The activation of Gluttony changed the game. Aside from torn muscles from the electrocution, I hadn’t realized how much fucking FATIGUE had built up on my climb. Every step drove me deeper into pain and exhaustion, and I’d been staggering up the stairs the last for staircases. But all that changed as I fired up the Abomination Engine and let the electricity pour in.

It hurt, as usual, but this was a refreshing kind of pain. In the face of the wobbling stagger and shuddering exhaustion of before, the new pain was like a breath of fresh air, cleansing and propelling me forward.

Sadly, looking up, I found that the brief respite (for some value of that word) hadn’t done me any favors. More people had caught up. To my complete surprise, I recognized one of them.

Jacob grinned at me cheekily. “I told you you’d let your guard down so I could pass you.”

“Well, you’ve certainly surprised me,” I gritted out through the pain. “Mostly by being…that. What actually are you, exactly?”

He was…jelly. Translucent gold jelly. Or something like it, the consistency was a little weird maybe. “I’m a honey slime.” He announced proudly, and I nodded. Slime was pretty much exactly where my head had gone, and honey sounded right. I hadn’t even known that was a thing.

“So why aren’t you…you know, in pain?” I gestured at his apparent casual demeanor.

“Oh, I am,” he admitted. “Excruciating pain. It’s just easier to keep it off my face when I don’t have any muscles to contract. Plus my slime conducts electricity more than holds it. Here, look.” He casually reached out to his other side, where the bronze guy was passing, and poked him with a finger.

There was an explosion of lightning much like the coin earlier, and the bronze guy screamed as he was flung bodily off the stairs. I moved away from Jacob.

“Anyway, nice seeing you, I’ve got to get going.” With a final wave he turned and moved on.

I noted that he stuck to the opposite side of the incredibly wide steps, letting me feel more comfortable, and I appreciated the effort as I remounted the stairs myself, letting Gluttony fade while keeping Abomination Engine going.

Sadly, contrary to the plot of of every movie, video game, comic, and book in history, pumping pure electricity into your body does not actually make you stronger, even with something like Abomination Engine. That might have been my fault for designing it this way, but in my defense, I hadn’t expected this exact situation to happen.

Still, the electricity sapped the power from Gluttony, forcing me to expend it on empowering exhausted and damaged muscles. It gave me enough strength to get through the next staircase, though barely, and when I got to the top I triggered Gluttony again immediately, letting the new and much stronger energy flood my Abomination Engine and empower me.

I was able to keep up with the output because of the constantly climbing voltage, with each platform being a full double of the one before. Despite the ability though, this was wearing on even my mental state, because nearly a half hour (each staircase now took at least as long as the first five together) of unending torment followed by MORE torment that happened to be good for me…wasn’t actually good for me.

What had started out as more bearable was slowly becoming WORSE than all the other trials. I wasn’t just taking the damage. I was making the damage. This was my fault and every step was doing more to myself in a way that was becoming increasingly hard to justify regardless of the endgame prize.

I was breaking down. There was a limit to the amount of pure agony I could actually take, and I was approaching it. Which was unfortunate, but not shocking. Everyone has limits, and a can do attitude can only take you so far.

Luckily, I wasn’t alone. I was never alone. A surge of belief and strength came through the bond as my wife flooded me with love and support, not needing to speak and knowing it wouldn’t help, but being there for me all the same. Callie’s willpower bolstered my own in a way I could never describe to someone else, but was as familiar to me as my own face in the mirror.

People like to say ‘a burden shared is a burden halved’, but that isn’t true. Because support and faith isn’t additive, it’s multiplicative. Knowing my wife was here with me, knowing she could shoulder this at my side, made this whole thing INFINITELY more palatable. My resolve firmed as I pulled from a well of my own strength I hadn’t even known was there, pushing forward until I set foot on the seventh platform.

Gluttony activated, and I let myself…well, not relax, but meditate a bit as the energy poured into my Abomination Engine. Jacob stepped up next to me, and I was surprised he’d kept up. His expression was strained now, and I could see flickers of electricity in the golden jelly of his translucent form.

Deciding to channel my inner Bethy, I cocked my head as I looked at him. “You ok? You look like you’ve had a terrible shock.”

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He snorted. “How long have you been waiting to use that one?”

I shrugged tightly. “Not too long. Few platforms. Thinking of jokes makes it easier to ignore the feeling of my eyeballs boiling. Well, at least it did until I brought it up. Now I’m kind of focused on it. At least they haven’t exploded.”

Boiling was actually the wrong word. Frying was better. Living stone didn’t really boil, though I suppose it didn’t fry either. And thinking about the exact type of electric torment being visited on my eyeballs at that moment wasn’t helping. Once I finished my refuel, I nodded tightly, then remounted the steps, continuing my journey to the top.

I was so engrossed with my ascent that I almost didn’t notice the scream of my Danger Sense. Weirdly, it hadn’t been going off before this, apparently not counting self harm as danger? I guessed since I could leave whenever and was actively the one doing myself harm it just considered this a ‘safe’ situation.

