Lifeblood Chaos [LitRPG Apocalypse]

Ray wasn't one to remain bedridden for long. Sure, he might have suffered some pretty bad wounds in the last battle. But hey, he had recovered enough, especially thanks to the healing abilities visited on him by Marcus and others.

His head was still a little foggy, though. He could admit that at least.

It was still a bit difficult to fathom everything that had gone down after he had killed Pierce and banished the damn Fleshcrafter for good with the help of his own Paragon.

Ray recalled the crowds slowly surging into anger, though none of them had actually done anything. He remembered the fighting dying down until he was standing in a pool of silence, bounded only by the fact that he wasn't fully aware of what came next, not that he was in any state to do anything or even think about it much.

Thankfully, his companions had survived through the fight with next to no injuries. Marcus had gotten a little hurt when trying to act overprotective when it came to Eliza, but otherwise, they were all fine. The Sylvan warriors had posed a problem sure, but they weren't anywhere near as deadly as the Tower Lord had been.

Although, the same couldn't be said for their non-Sylvan enemies… During that last fray, where Sameer and Lent had come rushing in along with the Sylvans, Sameer and Lent had eventually gotten into an altercation. Which hadn't left Sameer intact.

Ray had only learned about it after the fact, which made him wince even now. If Sameer hadn't been there, things wouldn't have turned out as smoothly as it had done…

Which made Ray not realizing he had been hurt doubly worse, kind of. Apparently, as soon as Sameer had outright assisted Ray in taking away the treasure from Pierce and using it to eventually end up killing Pierce directly, Lent had gotten rather mad. Angry enough to attack Sameer immediately afterwards, to the point where Sameer had been gravely injured.

Ray still had a hard time believing he had missed all that. Forget actually helping Sameer, he hadn't even seen the fight happen.

The others had arrived and put a stop to it soon after, at least. Lent had been subdued, and Sameer was still alive for the time being. Ray was actually going to have to pay the guy a visit and thank him. It might send a bad taste flooding his mouth, but he wasn't an ingrate.

Sameer had come around in the end. For all that he had acted like an asshole, he had stepped up when it really mattered.

He had also learned that they'd been late because the surviving teammates of the other teams from the last dungeon had ambushed them. Sameer's team was specifically targeted because Sameer had killed the most of them. By a wide margin, too.

A knock pulled Ray out of his little reverie.

"You up, wingman?" Gritty asked. "We've got company, so it's time you got up."

Ray's ears perked up. Company sounded like what they had been waiting for. "I'm up. Give me a second."

He dressed and walked out. Despite the fantastic healing, Ray was still wincing a bit. Moving his right arm still sucked. He would survive, though. What came next was far more important than any old pain.

"Let's go," Ray said.

Gritty looked mildly concerned at the way he moved his arm, but didn't object.

Together, they headed out. Not towards the former Tower Lord's palace, where things were still a bit tumultuous—and honestly, Ray might end up needing to go there anyway—but to the docks. To where they tied other islands to the main Auction Island for easy boarding and deboarding.

It was there they met Kredevel.

"Took you long enough." Ray's face was split by a wide grin at seeing his old friend again. "I thought you were never going to come."

"I did my best to hurry up after hearing about your latest debacle." Kredevel was happy to see him too, that was quite obvious. Although, as with Gritty, there was a slight look of concern on him as well. "Are you sure you are alright? You failed to mention that your injuries were… this severe."

Ray scowled. No way he looked that bad. "I'm absolutely fine. A little thing like the Tower Lord can't hurt me."

That made Kredevel crack another grin. "Of course. How could I ever assume otherwise. Come, let's go to our real destination while you fill me in on the details you neglected to mention earlier."

That was when they headed over to the central palace on Auction Island. Ray had indeed neglected to mention some details here and there, waiting until Kredevel arrived to tell him everything. Nevertheless, he and Gritty did thank him for arriving after their summons.

Normally, they wouldn't have been able to contact someone on another Floor easily. But there was one little thing Ray had sort of ignored since getting mired into the tournament.

