"Let's move," I declared as I strode over the broken doorway and into the prison.

  At a perfunctory glance, the space seemed vacant. If I had been one of these Black Diamond mercs without cheat codes, I probably wouldn't have given the prison a second look. The Moonsewn Bandits had minimized their presence, practicing stillness as they hid in the shadows in the furthest reaches of the jail's corridors.

  I cleared my throat. "I'm ready for my tour."

  They shared the same expression of uneasy disbelief. Like they had found a winning lottery ticket for a life changing amount of money after the Titanic had already hit the iceberg.

  "What trickery is afoot?" Brythan whispered. "You sold us out?"

  I cupped my hand around my mouth and shouted. "They're all dead, I pinky promise."

  Was I riding an incredible high having slayed one hundred mercenaries and some change with one attack? Absolutely. And while I did go overboard with the shadow claw, and consumed more stamina than necessary. Chasing Maurice with it had been fun.

  The more I experimented with Shadow Weave the better I understood its versatility. The simple scissor attack using two thin shadows consumed a fraction of the resources, while being 100% more deadly and efficient.

  If Push came to shove, then I could cut Push in half fifty times with a precise flick of darkness, or eviscerate him once with a convoluted mass of shadows for fifty times the resource cost. Speaking of which, thanks to my level 10 stamina passive I still had close to 50% left in the tank.

  For once in my life, I felt good about myself. There was no guilt, only a glowing sense of accomplishment.

  Celina jumped down from lying flat on the suspended walkway, and jogged across the prison before the others made their move. Her pace slowed as she noticed the sanguine lake in the processing room behind me.

  "What in Galdir's gaze is this?"

  She brushed past me and stopped, standing atop the battered down door like it was a raft. Gustall was the next to join her, then Brythan. Together, they overlooked the carnage in silence.

  I wasn't looking for a "Good job, Cyprus," or any specific compliments, but it would've at least been nice if they weren't hiding such disgust under their cowls.

  "You said you would show me to the Upper Tier."

  Celina gulped and said a meek, "Yes," then stepped off the door, wading through the river of corpses.

  I moved at her side, and the others trailed behind us. Should I have beheaded everyone instead? Sure, there still would've been a waterpark's worth of blood, but then loose organs and intestines wouldn't be squelching beneath our boots. It probably didn't help that I had dragged the shadow claw after Maurice, leaving a visible path of ground beef mixed with jagged shrapnel from their shredded armor across the room.

  "My socks are wet... And it's warm." Brythan suppressed his gag reflex.

  "Shut up." Gustall gurgled, then bent over and lost his lunch.

  Celina pulled her cowl up, covering her nose and vehemently shook her head. "Excuse the amateurs."

  "Of course. Just to set the record straight, I was outnumbered and forced to act in self-defense."

  Why am I justifying it? Do I really care what they think?

  Silence set in as Celina led us to one of four wooden doors at the other end of the processing room. She tugged on the bronze handle and it squeaked open, revealing a twisting stone stairwell.

  We walked into the bottom of the stairwell and Brythan quickly closed the door behind us, his skin still pale. The winding staircase was wide enough for the four of us to walk side by side, a narrow strip of maroon carpet ran down its center.

  On our first turn around the spiral's curve, we found the janitor sitting on the steps with his bucket at his side. He spotted us and the mire of bloody tracks we had left in our wake.

  "You might want to take the rest of the night," I said.

  He knocked his bucket over and soapy water ran down the steps. "Yes, it seems that may be for the best."

  As we knocked out flight after flight of stairs, the grim silence finally broke.

  "We'll have to cross the Skywalk to reach the Upper Tier. We'll likely face more high ranked resistance. Are you certain you have enough mana to continue?" Celina asked.

  "I'm a martial artist, not a mage."

  "What martial technique can cause such devastation?" Gustall asked.

  I smiled. "It's a secret. None of you saw anything, right?"

  "No," they said in unison.

  "How do you know this place so well? This layout doesn't make a lick of sense. I would've been lost for sure," I said, quickly changing the subject.

  Gustall chimed in, "Yeah, Lina, how in Galdir's name do you know where we're going? You said you overheard one of their mercenaries chatting about the hidden entrance at a tavern."

