Content Warning for this book:

Violence and death (of people and monsters, including supporting characters), profanity, verbal sexual harassment.

Captain Gerrik watched the Network from the relative safety of the hidden meeting room under the brothel that Petal ran himself. It wasn't the largest in the Pleasure District, but it was definitely considered the best and most luxurious. It also didn't raise as many suspicions when someone with Gerrik's status spent hours at night there.

He glared at the illusory display lighting up one wall with a replay of a Trial highlight that was being broadcast to the rest of the city at the moment. The hand movements were blurred out between the young man, who had a lighter complexion and short brown hair, and the olive-skinned Wayfarer he had only met briefly the day she fell from the sky. However, he knew that the Whisper signs weren't being translated properly.

"We need to get rid of the devout priest," said the script below Alim's image on the display. His frowning face made it obvious he was worried about the group of Workers nearby in the illusion's view.

"I'll toss him and his friend out, then kill them when they're alone outside," the words wrote out when the view shifted to Jin's half-blurred out form.

The recording suddenly cut to Miley and Carter falling into a dark cavern in the third room of the Trial they had been clearing. Gerrik had actually taken the time to watch that entire scenario on demand outside of these public highlights. It gave him a much clearer understanding of what happened, but he knew not everyone would be allowed access to the same unedited version he had.

The illusory display cut away again to show Jin standing over the pair of Workers' dead bodies outside the Trial entrance, and a feminine voice spoke over the scene. "And there you can see it, people of Qutbi. The Wayfarer Jin so mercilessly turning on the people she had made an alliance with simply because of their devotion to our most benevolent gods."

Gerrik's face twisted in disgust at the declaration, and Menna spoke up from the seat beside him. "That's obviously a manipulated recording," she scoffed. Turning to look at him and gesturing toward the display, she asked, "People won't actually believe that half-censored and stitched-together account is the truth, right?!"

He gave her a flat look. "It's no different than what everyone believes happened in previous Seasons. They're just being especially heavy-handed this time to paint this Wayfarer as the villain."

"That Void Aspect and brutal killing of Fighter Jilani didn't help endear her to the masses," Petal said from the opposite side of the long table their group was currently sitting around. They had gathered a handful of the rebellion's upper ranks to watch the latest round of official propaganda specially curated by the Speakers.

Petal ran a hand through his recently dyed pink hair and muttered, "The Whisper signs are giving them too much opportunity to manipulate what their group is saying."

"I told Pax to avoid using them when possible because of that," Alaina said from her spot next to Petal. The two Sect Leaders were the highest ranking among them, but it was a well-known and completely fabricated secret that the Whisper was often seeking out the Lover as a night companion.

She gave a heavy sigh and added, "I didn't know Salman would choose a deaf former Whisper as a Champion or that Wayfarer Jin would actually accommodate him with the signs."

Petal gave a small smile. "At least that's a good sign for us about the type of person she truly is."

"But it won't help our cause if people think she's merely using the signs to plot against the other Champions. That interaction a couple of hours ago between her, Pax, and the little sister connection just made it look like she's working with the Traitor to sabotage the entire Season," Gerrik pointed out.

"People seem to like the little blue slime girl Liraz, though," Lavender said from the center of the group, sitting opposite the wall display. The older woman was the head of the Healer Coterie among the Lovers and had long been a steady supporter of their underground rebellion, seeing firsthand the harm done to their citizens. It was just difficult to sneak her into this particular meeting room at this hour of the night that was quickly approaching dawn.

"She looks too young for these god games, and her smaller size combined with that shy nature is endearing to many. The amount of popularity points she's been getting is a testament to that," she added, writing some notes down in a small journal set in front of her.

"The melting bunnies didn't seem to think she was so cute," Gerrik grumbled as he leaned back in his chair. "Slow Banes like hers are terrifying when given the chance to complete a kill."

"Probably why Viper chose her," Alaina said with a shrug. "Either way, her being there was simply more incentive for Pax to volunteer for the job as Whisper Traitor." She sighed again, staring back at Fox's Illusion Network display without actually focusing on it. "I have to present my report about him to the Council in a couple of hours."