The Eternal Guardian.

He had sent it back down to the Second Floor with a clear message. The Third Floor was in need of new administration, and making it purely human wasn't going to work. They needed the help of a Sylvan. A Sylvan they knew and trusted.

That was where Kredevel came in. He had accepted. In fact, he had been seeking to ascend to the Third Floor for some time too, having left the Second Floor behind in capable hands. Apparently, they had managed to establish a clear connection between the Second and First Floors, and he hoped to do the same here.

"How are Maya and the others doing?" Ray asked. He did miss talking to them a bit. It would be worth it to get in touch with them again… whatever came next after this.

"They are quite alright," Kredevel said. "In fact, they are making rather astounding progress, if I do say so myself. Some of the technological marvels they have managed to create—or recreate, according to them—are nothing short of inspiring. I see how your race was advanced enough to have been taken in by the Omniversal System."

Huh. So they were creating Earth-tech back on the First Floor. That honestly sounded pretty interesting.

It eventually became Ray's turn to explain in greater detail about everything he had gone through on the Third Floor. Kredevel wasn't at all surprised to learn that he had ended up killing both the Floor and the Tower Lords.

"We are speaking of you after all, Ray," Kredevel said, like that explained everything.

Gritty snorted a bit.

The palace appeared before long. Ray had been avoiding it so far because of the commotion. And also because he was still recovering from his injuries. Thankfully, he now had an approved companion who'd provide an "in" for the Tower-Lord-killer.

There were some Sylvan guards posted, of course. Just because there had been a big battle that had injured or killed a good many Sylvans didn't mean there hadn't been more to take up the lost ones' places.

None of them stopped Ray or Gritty. Not when there was Kredevel accompanying them, looking for all the world like he belonged there more than anyone else.

Ray had been so right to bring him along.

In the palace's main hall, they found their target. Lyvanse was speaking with several dignitaries at once. Some were Sylvans, some were Ryous or Holdstar, but all were somewhere between agitated and furious. Credit to Lyvanse though, he was handling them quite well. As he had been doing since the death of the Tower Lord.

Ray's arrival turned all attention towards his little group. It was like a match being dropped into an oil barrel. The dignitaries more or less exploded upon seeing him.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"How dare he—"

"Kill that man immediately!"

"I will not stand witness to such atrocities walking about!"

Alright, that one was a little uncalled for.

Thankfully, Lyvanse had great practice corralling the dignitaries' anger. Ray did his best to hide his disdain. They weren't really angry that Ray had killed the Tower Lord and stopped the Sylvans' plans. Just as Sridayne said, the dignitaries had no skin in the game. All they cared about was whether they got the entertainment and value they could extract from the Tower.

With changing leadership, all that value was called into question. That was where Lyvanse's main power came in.

They couldn't just plop a human like Ray in charge of the entire Third Floor. The outrage would have been too great. There would be no guarantees for any sort of material returns for the dignitaries who had expended so much time and resources into the Tower and the Immortalizer Tournament.

Not that Ray cared to actually rule the Tower or any of its Floors. That sounded like a major pain. But at the same time, he couldn't just hand off the reins for the entire Tower—or at least, it's most important Floor—to someone he barely trusted.

Lyvanse had more or less abandoned them during the penultimate showdown against the Tower Lord. Sure, he hadn't helped the Tower Lord or betrayed them like Pierce had. But still. He hadn't taken a stand. Even fucking Sameer had done so.

How was Ray supposed to allow someone like that to just take everything over?

Which was where Kredevel came in. As a Sylvan, and as someone who used to work with the Floor Lords and was familiar with their processes and intents, he was almost perfect for the job.

"This is Kredevel," Lyvanse introduced to the dignitaries. "We will of course conduct a proper introduction and banquet to welcome the new Floor Lord to his role, but let me assure you that he is quite qualified. Kredevel's experience comes as a result of direct tutelage of the First Floor Lord, and he has been overseeing the conduct of the Second Floor for a while now."

