Chương 152: Chapter 228: Lord’s Quarantine

"I wasn't expecting Fabron to go crazy right in the middle of the night, but I'll take it." Kyle Fontaine said, his hand on the boat's throttle. The little dingy was draining his Charge at a little over one an hour as they puttered through the emptiness.

"Gods I hope this keeps that brat busy long enough," Bess muttered, scowling, arms crossed against the cold of the void.

"I'm sure it will." Kyle muttered to himself before raising his voice to address the rest of them.

"Zodiac will detain and perform a thorough questioning of everyone involved, and if Will doesn't want to get into a direct fight with the Lord of the stronghold, he'll go along with it. That'll give us half a day. Plenty of time to drop a floor."

"Drop a floor?" Roger asked.

"Are you suggesting we go closer to his center of power? We already know he can reach any Floor below here, why would we hide there?"

"Are you confident you could survive the Twelfth and Thirteenth Floor?" Kyle asked, his grip tightening on the throttle.

"Because I sure as Abyss ain't."

"We got two choices I can think of:" Kyle said.

"Number one, we disappear into the jungle on the 7 th Floor, lie low and wait for this to blow over. Might take a decade or so, but eventually we might be able to sneak past him again and start Climbing again."

"We're all Advanced Classers, so the 7 th Floor wouldn't be too dangerous. Think of it like an extended vacation. Plus the Lord of the 7 th Floor isn't on the best terms with William Oh. They won't communicate much."

"Spending a decade covered in mud and sweat in a sweltering jungle with you guys does not sound like my idea of a good time." Bess said, glancing between them.

"No offense."

"None taken. I don't wanna do that either." Amy said.

"Aye." Roger agreed.

"What else you got?"

"We make a break for the outside. We leave The Tower. Once we're outside, we break apart and go our separate ways. He's looking for a group of four. Split up, we've got a decent chance of staying out of his hands." Kyle said. The four of them shared a moment of silence.

"It's been a good run. I like you guys, but I like living more." Roger said.

"Aye," Amy and Bess said. Kyle took a deep breath. Alright. Guess my Climb is over. Or maybe… I can drop these three off at the bottom of The Tower and bring some Sacrifices with me to make myself some new Party members. Hmm…. Yeah. I've got money, power and experience that dwarfs what I had when I started out. I could get a party of Noobs up here in a fraction of the time it took me the first time. If that's the plan, do I even have to drop these three off outside The Tower? Kyle thought.

If we're going our separate ways anyway, I could just get rid of them and use their kit to fund my next Party. Can't do it immediately, though. Easier if they carry their own gear most of the way. Safer in numbers, too. The third floor is a good place. I could solo that easy. Dump the bodies in a lava flow and everything after that is gravy.

"Alright," Kyle said, letting out sigh.

"I guess that's the plan, then."

"Maybe we can con a Lord into giving us a Door to skip a couple floors. You know, play the pregnancy card." Amy said. Clack. Roger's pipe squirted out of his hand and floated halfway across the boat, clattering against the side as he stared at their resident priestess with a dumbfounded expression.

"Not for real." Amy said.

"That wouldn't work, any Lord worth his salt will have a priest check first." Kyle refuted. Wordlessly, Amy pointed at herself. She was a priestess, after all, and could give her word that they were pregnant and the need to evacuate the Tower was real. That…might actually work. Bess seemed to consider a moment before she snorted and gave Roger a calculating glance.

"You might be on to something there, Amy. I wonder if William Oh would risk his stellar reputation to kill a baby's mother. Willing to help with that, Roger?"

"That seems…extreme." Amy said, her expression turning a bit sour.

"Extreme? The alternative is death." Bess replied.

"A baby-shield might be the perfect solution for someone who values their reputation so highly."

"W-wouldn't it be easier to just steal one?" Roger stammered, his face turning red.

"Aw, lookit'im. Blushing and talking about stealing babies at the same time." Bess said with a grin and a cocked head.

