Chương 240: A united cause

"Careful now, there are more of the collapsing zones ahead."

"I don't need your warnings, flippant one," River retorted as she turned the corner in the wake of Little Crow, easily weaving between the growing patches of not-space. She was about to say more when her aura senses picked up something ahead that a more directed sweep confirmed to be their target.

"I can sense him. We're close." River's words caused a shift in the carefree man that she had seen many times now during their stay inside the trials. Outwardly, the celestine with the onyx hair looked much the same, but his spirit seemed to both fade and sharpen at the same time, becoming closer in feel to the subtle needles which his path employed; not seeming too dangerous at a glance before they ripped you apart after just a small prick.

Both fell silent and River took the lead, guiding the pair through the maze of tunnels. They had to make a few detours due to the growing patches of the astral space collapsing, but soon reached a larger open area which seemed identical to the one in which their side's Ruler still resided.

This one was partly collapsed however, with a clear trail of debris from where what used to be their ruler had clawed its way up the cliffs and into the storm above, and it was empty except for a construction of latticework girders which housed something glowing in their midst. Little Crow's aura nudged River's, the question in his spirit clear to her.

"Want to do the honors?" She regarded the construction for a while, the metal leaving only narrow gaps here and there, before shaking her head. Little Crow nodded in confirmation once before stalking ahead. Shrouded by one of his essence powers, he started throwing out needles in a steady rhythm. These currently lacked any clear magical glow, their conjured nature hazy even to River's magical perception, but had no trouble piercing into the metal construction.

He took one lap around the odd building before rejoining River, and one surge of mana later all the needles lit up simultaneously. A roaring detonation echoed through the open space, River's chains easily deflecting pieces of debris that were sent flying their way while more ricocheted off the surrounding stones with clangs and sparks. The chains then immediately shot inwards towards the now exposed aura from inside, the person reeling from the sudden onslaught of magical explosions.

River had still been able to pick it out even through the concealing formations, but now she could more clearly feel an odd kind of sluggishness in it, as if the person had woken up from a trance or deep sleep. Her chains found purchase inside the cloud of dust, but there was a surprising resistance as River tried to haul in her prey. Seeing her chains go taut and her apparent strain, Little Crow swept his open parasol to blow away the obscurement, revealing the last of the Builder's cultists within.

The man - or at least what might have once looked like a man - sat rooted in place on the gravelly ground as a complex, angular framework of crystal and metal had seemingly grown out of his chest that was splayed open to reveal a hollow metallic cavity within that seemed way more voluminous that it should be. The growths stretched out into the air and ground around him, forming intricate fractal patterns and loops.

And while they looked like no ritual circle River had ever seen, the flickering glow inside them and the mana built up inside gave it away. She knew not the secrets of the Builder's cult, but this made it clear that they had access to magical means alien to these lands. It was the ritual circles which made it so difficult to haul the man out of his previous hiding place as they acted much like the roots of a tree, shifting somewhat beneath River's pull but not overly much.

Beside her, Little Crow crinkled his nose and 'tssked' disapprovingly at the macabre sight as a pair of glowing needles appeared in his hands that he quickly flicked towards the Builder cultist. Each impacted parts of the ritual circles which shattered in places beneath the detonations. Like the crack in a breaking dam quickly becoming a torrent once it gained momentum, this shift was enough. Another heave, and the rest of the ritual circle started snapping piece by piece.

By now, the man had started to come to from whatever daze he had been in, eyes wide with panic as he fought against River's pull. Or perhaps against- BOOOOM River sensed it in the man's rising panic a mere moment before the ritual broke, and hence she had the time to activate Moment of Lightning Cadence.

The world slowed down greatly around her, which let her see the numerous cracks in the ritual circles flare with energy before they started leaking light in an explosion which was closing in with some speed even in the accelerated time of her power. River turned to run, but an afterthought had one of her chains snake out and grab Little Crow around the waist as well.

