B2 Chapter 51: The Bitter Truth

The first thing I noticed when coming out on the other side of the portal was that Vhar didn’t follow us through. Instead, the portal disappeared, and we were left standing in an open field. The jungle in the distance suggested that we were still on the big island. Still, I thought it strange he’d leave now after everything he’d said about helping. Although I guess he did fulfill his part in getting me here.

The Golden Door was right in front of us. A solid piece of gold with a keyhole in the center of it. I took the key out and hesitated. I was nervous about what was about to happen. Almost like I expected that opening it would backfire on me.

“Lucas?”

I looked behind me and saw over fifty people standing there. Elise had called my name. She was there with all of the others, including Sebastian. Even Pete had survived and made it here. I recognized some of the other faces in the crowd too, like Carina and Jason, but most of the others I didn’t know.

“How did you all get here?” I asked.

“There were these portals that appeared for all of us that took us here. Some of us have been here for hours, while for others it was a few minutes.”

Tanver Vhar had brought them all here, but why? Surely, there was a greater purpose than watching me open the door. Did he expect them to fight me over the key?

I looked at their faces. All tired and dirty. Nobody had slept in days. It had one tireless fight after the other. None of them wanted to fight me for the key. They just wanted this whole thing to be over.

“Are you waiting for something?” asked Daisy.

I shook my head and returned to the Door. It was time to get this over with.

I inserted the key and turned until I heard a click. There was the sound of gears turning as the door swung open to reveal a set of golden elevator doors. A little underwhelming as far as reveals go, but not entirely unexpected.

“CONGRATULATIONS!” the Officiator said at way too high a volume, suddenly standing right next to me.

I nearly jumped out of my skin.

He stood there wearing a tuxedo and with an awkward grin plastered on his face. Something was off, though. His skin looked waxier, and he was sweating a lot.

“Are you… alright?” I asked.

He nodded too vigorously. “Never better. Now for your reward. If you’ll step on through into the elevator. I can transfer the prize to you, which will be the option of leaving the tower and receiving a generous living stipend and security system, or evolving your grade and continuing to Tower climb.”

Before I could answer, another portal appeared. Tanver Vhar’s hands reached through and grabbed the Officiator’s head. He twisted his head until his neck snapped.

The Officiator's body fell lifelessly to the floor.

Tanver Vhar saw me looking concerned and gestured at the elevator. “Oh, don’t worry. The rewards are still in place.”

Yeah, that was no longer my biggest concern. I had a million questions, but the sky darkening overshadowed them all. Several other portals around the field opened up and gods stepped through them. Samara, Yakeshi, Roan, Gundred, and more that I didn’t know the names of. There were twelve there in total. Each one a devasting power in their own right.

Some of them looked like they wanted to kill Tanver Vhar. Some, like Roan, looked like they were enjoying themselves. Only Yakeshi looked tired and like he didn’t want to be there.

“This is your mess,” Samara said to Yakeshi.

He slowly nodded and drew his blade.

Tanver Vhar raised his index finger as a point of concern. “Careful,” he said. “You’re a little too big to be playing in this sandbox. You know how sensitive this place is. Use too much power and the whole Tower will crack like an egg.”

“And you know how precise I can be with a blade,” Yakeshi replied.

A gust of air brushed past me and that was the only sign that he’d attacked. But whatever it was had no effect on Vhar.

“You have a backer now,” Yakeshi surmised.

Vhar nodded. “As much as I’d like to take all the credit, I couldn’t have pulled all of this off on my own.”

“Are they going to reveal themselves?”

Vhar smiled. “Soon, but I have more to say first.”

“I’ve already narrowed it down to two possibilities, so I suggest you talk fast. Fragile Tower or not, a god whose betrayed the pact will have to answer for it.”

“Alright, well you’re probably wondering why I took out the Tower’s central interface node.”

Is he talking about the Officiator?

“Because you want to take over the Tower and do things your way.” Yakeshi wasn’t impressed. “I’ve told you before that certain sacrifices are required.”

Vhar’s smile vanished. “Easy to say when you aren’t one making them.”

“So what, this is your chance to reform the Tower or blow it up? I’ve told you before what would happen if you succeeded in either endeavor.”

“I’ve been told otherwise.”

“You mean manipulated and I guess there’s really only one person that fits the bill.”

Roan stepped forward to stand alongside Tanver Vhar. “There’s my cue.”

The rest of the gods looked surprised except for Samara, whose face twisted with rage. “Why?” she asked. “I thought we had an arrangement.”

Roan shrugged. “I got a better offer.”

“From the terrorist?” she asked, her voice going higher at the end, like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

Yakeshi put his sword away. “There will be a tribunal,” he told Roan.

He shrugged in complete indifference. “It has been accounted for.”

