I didn’t bother checking the eastern and western exits of the plague quarter.

If the mantises had gone through the trouble of blocking one gate out of the quarter, I was certain they’d done the same to the other two. And besides, it was not like I would be allowed into the Light or Dark quarters either.

There was no getting around it. Until I dealt with the mantises, I was stuck.

Of course, I could just attack the assassins, earning myself a sure death and a quick passage into the safe zone in the process. Eventually, I might end up doing just that, but while the mantises had me trapped in the quarter, my escape from the citadel had left me free to maneuver.

And I had a plan.

Resuming my stroll, I veered east without attracting the notice of the mantises at the gate. I had a destination in mind already. My suspicions of how the assassins were tracking me had hardened, and I thought I knew how they were doing it. But I had thought so too before and had been proven wrong.

This time, I intended on making doubly sure.

The first test was to see if my hunters found me at my next destination. If they did, it would be the confirmation I desired. And if they didn’t, well… at least the time would've been well spent.

One way or the other, I intended on uncovering the truth by day’s end. Even if it meant I had to die a few times in the process.

At ease with my decision, I made my way to the guardian tower.

~~~

Of all the places to search for my third Class, I chose the guardian tower, not because it was the easiest to reach, but because it was the most restrictive.

If the mantises found me, at most only five of them could follow me inside and facing five was far better than battling a few dozen at a time. Of course, if—no, when—I exited the dungeon, I’d likely find the rest of the mantises waiting for me.

But I didn’t care about that.

By then, I would have gotten what I needed.

There was no getting around it though. I was taking a grave risk entering the guardian tower. But despite the dungeon’s daunting reputation, I was reasonably certain I could finish it.

A large part of my confidence stemmed from the gnomes’ dungeon notes and their description of the savant inhabitants as ‘physically weak.’ I chuckled darkly. Physically weak foes were my favorite kind. Even without most of my gear, I fancied my chances against most spellcasters.

The guardian tower was located in the northeastern end of the quarter and when I got there, I found the area almost deserted. The streets adjoining the square were quiet, and the windows of the nearby buildings were dark and shuttered. The dungeon entrance was in the center of the square, in plain sight.

There were no players near it. None.

Remaining in the shadows, I studied the entrance. After a moment, I realized that there was not one nether portal in the square, but two. Standing side by side, they were so close together that at first I’d mistaken them for a single portal.

I frowned. Why two entrances?

Then realization dawned. According to the gnomes’ notes, the guardian tower portals were all one-way. There would be no leaving the dungeon through the portal by which I entered. That meant, the second portal was likely an exit, one from the final sector.

Letting my gaze drift away from the nether portals, I studied the statues standing sentry over them. This time around, there were four. All were cloaked, hooded, and towered two dozen feet high. Interestingly enough, one of the marble statues had a hound kneeling beside it, another a jaguar, the third rode a bear, and the fourth flew astride a wyvern.

Once more, I wondered as to the statues’ purpose. I must ask the gnomes about them next time, I thought.

If there is a next time.

Slinking out of the shadows, I entered the square and approached the dungeon’s portals.

One shone nearly as bright as the sun, while the other was as dim as the moon. Guessing which was which, I touched the border of the dulled portal.

A Game message dropped into my mind.

Passage denied! This is a one-way portal. You may only enter this portal from the other side.

I smiled in satisfaction. It confirmed my earlier deduction. I guess that means the other one is the entrance. Inching closer to it, I scanned the surroundings. No one was watching.

Here goes. Stepping forward, I ducked into the shimmering portal of white.

Passage granted! Transfer through portal commencing…

…

…

Passage completed!

Leaving sector 1. Entering the Endless Dungeon.

~~~

You have entered sector 105 of the Endless Dungeon. This sector is part of a closed region named the Guardian Tower. It consists of 5 unclaimable sectors and 6 one-way portals.

A maximum of 6 players may be in the Guardian Tower at any one time. The dungeon is repopulated daily.

Recommended player levels: 140 to 160.

Recommended party size: 4 to 6.

Current number of players in the dungeon: 0.

Sector bosses remaining: 5 of 5.

I dropped into a crouch as I emerged from the portal.

Once again, I found myself in an entry chamber. It seemed commonplace in most dungeons. Remaining where I was, I inspected the room carefully.

The walls were formed from gray rock, and there was only a single light source—a magelight inset in the roof. The light was not bright enough to banish all the shadows though, and the edges of the room were dim enough for me to hide in.

If the rest of the dungeon was similarly laid out, it boded well for my dungeon dive. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw there was no curtain of shimmering white.

That clinched it. There was no way back.

The only way out now was through. I had five levels to conquer, three lives to spend, and nothing except my swords and abilities to aid me.

Despite my dire straits, I laughed.

The sound was shockingly loud and untroubled, joyous almost. Unexpectedly, I found myself more relaxed than I’d been in a long time.

For days now, since even before I entered Nexus, my life had been growing more complicated as my responsibilities, my foes, and those who depended on me multiplied. I had been forced by circumstances and my hunters—Erebus, Ishita, Menaq—to execute complicated stratagems just to stay one step ahead. The weight of it all had been crushing almost.

