Chapter 366: The Tower Is Just

Kael stopped breathing for a second. The Lesser Death Knight continued walking while he looked between the system window and the approaching creature.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me."

More notifications appeared:

[The Causality expended upon this Floor exceeds the requirements of the original scenario.] [Compensation is mandatory.]

"huh?"

[Contribution accumulated by departed Climbers has been transferred to Climber Kael Ardent.] A number surged upward before his eyes.

Kael’s eyes widened as he realized the Tower had transferred all of it. Leonard’s contribution, the mage’s, the spear wielder’s, and the burly man’s now belonged to him.

More notifications followed

[Upon successful completion of Floor 11, all remaining Floor Contribution will belong solely to Climber Kael Ardent.]

[Floor Completion Rewards have been increased by several tiers.]

[Unique Reward Conditions have been generated.]

Kael stared at the messages as he realized the Tower was compensating him. Someone had paid enough Causality to make the Tower itself recognize that the altered scenario was unfair, and that realization offered very little comfort.

[The Lesser Death Knight has been marginally rebalanced for a single Climber.]

Kael’s eyes narrowed upon the most concerning word in the message.

"Marginally?"

The system ignored him and continued:

[Health restored.]

Every wound across Kael’s body vanished as his shoulder snapped fully into place, cuts closed, and bruises disappeared.

[Stamina restored.]

The heaviness inside Kael’s limbs vanished instantly.

[Internal Energy restored.]

Kael inhaled as his entire reserve filled to capacity.

Energy flooded his channels until he felt as fresh as he had before the improvised railgun emptied him. He flexed one hand and found that even the residual strain inside his muscles had disappeared.

His equipment remained damaged, but Kael himself had been returned to perfect condition. When the notifications ended, he stared at the final message for several seconds before slowly looking toward the Death Knight.

Its red eyes locked onto him, and the creature stopped walking. It raised its sword and pointed the tip directly toward Kael.

A familiar window appeared

[Lesser Death Knight requests an Honorable Duel.]

Beneath it waited the question

[Do you accept?]

Kael looked behind himself and found no climbers remaining. The fortress weapons had already proven useless against the Death Knight, and the soldiers could accomplish little beyond accidentally hitting Kael even if the duel permitted them to interfere.

Kael laughed quietly. "It’s not like I have a choice now, is it?"

He almost accepted before another possibility occurred to him. Kael looked upward as his expression darkened.

"TORRAC!"

Nothing happened, so Kael inhaled and shouted again. "TORRAC!"

A small fracture appeared in the air beside him. Kael watched it with a humorless smile.

"There you are."

The crack widened until reality opened and allowed a small rabbit to step through. Time stopped completely the moment Torrac entered the floor.

The Lesser Death Knight froze with its sword still raised, and its cloak became motionless behind it. Fires stopped flickering across the battlefield, smoke hung in the air, grass ceased bending in the wind, and the soldiers upon the walls became statues.

Torrac stepped onto the ground as his long ears twitched. He looked around the frozen battlefield before turning toward Kael.

"Why are you causing us so much trouble?"

Kael stared at him. "Me?"

"Yes."

"I’m causing you trouble?"

Torrac sighed. "You shouted my name loudly enough to be heard across half the Floor."

"What the fuck is going on?"

"That is a broad question."

"Why do the rules of this damned Tower keep changing every time I do anything?"

Torrac stared at him while Kael pointed toward the frozen Death Knight. "I was literally about to leave."

"Yes."

"Then suddenly somebody pays some causality bullshit and now I’m trapped here. If I lose, I die."

"Yes."

"And somehow this is my fault?"

Torrac rubbed his face with one paw. "It is because you annoyed Ulsal."

Kael frowned. "Who?"

Torrac pointed, and Kael followed the gesture toward his gauntlet. More specifically, the rabbit was pointing toward Anchor.

Kael looked back at Torrac. "The rune?"

"No. The one who owned it."

Kael’s expression changed as Torrac pointed again. "That Legendary Rune."

Then he gestured toward Kael’s inventory. "And that hammer of yours."

"Brokk’s Hammer?"

"Pieces."

"Pieces of what?"

"Things you took from Ulsal."

Kael stared. "I won them."

"You took them."

"Fair and square."

Torrac’s nose twitched.

"I did the Trial."

"Yes."

"I passed."

"Technically."

"I almost died."

"Very technically."

