I had to hand it to this guy. For someone supposedly from an ancient civilization, Yashas was doing a hell of a lot to destroy every preconception I’d ever had about what someone from ‘primitive times’ ought to be like.

  Maybe that was my own modern bias talking. Because honestly—if you’d asked me whether someone from ancient Egypt or China could’ve adapted to our society well enough to use iPads and shake up margaritas like some high-end Tokyo bartender? Yeah, that was enough to make me reevaluate a few things.

  Sure, there were probably plenty of ancient warriors out there who’d have fit every caveman stereotype stupid enough to charge a tank with an ax—a certain Viking popped into my head—but Yashas? He wasn’t one of them. The guy was sharp, analytical, and adaptable to an almost scary degree.

  Cunning couldn’t have found a more perfect embodiment of his trait.

  Unlike me...

  “There you are, miss,” he said, straining the drink and pouring it into a frosted glass with the kind of precision that told me he’d either spent hours watching cocktail tutorials or had picked it up after a ton of practice.

  “I must admit,” Yashas said as he handed Aerion her drink, “I’ve grown quite fascinated with the luxuries of your world. My own culture was no stranger to alcohol, but yours has turned it into an art form. The sheer variety—the flavors, the depth—astonishes me. What I would give to bring even a drop of this nectar back to my people.”

  Aerion took a sip through the metal straw, her normally stony expression giving way to genuine amazement. “It’s incredible,” she said. “Far better than the slop we have on Axius.”

  “Indeed,” Yashas chuckled. “And here I thought Axius’s offerings were something to be excited about. If only I’d known this existed…” He shook his head, smiling to himself.

  My drink was of a far simpler variety. Bartender or not, it was hard to screw up beer.

  I’d be lying if I said my eyes didn’t light up at the sight of the kegs they had on tap. The rich truly lived different.

  There was no way I was saying no to a good IPA, and while it might not have passed Cosmo’s muster, after the last few days? It was the closest thing to comfort food I’d had in a while.

  “Well then,” Yashas said, pouring himself another margarita to match Aerion’s, “I suppose we should discuss the matter at hand.”

  He placed his tumbler on the table, tapped a few times on a sleek tablet, and brought up a map. To my surprise, it looked exactly like Google Earth with high-resolution satellite imagery. That technology worked as well as it did in this dungeon never ceased to amaze me.

  “Allow me to explain the lay of the land,” he began. “Our mission, if we wish to reach the core, is simple to state but far from simple to execute. To put it plainly, we must first eliminate its guardians.”

  “Guardians?” Aerion asked.

  “The military faction,” Yashas said. “They appear to be responsible for maintaining the shield that surrounds the core. To destroy that shield, we must first neutralize the machine that creates it.”

  “And how exactly do we do that?” I asked, though I already had a sinking feeling I knew where this was going.

  Yashas zoomed out on the tablet, scrolling across the map until we came to a familiar district. “This is where we are now,” he said, marking our location with a small blue dot. “And this—” he said, pinching to zoom out before scrolling north, “this is where their primary stronghold lies.”

  He pointed to a red-marked section on the map. Asakusa.

  “It appears to be a temple district,” he said. “From what I understand, a center of worship for your people’s faith.”

  “Shinto,” Aerion said, and I had to admit, I was impressed. She’d do great at trivia. “It is a religious site, from my understanding, and quite the famous one.”

  “So it seems,” Yashas said. “The concentration of hostiles grows denser the closer one gets to this area.” He traced the map with his finger, drawing an outline in red. “And here—” he tapped the screen, zooming in on a familiar five-tiered structure, “is where the readings are strongest. I believe this is the location you call the Sensō-ji.”

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  I recognized it immediately. The pagoda’s brilliant red paint was unmistakable… and appeared in more than a few games I’d played.

  “Figures. Leave it to fate to make our next deathtrap a religious landmark.”

  Aerion raised an eyebrow. “It does seem… fitting, doesn’t it? The Cataclysm corrupts all that it touches. Even the most sacred.”

  “Yeah,” I muttered, finishing my beer. “Fitting’s one word for it.”

  “We must infiltrate the base, destroy the device powering their barrier, and find a way to fly to the core, which can only be done with these helicopters, I believe,” Yashas said. “It is my hope we can pilot one there.”

  “You make it sound so easy,” I said dryly.

  “While not easy, perhaps, there is one atop this very building.”

  I raised a brow at that. That would make it a lot easier than breaking into a military compound and being forced to fly it out… but it was hopeless.

