Chapter 212: Final World Tower Expedition

Nathan woke up to the smell of toast.

For a few seconds, he forgot about everything. The Pale Court. The Shepherd. The final World waiting at the end of the line. He just lay there in bed, breathing in the warm, normal smell, and let himself pretend this was his whole life.

Then he opened his eyes.

Lucy was standing at the foot of his bed, holding a small plate. "You’re awake," she said quietly. "I made toast. The unburned kind this time."

Nathan sat up slowly. His muscles still ached from the Pale Court, but the guild healers had done a great job. He took the plate. The toast was actually golden brown. Perfect.

"You’re getting really good at this," he smiled.

"I’ve had a lot of practice." Lucy sat down on the edge of the mattress. Her little star-shaped nightlight glowed softly on the table next to them. She looked down at her hands. "You’re going away again today, aren’t you?"

Nathan didn’t lie to her. He never did. "Yeah. Just one more time. This is the last one."

Lucy gave a slow nod. She was only eleven, but she had grown up fast. She had learned how to be brave, and how to say goodbye without crying, even when her eyes were wet.

"You’ll come back," she said. It wasn’t a question. It was a fact.

"I’ll try my best," Nathan said.

She reached across the blankets and grabbed his hand. Her fingers were small, but she squeezed tight. "Try harder."

Nathan squeezed back. "I will."

The main room of the guild hall was quiet when the team gathered downstairs.

Nobody talked about strategy. Nobody looked at maps, checked their armor, or went over attack plans. They had already done all of that. This morning was just about being together.

Garrett sat heavily on one of the old couches, with Volcan resting against the cushions. Red was sleeping on the rug at his boots, the Mad-Sheep looking completely peaceful. Garrett was writing a letter on a piece of paper, his massive hands moving slowly and carefully.

"Who’s that for?" Dillon asked, leaning against the wall.

"My sister. Just in case," Garrett said, keeping his eyes on the paper. "She has two little kids. I just want them to know their uncle actually did something important."

Dillon just nodded. He didn’t smile, and he didn’t make a joke. That was how Nathan knew he understood exactly what Garrett meant.

Dillon turned back to the window, watching the city wake up. Cloudy rested easily around his neck like a fuzzy scarf. "You know," Dillon said quietly, "when I first joined this team, I thought I was just tagging along for the ride. Following the Bunny King, hoping some of his crazy luck would rub off on me and keep me alive."

"And now?" Elise asked from across the room.

"Now?" Dillon smiled, a real, genuine smile. "Now I feel like I’m actually part of something. Something real. Something worth fighting for."

Elise sat in a big chair near the unlit fireplace, her staff leaning next to her. Her new Glacial Crown caught the morning light. She looked calm, like she always did, but her face was softer today. More relaxed.

"I am very glad I chose this path," she said quietly to the room. "My family wanted me to marry a stranger. They just wanted to use me as a political tool. But instead, I found a team. A real purpose. A home."

Smithy stood a few feet away from everyone else, leaning near the door. His new black Shadow Vanguard armor seemed to swallow the light around him, and his Void Eel floated lazily by his boots. He looked a little uncomfortable talking about his feelings.

"I spent years working for the wrong people," Smithy muttered, staring at the floor. "I told myself I was building a better world, but I was just making excuses for doing bad things. You guys gave me a chance to actually make things right. I promise I won’t waste it."

Over in the corner, Nathan’s summons were having their own moment. Mirko was in her tall human form, carefully wiping down Dragon’s Fang with a cloth. Kuro sat perfectly still on the windowsill, watching the street. Shiro stood tall with her arms crossed, her golden eyes calm.

"We have fought a lot of enemies," Mirko said, keeping her voice low. "But this one is very different. The Shepherd is not just a big monster. He is a god. Or at least, he thinks he is."

"We will kill him anyway," Kuro said simply. "That is what we do."

"The Young Lord carries the true fire," Shiro agreed. "The kind that refuses to burn out. We will protect him, no matter what it costs us."

Mirko nodded sharply. "Hmph! We are the Bunny Girl Legion! We do not run! We do not hide! We just win!"

