Chapter 364: The Name They Chose

Patient Draw began to sharpen while the three mercenaries charged down the passage. The shielded man took the lead, raising his protection higher with every step as ten meters became eight, then six. Cassandra remained planted and let him believe the obvious target was exactly what she intended to shoot.

The net wielder stepped out from behind him.

Cassandra changed targets and released.

The arrow passed beside the raised shield and struck the black capture seal in the third mercenary’s hand. The device shattered before he could activate it, and his flinch created an opening the older Sairren immediately recognized.

He rushed forward.

This time Cassandra did not stop him.

His spear went over the shield and entered the lead mercenary’s exposed shoulder. The man twisted with the impact, opening a narrow firing lane, and Cassandra already had another arrow ready.

There was no time to rebuild Patient Draw. She released normally and struck the net wielder’s wrist before he could throw.

The net dropped unopened.

"Back!"

The Sairren obeyed. He pulled his spear free and retreated before the shielded mercenary could recover enough to counterattack.

Behind them, the bronze door clicked.

"Open!" the wounded route-keeper called.

Two civilians grabbed him beneath the arms and pulled him through first, followed by the older Sairren. Cassandra remained at the entrance with another arrow nocked.

"Go."

The older Sairren stopped halfway through the doorway and looked back. "What?"

"You heard me."

"You are coming."

"Yes."

He still did not move. His eyes drifted upward to the marker above Cassandra.

[Condemned.]

"You stay behind?"

Cassandra looked toward the mercenaries regrouping down the passage. "Until you’re through."

His gaze moved from her to the wounded route-keeper.

Then back.

"You could have used us."

Cassandra knew what he meant.

"I could have."

"But you didn’t."

"No."

He watched her for another moment before finally stepping through.

Cassandra fired one more arrow down the passage and backed into the maintenance road. The bronze door began closing, but one mercenary reached it in time to shove his hand through the remaining gap.

Cassandra slammed Nightglass Longbow across his wrist.

He screamed and pulled away.

The heavy door sealed completely.

Darkness swallowed the group.

For several seconds, nobody spoke. Then a dim blue strip appeared along the floor as the wounded route-keeper pressed one claw against another plate in the wall. Old light crawled ahead of them, revealing a narrow maintenance passage climbing through stone and bronze.

Cassandra looked back at the sealed entrance.

Something struck it from the other side.

A pause followed.

Then another impact.

"It won’t hold forever," the route-keeper said.

"Then we move."

The wounded Sairren limped between two civilians while Cassandra stayed at the rear. She checked Hungerline whenever a distant bell changed, but no redirected Dark Force hunger pointed toward them yet.

After several minutes, the older Sairren slowed until he walked beside her.

"You knew my plan would work."

Cassandra glanced toward him. "Probably."

"And still refused it."

"Yes."

"Why?"

She watched the blue strip beneath their feet. "Because I know what happens when protection turns into deciding what another person is allowed to become for your convenience."

The Sairren studied her face. "You speak from experience."

"Yes."

"You were the one deciding?"

Another bell rang through the wall. Cassandra waited for the distorted note to fade before answering.

"Yes."

He seemed more surprised by the admission than he would have been by a denial.

"You admit that easily."

"It took me long enough."

They continued climbing. Behind them, the mercenaries struck the sealed door again, but the sound had become distant enough that nobody turned around.

One of the civilians supporting the route-keeper eventually looked toward Cassandra. "Why are you Condemned?"

The older Sairren frowned at him. "This is not the time."

Cassandra disagreed.

They were already trusting her with their lives. Refusing to explain the marker would not make it disappear.

"Because of Beastslayers."

The civilian’s grip tightened around the wounded route-keeper.

"You made them?"

Cassandra took a moment before answering.

"In another character, Victoria, I led Just Die. We were involved in the Beastslayer program and in turning intelligent bonded beasts into something players could sacrifice for power."

The wounded route-keeper looked back.

Cassandra continued before anyone could misunderstand. "Night Espresso was separate. It was not responsible for creating the formula. That responsibility is mine and belongs to the people who worked with me under Just Die."

The older Sairren watched her closely.

"You were Victoria."

"Yes."

"Mireva mentioned that name."

"I expected she might."

"You say it like you are discussing someone else."

Cassandra looked down at her hands.

"I used to."

The route-keeper kept watching her.

"And now?"

