demon Lord. Flinching at her face, Youm saw how this Demon was wearing a set of loose clothing that probably costs ten times more than his yearly salary.

"You aren't going to kill me? And what's that?" He asked hesitantly, like a person dipping their toes into unknown waters. Youm didn't even bother picking it up, especially now that he knows he's dealing with an intelligent Demon of at least Arch-rank.

He's heard of enough folk tales to know to never deal with a wild Demon, more so when it's likely that this... UTTERLY gorgeous Demon most likely has a name.

"No, and I'm going to offer you the deal of a lifetime, something that will be the solution to your problem."

"..." Now that got Youm's attention. His mind sobered up quickly as his gears started turning. This Demon was strong enough to bypass the passive magical tracking field created by the Ministry of Magic which permeates every city inside the Republic.

The passive magical tracking field detects any sudden changes of magicule that happens as a mere byproduct of casting magic, meaning that even if an individual were to cast stealth magic, so long as the casting time was longer than 300 nanoseconds, the tracking field would detect it. According to the latest handbook that all government employees must remember, whenever magicule use was detected, something called Skynet would activate and check whether or not the usage of magic was malicious or otherwise.

Skynet was mentioned to serve as the eyes of the Overwatch Security System. What exactly it is beyond that is not known, and is classified to the Executive Level, which means it is under the preview of people like the President and the fucking Director herself, AKA: the scariest and most powerful people in all of Tempest.

Yet this Demon... she was able to break into his home and Skynet has not been triggered even once.

Just how powerful must this Demon be? And... would such power be enough to save Mjurran?

Drops of water fell onto the desk, reflecting bits of the lamplight. Looking towards the source, Youm discovered that he was crying a bit. This feeling... it's... it's hope.

"W—what do you need me to do?" The amount of hope was drowning his senses, he grabbed onto this opportunity like a drowning man clutching his only lifeline.

A smirk marred the Demon's face, as though getting Youm to agree was all too easy. "I want you to insert it into the mainframe computer inside the Congressional Pyramid."

_____________________________________________

Now, Early Morning.

"'I want you to insert it into the mainframe inside the Congressional Pyramid' my ass," Youm complained as he looked outward towards the massive building. The man was currently in a white van parked directly outside of the metal fence that serves as the perimeter of the pyramid, "really, this is like a death sentence. No one ever since the two Primordials have ever even bypassed the teleportation interdiction field which surrounds the whole perimeter!"

He wore a brown trench coat and looked like a detective who was too tired of their job, yet his general overall look was much fresher than a week ago. Youm leaned forward in the driver's seat to get a better view of the colossal structure that has always dominated Metropolis' cityscape.

The entire thing almost blended into the night even if the outside was white in color. Periodically intersected by symbols created using lines of light, or rather, those are massive protective runes.

The go-signal given by the Demon was apparently 10 minutes after 'sky turning purple'. Such vagueness had Youm think that maybe she'll release a purple flare... only for the sky to actually get blanketed by this tint of violet against the blackness of night. The white-moon-turned-purple looked more like something out of a game with how surreal it appeared. Still, in all honesty, it was almost morning. The Weather Network had said that about 49 minutes after 'sky turning purple' would be when the first ray of the rising sun would hit the peak of the tallest Arcology.

Looking at such an imposing building even from so far away, Youm was a bit scared. Even after a week's worth of preparation, Youm is still not ready to just betray his employer. The fear continued until he plucked the blue USB out of his pocket and stared at it.

"For Mjurran."

He had made a contract with the white demon, apparently named Testarossa. Weird name, but who was he to judge when the Director had named the Yellow and Black Primordial as Jeanne and Diablo? Such foreign words, it's like listening to names translated from another language.

The contract detailed how Mjurran would be granted asylum in the West, preferably in Lura or Elmin, the former being the most beautiful city in the world and the latter being the capital of Sorcerous Dynasty Sarion, the head of the Non-Aligned Powers and One of the World's Four Superpower.

