Chapter 80: Pragmatism Over Heroics

Chapter 80: Chapter 80: Pragmatism Over Heroics

"Everyone sees what you appear to be; few experience what you really are." — Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

•••

Chaos swept across Deck One, and the casualties began rising.

The Eclipse Syndicate’s collectors slid down their ropes in their dull gray uniforms, attacking from every direction.

Even the strange gravity of the Tenth Stratum seemed to favor them.

The raft had become a battlefield.

Aethelgard’s elite students had spent four years training to become powerful fighters, but their training was being tested in the worst possible way.

The banner-mage created a protective shield around eleven wounded soldiers.

He held it against one attack after another.

But eventually, the shield shattered.

BOOM!

The eleven wounded soldiers were thrown into the open sky.

Two students who held the academy’s Deep Dive record were dragged over the railing by grappling hooks.

They disappeared into the darkness together, still holding hands.

Another elite, a duelist, was killed before he could finish speaking.

The Warden twins continued defending their position, their shields forming a narrow corridor.

Their defense held, but both suffered wounds that would trouble them later.

Marshal Halden took a grappling hook through his shoulder during the first attack.

Even then, he refused to retreat.

"Hold the formation!" he roared.

His voice alone kept the soldiers from breaking ranks.

Farther down the deck, Proctor Harrison sat against the charter chest, bleeding from the wound beneath his collarbone.

Despite his injury, he was still trying to write his report.

Valerius stood over him, surrounded by black light, explaining his betrayal to anyone still listening.

Meanwhile, Gideon Vane waited at the broken bow, his mutated arms covered in blades.

He looked completely unconcerned.

And in the middle of the fighting stood Joel.

He wasn’t moving.

Crossbow bolts and chain-blades struck him from different directions.

TAK! TAK-TAK!

The attacks bounced off his armor.

Joel allowed them to hit him, quietly storing their kinetic energy.

He had more important things to think about.

It took Joel four seconds to understand the situation.

He had been observing everything since morning.

Now, he only needed to make a decision.

His objective remained unchanged.

The Tear was inside the temple, at the far end of the sky.

But several problems stood between him and his goal.

First was Valerius, a Level 48 Aura-Knight who had betrayed the expedition and gained a new backer.

Second was Gideon Vane, now Level 61, whose mutated body had become even more dangerous.

Worse, Vane still possessed a drop of Joel’s blood.

Then there were the Syndicate’s collectors.

Their employer clearly didn’t care how many people died.

Joel also had to consider the soldiers.

He had deliberately allowed them to consume much of their mana during the previous two days.

Now, they were paying for it with their lives.

’Regrettable.’

But regret wouldn’t change anything.

He couldn’t save everyone.

Even with his abilities, he estimated that he could rescue perhaps eight of the fifty-two people in the expedition.

The situation didn’t care which eight he wanted to save.

Fortunately, Joel had already identified his most valuable asset.

Proctor Harrison.

The wounded man was worth more to Joel than the entire expedition roster.

As long as Harrison remained alive, he represented the academy’s authority, the Inner City’s interests, and the expedition’s official records.

Whatever happened here would carry far more weight if Harrison survived to document it.

If Harrison died, the Inquisition could use his death however it pleased.

But if he survived, his testimony and signature could become powerful tools.

And the Inner City couldn’t easily dismiss its own appointed officer.

Besides, Harrison would owe Joel his life.

Joel remembered that the proctor had once handed him over to Marshal Halden.

That didn’t matter.

’He doesn’t need to like me. He just needs to stay alive.’

Next came his remaining resources.

Seventeen sealed beacons.

Activating one in a sky already controlled by the Syndicate would accomplish little.

Then there was Sybill’s mortal knot.

A powerful hex capable of undoing one deadly outcome.

Joel considered using it on Harrison.

It could keep the proctor’s wound closed for a week.

But the same knot might save Joel himself when he reached the bottom of the Tenth Stratum.

And he could only use it once.

Fortunately, Victor Kole was carrying a harness filled with restorative potions.

Those would be enough to consider first.

’Potions are cheaper.’

The knot remained in his pocket.

Joel had made his decision.

First, save Harrison.

Second, keep the raft stable.

Third, eliminate the collectors.

And finally, claim the Tear.

As for hiding his true strength?

Joel had spent too long maintaining that disguise.

But there was nothing left to gain from protecting it.

It was time to stop pretending.

[Ding!]

[Skill in use: Void Step. Distance: 30 meters. Barriers not consulted.]

[Momentum declined at the border. Arrival: at rest.]

PK!

Joel appeared directly behind Valerius, inside the black ring surrounding his aura.

The traitor hadn’t expected anyone to get past his defenses.

Joel grabbed the flat side of the Aura-Blade, which was still stained with Harrison’s blood.

The blade tried to cut into his hand, but its kinetic force was immediately absorbed.

The golden light flickered.

Valerius turned his head.

The Level 48 genius, who had held first place for four semesters, stared at Joel in disbelief.

"Luggage doesn’t..." he began.

But Joel had already moved.

He released the blade and lifted Harrison out of the crossfire, supporting the wounded proctor with one arm beneath his injured shoulder.

A crossbow bolt flew toward Harrison’s throat.

TAK!

It struck Joel’s shoulder armor instead and bounced away.

"Kole. Your belt."

