LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 49: Mine, Mine, Mine
A group of vagrants, wild-eyed and desperate, moved like shadows through the mine, their clothes tattered, their faces gaunt. They had once been workers too, but now they were enemies, driven by a hunger not just for food, but for the very soul of the mine itself… Geomarrow. Their weapons — makeshift clubs, broken pipes, jagged metal shards, and loaded guns — gleamed in the orange light that radiated from the Geomarrow around them, crude but deadly. They lunged at the miners with ferocity born of need, and every strike was a desperate attempt to claim what the miners had found.
The miners, more organized but no less furious, retaliated with grim precision, their own tools turned into weapons. Shovels, pickaxes, and reinforced gloves battered back the attackers, sending sparks flying as metal collided with metal. The air between them thickened with the acrid smell of sweat, fear, and blood as the fight surged forward, each side locked in a brutal struggle for survival.
The shadows of the mine seemed to close in around them, the once welcoming glow of Geomarrow now casting long, oppressive beams that only deepened the sense of entrapment. Every echo of footsteps and shout reverberated off the stone walls, amplifying the chaos. It was a fight not just for resources, but for dignity.
'Damn it all!'
Antonia hissed as she blocked a pipe with the shaft of a shovel. Her arms turned numb, threatening to give out under the force of the blow.
She backed away, sweat trickling down her face. The heat of the Great Mine was starting to become more oppressive than gentle as the battle went on.
It was ironic, really. Who would have thought that becoming to hot would become an issue within Belobog of all places?
Quickly surveying her surroundings, Antonia breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that there weren't any casualties. However, miners and vagrants had sustained plenty of injuries, which might result in death soon if not treated.
Of course… that was only because the vagrants hadn't decided to use their guns yet. Some vagrants simply stood around, holding outdated rifles as violence raged around them. If a miner were to approach, they would simply raise their guns, discouraging them from antagonizing them.
If Antonia had to guess, they must have been worried about conserving bullets. Ammunition was not very common down in the Underworld, so it would be fair to assume that preserving their most powerful weapon would be the best choice in the eyes of the vagrants.
Antonia grit her teeth as she ducked under another swing. Rotating the shovel in her hands, she slammed the handle into the attacking vagrant's jaw, causing a low grunt to be heard as he fell to the floor. Disoriented from the critical blow, the vagrant struggled to get back up.
Antonia simply whacked him with the blade of her shovel, sending him to sleep.
Despite the fact that she had won the brawl, Antonia was not very strong.
The vagrants were malnourished — to a degree much higher than the average denizen of the harsh Underground. As such, it wasn't much of a surprise that they were sickly, and physically weak. Defeating one of them… was not much of a feat as far as she was concerned.
'Damn thugs. Ever heard of honest work?'
As Antonia looked around, she found that most of the vagrants had been taken down during the skirmishes. She almost grinned before hearing a clicking sound.
Her features paled as fear took hold of her features.
The rest of the vagrants — the ones that were armed with old rifles — were preparing to fire at the miners. In this situation, there was truly no way for the miners to survive. A bullet through the head was a bullet through the head. This wasn't something a human being could survive.
Their only choice was to surrender. They would need to hand over all the Geomarrow that was found within the mine, which would damage their livelihoods…
Antonia's eyes narrowed, finding something strange.
'…A kid?'
A pale boy walked into the area, a curious look on his face as his golden eyes glanced over the miners and vagrants. He was followed by an unbothered young man, a pink-haired girl with a bright expression, a strangely regal-looking silver-haired girl with a rifle, and…
Color returned to Antonia's face.
'Seele!'
If she was here, then everything would be fine. Her uncanny physical abilities would certainly help in this dire situation. Although, she wasn't sure if Seele had the ability to dodge bullets… no, that would be too ridiculous. Humans had their limits.
A second later, she became confused.
'Where did that kid go?'
The pale boy had… somehow disappeared. Actually, why was a kid being brought down here? It was dangerous!
Antonia's eyes seeped through the area…
'…Huh?'
The armed vagrants dropped to the floor like swatted flies, their guns tumbling out of their hands onto the dirt floor. In the midst of it stood the golden-eyed youth, his hand outstretched as if he had punched something.
Considering the vagrant that was kissing the floor in front of him, it was clear what the boy had been punching.
Antonia blinked in astonishment.
'What the fu—'
***
"Seele! Thank goodness you came. We were nearly…"
Sunny watched as a woman conversed with Seele. It seemed like his subordinate was quite popular in the Underworld…
'…Wait, I was the one who dealt with the vagrants. Why is she getting thanked, but not me?!'
Seele shrugged off the woman's thanks.
"Nothing but a few knuckleheads. I'm just glad you're okay. Antonia, have you seen Chief Oleg?"