"Might be easier, but probably wouldn't be safer. The kid's got monstrous Acuity and a sharp mind. It wouldn't take much to figure I ain't the mother, and then the whole gambit goes tits-up. Safer to do it the old-fashioned way. You got any plans for later?" She asked, giving Roger a predatory stare.

"Ummm…I…" Kyle groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Stop the chatter and get your weapons ready, we're getting close." Kyle said as they drew close to the Key Site. Roger readied his bow while Bess drew one of her attack wands. She didn't have much in the way of direct offensive capabilities, so wands helped round out her Build. According to their informant, this was one of the Key Sites that Zodiac kept in reserve. It should be populated by mutated constellations. Except it was empty, covered in ash. What the…

There was a jolt as gravity reasserted itself, with the floating pipe rattling to the bottom of the boat. Kyle changed the orientation of the thrust, turning their sudden lurch into a forward glide, landing on the crystal disc with a single pyramid of crystal at the center, radiating miasmatic blue light straight up. The island was riddled with massive walls of crystal, creating cover scattered across the island. Maybe they were hiding?

Kyle had never known the creatures guarding a Key Site to be anything but suicidally aggressive. They rushed off the boat, trying to draw any monsters away from it. They didn't want to get their precious transport busted before they knew for a fact they wouldn't need it. They got in formation and crept through the ash covered island until they happened across a body. It was Fabron's corpse, judging by the ostentatious clothes.

The thin layer of ash beside him had been disturbed, where someone had seemingly written a note in the ash with their finger. Nice try, Mr. Fontaine et al. Be a dear and bring Fabron's body back with you when you return.

"Fuck!" Kyle barked, the rage bursting out of him for an instant before he reined it back in. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Huh." Bess mused, staring down at the message.

"Guess it was too easy." She glanced up at Roger and grabbed the ranger's collar.

"I assume we've got some time before we absolutely have to get back," Bess said, dragging Roger towards a crystal outcropping that created some natural cover.

"Roger and I are gonna get started on 'plan b'."

"Whatever." Kyle said, keeping the snarl out of his voice as he squatted down beside Fabron's corpse. The Abyss is Fabron doing here? Did William Oh put his body here ahead of us just to taunt us, or was he trying to run away and they got him? Then why isn't Will waiting for us in person? There were no tracks in the ash, so he use his Phantom hand. So Fabron was here and Will was never here, but Fabron is dead. This doesn't make much sense.

The sound of passionate kissing intruded on Kyle's thoughts, forcing him to groan and take some distance so he wouldn't have to be subjected to their noises. Normally he might've stood guard even then, safety over comfort… but the Site had been cleared very recently, so it was safe enough, and he wasn't in the mood. He needed to think. Roger"And… he's gone," Bess said, taking her mouth away from his, leaving Roger standing on noodly legs with his mouth hanging open.

"H-Huh?" Roger groaned, trying to stop himself from sliding down the wall he was pressed up against. He hadn't had it hot and heavy like that in a while, and…

"Did you see his face when he pitched the 'get outside the Tower and scatter' plan?" Bess whispered, peeling away from Roger and glancing around the edge of the crystal.

"He decided to kill us." She continued, ducking back behind the crystal.

"You've been around long enough to see what he looks like when he decides it's more profitable to kill someone. The mask drops for an instant." Now that you mention it…

"I saw it too," Amy whispered, peeking from around the other side of the crystal outcropping.

"…What?" Roger asked. the mood had shifted so quickly that Roger felt like he was having whiplash.

"It's not safe enough for him to go solo until we get to the fifth Floor and below." Bess said.

"Plus he doesn't want to carry our kit."

"So he'll kill us somewhere below the fifth Floor?" Amy mused.

"Somewhere easy to dispose of bodies…"

"Third Floor?" Amy and Bess said, glancing at each other and nodding.

"That means we need to kill him before Akul and offload him somewhere." Bess said.

"Do we have to kill him?" Amy said.

