We were back in the square in the middle of our outpost, and my notifications were going crazy. Dropping my bags full of Earth loot, I got dozens of chat pop-ups, presumably from the last three days, all appearing at once. I dismissed them as Dwight, Kirin, and Mama Grace descended on us.

"You're late!" Mama Grace cried.

"We came back exactly 72 hours after leaving," Juana said blankly. She still had a couple of bags hanging off her arms. Grandpa unstrapped the big rucksack he’d been carrying and let it fall.

Mama Grace shook her head. "It's been close to 75 hours. The gates opened three hours ago."

"What?" I felt my blood pressure rising as I took in Mama Grace's words. Leaving aside the question of where the missing time had gone — "Does that mean the other teams have already started?"

"Yeah," Dwight said grimly. “You three should get up to the castle as quickly as possible. Juana, come join the strategy table and we'll fill you in."

"Right," Juana said briskly, all business. She nodded to me and started up the steps into the converted church building, Dwight trailing after her.

"Let's move," Grandpa growled. "Somebody want to brief us on the way?"

"I will," Kirin said. She accompanied us down through our outpost toward the gate.

"Exactly three hours and 26 minutes ago, the gates of Castle Byalgrad opened. All the other teams were ready. We knew when the gates would open, of course, but we were expecting you back by then.”

"They screwed us over good," I grumbled.

“Dwight and Arjun and I scrambled to cover. We sent everybody up that we could, and we relocated our minion spawn point. Everybody's using their creep to help fight off enemies. You'll understand better when you get there," Kirin said. "Three teams have already gotten past the Guardian and into the castle itself."

I swore. That put us badly behind. "Which teams?"

"The dwarves, Congruent Paths, and that orc team,” Kirin said. “A fourth team was making an attempt, but apparently the dwarves and two of the teams who hadn't yet made it past the guardian turned on them and interfered with their attempt.”

"How'd that work out?"

"Lots of deaths. More painful for the ones who hadn't already gotten their keys, of course. We think the dwarves started the trouble and were happy to get three of their rivals involved."

Juana sent us a note. I’m going over the information we’re getting from our crafters and miners elsewhere in the engine. Every Phase Three zone is different. All themed from Earth history or myth.

That’s unfortunate. I’d hoped we might be able to get some tips from outside, but it doesn’t sound like anyone would be able to help us. It made sense. The Reality Engine could generate 87 distinct made-up worlds as easily as 87 copies of the same one.

"So, as a reminder," Grandpa growled, "the first team to make it through this whole castle and defeat whoever the king is, gets a pass into the competition for the Reality Engine's heart. However that's gonna work. We're not sure whether second and third get anything, but we can be damn sure tenth place won't. We’ve got a lot of ground to make up."

"The good news is there's a long way to go," Kirin said. "System-wide announcement happens every time someone wins a fight. So far only the guardian has been defeated.”

We were making good time up the valley, running nearly flat out and still able to have a conversation. After having spent three days back on Earth around normal humans, I was marveling at what my ethereum-enhanced body was capable of. Other than a couple of stolen moments at the lake, I'd spent the whole trip back on Earth feeling on edge, like I was going to be attacked at any minute. Back here, I might actually be attacked, and yet I felt more at home.

The Reality Engine had really screwed with my brain. If I ever got some time to think, I was gonna have to figure out what this meant.

The valley sloped steeply uphill toward an enormous granite outcropping. It rose up 200 feet above us, and as we approached it, I saw the enormous gate carved into the side of the wall of rock. It was 40 feet tall at least and 15 feet wide. The gates were made of wrought iron and heavy wood. They stood open with a dark tunnel yawning behind them.

Mobs streamed in and through the tunnel, our skeletons and pigs mixed in with swashbucklers, samurai wearing jet packs, dinosaurs, abominable snowmen and giant bipedal cats, all a mishmash of whatever had been present during the different teams’ Phase Two attempts. None of them paid us or each other any heed as they proceeded mindlessly toward their creep lures.

