Elzio climbed to his feet, brushing himself off. Small scraps of grass and twigs clung to his tunic, but he was otherwise unmarred. Before him stood the gates of Pyrthet. Behind him, he could feel Echo’s humming with a vibration he could feel in his bones. He wanted to turn, to congratulate her, to help her level her skills up, but there were more pressing matters to attend to.

The fall of Pyrthet.

“Citizens of Pyrthet!” he shouted. “Your nexus is dead. As the conqueror of the city, I have one request.” He inhaled sharply, and the cool morning air stung his nose. “Turn over to me those that sought to betray Pyrthet to the grasps of Deluuth. Do this, and the city will be free to govern itself as it sees fit.”

None from within the city responded to this initially, and Elzio let his shoulders relax. They would need some time to process his request.

What do you think? Will they turn over the traitor, Sir Thomas? Echo sounded as though she were doing her very best to express interest in what she considered a hobby of Elzio’s. The affairs of mortal government weren’t of much importance to her, but it seemed as though she was putting in some effort to care. It was almost touching enough to get Elzio to smile. Almost. Another time or place.

“They have to,” he said, voice quiet. “They wouldn’t dare cross you.”

No they would not.

It was common knowledge that in the twenty four after a nexus battle, the surviving nexus grew enormously powerful, extending a massive buff to their heroes. It was this that allowed the victor of the nexus battle to fully conquer the enemy city. Of course, no one actually engaged in the combat after the nexi finished their battles. Too much needless bloodshed. It had become tradition to simply acquiesce to the victor’s demands, which is what Elzio fully expected here.

If they didn’t, Elzio would take from them what he wanted.

Forgive my next question. I have never partaken in a battle before. Where are the other heroes? They were out here at the start. Have they perished?

Elzio’s eyes drifted up and down the stretch of grass before the gates. “I’m not… sure. I’ve never been on the losing team before. And I never…” he trailed off. He’d never considered to look for the summoned heroes of the echos he’d destroyed before. “The nexus explosion isn’t usually kind to them, I don’t think, but they should be alive. They should be—”

There.

Despite the fact that Echo could not point, could not gesture, Elzio knew exactly where she was indicating, and he spun to look past the strip of grass and into the woods, where his eyes landed on what Echo had noticed.

A bright flare shot up from the forest, bright enough for Elzio to take a reflexive step back, crisp, cold grass crunching underfoot. As the flame fell, he could make out Nance’s form, arms reaching back for another attack.

But who was she fighting? Surely she couldn’t be preparing to take down Elzio. With his power surge, he had 10x his normal stats. The whole academy couldn’t take him on.

A scream then told him everything he needed to know.

“Peter.” The word slipped from his lips. “Damnit.”

Elzio, wait.

But Elzio would not wait. Perhaps it was unseemly, undignified, but he had to stop this. Peter was a hapless tool of too many people, Loreth, Sir Thomas, Elzio. He would suffer no longer from the machinations of others.

“Nance! Bereth! Stop!” With these words, Elzio summoned two empowered doppels of himself. No reason to confuse anyone. The fight was over.

The two doppelgangers sprang to Bereth’s and Nance’s sides before either could respond, restraining them with great strength.

“Stop,” he said again, calmer as the fighting came to a quick end. He reached the clearing, where Peter lay on the ground, panting, covered in burns. A quick scan revealed the young man low on hit points, damaged by Bereth and Nance’s attacks. Without a nexus aura, their abilities would leave permanent scars unless healed. “Peter.” Elzio reached a hand out, to help the boy up.

“Get away from me!” Peter’s voice broke, a tortured, hysterical sound. “I’m not working for you! I’m not! I’m not! I swear!”

“I know.” The admittance sounded pitiful, even to Elzio’s ears. “I know. That’s why I’m helping. I’m sorry. It was the only way.”

Peter didn’t respond except to curl up, arms cradling his own burnt body.

“What do you mean?” Kia lacked the fighting skills that would have made her worth restraining, and she now fixed Elzio with reproachful eyes, tears obscuring their normal vibrant blue. “What do you mean, the only way?”

“You won’t believe me.” Elzio’s sighed as he looked down at Peter’s shivering body. Then he looked over at Nance, at those burning red eyes, her grit teeth, her lip curled in a snarl. Beside her, Bereth was strained against his captor, muscles bulging on his bare arms, sweat beading down his skin.

“Why would we?” Kia’s voice was small and broken. “You betrayed us.”

“I didn’t. I wanted to warn you. I found a letter. In Sir Thomas’s study. I…” He turned away, heart racing. They’d believe him when they saw the proof before their eyes. “I’ll be back.”

Are you going to continue spending resources on restraining them? Echo sounded disdainful at the use of mana. He is still an enemy.

“They were duped, Echo. I told you that.” Anger flooded under his skin with each step he took towards the wall. “They’re as much victims as you or I. Peter, perhaps, more than any of us. Yes I’m spending resources on them. My entire intent here is to stop harm.” By now, he’d again reached her side and looked back up to the walls. “You’ve had your time! Turn over the traitor Sir Thomas Kerien and all known collaborators or I will come in and take them myself.”

“Sir!” The guard that shouted down sounded almost afraid. “Sir, forgive us, we need more time. We can’t reach the upper levels of the Citadel. They’ve barricaded themselves in. They say there are no traitors within, that you’ve turned on us, and that they will not yield to your demands.”

