The infinity dungeon 235

Chapter 235

While the general stood behind his desk, his chair a few inches behind him, Michael kept stalking the room like a predator. The desk was against a wall so he could not circle it completely, but he still went back and forth in an arc. The walls were mostly barren, concrete lit by a single halogen lamp that made it appear dark orange, and there was a single framed picture of the president behind the general. Where he could not see it, but everyone else could.

President Terris was affected with dementia, but somehow had been declared to be still fit for office. Travis was already planning to intervene, but then Michael’s disappearance had put the plan on hold until now. 

“Michael Lexington,” the general said. “I was warned of your arrogance. You will find that it does not work with me.”

“General Zachary Brewer,” Michael said. In his vision, Icarus had provided a file listing all the information he could find about the general, which was more than Michael expected. He ignored it. “You must understand that from my perspective, it is you who appears arrogant. You know of the fate of your predecessor, do you not?”

The general’s voice was measured. “I am aware,” he said. “However, as I think I said already, you cannot kill me. Perhaps you think you have the Technomancer bested, but he is not the only tool at our disposal.”

“Interesting,” Michael said, narrowing his eyes. He materialized a chair out of pure mana, the piece of furniture glittering like it was made of roughly cut yet perfectly smooth diamonds the size of basketballs.

The general hid his reaction at the sight, and while Michael’s perception was no longer boosted by a skill, he had other means of detecting subtle changes in the man’s demeanor. Namely, magic, and he had been burning coins worth of it ever since he stepped in the room, knowing that he had more than a dozen gold worth of them stashed in his pockets should he need them, protected by a shield of mana and aura.

As he sat, he motioned for the general to also take a seat. When the man made to decline, nodding at the tall stacks of paper on it, as well as the computer screen, Michael waved his hand and made it all disappear.

“Let us not be distracted by mundane paperwork,” Michael said.

The general seemed to panic for a moment, perhaps worried about the loss of important documents. Michael waited for him to calm down, which happened in a fraction of a second, and the man took his seat.

“I find it interesting,” Michael said. “That you know so much. In fact, this whole place looks completely different from last time, at least when it comes to magic.”

“You and your corporation are not the only ones capable of advancing rapidly,” the general said, spitting the words.

“Yes, but you do not have a dungeon. Not even over there in Italy.” Michael said. His tone of voice was confident, but it was all a front meant to test his theory. Because if they indeed did have a dungeon, then it would warrant the utilization of extreme force to neutralize them before the situation got out of hand.

“Perhaps,” the general said. “You do not know for sure, otherwise you would have attacked. And I will not confirm nor deny your statement. In fact, I could not even if I wanted to, which I do not.”

“You had help from overseas, though. That much is apparent. This whole place reeks of Faith.”

The man shrugged. “You will not get any information out of me, and you know it. How about we put an end to this farce?”

Despite the level tone, the man’s body language changed. Now he was like a coiled spring, ready to act at any moment. Michael analyzed the general’s magic, finding mana–as expected–but also traces of Qi and Intent. Their patterns were erratic, not compatible with the normal rank progression he was used to. Likely forcibly raised by someone powerful enough to do it artificially.

Neither of the two made the first move, not yet.

“Why are you working with the Don?” Michael asked. In contrast to the general’s, his body language was relaxed.

“Why does anybody do anything? For power, of course.”

The door slammed open. A man rushed inside, a wave of Faith building up within him. Michael was on his feet in moments–he had been aware of the man behind the door for several minutes now. He turned toward the door, activated the Artillery Station in his inner space, and fired.

The man exploded in a shower of gore that painted the room red. Michael was the only one untouched, having summoned a shield of mana to which the blood and viscera did not even stick. With a wave of his hand, he made the door close back shut and turned the key, which then clattered to the floor and was submerged by the still flowing blood.

“Heh,” he chuckled. “This is the first time I use this spell against a human being. From up close, it’s quite brutal.”

The general’s jaw was hanging open. 

“What?” asked Michael. “You thought that just because you had Faith on your side, that you were invincible? Well, I learned my lesson with priests and Faith casters. Never let them actually cast. ‘Cause then it’s a pain in the ass. The thing is, I can cast faster than them.”

And Icarus has been whining about the Artillery Station being useless for a while. This will shut him up.

The general slumped in his chair. “I see,” he said. “I was arrogant, wasn’t I?” his voice had dropped an octave, sounding like a chain smoker’s. “Listen, kid. I do not want to die. You understand, don’t you? I am not one so loyal to a cause that I would die for it.”

Michael nodded. “Go on.”

“I cannot tell you many things, because I do not know them. I got in contact with Don Casellaro through one of his priests. He promised me power, and leverage. What was I to do? After what happened to my predecessor, I had to protect myself.”

“You could have come to us,” Michael said.

The general laughed. “Don’t be naive. They had their clutches on me before I even knew I was going to be transferred here. Before I even knew magic was a thing, in this fucking twisted world we live in. My hands were tied from the very beginning. They will not let you have the OA. The moment information comes out that I am compromised, I will disappear and the OA will just stop existing. Its assets scattered, reassigned, still skittering around like a bunch of fucking cockroaches.”

“Tell me more.”

“I cannot. All I can say is that I was offered a carrot. They said they would give me power to protect myself in exchange for my loyalty. They delivered. Some guy came here the other day, appeared in our compound without warning, warped through space or some shit. He did things to me, and gave me some modicum of power. He spoke in weird poetry, like he had brain damage or something.” He laughed wryly. “I didn’t even get the chance to use the power I was given,” he said. “I’m not an idiot. You obliterated that priest like he wasn’t even there. You turned your back to me as you did so. That’s because I was never a threat in your eyes, was I?”

Michael shook his head. “No.”

“Then all I could do was either gamble that you’re a fool and attack you anyway, or do nothing. As I said, I like living.”

“Who says you will walk out of this alive?” Michael asked.

“You see, kid. When things are fucked up, real fucked up, and you have no control over them anymore, you can only take it one step at a time. I am still alive, and every moment I am not dead is one more moment I can try to convince you not to kill me.”

“Very well,” Michael said. “Let me offer you a deal.”