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.

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“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.