  “I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” I said, nodding toward Aerion. “She filled me in a while back. Apparently pilots train for months just to keep those things in the air. Flying a helicopter is less ‘piloting the machine’ and more ‘fighting the machine every second so it doesn’t fall out of the sky.’”

  “Is this true?” Yashas asked Aerion.

  She nodded. “They are complicated machines, and an attempt to pilot one manually would only result in a fiery death.”

  My heart leaped at how good Aerion was on the uptake. What she said, of course, was something I'd originally told her. Even with the dozens of hours I’d spent on helicopter sims, I didn’t dare attempt to fly one. On the other hand…

  “What about planes?” I asked. “The ones with wings like birds?”

  Aerion nodded again, and Cosmo bless her for learning about Earth tech better than half the people actually born there. “They utilize an internal combustion engine that burns a refined version of what big trucks use. They are simpler, more stable, and easier to keep in the air.”

  “Have you seen any?” I asked. As many hours as I’d spent flying choppers, planes were my bread and butter. I knew everything from preflight procedures to engine-out maneuvers on a variety of piston and jet aircraft… in theory.

  Yashas rubbed his chin, then nodded. “I believe I have. When I first arrived here, I mistook one for a bird. It was either very small… or flying very, very high. The sound was unmistakable.”

  “Likely the latter,” Aerion said. “Though I do wonder what they were doing up there.”

  “Indeed,” Yashas replied, frowning in thought.

  “Planes cannot hover as helicopters do, but they can fly much faster,” Aerion said. “Which should make it more difficult for our enemies to attack us. Landing them is the difficult part.”

  “Not a problem if we manage to destroy the core,” I said. “We’d be out before we had to worry about landing.”

  “Exactly,” Aerion said, giving me the tiniest smile, and I couldn’t help but return it. She’d taken the conversation exactly where I hoped.

  “There is an air base northwest of the city,” Yashas said. “I believe that would be our best chance of finding such a contraption. But that is a concern for later. For now, we must determine how to reach the temple district. Even with the three of us, I fear we lack sufficient strength to break through the enemy’s fortifications.”

  “But what if there were five?” I asked.

  Yashas raised a brow.

  “We ran into Passion’s and Vigor’s Champion at the entrance to this dungeon,” I explained. “Richard, Passion’s Champion, comes from Aerion’s time and knew a bit about the city. We agreed to meet at Tokyo Tower. The orange-and-white wireframe building—you’ve probably seen it.”

  Yashas turned toward the window and pointed out across the skyline. “Do you perhaps mean that one?”

  Aerion looked, then glanced at me. I nodded. “That’s the one.”

  “I have unfortunate news then,” Yashas said grimly. “That location appears to be a locus of power for the shamblers. Not only are they stronger and more perceptive than the ones you encountered, but there are more powerful variants as well. Beings I avoid at all costs.”

  “And that’s where they’re heading,” I muttered. “Figures.”

  “Do you know when they will arrive?” Yashas asked.

  I shook my head. “We entered at the same time, but with how these dungeons work? Who knows.”

  “Indeed,” Aerion said. “But… can you not sense them?”

  Cunning’s Champion closed his eyes and concentrated but shook his head moments later. “No. They are either not here or are beyond my awareness.”

  I started running through half a dozen ways to get him to reveal his range, but I needn’t have bothered.

  “I am afraid I can sense living beings only up to half of a kilometer away. I believe that is your unit of measure, yes?”

  Aerion nodded. Technically it wasn’t my unit, but I wasn’t so American that I couldn’t metric.

  Half a kilometer of omniscience was still insane. And I’d bet anything it’d only increase as he ranked up.

  Tokyo Tower was several kilometers from here, though, so there was still a chance his senses simply weren’t reaching far enough.

  “Even so,” Yashas said, “there remains the question of timing. As useful as two additional Champions would be, the number of enemies there makes it too dangerous to linger. Even during the day.”

  He didn’t get to finish.

  A deafening crack came like thunder tearing the sky apart, making us all whip toward the windows. A column of green light erupted upward from Tokyo Tower, spearing the sky before flickering out like some kind of anime energy beam.

  “What was that?” Yashas asked.

  “I was hoping you could tell me,” Aerion said.

  “It came from Tokyo Tower,” I said. “And given the timing… it’s probably them.”

  “Then we are in luck,” Yashas said. “Let us set out at once. With any hope, we may catch your friends before it is too late.”

  Well, there went any hope I had of getting some shuteye.

  For my buddy Richard, though? That was a sacrifice I’d gladly make.