Chapter 53 – Floor 3 – Zacchaeus’s Plot

Duchess was a woman with long red hair and shining hazel eyes. Her mother was a Vice-Councilman, and Duchess had grown up living around the council and its members. Ziphe and Ryke were like family to her. Even as a child, Duchess dreamed of becoming a Councilwoman like her mother, but everything was shattered because of Lavilin.

The Council sent two of their strongest members to track down Lavilin, Councilman Brine, and Vice-Councilwoman Ellie, Duchess's mother. Lavilin killed both of them with great difficulty, and he was brought to the brink of death on the border of Tynak. The Beast Lord of Tynak agreed to help Lavilin, but worldwide mobilization put the country in a dire position. Assuming the forces of Hell could protect Tynak and usher in a new era for the Beast Country, Lavilin lived to see another day.

The Beast Lord of Tynak gladly yet foolishly accepted Lavilin's political refuge when Lavilin promised to open the dungeon with his mysterious means. Tynak vastly underestimated Galeon, the other nations, and the High Council. Along with that, Lavilin opened the dungeon, but it ended with an inevitable and predictable betrayal. Instead of the promised protection guaranteed by Lavilin from the forces of Hell, they swarmed Tynak, obliterating and consuming everything in its wake.

Beast Lord Gron was one of the strongest Deities in the world by sheer power, but Wizard King Xie came to retrieve the Blue Destiny Seal himself from Gron and the Shade Lord. Lavilin was brought to the Gates of Hell in desperation. Lavilin killed his escorts and opened the doors alone so he could enter Hell on his own. Gron was engaged in his battle with Xie, but he was outnumbered by the Council Members and died a violent death. History would look back on his greed with disgust.

The moment the gates of Hell were opened, chaos erupted.

Lavilin entered the dungeon, and Shades, beasts, and monsters streamed out, destroying Tynak and starting a continent-wide war that would last nearly a decade. Many called this incident the Shade War because of the Shades that served the Shade Lord.

As the most powerful Shade to escape Hell, the Shade Lord became powerful enough to rival the strongest Deities in Ryko, but Wizard King Xie fought him and won in a decisive battle.

Duchess, on the other hand, didn't care about the millions who had died. All she cared about was Lavilin. She wanted him to be held accountable for his actions. Because of his reckless terrorism, her mother had died. Duchess had been excited to tell her mother that she finally qualified to become a Council Trainee Member, but she never got to tell her. There weren't many people who knew her mother's identity compared to the full-fledged council members, and perhaps Xie had maybe even personally told 21 about her mother to put it in Zacchaeus's prophetic book, but it didn't matter to her. 21 promised to bring Lavilin to justice at the beginning of the journey, and Duchess believed him.

When Zacchaeus showed her his prophetic book, she felt like she gained a deep insight on her fellow party members, but 21 putting her desire in the book struck a chord within her. 21 knew what was important to her, and he had saved the party from disaster thus far. 21 would surely bring Lavilin to justice if she followed Zacchaeus's plan.

Zacchaeus vaguely knew that Duchess was the daughter someone related to the council, but he didn't know it was Ellie. Seeing her reaction, he put two and two together. He was happy she agreed to help trick the High Priest, but beyond that, he didn't really care about Duchess nor White. All he cared about was himself.

"The plan is simple. In six days from now, we will reach the Fourth Floor. A storm is brewing, and tension will rise. At its peak, we must lure the Priest on to the deck. When the storm reaches its climax, we will finally be free of him. That's the whole plan." Zacchaeus shrugged. He didn't know why 21 had told him to do this, but he didn't care. All he knew was that the prophet had promised him he would be able to clear the dungeon the way he wanted. Would the priest die or become injured? He didn't care. 21's official position was high enough that Zacchaeus trusted him.

"Is that really it?" Duchess was suspicious. Would Zacchaeus do something violent in the cover of the storm?

"Yes, 21 told me that's all I had to do to change our standing in the party." Zacchaeus responded.

"Should we tell White?" Duchess whispered.

"We shouldn't need to. White is a nice guy, but if he asked the priest to do anything, I'm sure that old bat would do the opposite." Zacchaeus joked.

"Fair enough. Just give me a signal when the time is right." Duchess nodded.

***

Some of the party members were clearing the Third Floor better than others. Ziphe constantly spaced out during his recovery, and Clico's eyes would sometimes water if he stared into the abyss for too long.

Omira and the other Royalty recovered as well. When she got back on her feet, she cheered Clico up with jokes about carrying the party on her back.

"You just helped a little bit. Ziphe and Tyermsy did most of the work." Clico joked back.

"Hmph. You might be right, but I was fantastic." Omira's vile face twisted into a smile.

Trike was still in his hospital bed.

"What do you think is in his illusion?" Clico asked Omira.

"Probably having to work all day instead of being in bed!" Omira sarcastically nudged Realeh.

"Hmm… But what is… that?" Clico pointed to the strange spatial distortions coming off of Trike's body.

"Who cares?" Omira shrugged and looked at the other patients that got stuck in illusions.

