Acid Shot. I used the skill over and over while rushing up to the top. This time the golems were cube shaped. The towers sure did love their geometrical shapes. After wiping out the ten golems, I looked in the distance and saw the Divine Empress closing in.

I entered the initial chamber and looked down the tunnels they were quite dark. I moved until I was right next to the middle tunnel. One twitch of my foot or my hand and the doors should slam shut. I was going to take another gamble to take out the Divine Empress by smushing her.

The speed at which the doors had slammed shut the first time was incredibly fast. Like an eyeblink kind of fast even with my Mind stat. There was a chance to crush her between the tower doors and end the threat here and now, I was going to take it.

It would relieve a lot of the pressure on me to climb the tower as quickly as possible. I was already going to climb quickly because of the bomb in my gut, but having the Divine Empress on my heels was something I didn’t want.

As the doors slammed shut, if she moved forward, I would blast her again with an annihilation attack and then a second time. With the doors shut there would be no escape, so she could be killed. Or she might just run off into one of the tunnels inside the tower and try to lose me.

Regardless, once she entered there would be no easy escape. I just had to make sure she entered wounded if she entered at all so I had the advantage. I couldn’t let her get inside the tower while still fit. That would be really bad.

The one thing I was worried about were the other entrances. Would they still open after I had entered? I hadn’t checked at the tower I had poked. A major oversight on my part. I thought I had more time and hadn’t even considered this kind of situation.

I could think of a lot of things, but if I didn’t think of them ahead of time, I just had to gamble and hope I gambled correctly. I glanced behind me, but the tunnel was dark. I didn’t Sense anything, but the energy was quite thick. Well, it was almost time.

The Divine Empress reached the bottom large steps of the tower and quickly ascended. She came to a stop at the far edge of the base in front of the door. I noted she was wearing a simple gray gown. Her old clothing had been blown off and she clearly didn’t take the time to purchase an outfit that was her usual choice of white and black. Even her hair was slightly in disarray with several stray strands poking having escaped her hair bun.

“Hello!” I gave her a cheeky grin and a wave. She was clearly taking her time to assess the situation.

A tower was a one-way trip unless one cleared it according to the Astrologer. The Divine Empress had probably sent in disposable soldiers to find this out as well. Even if she did kill me, she would be forced to clear the tower herself to get out.

I could tell she was considering this issue heavily as she looked at me and then up at the tower. “So this is where the Astrologer is hiding?” she asked in a slightly raspy voice. Interesting, all her injuries hadn’t been fixed by a restoration. There was some kind of lingering damage. Well, I had to give her credit for her intuition. “He put something inside of you as well. Now you are running to him.”

Despite being a brute, she wasn’t stupid and had seen me getting cut open. “Yes, anything, you want me to tell him?” I asked her.

“Tell me where my son is and I will let you go. I swear this upon my grandfather’s tomb,” she said. I didn’t believe her for a second. Also, that promise was full of loopholes. Even if I did know and I told her, she would let me go and then kill me later on and wreck my empire.

I also didn’t trust her to keep her word regardless. Even if she meant it right now, there was no guarantee that she would hold to it later on once she had her son back. With the way she treated people, there was no basis for trust unfortunately.

That was the issue when the power dynamics were completely uneven. I couldn’t afford to give up any leverage I had, even if I wanted to. It just wasn’t feasible. “I honestly don’t know. He is tucked away safely somewhere, but even if you did catch me, I couldn’t tell you,” I explained.

She frowned at this. I could tell she was annoyed, and considering if I was truly lying or not. If I was lying, then nothing changed. But if I was telling the truth, then pursuing me into the tower became less worthwhile and a higher risk.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

The fact she hadn’t just rushed me and was taking this long to consider things was a sign she was taking the threat I posed seriously. She had chased me across the Systemic Lands, but now the chase was at an end and she had a choice to make. Pursue me and risk fighting me along with the tower or give up. Being injured also meant that fighting me would be riskier along with climbing the tower.

I was content to wait. I had spent energy killing the golems, and if I fought her, having a full tank would be useful. I also wanted to get a better understanding of her personality now that she had suffered two harsh setbacks.

“Why didn’t you hide?” she asked me. That was surprising. I hadn’t been expecting that question.