“Aren’t they going to fight?” Sage asked, sounding disappointed.

“Soon as they reach their rally points they will,” Kirin said. “Until then, they’re harmless.”

“Where’s the rally point? And I don't see the guardian. And where's the rest of our team?"

"They're through there," Kirin said. "The gates aren't contested. The guardian waits beyond. I told our team to retreat and try to stay out of trouble. So far so good. We've had a few deaths, but the aliens are mostly focused on anyone who's attempting to take on the Guardian.”

"All right, we'll get in there and have a look," Grandpa said.

I popped up my messages and started glancing through them for anything important. Mostly it was a lot of different people asking where the hell I was, starting about three and a half hours ago. There was nothing from Veda. Her continued silence was starting to worry me.

Grandpa looked at me and Sage. "You two ready for this?"

"We've already lost enough time," I growled. "Let's get in there."

"I'm ready," Sage said bravely. She had her lasso in her hands and her pink cowgirl hat atop her head. "Let's show them what Team Twofeather is made of."

We stepped into the tunnel. It bore straight into the rock for about 20 feet and was smooth-walled the whole way. Light streamed in from both sides. We stepped out into blazing sunlight on the other side. I took a moment to look around.

We were standing in a V-shaped valley. One wall of the V was formed by the granite to our back. The other wall, across from us, was the mountain itself. The tunnel we had come through had been bored through an outcropping of the mountain. In between that flank and the mountain itself was a lush green valley. From where we were across to the mountain proper was about 40 feet.

The valley narrowed considerably to our left and grew broader to our right. A roaring river about 10 feet across ran through the middle of the V, wild and dangerous. Churning white foam crashed through violent rapids.

There was a bridge about 20 yards to our right. On this side of the bridge, a bunch of different aliens clustered together. They were blocking my view of the bridge where I presumed the guardian stood.

The valley continued for a little way before abruptly ending in sky. The world just dropped away. The raging torrent fell in a cloud of white mist.

"Wow," was about the best I could manage.

Across the valley from us, the mountain proper was carved with seven doors. Each of them had a different symbol over it. They were spaced out at regular intervals. I had a sinking feeling that each door would be unique to one team and that whoever didn't make it through the door wasn't going any farther.

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

I clicked over to the leadership chat. You said three of our rival teams have already made it in?

Confirmed, Juana said. I'm getting a good grip on the situation here and I'll keep you up to date.

That made me feel better. There is nothing like having someone reliable running overwatch on you.

I heard a whistle. “Hey Shad! Major Twofeather, over here."

We turned. Frank was waving toward us from the left. He gestured us to follow. We joined up with him. "Glad you're back from your vacation.”

"Glad to be back," Grandpa said.

"Grandpa got a promotion. He's a colonel now," Sage informed Frank.

"Frank, where's everyone else?"

"We're just up here. We've been watching," Frank said. He led us up toward the end of the valley where the river emerged from a hole in the rock face. I eyed the hole, wondering if perhaps this could be another secret entrance into the fortress. Frank saw where I was looking and shook his head.

"We had a couple of people with various scouting abilities check it out. That river doesn't go anywhere. They were able to scout up it a little way and nothing. Dead end.”

I nodded, but I wasn't convinced. The Reality Engine liked secrets and sneakiness. It was possible there was another way in.

"What have we got?" Grandpa asked as we joined the team.

All our combat miners, about 45 of us including the newer recruits, were huddled together in a makeshift camp. I say makeshift camp, but it was actually pretty comfortable. People had hauled folding chairs and stools out of their inventories, set up around a little campfire, and were heating what looked like some of Mama Grace's boxed lunches, as well as pots of hot coffee. Morgan offered me a cup, and I accepted gratefully.

"We'll tell you all about the trip later," I said in answer to a couple of questions, while Sage was busy talking about Orange Dream to anyone who would listen. "We need a plan if three of them have already gotten across."

