The first thing the other team did was check on Raka. Which was completely reasonable given how terrible that had to have been. "I am so sorry." I said quickly. "I don't know what the hell happened there. I wanted to win but I wouldn't have done...THAT. Hell, I couldn't have done that. I have no idea how or why that even happened."

Abel sighed. "Not your fault. I was going to tell you to get a new weapon, but I didn't expect it to be an issue. Figured you'd make the jump after rank up. Wear and tear are inevitable, but it was the combination of that cane having a MASSIVE amount of power stockpiled and slamming it into a higher ranking artifact. It was a freak accident." He looked down at Raka. "You ok?"

The big man had woken up and one of the twins was helping him sit up. He nodded. "I'm fine. That was...truly unpleasant. But it was clear it was unintentional and the healing you gave me is helping immensely. I'm not exactly in perfect shape now, but I'm on the mend."

Forn looked relieved. "Good. And don't feel too bad about it. That was pretty brutal. But we wouldn't have won anyway." He nodded to Abel. "Their boy over there is a straight up monster. I didn't even know planets this low level could HAVE Master Candidates."

Helping Raka up, he waved us over to their waiting area, and we followed them in. "So." Callie said as we trailed behind them, giving Raka some time to walk a bit slower. "I'm guessing the lot of you got attacked before this round same as we did? Not that I know which faction you're with, but it seems pretty universal."

I missed the days when I could just assume we were dealing with the Unity or WCP. This whole tournament had become a mess of epic proportions.

Raka nodded. "We were. As for our interests...well that isn't a secret anymore I suppose. We were representing the Black Sorrow Cult. They contacted several rim factions about contracts to sign over the spots if they won. They might be lunatics, but they're well funded lunatics."

I grimaced. "They can afford that? Blowing a sizable bribe on presumably dozens of teams to stack the deck just in the event one of them wins?" I really didn't like when my enemies showed themselves to be competent. Competent and wealthy seemed like an even worse combo. They were a massive faction, but their border outpost should have been the main force behind this push. I wouldn't have expected them to have that much cash to throw around.

The big man snorted. "You don't get the stakes here. These resources are rare on a universal scale. Regional power games aren't the only thing at play. The Moonglow Dew will be funneled to their main heirs, and will be a huge benefit during the coming years. The major factions are constantly at odds, anything that will put them ahead for a generation is a new benefit. This tournament could very well be the deciding factor for the lineup of the next Unlucky Thirteen."

I hadn't considered that. It made a lot of sense though. The Wishmaster was an automatic pass to the Unlucky Thirteen, but knowing what I knew about cultivation I imagined those other slots were fiercely fought over. Universal infamy would skyrocket the cultivation of anyone on that list.

"Well damn." Said Callie with a grimace. "That makes this a bit wider scale than expected. How is this planet not crawling with ringers then?"

"Because it's one of many." I said slowly. "This is the smallest most backwater system in the cluster. With that many points of attack it's no wonder most of the larger forces didn't bother with us. They went for the bigger systems where they would be able to exert more pressure."

Internal system politics were one thing, but there was no way that the Black Sorrow Cult could have sent, say, a B-ranker like Zeke, to put direct pressure on the proceedings. The stratification of power was an important factor of how the universe ran. Pushing and bending rules was one thing, but the only real reason Zeke was able to move into his spot in Callus was the unique neutral reputation of the WCP.

Callie sighed. "This is just going to get worse. This round is only going to have three hundred teams, which means we're at the point where we'll be fighting every day. The closer we get to the endgame, the more frantic the other factions will get. We'll definitely see some kind of attack tonight."

"We have Rime and Frostbite already involved though." I pointed out. "Can we arrange for them to meet us? They haven't attacked yet, so clearly they have some kind of limit on what they'll do." I didn't relish the thought of trying to fight another hit squad with my head thumping like a bass drum.

To my surprise, Raka cut in. "They can't ambush you again. Not so soon. Rajak is a major metropolis with a huge Unity presence. They would have needed to make arrangements for the attack on us the other day. People would have needed to be bribed to ignore signs and leave gaps in security. There's no way anyone can pull something like that off again a few days later. There will be too many eyes on it."

Callie nodded thoughtfully. "That's...probably true. But it means we're going to have to deal with an attack later tonight or tomorrow morning. Probably tonight." She stared at him curiously. "Considering we know who the last faction to move the next round of attacks might very well be from the Black Sorrow Cult themselves. Wouldn't tipping us off probably be a violation of the terms of your contract? Why help us?"