  Celina sighed. "I may have lied about that."

  "Why?" Brythan asked, completely puzzled.

  "I have a connection within the organization. We've spoken at length about a possible future opportunity. I was just hammering out the last details before bringing it to Gideon for Moonsewn to vote on.”

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  Gustall scratched his chin. "What opportunity could we possibly pursue with these bastards? Have you forgotten Moonsewn was formed by the very remnants of those who refused to be absorbed by Black Diamond?"

  "Your scathing tone is premature. My contact expressed their desire to defect, and we discussed their exit strategy."

  Brythan's expression hardened. "Gus, she's lyin' straight to our faces."

  "Watch your tongue, I'm still the vice leader."

  "My apologies, dear, sweet, thoughtful co-leader. I'm so sorry I offended you. I hope my punishment isn't for me to be sent on a suicide raid into Anderhorn Spire. Oh wait..."

  "Enough," Celina said.

  I hadn't intended on starting an argument by subverting the conversation away from my abilities, but I greatly preferred it to the alternative.

  "Our fates hang by a thread, and you still refuse to speak with truth?" Gustall asked, stopping dead in his tracks.

  "My connection proposed a way to get us into the Anderhorn Vault in the Upper Tier," Celina admitted.

  Brythan laughed. "So you lost your wits long before tonight. Good to know. No wonder you didn't tell Gideon. He'd never sanction such stupidity. When you join Black Diamond, you join for life. There's no early retirement or voluntary resignations. They'd hunt down whoever your source is, then torture 'em until they disclosed Moonsewn's involvement."

  "Who is your source?" Gustall asked, eyes wary.

  "It doesn't matter now? Does it?" Celina said.

  Gustall started-up again, catching up to the pack as we climbed the dizzying stairway. He looked hurt and confused, as he digested her secret. I, on the other hand, was focused on one huge detail.

  The Anderhorn Vault.

  Sure, I was on a strict time limit with just under 18 hours remaining. But I still needed 50 gold for the chaos shard tax. And if I survived the night, having a sizable bankroll would eventually be required to eradicate corruption from Gadika. With only one gold and some silver to my name, I was past due for some cash inflow.

  "What exactly is in the vault?" I asked.

  "Gold, bonds, deeds. Black Diamond handles payroll on the same floor.."

  "Cleveland really lied about everything," I muttered.

  Brythan laughed again, shaking his head while I hung onto each of her words. "Sounds really accessible. I don't care how strong Cyprus is, I'm not getting caught in the middle of it. We find Gideon, and we get out."

  We finally reached the top of the stairwell, where two heavy wooden doors with intricate brass handles awaited us.

  "The main lobby should be on the other side," Celina said as she pressed her ear to the door.

  Now would've been an opportune time to take Void Seer for a test drive, but I worried about the stamina cost and the possibility of the Moonsewn Bandits detecting it. They had either bought my martial arts lie or were too afraid to push back on it. I needed a dark, isolated place to freely explore the power, preferably in a less hostile-rich environment.

  "Sounds pretty quiet, and I'm not picking up any crazy mana signatures," Celina said.

  I cracked the door open and poked my head into the grand hall. At the east end there was an unarmed level three sitting behind a counter. He wore casual linens with 3rd shift wrinkles under his eyes. Meanwhile, a level two stocked a concession table by the counter with fruit, pastries, and steaming coffee kettles.

  The lobby was well furnished with couches, tables, cushioned chairs, and even a roaring fireplace in a corner, making up a cozy breakfast nook. At the west end of the grand hall stood two massive iron-doors, which I assumed was the main entrance, leading outside to the bridge.

  I sprinted at max speed, reaching the concession table in two heartbeats, and grabbed a warm pastry, stuffing it in my mouth before I helped myself to a cup of coffee, taking the kettle off Darvin's tray.

  The level two intern, who's biggest responsibility was keeping the breakfast table well stocked from dawn till noon, dropped his jaw and then the tray.

  "Impressive spread. Oh, wow there's egg in this," I said, gleefully surprised as the creamy yolk complimented the flaky crust.

  The level three yawned. "Are you new? We're not serving breakfast until dawn. Get back to your bunk."