Menna looked at her with trepidation and asked, "Are you really going to stand in front of every Sect leader and Coterie head to proclaim Pax as a traitor of Qutbi?"

Alaina frowned but didn't look toward the younger Fighter as she answered, "Yes, and proclaim him as a dangerous fugitive with a terrifying amount of stolen information that puts all of the Speakers at risk."

"But why?!"

Petal was the one to lean forward and look Menna in the eyes as he answered, "Because it's true, and we both cannot let them know that we support this rebellion. That would jeopardize our entire operations here while this route only paints a target on a single man."

"One who volunteered," Alaina stressed. "He knew what accepting this meant. I didn't try to convince him to accept, but he's fully aware of what's at stake."

"What if the Wayfarer doesn't reach the top?" Menna pointed out. "Is he really throwing away his life for the chance that Jin will help us change things?"

"I had him follow her from the day she joined the Servants until they entered the tower," Alaina admitted. "I talked with him the night before just to make sure he was certain about this mission… He seemed annoyingly confident about her."

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Gerrik raised a questioning brow at her. "Annoyingly confident? From the few snippets I've seen of him interacting with others, that seems to be his default personality."

The Whisper gave a wolfish grin. "It is. Which is surprisingly another reason I actually trust him with this."

"Well, he's doing a good job of clearing off that list he talked about. Are you sure the Speakers aren't going to be able to tie anything back to you?" he asked, glancing back at the Network that had shifted to highlighting the fight between the Servants and a pair of Speakers.

"That's part of what my report will cover," Alaina said, but the conversation died off as they all refocused on the scene playing out.

"Don't shoot! I don't want to fight—" the image of Speaker Katrina said, her hands raised defensively. "I, um… was just exploring for food—"

The picture then cut away to show Servant Hadia chasing her down and managing to tackle her to the forest floor. Another strategic cut skipped forward to tears streaming down Katrina's face as she cried out, "Please! I'm sorry!" Another shift in the recording angle displayed Hadia mercilessly bashing her head with a conjured mace as Jin stood by. The narrator voicing over the disturbing images was accompanied by an earlier picture of the now deceased Speaker as she had appeared before entering the tower, dancing in a fine silk sundress, and they sadly announced, "Thus the unquestionable evil spreading among the Servants from Wayfarer Jin's influence ended the life of Champion Katrina, whose memory of her grace and compassion will be remembered—"

A glass crashing into the display, spilling wine all over the wall where the girl's face was being shown, startled everyone in the room. Gerrik turned to see all of them staring in shock at Petal, who had thrown the glass across the room. His face contorted in a rare show of rage.

None of them said anything, though. All of them had seen the unedited version that Alaina had managed to smuggle out to them. All of them knew Katrina had been a liar who preyed upon the Lovers. They were all aware now of the treachery that was covered up by the Speakers, who didn't want to admit that they had sentenced an innocent man to death.

Alaina pressed a few buttons on one of the enchanted recording controllers to mute the sound and switch it over to subtitles that were more accurate than the translations of the blurred Whisper signs. Once Petal seemed to have calmed down, running a hand through his hair and over his face, Alaina quietly said to Menna, "While I have to give this report that makes it seem like we're hanging Pax out to dry alone, I do want you to know that once they get closer to the top and actually accomplishing their mission, we plan to make our move to support both Pax and Jin."

"That could be years from now," Menna said, the hint of distress in her voice not going unnoticed. "How long do we have to lie and put up with this farce they keep shoving down the people's throats?" she asked, gesturing to the silent Network.

"As long as it takes," Gerrik almost growled. "We can't make rash moves here. However, we can prepare until then. When they finally leave the tower, we need to be ready to enact real change."

Antoni awoke to the sound of a board squeaking from outside. It was still dark, and he felt instantly alert, wondering if a Whisper had finally decided to make the stupid choice of coming for them. He slipped from his bed in a fluid movement, knowing he wasn't being completely silent, but he hoped the speed would throw off any potential attacker as he made his way to the front door downstairs.

When he reached the door, he was surprised to hear a soft knock rather than the picking of the lock. Sword in hand, he asked in a low voice, "Name?"

