Chapter 94: So It Begins
With no ti to waste, the Big Five and Squadron 154’s mbers set out after dinner, led by Jim — Tarot, the Cardmaster. The mission was deed Operation Piccolo by Lei because… he liked piccolos.
After so driving on the street, the group got out of the van and looked around for any sign of civilians. A devastating storm that covered the entire District had already been conjured beforehand by Lei, so there shouldn’t be anyone around, but it was still good to make sure.
As for Lei himself, he was acting as overseer for the other Baron Hunts as well, which was why he couldn’t join this one. He will, however, essentially be HQ, which ant Finn and the others could call him to request help whenever needed and also report any findings.
“This should be the spot,” Fanatic said, glancing up from his phone and scanning their surroundings, which was in the back alleyway of so buildings. “According to the map, we’re right on the signal point.”
“Alrighty,” Jim said, stepping past him and taking out a vial of mysterious black liquid. “Now then, all I have ta do is… this.”
He opened the bottle and tilted it ever so slightly, allowing one drip of the fluid inside to fall out and land on the ground. Just one drip, no more, no less.
Octane scratched his head in confusion at Jim’s actions. “Master, what was the purpose of-“
Plop!
As soon as the drop of liquid touched the rain-soaked concrete, a swirling purple portal suddenly appeared out of nowhere, causing all the young Hunters to back away in surprise.
“Woah…” Draco muttered, blinking several tis in succession. “What is this?”
“This, my friend, is the entrance ta the bloody Dungeon,” Jim explained with a chuckle. “Co on. Let’s head in.”
*****
The group all stepped into the swirling portal, with the exception of Fanatic who was remaining on the outside due to his lack of an Angelica. He would be acting as on-field commander, sending instructions to the rest of the team via earpieces.
The other mbers of the group all had tracking and scanning devices on them, which would enable Fanatic to map out the Dungeon as they went. This could prove useful if they needed to backtrack or ended up in a maze, which were both quite common situations in Dungeons according to Jim.
Inside the portal, the team found themselves warped into a dark, dimly lit corridor. Near the edges were white, lotus-shaped lamps here and there, but they didn’t provide much light and were far and few between. The ground appeared to be made of gravel given how their shoes scraped on it, while the walls were lined with grey bricks.
The whole place gave an incredibly eerie and ominous feeling, but Jim walked on through as if this was nothing.
“M-Master, what was that liquid you used earlier to open the portal?” Claire asked, thirsty for more knowledge.
“Oh, that? Just so Ghost blood,” he replied easily. “Since it evaporates so bloody quickly, it’s hard to co by. That’s why I only used one drop, ha!”
‘Ghost blood, huh?’ Finn thought. ‘I wonder if I can use my own blood to open entrances to Dungeons…’
“Fanatic, how are things lookin’ on yer end, kid?” Jim asked through his earpiece as the group continued walking through the hallway.
“Everything appears to be functioning properly,” Fanatic’s voice ca back in reply through his comms. “All channels are online and my computer is mapping the corridor you guys are in as we speak.”
“Good,” Jim said as the corridor abruptly ended and the group ca to a stop. “‘Cause things ain’t lookin’ good on ours.”
Before them, several massive floating islands hovered in the air below. It was as if the corridor had been torn apart here, prompting the group to drop down using the islands.
The sky was painted a gloomy back and the sa white lamps from inside the hallway were once again the only source of light, so floating in the air and so on the platforms. Asteroid belts flew by between the various islands, threatening to crush anyone who didn’t ti their drop right.
In the distance, Phantoms could be seen on every island. Their glowing white bodies weren’t exactly hard to see in this otherwise completely black open space, after all. By the looks of it, there were at least a hundred of them — and that’s just the ones the group could see right now.
“… W-Well, this is quite the welco,” Draco remarked, gulping in fear. It would seem he was afraid of heights.
“Heh,” Jim chuckled. “It’s ti ta put those skills from the bloody obstacle course earlier today ta good use, eh?”
As he said this, several of the symbols on his shirt began glowing a deep purple along with his entire body. It appeared to be a man hanging from a tree — The Hanged Man tarot card.
Then, without a care in the world, he jumped off from the edge of the broken corridor.
“Wha-!” Octane’s eyes widened. “That’s a 500 ter fall-“
But to our surprise, right before hitting the island, Jim’s body stopped, floating just barely in the air. Strangely, he was also upside down. Placing his hands on the grassy ground to stabilize his position, he then eased the rest of his body down, making no noise at all. The Phantoms on the island weren’t even alerted to his presence.
Such was the power of The Hanged Man — an invisible hook tied to his body, one he could release at any ti he wanted.
Remaining crouched in the shadow of the tree he had landed behind, Jim’s body began glowing a bright orange instead as he held up his hand.
A silver gun, blazing golden, appeared in his hand. He twirled it around a bit, then shot six bullets randomly into the air.
“Gawr…?” The Phantoms collectively spun to look at the tree in confusion, having heard the gunshots, but the bullets weren’t anywhere to be seen.
That was only natural, of course, as they swerved around high above in the air and ca back to strike the creatures in the back of their head.
It was the sa move Jim had once used against Finn — the tarot card known as Emperor.
The six bullets struck true, each hitting their marks. All six Phantoms on the island fell over, dead, before evaporating into thin air.
Jim blew out the smoke on his gun and stood up, glancing at his students who were still in the corridor.
“Oi! Ya gonna co down here or what?”
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