Dwargon used to be one of the Four, except the Armed Nation has been dethroned, relegated into the shadow of Tempest as the Republic became the fastest growing in recorded history, rivaling even the Eastern Empire in every category from Economy, Military, and Industry. Hell, the only reason the Eastern Empire still reigned supreme was due to its estimated 800 million population, and Tempest in total has less than a seventh of that. And. It's. Still. Winning.

Any second thoughts were gone as his resolve strengthened. Gripping the USB stick, Youm placed it inside the trench coat.

If Mjurran is to survive, then Tempest must fall. The West is waiting for an opportunity to strike. One of the main reasons Western Kingdoms didn't bother colonizing the Great Jura Forest was due to its wilderness and dangerous wildlife, if it was easy, Veldora be damned, greed will overtake those Nobles. Now that most of it is pacified, members of the Western Council are probably salivating and have preemptively divided up the lands.

"The things we do for love" Youm recalled that quote from reading one of the Psychology Books that the Director has published. Youm has no prejudice against the Director for being a Perfect Homunculus, it made sense how such a perfect being could only be such a taboo.

A slider on the wall behind his seat slid open.

"You said something?"

The man turned towards the opened window, his coat shuffling as he did. Youm saw the people whom he was assigned to do the job with by the Demon; a green orc, a hobgoblin, and three other human Church fanatics.

A very diverse and colorful group.

"Nothing."

Youm grimaced and closed the tiny window. He then took out a water bottle filled with a purple liquid and downed it in one go. Crushing the bottle and throwing it off to the side of the road, Youm looked down at his feet. Leaning forward to the right and pulled out a briefcase from the passenger seat. Leaning backward, he tilted his head to the window as he opened it.

"Let's go."

With that Youm and the rest of those people whose names he didn't even bother remembering went out of the van. Walking down the sidewalk, the occasional car would drive by even so late at night.

It was certainly a strange sight, seeing 6 individuals each in heavy clothing and each carrying a briefcase so late at night.

The entire congressional pyramid was the Jura Tempest Capitol. It is the seat of the legislative and executive branches of the Tempest government.

Its size is much larger than when the Pyramid was first built, with how it was lifted out of the ground by 4 additional smaller pyramids, each supporting one corner with a large reverse pyramid supporting the center; it looked like an octahedron except for the lower half is smaller and mostly buried into the earth if one were to ignore the smaller pyramids off to the side.

There is no understating just how grand the Capitol building was, with 4 towers off by the 4 edges each connected via an extension bridge, its height was only beaten by arcologies. Just to get to the main entrance one has to go up several hundred steps.

Stopping by a break in the fence, Youm and the rest of his collaborators walked past the series of small pillars of steel designed to stop cars and into the strip of concrete called a landscape park. The entire thing was 2 kilometers long and 300 meters wide in the middle of the Metropolis. It looked extremely out of place, with a large number of trees and lawns of grass that dot the strip.

It was perhaps some of the most unique architecture Youm has ever seen.

It took a few minutes of walking to reach Congressional Square right at the base of the staircase leading towards the main entrance.

The square was, as always, massive. It was split into 4 quadrants with the center area being a large circular fountain. Each of the quadrants was a magically regulated open-air greenhouse that contained a slice of a specific biome, with its total containing a forest, swamp, snowy mountain, and grassland. Since it was regulated with magic, you can have snow even in the middle of summer.

The quadrants were separated by these hedges that serve as a more beautiful fence.

"Remember, no survivors," Youm said as the group walked up the stairs, his group nodded, each dressed in the same trench coat that he is wearing. The ex-ambassador gripped the briefcase tightly, before taking out a pair of leather gloves and putting them on, I'm... really doing this, he noted.

For Mjurran.

Youm reached the main entrance, which is situated on a balcony that goes around the side of the entire pyramid. The balcony was filled with potted trees and benches for people to sit on. To an outside observer, the entire Congressional Pyramid looked like something straight out of a set piece of Coruscant from Star Wars.

