Chương 19: The Anti-Daoist (part 2)

"That sounds dramatic," I said.

"It is." He tapped the tablet. A spreadsheet appeared.

"I've been compiling progression data from every climber since the first dive." Liu leaned forward. I took another sip of tea.

"The way climbers progress through floors is inconsistent." Henrik swiped, and a chart appeared. Names on the left, floor numbers branching out to the right in jagged, non-linear paths.

"At best. At worst, it appears deliberately unequal." He pointed at the top name. Mina.

"She's the fastest climber by a significant margin. Floor eighteen. But eighteen has a three-person requirement. She's the only climber who's reached it, and she can't recruit anyone because no one else is on the floor."

"Can she not go back to a lower floor and ascend differently?" Liu asked.

"She tried." Henrik tapped on Mina's entry. A branching path showed four attempts.

"She re-entered floor nine — her first — four separate times. Each time, upon completion, the system sent her back to twelve, which on every rerun, sent her to eighteen. The same floor. The same requirement." I frowned.

"Did others get different floors upon re-completion of a previous one?" He swiped again. The chart zoomed out, showing every climber's progression in a web of overlapping lines.

"Everyone else is getting a different floor on progression. There's no pattern I can identify. Climbers are scattered across floors eleven through eighteen, with no consistency in where completing a given floor sends you next." So, the tower wanted her stuck. But… how did the tower want anything? He tapped two names, highlighted in yellow.

"These two both completed floor twelve. Different dives, different teams. One was sent to floor fourteen. The other to floor seventeen."

"Same floor, different destination," I said.

"Exactly. Which means floor progression isn't sequential, and it isn't random either, or if it is random, it's random in a way that seems designed to separate climbers." Henrik pushed up his glasses with his index finger.

"I can't help but think the system isn't fair. Or at the very least, it isn't operating on rules alone." Liu set down his tea.

"The heavens test each soul according to its nature. Perhaps the tower does the same."

"That's not a testable hypothesis," Henrik said.

"Nevertheless, the data suggest the progression might be manipulated." I sipped from the tea.

"Why is she getting singled out?" Henrik looked at me like I'd asked what color the sky was.

"Mina is a high-tier enforcer of Lucielle Legal. She retired seventeen years ago, but she has unretired to climb the tower. In terms of combat power, she is without any space for discussion, the strongest climber. By an overwhelming gap." Liu nodded, slowly.

"I have seen the name in records, admittedly. The Tribunal has her marked as a mortal threat."

"What's she doing here then?" I asked. Henrik shrugged.

"We might be from the same organization, but we have yet to be introduced," Henrik said. In other words, he was so far beneath her that they had no natural avenue to meet. Henrik collapsed the chart.

"That makes me ponder if the high-level mages that are notably underrepresented among the climbers knew something we haven't been told. The organizations each have individuals far more powerful than any of us. They're not sending them."

"Isn't that because of the pods?" I asked. Both of them looked at me.

"The projection system scans everything. Your mana, your techniques, your combat patterns, your skills, and all of it get broadcast to whoever's watching in the tribunes. Every dive is essentially a full-spectrum recording of your capabilities." I set the cup down.

"For anyone who's built their power on secrecy, which is just about every mage, climbing the tower means handing all of that to their rivals on a silver platter." Liu stroked his chin.

"The Tribunal's elder cultivators refused to participate for precisely this reason. Revealing one's cultivation methods to rival sects is considered a greater loss than any treasure could compensate. I would call them paranoid fools, but perhaps fear is more widespread than I would have expected it to be." This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Henrik nodded.

"Our organization had no such discussion." They both glanced at me.

"I've been in the Sands for three days." The door slid open. Yukiko walked in, assessed the room in a single sweep, and sat down in the corner farthest from all of us. Henrik pushed a cup of tea in her direction. She looked at it. She looked at him. She looked away.

"More for us," Liu said, and poured himself another. Two minutes later, Sarah entered. Her armor was polished to a gleam, the crusader cross catching the fluorescent light in a way that was probably intentional. Her sword sat at her hip, shield on her back, and her face carried the expression of moderate excitement.

"Good morning," she said.

"I need to address something." Henrik sighed.

"Must everyone address something today?" Sarah planted herself in the center of the room, hands on her hips.

"The Three Emperors." She looked at Liu, then at me, then back at Liu.

"That name is selfish, childish, and stupid." Liu sipped his tea without any visible guilt.

"It is also accurate."

"It excludes two members of this team. Two members who fought just as hard on that floor as any of you." She glanced at Yukiko, who didn't acknowledge the support.

