Wish upon the Stars chapter 342

The first thing the other team did was check on Raka. Which was  completely reasonable given how terrible that had to have been. "I am so  sorry." I said quickly. "I don't know what the hell happened there. I  wanted to win but I wouldn't have done...THAT. Hell, I couldn't have  done that. I have no idea how or why that even happened."

Abel  sighed. "Not your fault. I was going to tell you to get a new weapon,  but I didn't expect it to be an issue. Figured you'd make the jump after  rank up. Wear and tear are inevitable, but it was the combination of  that cane having a MASSIVE amount of power stockpiled and slamming it  into a higher ranking artifact. It was a freak accident." He looked down  at Raka. "You ok?"

The big man had woken up and one of  the twins was helping him sit up. He nodded. "I'm fine. That was...truly  unpleasant. But it was clear it was unintentional and the healing you  gave me is helping immensely. I'm not exactly in perfect shape now, but  I'm on the mend."

Forn looked relieved. "Good. And don't  feel too bad about it. That was pretty brutal. But we wouldn't have won  anyway." He nodded to Abel. "Their boy over there is a straight up  monster. I didn't even know planets this low level could HAVE Master  Candidates."

Helping Raka up, he waved us over to their  waiting area, and we followed them in. "So." Callie said as we trailed  behind them, giving Raka some time to walk a bit slower. "I'm guessing  the lot of you got attacked before this round same as we did? Not that I  know which faction you're with, but it seems pretty universal."

I  missed the days when I could just assume we were dealing with the Unity  or WCP. This whole tournament had become a mess of epic proportions.

Raka  nodded. "We were. As for our interests...well that isn't a secret  anymore I suppose. We were representing the Black Sorrow Cult. They  contacted several rim factions about contracts to sign over the spots if  they won. They might be lunatics, but they're well funded lunatics."

I  grimaced. "They can afford that? Blowing a sizable bribe on presumably  dozens of teams to stack the deck just in the event one of them wins?" I  really didn't like when my enemies showed themselves to be competent.  Competent and wealthy seemed like an even worse combo. They were a  massive faction, but their border outpost should have been the main  force behind this push. I wouldn't have expected them to have that much  cash to throw around.

The big man snorted. "You don't get  the stakes here. These resources are rare on a universal scale. Regional  power games aren't the only thing at play. The Moonglow Dew will be  funneled to their main heirs, and will be a huge benefit during the  coming years. The major factions are constantly at odds, anything that  will put them ahead for a generation is a new benefit. This tournament  could very well be the deciding factor for the lineup of the next  Unlucky Thirteen."

I hadn't considered that. It made a lot  of sense though. The Wishmaster was an automatic pass to the Unlucky  Thirteen, but knowing what I knew about cultivation I imagined those  other slots were fiercely fought over. Universal infamy would skyrocket  the cultivation of anyone on that list.

"Well damn." Said  Callie with a grimace. "That makes this a bit wider scale than expected.  How is this planet not crawling with ringers then?"

"Because  it's one of many." I said slowly. "This is the smallest most backwater  system in the cluster. With that many points of attack it's no wonder  most of the larger forces didn't bother with us. They went for the  bigger systems where they would be able to exert more pressure."

Internal  system politics were one thing, but there was no way that the Black  Sorrow Cult could have sent, say, a B-ranker like Zeke, to put direct  pressure on the proceedings. The stratification of power was an  important factor of how the universe ran. Pushing and bending rules was  one thing, but the only real reason Zeke was able to move into his spot  in Callus was the unique neutral reputation of the WCP.

Callie  sighed. "This is just going to get worse.  This round is only going to  have three hundred teams, which means we're at the point where we'll be  fighting every day. The closer we get to the endgame, the more frantic  the other factions will get. We'll definitely see some kind of attack  tonight."

"We have Rime and Frostbite already involved  though." I pointed out. "Can we arrange for them to meet us? They  haven't attacked yet, so clearly they have some kind of limit on what  they'll do." I didn't relish the thought of trying to fight another hit  squad with my head thumping like a bass drum.

To my  surprise, Raka cut in. "They can't ambush you again. Not so soon. Rajak  is a major metropolis with a huge Unity presence. They would have needed  to make arrangements for the attack on us the other day. People would  have needed to be bribed to ignore signs and leave gaps in security.  There's no way anyone can pull something like that off again a few days  later. There will be too many eyes on it."

Callie nodded  thoughtfully. "That's...probably true. But it means we're going to have  to deal with an attack later tonight or tomorrow morning. Probably  tonight." She stared at him curiously. "Considering we know who the last  faction to move the next round of attacks might very well be from the  Black Sorrow Cult themselves. Wouldn't tipping us off probably be a  violation of the terms of your contract? Why help us?"

