The others were already nearing the core. Both Shaw and Zaniyah jumped off a rooftop and landed gently on the snow. Not to far off, Naiov was herding tainted beasts around with chains of lightning while Chickadee summoned rock walls to keep them fenced away from the main streets.

The zone had the beginnings of a massacre painted over it. Dead bodies were piled on the sidewalks, local guards and citizens armed with tools fought off mutated cave beasts, and others were trapped in buildings with no way to escape. Members of the second year class were also scattered about, having gathered here previously to observe the core festival.

A screech could be heard from Amalfrieda as she jumped onto a tusked snake. She began to claw out its eyes as it thrashed about. Members of Gildenboot were grouped with Rebecca. They were focused on transporting the injured and maintaining order.

“What should we do?” Zaniyah looked to the two others as Shaw adjusted Sybil on his back. They had planned to make their way to the center, where the core should have been covered, but the rock barrier had partially collapsed.

This was worse than Sybil had imagined. There were so many tainted beasts... The ones that had wandered out of the core over the month had only been the tip of what truly existed. Sybil pulled out her letter and began to type into it furiously.

“We have to go into the core! Head that way!” She pointed over to one of the larger holes.

“I think that’s a terrible plan!” Zaniyah shoved Shaw’s shoulder and they both scattered to get out of the way of the hand slammed down between them again. “We’ve got bigger problems! Literally!”

Sybil gestured to where a transport golem had crawled out alongside the tainted beasts. “We have to get it away from everyone else and it will have trouble reforming in the caverns! It’s far too large to fit! Come on!” She slid off of Shaw’s back and started to run towards the golem.

The two glanced at each other and chased after her. Together, they dashed into the spider’s open abdomen. It sealed up before dropping down quickly into the core. Sybil raised the control panel inside and placed her letter against it. She began to recode the golem so that it would go against its safety protocols and travel faster than normal.

Shaw sat down next to Zaniyah. He then looked around, worried about how dark it was becoming. This was an uncomfortable position to be in. He was not happy about it.

“What exactly is the plan here?” He looked over to Sybil.

Sybil continued to mutter to herself. "We need to reach the golem factory. Once there, we can activate the core defenses and send an army of golems up to the surface to attack the tainted beasts."

She then looked upwards and said a silent prayer, hoping that the would-be wouldn’t be quick enough to catch up with them. Sybil then started to poke at her letter again, this time hoping to activate Edwin, who was still within her family’s apartment. He was going to be needed if their plan was to succeed.

“We are under the immediate threat of a much stronger adversary,” argued Shaw. “Literally anyone else could have been sent down here and it would have been a wiser decision.”

Zaniyah ignored him. “I thought they took all the defense golems over to Outcore. Is there even anything left for us to activate?”

"I don't think there are many people who know about this aside from the higher-ups in the factory and I am not risking my father's life by sending him down here." Sybil turned around and tucked her letter inside her jacket. "This was a top-secret project that had been assigned to my father.

I can figure it out but Edwin has to be there to control them. He won’t listen to anyone but me or father, so it has to be one of us.” Sybil then looked over to Shaw. “Please don’t freak out, but the core built an army of golems whose sole purpose is to conquer the outerland.”

Shaw blinked. This was something he probably needed to report to the prince at some point, but that wasn’t a priority right now. “How do we ensure that the automatons will attack only the monsters and not any people?”

“Edwin is the interface,” Shaw blinked again, and Sybil struggled to clarify. “Ah, well… It’s like Haztooth blitz? The pieces are the army, and Edwin is the player. He puts the pieces into position and gives them orders. My father and I have been working on the system for years, so I know it’s safe.” She smiled nervously at the other two.

"Awesome! How do we get back up? I mean, it's not going to be long before this golem is trashed by that would-be." Zaniyah tilted her head and Sybil looked away. "You didn't think of a way out?" Sybil shook her head and Zaniyah squealed with excitement. "I am so proud of you! See this, Shaw? I am always telling her to be more spontaneous with her plans and she's finally listening to me! I can't tell you how pissed I am that you chose now to do it, but at least I will die a proud woman!"