Not entirely true, but it worked. The dignitaries' anger cooled down over time. Kredevel introduced himself, performed the expected pleasantries, and assured that he would do his job to his utmost capabilities and ensure the dignitaries were well remunerated for their efforts in the Tower.

There was one small snag, however.

"Why are you accompanied by this… criminal?"

The dignitary who had voiced the question frothed at the mouth for a second. He had clearly been about to utter something a lot more severe. But this was why Ray considered them disdainfully. They couldn't even voice their real anger. Not when they feared offending the guy who had killed both the Floor and the Tower Lord.

"I'm just here for—" Ray paused. "Ah, there we go."

[Floor III—Complete]

Objective 1: For winning the Immortalizer Tournament, you have earned 50,000 Essence.
Objective 2: For defeating 1 out of 1 Gargants, you have earned 22,000 Essence.
Objective 5: For clearing 3 out of 5 dungeons, you have earned 30,000 Essence.
Objective 6: For defeating all enemy teams, you have earned 60,000 Essence.
Objective 7: For winning a Gold-star bid at the Immortalizer Tournament Auction, you have earned 25,000 Essence.

Hidden Objective 1: For finding 3 out of 3 Tower Nodes, you have earned 30,000 Essence.
Hidden Objective 2: For defeating the Paragon's incursion, you have earned 50,000 Essence.

Personal Objective 1: For selling 2 out of 2 treasures at the Immortalizer Tournament Auction, you have earned 34,000 Essence.
Personal Objective 2: For dethroning the Tower Lord, you have earned 45,000 Essence.

There was a flood of notifications after that, but Ray dismissed them all for the time being. He could review the rewards a little later, when he didn't have a group of potentially violent Sylvans breathing down his neck.

"I can leave the rest to you, right?" he said to Kredevel. Most of the others were looking on at him like he was slightly crazy, which was fair since they couldn't exactly see his blue screens.

His Sylvan friend nodded with a smile. "Of course. Thanks for inviting me. I will see you later."

For all the rewards that Ray had received, he was really only focused on one reward.

The Tower Token.

"Earth to wingman," Gritty said. "Or should I say, Tower to wingman?"

Ray blinked. "What? Are we there already?"

"Yes. Their hotel."

Ray looked up. It really was the hotel where Sameer and his team were staying. Ray hadn't been here before, but he was determined to see it through. He was not an ingrate like Sameer…

The Sylvan proprietor scowled at Ray and Gritty as they went inside and up the stairs. They found Sameer and Karkatrix on the roof.

No Eliza. She was off with Marcus, enjoying a date.

Sameer turned with a frown. "The hell do you want?"

Ray blinked. "You know everything's over, right? We don't have to be hostile anymore."

"Everything's over?" Sameer looked around exaggeratedly. "I'm still getting visits from your bullying ass, how can everything be over?"

It felt like a vein was popping in Ray's temple. Maybe Sameer was one of those people who took vicious pleasure in being an unending ass to others. Ray took a deep breath and controlled himself. He was here to not be an ingrate. He could do this.

"Thank you," Ray said.

"Why, you ass—" The way Sameer stopped mid-word like a living representation of a record scratch was almost funny. Ray pushed down the temptation to laugh hard. Sameer had thought that Ray had responded with another insult, but it couldn't be farther from the truth.

"I believe you express a return of gratitude for gratitude having been expressed to you," Karkatrix said. "What an odd culture you possess."

"Yeah, Sameer," Gritty said. "You're supposed to say you're welcome."

Sameer finally recovered, though the only thing he did was grumble under his breath.

Thankfully, Karkatrix was happy to fill in the vacuum. "What will you be doing next, Raymond Dominick? I assume, like us, your business on the Third Floor is done. You must have completed enough of your Objectives to proceed farther."

That was the question, wasn't it? It was what Ray had been pondering ever since he had finally received the notification that his journey on the Third Floor was complete.

Correction—his journey within the Tower of Forging was technically complete.

"I'm thinking I'm going to wait a bit," Ray said. "And once things settle down, I'm going to leave."

Gritty turned to him sharply. "Leave, huh?"