Above the glass door were more glass extensions coming out of the pyramid. To Youm, it looked like someone wedged a block into the building.

Walking through the glass doors, Youm saw the first security checkpoint.

He and his men stopped by the door frame, forming a line, the guards were looking rather confused before the briefcase in Youm's hands transformed into an enchanted automatic rifle like a master craftsman reshaping a block of clay.

While the briefcase was transforming, Youm slipped a hand into a pocket and squeezed down on the blue USB he got from that Demon.

In an instant, every light in a 500-meter radius went out.

Cries of confusion rang out as the people who were in the entrance hall were surprised at the sudden turn of events before those cries of confusion turned into screams as Youm brought up the automatic rifle and started shooting. His entire group started shooting.

*BRATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA*

Sounds of gunfire and muzzle flashes were all there is in the night, wide sweeping motions with multiple automated rifles and machine guns ensured no survivors. Youm noted how the rifle was much quieter than even the common hand-held coilguns he's seen belonging to members of Officer Corp.

Reloading, the building's emergency power went online, and everything was bathed in red as the emergency lights went on. The alarms blared, and Youm knew that there was no going back now.

Looking around, he saw hundreds of bullet holes in the marble walls, the wooden registration desk, plastic security apparatuses, and the body of at least 23 people. The church fanatics spit on the fresh bodies as the others waited for Youm's direction.

The man looked down on the fresh corpses with a tiny bit of regret, before snuffing it out.

For Mjurran.

"Spread out. Kill as many as you can," He commanded, and they obeyed, with each going down a hallway in search of more governmental officials.

Taking out the USB, Youm walked to an elevator and pressed the blue USB drive by the control panel. As if by magic, the elevator started moving once again despite the current situation.

*Ding*

The metal door opened, revealing the inside of the elevator to still have normal light unlike everything else. The elevator was large, easily enough to fit some 15 people and still have room to spare, the walls were made out of panels and studs of grey metal, completely unlike the marble walls that filled the rest of the Congressional Pyramid.

Going inside, Youm looked around and found the touchscreen with the floor index and a card scanner. Pressing the USB up with the card scanner, the touchscreen glitched out and was replaced with floors that start with an 'S'.

Selecting S-5, the highest of the collection, the elevator started to move sideways. Around 30 seconds later, the elevator started going down, and down, and down, like an elevator to hell.

As he stood there in the elevator, Youm wondered if it was worth it. He was again having second thoughts before those were replaced by the idea of freeing Mjurran from her prison.

Even if his name would be in disgrace, so long as Tempest falls, she would live a free life.

With that, Youm purged himself of anything but inserting the USB into the mainframe, becoming a machine with a singular goal.

*Ding*

The metal door opened, revealing a rather plain hallway with multiple doors that seems to stretch for hundreds of meters. The normal lights were still on, as this place was so deep underground that it was unaffected by the magical EMP blast.

Youm noted how quiet it is, and it's really unnerving him. Readying the rifle in his arms, Youm walked down the hallway, constantly checking his back while checking each of the doors.

"S-501... 502..." This continued as Youm walked down the long halls, only stopping at "...508!"

Using the USB again as a key card, Youm opened up the door to the sight of a dark room with a wide window.

Beyond the windows that are thicker than how Youm's legs are long, lies a monolithic dark pillar residing in a chamber filled to the brim with liquid and illuminated solely by the eery blue lights coming from below and above. It looked like one of those hypothetical nuclear fission reactors Youm has seen in books.

Or an alien artifact, Youm thought as he continued his observation. The entire thing was absolutely massive. The ex-ambassador neared the window and looked up and down, finding out that he could see neither the top nor the bottom.

The Mainframe Computer, from what the handbook had said, was this quantum supercomputer that uses something called 'time crystals' and was so powerful it required its own private nuclear fusion reactor just to function at peak capacity.