"Four," Frank said gloomily. "A group of lizardfolk managed it just before you got here."

"Damn," Grandpa said. "Y'all are just sitting on your butts waiting for us to show up and tell you what to do?"

"That's right," Frank said, more cheerfully. "When we first got here, we thought real hard about it, but we've been fending off occasional attacks by the others. They don't seem too serious. Like they just want to keep us bottled up. Every time a big group of our creep gets here, I send them in to take out the enemy creep. Bit of a zero-sum game, but I feel like if we let them build up, it's gonna be a problem."

I studied the groups at the foot of the bridge. "Looks like about three teams to me, based on their composition, and none of them have more than 20."

"They outnumber us," Jones said, "but not by too much."

In between us and them, the different groups of creep were tussling with each other, pigs attacking dinosaurs and pirates fighting samurai. Every now and then one side would gain an advantage and start pushing toward us or the aliens, but one or two miners would go down and kill a dozen creep with an ability or weapon and things would go back to detente.

Tall Smith pushed his way through the crowd. He saluted Grandpa. "Colonel Twofeather, my men and I have been scouting. We attempted to see if there's another path up the cliffs, but have not been able to manage it. Jones has kept overwatch. The three groups there have an informal alliance. None of them are pushing the guardian just yet, but they're trying to prevent anyone else from getting close."

"Thought you said someone just got through," Grandpa growled. “How come we haven’t made a push?”

"The lizardfolk took some pretty significant casualties, and they had a couple of unique items," Smith said. "I checked with Colonel Ames and he said the price of those items on the galactic market was astronomical. That group's well-heeled. We'll have to watch out for them once we get in there."

"Makes sense," Grandpa said. "From what we've been hearing, this is the phase where the Galactics bring out the big checkbooks. We should expect everyone we go up against to be much better financed than we are."

That's not entirely true, Juana said in the group chat. I started, and then remembered that most of our team was wearing the All-Seeing eyes. Juana was monitoring us from the desk. I pulled mine out of my inventory and equipped it, hoping I hadn't had too much of a dopey look on my face as I was listening to Smith and Frank talk.

Mama has been listening to all the gossip in the restaurant. Some of the big galactic groups are pulling out. Not the big three, Proxima, Alabaster Sky, and ConSweGo. They're in this for the long haul. But the ones that aren't quite as big, they're making a token attempt and then pulling up stakes. Rumor has it they're starting to think that this reality engine is cursed.

Or maybe they think they can make faster money on the rogue world that's popped up, I suggested. Veda seemed to think that.

Yes, well, if we get a chance to talk to Veda anytime soon, I'll be sure to ask her, Juana said. The timing seems a little coincidental to me. That our exploit is going poorly for the Galactics and then they discover something much more valuable. Maybe it's all a lie. Maybe they're trying to save face.

If so, they'll get found out quick, Grandpa observed. But either way, the less competition for us, the better.

"Right, so, guardian.” I turned to Frank and Smith. "Someone on the bridge itself?"

Smith nodded. "Yeah, it's a six-foot-tall goat man, big curling black horns, cloven hooves. Looks like a devil, but Gabriel says he's a Chort, the son of the evil god Chernabog. They're tricksters. Like to make deals, trade your soul for whatever it is you've got a passing fancy for. I don't think that's what he's after here. Nobody's been making any deals as far as I can see."

"Why not just go over the river?" I asked. "It looks treacherous, sure, but between all of our abilities, I'm sure we could make it."

"Can't," Frank said gloomily. "Nobody can teleport to the other side. There's some sort of magical protection against it. Anything you try to put over the river is swept away, even if it's not touching the water. As soon as it extends out more than six inches, it gets ripped up and dragged along. That bridge is the only way across. Trust me, we've been looking for nearly four hours now."