Now I was a lone wolf again.

And for a time at least, the wider Game mattered little. It was just me, the dungeon, and the mantises. Kill or be killed.

Refreshingly simple.

My objects were clear and my path straightforward. Succeed or fail, I would move boldly forward. And now that you’ve gotten all that out of the way, let’s get this dungeon dive moving, shall we? Still smiling, I refocused on the task at hand and tiptoed towards the room’s sole exit.

The exit was blocked by a door made from solid sheets of metal and looked strong enough to stop a goliath. There was no bar or lock on it, though, just a simple metal handle.

Before opening the door, I scanned it with trap detect. Finding nothing, I probed the area beyond with mindsight. It, too, came up empty. Judging it to be safe enough, I turned the handle and let the door swing open.

Nothing jumped out at me.

But I barely registered that fact as the ‘room’ beyond the open door was revealed. Although calling it that was hardly correct.

The entry chamber was perched atop a cliff. Only a few feet separated the door from the steep, near vertical slope leading down. Glancing left and right, I saw the cliff curved inwards in both directions.

It’s a basin, I realized. I’m crouched at the edge of an underground basin. One that was filled with a glowing liquid.

Lava.

I stifled a groan. What lay before me was nothing like what I thought the inside of a tower should be. My gaze drifted upwards and found only rough, unadorned rock, inset with the occasional magelight.

Would the sector’s strange design make things harder or easier? I wasn’t sure.

I glanced behind me at the still vacant entry chamber. If my suspicions were correct, it would not take the mantises long to learn that I’d fled the citadel. And when that happened, I expected they would be hard on my heels. But I wasn’t going to hang around, waiting for them. Let them find me amongst the monsters.

Inching forward, I crossed over the threshold of the doorway. Despite the glowing lava in the basin below and the few magelights above, the cavern was dimly lit, and I had little trouble staying concealed. Reaching the edge of the cliff, I studied the area anew.

It was a sharp drop of perhaps thirty yards to the basin floor. The cliff’s edge continued in an unbroken circle around the entirety of the basin, but there were no other doors along its rim. The only way forward was down.

Glancing downwards, I turned my attention to the basin itself. It was about two hundred yards in diameter and was filled almost entirely with gently bubbling lava. The only exceptions to this were the outcroppings of black magma rocks that every so often grew large enough to breach the molten lake.

The outcroppings in the middle of the basin were more substantial and concentrated, and they’d grown enough interconnections to each other to form what could loosely be termed an island.

Sitting atop the center of the island was a portal.

The luminescent orb of brilliant white light captured my interest immediately. It had to be the gateway to the next level and thus my primary objective in the sector.

I had not expected to find the next portal so soon upon entering the sector. But despite seeming achingly close, getting to the gateway was going to be no simple matter.

Its defenses were formidable.

For starters, the portal was enclosed within a dome of hazy red. A magical shield of some kind, I thought.

Outside the dome and seated upon a throne-like chair carved from black rock, was a cloaked figure so still and unassuming that I’d almost missed him—as I had the two large creatures looming behind him, but for entirely different reasons.

The pair were made from the selfsame lava and magma rocks that formed the basin, and upon first glance, I’d taken them for yet more outcroppings, if ones scarred more deeply than usual by veins of lava. But the creatures’ eyes—pulsing orbs of red—gave them away.

Reaching out with my will, I analyzed all three hostiles.

The target is a level 155 savant acolyte.

The target is a level 150 magma elemental.

The target is a level 151 magma elemental.

My lips twisted sourly. Right, that’s the second barrier to reaching the portal.

Unfortunately, the trio and dome were not the sum total of the defenses I had to overcome. There was the molten lake too. While crossing the lava itself didn’t trouble me overmuch, the creatures in it did.

Letting my gaze drift away from the central island, I studied the creatures idly gliding atop the lava bed. Picking one at random, I analyzed it.

The target is a level 125 fire slug.

Fire slugs are creatures born of fire. Fire is the slugs’ lifeblood, both nurturing and nourishing them. The creatures spend their entire lives in it and can be found in some of the hottest regions in the world. The hotter it is, the more the creatures thrive.

I sighed. The fire slugs’ comparatively low levels were a relief, but there were so many of them that it didn’t lessen their threat much. After a swift count, I estimated there were at least thirty-five slugs in the basin. Too many for comfort.

The fire slugs were not the only creatures moving about the lava fields either. I spotted two more cloaked figures floating atop the lake. I analyzed both.

The target is a level 135 savant mage.

The target is a level 137 savant scholar.

Savants are humanoid creatures of unusually high mental and magical abilities. Despite this, they lack the intelligence of truly sentient beings. They generally possess a wealth of magic and psionic abilities at their fingertips but little ability to communicate.

Alrighty. So, that’s the third ring of defenses.

Worse yet, given the open design of the level, there was no way I could tackle my foes individually. I suspected the moment I attacked one, I would invite a storm of attacks from the others.

Well, I thought glumly. This is not going to be easy.