“But a tribunal could take decades to resolve!” Samara yelled.

Tanver Vhar snapped his fingers, and every god except Roan and Yakeshi was gone.

“Hey, that is fun!” the alien exclaimed.

That was how the Officiator had teleported people before. This wasn’t merely about revenge or profit. This was a coup to place the two of them in control of the Tower.

“Did you keep me here to continue gloating? Because I can see myself out,” said Yakeshi.

A portal of his own making appeared. Tanver waved his hand, and the portal closed.

“Not yet. We had a question to ask you as a favor to the boy,” he said, gesturing to me.

Yakeshi’s eyes softened. “Don’t do this,” he said.

Roan looked at me. “Do you remember when I said that truth was my favorite weapon? Well, here’s some truth for you. When it comes to selecting which new planet the System invades and colonizes, it does so through a council of gods. Each one of us takes a turn in picking a place. Do you want to guess who chose Earth?”

I went cold. All this time I’d thought the System had chosen this place at random, but we were a deliberate target. I turned to Yakeshi. “How could you? So many innocent lives lost…”

“I took no pleasure in it,” the god replied. “But it had to be done for order and stability, among other things. There are many things you don’t know about why the System operates this way and why we have Towers. Things I would’ve told you had we had more time.”

“Is that why you wanted to help me? Because of guilt?”

“No, it started off being about your Class and what you could turn into. A Scarlet Beast was the most likely horror, but there are even worse things than that.”

“Oh, Lucas already passed that test,” said Vhar. “He drank blood earlier and resisted the transformation.”

Yakeshi’s face hardened. He had nothing left to say. Once you break that barrier and drink the blood, you were a monster in his eyes.

This time when he opened a portal, nobody stopped him from leaving.

“He will return later and kill you when we’re not around to stop him,” Roan said.

I knew that. I knew how he felt about blood drinkers and watching his eyes go hard like that was all the confirmation I needed. He felt betrayed, just like Samara had. Both of them would be coming for me and there was nothing I could do unless I sought protection.

I clenched my fists. I hated myself for doing this, but I’d been backed into a corner.

“Is your offer still good?” I asked Roan.

He smiled. “Yes, swear fealty to me and you will receive both my blessings and protection. None of the other gods will harm you directly in or out of the Tower once you complete your climb. But remember, your oath has to be sincere. If you don’t mean the words, then there can be no bond.”

I had no choice. I got down on one knee and bowed my head.

“I pledge myself to your service.”

“I accept,” Roan replied.

I gasped as the mark of Roan was burned into the top of my right hand. It glowed orange and then faded away. There was no sign of it, but I knew it was still there. I belonged to him now, like cattle. This wasn’t how I’d pictured winning.

As soon as I stood up, other Tower Climbers around me started dying. My eyes scanned the area for threats. But there was nothing. No signs of physical or magical attacks. They were just dropping dead like a switch had been flipped.

It happened so quickly that I was left standing in a field of corpses. Other than Vhar and Roan, only Daisy and Hugo were left standing alongside me. Only those pledged to him were spared.

I wanted to be sick.

It was only when I glimpsed Hemi’s lifeless eyes did the rage come. None of them deserved this.

I drew my sword and lunged at Roan.

The brand lit up and I screamed. The pain wasn’t just in my hand but everywhere. Searing pain that paralyzed every muscle in my body.

Dimly, I felt the grass on my face.

Strange. I didn’t remember falling.

Hugo and Daisy were frozen with fear. Both knew what would happen if they tried to intervene.

The brand started to fade again. I laid there in a moaning heap as my body process the lingering pain.

“Any problems?” Roan asked Vhar.

The alien shook his head. “Nope. No safety measures appeared when I killed the Tower Climbers.”

Roan nodded. “Good. Lucas, you and Hugo should go on ahead now. Continue to climb the Tower and trust that I’ll call on you soon with further instructions.”

I remained on the ground, numb to everything until I felt Daisy take my hand and help me up. She led me to the elevator doors and told me that everything would be alright. I didn’t believe her. The people I’d sworn to serve had just killed my friends to test out a security feature. Nothing was ever going to be okay.

She pushed me gently into the elevator. Hugo was already in there, staring off into space. Trying not to think about everything that had just happened.

Daisy pressed something into my hand as she said goodbye. I waited until the elevator doors closed before looking at it.

It was a small piece of paper.

I opened it up and there was one short phrase written on it. ‘I know how to beat them.’

I kept my expression neutral, but suddenly there was a spark of hope in my chest. Maybe I couldn’t save everyone or even most of my friends, but I could make sure that they were avenged.

The brand on my hand still burned from earlier, but now I enjoyed the pain. I let it focus me on my task ahead.

I was going to kill them all.

The End of Book Two