A Sinner’s Chance - Chapter 188

It was impossible, there was no way to explain how she was here, and upon closer inspection I realized it wasn’t who I had initially thought. She bore an uncanny resemblance to Velen’s one and only love, Anna Brightwood, yet a label at the bottom of the tank contradicted that, meaning their looks were only a coincidence.

Queen Layzell of the Forsaken. Vessel attempt:74.

The other tanks had similar labels detailing the names of powerful people, and what Vessel attempt they were, however I could only focus on the tank that housed Layzell. Despite the fact that I had accepted that I was a separate entity from Velen, his memories carried a heavy influence on me still, and unlike the rest of his memories which were filled with emptiness or bloodlust, the memories with Anna were warm and inviting, like a warm bed while one was tired.

Rationally, I knew that now only was it a different person, but that the being in the tank wasn’t the original either and much like the still body of Reine, wasn’t even inhabited by a soul, yet I couldn’t help but remove her from the tank, a small hope that she would awake as Anna, only for the body to immediately wither away the second it was unsealed. While I hadn’t expected such a thing to happen, it was probably for the best, at least that was what I told myself as I took a step back, only for an alarm to begin blaring.

“Unauthorized access to confidential material detected, initiating self-destruct protocol.” A monotonous voice said throughout the facility. I cursed at my carelessness, I should have realized that something like this was possible in a facility that so closely resembled those from Velen’s world.

“We need to go.” I said urgently as I gathered up anything I thought could be useful, before sprinting for the door. The others didn’t question my decision, Steria and Kaliel, likely because they could understand the warning that was repeating, while Renae had tensed up, likely sensing that the entire area had become a deathtrap.

However, it seemed that escape was not going to be easy, bursting through the door that had led us into the lab, the long hallway was being sealed by large bulkheads, and to top it off, several turrets had sprung from the ceiling, beams of red light shooting from them as they targeted us. I was thankfully able to deflect the lasers using Vibro magic, but it was not easy, especially since I seemed to have lost my Soul Overlay and had to do it manually once again.

I could only hope the bulkheads weren’t perfect, something that I easily found out when I directed a blast of raw magic at the top. Indeed much like the bulkheads from Velen’s world, whoever had built these had cut a few corners that inhibited the full effectiveness of the bulkhead being applied. The bulkhead door itself wasn’t fully sized, only a small bit extending into the protected area that would have prevented what I was about to do.

Using pieces of the turrets that I had destroyed, I stuck them up in the machinery and used them as levers to give just enough room that the bulkhead door fell over, as it was no longer supported. Satisfied with the result, I estimated that I should be able to do so without the leverage, and told the others to take cover in the lab, asking Kaliel to set up some kind of barrier to help protect them.

Once they were out of sight, my wings of flame emerged, similar flames coating my feet as well as I propelled myself with a stupid amount of force into the next bulkhead a loud clang resounding as I practically tore it away before continuing to accelerate down the hall. I careened wildly until I burst through the last bulkhead, by breath heavy as I yelled down towards the others. I’d toppled all the bulkheads and destroyed all the turrets so they were fine to come down, but I doubted there was much time left before the place actually went up in flames so I urged them hurry up.

Just as everyone made it out, the ground shook violently, the muffled sound of explosions could be heard as the ground where the facility should be located became disrupted and unnaturally uneven, but we were somewhat a ways from any village so I doubted it would be too much of a problem, though I was glad we hadn’t left the horses tied nearby, as I imagined this would have not only frightened them, but they might even have been caught up in the shifting earth and become injured, not something that would have been useful in any way.

While I was disappointed that I couldn’t recover any of the bodies or tanks, I was glad enough to have notes that might point me in the right direction, though I did once again find myself with an unknown foe. Just when I thought I had practically dealt with Gabriel for the foreseeable future, another woman was planning on giving me trouble, using not only me, but the others I spent time with as nothing more than experimental subjects.

While I hadn’t found any evidence that pointed towards it, I had a feeling the seeress had something to do with the Radiant Dawn that had attacked the city, though why she had abandoned her current base was a mystery, perhaps it was because she had discovered a better facility, or some other reason, but for now, I was planning to deal with my more immediate problems, the issue of mine and Kaliel’s inability to use the Status Plates.