Chapter 155 - Three Days

“You don’t have any weird caveats, like I have to kill before the auction takes place, do you?” Jack asked.

“What? No,” Elera said, frowning. “Why would I want that? There are things I want at the auction house, and that won’t happen if he dies before it. He plans to flee to his fortress immediately after. I was thinking I could sneak you inside, and you kill him in there. He won’t see that coming.”

“Huh, not a bad plan. What do you think?” Jack glanced at Hannah.

“I was thinking pretty much the same thing.” Hannah shrugged. “Didn’t know how I was going to get us inside, but jumping him while he’s asleep is always a pretty good way to kill someone. Don’t know how we’re going to convince Mortimaxx to go along with it, though. He seemed pretty adamant about the auction not taking place, from what you’ve told me.”

“I believe I’ll be able to handle that part.” Karlisle smiled. “Withholding a chance at restoring your core is a bit… villainous? Even for him. I’m not sure how he thinks minimizing your chances at success will help in any way. I’ll be sure to square that part away.”

“Alright,” Jack said, turning towards an expectant Elera. “I’m not saying we agree to any of this yet; we’ve still got to ensure that Mortimaxx will help me with my core. But barring that, we do plan on killing the Twilight Lord. Apparently, the mayor’s going to train us at the mansion for the next several months while we wait for the auction house to get built. I’ll have him put you on the invited guests list,” Jack said, standing up.

Elera gave Jack a strange look. “That’s right… you don’t know,” she said, standing up as well. “The auction house is going to be ready within the week. Likely in three days, depending on who shows up.”

“What!?” everyone in the room shouted.

Elera didn’t bat an eyelash at the sudden outburst, instead she stared everyone down, waiting for them to recompose themselves before continuing on. “Let’s just say Cassius, the fool he is, wasn’t expecting the attention that the auction house is bringing down to the second floor. Rumors have it that several very wealthy powerhouses are coming here. If he’s to make good on his promises to me, he can’t have them showing up and buying things out from under him. He intends to rush the completion of the auction house by liquidating the entirety of the sector he’s spent hundreds of years building up and using the City Coins to rush completion. While it won’t keep everyone away, those who are taking their time will miss the auction entirely.”

“Fuck,” Jack said, already eyeballing the exit and tensing to make a break for it. “How long does it take to get to Mortimaxx’s mansion?”

“Well, you have to get through this sector, then Sector One. A day, if you’re fast,” Elera answered.

Jack felt his heart pounding. His chances at getting his core back were rapidly diminishing right before his eyes. Karlisle felt confident that he could talk to the mayor, but the lich Jack had spoken with felt decidedly unhinged. He wasn’t sure the guy wouldn’t go scorched earth if he didn’t get his way. He needed to get his core first, before any of this could be allowed to go down.

“Does Mortimaxx know any of this?” Hannah asked, following Jack outside of the building.

“Probably.” Elera shrugged, joining them in the streets.

Jack was searching around frantically for the arbiters. They said they would be his escort, after all. Jack was hoping against hope that they had a secret route to the manor. “That’s why those damned arbiters didn’t want us making any pit stops. Mortimaxx knows the timeline’s changed, and he wanted us there as soon as possible to discuss the mission.”

“Yes and no,” a voice hissed from the shadows. “Mortimaxx is aware of the Twilight Lord’s plans, but he is far more interested in the vampire you travel with. He’s even approved travel by causeway to ensure that you arrive unmolested.” One of the vampiric arbiters stepped out from the shadows, the same one who had led them here.

“What’s the causeway?” Jack asked.

“If you are ready, I would be more than happy to show you.” He gave a fiendish smile, clearly enjoying Jack’s panic.

Jack glanced at everyone. Nutt was still stumbling around and running into things, under Devin’s careful guidance.

“Can you get that thing off?” Jack asked Devin.

The man bent down and ripped it off with a pained yelp from the goblin underneath.

“Freedom!” Nutt exclaimed, heaving breaths of air.

Jack turned to Elera, who was still trailing after them, for some reason. “Uhhh. I guess this is where we part ways? See you at the auction, maybe?”

“Oh, I’m coming with you,” she said with a grin. “I don’t want to be left out of any plans.”

“Won’t it be suspicious if you go missing?” Hannah asked.

“Probably. But I don’t really care.”

