He stopped, breathing hard, and looked around him.

Where were they?

He pulled on his [Hearing], hoping to catch something, but all he heard was the diffuse sound of a thousand whispered conversations.

Groaning, he decided to make his way to the chasm. It might be easier to spot his party from there.

In the meantime, the little black dots had come down towards the crowd. Exclamations of surprise and fear arose, as the dots swooped in and down towards people with angry buzzing. Up and down, the things flew and darted above them without any apparent logic or reason.

The line of light touched the ends of the room and began to expand downwards, a curtain bright, white light descending towards the floor of the room.

“Nar! Over here!”

He froze at the sound of Kur’s voice and looked around him.

To his right, across the gathered heads, he found his party frantically waving at him.

Ah! Thank the Crystal!

He quickly ran towards them, cutting across parties with mumbled apologies. No one really cared though. Everyone was too focused on whatever was happening above their heads.

“How long did it take you to take a shit?” Mul muttered at him, as he approached.

“The queues were huge!”

“Shut up, you two!” Kur said. “Pay attention!”

The two parties had positioned themselves somewhat side by side, with both Gad and Tun standing at the front, and the formation forming up behind them.

Kur and Row stood side by side, with Cen and Cor next to them, forming a joint center which the others formed around.

Nar took his position at the back, and Jaz waved at him, standing next to Lim. He cast about for Rel and found her in a seated position in between Kur and Row’s feet, looking up at the unfolding proceedings.

Above and in front of them, the white light had formed a huge rectangle, shining a bright light over the thousands of gathered Climbers.

As he stared, a symbol faded into being, right in the middle of that light rectangle.

He had never seen it before, but the shape of the Crystal was familiar at its center. With its five rings, the largest in the middle, then the two second largest above and below that, and then the last two, the smallest, above and below the tips of the Crystal’s multifaceted form Itself, it was impossible to not recognize It.

However, around it, were many different symbols he knew not the meaning of.

There was nothing common to them. They each had their own colors and designs. Some of them had letters within them, one of them even had numbers. Whatever they might be, there were fourteen of those symbols surrounding the Crystal.

Around him, the Climbers had plunged into a deep, expectant silence. Only distantly did he hear some sounds. Probably frantic Climbers rushing to get in, fearing to be left out.

And then sound filled the air.

Notes flowed and ebbed, joined and departed, rose and fell. Nar listened to it, entranced. He had never heard anything that beautiful in his entire life.

Knowledge dripped into his head, and he learned of new words.

Music? Instruments? Song?

There were a lot of things attached with that new knowledge. He knew song. The workers had songs, for the Crystal, and for themselves. But the thought of instruments blew his mind. Did banging on chairs and tables while they sang count as instruments? He doubted it, the word invoked a level of grandeur and sophistication that couldn’t probably be attached to a creaking chair or limping table.

After a few moments, the music came to a stop, and Nar lamented its departure.

The symbols faded out, and its place, a person faded in.

He thought it was a woman, and human looking at that, but her face was covered in a thick, semi-transparent, glossy veil. Her hair was a bright blond, and pieces of black and white gleaming cloth were tied all across her hair. The little they could see from her figure was covered in some sort of bulky white, pearlescent garment, which completely hid the body underneath. On her chest, coming down from her left shoulder blade, there was a cloth of color. A rectangle of gold, blue and red that shimmered in the light.

She held her hands up, in front of her, and joined her hands in the shape of the Crystal, and bowed lightly.

Around them, Nar noticed that many of the Climbers did the same, and he quickly rushed to do it as well.

“Climbers, welcome to the end of your Climb!” the woman suddenly spoke.

Cheers erupted amongst the crowd. Tuk and Viy held hands and shook them around above their heads, laughing and shouting. Cen and Mul traded a happy glance. All around them, the Climbers made merry.

The end of the Climb. Confirmed. And by a real person no less! Not the faceless windows and texts of the System.

“To you who have chosen to leave behind your peers and attempt the Climb to purge your sins, and join the congregations of the faithful outside, I offer my sincere congratulations!”

Nar could hear her words perfectly clearly, even through the noise of the celebrating Climbers. It was funny, she wasn’t even speaking that loudly.

“You have survived and endured through the unimaginable pain of repentance, and have emerged victorious. Well done in reaching the Gates!”

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Kur whispered to Row.