Shaw was far from amused. “We will barricade ourselves in a room and send our position via one of those communication bars you carry about. That creature may not be able to attack us once we retreat to a small enough area.” The further they got into the core, the darker it became. He was worried that he wouldn’t be able to protect these two if he couldn’t see.

The sound of cables snapping made Sybil stare upwards in horror. “Seat belts!” She strapped herself to the bench and hoped the other two would be fast enough to do the same.

As the webs fell around them, a set of massive jaws snapped onto the transport golem. The would-be then gave it a shake before tossing it against the cavern wall. Some of the golem’s legs broke off, and a chunk of its exterior broke away as it began to crumple into a defensive ball. Zaniyah let out a scream as the spider slipped through the webbing and to the depths below. A grunt escaped Shaw as he slammed into the wall.

Both women grabbed at him when he hit the floor again. They struggled to hold the hefty paladin in place as the golem continued to spiral out of control. A roar broke above them, and the would-be punched through what remained of the ceiling cap. Debris and boulders started to fall from above as more light filtered through.

The golem had managed to entangle part of itself within the webbing. It swung back and forth precariously while its occupants let out a series of pained groans. Sybil dropped her grip on Shaw's jacket so that she could clamp her hands over her mouth. She felt sick. She felt very, very sick.

"I don't think Shaw is doing well," muttered Zaniyah. She undid her seatbelt and knelt by the man. He was gritting his teeth and sweat had formed on his brow.

Sybil wiggled out from her restraints. She walked over to a blinking red panel and placed her letter on it. “I was hoping to make it further down than this...” She looked up and squinted her eyes. “I don’t know why, but I think it went back to the surface.”

“Hey there, pal.” Zaniyah tapped her palm against Shaw’s cheek a few times. “You awake there? You need anything?”

He attempted to shrug her away, but gritted his teeth again. “Help me pop my shoulder back in.” A hiss was let out as Zaniyah grabbed onto his elbow and gave it a firm yank. He let out a restrained cry through his gritted teeth as she did so.

Zaniyah looked over to Sybil. “Are we going to be able to get another transport or are we going to go dance the webs the rest of the way down? I don’t think Shaw has enough time for an acrobatics lesson.”

“The webs are too damaged to risk another golem. Dancing the webs is the fastest way to go.” Sybil poked at her letter a few more times and a series of panels opened up. A large ball rolled out of one and there were emergency supplies in the others. “Shaw can ride this.” She nudged at the ball with her foot and it unfurled into a massive tarantula.

Zaniyah took a headlamp from the supplies started to strap it to Shaw’s head. He frowned but was to busy healing his arm to be bothered. “You sure this is okay? Shouldn’t we head to Vex? I thought we needed that sword of yours to kill the monster.”

That seemed like a good idea but it wouldn’t help defend the city against the tainted beast. Sybil fetched masks meant to ward off poisonous gas from the emergency supplies and handed one to each of them. She didn’t know what it would do against the miasma, but it was better than nothing.

“I didn’t realize that there were so many beasts. This might be selfish of me, but I believe reinforcements should be our priority. Even without me using the sword, Vex can still ward away the would-be.” Sybil bit onto her lip for a moment. “I mean, this has to be the right choice? Right?”

“Those who claim that victory can only be achieved through the actions of a single soldier have already accepted defeat,” replied Shaw as he stumbled to a stand. “I agree with your choice, Twist. I believe that the way you are going about this will ultimately lead to our failure and death, but your heart is in the right place. I will strive not to hate you when we meet again in the afterlife, which we will be arriving at shortly.”

The corner of Sybil’s lips twitched into a nervous smile for a moment. “We can do this. The three of us can do this.” She looked between Shaw and Zaniyah. A guy she didn’t particularly care for and barely knew and her best friend who was terrible at fighting in cramped corridors. “... Everything will work out. I have faith.”