He  shrugged. "Our contract only lasted until we got booted. Plus I'm not a  fan of the lunatics. We took their money because it was beneficial, that  doesn't mean we're loyal to them." We talked for a bit longer before  they all said goodbye and left, getting their scan ring numbers to keep  in contact.

After we headed  outside we met up with Rime, and filled her in on what might be coming  down the pipe. She grimaced at the news. "An assassination attempt? Are  we going to be seeing them attack the house tonight? We might want to  invite your E-rank friends over just in case."

I  shook my head, making sure my Stealth Skill was keeping my voice from  spreading past our little circle. "No. The house isn't just my place,  Zeke lives there. The geas prevents him from helping in most  circumstances, but attacking the house involves him directly and opens  them up to his direct intervention. They might as well kill themselves  and save us the trouble at that point."

"So  the question is." Said Abel in annoyance. "How are they going to hit  us? Because it doesn't seem likely they'll ignore us given the Black  Sorrow Cult's...contentious relationship with you. If they can't attack  at the house or outside the arena then what are their options?"

"What  if they could." Said Callie quietly. We all looked at her, and I saw a  contemplative look on her face as she went over options. "What if we let  them attack us, lined up a trap and used it to sweep up as many of them  as possible. We could potentially take out a bunch of their teams  before the next round."

I  made an uncertain sound. "Assuming we could set it up so we had no  chance of losing, what's to say they would even attack us directly?  Taking out a bunch more mercenaries isn't likely to affect the outcome  of the tournament one way or another."

She  shook her head. "No. They'll send their own people. Mercenaries are A,  less likely to take the job after we beat the last ones, and B, not  going to take this as seriously. Especially after taking out Pietro.  This is personal. They'll take the shot if we give it to them, we just  need some way to make sure they go down when they do."

That  was easier said than done. Without Zeke, we still had some serious  firepower, but there was no way they wouldn't be expecting our  E-rankers. They'd have counters in place for them, and assuming the dumb  assholes weren't stupid enough to jump me personally we'd have no way  to counter if they tried to drown us in bodies.

Then  I got an idea. "What if they couldn't send anyone above G-rank." I said  slowly. The others looked at me quizically and I grinned. "Abel, when  the guardian enchantment on the labyrinth under the Cavalcade faded, did  the place collapse?" I didn't remember if Cicero had mentioned that or  not, and honestly even if he had it might have been bullshit, I didn't  trust that asshole as far as I could throw the Unity building.

My  mentor looked thoughtful. "It...shouldn't have. But that's a dangerous  thing to try. It can't take any F-rankers. Our E-ranked backup can  prevent them from entering, but it isn't impossible that a bunch of  E-rankers might gang up and collapse the thing to kill us all without  worrying about it at all."

I  shook my head. "They can't. Being inside means my health is tied to the  labyrinth being whole. That means if they try to collapse it with me  inside Zeke will need to step in directly. Even if they wouldn't know  that, he'd warn them like he did with the Cultist."

"That."  Said Callie with interest. "Isn't a bad plan at all. We might even be  able to talk Raka and the others into leaking the information before  they sever ties. The Cult wouldn't even question it. They would need to  jump on the chance to get in an attack. We might be able to take out a  bunch of teams."

I  had to point out the obvious. "How would that affect the tournament?  Would they condense the rounds? Also we need some way to keep them  locked up. The teams directly from the Cult will be murderous assholes,  but they won't come at us light either. Some of them will probably be  the local teams under contract with them. I don't want to kill some  faction like the Burning Heaven Abyss."

"I  can help with that." Said Rime. "Attacking outside the matches is a  direct violation of tournament policy. In my capacity as a local  executive, or at least the representative of one, I can order their  arrest. You'd need to knock them out and hold them until the authorities  arrived, but it's more than feasible."

That  sounded complicated, but I knew that the Unity could operate in WCP  territory unless they were intercepted, and I could make sure that  didn't happen. Shadowthorn had come down to save us when we almost got  murdered in the underground arena in G-district after all. The labyrinth  would keep the big fish off us until the local muscle arrived, and even  the cult wouldn't be stupid enough to engage in a full on war. They  would need to run or get dragged into a huge conflict.

Callie  nodded to Abel. "Alright. I know you aren't exactly on good terms with  him, but give your brother a call and see if he can give us access. You  had that thing built in the first place right? So it should be within  your rights to use it. Unless you think he'll give you trouble?"

Our  mentor snorted. "He won't if he knows what's good for him. If he does  try it I'll lean on him. He's caused enough trouble. He can be a little  generous for once." With that settled, we headed home to get in touch  with anyone we thought would be able to help both in or out of the  Labyrinth. It was nice to be the ones luring someone ELSE into a trap  this time.