The Tower in the Shadows

The Pantheon gathered on the divine plane at the Circle of Equals, a place rarely used.

Like the other planes, they were still counting the cost. They had gathered to discuss what they knew and what had to be done. Rickle looked around, taking note of the state of many of the others. The circle was designed like an amphitheatre with the gods sitting around it. The space was designed to have everyone look at the three thrones.

They presented a confident front, but privately, they were afraid. Two were missing from the gathering. The central throne was empty, with Nictor and Xandus sitting on the flanking ones. There was another space among the gathered gods.

"Attention, everyone," Xandus called out to them, to focus their attention. "We are here to take account of what happened."

Nictor then stood and joined the conversation. "We have a good idea of the aftermath of what happened."

"We will start with the damage here on the divine plane." Came from Xandus. "The damage is evident for all of us to see. Oda's corruption and betrayal were deeper than we could ever expect."

"Nearly all of his minions and servants were corrupted. Somehow, the corruption was hidden until he revealed his own." Nictor explained. "The void corruption took them quickly, and they fell into the others. Those not corrupted were too few to fall, as was mirrored in his temples and churches."

"We have sealed that part of the divine plane away that still has the stains of void corruption." Xandus' face showed her grief and sadness at what happened.

"Similar things took place on the Celestial and Infernal planes. Corruption was hidden away in them and revealed when Oda turned. They were not as badly affected as we were, but there was a cost." Nictor seemed torn.

"The Mortal plane was damaged as badly as we were. Every temple and church dedicated became a source of void corruption. You all knew what happened next. The death toll and destruction conceal the spread of corruption. But we have found a possible solution to that problem." Xandus was visibly deflated as she spoke, but rallied at the end. The toll among the mortals had been heaviest among the clergy of the Pantheon, where they were the first to fall. Taken by surprise and outnumbered, they fought and fell all the same.

"Our servants and followers suffered first. Then the communities that surrounded them suffered. The tally was terrible, and the cost bitter. We all heard the cries and prayers as they fought and died in that time of madness." They were all affected in some way by what they heard as they fought Oda and his corrupt servants.

"Adding that Astraus fell in the battle, and her servants were shattered at such a desperate time." Xandus touched on a sensitive subject for them all. "We tried to save some aspect of her, but the injury was too great. We have stabilised her realm and its important functions. Her Mantles are now open, and the Path of Ascension has taken it into account."

Three Mantles could lead to one to three new Gods, which could further change the dynamics of the Pantheon. That was not considering that Oda's Mantle might also come into play. Many of the gods were looking around to see the reactions of the others.

"The search for Oda continues. We have been looking across all planes. We have been scouring them but have no sign of him yet." Nictor continued. "If we find him, we must engage him quickly. All need to be ready."

"We have been looking back across the last millennium of his actions with what has happened. We have spotted a contradiction in his actions over this time. It grew steadily over the last thousand years. Strange actions and choices are subtle at first but more pronounced."

"We must discuss the Tower in the Shadows Dungeon." Nictor's words caused a stir amongst them. The Dungeon had been busy since Oda's turning and the resulting violence.

"It has expanded to its tenth floor and created a new type of monster to act as its Guardian. He calls the creation a 'Manticore' and we have investigated it and found…"

"What happens if it enters the world? An Infernal touch monster could be a disaster!" Kyross demanded, cutting off Xandus. He was powerful as the God of Animals, and that included monsters. Something new would disrupt his part of the mortal plane, especially if Infernal forces were involved. The muttering got louder.

"It is contained and touched, not a conduit for spreading Infernal essence," Nictor answered Kyross's concerns. This did not soothe the concerns around him, and Rickle heard the tone of the conversation becoming more agitated.

"SILENCE!" Xandus's voice boomed out, shocking them into silence. "WE! And I mean, we have spent time thoroughly reviewing the Core and found that it is still performing its intended task. It has even developed a way to remove void corruption from mortals."

That brought the group to silence. The dangers of this Core were now known. Its shattering or other means of destruction would create a new void breach. This latest breach would be an even greater disaster than the first. Their predictions indicated it would be even larger than the first, spewing forth far more void corruption that would spread like a tidal wave of energy when released. Even their most limited and optimistic projections indicated that it would be felt indirectly far worse than the first time across the globe. The continent of Kyber would suffer the most as it had with the first breach.

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"The Core can only produce a limited number of void stones. Ilinia's followers, through observation of the Core, have made great strides in removing corrupted essence from mortals in such a way that does not kill them. The process is still hazardous and risks corrupting the healer attempting it. Without one of those stones, the process would be impossible." Nictor explained. "Once the stone is filled with corrupt essence, it is returned to the Dungeon for safe destruction. And before anyone asks, it cannot be reused; it needs to be destroyed."

They had all heard of the advances in the means of corruption removal from mortals. Many were aware of the existence of void stone, but now they understood more of what it did, and that had to be destroyed. They had understood the paradox they would all have to deal with. Isolation and destruction of the Core would be the best thing for all, but in doing so, they would create another breach. Also, interfering with it meant it would no longer produce void stones.