The sudden yank which followed was no doubt quite painful, but River found herself a bit surprised to not care too much about such a tribute to her god. A blur of motion later had the pair sliding around the corner into a nearby tunnel before River's power ended, a torrent of blue and white crackling light impacting the wall behind them an instant later. Even the residual energies washing over them from around the bend were enough to inflict some superficial damage, hinting at the potency of the blast.

"Well, it seems like I owe you, Dancer on the Broken River," Little Crow noted, voice calm even though River could feel his aura stirring with the hints of shock.

"That was honestly an embarrassing rookie mistake from me too. The family has taught me better than to take down an ongoing, unknown ritual from that close a distance. Hopefully, you won't mind keeping this little detail between us, no?" He complemented his question with a humble bow, hands clapped together in supplication.

"I… Think nothing of it," was all River could get out. Not because the gratitude itself was enough to cause her to fluster - she had experienced enough of that during the time spent in the trial - but from the fact that helping Little Crow had come so easy. As a mere instinct and afterthought. So she barely heard him as he continued.

"Well, I think it's safe to say that whatever the Builder's cultists were doing here is well and thoroughly taken care of," the celestine said, gesturing for River to join him as he started down the corridor which led back towards the center of the Labyrinth.

"Come, let's get back before we lose more passages to the broken space. From what Kite and that orb said, it should be time to finish this and reap ourselves some well-earned rewards." In a fortified and hidden underground complex far away from Hua-Xi, Litoria Kel - gold-ranker and the bearer of the Builder's star seed - found herself interrupted in her work.

"Enter!" she called, directing most of the massive framework that was her true, Builder-blessed body to continue its work with the intricate construct she was finishing while a more humanoid torso was directed towards the entrance to receive the visitor. Litoria liked that particular visage of hers the most as she was proud of the mirror sheen to which she had managed to polish the many small metallic scales which made up its skin.

The end result looked like the upper half of a woman of living metal, even if the thick cables which extended from its waist to connect it to Litoria's whole still left some things to be desired in the aesthetics departments.

"Report," she commanded the bronze-ranker who had frozen upon entry in clear awe as he beheld her majestic form.

"U-uhm, yes! Of course, blessed Litoria. I come bearing news from ritual chamber thirteen." Litoria could sense some fear in his aura, and prepared herself to receive bad news.

"The beacon for the dimensional tunnel has gone out, and while the head ritualist is attempting to reestablish the connection, his assessment is that the chances of success are low."

"I see. Thank you for your report."

"Of course, blessed Litoria. Any further orders?"

"Yes. Cease the ritual and conserve what materials you may. We will have to assume that Jin and his chosen followers are lost. A shame. It would seem like those misguided zealots in Hua-Xi had greatly overestimated their capabilities in this joint venture. We shall have to inform them of our disappointment and continue with the Builder's work elsewhere. Their little kingdom isn't important enough to warrant further attention, but will be harvested when the time comes."

The man bowed and headed off to do as instructed, and Litoria let the humanoid body retreat back into her vast form of cables and metal which took up most of the spacious chamber. Instead, she regarded the almost finished clockwork king to which she had been about to add the finishing touches.

"Having a sealed astral space where you could have resided to build us another proper base of operations would have been convenient," she mused, talking aloud even though the construct was still inactive.

"But I assure you that you will still fill another purpose in the grand plans of the Lord Builder. As will we all."

"Careful now. Let the metal expand a bit more. Now- yes just like that," Fantina carefully guided where Dragonfly was assisting Kite in removing his armor to more properly assess the damage done to him. Without the magical suit's ability so expand and contract to fit wearers of somewhat varying sizes, they would no doubt have been forced to tear the armor apart to extract Kite's rigid left arm, but with some adjustments from Kite and prying from Dragonfly, the armor and left pauldron finally came off.

"Oh sweet heavens," Dragonfly breathed, and Kite could do nothing but agree. Given that he had seen both King and Young master Valor in the aftermath of the clash for the throne, as well as the gradual process of the priestess who had put him in such a state, he had known what to expect. But seeing his now bared left arm and parts of his shoulder having been turned to a grayish, glass-like crystal whose oily surface shimmered in a plethora of clashing colors was still disturbing.

