Ignatius-Valdis: Book 0# [Heaven's Curse]

Chapter 18

Panic ensued Danteus, as he regarded the holograms before him. "Asashin!" he called.

Swiftly, Asashin ran to him. "I'm here."

"They're trapped inside, and I don't know what happened."

"What did you do?" he asked Danteus, concerned.

"I did what you taught me," he confirmed. "Nothing different."

"How long ago did this happen?" Asashin asked.

"Not that long ago, but everything has changed within the framework. Temperatures, climate patterns, time frame, even geological layouts." Concern etched Asashin's face as he listened to Danteus. "The way everything is behaving is abnormal. Like a . . ."

"Like a virus." Asashin said. "We need to remove it before it causes more damage."

Danteus's green eyes tapered on the holographic screens that relayed a live video feed from within the simulation, as it had for hours. "How will we accomplish that? It's a computer virus? It replicates."

"We can stop it from replicating." Asashin informed him, regarding the logs and access points.

"Okay, how?" Danteus tilted his head to the side. Curious.

"It's a virus. Meaning it has a core. I need to you scan both software and hardware but look for where out defences are most likely to be exploited and start from there. Not just that. It'll learn, adapt and change. Take that into consideration."

"That'll take forever," Danteus replied.

"Not if you know what you're looking for," Asashin declared. "Until we destroy or isolate the virus, our teammates are stuck inside." Danteus regarded the cupola as he thought over Asashin's words.

*

Gothalia deflected the sword from one monster and sidestepped, avoiding its next attack. She was certain her enemies wouldn't give up. However, she did not know that the fire monsters would cause so much damage. "What's the plan?" she asked her teammates before destroying another monster.

"We thought you had the plan." Demetria said, blocking another attack with her sword.

Leon sliced the head off a fire monster. "Can you just think of something?"

"Why don't you think of something, Leon?" Lucius shot back and Leon scowled before Drayus rushed at the closest monsters.

"You don't need to be a smart ass," he replied.

Gothalia frowned. They were holding their own for now. However, she knew the enemy would gain the upper hand and swiftly wipe them out. When? She wasn't sure.

Gothalia rolled out of the way then jabbed her recovered spear into the torso of another fire monster before ducking in time avoiding the next blow. Once the monster disappeared, she dropped the spear and picked up her sword.

She listened to her teammates arguments. Her brows drew together. They were more focused on berating each other than fighting their attackers. At this rate, they'd die.

An arrow pierced the chest of another monster behind her. Giving Gothalia a chance to block her enemy's attack and sliced his leg before stabbing him in the heart. She glanced over her shoulder and eyed Leviathan as he fired his arrows into the chest of the fire monster in front of her.

"Prince Leviathan. Where have you been?" she asked him.

"Looking for my team." Leviathan replied.

"You mean this team?" Gothalia asked, feigning confusion. Until her tumultuousness shifted to one of seriousness. "You were in the simulation this whole time?"