Chapter 205

Chapter 205

Hell looked a lot like California.

The towering basalt formations below were like pictures Id seen of the Devils Postpile monument, only warped by nightmares and blown up to a hundred times the scale. A sprawling wasteland of hexagonal red beams bigger than redwood trees formed treacherous, uneven paths that frequently plunged downward, some coming to abrupt dead ends that plunged into black chasms.

Battle sounds

I paused, the mental equivalent of my finger on the button to access the Ordinator interface. What stopped me was the local message that promised an artifact, combined with the personal message that promised increased XP. The system had tried to incentivize killing Users before, during the trial, an option Id easily turned down.

If push came to shove Id use it, but it was better to wait until I had a better grasp of the situation.

It was tempting to head directly down the main path. Miles had called for help some time ago, and in a fight for your life every second counts. But I needed to scout first. Get a measure of the situation.

I looked upwards, searching for a vantage. Around a hundred feet up, there was a thin pathway only three or four posts wide that hung over the stone platforms. I stared at it for a little too long, looking for movement, anything to betray that the pathway wasnt as empty as it looked, or for to warn me.

Audrey, I whispered, and held my arms out.

Audrey hopped up onto my back, fixing her vines around my waist and beneath my arms in an impromptu harness.

I glanced at Talia. Gonna get up there. You want to scout on your own or hitch a ride?

Talia peeked over the edge and balked. Ill stay here. Multiple perspectives could help.

Her reaction struck me as off. You realize if I fall to my death, you die too?

She gave me a dirty look. Yes. But Ill die peacefully, rather than screaming into the void.

Fair enough.

Stay low, stay smart.

Always do.

Talia took off down the descending platforms, timing her run perfectly to avoid tripping on the uneven terrain. As she ran, her fur rustled, taking on a muddy red hue that blended in with the environment not unlike a chameleons natural camouflage.

Given the daunting verticality of my destination, I almost envied her. Id used Audrey to maneuver during the transposition to great effect as there were a wealth of crags and ledges she could easily hold on to.

This would be harder.

Any ideas? I asked.

Audrey bobbed, considering the gap and our impending climb. Then she turned towards the ground and stabbed the platform below our feet. Her hardened vine tip pierced several inches into the platform. She tugged at it, and it didnt budge. Which meant we had a way forward. Just one that left a queasy feeling in my stomach.

Sure your vine wont snap?

The plant summon leveraged the tips of three vines toward me. They should be enough. Yes. But, belt. Just in case.













Not every option was active. Dungeon level, rewards, traps, monster placement and win Condition were all grayed out and unresponsive. Monster directives, however, had a dropdown longer than the fucking bible. I scanned it, looking for keywords. Inactive, catatonic, cowardly, and terminally suicidal were all frustratingly absent from the list. Lacking a better option, I picked Assign, hoping to find Users in the dropdown list.

Again, it was extensive.

Assign to Boss

Assign to Entrance

Assign to Territory

Assign to Ordinator

Oh.

Not what I had in mind, but there was no way in hell I was turning it down.



I ground my teeth and opted for not dying, narrowing the selection. Vampires werent present on the list, but Nosferatu was. Selection called up a percentage slider which I lowered by increments of ten percent, heart dropping as the percentage grew lower and lower. When it hit twenty percent, the selection finally went through. A mind-splitting headache hit me like a hurricane and I fell to my hands and knees. The world seemed grayer, drained of color, the once-dark red basalt below me a muted wine.

With considerable effort, I raised my head.

At first glance nothing changed. The Adventurers Guild was still beset on both sides, struggling against an endless tide of monsters. Imps on one side, vampires on the other. But a small portion of vampires, scattered throughout the seething mass, were completely motionless. They stood still, arms limp at their sides. Like they were waiting for something.

And they were staring directly at me.

I reached out, as I did with Talia and Audrey, directing my thoughts to them.

Fall to the back of the group, discreetly.

The vampires didnt give any sort of confirmation theyd heard. Instead, they carefully waded backwards through the melee, until they stood at the rear of the battle.

Now. Kill your friends.