More smaller dots and lines of the same material covered his body where he had taken glancing hits, but none went as deep or was as thorough a transformation as the arm. While Dragonfly began fussing over him, Fantina took a more measured approach where she started inspecting the crystallized limb, bending, poking and prodding. Kite felt nothing except when she tried to infuse touches of healing into the arm, which caused his whole body to flare with pain.

"We will need access to better equipment to more properly assess it, but I believe it safe to say that this kind of damage is something beyond the norm," Fantina concluded.

"From what I can gather, it seems to have made a mess of both your body and magical matrix, turning them against one another to devastating effect. It shouldn't be beyond the skills of the Healer's clergy to help you recover, and us silvers tend to heal in time too. But we will need to determine more once we're back on the outside." During the examination, Glint had also been hovering nearby, and she chose that moment to speak up.

"Had the priestess not been needed for answers, this Young Mistress would have made sure to take her life in retribution for using me against my bond in such a way," she stated, voice filled with icy indignation.

"I would even have stooped to eating her whole just for the satisfaction of it."

"While the sentiment is heartwarming, I am glad for your restraint, little beauty," Kite replied, following her gaze to where the two collared agents of Discord lay unconscious. The robed elf's arm which had worn the ring was in a state similar to Kite's own, even if the outward effects weren't as extensive. But given her collapse after discharging the ring, Kite assumed that there had been some other kind of cost for her to use the artifact.

Both of the captives were kept unconscious by the ministrations of Spirit Singularity, the three vortices making sure to devour whatever mana they recovered.

"Still-," he continued, looking back to his arm"- I am a bit concerned. I know that there are exotic forms of injury out there, but suffering through one of them first hand is disconcerting to say the least. But I will defer to your expertise, Fantina. Let us meditate and recover as we wait for River and Little Crow to return. Then we can take our leave of this place."

Inwardly, Kite was actually much closer to panic than concern, but he kept those feelings well in check as he rose to his feet even as Dragonfly hovered protectively nearby. Together, they joined the others atop one of the largest boulders that remained after the fall of the stone spire. It had become a makeshift little fort, with some of his companions meditating while others kept watch.

Drones had stopped coming after the fall of the enemy Ruler, but fortunately the chaotically manifesting monsters had yet to reach the central area in any kind of numbers. As Kite sat down, he focused not only on meditation but also on channeling and trying out his different essence powers now that his magical framework was out of balance. Fortunately, the body of an essence-user compensated quickly and he soon found himself able to move on to more conventional meditation.

Kite wouldn't want to fight any important, life-defining duels in any kind of near future, but he was at least functioning to a decent degree. No more than two hours had passed before everyone involved felt a pulse of aura from just beyond the crater, signalling the return of River and Little Crow.

The pair, having been chosen to go and scout out the enemy base due to their speed and ability to move unseen, swiftly crossed the distance to their companions, the assassin gently touching down after having floated on his parasol while River vaulted down from the length of chains which she had run like a tightrope. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

"How-""The Builder's cult is no more," River said, interrupting Kite's question with her usual brusqueness. Perhaps even a bit more so, but Kite let it slide as she continued.

"There was one remaining ritualist whose grafts helped him keep up a ritual circle. It did not take interruptions well. No capture possible."

"Well, a great deal of the longer rituals can be dangerous if disrupted improperly," Braid agreed, Kite nodding.

"I… may have been very close to just such a situation. When Laevyeth and I first met," he said, wincing a bit at the memory.

"You can tell Braid what you remember of the ritual later too, but as for now I believe that might be the last thread to tie off in this place. A shame that it is collapsing, as I would have loved to see what other challenges lay hidden in the Labyrinth, but…" he said, trailing off as he gestured all around them to the visible manifestations around the domain. If they got high enough up in the air, the zones of collapsing space were now clearly visible even at a distance.

"If one of you had insisted on running off out there anyway just to look for treasure, I would have tied you up and sat on you until we were ready to leave this place," Fantina added lightly even though her aura gave the hint that the blonde woman was dead serious.

