It took longer than I wanted to deal with the second wave of demons. What they lacked in numbers, they made up for with desperation and ferocity. I am pretty sure I knew why. Yes, The Knife could inflict horrifying pain and shunt them to the wrong side of the veil, but all they had to do was stop me once. Messing up here and now could result in them facing long-term punishments. Richard, being the Demon of Frost, could hit these demons with their bane and inflict the Extreme Agony Condition, presumably at will. That was certainly a motivating factor, but they also had to contend with the truth that if I got to the top of the tower and closed the gate, they would lose.

The fighting took me down to my last layer of Ablative Shell. Technically, that was just a matter of waiting a few minutes, and I would have it back, but time was not on my side. That seemed to be the state of play for everyone today. I climbed the stairs to the fourth floor and…

So, fourth floor was misleading. We knew this obstacle would pop up at some point, but I had expected it to take longer. Oh well, there would probably be more of this to come. Above me in the dark of the tower, I could feel the heavy, near-tectonic movements of flying stone. The light was a dim infernal red gleam that barely lit the steps in front of me. It should have limited my view to maybe twenty or so feet, but I could see well beyond that. The uneven steps lead up, and up into a large tangle of stairs. The gnarled, confusing path formed a treacherous maze leading up at least five stories.

To make matters worse, the whole wretched mess was shifting and changing before my eyes. Even as I climbed the first few steps, I felt another layer of the room's defense strike. A brief moment of lightheadedness surged through me. It was almost like vertigo. I nearly thought the room was spinning. That was when Mental Resistance did its job. It surged forward from the back of my mind and hit the Dizzy Condition like a shark hitting a seal. The mental effect died on impact, but Mental Resistance still took a moment to devour it before locking in on another, and another.

I kept making my way up. Once I hit the first landing, I was in the heart of the M.C. Escher maze. It was equal parts confusing maze, impossible geometry, and optical illusion. The exit was clearly visible dozens of steps above me, but the last part of the path leading to it wasn't something I could discern. Trying to navigate the winding, shifting labyrinth of steps would take hours, if not days… assuming it was even possible.

That was a great reason to simply not engage with this at all.

Destruction Check… Successful!

Grav-Stone Stairs destroyed.

A section of the treacherous steps cleaved loose from the landing. It didn't drop to the ground. Instead, it drifted slowly through the air, maintaining roughly the same elevation. I grabbed the hunk of steps and pulled them bodily. It took some doing, but eventually I was able to wedge the steps between one landing and another just a little closer to the exit.

Construction Check… Successful!

Grav-Stone Consumed.

Grav-Stone Stairs created.

The rocks fused together with a quick application of will. Once I got to the next landing, it was just a matter of repeating the process again and again. Part of me was determined to power through this and get to the top of the tower as fast as I could, but as I worked, a nagging thought lingered.

I was custom-built for this. The combination of Traits, Perks, Skills, and even this Cosmic Martial Art was all perfectly allied to handle the Demon Tower. I knew I had made the choices. I had been there the whole time. The thing is, the question still lingered: was that really my choice? I was custom-built. The Titan had made me. Was I actually capable of making choices? It wasn't a major stretch of the mind to contemplate that I was merely dancing in the palm of the Titan's hand. He clearly had plans for me.

There was a worse alternative as well. Of course, there was.

Was I just a pawn of the Narrators? Wilson's smug grin flashed into my mind. The hard truth was I hadn't actually managed to beat him at anything as far as I could tell. Even now, I was certain he was going to benefit from this. I didn't want that, but the leering bastard had a knack for framing himself as the least bad option.

Commune Check… Successful

Spine could help but feel an acidic burn in his stomach. He could see the Sasquatch army. There were thousands of them. No, tens of thousands. It was a low ten, but still. Spine knew the way to deal with Sasquatches was to ambush them with larger numbers. Spine didn't have large numbers. Frankly, they had just over eight thousand people capable of fighting.

The Sasquatch army had surrounded the cave mouth. They were tightening the gap.

"We need to get a few vehicles past the line," Spine shouted over the wind and engines.

"It's too far to go get help," One of the drivers called back.

"No! You aren't going for help. The message has already been sent. You get out, and then you harass these big apes. Keep moving and keep putting bullets into furry asses." That had been Havok's orders.

Spine had his doubts about how effective this would be, and as the car hurtled away to what seemed to be a gap in the line, he felt his chest clench. The mobs could see as well as anyone where the cars were going. They began to pull together, to group up in the path of the cars before they could escape.

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That was when they used the majority of their precious rockets. Sasquatches are notoriously tough, and concerningly fast and strong. Thankfully, they weren't clever or all that crafty. The explosion tore through the mobs with appreciable results. Of the twenty vehicles they sent to crash through the ring of mobs, eighteen had made it. Of the two that didn't, one was coming back, and the other… at least it had been quick.

Ben Franklin jostled Spine's shoulder to get his attention. Spine shook his head and turned away from the sight of monsters smashing the remains.

Ben was huffing and puffing, "Nanny Shank wants you back at the command."

Spine nodded. When he spoke, his voice didn't carry the fear he couldn't shake, "Have the gunners pick off targets as they can. Once they get close, duck back down the tunnel."

"Are we going to die?" Ben grabbed Spine's arm, stopping him.

Spine stopped short at Ben's touch. He put a hand on Ben's shoulder, "Today is the day we stop being kids. Shit's bad, I am not going to lie, but we have a plan, and we have the terrain. We can win this. Don't give up hope. Give these fuckers hell."

