“I think we are near,” Matt says while the group stops for a rest on a particularly rocky patch of the desert.

  “Which way?” Ji-a asks, floating upside down over Adrian’s head.

  “North-east. Somewhere between cold-to-very cold.”

  The others hum in appreciation, chugging at their water bottles for some clean cold water. Due to Ji-a’s water vacuum storing tons of water, and Matt’s cantrip to cool small objects, they’ve never run out of fresh water. Adrian could appreciate small pleasures in life.

  Perhaps buying a container which can automatically adjust temperature would be a good purchase for when Matt leaves.

  “Tell me something,” Adrian taps at Ji-a’s head before asking, “If the Silent Scavengers could read fate, then wouldn’t they know that we are coming for them? Surely they can just fly away.”

  She flicks at his forehead and floats away before he can retaliate as she explains, “You would think that because you are thinking from your stupid human perspective. They are different. They live short lives, and their fate reading doesn’t scare them, but they accept life and death as a natural flow of the Tower.

  “Obviously that doesn’t mean they won’t fight you if you come for them, but they also won’t run. If death is coming for them, then they’d rather wage a final war against fate and die with their own feathers. Come to think of it, one can say that they are also very rebellious against fate, aren’t they? But who really knows what they see.”

  They discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the vultures; Jarad helps a lot in the task with his knowledge base from being an archivist of the church for so long. Although not one of the priority sacrifices, it is still considered to be one of the great ones that the church often keeps a lookout for.

  A lull falls on the group as the discussions come to an end, broken only by the occasional chirping and screeches of the monkey as it plays with a single ice bullet created by Matt. Its fur shines with a crystalline sheen.

  Adrian idly pats Monkey, and feels its fur being solidified, the crystals growing over it even as they sit here. He had noticed it happening for the past few days now, opting to keep quiet and observing the process rather than asking anyone about it, even though Ji-a or Jarad probably knows the answer already.

  To be honest, Adrian has a hunch too. He just doesn’t like it much. But hoping is all he can do for now.

  Soon after the group sets off to finally put an end to this floor.

  #

  Very soon it becomes clear for anyone to see that they are approaching the Silent Scavengers.

  A field of flowers bloom around them, growing in the harsh desert, growing on the remains of people they have munched upon. The flowers, red and black in colour, grow through the gaps between clothes, or tucked inside the storage bags people of the past must have carried.

  It makes him wonder, should this floor be reset too, would the remains stay here? Would the flowers? Or would the last traces of those who died here be swept away just like that?

  The flower field grows in density as they head deeper and deeper into the territory, and a kettle of vultures soon occupy the air above them, circling them in wait for their feeding time.

  The vultures too grow in number. Soon the few become many, and sooner the many become dangerous. They cast an ominous shadow on the flowers, a moving, writhing shadow, as if waiting to devious them alive.

  Every step brushing against the flowers, every obstruction by the vines sends a tingling sensation on their backs, like the shadows themselves have come alive and grasped their ankles. Obviously, all of them are strong enough to not be bothered by the vines, but the horror does take a small place in their hearts.

  Monkey hisses and shrieks at the flowers, tearing them apart with his crystallized fingers.

  But despite the situation, all of them are climbers for a reason, and none let the nerves get the better of them. Even Jarad, who Adrian has been afraid might not be able to handle it, has reverted to his professional self, showing an amazing degree of control over his emotions.

  Finally in the distant desert, a stonehenge becomes visible, protruding out of the ground like a dead giant. Still, sturdy, and worn-out. The stones are lined with vines reaching from the ground to the top of the stones where more vultures await them.

  At this distance the vultures appear perfectly to Adrian. Raven black feathers, a comically long yellow neck upwards as they look at the approaching group with tilted heads and curious eyes. Their claws scrape against the stone they perch on.

  Among the dozens of the vultures which stand in committee, the floor boss instantly captures all attention.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  At least twice as big as the other vultures, it floats at the middle of the stone henge, looking at them with calm black eyes, as if looking directly into a future that only it knows.

  “You sure the others won’t attack until we’ve dealt with the boss, right?” Adrian questions.

  “Yes. Don’t worry about them. They’ll appear intimidating and all, but they’re bound by the Tower to stand back and watch the spectacle until the boss is dead. Or we are.” Ji-a says, the air around her feeling sharp.

  As the group finally enters the stonehenge, the stonehenge changes. Not visibly, but Adrian suddenly has this intuitive feeling that no matter what, he cannot leave the circle with his power.

  And then the boss moves.

  Like finally waking up from its slumber, it lets out a large shriek, its yellow neck extending even further, as it stares directly at Adrian and then pulls.

  Adrian contorts under the force of the pull, staggering front and almost falling, but managing to stay upright with his two avatars which he has summoned as soon as the vulture came to life.

  This is the attraction of fate? It’s quite strong.

