Chapter 190: Tower Cleared

One moment, Nathan was floating in the healing sea, watching the Leviathan circle joyfully through the clear water. The next, the World around him shimmered, softened, and dissolved like morning mist. He felt the familiar sideways pull of a Tower expelling its climbers, and then his feet touched solid ground.

The party stood in the southern marshes, near the portal’s old location. The portal itself was gone—dissolved along with the World it had once led to. The sky above was blue and clear. The sun was warm. The air smelled of mud and growing things, but it was clean now. Healthy.

Dillon dropped to his knees and kissed the ground. "Solid land. Sweet, sweet solid land."

Garrett laughed, a tired but genuine sound. "You’re going to get mud in your mouth."

"Worth it."

Nathan looked around at his party. They were battered, exhausted, but whole. Mirko stood tall, her new C-Rank armor gleaming. Shiro’s draconic wings had faded, but the scales still traced her forearms, a permanent mark of her evolution. Kuro was a shadow, present but quiet. Smithy leaned on a rock, breathing hard. Elise stood near Nathan, Aurora’s Heart planted, a faint smile on her face.

The Leviathan’s final song still echoed in Nathan’s memory. The Tidecallers’ tears of joy. The World reborn.

"We did it," Elise said quietly. "Two Master Class Worlds."

"And a lot more besides," Nathan replied.

The party began the long trek back toward the TCA camp. The journey would take half a day, maybe more. But for the first time in weeks, no one was chasing them. The Cleansing was over. The Court was broken. The World was healed.

The road home was peaceful.

---

The TCA camp was subdued when they arrived.

Nathan expected celebration, or at least relief. Instead, the atmosphere was tense. Climbers moved briskly between tents. Officials spoke in low voices. Something had happened while they were inside the Verdant Depths.

Helena met them at the edge of camp. "You’re back. Good. We were starting to worry."

"How long were we inside?" Nathan asked.

"Three weeks."

The party exchanged glances. Three weeks. The Ashen Expanse had been one week. The Verdant Depths had been slower.

"What happened while we were gone?" Garrett asked.

Helena’s expression tightened. "A lot. The TCA’s been tracking Tower activity across the globe. After you cleared the Ashen Expanse, several other Master Class Towers started showing signs of instability. Some have already been cleared by other parties. Others..." She paused. "Others have gone dark. No signals. No responses. No one knows what’s happening inside."

Nathan felt a chill. "Gone dark?"

"The TCA sent expeditions. They didn’t come back." Helena’s eyes met his. "The Tower Worlds are reacting. To you. To the Shepherd. To something. Whatever it is, the TCA wants you back in the capital immediately."

---

The journey back to the capital took two days.

Nathan spent the time trying to understand what had happened. The map fragment glowed in his inventory, the next World—the Shattered Throne—pulsing brighter than ever. But there were other symbols now, too. Symbols that hadn’t been there before. New connections, new pathways, new worlds that had somehow woken up.

’The Tower Worlds are connected,’ Kuro observed through the link. ’When we cleared the Ashen Expanse, we changed something. The Verdant Depths changed something else. The sequence is accelerating.’

’And the worlds that have gone dark?’ Nathan asked.

’The Shepherd’s influence. He is not idle. He is moving pieces we cannot see.’

Shiro’s voice was steady. ’The Young Lord must be cautious. The Shepherd’s older servants may be active in those worlds. The ones we have not yet faced.’

Mirko shifted in her seat. "Hmph! Let them come! This Knight has grown! I am now C-Rank! I can crush them with my new size!"

’Your Gigantification is temporary,’ Kuro noted dryly.

"It only needs to last long enough to win!"

Nathan smiled despite the weight in his chest. The banter helped. It reminded him why they were fighting.

As the capital’s spires appeared on the horizon, Nathan felt Elise’s hand slip into his. She didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to. They sat together, watching the city grow closer, and Nathan let himself feel, just for a moment, that everything might be okay.

Then the transport pulled through the gates, and the real work began.

---

Valerie was waiting for them in the guild hall.

Her office was the same as always—Tower maps, ancient artifacts, Boris snoring in the corner. But Valerie herself looked different. Tired. Worried. The TUFF GRANNY mug was in her hand, but she wasn’t drinking from it.

"Three weeks," she said. "You were in the Verdant Depths for three weeks, and in that time, seven Master Class Towers across the globe have collapsed. Not cleared. Collapsed."

Nathan blinked. "Collapsed?"

"The Shepherd’s bindings are weakening faster than we thought. The Towers are becoming unstable. Some are being absorbed—pulled into whatever realm the Shepherd occupies. Others are simply... dying." Valerie’s voice was grim. "The TCA is trying to respond, but we don’t have enough Climbers. And the ones we do have aren’t ready for what’s inside those worlds."

"Then we go," Nathan said. "We start with the Shattered Throne. It’s the next in the sequence."

Valerie looked at him for a long moment. "The Shattered Throne isn’t like the other worlds. It’s a world of politics and war. The TCA’s been trying to gain access for years, but the Court had it locked down. Now that Fester’s dead, the door might be open. But there’s a catch."

"What kind of catch?"

"The Shattered Throne requires not just strength, but diplomacy. The World is ruled by warlords, each one fighting for control of a broken empire. The Clear Condition isn’t about killing a boss. It’s about uniting the fragments under one ruler." Valerie paused. "And the TCA wants that ruler to be someone they can work with."

Nathan frowned. "You want us to install a political leader."

"I want you to survive and clear the World." Valerie’s expression softened. "But yes, the TCA has interests. There’s a faction inside the Shattered Throne that’s been friendly to outside Climbers. If you can support them, unite the world under their banner, the TCA will consider it a win."

Nathan exchanged glances with his party. This was different. This wasn’t just climbing. This was politics.

But it was also the next step. The next World. The next piece of the puzzle.

"We’ll do it," Nathan said. "But we do it our way. We don’t install a puppet. We find the right ruler. Someone who can actually heal the World."

Valerie smiled, a tired but genuine expression. "That’s exactly why I asked you."