Hell, this entire floor was designed solely to accommodate the Mainframe Computer that handles the administration task of running the entire Republic, automating everything from a near-picture perfect prediction of weather, the Overwatch Security System, traffic lights, something called a 'psychohistory calculations', online monitoring, IP correction, DNS, presumably Skynet— everything related to the digital web and beyond was monitored, regulated, assessed, and administrated by this computer that supposedly even has a direct connection with The Citadel, the impenetrable fortress of the Director herself.

The last part was something the Demon had claimed and truly believed in with the level of convection in her voice. But Youm was skeptical of that part.

Flipping the switch and turning on the lights, Youm illuminated the dark pillar, turning it sliver underneath the light shooting through the window separating it and Youm. Off further into this room was an airlock door leading to a decontamination chamber that allowed access to the mainframe. Just to get direct access to the mainframe computer required a person to wear a large, bulky, Nuclear, Biological, Chemical, Hazmat suit rated at Level-4, or so isolated from the world that a person can go for spacewalks and be perfectly fine.

The hazmat suit is a requirement since the liquid the computer is drenched in sucks the heat out of whatever touches it, ensuring that the environment around the computer stays at near absolute zero. It has the capacity to cause frostbite with less than a second's worth of contact.

The ambassador-turned-terrorist stopped to fully take in the view of the Mainframe Computer as he placed a hand on the cold glass surface.

It is breathtaking in its own way, Youm thought, like the awe a man would feel when they first traveled on a hyperloop linking Dwargon and Metropolis, crossing what is thousands of kilometers— months of travel— in an hour.

Second thoughts festered inside Youm's mind like a fast-acting brain tumor, the idea of destroying so much technological progress... He looked down at the rifle, the only reason Skynet isn't triggering was due to this stealth rune given to him by that Demon, it cloaks his presence and made it so that on any electronic surveillance, nothing would be there.

He felt torn. Youm was a huge fan of some of the 'sci-fi' books that some goblin technologists have written, he felt lost whenever he imagined the possibilities, the idea of sailing through that sea of stars, it was wonderous, which is one of the reasons Youm bought every sci-fi games on Jura Forest.com... yet his heart is telling him something else.

He felt like an elastic band being stretched apart, nearing the breaking point.

His heart is pounding, telling— screaming at him to complete it. All he could think of at the moment was Mjurran's smile once she was finally freed. All he could hear was Mjurran's pitying laughter whenever he told a lame joke. All he could smell was her scent. All he could feel was her touch. All he could see was the path to her freedom.

For Mjurran.

With that, the elastic band rebounded towards the card scanner, the blue USB drive in his outstretched hand as Youm neared the door.

*Da-zen*

It sounded like a metal rod being shot out of a tube via a sudden push, like a dart in a toy gun, and next was the sound of the same rod moving through the tube, rubbing against the walls as it does.

"Ah?"

Youm froze, before falling forward and dying with a smoking hole the size of a person's wrist in his chest.

Behind the man was a female elf in dark green Tempest Officer clothing holding a futuristic revolver-like pistol in her two hands. Above her left breast were three rolls of sliver strips, signifying that her rank was Captain.

The gun responsible for the shot was a hard-light pistol. It was three quarter as long as a person's forearm. Shaped in the form of a revolver, the hard-light pistol looked like an alien's interpretation of a 6-shot revolving pistol, with the barrel being a vertical slab of orange hard-light covered by two plates of white metal. More lines of orange lights ran along with the frame of the revolver like the stripes of different colored paint on a high-speed train.

Eren lowered the pistol and took a deep breath, her lips thinned as she looked at Youm's body that was currently lying on the floor, the pool of blood grew like water underneath a leaky attic during a thunderstorm.

Reloading the pistol by pulling back the hammer and flipping out the cylinder, Captain Eren Eiwald replaced the large barrel of glowing orange light inside said cylinder with another one that was glowing even brighter. With a single smooth motion, the cylinder went inside the revolver, causing the hammer to come back up again and complete the reload process.