"We could just entrap him on the 9 th Floor with Debt and that would be that."

"…I like that. The ninth Floor is real soon, and it offers us a ton of advantages. We ask him about the plan to split up, catch him lying about not planning on killing us, then take him out. The Debt would be balanced in our favor. Plus, the three of us can move around on the upper floors easier than he can alone. He won't have any reason to try anything by then."

"Good enough." Amy said.

"I'll go stand guard. We can't cluster together like this or he'll get suspicious."

"Don't get out of eyeshot of us, Amy," Bess said, patting the priestess on the shoulder.

"We don't know for sure when Kyle is gonna flip. He might throw caution to the wind if he gets riled enough."

"So, umm, if we're not actually gonna-OOF!" Roger grunted as Bess shoved him back against the crystal wall.

"Plan b is still in motion." Bess said, leaning in close.

"Besides, wouldn't want him to get suspicious."

"You…are a crazy bitch." Roger said.

"You love it." she whispered in his ear.

"Yeah, I kind of do." Roger admitted with a shrug, drawing the barrier mage into a hug.

"Hey, cut that out, godsdamnit. We don't have time for this." Bess said, squirming in his grip. Roger shushed Bess, patting her head until she went limp in his arms. William Oh Well… These people are insane. Will thought, shaking his head and taking the map out of his ear. No need to listen to what came next. They're beginning to fragment. Kyle against the other three. If it comes to it, Bess will turn Roger against Amy, too. She seems to have him wrapped around her finger.

If she can use her own baby as a meat shield, she can probably abandon the ranger at the drop of a hat, too. It really was more satisfying just applying pressure to these scumbags and letting them kill each other like starving animals. There was a certain poetic justice there. Will hadn't laid a finger on them and they were plotting to kill each other. Although at the moment, I should direct my attention to something more pressing.

"The way I see it there's two possibilities." Zodiac said.

"Either the norworm went down in search of more Climbers to infect, or it went up, in an effort to gain levels forits host body and use that extra power to crush our pursuit. We can't afford to guess wrong on this one."

"The strongholds above only have a few dozen Climbers at most, and they're all powerful." Mark mused.

"As powerful as Void wearing a set that allows him to summon undead that can battle a Lord single-handed?" Will asked.

"…Probably not." Mark admitted.

"Do you know what his Build is?" Will asked.

"Not precisely, but I have the gist of it. He has a ton of synergistic Abilities to empower undead but he can't create them himself. It's why he uses that scythe, for the Ability to raise zombies, which he then empowers. I was afraid of that.

"Does he have any attack Abilities?" Will continued.

"Mark, write down anything you can think of about his build," Zodiac said, sliding a pen and paper to the Lord of the 7 th Floor.

"Meanwhile we'll return to the topic at hand: Which way did that thing go?"

"I have a decent way of spotting the worm if it went down." Will said, raising his hand.

"How's that?" Zodiac asked.

"I have spies in all your strongholds." Will said.

"We all have spies." Chesmu said, the big sailor sitting rigidly straight, but his tone condescending." My spies can pass messages instantly." Will said.

"Ah, the post office and bakery." Carrie said, expression thoughtful.

"With their help we can spot wherever it goes below the 11 th Floor and since we're all Lords, we can purchase Doors to land directly on top of it." Will said.

"And what if he goes up?" Carrie asked.

"If I wait here for you to spot our quarry, my stronghold may very well be infested with these things. I'm sorry, but I can't afford to risk it."

"The Eighth Floor." Zodiac said, snapping his fingers.

"Eh?" Will asked.

"Ghoul is the perfect chokepoint. Nobody can move through without going through him. Let's send a few of our own down to him via Doors to share the news and help establish a quarantine. We can then work our way up from the Ninth Floor until we find it and kill it." 11 to the power of three…1331 Influence? Per person? That's a bit rich for my blood.

"I'll foot the bill in Influence cost, since this thing showed up in my stronghold." Zodiac said, seemingly reading Will's thoughts from his face.

