Chapter 340: Cass, Left!

Kinnami lowered the wounded runner onto the central worktable.

The golden spirit spread restoration through the torn edge of his wing while Mireva cut away the strap that had rubbed bronze filings into the wound. Katherine kept one hand on her open tome. The light slowed the bleeding, but the runner still had to force each breath through clenched teeth.

"Which path?" Mireva asked.

"The Second Span. The restored map marked the west lane safe." He swallowed. "The route-song called us across. The floor opened beneath the bridge crew."

"Two fell into the maintenance net," he continued. "The operator stayed behind to keep the counterweight from tearing through the lower platform. I heard monsters climbing before I reached the workshop."

Mireva’s ears flattened. "The first relay accepted our correction. It could not mark that lane safe by mistake."

Cassandra brought up the map projected by the restored relay. A silver line crossed the suspended bridge and ended at the second relay chamber.

Her Hunter path showed something else.

A thin Hungerline twisted beneath the bridge, following the marked route before dropping into the darkness below it. Whatever waited there had wrapped itself around the Sairren signal so closely that the route map displayed the danger as safety.

"It was not a mistake," Cassandra said. "The safe route leads into a concentrated Dark Force hunger."

Mireva looked from her to the map. "You are certain?"

"No. I am certain the two readings contradict each other. We should treat the lane as hostile until we prove which one is false."

The distinction made Mireva pause, then nod.

They left Kinnami’s barrier around the runner and moved out.

Angel rejoined them from the lower avenue and followed beneath the suspended routes, where the wider maintenance paths left enough room for her shell.

Elisebeth caught Cassandra’s arm before they reached the corridor.

"One moment."

Cassandra stopped.

"I heard what you said in there. I still need to know that my answer won’t become something everyone waits for me to change."

"It will not."

"Even if I stay close to Martin."

"Even then. You rejected the arrangement, not your feelings. Rias explained the difference to him before I ever accepted it myself."

Rias glanced back from the corridor. "And I’ll explain it again if anyone becomes conveniently confused."

Alexandra lifted one hand. "Nobody is negotiating your no, Encore."

Some of the tension left Elisebeth’s grip. She released Cassandra and raised her staff. "Good. Now we may return to the less absurd emergency."

The Second Span hung between two bell towers over a shaft with no visible bottom. Three narrow lanes crossed the gap, each made from bronze-edged stone panels suspended by chains. A counterweight the size of a carriage swung slowly beneath the nearest bell.

Silver light marked the western lane as safe.

Cassandra stopped everyone before the first panel. "That is the one."

Mireva pulled a broken tool cart from the wall and shoved it onto the glowing path.

The first two panels held.

The third folded downward.

The cart vanished into a shaft hidden directly beneath the bridge. Black shapes climbed after it, their claws striking sparks from the underside of the panels.

The remaining western panels tilted toward the opening, turning the route that had promised safety into a chute. Mireva raised her own route token over the bridge. The token continued glowing silver, still urging them forward.

[Muteclaw Stalker (Monster) Lv. 60]

[Bellhide Brute (Monster) Lv. 60]

"The Hungerline was right," Mireva said.

The Bellhide Brute struck the bridge support before anyone could answer. The western lane buckled. A Sairren bridge operator leaped from the relay housing, caught a maintenance line, and swung beneath the span as stone panels fell around him.

Martin threw the Galehook Trident past the operator.

It embedded in the moving bell counterweight. Cast the Line marked the hit, but Martin did not activate Warden’s Arrival yet. He watched the counterweight swing away, dragging his anchor through the darkness, then begin its return toward the hanging operator.

"Hold on!"

The bronze weight crossed beneath the maintenance line.

Martin activated Warden’s Arrival once.

He vanished from the bridge and appeared beside the embedded trident. One hand caught its shaft while the other closed around the operator’s harness. The counterweight carried them through the rest of its arc.

Angel moved below the open side of the span. When the weight reached its highest point, Martin pulled the trident free and jumped with the operator held against his chest.

They landed on Angel’s crystal shell.

Angel raised her head toward the broken bridge, giving Martin enough height to lift the operator onto a stable panel. Only after the Sairren crawled away from the edge did Martin pull himself back onto the span.

Below them, two Sairren wardens glided to the maintenance net and lifted the trapped bridge crew onto Angel’s waiting shell.

Above them, Muteclaw Stalkers flooded onto the remaining lanes.

Without waiting for Warden’s Arrival to recover, Martin met the first claw with Rainwarden Sword in a clean guard. Measured Answer accelerated his counter, and the blade cut through the monster’s shoulder without carrying its arc toward either Sairren nearby.

Rias moved along the inner rail, using Shadow Step only between patches she could verify. Alexandra and Kumoe held the center while Katherine’s barriers kept the damaged panels from throwing anyone into the shaft.

The route housing shuddered beside Cassandra. Silver nodes lit across its fixed outer ring, feeding the false safe signal into the bridge.

She planted her feet and drew Nightglass Longbow fully.

Patient Draw sharpened while the node remained stationary.

"Cass, left!" Alexandra shouted.

Cassandra turned at once and released. Her arrow struck the left node at its brightest point. Silver light burst from the housing, and the western route marker went dark.

Alexandra crossed both swords through a Stalker’s exposed core while the false route faded beneath her boots.

The Bellhide Brute hauled itself onto the span.

Martin changed to Riftbell Warhammer and waited until it moved clear of Mireva and the bridge crew. His committed swing struck the corrupted bronze housing fused over the monster’s shoulder.

Faultnote cracked the outer shell. Cassandra’s next Patient Draw shot pierced the stationary silver node beneath it, and the Brute’s Dark Force body collapsed through the broken lane.

The remaining Stalkers dissolved soon afterward.

Inside the damaged relay housing, Mireva found a small silver core wound with black threads. It continued playing the Sairren route-song even after she lifted it free.

"That is our safe-path call," she whispered.

Cassandra studied the repeating resonance. "Copied, not created. Something recorded your route-song and taught this core to repeat it. I cannot tell who or what did it."

Metal footsteps sounded from the far end of the bridge.

A Sairren patrol emerged from the second relay passage in two perfect rows. Their silver-ringed eyes stared ahead without recognition, and every hooked spear rose at exactly the same angle.

Dark Force anchors pulsed against the backs of their harnesses.

Mireva lowered the copied core. "Those are our people."

The controlled patrol charged.