“If you say so…” Jack tried, still a bit baffled by the woman. “All right, let’s go, then.” Several more vampiric arbiters appeared from the shadows at his urging, and they began running down the street. Where to, Jack didn’t know.

There was surprisingly little resistance from the sector, once again. Jack was beginning to wonder if there were any monsters here at all. He hadn’t seen any since entering.

“Where are all the monsters?” Jack asked.

“Highly contained to certain parts of the sector for maximum questing efficiency,” Elera said.

That made sense, Jack guessed, especially if he was charging special packages to power-level people through the floor.

The pack of arbiters led Jack and company to a manhole with a skull and crossbones across the top in the center of the street.

“The sewers?” Jack asked as the arbiter placed his palm on the head of the skull. It glowed bright then withdrew itself like an iris, leaving a large opening in the street.

“Not sewer, underground causeway. Accessible by arbiters only,” the arbiter said, jumping down into the manhole.

“Gross. I’m not diving in the sewers,” Elera said, a look of disdain on her face.

“No one cares,” Jack countered.

She huffed in response and cut in line, jumping down before he could.

Hannah also turned her nose up at the manhole. “Odds this is a trap, and we get murdered when we jump in?”

“Not great, but not terrible. Plus, the elf went in first, so she could probably handle whatever is down there…” Devin shrugged.

“I really need a drink after all this.” Jack sighed, then he jumped into the hole.

It felt like he was falling for a good five minutes. Several times over, he had to push up against the cramped walls to slow himself down slightly. He wasn’t sure what he was jumping to, and he couldn’t see below to brace himself for impact.

He spilled out into a large tunnel, dimly lit by white, glowing lights that ran up and down the sides. It looked like a large sewer tunnel but didn’t smell like one. There was also no sewer water, which Jack put in the win column. Elera was hovering slightly above the ground, a look of disgust on her face.

Jack took in his surroundings as everyone else spilled in. They were at a cross-section. There were signs that read “Sector Two” on the paths leading east and west. The path leading north had a Sector One sign posted on the wall, and the path leading south had Sector Three.

“This way,” the arbiter said as a screaming Nutt came crashing down the sewer porthole.

This time, he was using his cauldron as a sled. Jack was a little surprised the thing didn’t crack in two when Nutt slammed into the ground. He tumbled out of it, chugged a health potion, and stuck the cauldron back onto his head like a hat.

Jack didn’t wait for everyone to ready up, he just chased after the arbiter, running closely behind him and urging the vampire to move faster as Jack pushed the pace.

After ten minutes, they passed another cross section.

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“Welcome to Sector One,” the arbiter said, running straight through it and farther down the causeway.

“How?” Jack asked.

“Travel meant for mass transportation of arbiters between sectors. Allows us to better control threats to the city. Ever wonder how we get so quickly dispatched from the other sectors?”

Jack had wondered about that very thing multiple times. At first, he thought the arbiters were just freely spawning, but the more of them he killed, it became apparent that wasn’t the case. They were coming from somewhere that wasn’t the sectors.

Soon, Jack got his answer as to where the arbiters were coming from. They reached a central hub, of sorts. It was a small, underground bunker filled with hundreds of arbiters. There were several paths shooting off in every direction, and as far as Jack could tell, each path was filled to the brim with arbiters. Some sat at tables playing games, others inspected weaponry. Others weren’t moving at all, just staring at the wall.

“Please respect our privacy,” the arbiter hissed at Jack.

Their guide made his way to a platform in the middle of the room, stepping on it. Everyone joined him, also looking around at all the arbiters. Jack wasn’t sure what he was going to do with this information, but it was good to know this was here. After all, he still had to somehow figure out how to take over the city. Once everyone was on, the platform began to move upwards like an elevator. They rose until the arbiter base below was nothing more than a single star of light and black canvas, then nothing at all. The journey up took much longer than the journey down, about thirty minutes, at Jack’s estimate.

“Why did Mortimaxx want to stop the auction?” Elera asked, while they waited.

“Because they make a mockery of him,” the arbiter spat, a strong zealotry in his voice.

She cocked an eyebrow at the arbiter, unimpressed.

“Pretty much that,” Jack said. “He was tired of people not taking the second floor seriously. This was basically his way of saying ‘fuck you’ to everyone in the Tower.”