The Officer flicked her hair as she sat down on a wall bench on the opposite side of the window. Taking a few seconds to calm down, Eren focused instead on the pistol, trying to ignore how she had just personally killed a man in cold blood.

The Type-80 Hard-light Pistol is a weapon that shoots out thin slabs of solidified photonic matter (hard-light) that disintegrates the moment it passes through the target. Its speed is adjustable, ranging from higher values of hypersonic, down to as slow as a car on a freeway. The hardness is about the same as diamonds with the physical properties of solid metal. The Type-80 is given to all Congress security staff as they are required to use it the moment they step into the Pyramid due to all the delicate instruments and people inside. The weapon is classified as a Tinkertech, in other words, the blueprint for this weapon hasn't been sold in the Auction House yet and is made solely under the discretion of Research and Development.

Eren began to mentally list all the points she learned concerning the weapon in her hands like a student before a test.

It's in the same class as the 'Block Pistol' given to all Officers when they graduate.

Placing the Type-80 back into its holster, Eren then stood up and walked up to one of the metal sheets with a number pad near the door; an Internal Communication Array.

She tapped several times on the number pad before tapping on 'speak', in a neutral tone, "This is Captain Eren Eiwald, I have terminated the apparent leader of the terrorists."

Eren was no stranger to killing. Being in two operations (especially in Operation New Republic) as well as a few raids on trafficking rings, Eren has racked up quite a kill count, but this time, the elf personally killed someone. Before, it had always been impersonal, as she would command through the special helmet and give the Autonomous Marines directions on what to do. Doing it through a screen and doing it with your own gun is very different.

The comm blared to life as Overwatch Security AI spoke in a clinical tone that a doctor would use when describing a patient to their colleagues, "excellent work Captain Eiwald. An additional tax-free 5,000$ has been deposited into your account."

Eren grimaced, "I don't need the money! I'm not some bounty hunter or mercenary that gets paid for killing a target!" She rebuked, feeling undignified.

"Of course. Consider the money as an apology for the potential psychological damage of killing personnel up close. Despite having a body count of 142, your records showed you never personally terminated another individual in close quarters. Might I suggest you a list of potential therapists in the event that you become afflicted with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?"

Eren bit her lower lips in annoyance. She's not just some weak flower to be cared for and nurtured! Even if her father requested her to come back home after the Eastern Empire has declared war, she is a grown elven woman that's risen to the rank of Captain for crying out loud! She doesn't need to be pampered! It's her decision to stay and fight.

Hell, the only reason she was even down here was due to her taking an advisory role at the behest of the Minister of Cyberspace concerning matters of future cyber warfare and how to use the mainframe computer for military purposes.

The same Minister left before this act of terrorism had occurred. Now, Eren isn't accusing that purple demon bitch of being responsible, after all, her evidence is circumstantial at best but if it turns out to be one of those untrustworthy demons? The elf wouldn't be surprised.

Realizing that the AI has been waiting for an answer all this time, Eren quickly spoke up, "no, it's alright, I don't need it."

"Received. Are you able to send a photo of the terrorist leader?"

"...Yes."

"Please do, and transmit it through the comm."

"Roger..." Eren replied with reluctance in her voice, akin to a child being told to eat vegetables. Turning around to face the cooling body, there were no words to describe how thankful the elf was that her uniform contained a pair of gloves. Even if that gratitude was on the Commander.

"Oh, and a reminder, there is an urgent meeting in Room 236 in 20 minutes."

The Commander... Eren drifted apart from the Commander after that confrontation, believing that this is what those books called 'a divergence in the road of life', where two friends won't stay friends forever.

Eren inched towards the body like a snail, "ugh" her face twisted in disgust as she stretched her arms as long as they can go, her head leaning back and turning away from the body to create as much distance between her face and the actual corpse.

The stench of blood was revolting.

"Oh for— why didn't I bring the helmet? Its self-sealing ability would've been a godsend in a situation such as this!"