“I didn’t think it would work after you picked up my trail. Even if I did hide in the city in a building, with my number of stats, I wasn’t sure I could avoid your Sense stat,” I honestly replied. I didn’t know if she was buying time, but I couldn’t think why she wanted to buy time.

I didn’t sense anything behind me from the tunnel and very slowly glanced back just to check. Nothing there. I looked back at the Divine Empress who was just standing there.

“Thinking if it is worth the risk?” I asked her.

“Yes. I am taking you seriously now Champion Michael. Very seriously. Only the Astrologer has put me in such a spot before and I am considering how to move forward.” I was surprised again she was willing to talk with me, but we were feeling each other out.

She might be even trying to heal herself. But it didn’t appear her flesh was moving about, and her voice remained raspy. I was content to talk for now as well as we both gained an understanding of each other. Despite our mutual undying hatred of each other, we were a very rare breed in the Systemic Lands and peers.

While she had more power, she was no longer looking down at me. I could see her moving her fingers are her side slightly, but no movements otherwise.

“So, you planning to stand there all day?” I asked.

“Yes. You clearly mean to trap me or crush me with the doors, but you also don’t want to go into the tower yourself.” I needed to go into the tower. She took a step forward and then stopped. “Going to shut the doors now?”

“Come a bit closer and find out,” I suggested. I was ready for the slightest movement. We were in a stand off again. “The Avatar. I have to ask, what did she do to you to piss you off so much?” I asked.

“She wouldn’t surrender. Even when defeated. Then she even dared to think she could order me. I taught her a lesson. Did she take my son?” The Divine Empress asked me.

“No. I did,” I replied. The Divine Empress nodded slowly at that. There was no point in lying at this point about something so petty when so many people knew I had taken him. “But she did arrange things and asked me to take him.” The Divine Empress froze completely at that.

“She did? Your arrival? She contacted you?”

“No, but she planned her own escape and was sitting on your throne when I arrived. She asked me to take your child from your palace.” I wanted to make sure the Avatar was thoroughly thrown under the bus while I had the chance.

I doubt the Divine Empress would kill her or be able to catch her, but if I died, then I wanted the Avatar to be looking over her shoulder constantly in fear of the Divine Empress killing her. It was incredibly petty, but I was a petty person and the Avatar pissed me off. That was her secret power.

“How willful, but you aren’t going to escape me Champion Michael. You might have beaten me back twice, but you don’t think you can seriously escape?” the Divine Empress asked me and took another step forward.

“Maybe, maybe not. Won’t know unless I try.” This slow tactic of one step at a time was very stressful. But that was precisely why she was doing it. I knew she was ready to burst forward and attack me, but she was testing how close she could get.

If I told her not to come any closer, she would just take one small step, forcing me to close the tower door. I really wanted to kill her though and this was the perfect chance. She would have to move directly forwards if she had any chance of getting inside before the doors shut.

I would rush forward as well, blasting her at point blank range. It was a game of chicken. The closer she got, the better chance she had of surviving my attack. The closer I let her get, the more likely she would commit to an attack if the doors shut.

At a certain point I just needed to shut them and call it quits. But she clearly wanted to kill or capture me and I wanted to kill her. She took another step forward. “Sorry about your city by the way. But I enjoyed the treasury.”

“I try to be a good host for my guests. I just have so few. And then you ran away before I got back. I have a deal for you. Submit. Kowtow before me and swear your eternal loyalty. I will spare you and help you deal with that bomb inside of you.”

I paused at that. She had shown weakness! The fact she was offering a deal first, meant she considered me to have an equal or stronger position. The Divine Empress would never negotiate otherwise.

“I am not sure about that. After seeing what happens to your people, I don’t want to get motivated,” I replied casually. There was silence at that. When you had your own people skin themselves and perform other self-mutilations at her whim, it wasn’t exactly a ringing endorsement.

I could get away with offering something like that, which is why the Protector had agreed to surrender in advance. But the Divine Empress had sacrificed her reputation with her abject and pointless cruelty. There was no chance I was going to subject myself to such horrors.

“A shame,” she said and took another step forward. I was getting quite nervous now. She had closed about a third of the distance from the edge of the step to the door. Any closer and I would have to shut it no matter what. I began vibrating my hand at high speed to slow down my perception of time so I could react as quickly as possible.