Kuro gave a tiny, rare smile. "That was almost inspiring, Mirko."

"It was very inspiring! I am a very inspiring leader!" Mirko huffed, crossing her arms.

"You are not the leader," Kuro pointed out. "The Master is."

"I am a leader! One of several! It totally counts!"

Later that morning, Nathan and Elise took a slow walk through the capital.

The streets were packed with morning traffic. City buses rumbled past. Normal people in suits and work clothes hurried down the sidewalks holding coffee cups. The giant Babel Towers gleamed out on the horizon. The world was still spinning. Normal life was still happening, completely unaware of what was coming.

They stopped at a small corner café—the exact same one they had visited months ago. It felt like a completely different lifetime now. They sat at a small table in the back and ordered hot tea.

"The ocean," Elise said suddenly, staring into her cup.

Nathan looked up. "What about it?"

"When all of this is over, I want to see the ocean," Elise said softly. "I’ve never actually been. The Winterhart family never took us to the beach. They thought it was too common."

"Then we’ll go," Nathan said without hesitating. "After we win today, I’ll take you to the coast. We’ll find a quiet, empty beach somewhere and just... sit. Just watch the water."

Elise smiled. It was a warm, open smile, completely stripping away her usual icy walls. "I would really like that."

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes. The tea was hot. The café was peaceful.

Then, Elise reached across the small table. "Whatever happens inside that portal... I don’t regret a single minute of this," she said. "Not the Colosseum. Not the Ashen Expanse. None of it." She looked deep into his eyes. "You gave me something I honestly never thought I would get to have. You gave me a real family. A reason to keep fighting. You gave me someone to..."

She trailed off. She didn’t need to finish the sentence.

Nathan reached out and held her hand tightly. "I don’t regret a single second of it either," he said.

Elise leaned across the table and kissed him. It was soft, warm, and full of a heavy promise. When she pulled back, her blue eyes were shining.

"Come back to me," she whispered.

"I will," Nathan promised.

It was the same thing he had said on the roof, but this time, he felt it in his bones. He meant it more than ever.

An hour later, the whole team stood at the edge of the jagged ravine outside the city.

The portal to the Origin waited for them at the bottom. It was dark and pulsing like a sick heart. Its ugly grey light seemed to suck the color right out of the morning sun. The air felt freezing. The world felt like it was holding its breath.

Valerie, Helena, Vex, and little Lucy all stood at the top of the cliff to see them off.

Valerie stepped up to Nathan first. "Come back alive. That is a direct order, Cross."

"We’ll do our best," Nathan said.

"Your best better be good enough," she said gruffly. But her eyes were totally soft. "You guys have already done way more than anyone could have ever asked. Whatever happens in that pit... you’ve already saved a lot of lives."

Helena stepped up next, holding a datapad. "The TCA will be tracking your vitals. Whatever you do in there, we will be watching the spikes. If something goes wrong, we will do absolutely everything in our power to pull you out."

"Thank you, Helena," Nathan nodded.

Vex just crossed her muscular, burned arms. "I expect all of my custom gear to come back in one piece. If you put a single dent, scratch, or tear in my work, I’m going to kill you myself. Do you hear me?"

"We’ll try not to break anything," Dillon grinned.

"Try harder," Vex grunted.

Lucy was the last one. She walked right up to Nathan and wrapped her small arms tightly around his waist, burying her face in his jacket.

"I left some toast on the counter," she mumbled into his shirt. "The unburned kind. It’s for when you get back."

Nathan knelt down in the dirt so he was right at her eye level. He looked her right in the eyes. "I will be back to eat it. I promise."

Lucy nodded. She didn’t cry. She just set her jaw. "Try harder."

"I will."

Nathan stood up and turned around to face his team. Garrett. Dillon. Elise. Smithy. Mirko. Kuro. Shiro. They were geared up, leveled up, and completely ready. They had always been ready for this.

"Let’s go finish this," Nathan said, drawing Moonlight from his shoulder. "For everyone."

They walked down into the ravine together. They stepped straight into the dark, pulsing portal. The grey light washed over them, and in a blink, they were gone.

The final World was waiting.