“They won’t yield?” Elzio whispered to himself. Had such a thing ever happened in recent history? Certainly it was rare for such foolishness to follow a victory. Sir Thomas must know Elzio burned with rage at this betrayal. But he would not face the young man he had conspired to kill, alongside Elzio’s once allies. No, Thomas would hide inside the Citadel, hundreds of feet above the ground, and hope Elzio would give up or meet his fate on the climb up.

He would be disappointed. Elzio would not falter here. He would make his way to the academy levels of the Monolith, causing as little damage as possible on his journey up. Once he reached the barricade, however, any who stood in his way would fall.

“Echo, come.” He waved her forward. “We’ll take them ourselves.”

—

Elzio’s every step could have shaken the foundations of the massive building as the two climbed. If Echo did not know better, she might say he did. Certainly those he passed shook with fear. They thought him their captor, their new dictator, a traitor who had murdered their pathetic nexus overlord.

Freedom must feel so strange to those who crave capture. Echo almost did not know why Elzio cared so much about them. Why he would try this hard to free a people who were so weak willed. Then again, he worked in strange ways. And his desire to protect the weak had saved her own life. So she could only judge so harshly.

At first, Elzio and Echo were only flanked by a small guard of powerful Elzio doppelgangers. No one approached them, no one tried to stop them, so no force was necessary. It was not until they reached the barricaded level of the Citadel that Elzio began to showcase his temporarily buffed powers.

The new doppelganger was not one Echo recognized. A woman stood before them, older than any they had faced in battle. A pile of brown hair piled atop her head and she wore loose fitting blue robes. At first, her eyes were closed, but as soon as she fully took shape, they snapped open, revealing shifting colors. After another few seconds, Elzio summoned two more.

He pointed at the door, and the three copies stepped back, before raising their arms and unleashing a torrent of energy magic at the great wooden doors. They shivered as a crack began to snake up them, and the doppelgangers raised their arms again, preparing another strike.

As they did, Echo chanced a look at the stats of one of them.

Syrene Wispwater Doppelganger: Level 11 Energy Mage

Level 6 Pyromancer

Level 4 Illusionist

Level 1 Hydromancer

Level 1 Air Wielder

Whoever this woman was, she was both a very powerful multiclasser and a foolish one. A mage specializing in five different fields? What could have spurred a level 25 mage to level herself up in such a scattered way? She could have focused her attention, leveled her way to level 25 Pyromancer, and been one of the strongest in the lands.

Again, Echo faced another perplexity of mortal kinds. But before Echo could ask Elzio who this woman was, the doors crumpled to the ground. Elzio and his three doppels turned their merciless eyes on those within.

Gone were the demure eyes, the cries for mercy. Gone were those who scurried from Elzio’s path. No, those within the Monolith sought to fight. A row of a dozen combatants, fighters, mages, and supports, all gripped weapons, prepared spells, began channels. They had expected Elzio to break through, but they would not expect the power with which he fought, and with that misjudgement would come their deaths.

—

Elzio leaned against a wall in the hallway, several floors into his fight. He was tired. Not physically or magically, Echo’s victory buff prevented that, but he was tired. This was the first time he’d actually ever taken a life. A human life. He’d heard screams of pain or desperation in nexus battles before, but that had been poor preparation for the real thing. For the actual sound of a human being realizing their life had come to a short and unexpected end. The sound of someone realizing that every single hope or dream or plan or fear they’d ever held close would entirely cease to matter in the space of a few seconds.

It wasn’t a good sound, and Elzio didn’t like it. The only thing that pressed him forward was the knowledge that those who fought did so fully expecting to bring about this tragic ending to Elzio himself. To Kia and Bereth and Nance. They conspired with Sir Thomas, and they protected him now. So Elzio pressed upward.

It wasn’t until he’d fought his way through five floors that something occurred to him. Something he hadn’t realized before entering an unusually barricaded room that was otherwise empty. He took three steps into the room before slipping and falling hard.

Echo floated overhead, looking down at him, amused, as his doppels stood in the doorway, waiting for his order.

We do not have time for this, Echo said.

“The floor was icy.” As he planted a hand on the ground, he took in just how well trapped the room had been. Ice on the floor, and further into the room, thin wires that connected to the chandeliers overhead, both of which bristled with fire energy. There were three exits to the room, but with his heightened perception, Elzio could feel the energy crackling on the latches to each door. Opening any one of them could be a death trap.

Fire, energy, and ice—which was combined water and air magic. Either this room had been exceptionally well guarded by a number of mages working together, or a single mage with the power over all three elements was hiding somewhere in here.

And that was when Elzio realized who he was facing. He hadn’t recognized a single person he’d encountered. Not until now.

“I know you’re here, Syrene,” he said, pushing himself to his feet and gripping the wall. By his sides, his doppels melted and shifted to resemble some of the anti-mage bruisers he’d fought through on the way up. “I know you worked with Sir Thomas to raise us like lambs before the slaughter. It’s time to face what you’ve done.” These accusations had been the hardest he’d had to issue thus far. He’d liked Syrene. She’d been more than a tutor or a master, she’d been a mentor, playing a role that both his often busy parents hadn’t quite managed to. Trust, respect, and a mutual interest in his advancement, those had been the core of their relationship. Even when Elzio first started digging into the conspiracy, he’d known he could trust her.

Well. He’d been mistaken. Clearly.

Even a few days ago the prospect of fighting his own teacher would have been ludicrous enough to make Elzio laugh. Both because he couldn’t imagine a world where he’d want to and because he couldn’t imagine a world where he could.

Yet here he was, powering up his spells, ready to take down the woman in all of Pyrthet that he most respected. He had to. She had betrayed him.

There would be consequences.