“Not a bad plan.” Elera shrugged, going quiet again as the elevator reached its destination. They stepped out into a large courtyard. Mortimaxx’s manor was a large, opulent cathedral of pure white stone. There was green grass and well-trimmed hedges in the courtyard. Lanterns hung all around, providing a gentle glow to the area. It was far more serene than what Jack had been expecting. He was expecting something more along the lines of nightmare horror dungeon.

“Well, this is different,” Devin said, mirroring his thoughts.

“Morty always had such exquisite tastes in architecture. I’m glad to see nothing has changed.” Karlisle clapped in excitement, turning to the arbiter. “Is he in the throne room?”

“Yes. Allow me to escort you,” the arbiter said, turning and walking around the smooth brick pathway that wound through the courtyard and wrapped around a large fountain filled with statues of naked gnomes spitting water out of their mouths in synchronization with each other.

“Coins!” Nutt squeaked, peering inside the fountain then jumping inside to pick up whatever was inside.

Jack left the goblin to his own devices, following the arbiter into the monastery. Every door was flanked by a pair of guards in pitch-black armor. More death knights stood out in stark contrast to the almost peaceful, if not outright spiritual surroundings of the cathedral. A pair of large wooden doors that towered over yet another courtyard more opulent than the first, revealing the throne room. Red ran down the middle of polished marble floors. It was lined with towering columns that disappeared into the dark ceiling above.

The walls were filled with intricate, stained-glass works of bright whites and deep blues, each depicting what Jack could only assume was the mayor’s true lich form. The room was noticeably colder than the rest of the cathedral had been.

The arbiter came to a stop at the front of a throne and gave a deep bow. The two side wings of the throne each had a small contingent of unmoving death knights, halberds already dripping with black blood and hatred.

Mortimaxx sat on his throne that was far too large for him, his fingers stroking the pencil-thin mustache that grew above his lip. He was staring intently at Karlisle.

“Lisle,” he slowly said, “is it really you?”

“It’s been a long time, Morty.”

The group watched in shock as the evil supervillain lich jumped down from the throne and sprinted at Karlisle, slamming into his knees and wrapping his arms around the vampire in a tight embrace.

“It’s good to see you, too.” Karlisle was grinning ear to ear, falling to one knee so he could better hug the lich.

“Well, this is awkward. Should we leave you two alone for a bit?” Jack asked.

Hannah nudged him in the back of the knees and whispered, “Shut up.”

Mortimaxx pulled away from the embrace long enough to flash Jack an angry look. “I told you to make haste. Not only do you dilly dally, but you bring the enemy directly into my domain?”

“I didn’t do shit,” Jack scoffed. “Your arbiter was the one who let her come.”

“Gentlemen,” Elera said, stepping between the two. “I’m right here, no need to fight over me.”

Mortimaxx pulled away completely from Karlisle, turning into his skeletal form. “Things have changed. We must discuss strategy. Follow me.” Mortimaxx stalked away, a contingent of the death knights flanking him.

Jack followed him out through a side hall that split off from the throne room. Everyone paused when a second group of death knights fell in step close behind them. Jack was really starting to think he had walked directly into a trap, and he was suddenly very suspicious of Karlisle’s loyalties.

Mortimaxx shouldn’t be very strong, because the city’s danger level remained at one, but Jack still didn’t have a very good idea of what Karlisle’s capabilities were, and if he turned on them because Mortimaxx wanted him to… Plus, there was the small issue of the death knights surrounding them.

Jack felt tense. He was being rushed again, and the last time that had happened, he’d gotten hundreds of people killed. He looked over at Devin, who seemed to be thinking much the same, judging by the stern look on his face and deathgrip he had on his hilt.

Mortimaxx led them to a room with a large rectangular table, taking his seat at the head. The room was filled with maps of the city hanging from the walls and a blue flag with a symbol he didn’t recognize. Karlisle took the seat closest to Mortimaxx, scooting his chair slightly around the corner so he could sit even closer to the lich.

Elera grabbed a chair and dragged it to the other end of the table opposite Mortimaxx and sat in it like a queen preparing for war. She put her elbows on the table and gave the lich a challenging grin.

Jack sat directly in the middle of them all, Devin taking the seat on the opposite side of the table. Nutt was ‘escorted’ into a seat. Hannah leaned against the wall directly behind Jack.