  Adrian thinks as avatars continue to pop up around him, mixing and shuffling among themselves to confuse the floor boss. Adrian has a short moment of respite where the floor boss looks around startled, but then their eyes meet again, and Adrian knows that he has been picked out from the sea once again.

  Is my fate so visible among the sea of avatars? How broken is this detection technique?

  The group splits up at the instant, a few of his avatars following all of them for backup, while the long rangers begin their assault. Matt picks at it with their Icy Shot, and although most of the bullets are deflected by an invisible barrier around it, the chillness remains, cooling the air around it.

  Hidden hands too float around the arena, but somehow unable to reach the vulture. From what little he heard Ji-a curse, it seems like he can detect the hands and ‘pop’ them off, so she’s avoiding getting too close and only trying to keep the boss occupied in a small area by creating a bubble of vacuum around it.

  The one who’s most successful in damaging the boss is by far John, who also gets the most attention out of everyone in the group.

  Although the barrier around the boss prevents any explosion, it is very much incapable of preventing psychic damage from passing through, and that is what John is relying upon with his conflagrations.

  The boss is visibly descending into madness, as its movements grow more and more unhinged, as it grows more and more chaotic. The boss lets out a huge shriek, a huge amount of mana building up within it, and Adrian only has a short amount of time to bring his Avatars in front of the others, before a huge force hits them, sending them flying outwards.

  The avatar behind the party, and in front of them prevents them from being directly harmed, but the attack has also popped all of Ji-a’s hands, cancelling the vacuum.

  “Shit!” He hears her curse, but he doesn’t have enough time to think about it, as he looks at Jarad among them, who’s lying on the floor, as the avatars tend to him. Being a non-combatant, he has been hit the hardest.

  As if moving on pure instinct, Adrian looks at Jarad in the distance, feels the distance between him and his Avatars, and then snaps.

  A large chunk of his mana leaves him, and Adrian staggers. His mind enters the familiar space of the mental tug of war, and for the first time in a while, Adrian feels a high resistance.

  After all these levels and using the Prison on magical creatures, it had become very simple to simply crush their pseudo minds with his high stat, but for the first time, he has used it on an actual focused mind.

  The last time with the assassin, he had dealt much damage to the man, and also his class hadn’t been specifically catered to the Mind stat. But Jarad is different.

  And Adrian can feel it now.

  But he doesn’t have time to waste here, when he doesn’t even know what might happen to him outside, should he spend too much time stuck here.

  So Adrian does what he thinks is the best option here, his avatar quickly breaks Jarad’s arm.

  His mind wavers, pain engulfs everything, and Adrian uses that moment to pull with all his force, until he finally wins.

  He wakes up back in real life, and finds himself facing his avatar’s back. Quickly standing up from his place, he analyses the current situation, mentally confirming that only a few seconds has passed since he went inside.

  In the meantime, the boss had taken Matt out of commission, as can be seen from a huge wound on their stomach. Adrian quickly casts a Prison over them too, winning this battle much more easily, and looks at the boss.

  The invisible barrier which used to be around it is shimmering now. It’s chaotic, held tightly, like a rubber waiting to deliver all that energy in a final blast.

  The boss’s body is thrashed, singed in places, and its eyes completely white.

  As he is observing the boss, suddenly their eyes meet, a weird attraction exists between them, and then the boss pulls. Only this time, it doesn’t pull Adrian towards it, but itself towards him.

  The vulture accelerates, its huge neck extending menacingly as it dives towards him, the chaotic barrier around it thrashing every attempt to stop it.

  At that moment of danger and death, Adrian focuses. He senses that the strike cannot be evaded, as the attraction won’t let him move easily, and even if he could with other’s help, it might still be too late.

  A huge amount of mana quickly escapes his body, almost completely emptying him out as his body rapidly divides itself, creating more avatars than he has ever done. Stacking themselves in front of him like a meat shield, with a simple lantern in the hands of the first avatar, they ready themselves for the attack.

  And then it comes.

  Like a meteor descending onto earth, the shimmering energy very quickly disintegrates the avatar, and for the very first time, his Prison breaks.

  The vulture descends deeper, mowing through his avatars like a hot knife through butter, as the shimmering energy around it loses more and more of its potency. Using the last bits of his mana, Adrian supercharges his vambrace of distortion, and the space churns around the vulture. Holding it, changing its very structure. Hidden hands flow from places he didn’t know, some popping off, some supporting him, even as the meat thrasher continues to kill more and more of his avatars.

  Until finally, it stops.

  A couple layers away from Adrian, the boss stops, completely exhausted. The vambrace of distortion too shuts down as the last of his mana dries up. Taking the chance, Adrian staggers up, his grasp on his blade so very weak, as nausea haunts him at every moment at the lack of mana.

  Adrian walks to the boss, and drives his blade in its head, finally killing it off.

  And then his mind goes blank.

  #