Chapter 214 - Hold On (3)

They moved quickly through the crumbling corridors of the facility, the flickering lights casting shadows that danced like specters along the walls. Jericho, still weak but walking with growing strength, guided them through a side passage that bypassed the main exit routes. Athena kept her sword ready, her senses sharpened beyond the capacity of ordinary humans. Her body remembered what her mind couldn't fully grasp yet—every step, every breath, every glance behind her was calculated, as if some training long buried beneath layers of forgotten identity had reawakened. The deeper they went, the more she could feel the hum of machines, ancient and alive, pulsing beneath the concrete and steel. Jericho stopped them in front of an enormous vault door, one marked not with words but a glowing emblem—an insignia Athena had seen many times in her dreams. "This is it," he said quietly. "The heart of the Sinalta Project. The truth is inside."