"The trinkets of this place are nothing next to what the Queen's herald should be able to offer," Soul remarked.

"Nor the import of showing Warrior what progress we all have made away from his knowing gaze."

"What I believe that Soul is trying to say here-," Dragonfly interjected,"- is that yes, Fantina, we all agree and aren't stupid enough to go out there just for some loot."

"Indeed. Although speaking of that…" Kite was a bit surprised to see that it had been Laevyeth who had spoken up, the outworlder having most often been content to listen during their meetings. But the women with the blue-tinted skin and silver eyes did not only speak this time either. Giving Will's hand another squeeze, she let go and started a round where she went from member to member of their group, handing each of them a pouch that was a simple square of cloth kept together with string.

Most just regarded the gift with curiosity, but Wander - present in her humanoid form - had no compunctions with opening hers right away even before the outworlder had finished.

"Oh… OH!" the other outworlder shouted in sudden glee as she saw what was inside.

"By all the naked people in these lands, I need to go with you on stuff more often, Laevyeth! Best outworlder girls got to stick together, no~?" The others soon got similar looks of surprise as they followed suit, revealing that each of the packages contained spirit coins. Not a great amount, but given that there were plenty of silvers and two golds in each one, quality won out over quantity.

"Heavens, Laevyeth," Dragonfly breathed.

"It's so much. I… had actually forgotten that you had a looting power. And one of the good ones that - unlike Kite's weird one - provides coins aplenty!"

"As it turned out, the constructs I managed to loot did count as actual gold-rankers for the power," the spear-woman added with a pleased smile.

"I have a lot more of the smaller denominations too, but felt that these were the most practical in sharing with thee here and now. We can make arrangements for the rest at a later date, and for the quintessence."

"Well I for one agree with Wander. Do remember me if you ever need an extra assassin in any and all ventures which you might undertake," Little Crow said with a bright smile, and a general round of thanks and merriment ensued. Kite did feel the instinct to claim that it was too much, but given his own proclivities in the expensive gifts department, he chose to practice the virtue of keeping silent. At least on that matter, as he did have another associated notice to make.

"The same will hold true for the essences and stones which Sage has manifested of course," he added.

"While we weren't here for overly long, Fortune still favored us enough and we have a few that need to be shared. But I agree with Laevyeth that there are some things best left to when we actually take our leave of this trial. And as we are now truly done… Officiator? Would you mind initiating the end?" The construct, which had seemed a lot more at ease since their defeat of the converted Ruler and its absorption of the first orb, came to life at his question as it hovered into their midst.

"Of course, trial-taker. If you and your minions would please make your way up to the gate, I will initiate the closing out of the trial. Time to put this collapsing place of corruption and vile schemes behind us. The Queen's justice has been upheld." The gate, which had previously hovered at the top of the tall stone spire, now simply remained floating in the air above the crater, uncaring of the destruction that had gone on beneath just a few hours prior.

Various means of flight and air-walking nonetheless made reaching it an easy task, and the group had soon gathered in front of the circular portal.

"Are you ready, trial-taker?"

"We are," Kite replied after giving each of his companions a look.

"Good. You have made me proud with what you have done in this place today. May you remember that as I become part of your path." Then the construct fell silent for a moment before a deep pulse suddenly emanated from the gate. And when it next spoke, its voice seemed to rise and echo across the entire space stretching out below them even while the realm and the Labyrinth started fading.

"Accessing gate matrix. Realm reconfiguration initiated. Corruption of trial realm detected.. Change in officiator orb detected. Changes authorized. Increased mass of orb detected. Anomalous number of trial-takers detected. Manual input required. Manual input received. Power flow opened. Designation; Stairway to heaven. Addendum - new designation; In the wake of the rising star Two previous trials completed. Correcting process. Adding multiple recipients.

Designating fulcrum; trial-taker Initiating the final forging - rank: Silver" The long string of odd phrases was a lot more lengthy than during any of Kite's previous encounters, but given their circumstances he wasn't too worried. And once the compression of the realm seemed to be starting, accompanied by the same shrinking feeling while the world around the gate vanished into mist, a platform similar to the others he had seen materialized beneath the group.

