The machinery moved swiftly as it processed ore with ease. It was as if ghosts were controlling everything, and people weren't needed anymore. I've lived in nature all my life, and I've only read of factories from the books Maxwell gave me. This was my first trip to a factory, and it hasn't been a pleasant one.
"W-Where are we actually going, you two?"
Yuu Yuu asked as we walked down a hall aimlessly.
"I have no idea. Now that these machines are going around trying to kill us, things haven't been as easy as "search around."
I answered dejectedly.
Mellissa put her nose in the air and sniffed about.
"I think the other me is leading me to where we need to go."
I scratched my cheek.
"How does that actually work? What are you smelling?"
"Chemicals, all materials that go in making explosives…."
Concerned, I made my way over to Mellissa. She was still sniffing in the air like a dog.
"Are you a bomb detector?"
"Oh, Jade didn't tell you? The other me is what is known as a pyromaniac!"
"A pyromaniac?!"
Yuu Yuu literally jumped.
"You keep mentioning this other side. Yuu Yuu hasn't met the other Mellissa before. Is this person a nice person?"
I laughed under my breath.
A nice person is the last thing Countess Mellissa was.
"Just be careful if she comes out, Yuu Yuu. Don't worry, though… I'll protect you from her too."
Yuu Yuu turned to the side. I could see her cheeks glow bright red. I didn't mean to make her embarrassed and felt a little guilty.
"Anyway."
Mellissa pushed out.
"I guess the other me is tracking if there are explosives here, and so far, she's been on a certain scent. So, this place likely does have active explosives nearby."
"Something isn't adding up here."
I mentioned as we continued.
The factory was still in full motion as we continued going deeper in.
"What, Feodora?"
Yuu Yuu asked coyly.
"The culprits lit up the factory knowing it would draw attention-"
Mellissa interjected.
"Yet they brought in machines? Would they really want to destroy this place with their own machines here? These aren't easy to make, I'm sure."
I nodded, agreeing with Mellissa.
"Right. Jade mentioned that they were trying to spread the knights thin. Maybe all of this is just a ploy for something bigger they are doing."
We continued into the brightly lit factory.
The holy light pouring from above made it difficult to shadow-walk when needed. This was my worst battle environment. I would have to rely on Yuu Yuu and Mellissa more because of it.
"I have another question Mellissa; you mentioned that Atom made these machines we've been fighting?"
She nodded.
"Well, Atom designed them and made the blueprints for them."
"Then how would the culprits know of the blueprints?"
Yuu Yuu rubbed the back of her head.
"M-Maybe Atom gave them to the terrorist?"
The timid girl suggested.
I held my blade close to me as I thought about that pink-haired nightmare that terrorized Eve. I knew nothing about her, but that experience at the bombing site didn't put her in a good light.
I couldn't speak to Atom's character, but there was the possibility that she was involved in all of this.
"Do you think Atom might have something to do with the bombings?"
I asked, turning to both the doctors.
Mellissa pondered.
"There's no evidence of that yet but there isn't evidence against it either."
The human put a finger to her lip.
"But I say one thing at a time. We're here to make sure no bombs are here, and if they are, we must dismantle them. So, I say, let's figure this out and make sure we're safe before speculating too much on matters like that."
Yuu Yuu nodded.
"I-I agree with Mellissa."
Yuu Yuu was responded well to the tall beauty. This made Mellissa all giddy inside as she smiled back at Yuu Yuu.
"Yes, let's work hard and solve this together, Yuuna."
Coyly, Yuu Yuu pushed her shoes to the ground and nodded.
"Nnngg, Okay."
Cutely, she fell behind me and peeked at Mellissa.
"Oh, over here!"
Mellissa rushed forward again. We kept on her trail this time. We entered a room called "Processing," which took us to a maze of iron belts. Ore was being processed without anyone here to properly control it.
"Do you smell that?"
Mellissa asked as she looked up. Her green eyes started to spark a reddish color. When we looked above us, the ceiling was covered with explosives. Wires maddingly protruded all around the roof. From one end to the other, wires were dancing across the room in a brilliant horror show.
"Oh my…"
Yuu Yuu whispered.
"I was wrong."
I said, dreadfully.
There had to be enough to blow this entire section of he factory to pieces.
"Huh?"
Something cut into my vision from the side. It was a silver knife flying my way.
"She's mine!"
The voice of the devil roared as her halberd stopped a knife from coming closer. We all turned to see a female clad in a black outfit. She approached slowly with long blonde hair that fell down to her hips and a mask obstructing her face.
From behind her, another shadow came into view. She looked to be female as well.
"Countess Mellissa!"
I called out to her.
Countess took me by one hand and pushed her body closer to me.
She gave me a good sniff before giggling like a giddy schoolgirl who got a love letter from her crush. It wasn't the time for this though, so I reached in my pocket, pushed out the rosary, causing her to let go and back up.
"Eh?! I forgot Jade gave you that. Oh, I wanted to mutilate you then go on with my day."
The devil sighed as she turned back to the culprits.
"Guess I'll have to do it later then. Aha-ahahaha!"
She laughed hysterically.
"What is your problem?! We're on the same side!"
I groaned.
But I had to brush it off if I wanted to live. With conviction, I turned back to the culprits. A third one dropped from above, making it an even three on three.
The devil smiled.
"These are the scumbags that I sensed when Goody-Good first came in."
I turned back to the three figures. They had dark uniforms as if they were special operations unidentifiable units. All three of them looked female in appearance. They were in a triangle formation, and the blond one who threw the knife at me seemed to be the ringleader.
