The carriage crept slowly up the oesophageal elevator shaft, driven by the rhythmic contractions of peristaltic muscles beneath it. The grotesque organic mechanisms propelled them towards their meeting with the Blood Mage and the Homunculus lord of the Blood Tower. Warren felt a profound disgust at this place, but he maintained a stoic silence, pressed uncomfortably close to his three allies.

Sid had interfaced his MetaTEC with the elevator's control systems, sparing them the ordeal of climbing the tower's malignant stairs. Warren silently thanked him for this hack, for he could only imagine the horrors lurking within the tower's depths. The Hollow Knight stood at his shoulder, sentinel-silent, her armored form occasionally bumping into him as the carriage jolted and juddered. He was secretly glad she was with him. Though he didn't trust her motives, her combat prowess was undeniable, even admirable.

Captain Marshall broke the uncomfortable silence.

"This is a stupid plan, Sid," she said plainly. Warren would have been taken aback by her sudden candor if he didn't completely agree with the Runegard captain.

Cypher said nothing.

"This magus," she continued, "for him to have created all this, he must be at a high level. You can't defeat him. It would make more sense for the Warlock to—"

"No, it wouldn't," Cypher said solemnly. "Warren is an idiot who runs into things head-first. Always has been."

Warren laughed, but Sid wasn’t joking. His words were a serious, tactical appraisal.

"Whoever Cable is," Sid began, "he possesses some seriously esoteric knowledge. Sending any of you in there would be like launching a horseback cavalry charge against a battleship. I may not be the highest level, but I am the best prepared for whatever he throws at me. Besides, he’s just a distraction. The Homunculus is the real target. It's going to take some real heavy hitters to take him out."

"And who will create the anti-sprite field if you meet your demise?" asked the Hollow Knight, her voice a chilling whisper.

"Like that matters to you," Cypher snapped, his irritation clear. "Tell me, demon, why do you care about the success of our mission?"

Warren felt the Hollow Knight’s perception envelop him. The dreadful curiosity was cold and lonely, like a forgotten tundra.

"I do not," she said finally. "I seek to liberate the manacore of this place from the Homunculus' clutches. It is too powerful an artifact for the Carnage Weavers' forces to control. That is all."

Warren sighed deeply. "Great, a manacore—another thing I know nothing about."

"A manacore is formed when power from a leyline crystallizes within a manapool," Sid explained. "We’ve encountered three so far, but they’ve been small and fragile."

"They enhance a Sprite's power, influence, and autonomy when they possess one. Or rather, the sprite acts as a conduit for the stored energy, like a battery pack. It was always assumed that the Homunculus possessed one."

Warren felt a hot stab of anger pulse behind his eyes. "Sid, you snide git. When the hell were you going to tell me about this assumption of yours?"

"When the time was right," replied the Runelord flippantly, "Otherwise you might have given up and gone home."

Balling his free hand into a fist, Warren wanted nothing more than to turn Sid around and punch him in the face. The Hollow Knight placed a hand softly against his arm. It was the gentlest of touches, instructing him to be calm.

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Warren breathed deeply, expelling his anger and frustration. "I swear, you better not let this Cable guy kill you because I'm going to break your bloody nose when all this is over."

Cypher nodded, a slight smirk on his face. "I hope I live to watch you try."

The elevator shuddered to a stop on the penultimate floor. The speaker inside the carriage dinged with a gurgling noise. The doors slid open, and the stench of an abattoir flowed in. Pressing the button for the floor above, Cypher the Runelord stepped out onto the killing floor. He did not look back as the doors closed.

Red lights pulsed gently from bioluminescent cavities set into the ceiling. The whole floor looked like the cavernous innards of some giant beast turned inside out. Only the sound of the Runelord's boots slapping through the gore broke the heavy silence. Supporting pillars of meat and bone throbbed thickly as claret vitae pumped through them.

"This is impressive, Bloodmage," the Runelord called out. "Absolutely abhorrent, but impressive."

Silence. Stillness. Nothing.

"Well, you invited me up. Where's that cup of tea you promised?" Cypher goaded.

"I did, that's true. But someone came and crashed the party. So, unfortunately, no tea for you." Cable's voice echoed through the space, soft and darkly maleficent.

"Lieutenant Davey? What did you do to him?" Cypher asked.

"Oh, was that his name? Poor guy. He was truly afflicted by something terrible. I simply ended his suffering."

"He was a good man. I don't know how, but you turned him into a monster."

"Me?" the Bloodmage intoned, astonished. "I did no such thing. Wait, are you telling me that the great Cypher, the so-called Runelord, doesn't know about human ascension? Tsk, tsk, my friend. That is a remarkable failing of your knowledge."

"Why don't you illuminate me then, Bloodmage? I'm getting bored of your posturing."

A moment of silence, then came the reply.

"Very well."

The lights grew in intensity as the darkness withdrew, amassing in the center of the room as a dark sphere. A figure stepped from the orb, humanoid to a point. Stretched limbs dangled loosely against an emaciated frame. The face was taut, the skin pulled back to force a pained grimace. There was no nose, only two small slits set beneath bloody red eyes. Black fangs protruded from dark, cracked lips.

"Oh, Cable, you silly, silly man," Cypher said, noticing the two MetaTECs on the creature's wrists. In one hand, it held Davey's axe. Darkness peeled away from the orb and enveloped the pale, vampirish monster, shrouding it like a cloak and robes.

"A man? No, not any longer. I am something else now. Something more. I have transcended the very boundaries of mortal limitations, just like Hashimoto intended. I no longer go by the old name. Call me Blood Shadow, for it is the sum of my parts."

"What did you do with Davey?" Cypher growled.

"Used him to complete the transition," Blood Shadow said, like he was talking to a simple child. He smiled, and Sid felt instinctual disgust in the pit of his soul.

"You see, Runelord, Hashimoto was correct to warn against using two MetaTECs. While the devices allow us to properly manipulate the aetherial energies of the leyline as mana, using two corrupts the system and causes a few errors."

"I know this," Cypher replied, his voice edged with anger and revulsion.

"Sure you do, but did you know that incorporating someone who is partway between the two worlds as a conduit stabilizes the problems? That is what ascension is, someone who is a junction through the veil. They draw on the power of both worlds. Thanks to my affinity for Blood magic, combined with knowledge of the esoteric arts, I was able to absorb that conduit—Davey, you called him—into the code. Now we are all one. You have my brother's shadow magic attributes to thank for my aesthetic, though."

"God, you are so conceited. So self-impressed. Is this the point where you ask me to join you and together we will rule?"

Blood Shadow's smile grew to insane proportions. "Not at all," he said with lilting menace, "I will kill you and take your MetaTEC. I want to see what happens when I activate your device within the Cradle. I know you are looking for it. Why don't you save me some trouble and tell me where you think it is?"

Cypher took a wide stance and prepared himself for battle. "Listen here, you amateur plagiarist. Everything you have done here wouldn't have been possible without my advances to Hashimoto's source code. You are nothing but a book-smart moron who has messed about with something you know nothing about. Now it is time for you to find out just how stupid you are."

"Very well," said Blood Shadow, "I expected nothing less."