Whatever the reason, when it triggered, I almost missed it, noticing it just in time to drop to a knee as a clawed hand slashed at the air above me. Turning, I saw a fairly dainty girl with long white hair and a pair of cat ears glaring at me.

Coming back to my feet, I cocked my head at her as I started to back up the stairs, talking as I went. “Do I know you?” I gritted through clenched teeth.

Her silvery nails crackled with power, and I noticed some stripes in her white hair, which seemed to be just really long fur. It took me a second to match her appearance with a possible source. I remembered reading about a white tiger beast that had an affinity for lightning. I don’t think she was the same kind of beast, because that thing was supposed to be almost immune to electricity, and she looked like she was having a tough time.

“You will not win this trial,” she said coldly. “You have been allowed to progress too far. I will not lose to you again.”

“Might help if I knew your name,” I grunted as I continued my way up.

Sneering, she lashed out again with another attack. I didn’t bother dodging now that I knew what it was attacking me. I held up an arm and the nails skittered off my plate, the metal creating sparks as it clanged off my suit. “I am Corinne Deveaux,” she said venomously. “And I will be the one to serve the goddess.”

I considered her for a second, then punched her in the mouth. She reeled backward in shock, holding her now bleeding nose. “Yeah, I don’t think I’m gonna do this. Later”

I turned, resuming my climb, and was slightly smug at the frustration in her voice as she screamed after me. My punch had shoved her back a few steps, and I pushed forward implacably, putting some distance between us as I took advantage of her brief lapse in concentration.

Reaching the eighth platform, I activated Gluttony again, refilling my tank as I looked around for any others who might be here. I’d passed almost everyone, Jacob and Corinne both left a bit behind. The platform was almost empty, the sole other occupant being a short man with shaggy brown hair and a relatively unassuming demeanor.

“Greetings,” he said gently. I stared at him, trying to figure out his deal. Some kind of power was almost necessary to get up here, but the average looking man didn’t seem to have one. He just looked like a normal guy.

“Nice to meet you,” I said slowly. “I’m Mephistopheles.”

He nodded in acknowledgement. “I am aware. You may call me Shrike.” It became quickly noticeable that he had positioned himself between me and the steps. “I am afraid I will need to insist you stop here. You have already acquired the egg, allowing you to gain access to this token would be too big an advantage, I’m afraid.”

I stared at him for a minute, deciding what to do. Then I did two things. I triggered Double Trouble, and I activated Bael.

Appearing behind him, I was shocked to realize the stairs didn’t prevent the skill from working. Despite that, I was invisible and past my enemy, and I immediately began my climb. I had to leave Gluttony active the first few steps to hit my minute, but that was fine.

Behind me, I heard Shrike calmly speaking to the illusory double my skill left behind. By the time he noticed it fade I was already halfway to the ninth platform, and even through the pain I had to grin at his previously calm demeanor turning frustrated.

Reaching the ninth platform, I was relieved to not see anyone there. I’d pulled far enough ahead to finally outpace all the challengers, but when I activated Gluttony, I was quickly discouraged to find that this wasn’t going to be enough. The damage had outpaced the power my domain was able to restore. I only had one more platform, so I decided to spend two minutes here, burning all my remaining time.

Once that was done, I gritted my teeth, and ascended the steps. My first step was like a blow directly to my mind. After so many doublings of the output, one percent of the final staircase was more than five times what the entire initial charge had been added with every step.

My teeth ground together, my muscles contracted and tore, I could smell burning and taste copper. My eyes actually WERE boiling now. Somehow. But I ignored it. One step, then another. One foot in front of the other. I’d dropped Bael and triggered Zagan. While I couldn’t use my soul repairing techniques directly on myself, I’d made the form for its healing properties to begin with, and those worked on me just fine.

I flooded myself with green flame, healing my disintegrating form as I stepped, pushing myself further as my muscles contracted so hard my bones started to crack under the pressure. Even with Mornax active, I was barely functional, and only the healing kept me going. On the seventy fifth step I had to stop, forcing myself to return to pushing when I realized a ‘break’ would probably kill me if I let it go on.

At step eighty my eyes burst. It was agonizing, but honestly it almost helped, the lack of ocular nerves to fry seeming to relieve the pain somewhat. My teeth cracked at step ninety, and my eardrums burst somehow at ninety five. I pushed through, ignoring it all as I forced myself onwards.

When my feet hit the hundredth step, the final platform, I was rendered nearly insensate as the pain cut off. My body felt raw, off. Even as the green flames flooded me, the sheer rawness from the lack of agony was almost a new form of pain. I staggered across the platform, reaching a small black shrine that reminded me a bit of the one we’d found under that valet back on Stratholme.

Reaching out, I plucked the black token from the shrine and stored it in my ring before keeling over. Despite no longer being able to hear, I felt Archie approaching as I lay unresponsive on the ground, and I felt relief as my body shut down. I would most likely wake up healed. Thank the gods for my new companion.