"Now I don’t get to pretend a different character means a different person made those decisions."

Nobody spoke for several steps.

Cassandra preferred the silence to forgiveness she had not earned.

The civilian supporting the route-keeper eventually asked, "Why protect us, then?"

Cassandra glanced at him.

"What answer would satisfy you?"

"I don’t know."

"Neither do I."

She adjusted Nightglass Longbow against her shoulder. "I could say I’m trying to fix what I did. I am. But if I only protect you because it helps me feel better about myself, that turns you into something useful to me again."

The older Sairren’s ears moved slightly.

Cassandra continued. "So I’m protecting you because you need help and I can help. Whatever that means for me comes afterward."

The wounded route-keeper looked forward again.

"That answer was less annoying."

"High praise."

The maintenance road went quiet except for the uneven scrape of the route-keeper’s injured foot.

After another turn, the older Sairren adjusted his spear. "You speak like someone answering shareholders."

Cassandra almost smiled. "Old habits."

"What are shareholders?"

"People who become angry when numbers go down."

The wounded route-keeper laughed.

Even the older Sairren’s expression softened slightly before another tremor passed through the corridor.

Everyone stopped.

Cassandra raised Nightglass Longbow, but the vibration did not repeat immediately.

"Attack?" one civilian whispered.

The route-keeper shook his head. "Structure."

The older Sairren looked toward Cassandra. "Your Hungerline?"

"Nothing toward us."

"Then continue."

Nobody argued.

The maintenance road turned sharply upward. The incline forced the injured route-keeper to rely more heavily on the civilians supporting him, and Cassandra moved closer in case one of them slipped.

Several minutes later, the older Sairren slowed beside her again.

"Condemned is also a stupid name."

Cassandra looked at him. "It isn’t a name."

"It is what everyone sees."

"That’s the point."

He considered that before looking toward the bow in her hands.

"You broke their capture seals."

"Yes."

"You destroyed their marks."

"Yes."

"You refused to make our route-keeper bait."

"Yes."

"And you were trying to break their contracts before we were trapped here."

Cassandra frowned. "Mireva really did tell you a lot."

"Enough."

He gestured toward her.

"You keep breaking the things that make someone belong to someone else."

Cassandra said nothing.

The Sairren apparently took that as permission to continue.

"Chainbreaker."

She looked at him. "What?"

"Better than Condemned."

"That is not difficult."

"And better than whatever humans call you."

Cassandra almost corrected him.

Kill Clause was already one of the names tied to her in this world. He did not need to know every identity she had collected.

Instead, she asked, "Chainbreaker?"

"Yes."

"That sounds dramatic."

"You are carrying a black bow through a collapsing dungeon while fighting people who harvest intelligent beasts."

Cassandra considered that.

"Fair."

The wounded route-keeper glanced over his shoulder. "I vote for Chainbreaker."

"You do not get a vote."

"I am injured. I deserve more votes."

The civilian supporting his left side laughed.

Cassandra stared at all of them.

The system did not change.

[Condemned.]

Forest Hidden had not forgiven her. The sanction had not vanished, and nothing about what she had done through Victoria or Just Die had been erased.

Four Sairren had simply looked at what she was doing now and chosen another word for her.

Cassandra looked forward again.

"Fine."

The older Sairren’s ears lifted. "What?"

"Chainbreaker."

He nodded as though a contract had just been approved. "Better."

A violent tremor rolled through the maintenance road before Cassandra could say anything else. Dust fell from the ceiling, and everyone moved closer to the wall as a second vibration followed.

This one was stronger.

The wounded route-keeper pressed one claw against the floor and went pale.

"That was not an attack."

Cassandra looked upward. "What is it?"

Another vibration passed through the corridor, followed by the distant sound of metal tearing.

"The central junction."

The older Sairren tightened his grip around the spear. "What about it?"

The route-keeper swallowed. "If I felt that correctly, it just broke."

Cassandra opened party chat.

[Cassandra: Alive.]

Her fingers paused over the next message.

Then the maintenance corridor shook again. The blue strip along the floor flickered out for almost two full seconds before returning at half its previous brightness.

The route-keeper immediately started moving.

"Faster."

Nobody argued.

Cassandra followed as the first distant bell began to ring. A second joined it before they reached the next corner.

By the time Cassandra looked back down the passage, every bell she could hear inside the Sunken Belfry was answering at once.