“Yeah… Why is she talking about pain and shit now?” the red-haired leader asked.

Above him, the lady continued.

“You are now ready to undertake the final challenge. Do this, and you will be fully pardoned and welcomed with open arms. Fail, and sadly, your journey will end here.”

“I fucking knew it!” Mul muttered.

“Shhh! Be quiet!” Cen said.

“This is pileshit!” Jaz said, though much lower than Mul. “After all that, it still wasn’t enough?”

Angry whispers and shouts raised over the crowd.

The lady raised a hand. “I understand that you might feel upset about this. And I empathize with you, I truly do. You have suffered much to reach here. You have endured and paid a lot for your sins. However, this just shows how heavy those sins are, and how equally heavy the atonement must be.”

She raised up her arms, above her head.

“Praise be to the All-Merciful Crystal, for even allowing you a chance to repent and walk free into the Nexus. For you all are, truly, undeserving of walking free amongst us, the pure Children of the Crystal.”

Nar felt a hand slip into his and he looked down. Jul frowned at him.

“I’m okay,” he whispered, holding her hand tightly in his.

Jul knew that that was a lie.

Within, Nar felt his aura boil.

Undeserving meant he, and his dad, the dead Climbers, and everyone else was deserving of their pain.

The woman made another blessing and bow. This time, very few people returned it.

Lights came to life in the distance, shining even through the translucent image.

Beyond, across the darkness, three massive doors appeared.

The one on the left was the smallest one, followed by the one on the right, and lastly, a truly immense door stood in between the two of them.

“In just a few hours, when the countdown reaches zero, the Gates will open,” she told them. “Now, you might be wondering why there are three Gates and not just the one. You see, depending on which one you chose to go through, alongside your forgiveness, you will also receive rewards. The bigger the gate, the bigger that reward will be. Is the Crystal not All Loving and Generous? Even towards you, who harbor the Unspeakable Sin?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Who what the what?” Mul asked.

“I don’t know,” Cen whispered back to him.

“Wouldn’t everyone just take the middle gate then?” Cor asked, skipping past the whole Unspeakable Sin bit.

“It can’t be that simple,” Kur said.

“Know however, that the higher the reward, the higher the risk,” the woman said. “Therefore, temper your greed with the certainty of the level of your abilities.”

“We’re going to have to fight our way through,” Row said. “There are going to be three bridges. I can just fucking see it!”

“Crystal…” Cen whispered.

One more bridge, standing before Nar and freedom. Well, three of them, to be precise. And a fight insane enough to require thousands of them.

This is crazy… Are they trying to kill us all before we can get out? Do they hate us that much?

“Make your decision wisely, for you must choose as a party, and you will only be allowed to choose one gate. Once your decision is made, you will not be allowed out through any of the other gates,” she said, looking right and left, casting her veiled gaze upon the entirety of their congregation. “Know this, however. Enough of you must go through the middle path in order to defeat the Raid Boss. Without defeating it, none of the Gates will open, and you will all perish. Here, allow me to make it easier for you to understand. An image is better than a thousand words, and a thousand images are even better.”

A rush of knowledge entered Nar’s mind. Images, terms, tactics, fights and battles.

When the whirlwind of images and knowledge ended, Nar gasped and staggered. Jul grabbed onto him for support.

“My Crystal…” Kur said. “That was insane!”

“What. The. Fuck. Was. That?” Mul said, looking pale.

“We can’t do this…” Row said, pulling onto Kur’s arm. “We can’t work together like this. We don’t know these people! Nobody knows anybody! How can we rely on them?”

A raid boss.

Nar’s mind was still reeling from everything he had seen. The sheer quantity and brutality of what he had been shown to him had left him speechless. What in the world had he just watched?

“That were some of the previous attempts by your past, fellow Climbers, taken from the One Hundred Thousand Gates spread out across the surface of the O-Nex,” she said, answering his question. “And now, all 51,387 of you and counting, are about to undertake this challenge, all at the same time with all of the other Climbers viewing for their forgiveness across the Nexus, in this year’s Celebration of Final Atonement!”

One Hundred Thousand Gates… And fifty thousand of us?

Just how many Climbers were there?

Suddenly, three other people appeared on the rectangle of light. All of them wore the gear of Climbers, two in orange, and one in purple, like their party.