  "But it'll be cold by then." I swallowed the rest of the breakfast pastry and took a long sip of piping hot coffee, savoring the bitter burn. "Guys, they've got a great breakfast table over here!"

  The Moonsewn Bandits approached with the utmost caution, keeping their distance as they hid behind a row of pillars. For the amount of miles I had put in since this god forsaken night started, I wasn't the least bit tired. As I reached for a second pastry, a door straight across from the counter burst open and Maldrioneth came stumbling into the lobby.

  "Quick, contact Veigan!" He leaned over the counter, yelling, "Tell him to get down here with Skarvo and Grave Digger. We've got a serious situation in the Cellar."

  The level three yawned again. "Huh? Where have you been? Grave Digger already took his unit down to the prisoner processing center to apprehend the intruders."

  Maldrioneth slammed his hands down on the counter. "Fuck those intruders! There's a real monster in the Cellar. Has Jankoh made it back?"

  "No, try to calm down. Help yourself to the sunrise provision stand, it seems everybody else is," the level three dismissed him.

  "Veigan!" Maldrioneth screamed up at the exceptionally high ceiling.

  I devoured the second pastry and drained the rest of the coffee, keeping my back turned to the counter, watching them in the reflection of a polished serving dome.

  "Veigan!" he screamed again as the level three temporarily covered his ears.

  "You can stop now. He's conserving his mana. Burn a rune page if it's urgent." The level three reached under the counter and returned with a scroll, which Maldrioneth snatched from his hands.

  He unfurled the parchment and it burst into bright green flames. A second later, a nasally voice boomed through the room. "Who is this and where are you initiating contact from?"

  "It's Maldrioneth. I'm in the central lobby. Listen, we have Cyprus in the Cellar. I'm requesting Grave Digger, Skarvo, and your assistance. He killed Kashlee, we—"

  Veigan interrupted him. "You're mistaken, I spoke to Cyprus in processing. Krag was begging for reinforcements. I sent Grave Digger down there less than an hour ago. I expect to be hearing from him shortly. Between the K brothers and Mauri—Grave Digger, the cocky bastard doesn't stand a chance."

  "I saw his damn face, Veigan. It matched the illustration in the newsletter we received this afternoon. You're the one that's mistaken, Cyprus is trapped under the glyph lock. Whoever you spoke to was lying."

  Darvin, the level two, rolled his eyes as I snatched an orange zest scented bite-sized muffin from another platter he was carrying out, and dunked it in my coffee.

  "If there's a fifth intruder in the Cellar then he's the last one to be concerned with."

  "Veigan, if you saw what I saw you'd be down here yourself with your own unit. I swear you'd even risk waking up Barret. Something unnatural leaked from his aura. His presence itself disturbed reality, like a smudged ink mark on Galdir's grand design... I can't explain it in words."

  Indulgent, yet satisfying, I finished chowing down on the breakfast display. The Moonsewn Bandits hadn't moved up from behind the pillars since the mage had burst in, which was their loss. I topped off my coffee and walked up to the four-sided service counter across from the level three and Maldrioneth.

  "Excuse me," I said. "You're both right. I killed Jankoh in the Cellar. Then I wiped the K brother's out way before Maurice arrived. Him and his men lasted a solid 5 minutes."

  Disbelief, then unadulterated terror overwhelmed the mage, who instinctively backed himself up against the wall while the half-asleep desk clerk sat back down in his chair, not paying attention.

  "Since I'm running short on time. I'll extend a one-time offer. Return my healer and promise to never bother me again and I'll end this rampage," I shouted up at the ceiling.

  There was a lengthy pause until Maldrioneth yelled, "Give him his healer, Veigan please!"

  I nodded in approval, but it didn't help. The disembodied voice returned with venom.

  "Cyprus, you've stirred forces beyond your comprehension. You and your friends will suffer, along with anyone you're associated with on the outside. I don't know what kind of sly maneuvers you've pulled to slip past Grave Digger's unit. But it ends here. I've activated the high threat protocol. Skarvo is en-route with the Elite Demon Unit, the Elite Junior Demon Unit, the Arbracio twins, and Tor-Thor-Gor the Immortal. Maldrioneth, keep him at bay, that is a direct order. Help is coming."