"So, two problems," Grandpa said. "We need to get past those guys, and we need to get over the bridge. There's no timer on respawns, but it does cost more soul coins the more you die, and they still have to get back from their camp. If we can take them all down quick enough without too many of us dying, we'll have a chance at the goat. Anybody got a close enough look during the other fights to know what he's capable of?”

Frank shook his head. "No, but they can't be killing him, right? Because he's still there. So there's a way to defeat him and get over."

“Unless he respawns,” Smith said.

I was starting to get impatient. More than anything, I wanted to run in there, throw a couple of taunts and grenades, and start laying waste. But that wasn't smart. We needed to plan. The stakes were too high for me to go off on my own.

Grandpa turned to the chat. Arjun, got a solution for me yet?

We're working on it, Kirin said. We've got one plan that has a 70% chance that you will take out at least two-thirds of them for five minutes before they can get back. While losing only twelve of you.

Enough with the arithmetic, Grandpa said. I'm looking for a plan, not a math problem. Anyway, I don't like those odds. Let's think of something else. What are we not considering here?

"We could try asking nicely," Sage said brightly.

Everybody looked at her.

"You trying to lighten the mood?" Frank asked after a minute.

She shrugged. "I mean, it'd be worth a try, right? You said the boss was a trickster. Maybe we're not supposed to fight him. Maybe we're supposed to trick him."

"Jones," Grandpa said, "get your drone in the air. Why don't you do a low pass on the boss? Can we fly the drone over the river?" he asked after a second's thought. "Or does it just get dragged over, too?"

"If I keep it more than ten feet above the water and I don't go all the way across, it's fine," Jones said.

"Then do it."

Jones summoned his drone and sent it in. We all watched the feed. I got a dizzying second image, so I closed my eyes and focused on what the drone was seeing. It soared above the river toward the bridge.

The opposing team members were all grouped up, facing the creature on the bridge. Smith was right. It did look like a devil creature. Hairy goat legs, wearing a long Russian military-style winter coat with a bright red belt. Its tail emerged from between the split in the back of the coat. The tail had a fork at the end.

"Well, he's certainly not winning any beauty competitions," I muttered.

"Look at that," Grandpa said sharply. "There, on his belt. Zoom in. Get us a better look."

"I can't get much closer," Jones said, but the image sharpened anyway. Dangling from his belt were three golden keys, each with a distinctly different shape. They were tied to the belt with little gold ribbons, and I saw a couple more torn pieces of ribbon dangling where other keys had been taken.

"That's it," Grandpa said sharply. "We need one of those. Good enough, get the drone down.” Jones brought his drone back, keeping clear of the mob.

I had an idea. It seemed to me like a stupid idea, but since nobody else was speaking up, I decided to mention it anyway.

“Sage is right. We don't need to take them down and then go after the boss. If all we need is a key, then it doesn't matter if we kill these guys now or not."

“Interesting.” Grandpa studied me. “Well, Captain Williams, what’s your plan?”

“I, uh…” I cast about, looking for the rest of the idea that was teasing at my brain. The shadows were starting to lengthen in our valley. The sun sank down into the west, the same direction that the river ran. The mist kicked up by the waterfall began to take on a golden glow. It crept up into the valley a little at a time.

"What's with the mist?" I asked.

Sage was studying it. Her brow furrowed.

“Eye Spy is giving me details," she said. "It's called Seething Miasma."

Grandpa and I looked at each other. "Seething Miasma? Like what our creep is immune to now? What's it say, Sage?"

"Uh," says Sage. "Continued exposure is fatal to unprotected minions. Damages miner stats by 50% after nightfall."

"Wait," I said. "Does that mean that come nightfall everybody's creep but ours is gonna just drop dead?"

"And the dwarves and Congruent Paths,” Grandpa reminded me.

I waved off. "Yeah, but they're past the boss already. That debuff's gonna hit us all equally. Playing field stays level.”

“Except for we'll be 50% weaker against the boss."

"Right," I said. "But we don't need to beat the boss. We just need to take a key and I think I know what to do."