Said Climbers, startled, looked around them, trying to understand how their images were suddenly up above them with the lady. There were two males and one woman, one a human, one a morsvar, and one a bluish looking tall woman.

“Climbers, I present to you, your Raid Leaders,” the woman said. “The System has deemed them the best leaders and theirs, the best parties amongst you. The morsvar, DAC293451480711258XAV, will lead you down the left path. The human, PIH293456084302192XAV, will guide you down the path on the right. And lastly, the sanicuad, JUF293271480711258XAV, will be responsible for those of you brave enough to face the middle path, and the Raid Boss itself. This choice is final.”

Above them, Dac, Pih and Juf looked paralyzed. Shocked and stunned past reason. Nar doubted that any of them had expected to end their Climbs with the lives of thousands of people depending on their leadership.

“The Raid Leaders will be provided with more advanced knowledge to help them prepare and successfully plan their strategies. They will also be granted temporary attributes and skill bonuses to allow them to effectively lead you all through the Ceremony of Final Atonement.”

Three columns of light flared down in front of the chasm, each one in front of one of the Gates.

“The Raid Leaders will stand here, and party leaders will approach them for permission to join their raid. The Middle Raid Leader has the right to deny any party she deems unworthy of the Middle Gate, but the others must accept all that come to them,” the veiled lady said. “You have five hours to make your choice, or you will be randomly assigned to either the left or the right Gates. After that, the Raid Leaders will gather to plan. The choosing begins immediately. May the Crystal have mercy on your souls, and grant you safe passage into Its forgiveness. May we meet again, on the Outside Nexus, as Children of the Crystal.”

With that, she faded out, and the same symbol from before replaced her.

The music played again, but this time Nar didn’t revel in its beauty.

“Well. What the fuck?” Row said, speaking for all of them.

*********

“Quick separate discussion?” Row asked, while the music still played.

“Yes!” Kur said. “Gather round my party!”

“Same. Over here guys!” Row called hers.

The two parties separated to either side, and as the music faded, the light rectangle began to diminish in size. Only the black floating things remained, zipping and buzzing above their heads.

No one cared about them anymore, though, soon, the thousands of voices filled the air once again, and even louder than before.

“What’s there to talk about?” Mul asked. “We’re taking the left side.”

Kur scratched the back of his head. “About that…”

“You want to take the right Gate?” Tuk breathed. “Are you serious?”

Kur made a face.

“You want to take the middle one,” Gad said.

There was a moment of stunned silence.

“No…” Mul said. “No. You can’t be!”

“Yes,” Kur said, looking down.

“No. No!” Mul said. “Why in the pile would you want to do that? Why?”

“Calm down,” Viy said. “I’m sure Kur has a good reason for this.”

Mul stared at her. “Who are you?”

Viy grinned at him.

“I do have a reason for it,” Kur said.

“Not the rewards, though, right?” Nar asked.

“No! Of course not!” Kur said. “Just listen, alright?”

He pointed at the middle Gate and they all turned to look.

“The fight in the middle will be the hardest, right?”

“That’s what she said,” Tuk said. “So?”

“So, it will also be the most important one. No matter what happens, no matter what path we take, whether we get out or not, will be decided by whether or not we can take down that Raid Boss.”

“That doesn’t mean we have to fight it!” Mul said.

“No, it doesn’t, but think about it this way,” Kur said. “Once we’re on the left path, if things go bad, if the fight goes poorly, there will be nothing for us to do about it. We are leaving our fate in the hands of the Climbers in the middle!”

He looked around, staring into their eyes, one by one. “Do you understand what that means? Whether we get out or die here, is going to be decided by the Climbers that take the middle! And I think we should be there, to do whatever we can to make sure we get out. Do you understand?”

“I… Fuck me! I guess I do,” Mul said.

“But, look around,” Nar said. “I’m not saying you’re not right or that I don't want to go through the middle… Well, I don’t actually, but, look around. There’s so many of us! How could we even make a difference?”

“He’s right,” Rel said. “We could all jump down right now, and it wouldn’t make any difference. None.”

Kur took a deep breath. “We don’t know that.”

Tuk snorted. “Come on, man. I’ll be the first one to believe in myself, and in us, but damn. Nar’s right, there’s fifty thousand Climbers here! We’re nine people!”

“I don’t think we’re strong enough,” Cen said.

Nar glanced at Gad. In many ways, he had come to consider her to be the de facto second leader of the party. And he wasn’t the only one.