The meeting continued, and a few more things were discussed, but ultimately, all of the Pantheon realised that they were in a bind. Until they found Oda or discovered another means of creating void stones, they had to leave things as they were for the moment.

Change was coming, and none of them could predict what form it would take.

## ## ## ## ##

Oda was not the God he once was.

He was hiding in a pocket spatial dimension he had created.

It was only a matter of time before they found him.

He should be planning. Organising. Taking actions to secure his future.

Instead, he was arguing with himself. The void corruption within him fractured his mind and nature. The corrupt aspects tried to drive his actions, while the other part, what was left of the God of balance, fought on to form his task.

"…. I must be ready for the battle…"

"…Balance must be maintained…"

"… This world will fall…."

"…. The world and its planes cannot fall…"

The battle raged in his mind and soul.

The longer it went on, the better the rest of the planes' chances against the void that threatened to destroy them all.

## ## ## ## ##

Rickle stood before the pantheon members, overseeing the Tower in the Shadows Dungeon.

He had managed to hide most of what he had been up to with Oda. They knew what he needed them to know, and secrecy was his best defence during these times. Paranoia could take on a life of its own and be the end of them all.

Why was he called here?

The summons made him concerned, but he trusted in his designs.

Now he stood before them, awaiting to know what they wanted.

"Rickle, you have had the most experience with this Dungeon. What do you recommend doing with the problem of the Dungeon having access to infernal mana?" Xandus asked him. The others watched with great interest.

"Celestial." He replied. His answer was quick, and the others were taken aback by it. He had been thinking about the problem and reached the only logical conclusion.

"Celestial?" Xandus looked at him with interest and sought an explanation.

"The Pantheon is concerned with Bhaldor becoming an Infernal Core. Dungeon Cores naturally resist corruption unless they absorb the energy at the start of their journey." He decided to lay it all out slowly. "Supplying the Core with a Celestial source of mana will balance out the infernal energies within the Core."

The group shared looks with each other at his suggestion.

"Outwardly, that is a sound idea. The danger is that this Core will have access to not one but two higher-tier mana sources." Nictor said.

"Bhaldor," Rickle spoke loudly.

"Sorry?" Xandus asked, confused.

"Bhaldor. The Core name is Bhaldor." Ranus reminded them.

"Yes…. it is." She admitted and took a moment before continuing. "But our concerns still stand. Two high-tier mana sources could be dangerous."

"I think we are well past that point, don't you agree?" Rickle presented a front of an uninterested divine player. Today, he was feeling testy and willing to push back; they were all in trouble, and he needed them to start to look at radical solutions.

His words hit the mark, and the others shifted uncomfortably. They were well past that point, but they were trying to show that they were in control. Rickle was one of the few willing to accept the current situation.

"Whether intentionally or not, Oda created the means to regulate and remove the void corruption from all the planes." He looked at them as he spoke, forcing eye contact. "We are not in balance. The planes are not in balance. The void corruption is getting stronger. If Oda has been fully corrupted, then Bhaldor is the one person he must remove to see the void takes our planes."

Silence greeted his words as the other digested what he had said.

He had been the first to voice what they were all thinking.

"Rickle is right," Hackyon said for the first time. Bhaldor is the one thing Oda must remove to see our planes destroyed. His existence holds the void corruption in check. The creation of void stones will strengthen us in the long run."

"We keep celestial and infernal separate for a reason. They are just below Divine Mana." Nictor reminded them.

"We need to prepare the Dungeon for any hostile actions Oda makes against it." Lawdrun now spoke. "It is an imperfect solution, but giving it access to celestial mana is our best option."

The murmurs at the idea change to agreement.

With that, Rickle knew he had gotten them to do what needed to be done.

## ## ## ## ##

"Come on, Larry, the tenth floor is not that bad."

He was cleaning the soot from his fur and giving me a serious side-eye. Puck was flying around the entry room. It was about an hour before dawn, and I was getting ready for the day.

There was still little foot traffic below the fifth floor at the moment, but that was starting to change. I heard that my rating had been increased to platinum, and more adventurers were heading this way.

Selmum had visited twice more to witness the removal of the void essence technique. She was confident she could recreate it. The biggest issue was the difficulty in creating void stones.

That was a problem I was still working on with no success yet.

I had started making plans for the eleventh floor but had not finalised anything yet.

"I warned you to avoid the lava river as it…"

There was a flash of light from the room above the table.

We all turned and saw a single white feather floating down from somewhere.

I went over to it as it slowly descended.

The closer I got, the more obvious it was that this was not a normal feather. It was large, a brilliant pure white, and it glowed softly.

"Right then, not suspicious at all."

It continued to fall, and I scanned the area using Mana Sight. The feather was rich in energy, something I had not seen before and was a mana type I could not identify.

It reached the table and started to degrade.

"Shit!"

What to do? What to do?

Who was I kidding? I am a greedy Core after all.

I reached out and absorbed it.