It had the customary dais where the officiating construct would go as the forging began, but unlike Kite's previous experiences, the rest of the pattern now had ten additional circles spread out in a fan-pattern behind the one closest to the small platform.

"Let the trial-taker seat himself as the vanguard, his minions fanning out behind him!" the voice of the officiator orb called as it hovered into place above the dais. Kite did as told, taking the lead spot while Dragonfly and Will took the seats just behind him. The rest followed suit, sitting in meditative poses as Kite had instructed should they ever find themselves in a situation such as this.

Their two prisoners were left discarded to the side, still kept subdued and unaware of what was taking place just a few meters away.

"Given the circumstances, it has been left to me to decide the form of this reward for clearing the Queen's trial and upholding her justice," the construct said somberly.

"Inside this place you have forged a united cause, and when you leave it shall no longer be a bond consisting only of mere shared experience. Steady yourselves. The final forging will now begin."

"Yes, order more. Make sure to choose young Lilac to deliver it to the young master. Given his mood after the gatherings, it is bound to cheer him…" The patriarch of the Eden family trailed off in his instructions, the younger family member who he had been instructing following his gaze to where a gathering of seven silver-rankers dressed in the finest of outfits and equipment stood in a rough circle a few meters apart from one another.

Like the young master of the Hope family who currently resided at the Edens' estates, each of the others were similarly chosen members of upper crust of Heavenward. Normally, their conversations - taking place in an open area of the sprawling camp of pavilions which had sprung up around Boundary's jade-sky gate - seemed to mostly consist of internal posturing as they debated what to do with the increasingly tense and curious situation in which the city had found itself.

None were locals, but given their connections and important positions in the capital, there was little doubt as to who were actually in charge. But while the gathering was normal, the patriarch had noted that all of the seven scions had stopped their bickering while turning to look at the gate that still hovered silently amongst the rubble of the wall which had once surrounded it.

Then he felt it too, a faint tremor in the air which hadn't been there before, and sprung to his feet just as the gate started pulsing with light.

"Make preparations. Gather the family! We must be prepared to support Young Master Hope in whatever comes next!" Younger family members and servants scurried off back towards their family compound to do his bidding, and the patriarch saw that all of the other pavilions of the local families were similarly abuzz with activity as he walked to meet with the returning young master.

"Patriarch! It seems like something is happening," the younger man called before the patriarch had the chance to speak.

"The gate glowing indicates that the trial inside has been completed. We should expect someone to emerge from inside within the hour." While the patriarch knew nothing of what usually heralded the completion of a trial, he chose to simply nod along as if this wasn't news to him.

"Of course, Young master Hope. I have already sent word to gather the family, should you require something of us."

"Good man! I knew that I chose well when I decided to call upon your hospitality. The Hope family will not forget this, Patriarch!"

"Any instructions for us then, Young master?" The younger man looked thoughtfully around them before he nodded.

"If you could please gather your essence-users to provide me with an entourage, that would be most splendid. While we've had many discussions of the matter, my peers and I have not reached any conclusion as to the order in which we will address those emerging from the gate. This will have to be something which we play by ear if we are to seize the moment for some answers and perhaps even a seat at the table in what is sure to follow.

Be it a trial or a celebration, the Hope family will not be relegated to the sidelines!"

"That would seem an impossible fate for a family of such renown," the patriarch agreed.

"The Eden family will be honored to stand by your side." More and more essence-users gathered over the following hour, auras ranging from iron to silver turning the plaza into a spiritual cacophony as the level of control varied greatly between those present. Enterprising merchants were hawking their wares as the tense anticipation kept growing, with an enterprising soul even having managed to get a collection of recording crystals for sale that went for a premium.

Closest to the steadily flashing gate, around two dozen meters away, the seven scions of Heavenward waited with their entourages in somber silence. Each group kept some distance to their peers, leaving them spaced out in a half circle, with the rest of the onlooking crowd giving them plenty of space as people instead chose to scale buildings and the like to get a better view. Then, the pulsing glow of the gate suddenly stopped.

