The gala took place on a hill in the middle of Campus, in a place called the 'Crystal Pavilion.' It was a sprawling crystal dome. It spread the moonlight in ghostly fractals over the perfectly trimmed gardens all around it.
Zane wore a suit custom-tailored for his size. Of course it was Reina who'd gotten it made for him—she'd had it ready a week in advance. It wasn't like an old-world suit, though it had that stylish flair. It was something between formal dress and a martial robe.
When he came out of the bathroom with it on, Reina stood there stunned for a good five seconds, mouth slightly open. Then she pounced on him and started kissing him. Then she got a little possessive when she realized other girls would get to see him like this. Which Zane took as a pretty good review.
He walked up the hill with Reina on his arm. She wore a dark green dress which reminded Zane of an old forest seen from above. It was elegant yet loose, easy to move around in. She was so beautiful Zane didn't understand how it was possible. He kept sneaking glances at her trying to figure it out.
When they arrived, a Silicon Coven official blared an announcement.
"World Rank #7, Zane Walker! And World Rank #68, Reina Torres!"
The string band near the statues screeched to a stop. The folk chatting by the fancy food tables, or sipping wine by the chocolate fountains, or walking the gardens outside all stopped too. And stared.
Then they got swarmed.
In the space of a minute an Argentinian lady, a handful of Europeans, an Australian, and a South Korean guy all scrambled over to introduce themselves; they were all gushing. Zane got the gist of it—they wanted their faction and the Luminous Faction to be friends. They even gave Zane free treasures for no reason Zane could tell—but he happily pocketed them. He picked up some B-ranked Law Fruit, some Law treasures, an ornate helm, even.
The talking he left to Reina. He just stood there and nodded and said things when he had to.
A few guys really wanted to talk to him though. One of them, a burly Englishman with a disheveled mustache, seemed vaguely familiar. But Zane couldn't quite remember where he'd seen the guy.
"I must say," said Cain Hastings. "It has been… a rather difficult few weeks for me."
He sounded a little choked up; his eyes were kind of wet. