“These stairs are a little long, don't you think?” Tomás commented.
They had been descending the narrow, poorly lit passageway for about ten minutes. There was still no sign that they were approaching Floor Two.
The journey was silent. They had only barely overcome the previous challenge thanks to the risk Jacob had taken, and now that downtime, which invited them to reflect on what had happened and try to figure out what kind of place they were in, had them on edge. The night before, they had ended up in a dungeon filled with nightmare creatures after trying to search for a file at the school. Now they were part of some mysterious macabre game in a tower whose height God only knew, all because they had simply wanted to reach Sarah.
But Jacob was thinking a little further ahead.
He was thinking about how convenient María's appearance had been. About how she claimed to be an important ally of Sarah's while they, who had accompanied the girl since their earliest adventures, knew nothing about…
“Tomás,” Jacob called, stopping between two steps. “The girl, María… I remember her!”
“What do you mean?” Tomás asked. “I remember her too. She was the one who brought us together. That was only a few hours ago. Are you feeling b…?”
“No, man. She was with us before.”
“Before?” Cat asked, joining the conversation.
“Before. When we started the Adventurers' Group. It was the two of us, Sarah, María, and…”
Tomás's expression changed to one of astonishment and panic.
“You're right. There were more. Not just the three of us. There were two other people.”
“María was one of them, but the other person… I can't remember them. I can picture them as a shadow.”
Accept that you can hear me, and I'll help you remember.
No. Jacob couldn't accept that. He shouldn't. Now that he remembered María, he also remembered that there was a reason for it, but what? He had ignored the voice for so long that he no longer knew why.
“This is very suspicious, don't you think?” Cat commented. “If María was part of your Group, why doesn't she seem to remember you either? Sarah definitely does. After all, she sent her to find us. Unless…”
“Unless it wasn't Sarah?” Tomás finished. “But why would we doubt that?”
“Why should we believe it? The Hunter…”
“I don't think the Hunter has anything to do with it,” Jacob said.
His companions waited for him to elaborate, but he couldn't. What could he tell them?
A voice in my head tells me no?
That would mean accepting it. And if he did… If he did, what?
“Speaking of suspicious things… What do you think about Rose?”
“Now you suspect Rose too?” Tomás asked, surprised. “But you were the one who called her.”
“Yes, I know. I used to doubt her. She didn't inspire any trust in me. But when María called us, I thought about how she helped me at the school last night and… Well, I thought it would be the smartest thing to do. However, when she told Mica that all those scenarios she had transported us to were from his novel, I remembered other strange things she's said.”
“You suspect her because she read Mica's novel?” Jacob asked doubtfully.
“Not because of that. Because of her interest in Mica. I mean… Yes, I know it sounds strange,” she clarified, feeling accused by her companions' incredulous looks. “But I mean, she appeared out of nowhere, harassed Mica, and within days she'd infiltrated the Group and also read his novel?”
“If I didn't know you, Cat, I'd think you were having some kind of jealous fit,” Jacob said, dismissing the idea with a wave of his hand before turning his back on her and continuing down the stairs.
“Jacob! I'm being serious!” Cat exclaimed, annoyed. “At the school she said something to me about my Angelino. She used that term when none of us knew it.”
“I think it was a coincidence, Cat. Surely Sarah or you mentioned it at some point,” Tomás tried to reassure her as he walked beside her. Jacob didn't stop to comment.
“That's exactly what she said. You should've seen her when I pointed it out. I'm telling you, Rose is really weird.”
“It's not worth speculating about that now,” Jacob said, stopping and pointing ahead. “I think I can see the door. We'll continue this conversation when we get out of here.”
Floor Two was enormous. The trio entered through a small door, and a vast chamber stretched out before them for countless meters. The ceiling was so high that it couldn't be seen through the dim bluish illumination of the strange torches adorning some of the hundreds of columns scattered throughout the room, like a stone forest, with no particular pattern except for leaving a straight path down the middle toward a silver throne barely visible at the far end of the hall.
“Welcome to Challenge Two,” said the automated voice they had heard on the previous floor, though this time there was no screen in sight. “The penultimate trial before reaching the end, the coveted reward. As you well know, many champions choose to join the Iron Challenge. Whether to prove their worth, amass riches, or because the Path willed it. However, very few have managed to leave alive… Here in the Tower, the greatest number of those poor, failed souls who were not worthy enough to emerge victorious are gathered. During the descent through the ninety-nine floors, you have been exploring the history and obstacles of the Empire, so by now you should know very well that the Immortal Regents are not inclined to let a resource as important as those souls go to waste. Here, in Challenge Two, you, brave and worthy champions, must face those who have perished in the Tower. Your objective is to reach the Incandescent Throne and steal the Regent Avatar's crown. If you succeed, you will proceed to the final floor. If you fail, you will be condemned to remain here forever.”
When the voice stopped speaking, dozens of people wearing the same uniforms as them began emerging from between the columns.
“Okay, zombies,” Jacob said, materializing his daggers. “This won't be complicated with you here, Tomás. We just need to sprint toward the throne,” he said, pointing at the distant silver structure at the far end of the room. “I'll go as fast as I can. Tomás, Cat, watch my back.”
“Wait, Jacob,” Cat stopped him. “Those aren't zombies. They're…”
“Help!” one of the people shouted, running toward them. She was a girl with the number twenty-six on her uniform. “Help us! Please!”
When she was about five meters from the group, a chain that had been attached to her neck materialized and violently pulled her backward, dragging her through the air in a single jerk into the darkness of the farther columns.
“I remind the
wretched souls
,” the narrator interrupted once again, “that if they take on any role other than being an obstacle to the champions, they will receive a punishment worse than death.”
Terrified, all the other people reluctantly assumed fighting stances. Most held their fists up, poorly concealing their expressions of panic. Some others materialized weapons.
“Jacob… I think I recognized that girl… These people aren't from the Dimension,” Cat began. “These people… They're…”
“I too saw her face before. In a poster. They're missing people,” Tomás finished, since Cat could no longer speak as she struggled to hold back her tears. “What do we do, Jacob?”
“We don't change plans. We can't do anything for them. We have to keep moving forward and…”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone moving at an infernal speed between the columns, and leaping toward them, wielding an enormous war hammer.
“Tomás!” was all he managed to say before the opponent was upon them, but Tomás understood the warning because he had seen the man coming too. He quickly jumped aside and pulled Cat away from the impact zone. Jacob was left there, adopting a defensive stance with his knives, which was barely enough to keep the hammer from striking him directly in the chest. His arms trembled, and he could swear he heard something crack somewhere. The ground beneath him cracked, sinking an inch or two.
The man with the hammer jumped backward, circled around him, and attacked again.
Jacob couldn't block it the same way again. He felt that doing so would cost him his arms, so he decided to try dodging it with a jump.
The hammer violently passed beneath his feet, but his opponent immediately repositioned himself and appeared in front of him, hammer raised over his head and ready to bring it down with fury onto Jacob's face.
Tomás jumped at that moment with his own hammer and, landing a direct blow to the opponent's side, sent him flying into the nearest column, which shattered upon impact.
“Thanks, buddy.”
“Jacob, I think I recognized that person…”
“So did I. Although his face is strange and I can't remember his name, the way he fights seems familiar.”
“He's someone who was with us before. He was part of the Adventurers' Group.”
“James Howard,” Cat said behind them.
“Welcome to Challenge Forty,” the narrator's voice greeted Hugo and María when they finished climbing the stairs. “Hundreds of warriors left the peace of their homes, while thousands more were forced to undertake the journey. Whatever their circumstances, the journey was dangerous, and many had to remain behind. Most because they were not strong enough to face the consequences. Others, however, remained behind to allow their companions to continue along the path in the purest and noblest act of self-sacrifice. Likewise, one of the champions will have to remain on this floor so that their companions may continue along the Tower toward victory. You have thirty seconds to decide who will remain behind in the dark void of oblivion.”
The room was even smaller than the previous one, nothing more than a rectangular platform connecting the doors to the floors below and above. On one side, the wall wasn't made of concrete like the other. Instead, it was a disgusting, semitransparent membrane with an opening in the middle that expanded and contracted with the rhythm of a heartbeat. Above the opening, a screen hanging from the ceiling displayed a countdown and an arrow pointing downward.
“You go on,” María said without hesitation. “I'll stay here, then I'll catch up with you.”
“María, my dude, I doubt that's the point of the challenge. You heard it. It's a self-sacrifice. I don't think you can come back if you enter that place…”
“Are you doubting my abilities? Move forward, squire. If you're the one who stays, you'll surely die here, and my Master doesn't want that. Go on to the next challenge and start working on it. I'll catch up as soon as I'm done here.”
“María, I'm telling you…”
Without letting him say another word, the girl threw herself into the pulsating opening.
María fell for a couple of seconds before landing on a soft, fleshy surface. The area around her was dark, very dark. She could only see part of the ground beneath her and the wall behind her. Everything was gray with purple protrusions. Those protrusions were pulsating.
“Gross,” she muttered to herself. When she stood up, she realized that the floor was also covered by a layer of a viscous, mucus-like liquid that clung to her hands. “Aaaaagh.”
A regurgitating sound came from the depths.
María narrowed her eyes, trying to see something in the absolute darkness, but it was impossible. Until suddenly, a burst of flame appeared several meters in front of her. The flame illuminated an amorphous creature several meters tall with four thick, fleshy limbs, like elephant legs. The flame came directly from the center of the creature and, although it diminished, never went out.
“Okay, I thought the mucus was the worst. But I think you win that prize.”
The creature rose onto its four limbs and began running toward her. María smiled and brought her hands to her sides, palms open and pointing at the ground. Nothing happened.
Despite her surprise, María managed to dodge the monster's charge at the last second. As she got back on her feet, she tried her move again, but once more, nothing happened.
“What is happening? Why can't I…?” As she voiced the question aloud, her mind finally processed the answer. The ground was made of living flesh. She couldn't manipulate anything alive.
María panicked. She tried to compose herself, to think of some strategy. She was Sarah's knight. She couldn't be rendered useless by something like this. But…
She dodged another charge, which this time the creature accompanied with a burst of flame that she narrowly avoided by ducking.
She desperately tried to find something she could control. She couldn't make any weapons emerge from the ground, but perhaps she could split it, perhaps she could mold it, perhaps… Nothing worked.
Her fight was reduced to dodging and running as her mind finally accepted that she was lost, that she had been outmatched. At that moment, she stumbled when fear made her legs stop working, and she turned around just in time to see the monster running toward her at full speed.
When it was only a couple of meters away, something fell from the sky like a meteor onto the creature and knocked it down. Bright flames flew in every direction, and a silhouette emerged amid the blinding light.
“Hugo… Why? You were supposed to leave! I was supposed to stay behind and you…! Why!?”
“Because this is what heroes do.”