Kael spread his arms. "So why the fuck is he pissed?"

Torrac sighed. "Because no one was supposed to take anything."

Kael went silent before asking, "What?"

"The Trial of Greed."

"Yes."

"Do you know what greed means?"

"I’m aware."

"Apparently not."

Torrac walked closer. "The point was not to reach the greatest treasures."

Kael stared at him while the rabbit continued.

"The point was to recognize that nothing offered within the Trial was worth your life."

Torrac gestured vaguely toward the frozen battlefield. "Legendary weapons. Runes. Relics. Wealth. The farther you went, the better the rewards became, and the more dangerous the Trial became."

Kael slowly understood. "I was supposed to just leave?"

"Yes."

"Empty-handed?"

"Yes."

Kael looked down at Anchor, then toward the invisible location of Brokk’s Hammer inside his inventory. "But I didn’t leave empty-handed."

"No."

"I took both."

"Yes."

"And survived."

Torrac’s expression became deeply tired. "Yes, Kael. That is the problem."

Kael frowned. "That sounds like their problem."

"It is rapidly becoming everyone’s problem."

"I made a sensible decision."

Torrac stared at him. "You ran deeper into a Trial designed to punish greed because you calculated that you could steal two Legendary rewards and survive."

"And I was correct."

"That does not make it sensible."

"It literally does."

"No."

"Yes."

Torrac closed his eyes while Kael folded his arms. "And what the hell is Causality?"

"Something you do not need to concern yourself with."

"Someone just spent enough of it to change whether I live or die."

"You still do not need to concern yourself with it."

"I feel like I do."

"You are mortal."

"So?"

"It is not a resource you possess."

"Yet."

Torrac opened his eyes. "Do not say things like that."

Kael smiled faintly, prompting the rabbit to sigh again. "Causality is... leverage, in the simplest explanation I am willing to give you."

"Currency?"

"No."

"Power?"

"Not exactly."

"A really annoying version of money?"

"That explanation is somehow worse and yet closer than the first two." Torrac replied.

Kael waited until Torrac finally gave in. "Guardians, Constellations, higher beings, whatever name you prefer, may influence certain Tower events by paying sufficient Causality."

Kael’s expression soured. "So they can cheat."

"No."

"That sounds exactly like cheating."

"The Tower permits intervention."

"That is cheating with extra steps."

"The Tower is fair."

Kael laughed, prompting Torrac to point one tiny paw at him. "It is."

"I was allowed to leave. Someone paid something, and now leaving kills me."

"And the Tower compensated you."

Kael stopped as Torrac gestured toward the notifications. "The one interfering cannot simply decide your fate."

"The Tower always has the final say."

Kael looked toward the frozen Death Knight. "So Ulsal paid to trap me here."

"Yes."

"He wanted this thing to kill me."

"Yes."

"And the Tower said fine."

"No."

Torrac looked annoyed. "The Tower said that if Ulsal wished to alter the Floor that severely, then he would need to pay an equivalent price."

"Which he did." Kael said.

"The staggering amount he paid only managed to do this much, the tower is fair."

Kael remained silent.

Torrac looked toward the notifications. "That is why your rewards changed."

Kael’s eyes narrowed. "And the Death Knight?"

"Adjusted."

"Marginally."

"Yes."

"Why marginally?"

Torrac laughed. "You should be thankful it was adjusted at all."

"That doesn’t sound reassuring."

"Ulsal paid a considerable amount specifically attempting to prevent that."

Kael stared. "What?"

"He wanted the Lesser Death Knight unchanged."

Torrac pointed toward the enormous frozen undead. "The original one you fought was balanced against five climbers."

Kael slowly looked toward it. "And now?"

"Marginally reduced."

"You keep using that word."

"Because Ulsal spent heavily ensuring the Tower could not weaken it too far without violating the value of his intervention."

Kael rubbed his forehead. "So he paid extra just to make sure I get fucked."

"That is an inelegant way to phrase it."

"Is it inaccurate?"

"No."

"Then I’m using it."

Torrac shrugged, leaving Kael to look down at Anchor again. "All this because I took a rune and a hammer?"

"You took more than objects."

"What does that mean?"

"Not relevant yet."

Kael immediately hated that answer. "Yet?"

Torrac pretended not to hear, causing Kael’s eyes to narrow. "Was he the one in the desert?"