Antonia thought for a moment, before pointing deeper into the mines.
"He took a group into the inner section. Said it was to clear off the invading robots."
She sighed.
"They've been gone for a while now. Hmph, if Wildfire was around, those thugs wouldn't have dared."
Seele grimaced at the mention of robots.
"Seems like the core of this problem is Svarog's robots..."
Sunny was starting to get bothered by the lack of information. He crossed his arms as he walked towards Seele.
"We need to talk about this 'boss'."
Seele turned towards him, seemingly formulating her thoughts as she tried to explain who Svarog was.
"The boss... He appeared suddenly after the Guards were redeployed, and became a major player in the Underworld. Svarog claims to be a guardian of humanity — all the ownerless robots obey his commands. They've occupied the furnace core hub, and they're not letting anyone get close."
Seele paused for a moment.
"Nobody knows why Svarog did any of this... He usually doesn't leave the Furnace Core and interfere unless some kind of disorder breaks out in the Underworld."
Bronya frowned at this information.
"...A 'guardian of humanity' that can... command robots? I've never heard of anything like..."
Seele clicked her tongue, appearing as if she was annoyed by the mere fact that Bronya opened her mouth.
"Hmph, looks like your mighty Architects weren't as all-knowing as you thought."
Bronya's eye twitched, leading Sunny to believe that they were going to start arguing.
March looked between the two with an annoyed expression.
"Can you two say anything without quarreling? This isn't the time! It sounds like there's danger waiting for us in the inner section, can we still get through?"
Sunny was quite curious about Svarog. Sampo had told him that the only Awakened in the Underworld were himself, Natasha, and Seele. However, it wouldn't be impossible for that to be incorrect.
With the ability to control a legion of robots, Svarog might be an Awakened himself. With how unique and unusual Aspects can be, it was definitely possible for one to have an Aspect that was related to robotics.
Sunny, who craved knowledge, was naturally excited to learn about how an Aspect like that functioned. And what would be the best way to do that then to fight Svarog himself?
"I want to meet Svarog and his minions."
Seele nodded in response.
"Right, there's unfinished business here — the chief is still down there. It's only a bunch of scrap metal. What are we afraid of?"
She turned towards Antonia.
"Antonia, can you take the mining team back through the entrance to meet up with Natasha?"
"Sure thing, but be careful! There are a lot of robots up ahead!"
***
"It's completely blocked by the mine cart... What do we do? Can we blow it up?"
At March's suggestion, Sunny just sent her a strange look.
"…Or we could just jump over it."
Seele raised her arms as she stood in front of the mine cart.
"Easy! It belongs to the mining team. We can't just destroy it. We should try and fix it."
Sunny frowned.
"Sure, but wouldn't it make more sense to just… jump over it."
Seele sighed in disappointment.
"What if another mine cart rams into this one, huh? Something might explode, and a cave-in would happen!"
Sunny grew somewhat skeptical. Did mine carts really move that fast?
Well, what did he know about these things?
"And how exactly are we going to fix it?"
Seele's face grew smug.
"Every Underworlder worth their salt knows how to fix a mine cart. Let me see..."
Seele crouched down to poke around the mine cart for few seconds. She scowled.
"Even the pin connecting the body to the chassis is broken, not to mention the rear wheelset bearing. This looks like the work of Svarog's minions."
She looked around the area.
"We need to find spare parts we can use nearby. Argh, we're wasting time..."
Blinking, Sunny pulled out the device they found earlier. Findie could… find stuff, if he recalled correctly.
"Uh… could you find these things for us?"
Findie floated up in the air as it activated.
"Beep, beep, beep… Findie can find anything. All you have to do is to manually type in the desired object."
***
After a few minutes of searching with the help of Findie, Sunny manually shut down the talkative device as Seele fixed the mine cart.
Once she was done, Sunny pushed the mine cart out of the way. He watched as it slowly rolled along the railroad tracks…
The rest of the group walked ahead as Sunny and Seele stayed back.
His face became expressionless as he turned towards Seele.
"You know, I'm actually pretty strong."
She sent him a confused look.
"Yeah? I already knew that."
Sunny narrowed his eyes.
"A normal human wouldn't have been able to push the cart without any effort. With how slow it's moving… there's no way that an explosion could happen in a collision! We could have just jumped over it!"
Seele nervously averted her gaze, suddenly finding the stone walls of the Great Mine interesting.
Sunny sneered.
"You just wanted to show off, didn't you!"
After a few seconds, Seele turned back towards him with a stiff smile on her face.
…Actually, it was Veliona.
"Seele… is pretty busy right now."
Sunny simply deadpanned as he sighed in exasperation.
"Busy with what? Dying of embarrassment?"