I was stalling, even if just for a second. I already knew what the next message was. A message reminding me why I would never be able to take that path. I took a breath.
Justice Light: I am not sorry. Peace to you all, brothers and sisters.
This message is from a deceased mercenary.
Sadness overwhelmed me. I already knew Justice Light was dead. Quasar had told me. Still, the sight of those words was like a kick to the stomach.
You crazy asshole.What did you do? What did that trap do?
A response to his message appeared on the group chat.
Rosetta: Rest well, comrade. We are not far behind.
She was still in here in the safe room, as was Tipid. They’d both been converted to hired mercenaries.
Quasar hadn’t really known the specifics. All he knew was that the Nothing was “broken” and that everything was in chaos on the twelfth and eighteenth floors. And furthermore, the outworlders on those two floors were protected from really dying by the system AI. They could get hurt on the eighteenth floor, they could still “die,” but they would immediately get brought back to their rooms in the club. A club that was physically inside of the now-awake dungeon boss. The system wasn’t letting anyone eject.
Some of the things that had leaked from the Nothing were using this to their advantage. It was like what we’d done to Growler Gary, but worse. Much worse.
Quasar had only given me a quick version. So far, the now-awake Scolopendra hadn’t yet done anything other than move around a lot. Apparently, the tourists on the eighteenth floor had the ability to move themselves to the sixteenth floor, where it was safe, but they first had to make their way through the seventeenth floor for some reason, where it was not, and anyone who even attempted it got turned to mince and immediately brought back to life on the eighteenth, where the worst of the worst were stalking the hallways.
Forgotten gods. Demons from hundreds of former quests. All sorts of other horrific creatures. Several had made their way to the eighteenth floor, but, luckily—or not luckily, depending on how you looked at it—these creatures all appearedinsidethe final boss. And not justinsidethe monster’s guts, but inside the club, where they immediately set themselves on the guests. Guests who couldn’t die, no matter what was being done to them.
The cameras had gone dark after the first few hours.
Those on the twelfth were faring better, considering they were in the bodies of gods with god powers. Though apparently the non-sponsored gods were all suddenly acting quite strange. That’s all Quasar had known.
I hoped the city of Larracos and all those who’d gone with it to the twelfth floor were doing okay.
More messages came, but I didn’t read them in detail other than to note who was here and who wasn’t. Elle. Imani. Zhang. Florin. Louis. Chris. Britney. Bautista. All checking in. Prepotente had some rant about Jurgen.
So many of my friendshadn’ttaken deals.
Donut: OMG, THESE CLASSES STILL COME WITH ACCESSORIES!
She gasped.
Donut: SOME COME WITHPETACCESSORIES! THE LAS VEGAS SHOWGIRL COMES WITH A FEATHERED HAT FOR MONGO!
Mordecai: This class might be better.
Donut: I AM NOT PICKING ZOO WARDEN. MY GOODNESS. OHHH, WHAT ABOUT THIS ONE? PROBLEMATIC INFLUENCER? IT COMES WITH AN UPGRADE TO MY SOCIAL MEDIA BOARD! WAIT, THERE’S ANOTHER TAB! LOOK AT THIS ONE!
Mordecai: Holy shit, I see it. Uh, we should probably study these further before you pick one from this tab. These are in association with your other deity titles. This is all new to me.
Donut: WEAREIN A HURRY, BUT THESE ARE MUCH BETTER. THIS ONE COMES WITH AHEALINGAURA AND A HAT. I’M PICKING IT.
Donut glowed.
Donut: HEY! I JUST GOT A REALLY NASTY MESSAGE FROM KHEPRI. ISN’T THAT THE WEIRD BUG GOD THAT CARL AND KATIA FOUGHT ON THE LAST FLOOR? IT SAYS HE’S FORMING A “DEATH CULT” IN MY NAME. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
Mordecai: Nothing good.
“What did you pick?” I asked.
“Assassin of Sekhmet,” she said. “It comes with accessories for every pet in the party, and all sorts of great spells and other stuff!”
Warning: The next heat starts in two minutes, and you don’t even have a vehicle or mount. You’re not allowed to walk, dumbasses.