Victor Kole was still tied to the mast ring, pale but alive.

Without hesitation, he unclipped his entire potion harness and threw it toward Joel with one hand.

THUNK!

Joel caught it against his chest.

He immediately selected the strongest healing potion and poured it into Harrison’s mouth. Then he applied a second potion directly to the wound.

Pressing his palm against the injury, Joel applied firm pressure to stop the bleeding.

Harrison slowly opened one eye.

Blood had soaked his collar, but the bleeding was beginning to stop.

"This will be..." he whispered, "...deducted."

"From Valerius’s account," Joel replied.

Harrison struggled to speak again.

"When I sold them the fortress... nobody checked who the buyer really was."

His voice remained strangely calm despite his condition.

"Check the roster, Juggernaut. It was never the Marshal buying."

Joel memorized his words.

’I’ll deal with that later.’

But before he could move, a collector hurled a flask toward his back.

TSSSS!

Alchemical fire burst across his shoulder.

Unlike physical attacks, fire wasn’t kinetic energy.

His Sovereign Domain couldn’t simply absorb it.

The flames burned through his armor’s protective coating and reached the flesh beneath.

Pain shot through his shoulder.

Fortunately, Juggernaut Vitality immediately activated, healing the damaged flesh even as the fire continued burning.

Joel remained crouched over Harrison, protecting the injured proctor while the flames ate into his shoulder.

And for one brief second, despite all his power, Joel was still vulnerable.

[Ding!]

[Lethal danger survived. Fate Point minted. Balance: 17.]

[Note: the Wheel only pays for the real thing.]

Joel slowly rose from his crouched position and stepped onto the open deck.

The remaining flames burned themselves out on his shoulder.

He was done pretending to be weak.

"The audit," he announced, his voice carrying across the battlefield, "is finished."

WHUMM!

[Ding!]

[Pinnacle authority projected: Domain of the Inertia Sovereign. Radius: 50 meters.]

[Population: everything. Reminder: within the sphere, rulings are final.]

The next wave of collectors stopped before they could land.

They hung in the air on their lines, frozen in place.

Their masks tilted.

Their ropes still hummed with force, but that force no longer meant anything.

Beads of acid stayed suspended in the air where they had been flying.

A thrown chain-blade stopped in the middle of a spin.

Tik.

It stayed there.

On the broken bow, Gideon Vane’s crimson smoke froze in mid-pour.

The mutated cleaner stood trapped inside his own suspended attack, his rose eye still moving.

"Release. Absolute."

At once, the collectors’ momentum was turned back on them.

Their own speed sent them shooting back up their ropes toward the underside of the island.

KRAKOOM!

Stone groaned overhead as the returning bodies slammed into it.

In a single moment, the boarding party became eleven broken bodies hanging from lines.

And a very strong reason to choose a different employer.

[Ding!]

[Settlement delivered: one (1) boarding party, reassigned to sender.]

[Costs to the house: one pauldron, lacquered.]

The soldiers inside the shield formation fell silent.

"The floor holds!" someone began chanting out of habit.

But he quickly stopped.

After what they had just witnessed, the floor seemed capable of doing much more than holding.

Sergeant Voss stared at Joel, then at the frozen sky.

He slowly removed his helmet, completely forgetting military regulations.

"Saints," he whispered. "The floor is angry."

Marshal Halden, with a grappling hook still lodged in his shoulder, watched the scene in silence.

He was already reconsidering everything he thought he knew about Joel’s strength.

Meanwhile, Nyx emerged from Joel’s shadow.

She stretched to her full height, her dark form spreading like a banner while her violet crown glowed brightly.

She stretched like a cat finally released from a cramped box.

"Finally," she said. "I hate arithmetic."

Valerius stood inside his ring of black light, staring at Joel in disbelief.

"What..." His voice trembled. "What are you?"

Joel looked at him from barely two meters away.

"Your creditor."

He smiled faintly.

"The academy listed you under observations. I listed you under unpaid debts."

His eyes narrowed.

"Now watch the interest grow."

Valerius answered with his sword.

His golden aura erupted as he swung the Aura-Blade in a powerful arc.

It was the same attack that had cut Aether-Rays apart in midair.

But this time, the blade stopped before reaching Joel.

VMM!

The golden weapon froze in midair, humming helplessly.

Joel hadn’t even moved.

Valerius stared at his sword.

For the first time, his attack had been completely rejected.

On the broken bow, Gideon Vane suddenly looked delighted.

The crimson smoke surrounding him trembled.

His dark rose eye began glowing.

"There he is," Gideon whispered.

Every mutated part of his body opened at once, revealing more blades and strange attachments.

The syringe-like fingers on his hands rose, making sharp clicking sounds.

TIK-TIK!

TIK-TIK-TIK!

"Do you know how long I’ve been carrying that receipt?"

Before Joel could respond, something happened in the distance.

Beyond the surrounding storms, the enormous upside-down temple suddenly rang.

BONNNG!

The sound spread across the entire Tenth Stratum.

It was the first sound the ancient temple had made in recorded history.

The deep ringing passed through the battlefield, reaching everything frozen within Joel’s fifty-meter Domain.

Then the strange gray light inside the temple’s circular window returned.

But something about it had changed.

It was almost as though the temple had noticed what was happening.

Joel had finally stopped pretending to be weak.

And now, it was time to collect his debts.