Chương 31: Chapter 29 - There's always another puzzle floor

Sarah and I collided in the doorway, both of us rushing after Mina. Her shield caught my hip, my shoulder caught her pauldron, and for one graceless moment, we were wedged together in the frame of a forty-foot gate like two idiots trying to board the same elevator. Her armor was warm from the climb, and I caught the faint scent of whatever oil she used on the chainmail.

"Move," she hissed.

"You move. I always go first for the boss."

"I'm the tank. I go first. That is the fundamental structure of every combat formation in the history of warfare."

"I'm not the one who got zeroed out at the last boss." Sarah pressed forward, shoving me off with the shield. I pressed back, bracing against the doorframe. But she slipped in already, to the sound of my demons giggling behind me. Mina already walked towards the room's center, though. The room was a library. Massive, with cathedral ceilings, ringed with concentric balconies of bookshelves that spiraled toward the top. Thousands upon thousands of books packed every surface, their spines a mosaic of faded colors.

The air smelled of old paper and dust. Faint green light filtered from above, casting everything in the same sickly glow as the bioluminescent fungi from the earlier floors. We slowed down. No sign of the boss. A book flew off the shelf to my left. Then another. And another. From every balcony, from every shelf, books launched themselves into the air. They spun, pages fluttering, and converged toward the center of the room in a spiraling vortex.

The air pressure shifted, pulling at our clothes, our hair, sending loose pages scattering across the floor. The books slammed together, translucent and green ectoplasm connecting them. It stretched between the volumes like tendons between bones. The mass grew, thousands of books, the ectoplasm thickening into ropes, then cables, then pillars of viscous light that held the structure together. It rose, soon reaching fifty feet in height.

The books and the ectoplasm constructed a monstrosity of a vaguely humanoid, headless shape, with four massive arms and no legs, its bottom a tornado of books and ectoplasm. Dozens of eyes glowed green from between the pages. Finally, the ectoplasm formed massive claws on its four arms, which solidified. Sarah's shield came up, white flame blazing along her sword. She dropped into her combat stance, knees bent, weight low. Behind me, Astarielle raised both hands.

Crimson motes gathered around her fingers, coalescing into the opening phase of one of her bigger spells. Ashy turned into a sword with a cheerful spin.

"Let's goooo!" Mina took her hands out of her pockets. With a hypersonic boom, she bolted to the creature and hit it straight with an open palm. A shockwave licked my shields, pushing Sarah and Astarielle half a step back, knocking Ashy away. The creature exploded into a rain of books and ectoplasm. Astarielle shielded her face, her half-charged spell fizzling as ectoplasm splattered across her arms and dress. Ashy's sword form caught a hardcover dictionary to the flat of the blade with a metallic clang.

Books rained down for a solid five seconds. A notification popped up in front of my eyes. [BOSS DEFEATED — ARCHIVIST AMALGAM] [Drops: Ectoplasmic Residue (Common) (x62), Bound Tome Fragment (Common) (x58), Spectral Ink (Uncommon) (x3), Librarian's Index (Rare) (x1), Forgotten Tome (Rare) (x1), 8 silver, 214 copper] Well, damn. Mina stood in the center, glowering at the scattered books and chaos.

"Where's the real boss?" She kicked a tome, sending it flying across the room. Ehm. She must have also gotten the notification.

"I think that's it," Sarah shouted, sheathing her sword.

"That can't be it." Mina kicked another book.

"What about stage two? Stage three? Berserk phase? Minions? I didn't even hit it that hard." Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. I motioned at Ashy and Astarielle to take the rare stuff from the loot pile. Ashy flew in, turned into her human self, and jumped on the pile, catching everything she could. I unsummoned them both. Mina's gaze instantly pierced me.

"Did you just steal my loot?" I didn't flinch.

"Do you have a way to get it out of the tower?"

"It's still mine."

"I'll bring you your share on the islands."

"You better." She turned, heading for the spiralled staircase beyond. I headed after her. Sarah fell into step beside me, shield on her back now, sword sheathed. Mina walked ahead, still radiating disappointment. We climbed through the ruined library. Books crunched underfoot. Ectoplasm squelched. The stairs wound through three levels of balconies before opening into a small circular chamber. The waystone sat in its center. A column of pale stone, smooth and featureless, glowing with quiet energy. We approached it.

Mina was already there, palm flat against the surface. Golden notification floated in front of my eyes. [FLOOR CLEARED — FLOOR 18] [Next floor: 22] [6/6]"Got floor 22," I said.

"Same," Sarah added, smiling.

"This is absolute horseshit," Mina blurted.

"What do you mean, floor 24, with one out of three? That's going to be another puzzle floor, isn't it?" She glared across the room, searching for someone to complain to.