"It's vainglorious, it's petty, and it's exactly the kind of divisive showmanship that will undermine our sacred mission." But I liked it. I kept my mouth shut. Liu made enough waves already. She raised a hand, cutting off whatever we were about to say. Which was nothing, but she cut it off anyway.

"I can forgive it. This once. Because the intentions behind it were clearly born of competitive pride rather than malice, and pride can be redirected toward righteous purpose." Liu bowed his head slightly.

"Your magnanimity is noted, fellow Daoist."

"I'm not your fellow Daoist, Liu Wei. I am a child of God." But she almost smiled. Almost. She turned to me. The almost-smile faded into something more complicated. Her jaw worked for a second, like she was physically chewing on her next words before letting them out.

"Damian." I looked up.

"Sarah."

"Your magic is an abomination." She tried to sound factual, but the righteous fervour crept into her tone.

"Summoning demons is a sin against the natural order and an offense to the grace of God. I will never approve of it, and I will pray for your soul every night until you repent or until the Lord calls me home."

"I appreciate the effort, but it is utterly wasted on me." Any repentant cells I may have once had in my body died of starvation years ago.

"However." She took a breath.

"What you did with the drone, sharing it with the entire world, instead of hoarding it for the Golden Sands." Her eyes softened, which looked almost painful on her.

"That was selfless, generous, and honorable. In all the ways that matter, you chose mankind over yourself." I blinked. I hadn't expected that. Not from her.

"It's the kind of choice that reminds me that even those who walk in darkness can carry a spark of light." She nodded once, firmly, as if stamping a document.

"I wanted you to know that I respect it. Deeply." The room went quiet. Even Yukiko glanced over.

"Thank you, Sarah," I said, and meant it. She was wrong about how she interpreted my intentions, but she was genuine in a way that most people couldn't even fake. She nodded again, then clapped her hands.

"Now. Shall we go kill some bugs for the Lord?" We each took one more sip, stood up, and headed out. Sarah, taking advantage of already standing, went out first. The dome buzzed with the usual pre-dive energy. Technicians moved between pods, running diagnostics. The tribunes were maybe half full, a mix of organization representatives and researchers who'd flown in specifically for the climbs. Cameras tracked us from multiple angles. The host stood by his podium, microphone in hand, smile already loaded.

He spotted us and his eyes lit up with the particular hunger of a man who'd found today's material.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Three Emperors return! Plus two! I'm told the marketing department is still arguing about the name. Several alternatives have been proposed, including the Five Pillars, the Tower Wolves, and my personal favorite, submitted anonymously, Sarah and the Sinners." Sarah's eye twitched. Yukiko's hand drifted to her katana. Liu Wei chuckled softly. Henrik looked like he wanted to die. I appreciated the anonymous contributor.

"Now," the host continued, "I'm told this team has unfinished business on floor eleven. A fortress, a timer that ran out, and a beacon left behind. Will they conquer what they couldn't finish? Will they discover what's inside the mysterious structure? And most importantly, is their return going to be as much of a mess as yesterday?" Sarah walked to the beacon pedestal, took the beacon, and stared directly at the host.

"In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we will finish what we started." The host grinned.

"There we go. Same answer, same energy. I respect the commitment." We headed toward the pods. Henrik walked beside me, lowering his voice. Liu fell into step with me.

"The knot in your qi," he said, quietly enough that only I could hear.

"Whatever is binding you, be it debt, obligation, or attachment, remember that the path upward begins with letting go of what holds you down."

"That's very philosophical."

"It's very practical." He bowed slightly and stepped into his pod. I climbed into mine. The display flickered. Damian Gabriel O'Connor. Level: 18. Tower perks: 0. Artifacts: 0. Highest floor: 11. The pod closed. Darkness swallowed me. And then I was back. The stale air hit first. Rust and old blood and that chemical undertone that clung to everything on this floor. The bioluminescent not-fungi cast their pale green light across the cavern ceiling, a false sky of cold stars.

The wasteland spread before us, exactly as we'd left it. Rusted structures, collapsed buildings, dried canals. And in the center, rising three hundred feet from the cavern floor, the fortress. The others materialized around me. Yukiko, katana already drawn. Henrik, staff pulsing blue. Liu, hands glowing gold. Sarah, shield up, sword lit with white flame. I pulled on my power. Astarielle. In a burst of crimson flame, she appeared beside me. Black dress, black heels, black hair cascading over red skin.

She took one look at the fortress and grinned, baring her fangs. She even wore clothes, which was nice. Hopefully, Ashy was going to do the same.

"Missed me?" she asked.

"Always." I took a breath and headed after the others, who had already stepped into the wasteland.