It wasn't a lie, but it was close. Spine had seen the worst-case scenario. Humbaba, a Demigod Scale Boss Mob, was here. The common wisdom was to run from something like him. Sure, he could be killed, but outside his dungeon, he would just respawn. All fighting him would do is cost goblins their lives.

Ben didn't seem completely convinced, but he nodded. They both knew there wasn't exactly anywhere to run.

Spine made his way into the cave. Compared to the blinding white of outside, the dark of the cave was near absolute. Even as his eyes adjusted, a purple tint made things seem darker.

The cave mouth was relatively short, about a hundred feet long. This was just the entry, though. The mouth was thirty feet in diameter, and the back end was less than ten. The back of the cave led to a tunnel that made a hard right turn. This led into another three hundred feet of steeply descending tunnel. Spine had to weave his way through makeshift barricades and the press of armed goblins. This tunnel was the first choke point. It wouldn't hold, but only two Sasquatches could move through the tunnels at a time. It would fall eventually, but a huge number of mobs would die for each inch gained.

After that was a large cavern. It opened up broadly, and while the ceiling stayed roughly the same, the floor continued to descend. Spine had to slow considerably to get through the maze of stalagmites, and they had fitted the stalactites above with small explosives. It wouldn't bring the whole roof down, but it should crush several more waves. This room wasn't a great choke point, but if they timed it right, it would be a mob mass grave.

Three tunnels lead out of this cavern. Two led to dead ends, and beyond a few boobytraps, they had left those tunnels alone. The third tunnel was like the first. Block with barriers and full of guns. The hope was that this was where they would be able to hold them. It was a two-hundred-foot-long killing field.

Beyond that was another large cavern. This one was about forty feet tall and tremendous. The sheer sprawl of this cavern was hard to describe. Spine couldn't see the edges of it. He wasn't certain how big it was, but he knew it was a cage. The back of the cavern was a quarter of a mile away, and the one tunnel they could find was another six hundred feet long before being blocked by a collapse. That was where all of the little kids had been stashed. In front of the mouth was the command center.

Spine considered this vast open space. If the fighting got into this cavern, things were going to be chaos. It would be so much worse; it would be a slaughter. Without a chokepoint, the Sasquatches would be unstoppable. Spine stepped over a landmine. It wouldn't go off with his weight, but he wasn't interested in tempting fate.

Nanny Shank sat at a table with Pappy Havok, Nanny Shiv, Crafty Shiv, and Jen Havok. They had mapped out the tunnels and were finalizing plans.

Nanny Shank looked up at him. Spine almost stopped short at the sight of her. She had always been an old goblin, but in the past few hours, it was like she had aged another ten years. Her skin had grayed, and her eyes were sunken. She seemed to have shrunk a few sizes as well. Spine realized the reason she was sitting at a table that everyone else stood around was because she couldn't stand.

He knew in that moment, the only reason Nanny Shank was still alive was that she was simply too stubborn to die, "Is he with them, Humbaba?" Her voice had always had a rasp to it, but now it almost frayed.

"Yeah," Spine told them. "He is here. He is hanging back for now."

Pappy Havok grunted, "Wants to wear us down before coming for us himself."

"Does that change things?" Nanny Shiv asked sparing Nanny Shank the effort.

"Yep," Pappy Havok said, "Need to force the first tunnel to hold longer." He considered a moment, "I'll do it."

"What do you mean? The plan is to have a fighting retreat out of that tunnel," Spine felt that acidic burn rise up his throat.

"Plans changed," Pappy Havok grunted. "Me and the old guard will hold 'em."

Jen looked up, "Pappy… you can't…" She stopped short under the weight of his glare.

Pappy Havok softened his expression, "I always loved you."

"I know," Jen managed. Her eyes were beginning to water.

Pappy Havok turned to Spine, "I'll handle the first tunnel. Pappy Strife will take care of the Cavern, and Pappy Wrage will hold the last. You hold them here with the metal bird. We will have the young ones sent to you; you'll still get your fighting retreat. You hold this cavern."

Spine almost argued. He was stronger, faster, and tougher than Pappy Havok. But that is why the old man wanted Spine to stay. Monsters were coming, and the old goblin believed Spine was the best last line of defense.

Spine looked at the map. There had to be something they had missed.

Nanny Shank set trembling hand on his, "Tell Doug, what's happening."

Spine nodded. He wasn't going to argue. There was fuck all Doug could do, but nothing ventured. Spine thought about what just happened and mentally reached for the Commune Skill.

Message ended

Blinked the prompt away.

"Shit! Fuck! Fuck!" I growled.

Cussing wasn't helpful. I almost burnt a second to stop time. It wasn't needed yet.

This was intentional. Crowd the field, force suffering, and kill people in mass. The Narrators had clearly set this up. That meant that there were likely crossed purposes built into every event. Wilson and Grace were fighting for control.

I grabbed another section of floating stone…

That was it.

Commune Check… Successful

You are now communicating with Follower Toad Badkiss

Doug: Humbaba is with the Bigfeet. They need help.

Toad: Shit. They are so far away.

Doug: The Helicopters!

Toad: … It would be a one-way trip… they could make it, weather permitting. I will see it done. The majority of the rings are broken. We will suffer the rest.

Doug: Thank you.

Toad: Where are you?

Doug: nearing the tenth floor.

I closed the chat. It would take a long time for them to cram thirty thousand bodies into the caves. Originally, the Helicopters were meant to counter the rings and the artillery. Zach had freed up those resources.

I was on the landing of the steps leading up to the next floor.

I sighed and started up them, "It's all part of the plan."

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