Ray slowly nodded. "To a different Tower. Can't stop here." The more he talked, the more he was sure of his intentions. "I want to grow stronger. I want to see what the Sylvan world looks like, what the worlds of the Holdstar and even the Ryous are like." He smiled at Karkatrix. "Humans are welcome there, I hope."

"You would be the first of your species to arrive at my home world," Karkatrix said. "I know many who would be very glad to have an entirely new species. Many who would pay a great deal to dissect and observe you."

"Uh, on second thought, maybe we'll leave the Ryous world for another time…"

Gritty laughed. Even Sameer cracked a smile. And that smile seemed to make Sameer realize something as well. Decide something as well.

"I'm heading to the Tower of Onslaught next," Sameer said. "I don't think we're going to stick to the same team as we did here." He briefly glanced at Karkatrix, who nodded back with a strangely grim smile. "We'll be going our separate ways."

Ray stared at him. "Are you asking me to come along with you?"

Sameer snorted. "Why would I ask? If I wanted to an asshole on my team, I'd just pop a portal under your feet and drag you along."

"Then why even bother telling me what Tower you're going to."

"I was making conversation!"

Ray sighed. "I don't even know what Towers I have as options… but I don't think I want just another Tower on Earth. Like I said, different worlds."

They chatted some more afterwards, although chatting with Sameer was always a pain. Ray had expressed his gratitude for the assistance back at the palace, and that was enough. Plus, he had also explained what was going to happen next, with Lyvanse and Kredevel working together to ensure the continued functioning of the Third Floor.

They were attempting to redo the structure of the Objectives to not need a gigantic tournament. Of course, they would still need to incorporate the dungeons floating on islands everywhere… but worrying about things like that was none of Ray's concern.

Instead, as he left Sameer's hotel, he was concerned about a wholly different thing.

"You know," Ray said to Gritty. "You never told me what you want to do next now that this Floor is done."

Gritty considered for a moment as she walked alongside him. "Well, I don't feel like going to other Towers and whatnot. Not yet, at least."

"Huh. That's fair. Feel like there's still more to do around here?"

"…not exactly. Just…" She hesitated. "I feel like all this shit we've been getting up to, it became a chore, wingman. You know? Like, by the end of things, we weren't going around fighting and exploring for the sake of it all. We were killing because we needed to. It wasn't fun anymore."

Ray was tempted to say that killing wasn't ever really fun, although, he'd be a hypocrite if he did so. After all, he did enjoy the moment of fighting quite a lot.

"I know what you mean," Ray said. "Kind of."

He pulled out the Tower Token again. The little golden ticket flashed in the daylight. Ray felt its smooth surface for a second before stowing it away.

"Gritty," Ray said. "I've got a little proposition."

She raised an eyebrow at him, her jagged, unkempt hair swaying slightly in the breeze. "What kind of proposition?"

Ray grinned. "You want to go back?"

"Back?"

"Yeah. Back down the Tower. Back to the Second and First Floors. To see it all again. To see Maya and the others again. Cause you're right. We turned this thing into… into a job. Now it's time we took a proper vacay, don't you think?"

Gritty snorted lightly. "And your idea of a vacation is going back?"

"Why? You don't like it?"

"Well, my idea of a vacation is going to the beach when it's raining so everyone else is gone and it's really cool to see the waves interacting with the raindrops."

"Uh—"

"But since we don't have anything like that here, I agree, wingman. Let's go back down for a bit. And then you can run off to your other Towers if you really feel like it."

Ray smiled. The idea of a beach in rain painted a strange picture, but it was compelling in its own weird way. Could he find something like that, tucked away in some corner of one of the Floors? It couldn't be impossible.

"Alright, it's settled then," Ray said. "We're going back down. For a bit. And what comes after… will come after."

For the first time in a while, Ray felt not just in control, but also free. There were no tournaments to win, no crazy Sylvans to stop, no Paragons to bargain with.

He was in control of where he went next. Of what he got up to next.

And that was, in the end, what Ray had ever really wanted.