“So, who wants to go fir—” Jack tried.

“The auction house is taking place in three days. I’ve done the calculations, and if he liquidates the entirety of his sector, he’ll have enough City Coins to rush construction.”

“He’ll only complete it if all of his allies arrive within that time frame. We may have a little more time than that,” Elera countered.

“Regardless, we can’t risk him completing the auction. If you want your core restored, then kill him tomorrow,” Mortimaxx growled, staring at Jack.

“I won’t let that happen,” Elera countered.

The room flashed cold as Mortimaxx flared his mana. Then it burned hot as Elera responded in kind, seemingly unconcerned that she was in the middle of the lich’s base.

“Morty, why are you behaving like this? This isn’t like you. The lich I remember was cold, cool, and calculating. This seems… rushed,” Karlisle offered, his head tilted in curiosity.

Mortimaxx turned to Karlisle, his skeletal eyes radiating hatred.

“You don’t understand,” he hissed. “They’ve turned me into a fool. A non-threat. That damned Twilight Lord has trivialized this floor. It’s an insult that I simply cannot look past. You do not know how I have suffered over these long years, Lisle. I am so tired of living. No one can kill me. No one tries to kill me. Do you know what it’s like to live for thousands of centuries, unable to forget? I know too much. I’ve seen too much. The Tower won’t even spare me the dignity of letting me go insane. I need to give them a reason to want me dead. I need to reignite their motivations, and I will do that by robbing them of the chance for more power,” Mortimaxx finished in a huff.

“Ah. So it’s death you crave, old friend,” Karlisle said, placing a reassuring hand on the lich’s shoulder. “Tell me, why have you selected this man here? I’ve yet to see his capabilities.” He nodded at Jack. “Is he truly capable of completing the task you set forth? Without a core, even?”

“With my training? Possibly. Now, though? I don’t know. I’ve watched him carefully through the eyes of my servants. It’s plain to anyone’s eyes that he has talent for great things.”

“And you would just throw him away by sending him into the viper’s nest without a core?”

“What do you mean throw him away? I just told you, I think he has a chance, albeit a small one.”

“And what if he had his core? Would that increase his chances?”

“I should hope so, but there’s an order to things. I can’t freely give him his core. What if he reneges on the deal? I already told you, no one takes me seriously on this floor. What if he just left after getting his core fixed?”

“A risk, but I fear your thinking is short-sighted. A man you think capable of killing the Twilight Lord without a core… Such a powerful person, certainly if he had his core, and he was successful, would be more than capable of…” Karlisle paused, as though unsure of what he wanted to say next.

“Out with it,” Mortimaxx muttered.

“Certainly, this man would be capable of conquering the second floor, no? Of giving you the rest you so crave? Are you truly willing to sacrifice so much for your vengeance? Think beyond getting revenge, my friend; I know you aren’t so blinded by such childish concepts.”

Mortimaxx said nothing for a long moment, deep in thought. Jack also found himself listening intently. He wasn’t sure he agreed with what Karlisle was saying. Mortimaxx didn’t seem to care about anything other than getting revenge against the climbers who trivialized his floor, and he was willing to do anything to put a stop to it. Karlisle was telling him to set aside his goals of revenge so he could get what he really wanted.

What do you really want, Jack? Sarah’s voice whispered in his ears.

He wanted revenge. Or, at least he thought he did. Hearing Mortimaxx talk about revenge, though, somehow felt a little hollow to him. He thought he would understand the lich. He thought he did understand the lich. But Karlisle asking him so bluntly if revenge was what he really wanted made it all feel so… hollow.

Did Sarah actually want him to get revenge? He could hear her ghost still whispering in his ears all the time, urging him forward. But what if it wasn’t her? What if he was going crazy all over again?

Jack frowned at that thought, then buried it deep down before it could cause too much damage.

He wasn’t crazy. At least, he didn’t think so. Some irrational part of him wanted Mortimaxx to tell Karlisle to go fuck himself and send Jack out on the suicide mission without his core. It felt like it would be confirming, in a way.

“Also,” Karlisle continued with a coy smile on his face, “I want to buy stuff at the auction. Are you really going to deprive me of that?”

Mortimaxx let out a long sigh, then relented.

Jack was getting his core back.