Suddenly, Anaxmai stood up from his illusion and promptly walked out of the room. Clico and Omira looked at each other in shock. This guy was in his illusion, but he woke up abruptly and didn't care about anything else besides leaving the hospital bay.

"Anaxmai, are you okay?" Realeh called out, but he was already gone.

All three quickly followed Anaxmai up to the deck. Anaxmai appeared on deck, staring into the fog. The only person on deck was Mo, who watched the fog with a disturbing look on his face. Clico and Omira ignored him and followed Anaxmai to the railing.

"I wonder what he sees?" Omira whispered to Clico, signaling to the disheveled Anaxmai.

"Maybe Lavilin?" Clico wondered, knowing Anaxmai's quest for revenge.

"Then why'd he get up?" Omira whispered back.

Anaxmai ignored them and walked to the edge of the railing of the ship. This was the first time Anaxmai appeared frazzled as far as Clico knew him. Anaxmai shook his head and walked back into the ship, ignoring the trio. He looked down at the ground, not even acknowledging Clico and Omira.

"What'd you see?" Omira couldn't contain her curiosity. Anaxmai stopped midway into the hatch that led into the Labyrinthian and turned around.

"Why don't you ask the prophet." Anaxmai said angrily. Clico and Omira were dumbfounded. Anaxmai turned around and continued.

"Did Anaxmai just try to make a joke?" Clico looked at Omira, exasperated. Maybe Anaxmai knew Omira hated 21?

"Hmm, maybe we underestimated him. It was a great set up." Omira shook her head solemnly.

Back on the deck, a storm was brewing in the distance. Mo had been watching the fog vigilantly while many of the members stayed below deck. His intense glare was full of fire.

Soon, he would get what he had been searching for.

21 came up behind him with the silent Do.

"Come. We are speaking with Anaxmai."

Mo nodded and followed the dup to Anaxmai's quarters.

21 knocked three times.

"What?" Anaxmai growled.

"Anaxmai, the great adventurer. Hero of the Shade War. Many wonder why you joined this doomed party. Maybe fame? Fortune? No. You're here for what you see in the fog. You're here to kill Lavilin." 21 declared outside the door.

Anaxmai stood with his back to the door, looking into the fog outside his window but didn't turn around.

"I will kill him." Anaxmai grinded his teeth angrily.

"This may help you. Please accept this gift." 21 bowed and left a book at his door. Anaxmai opened the door and picked up the book. When Anaxmai read the cover, he threw it to the ground in a rage.

"So, you know then?" Anaxmai spat out, turning back around angrily.

"Anaxmai, the apprentice of Lavilin and the scorn of the Authorities. Take the book and survive to see Lavilin's arrest." 21 picked the book back up and offered it to him again. Anaxmai turned back around and received the book.

The cover read, Lavilin's Apprentice.

"A prophet of your caliber is either a time traveler, a lucky fraud, or backed by an Authority. You give out false information mixed with truth to manipulate us. Who is your Authority? I am not your puppet. Tell me the truth. Unlike the others, I'm not a pushover." Anaxmai growled.

"I serve no Authority, but there are many secret Authorities I know of. Four Authorities lurk in the shadows, pulling the strings. Cipher is one of them, and many of his followers are in the party. Xana is another Authority who shouldn't be involved in our party but is." 21 paused.

Anaxmai turned back around with a curious expression so 21 couldn't see.

"The First Deathless, the missing Authority, is watching our party carefully as well. And then, there is the Secret Authority. No one knows who he is. I won't tell you who he is, but there will be many curious Authorities who will intervene throughout our expedition." 21 pulled out another book. He handed this one to Anaxmai.

Its cover read, Lavilin, Ruler of Hell.

"What is this trash?" Anaxmai was infuriated and smacked the book out of 21's hand.

"It is Lavilin's future if I don't intervene." 21 calmly responded.

"Do you wish to keep it?" 21 continued his recruitment process, picking the book up and handing it back to him. Anaxmai skimmed through its contents and skipped to the end.

"Hand me your other version. I want to see the difference in the endings." Anaxmai demanded. 21 handed over the previous book. Anaxmai looked at each ending side by side.

"What a joke. You expect me to believe this party can conquer the dungeon with Lavilin's help? I don't care if I die, I will kill him, even at the cost of your schemes." Anaxmai tossed the books aside and slammed the door on 21.

Turning to Mo and Do, 21 kept talking, "As you can see, he wasn't willing to help our plan. Don't worry, Cipher and Xana will soon involve their spies, and Anaxmai will be forced to pick a new side when Lavilin appears."

Mo and Do clapped fervently.

Anaxmai listened from inside his room.

"This prophet is too dangerous to be left alive." He thought to himself.

The tall, dark-skinned twins with shaven bald heads escorted 21 away. They had grown up in the deserts of Pyrite, and they had honed their craft as prophets all their lives in order to survive. Never before had they met a prophet as competent as 21 though. His lessons had helped them reach new heights, and they welcomed the upcoming storm with open arms.

The storm came closer and closer as the distance from the fog thinned. Zacchaeus waited in anticipation, Anaxmai punched the wall in frustration, and Ziphe read his personal book, Dungeon Conquerors.

"Everything is going according to plan." Thought 21.