Chapter 204: Weight of worlds

The portal dropped them back into the dead forest. Nathan stopped walking and took a deep breath.

The air smelled like wet dirt and cold wind. The ground under his boots was solid and muddy. The trees around them were bare, ugly, and real. It was his world. But as he turned around and watched the glowing archway fade into nothing, he felt a sick feeling in his stomach. What they had just left behind felt completely real, too.

The Shattered Throne. The floating rocks in the grey sky. The warring armies. General Kael’s heavy, angry respect. Lady Seraphine’s tired face. Corvus crying when he finally sat on the Throne to save his people. They didn’t feel like video game characters. Didn’t feel like fake programs made of magic. They felt like real people who lived hard, painful lives.

’Master,’ Mirko said quietly through their mental link. ’You are troubled. I can feel it.’

"Just thinking," Nathan whispered.

He looked down at his own hands. His newly advanced B-Rank mana hummed warmly inside his chest, steady and strong. These hands had shot arrows into monsters. These hands had pulled people from burning buildings. But if the people in the Tower Worlds felt this real, how could he prove his own world was any different?

What if his city, his friends, and his entire life were just another Tower World waiting for the Shepherd to destroy it? How would he even know?

"Hey," Garrett called out, breaking the quiet. He slung his heavy bag over his broad shoulder. "Are you coming? Valerie is waiting for us."

Nathan blinked, shaking the dark thoughts out of his head. "Yeah. I’m right behind you."

The guild hall was dead quiet when they walked through the front doors.

When they had cleared the Ashen Expanse, people had cheered and clapped for them in the halls. Today, nobody made a sound. Other Climbers just stood by the walls and watched them walk past. Everyone looked tired. Everyone looked scared. The heavy feeling of something terrible coming hung in the air.

Valerie was sitting at her desk in her office. Boris was sleeping heavily in the corner. Valerie didn’t smile when they walked in. Her face was pale and serious.

"You made it back," she said flatly. "Good. Because we are running out of time."

Nathan pulled out a chair and sat down heavily. "What happened while we were gone?"

Valerie reached forward and tapped a button on her desk. A bright blue map popped up in the air. "The Tower you just saved. The Shattered Throne. After a while of you guys being in it, the Tower started giving off massive mana spikes." She pointed to a blinking red dot on the map. "The TCA has been tracking it for three days. The spikes are getting worse, and they are spreading out."

"Spreading to where?" Elise asked, stepping up to the desk.

Valerie looked right at Nathan. "To the other Towers. The ones that are still closed. It looks like clearing the Shattered Throne woke something up."

Nathan felt a cold chill run down his back. He opened his system inventory and pulled out his map piece. He laid it flat on the desk. The symbols on the paper were actively changing. The Worlds they had already saved were going completely dark. But one single symbol was glowing bright white. It was the picture of a white stone castle surrounded by empty space.

"There is one World left," Nathan said, pointing at the glowing castle. "It’s the next step. We have to go there."

Valerie nodded slowly. "The TCA is trying to scan it right now, but the numbers don’t make any sense. The magic coming off that portal is ancient. It is older than any Tower we have on record." She paused and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the desk.

The room went completely silent.

Garrett shifted his weight, his armor clinking. "So, it’s a giant trap."

"Yes," Valerie said bluntly. "But it is also the only way forward. It feels like the final tower to end this. Whatever is hiding inside that place is running this entire war."

Nathan looked back at his team. They were covered in dirt and exhausted from the Shattered Throne, but none of them looked away. Mirko’s pink eyes were bright and focused. Kuro watched him calmly from the shadows near the door. Shiro stood perfectly still, her golden eyes steady. Garrett held Volcan tight in his massive hands. Dillon had his hand resting easily on his katana. Elise stood tall next to him, and Smithy gave a slow, firm nod.

"We need to get ready," Nathan said, standing up from the chair. "We need sleep. We need to fix our gear. Valerie, find out everything you can about this World before we go in."