“What do you think, Gad?” Viy asked.

Gad rubbed her chin and considered the Gates.

“I disagree… With you all.”

“What do you mean?” Mul asked.

“I agree with Kur. And I disagree with you,” she said. “I don’t think we’re not strong enough to make a difference. I think it's the opposite.”

She turned back around, facing them. “This battle will be won by everyone working together, that is true. But I believe that it will be individuals that will carry it through. There will be points, on which everything will be decided by a single tank, leader or DPS. Maybe even by a single skill.”

Gad had stared at Rel as she spoke those words.

“We may never know about these points, but I believe in our strength,” the tank continued. “With so many of us here, we most likely won’t make any difference. But if there is even a chance… The smallest possibility that one of those points will be ours to push forward? If we’re not there, the whole thing is just going to fall apart. I know it sounds ridiculous, given the scale of what we’re talking about here, but I truly believe this.”

Nar sighed. What was there to say to that?

“Crystal dammit. I hate when you make sense like that,” Mul said. “I just wanted to take the easy way for once. For once! Is that too much to ask?”

Kur smiled. “Who knows. Maybe.”

“So, we’re taking the middle?” Cen asked.

Kur nodded, and when he looked at Gad, so did she.

“I really think it will be the best for us,” he said. “We’ve taken this path to make a new future for us. And all this way, we’ve been responsible for our own survival and success. Now, at the very end, we can’t just pass it onto someone else's hands. I at least, really can’t.”

He shrugged. “We have to do it.”

Mul groaned and crossed his arms.

“Fine! We’re taking the fucking middle! Happy?”

“Mul…” Cen called him.

“I know. I know. I’m sorry. Crystal!”

Cen pulled her brother aside, with an arm over his shoulders, and whispered to him.

“I’m sorry guys,” Kur said, looking downcast. Gad, standing next to him nodded.

“Don’t be,” Nar said. “It is what it is.”

“Yeah,” Viy said. “You’re just doing the best for us.”

Kur grimaced. “I wish it wasn’t like this. I’ll see what Row’s party decides.”

As the party broke into smaller conversations, Nar glanced at Jul, who had remained quiet during the whole interchange.

The scout turned rogue stared at the gates in the distance as he approached her.

“Hey, you alright?” Nar asked her.

Jul blinked and turned to him. “Yes. Why?”

“You were just… Quiet. Through all of that.”

Jul shrugged. “I agreed with Kur from the start and I knew everyone would as well. I’m not worried about it. I’m not scared of it.”

Nar sighed and placed a hand over her head. It was impossible to miss the slight shaking running across her body.

“I’m terrified,” he said.

“You are?” she asked, surprised.

“Of course! Look around you. If the bridges we crossed were hard, how bad do you think this is going to be? Did you not see those images?”

She nodded slowly. “But you don’t look like it.”

“I keep things inside,” he said, shrugging. “You know that.”

She nodded and stared back at the middle gate, the one they would soon fight with their lives on the line to cross.

“Does it make me weak?” she asked. “To be scared?”

“No, it doesn’t,” Nar said. “Don’t think anyone here is not scared. Unless they're screwed in the head…”

“I thought I had beaten it,” Jul whispered. “I hate being scared. Powerless. I thought I was stronger now.”

He grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her close. “You are strong. You are strong because you’re afraid and scared, but you’re still going to do it anyway. You just said it yourself. You agreed with Kur. You didn’t say you don't want to do it. You didn’t say it was a bad idea. You knew it was the best way to go and you knew you were going to do it.”

He shook his head. “Look, what do I know? You’re the older sister.”

“Oh, now I am?”

“You always were,” Nar said, looking down at her face. “My strong, brave, older sister. At the very least, I’m glad I came on this Climb and this party, to meet you.”

She snorted and looked away. “Whatever…”

“Oh? I don’t get it back?”

She laughed.

“Yes. Yes. I’m glad I met you too. I’m… Really, really glad I met you.”

Nar gave her a squeeze.

“Don’t worry. I have your back and you have mine. We’ll get through this.”

She took a shaky deep breath and nodded.

“The last fight,” she said. “Then we’re out.”

Nar stared at their chosen gate. It stood tall and proud over the other two. Beyond that, the whole Nexus waited for them.

“And then we’re out,” he whispered.

A few more hours, and it would all come to an end.