Chapter 120: We Found the Hidden Black Mithril Vein… Then They Tried to Bury Us Alive

The blood split into four needles.

Raven didn’t waste time trying to punch through armor. One needle buried itself in a guard’s eye, another struck the crossbowman’s hand, and the last two severed the cords holding the lamps.

The chamber plunged into darkness.

Not complete darkness.

Enough.

Raven moved before the guards could adjust.

A man shouted orders somewhere to his right, so Raven threw the mace toward the opposite wall. It struck a support beam with a heavy clang, and three guards turned toward the sound.

Wrong direction.

Raven reached the nearest man from behind, hooked the knife across his throat, and pulled. Blood sprayed across the stone before the body had time to fall.

The next guard sensed movement and attacked blindly, but Raven was already beneath his arm. He cut the tendon behind the knee, shoved the man forward, and sent him crashing into another guard.

Both stumbled.

Raven grabbed a short shovel from the floor and struck the second man across the temple.

Once.

Then again.

The metal caved in part of his skull.

Valeria dropped from the grate above and landed better than Raven expected considering how badly the Black Mithril was suppressing her Blood Magic.

One of the remaining guards saw her.

"Von Nacht!"

Interesting.

They recognized her.

That meant someone had warned them about Raven and Valeria before they arrived.

The guard raised an enchanted spear. Valeria reacted by pulling blood into a shield, but the construct hesitated halfway through forming.

Raven saw the delay immediately.

He threw his knife.

Not at the guard.

At the lamp behind him.

Glass shattered, throwing the chamber into total darkness for less than a second.

That was all Valeria needed.

When the emergency lights flickered back to life, she was already inside the spear’s effective range with one hand around the guard’s throat.

A thin blood thread slid into his nostril.

The man froze.

Valeria made a small gesture.

Blood burst from both ears, and the guard collapsed.

She looked at Raven.

"Precise bursts."

"Exactly."

"I didn’t need you reminding me of my own plan."

"It worked."

"You’re still irritating."

Another guard charged from behind.

Raven heard him first.

Valeria saw him first.

Instead of wasting mana on another Skill, she kicked an ore cart toward Raven.

He understood immediately.

They grabbed the edge together and shoved.

The incline did the rest.

The cart accelerated down the track, slammed into the guard, and carried him into the wall with a wet crunch.

He didn’t get back up.

The rest of the fight ended quickly.

Four guards became three.

Three became two.

Then none remained standing.

The last survivor tried to barricade himself inside the control office.

Raven kicked the door once.

It held.

Valeria lifted a thread of blood.

Raven shook his head.

"Save your mana."

He picked up a fracture charge instead.

Valeria looked at it.

"Doesn’t that seem excessive?"

"Yes."

"Excellent."

Raven placed the charge beside the lock and stepped back with her.

A moment later, the door stopped being a problem.

Chamber Six was larger than Raven had expected.

Black Mithril ran through the walls in dark veins streaked with faint blue reflections. Some were only a few inches wide, while one near the back of the chamber was nearly as thick as Raven’s torso.

FORGE reacted immediately.

[High-Density BLACK MITHRIL Deposit Detected.]

[Estimated Raw Purity: 79–88%.]

[Structural Potential: EXCELLENT.]

[Prototype Rifle Requirement Source Confirmed.]

Raven approached the largest vein.

"We found it."

Lina entered with the other fugitives, and for the first time since Raven had met her, she lowered her weapon completely.

"There it is."

Valeria studied the exposed ore.

"Keller hid this for seven months."

Lina gave a bitter laugh.

"Seven months that we know of."

Raven took a small mining tool and struck an already fractured section. A fragment broke loose into his hand.

FORGE responded.

[BLACK MITHRIL ORE]

[Estimated Refined Purity: 83.2%.]

[Prototype Rifle Compatibility: 94%.]

[Refinement Required.]

Enough.

Not perfect.

Enough.

Raven pocketed the sample.

"The records."

Lina pointed toward the ruined office.

"Some are in there. The rest are in the weighing room."

They moved inside.

Shelves and desks were packed with ledgers documenting official production, actual production, worker shifts, payments, discarded material, and shipments.

Raven started with the numbers.

Valeria started with the names.

"Here."

Raven stepped beside her.

She pointed to three columns.

Actual production: 418 units.

Declared production: 173.

Registered waste: 109.

The difference was far too large to explain naturally.

A separate ledger listed coded shipments tied to Keller, Transfer Station Four, a company in Varkess, two unnamed laboratories, and one name that immediately changed Valeria’s expression.

Orbrecht Industrial Holdings.

She turned the page.

"This wasn’t a single purchase."

"How many?"

"Nine shipments in four months."

"Material?"

"Refined Black Mithril. Between forty and sixty percent purity."

Exactly the range used for suppression equipment.

Raven kept reading.

The ledgers contained more than shipments. There were numbered test subjects, containment costs, replacement equipment after failures, and detailed interference results.

One document referenced Bloodborn regeneration suppression.

Another listed hereditary mana-channel collapse thresholds.

Valeria closed her eyes.

"Nyxara is going to enjoy seeing this far too much."

"I wouldn’t use the word enjoy."

"She would."

Raven found a smaller ledger beneath the others.

The final buyers weren’t identified by name.

Only codes.

One appeared repeatedly.

P7.

Patron Seven.

Raven tapped the page.

"We have the connection."

Valeria leaned over his shoulder.

"Not an identity."

"Not yet."

Lina watched them carefully.

"Is that enough?"

Raven looked over the ledgers.

"For us."

"And enough to get us out alive?"

He was about to answer when a distant impact rolled through the mine.

Then another.

The stone beneath their feet trembled, and dust sifted down from the ceiling.

Lina went pale.

"That isn’t extraction."

Raven was already looking toward the supports.

A third impact followed.

Closer.

"They’re sealing the mine."

Valeria turned toward the main gallery.

"Keller?"

"Doesn’t matter."

Another tremor passed through the rock.

Raven grabbed the most important ledgers.

"How many exits?"

"Main entrance, ventilation, and an old tunnel toward Level Four."

"Which survives if they collapse the access points?"

Lina hesitated.

"The old one. Maybe."

"Then we move."

Valeria grabbed two ledgers as well.

Raven took them from her.

"I need your hands free."

"I can carry paper."

"You’re also the only person here who can stop enough falling rock to buy us time."

She didn’t argue.

That was trust.

They made it six minutes before the retreat turned into another fight.

The guards weren’t merely sealing the mine.

They were coming down after them.

One detachment descended from above while another team placed charges behind the advance, systematically closing routes as they moved.

Their insignia didn’t match.

Some were Keller.

Others wore badges Lina recognized as concession security.

Helmont.

Valeria saw the symbol and frowned.

"Edric said he wouldn’t send men."

"Edric might not have."

"That means someone inside Helmont is involved."

"Another name for the list."

The approaching guards spotted the fugitives.

"Documents on the ground! Workers are to remain under custody!"

Lina raised her pike.

Raven pushed the weapon down with one hand.

"Don’t fight here."

"They’re going to kill us."

"Yes. Which is why you’re not going to fight where they chose."

He looked up at the corridor.

Old support beams.

Fractured stone.

A load-bearing column partially cut away during previous extraction.

Perfect.

"Valeria. Three seconds of barrier."

"Where?"

Raven pointed.

She followed his finger, studied the rock, then understood what he intended.

"That could bring down half the corridor."

"Only if you do it wrong."

"What touching confidence."

"You’re Elite."

"Now you remember."

Valeria raised both hands.