"I’ll have Helena dig through the old files," Valerie said. "But don’t expect much. You are walking into the dark."

---

Late that night, Nathan sat alone on the flat roof of the guild hall.

The sky was dark and packed with bright stars. Down below, the city lights buzzed and flickered in the dark. Nathan came up here to clear his head, but his brain wouldn’t stop working.

He kept thinking about the Worlds they had saved. The Ashen Expanse. The Verdant Depths. The Shattered Throne. Everything in those places felt completely real. The pain, the choices, the people. If those Worlds were just fake copies of dead cities, why did they hurt so much?

He heard soft footsteps on the concrete stairs. He turned around and saw Elise. Her silver hair caught the dim light from the city below. She walked over and sat down right next to him on the edge of the roof. She sat close enough that their shoulders pressed together.

"You’re scared," she said quietly. She didn’t ask. She just stated a fact.

"Yeah," Nathan said honestly. He didn’t try to hide it. "We have been fighting for a long time. The Court. The monsters. The broken Towers. And now there is only one World left. I have no idea what is waiting for us in there. But I know the Shepherd is running it. I know he is waiting for me."

He took a shaky breath and looked out at the city. "And I know we might not all come back this time."

Elise stayed quiet for a long minute. She just looked at the stars. Then, she rested her head on his shoulder. When she spoke, her voice shook a little bit. Nathan had never heard her sound like that before.

"I know," Elise whispered. "I have been thinking about it too. I keep thinking about who we might lose in there." She reached down and grabbed his hand, holding it tight. "But we have beaten terrible odds before. We survived every single thing the Shepherd threw at us. We will survive this, too."

"And if we don’t?" Nathan asked, turning his head to look at her.

Elise lifted her head. Her blue eyes were soft and warm. "Then we will face it together. Whatever happens."

They sat there in the quiet. The cold wind blew across the roof. The city kept humming below them.

Elise leaned in. Nathan met her halfway.

It was a simple, soft kiss. It wasn’t wild or desperate. It was just quiet and honest. Nathan felt her warm hand against his cheek. He felt her breath on his skin. When they finally pulled back, her eyes were wet with tears.

"We will come back," she whispered, her voice cracking. "Whatever happens in that World, Nathan. We will come back."

Nathan squeezed her hand tightly. "Yes, we will. I promise."

But as he said the words, a heavy weight settled deep in his chest. The Shepherd was waiting. The hardest fight of his life was coming in a few days. And he knew that a simple promise made on a rooftop might not be enough to keep them alive.

They didn’t say anything else. They just sat together in the dark, holding hands, and watching the stars. ℴℴ𝘮

Early the next morning, Nathan walked down to the basement forge.

It was loud and incredibly hot inside. Vex was already awake and working hard. Her heavy hammer clanged loudly against a hot piece of metal on the anvil. Her fire spirit, Ember, floated above her head, lighting up the dark room with bright orange light. Vex stopped hammering the second Nathan walked through the door. She didn’t look surprised to see him.

"The last World, huh" Vex said. She grabbed a dirty rag and wiped sweat off her forehead. "I knew you would be coming down here today."

"I need everything you have, Vex," Nathan said seriously, stepping into the heat of the room. "Every upgrade. Every advantage we can get. We are going to need it."

Vex nodded slowly. She put her heavy hammer down on the anvil and wiped her dirty hands on her thick leather apron. "I’ve been working on something. For this exact day."

She turned around and walked to the very back of her workshop. There was a long wooden table covered by a heavy, dark cloth.

"Come here," Vex said, waving him over. "Let me show you."

Nathan walked up to the table. Vex grabbed the corner of the heavy cloth and yanked it off.

Nathan stared at what was sitting on the table. His eyes went wide. "Vex... what is this?"

The forge master gave him a sharp, toothy grin. Her red eyes gleamed in the firelight.

"Insurance," she said.