"W-Who are you people?"
Yuu Yuu asked.
Silently, they glared at us through their black and white mask. The female that threw the knife at me smirked. Like a gust of wind, she appeared in front of me.
I shielded myself with my katana, but a backdraft of wind threw me back a bit. I flipped and caught myself, landing in front of Yuu Yuu.
I had a better view of them from this angle. The first one, the ringleader, had long blond hair and held a short knife at her side. Behind her was one with a darker complexion with bright pink hair and a bow in her hand.
The last one that came from above had ocean blue hair, a lighter-toned face, and held what looked to be a grimoire in her hand.
They all shared the same outfit, dark coat with pants and a white and black mask that concealed who there were.
"The blonde is a wind vessel. It looks like these three might be the serial bombers we've been looking for."
I added.
Yuu Yuu nodded in agreement.
"W-What are we going to do, F-Feodora, M-Mellissa?"
Countess Mellissa looked roaring to go. She held her halberd behind her and approached slowly.
"M-Mellissa, we need to take them in alive! Be careful not to hurt them too badly."
"Pff, be careful? You don't have to tell me! I'm going to RIP them apart for trying to kill my prey!"
"What?"
In disbelief it all came together. Countess saved me because she wanted to kill me herself.
"Haaah!"
Count Mellissa burst into action.
They clashed weapons in an instant, attempting to slice the head of the blonde leader off.
She avoided, but the explosion from Mellissa's weapon sparked, scattering the group of girls to different sides of the room.
"F-Feodora! S-She could ignite the bombs above if she keeps it up!"
Yuu Yuu warned.
I rushed in as the three culprits got to their feet.
"Mellissa, turn that detonation edge off!"
"Eh?! What are you going on about?"
She swung her halberd in a horizontal arc, cutting away the blonde leader's attack with her short sword.
I had to duck, avoiding Mellissa's weapon from hitting me too. There was no mistaking it, Countess aimed that at both our enemies AND me.
"You're going to ignite the bombs above us!"
I screamed. The pink-haired culprit shot an arrow my way, and with precision, I cut it in half before it could pierce my skull.
"Don't worry about the bombs! Just kill these fools!"
The devil cackled as she took on the ringleader.
I turned to the grimoire holder and her partner with the bow and arrows.
"Yuu Yuu, I'm going to need help!"
I readied myself as the grimoire user attacked. A light green magic path erupted, I assumed it was a wind spell being produced.
I rushed forward, attempting to stop her, but the bow and arrow user charged a fierce fire arrow, cutting my path.
"Tsk."
My blade enchanted water by Yuu Yuu, turning the arrow to steam.
"Ha!"
I cut towards the bow user. A fierce tsunami raced towards her causing her to avoid the side, leaving her partner open.
"Feodora!"
Yuu Yuu cried.
My blade went a rough brown, and I brought it behind me. This was one of the shadow crafts that Maxwell beat into me. A downwards slash that exuded the dark spectrum came from below.
But before I could connect with the grimoire user, she evaded to the side. My blade hit the ground, earth roared from below.
A stalagmite pierced above, cutting the two culprits beside me thanks to Yuu Yuu's enchantments. Effectively, I still struck the culprits with the massive earth spectrum.
I could hear them cry as they scattered to get into formation.
"Hurry up and die! Die!"
I turned to witness Count Mellissa exploding her halberd at the ringleader. She was getting overwhelmed as the demon had her cornered in all directions.
"These girls."
It came to me that they aren't too skilled in battle. Or could it be something else that was going on. They all came back together and made a triangle formation.
Mellissa was still on the offensive, so I held out my rosary.
"Come over here, Mellissa!"
"Are you freaking serious?! I wanted to smear their blood all over the floor! I wanna kick'em while they're down and stomp their brains out! I want to taste blood! Give me blood!"
Yuu Yuu backed up in fear of the devil's tyrant. Before she could go up and run, I held her hand to stop the pink bunny.
"Don't worry she's on our side… believe it or not, Yuu Yuu."
"On OUR side?! She wants to kill you, Feodora!"
"Mellissa, heel and get over here right now!"
I demanded.
Reluctantly, the devil sped over to me. We stood in a defensive formation.
"We can tell you three aren't skilled fighters! Give up, and we won't hurt you!"
I attempted to appeal to them, but instead, they looked at each other. The blonde ringleader put her hand in the air. With a cunning smile, she finally spoke.
"We have come to restore order on this land!"
The two lackeys in the back repeated what their leader said verbatim like an echo in a hallowed room.
"We have come to restore order on this land!"
It was a tad eerie as the blond ringleader looked up to the bombs above.
"Even if we have to die, we will succeed for our people!"
The pink-haired culprit looked at us.
"We are ready to die… are you three, though?!"
As if this was a script, the blue-haired one spoke next.
"We have heard the truth and won't be silenced any longer. Judgment is upon you all!"
Mellissa cackled like the monster she was. With her claws, she gripped her gut as she tried to regain her composure.
"What are you laughing about, demon?!"
The ringleader called out the devil.
"I'm not a fucking idiot! Those bombs above us aren't even live. They don't even have the right chemical makeup to detonate! Their shells just there for show."
"Tsk."
The bow user clicked her tongue.
"So, this was all a ploy?"
I asked, looking at Mellissa.
"T-They did all this to drive people here just like we assumed?"
However, the demon shook her head from side to side.
"No there are bombs here, you two. It's just not those ones above us. They are actually below us."
I looked down, and a red light was blinking. It was large. I noticed it before but wasn't sure what it was because the grates made it hard to see.