The helmet that all Officers wore was the most expensive piece of their gear. It was heavy with all those electronics and communication equipment, weighing several kilograms, so military doctors recommended that members (excluding orcs) should only wear it during Operations or at least with an exoskeletal integration.

Taking in and holding her breath, Eren closed her eyes and flipped the body over. Opening one eye, the elf was surprised at who was actually the person responsible.

Letting go of her breath and opening the other eye, "Ambassador Youm...?"

*Splut*

In her state of confusion, Eren was not able to sense that a hand had gone through her chest, destroying her heart and killing her instantly before she even knew what had happened.

Behind her stood an albino Devil Lord wearing fine clothing that must've cost many bars of gold, bent over as to avoid deforming her humanoid form when trying to kill an insect.

A sickening wet sound rang out as Testarossa withdrew her hand with the same passiveness one can find on a human after they stepped on a cockroach. Eren's lifeless body fell on top of Youm's, and the demon had to crack a smile at the irony.

"It would be poetic if I fall over as well, with a hole in my chest." She brought up her crimson hand, soaked in elf blood, and licked it while activating [Belial, Lord of Hell] and collecting and storing the soul she just killed.

*Whoosh*

The blood on her right hand had turned into a fine mist with how fast she whipped it around, tiny wisps of vapor cone had formed on the tips of her fingers as it approached Mach speed.

Anything loose was kicked up by the wind, including a certain blue USB drive as it smashed onto the wall, breaking into multiple pieces.

Testarossa sighed but didn't make any moves to repair the drive. Instead, the demon approached the window and stared at the massive pillar-like computer.

Casting [Phasing], Testarossa could sense through [Magic Sense] the movement of every additional security staff within the building, all of them still combing the upper floors for any remaining terrorists. As easy as a child plucking the petals of a flower, all the White Primordial has to do is just increase the pressure within their blood-brain barrier by several factors and those men and women would become past-tense, remarking, "well the Orcs may survive considering their physiology..."

Walking through the wall and into the liquid, White Demon created a large air pocket around a touchscreen display that served as the access terminal.

Her index finger on her left hand changed, forming a fleshy USB plug, and the demon inserted it inside. Almost instantly, a tab opened that displayed all the data coming from the Citadel.

Testarossa's face remained neutral like a refined noblewoman, with but a thought, every data transmission halted as the computer virus equivalent of an Ultimate Skill was uploaded onto the planetary mainframe.

According to Her, anything short of an Ultimate Skill equivalent is never enough.

Testarossa noted internally how Her Authority said that this won't affect the... 'Noosphere' as much since it's built differently, the metaphor that Her Authority used was 'it's like trying to use the keys used to open a chest to open your neighbor's door, a bit may go in, but not fully'. "What a strange name," Testarossa muttered as error messages spread throughout the display, "to name after the sphere of human consciousness and mental activity."

Seeing the Ultimate Computer Virus has been uploaded, Testarossa used her Ultimate Skill [Belial] to conjure up a portal that all of this cooling liquid can flow into.

"Even if I don't think anyone has an Ultimate Skill specialized in this... digital framework, the fact that Her Authority still was able to create such a thing baffles even me."

Due to the virus, every electronic connection to the internet will be rendered useless, so it'll be too late when the Mainframe Computer starts to overheat and cause a meltdown in both the computer and the reactor, essentially rendering the lower levels completely hostile to all forms of life.

Tempest military will be affected as all the usual communication channels break down. However, Testarossa thought to herself, their metal golems would still function as they're piloted by those digital versions of Manas.

Smiling at how everything went as Her Authority had foretold, Testarossa was tempted to flare her aura as some kind of signature, like a serial killer marking their victim, only to stop as she realize it was probably best for this to stay as a surprise.

"Well my fellow Primordials, I wonder how long would it take for you to know that it is I, Blanc?"

Oh, it will be a wonderful surprise indeed.