Silence followed as Torrac’s ears twitched. Kael watched him carefully.

"The thing that tried to fuck me over in the desert region."

Torrac offered no answer, but Kael had already learned enough from his silence. He sighed before looking toward the frozen battlefield.

"Great."

Kael studied the Lesser Death Knight as he continued, "Some ancient asshole has a personal grudge against me because I passed his Trial incorrectly."

"Successfully."

"You just said technically."

"Both may be true."

Kael flexed his hands as he considered his situation. His internal energy had been completely restored, his body was fresh, the other climbers were gone, and every fortress defense would become irrelevant once the duel began.

Somewhere beyond Kael’s current understanding, Ulsal had spent an apparently absurd resource to force him into this fight. Kael’s irritation slowly transformed into interest as he remembered the compensation offered by the Tower.

All the contribution belonged to him, the rewards had been upgraded, and unique conditions had been generated. Even the Lesser Death Knight had been adjusted, however marginally.

All of that pointed toward a single conclusion. The Tower believed he could win.

Kael looked toward Torrac. "The Tower is fair?"

Torrac nodded. "Always."

"So it wouldn’t create an impossible condition."

"Correct."

Kael stared at the Death Knight. "So I can beat him."

Torrac hesitated. "That is not what I said."

"You said it’s possible."

"I said the Tower will not deliberately establish an impossible condition."

"Then it can be felled..."

Torrac stared at him for several seconds before smiling faintly.

"There is the climber I remember."

Kael rolled his shoulders and felt the Demon Fist settling naturally into his stance. His body was fresh, his muscles remained steady, and his reserves had returned to full capacity.

The Lesser Death Knight remained terrifying, but Kael now knew its movements after studying them for nearly an hour. Its shield prioritized direct frontal attacks, while its sword favored efficient counterstrikes.

It attacked vulnerable targets first, recognized casting threats, and understood positioning. The creature fought like a trained warrior, and its skill currently surpassed Kael’s.

That advantage could change. Kael slammed his fists together and sent the sound of ringing metal across the frozen battlefield.

"All right."

Fire briefly flickered across one gauntlet while Frost gathered over the other. Kael looked toward the motionless Death Knight.

"Let’s bring it on."

Torrac walked toward the rift. "You are accepting?"

"Do I have a choice?."

"No..."

...

"You may wish to remember what Honorable Duel means."

"No outside interference."

"Yes."

"No soldiers."

"Yes."

"No artillery."

"Yes."

"No bullshit?"

Torrac paused. "That one is not written in the conditions."

"Good."

Torrac stepped into the rift, but Kael called after him. "Hey."

Torrac glanced back. "If I survive this, tell Ulsal something for me."

"No."

"I haven’t said it yet."

"I know enough."

Kael smiled. "Tell him thanks for the rewards."

Torrac stared at him before the corner of the rabbit’s mouth twitched. "Good luck, Climber."

The rift closed, and time resumed across the battlefield. Wind moved through the grass, smoke continued drifting, flames flickered, and the soldiers shifted upon the walls.

The Lesser Death Knight’s sword remained pointed toward Kael. The duel window still floated between them, displaying,

[Lesser Death Knight requests an Honorable Duel.]

[Do you accept?]

Kael looked at the creature while considering everything he had lost. His allies and support had departed, leaving him without the mage’s suppression, the burly man’s defensive interceptions, the spear wielder’s attacks from the creature’s blind side, or Leonard unexpectedly saving his life with an axe.

Only Kael remained. He selected [Accept.]

The notification vanished, and the red light within the Lesser Death Knight’s eyes changed. Green flames ignited inside its sockets as the tower shield rose and the enormous sword lowered into a proper stance.

A new series of notifications appeared:

[Honorable Duel Accepted.]

[External interference has been prohibited.]

[Victory Condition: Defeat the Lesser Death Knight. Or Survive for 2 hours and 55 minutes]

[Defeat Condition: Death.]

Kael settled his feet into the first Chapter of the Demon Fist. It represented the beginning of a technique his master had spent lifetimes developing, and his fetters would remain in place for now.

Fire gathered around his right fist while Frost covered the left. Anchor stabilized both runes, and Heft remained inactive so he could preserve energy until he truly needed it.

The Lesser Death Knight took one step. Kael smiled at the creature and spoke.

"Round two."

The Death Knight disappeared, and Kael moved to meet it. Their first clash split the earth between them.