Chapter 269: Hidden Danger

And then there was Diya, who had earned her ’Queen of Death’ title among the general population by carrying out similar cleanup operations with efficiency.

"Thank you guys, seriously," Uhtred said after a long pause, turning his head slightly to look at them. "For keeping things together for me."

"Urgh, stop getting all sappy out of nowhere," Zara groaned, making a face of mock disgust.

Diya scrunched her nose in agreement, though both of them had a clear trace of quiet satisfaction in their eyes.

"Don’t get used to it, boss," Diya chuckled, shaking her head. "We’re in this for the long haul. The real struggle for us is just trying to level up fast enough so we don’t get left in the dust as your stats keep exploding."

"That shouldn’t be an issue. The more encounters I have, the more goodies I’ll keep on finding for sure, plenty of which will trickle down to you guys." Uhtred smirked. "More importantly, though... ’Boss’? Did I just hear you call me ’boss’?"

Diya laughed softly. "What about it? Minh Quan and Dennis call you boss every time and you don’t bat an eye."

"Yeah, but that’s them," Uhtred pointed out. "We’re guys, so it sounds normal. But coming from you girls..."

"Ah, so you’re bringing gender discrimination into this now, Uhtred?" Zara chimed in from the side, an amused glint in her eyes.

"Yeah, no fair at all, boss," Diya added, deliberately emphasizing the word. "What’s so wrong with us calling you boss?"

The two of them continued to gang up on him for the rest of the walk, teasing him relentlessly until they finally reached the high gates of his personal residence.

Uhtred practically hurried up the front steps, looking visibly relieved to have finally reached the safety of his abode. He offered Zara and Diya a quick, polite goodnight before quickly stepping inside, eager to escape their combined teasing.

"Man, ganging up on me out of nowhere," he grumbled under his breath as he closed the gates behind him.

Despite his complaints, though, a faint, genuine smile lingered on his face. He had truly enjoyed the walk. It had been far too long since the core crew had a chance to just walk around and talk like normal people without an imminent life-or-death crisis hanging over their heads.

Even though Dennis and Minh Quan hadn’t been there, it was still a moment he genuinely appreciated.

As he entered his house and reached his bedroom door, however, the smile slowly faded from his face, replaced by a deep, troubled frown.

During their walk through the city, Uhtred had quietly activated his Gnostic Eye to observe Diya.

The main reason he, Zara, and White Raven had chosen to take the two-week leave from the Tower was to process their findings and prepare for the Third Floor. They — along with Perfection, who had chosen to stay behind inside the Tower — were the only four human ascenders who had unlocked the secret sub-scenario on Floor 2.

The remaining six champions were completely blind to the truth. They were treading down a completely different path — a path structured on a lie that was fundamentally wrong, and very likely also dangerous.

Diya was one of those six.

Because Uhtred was bound by the System-imposed Oath of Secrecy, he couldn’t utter a single word about the sub-scenario, the System Eras, or the true nature of the Tower to her. Yet, he couldn’t shake the heavy, nagging knot in his chest whenever he thought about the danger she and the others were likely walking into.

That worry was the exact reason he had silently observed Diya during their walk.

And under the deep purple gaze of his Gnostic Eye, he had seen it clearly.

Embedded right at the center of her chest, pulsing with a faint, insidious light, was a tiny, burning ember...

...The Heavenly Demon’s consciousness.

It was right there within her already, watching her every move and listening to her every conversation, lying in wait likely to take over her body at some point.

Of course, this was just Uhtred’s cynicism speaking. The Heavenly Demon had not said anything about taking over his host. In fact, based on what the Heavenly Demon had revealed during their dinner, Uhtred knew he had basically lost hope to an extent.

The Heavenly Demon had revealed that even the best of the best ascenders, who ended up carrying his consciousness from Floor 2, never reached Floor 5 or moved past it at the very most.

He had made no mention of a possession at all, yet Uhtred strongly believed the Heavenly Demon would do just that out of spite.

He had seen for himself just how wicked that fellow was. The Heavenly Demon’s dinner had been relatively peaceful, but one had to remember that that was only after all four ascenders had been killed.

And if that was not enough, Uhtred had also seen for himself how the Heavenly Demon ordered his subjects to kill themselves and didn’t bat an eye after they did. He had seen him pry out the beating heart of a living, breathing girl without batting an eye. In fact, there had been delight in his eyes when he was doing it.

Now, how much of that was a construct of the Heavenly Demon’s Pseudo-domain remained a mystery, but Uhtred was certain parts of it were real.

The fact remained that the Heavenly Demon didn’t just have that title for no reason. Even if he knew he was certain to fail, at the point of failure, he was the kind of fellow who would kill his host or do something utterly terrible just out of spite, or just to make himself feel better for failing...

Uhtred couldn’t let that happen to Diya. Somehow, some way, he needed to make her exit the Tower on her own. Her life was more precious than whatever gains she would get by climbing to Floor 5 — and that was even if she would survive till Floor 5.

As Uhtred lay down on his bed, he began to think of ways to convey a subtle message to Diya without breaking the rules of his Oath of Secrecy. There were several ideas, but in the end, all of it still depended on whether his attempt would qualify as an infringement or not.

By the time Uhtred dozed off, he had decided on several methods, and not only that, he had even had the time to think about other matters — in particular, the matter of the Ancient Variants, their Prime Sapien Project, and their unknown new General...