"Those are always with three people." I smiled.

"The tower seems to like you."

"It's the biggest bullshit I've ever seen. I had to wait for three days, got a puzzle floor with a one-tap boss, and now I'm going to wait what, a week before I get to climb again, only to get another puzzle floor? This is the worst bullshit I've ever seen, and I've got teenage sextuplets. I've seen a lot of bullshit." Sarah stepped to her side, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry. I am certain the Lord has great plans prepared for you."

"He'd better fix the floors for me. This is atrocious. And I can't even give it an angry, zero-star review. I'm extracting." Her form started shimmering.

"We are done, anyway." Sarah's form also started shimmering. I waited. Sarah glanced at me, narrowing her eyes as she noticed I wasn't extracting. I waited. Ten seconds later, they were gone. I focused. Lantern of Endless Suffering. The lantern materialized beneath my palm, teal light spilling across the chamber. I reached out through it. The pull was immediate. Soul energy streamed from below, drawn from the remains scattered throughout the library. A whole lot more than I expected.

The vial for the blood of the innocents didn't get anything, but well, we didn't fight anything that bled to begin with. The flame grew, doubling. Definitely enough for another ten-pull from Hell. With a smirk, I unsummoned the lantern and triggered extraction. Darkness soon swallowed me. I blinked awake in the pod. The lid was already open. No host, no audience, no technician leaning over me. [LEVEL UP — LEVEL 23] [LEVEL UP — LEVEL 24] No time stop though. No sign of Elsha.

Wasn't she supposed to come at every level up? Lazy. Mina was already gone. Sarah was giving an interview to a reporter who happened to be here for some reason. Everyone else still sat in the pods, climbing. I left Sarah to her speech of divine providence and the Lord's guidance, and headed home. On the way, I summoned Astarielle so she could go network with the researchers. I stopped at the kebab stand on the way.

The man handling the food was making my favorite lamb doner with extra garlic sauce before I even said hi. I ate it while walking. My room was exactly as I'd left it, just with a bunch of extra papers scattered on the desk. Astarielle's notes. I kicked off my shoes, lay down on the bed, and closed my eyes. Time for a ten-pull. I turned my consciousness inward, slipping into the soul chamber. The old house materialized around me, floorboards creaking under my steps. I walked to the summoning circle.

Into the searching circle, I placed the Lantern of Endless Suffering. I split the souls into the amounts that worked last time and sent the energy into the depths of the Void. Within a moment, it reached Hell, at which point I split it into ten streams. The demons bit fast. One, two, three, all of them within seconds. I pulled them in. Ten figures materialized above the summoning circle, holographic and flickering. Each came with a tier marker. First. Succubus, blue-grey skin, short horns, bored expression. C-tier.

Second. Succubus, olive green, four wings, sitting cross-legged in the air. C-tier. Third. Succubus, pale white, long black hair, dressed in what looked like a Victorian nightgown. C-tier. At least she had style. Fourth. Succubus, orange skin, muscular build, carrying a spear. C-tier. Fifth. Succubus, deep purple, covered in glowing runes. C-tier. Sixth. Succubus, pink, tiny, barely three feet tall, hovering on translucent wings. C-tier. Seventh. Succubus, charcoal grey, six arms, each holding a different weapon.

C-tier. Interesting, but still C-tier. Eighth. Succubus, midnight blue, serpentine lower body. C-tier. Ninth. Succubus, red-brown, unremarkable in every way. C-tier. I exhaled. Nine C-tiers. Wonderful. My gacha luck remained, as always, a monument to statistical improbability. The tenth figure flickered into existence. A succubus with deep violet skin and silver-white hair that floated around her as if submerged in water. Her eyes were solid gold, no pupils, no iris, just two pools of molten amber.

She wore robes, actual robes, layered and flowing, covered in embroidered sigils. Her horns curved backward in elegant arcs, and between them, a small orb of violet energy orbited slowly. B-tier. The skill description floated beside her. Sorceress. Specialization: Crimson flame mastery. Oh, for fuck's sake. That was the precise specialization of Astarielle. Except that she was an A-tier. What use did I have for a B-tier of the same skills?

Maybe a support caster next to Astarielle, except that she would hate that idea. Rightfully so, plus binding her would occupy space in my soul chamber, and I'd still have to make her a statue. I dismissed them all. With a sigh, I pulled my consciousness back to reality. The room reassembled itself. The clock on the wall read 5: 32 PM. The evening was young. I swung my legs off the bed, found my shoes, and checked myself in the mirror by the door. Ectoplasm-free. Suit wrinkled but serviceable.

Hair needed work, but it always did. I ran my fingers through it, gave up, and headed out. Time to see Cassandra.