He shrugged. "Our contract only lasted until we got booted. Plus I'm not a fan of the lunatics. We took their money because it was beneficial, that doesn't mean we're loyal to them." We talked for a bit longer before they all said goodbye and left, getting their scan ring numbers to keep in contact.

After we headed outside we met up with Rime, and filled her in on what might be coming down the pipe. She grimaced at the news. "An assassination attempt? Are we going to be seeing them attack the house tonight? We might want to invite your E-rank friends over just in case."

I shook my head, making sure my Stealth Skill was keeping my voice from spreading past our little circle. "No. The house isn't just my place, Zeke lives there. The geas prevents him from helping in most circumstances, but attacking the house involves him directly and opens them up to his direct intervention. They might as well kill themselves and save us the trouble at that point."

"So the question is." Said Abel in annoyance. "How are they going to hit us? Because it doesn't seem likely they'll ignore us given the Black Sorrow Cult's...contentious relationship with you. If they can't attack at the house or outside the arena then what are their options?"

"What if they could." Said Callie quietly. We all looked at her, and I saw a contemplative look on her face as she went over options. "What if we let them attack us, lined up a trap and used it to sweep up as many of them as possible. We could potentially take out a bunch of their teams before the next round."

I made an uncertain sound. "Assuming we could set it up so we had no chance of losing, what's to say they would even attack us directly? Taking out a bunch more mercenaries isn't likely to affect the outcome of the tournament one way or another."

She shook her head. "No. They'll send their own people. Mercenaries are A, less likely to take the job after we beat the last ones, and B, not going to take this as seriously. Especially after taking out Pietro. This is personal. They'll take the shot if we give it to them, we just need some way to make sure they go down when they do."

That was easier said than done. Without Zeke, we still had some serious firepower, but there was no way they wouldn't be expecting our E-rankers. They'd have counters in place for them, and assuming the dumb assholes weren't stupid enough to jump me personally we'd have no way to counter if they tried to drown us in bodies.

Then I got an idea. "What if they couldn't send anyone above G-rank." I said slowly. The others looked at me quizically and I grinned. "Abel, when the guardian enchantment on the labyrinth under the Cavalcade faded, did the place collapse?" I didn't remember if Cicero had mentioned that or not, and honestly even if he had it might have been bullshit, I didn't trust that asshole as far as I could throw the Unity building.

My mentor looked thoughtful. "It...shouldn't have. But that's a dangerous thing to try. It can't take any F-rankers. Our E-ranked backup can prevent them from entering, but it isn't impossible that a bunch of E-rankers might gang up and collapse the thing to kill us all without worrying about it at all."

I shook my head. "They can't. Being inside means my health is tied to the labyrinth being whole. That means if they try to collapse it with me inside Zeke will need to step in directly. Even if they wouldn't know that, he'd warn them like he did with the Cultist."

"That." Said Callie with interest. "Isn't a bad plan at all. We might even be able to talk Raka and the others into leaking the information before they sever ties. The Cult wouldn't even question it. They would need to jump on the chance to get in an attack. We might be able to take out a bunch of teams."

I had to point out the obvious. "How would that affect the tournament? Would they condense the rounds? Also we need some way to keep them locked up. The teams directly from the Cult will be murderous assholes, but they won't come at us light either. Some of them will probably be the local teams under contract with them. I don't want to kill some faction like the Burning Heaven Abyss."

"I can help with that." Said Rime. "Attacking outside the matches is a direct violation of tournament policy. In my capacity as a local executive, or at least the representative of one, I can order their arrest. You'd need to knock them out and hold them until the authorities arrived, but it's more than feasible."

That sounded complicated, but I knew that the Unity could operate in WCP territory unless they were intercepted, and I could make sure that didn't happen. Shadowthorn had come down to save us when we almost got murdered in the underground arena in G-district after all. The labyrinth would keep the big fish off us until the local muscle arrived, and even the cult wouldn't be stupid enough to engage in a full on war. They would need to run or get dragged into a huge conflict.

Callie nodded to Abel. "Alright. I know you aren't exactly on good terms with him, but give your brother a call and see if he can give us access. You had that thing built in the first place right? So it should be within your rights to use it. Unless you think he'll give you trouble?"

Our mentor snorted. "He won't if he knows what's good for him. If he does try it I'll lean on him. He's caused enough trouble. He can be a little generous for once." With that settled, we headed home to get in touch with anyone we thought would be able to help both in or out of the Labyrinth. It was nice to be the ones luring someone ELSE into a trap this time.