Many in the crowds started murmuring even louder among themselves at that, wondering if something had gone wrong. But for those like the scions who knew more of the gates, this meant that it was the time to really start paying attention.

"It is time, Patriarch," young master Hope said, straightening in his fine robes as his aura tightened into even more rigid control while a crown of ice was conjured atop his head to add to the splendor. Then, without warning, people started emerging from the gate. Each of them were silver-rankers and each wore the cloaks and emblems of the Autumn Wanderer's guild, the only exception being the pair of limp, collared elves dragged along the ground in chains by one of their numbers walking at the rear.

And at their head strode the young man whom the patriarch recognized as the Pathbreaker. He had looked quite imposing when they had last exchanged words in contention, and the patriarch had to admit to himself that the new armor which the young man now wore - seemingly wrought from the same material as the gate itself - only served to lend him an even greater air of danger.

In the silence that followed, where the group emerging took in the gathered essence-users all around them, the Pathbreaker took a short step forward and spoke in a polite tone.

"The Queen's justice has been upheld, and the task given to us by Resplendent Gleam of Imagination is completed." His words became the spark that lit the conflagration, as several people started shouting at once.

"Who are the intruders?!"

"The prisoners! They must be delivered to us at once. The Brilliance family will make sure-""Heroes! Please join me for a trip back to the capital and accept our hospitality-" Seeming to each want to seize the initiative, most of the young masters and mistresses or their entourages called out their questions, demands or offers in a cacophony while auras were wrestling left and right to try and grab the attention of the emerging party.

This went on for several seconds, with the Pathbreaker and his party seeming concerned as this was clearly not the welcome they had expected. The Eden patriarch noted that young master Hope was also about to join in, and was readying himself to lend his support when he froze. But so did the young master, along with all the other scions while bronze-rankers staggered and irons fell unconscious among the rest of the audience.

Only the normal-rankers were spared, even though most - if not all - of them reacted with surprise and fear to some degree as a blur of shimmering light suddenly descended upon the gate like a falling star.

"JUSTICE HAS BEEN UPHELD!" It had been impossible even to the silvers present to see the form of the Queen's herald as she arrived, but as the construct suddenly towered above both the gate and the newly emerged group with its shimmering wings of mist extended to catch the afternoon sun, it became equally impossible to perceive anything else. And her bellowed words shaking the stones of the plaza only drove that point home beyond the possibility of doubt.

"BE GRATEFUL, CITIZENS OF HUA-XI. THESE WARRIORS HAVE LENT THEIR PATHS TO THE BETTERMENT OF ALL AS THEY HAVE FOUGHT FOR THE SANCTITY OF THE QUEEN'S TRIALS. LET IT BE REMEMBERED THAT IT WAS SHE WHO GIFTED SUCH AN OPPORTUNITY OF TEMPERING TO THESE LANDS AND ITS PEOPLE." It let its voice echo over the plaza for a moment, letting the onlookers digest the words before continuing.

And after hearing them, the Eden patriarch knew that the words which followed would throw the plans of the young master and his peers into complete disarray.

"AND IT IS NOT JUST I WHO HAVE TAKEN NOTE. THE QUEEN HERSELF HAS RETURNED FROM HER SOJOURN INTO THE COSMOS. ALL OF YOU RIGHTEOUS WARRIORS ARE CALLED TO STAND BEFORE HER. YOU WILL JOIN ME. AND RECEIVE YOUR DUE REWARD." As he was making his way home from the Gilded Adventure Society campus up on the Seventh Peak, Jarvan suddenly stopped in his tracks. There wasn't anything special in his vicinity, nor anything he detected within his aura range either.

But somehow - be it through fate, instinct, or perhaps the goddess Knowledge deciding on a random act of mischief - Jarvan found himself left with a sinking feeling in his gut.

"Just completely routine, Jarvan," he muttered to himself.

"Nothing exciting at all."