"Come on, Toni, let me in."

He recognized the voice, but that didn't mean he trusted it. He had no idea what the other Champions had managed to gain for powers within the tower, and he made that clear. "Name, rank, and call," he firmly ordered.

The feminine voice sighed. "Nawal. Third Tier. For the glory of the Fighters. You know that call is rather predictable, right?"

Antoni finally unlocked the door and opened it, revealing a completely naked woman standing on the porch with her arms crossed over her chest and glaring at him. "What the fuck happened to you?"

"I can't talk about it."

"What does that mean?" he asked, completely confused as he moved to let her into the cabin.

"I. Can't. Talk. About. It," she enunciated, punctuating each word through gritted teeth. Walking past him and immediately moving to the low embers of the fireplace.

"You better fucking talk about it. You and Jilani were supposed to be back hours ago, and be keeping watch by now…" He trailed off as his own words reminded him that there was someone still missing, and he looked back out the door to find nobody else. "Where's Jilani?"

"Again, can't talk about it, but maybe you should check the recent leaderboard," Nawal retorted as she grabbed one of the blankets on the sofa and wrapped it around her to sit beside the fire.

"Or you could just tell me what—" Antoni stopped speaking as his gaze fell to the display he finished bringing up.

Bases Claimed: 5.

Top Five Champion Rankings:

Servant Jin – 338 points.

Whisper Pax – 215 points.

Servant Hadia – 201 points.

Worker Liraz – 180 points.

Fighter Antoni – 175 points.

Floor Time Remaining: 10 weeks 3 days.

Recent Champion Deaths:

Fighter Jilani – 212 points – Servant Jin.

Servant Basima – 85 points – Fighter Jilani.

Sect Champions Remaining:

Fighters – 9

Workers – 7

Lovers – 7

Whispers – 6

Speakers – 5

Servants – 4

I'm fifth now?! his brain screamed at him.

Too many points in too short a time only meant one thing. He pressed the Display rune on the bracelet to bring up the latest announcement he must have slept through.

The First Floor Boss, Korvath the Onyx Dragon Whelp, has been slain!

10 weeks and 3 days remain until the First Floor becomes uninhabitable!

Fuuuuuuuuck…

"They killed the boss?" he asked as if he must have been reading it wrong.

"Yep. Did you see the dead list, though?"

His eyes narrowed in on the last two names listed. "So Jilani took on the Servants and got killed for the trouble."

He glanced over at her, still trying to piece together the events. They were weak-ass Servants. Even if that Wayfarer was somehow good at fighting despite Buster saying she had zero training or obvious Talent for it before going in, that was two highly trained Fighters against one kid and a handful of pathetic slaves.

"So why are you alive and naked? You should be on this death list too… unless you ran away…" he asked, gripping the sword in his hand tighter. While he would hate to lose the asset, he wouldn't be able to abide having a coward among them.

She glared up at him. "I told Jilani—" she suddenly choked on her words, her eyes widening in panic. Before he could ask the obvious question, she lifted her wrist up to show him rainbow runes tattooed around it. "I can't talk about it, Toni. I'll die if I do, and I choose to live."

His face twisted in disgust. "So you lost."

"I'm alive," she pointed out.

"Because either they were merciful idiots, or you didn't fight them to the death like you should have," he retorted. "You bartered for your life instead of choosing the honorable death."

"It would have been an idiotic death," she snapped.

"Where's the map, Nawal?" Antoni asked, feeling his anger begin to rise. "Where's your armor? The supplies you had on you? In the hands of our rivals? Our enemies? You strengthened them with your loss."

"And they would have gotten points from my death, too! At least this way, I can live to fight them in the future," she said, glancing at the sword in his hand nervously as though realizing his train of thought.

"I should kill you for the loss."

"Then you'd also be an idiot for weakening the Fighters further," she defiantly replied, lifting her chin in a way that he doubted was genuine courage. She was smart to show courage over fear, though, he'd give her that.

He stood there while she stared back up at him for a long moment, both uncertain about what he might do to her next.

Finally, he managed to let his ambition win over his frustration and said, "If you can't talk about it, I want you to show me instead."

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