"We can send the other detachment to Ms. Carrie's Stronghold and have them work their way down. Cut this thing off from both directions."

"Can we put a bounty on this thing?" Will asked.

"Caddock put a bounty on me that prevented me from leaving."

"Right! That is an extra option you can add when issuing bounties. Expensive, but worth it under the right circumstances. You can only do that on the Floor your stronghold is on," Zodiac mused.

"But that would certainly be an excellent way to trap the bastard. It would still be able to switch bodies, but that would prevent Void's body from leaving. It would have to abandon the synergy between the set and the Class if it wanted to escape."

"How much does that option cost when issuing bounties?" Will asked.

"Ten thousand Influence to start, plus the cost of the bounty itself. More if you want it to be harder to break." Yeah that was how much it cost to pay off. how in the name of Holdna did Caddock get that much Influence?

"I…don't have that much."

"Well, your stronghold is relatively new." Zodiac mused.

"Who's got the Influence to pay for a lockdown bounty on Void?" All the old-blood Lords raised their hands. Carrie raised her hand, but the rest of her Lords didn't.

"Okay, everyone with the influence to lock the creature down will go back to their own Floor, save Marksman and Baron Akul, who will warn and reinforce Ghoul. The rest of you are going to form a Party and be sent straight to the 14 th Floor and work your way back down in an attempt to corner this thing. Does this plan please everyone?" Zodiac asked. … that plan leaves my Stronghold completely undefended.

I'd have to rely on Loth and Brianna to keep everyone safe, because trying to purchase a Door straight back would cost… 14 raised to the power of four. I definitely couldn't afford it.

"My Stronghold is directly in the path of this creature if it went down. Pay me fifty thousand Influence to buy a Door back home and I'll agree to join the party on the 14 th Floor." Will said.

"It only costs thirty-eight thousand to travel from the 14 th Floor to the tenth." Zodiac said.

"Well, if I'm going to be buying a door to the 10 th Floor, it'll only be because the creature is there. I'd want an extra ten thousand to immediately issue a lockdown from The Tower. And two thousand to make a nice even number." Zodiac frowned, then he and the other Lords put their heads together, reaching a decision.

"William Oh. I'll give you ten thousand Influence to fund a lockdown bounty and send you straight back to your Stronghold, since it's directly in the creature's path. The Party going up to the 14 th Floor will be Lord Wyrd, Carrie Envar, Lord Akul, Lord Danso, Lord Corwin. Lord Chesmu will substitute for Akul reinforcing Ghoul." Will translated that in his mind. Most of Carrie's followers were going up to the 14 th floor with her, bolstered by Baron Akul and mark Wyrd of the old blood.

Meanwhile Marksman and the big sailor from the 6 th Floor would go back to the 8 th Floor and reinforce the chokepoint. Did they add Baron Akul because they thought they might try to kill or sway Mark Wyrd while they're in a Party? Are they mixing up the factions to keep their eyes on each other for betrayal? Did I get ousted from the group because my position on the 10 th floor, or because I'm a wildcard not aligned with either faction?

"Does that work for everyone?" Zodiac asked, scanning the group. Will asked for one more thing: To send some of Brianna's copies up with them so he could get word immediately if they got made contact. Once that was done, all that was left was to go through the Door Zodiac created for everyone. 10000 Influence paid to Lord Oh by Lord Zodiac for the service (breathing air)! The sheer wealth on display, Will thought, shaking his head enviously.

"Good luck, young man," Zodiac said before Will stepped through.

"And mind the acclimation sickness!" Zodiac called after him. Oh shi- Will's feet crunched into the desert sand of his Floor. You have returned to the 10 th Floor before the acclimation period elapsed. Minor acclimation sickness detected. Will's entire body felt a chill, breaking out in a cold sweat as the higher concentration of miasma that he hadn't quite adapted to dumped out of him, leaving his legs feeling weak. A moment later he sank to his knees and threw up, Brianna not far behind.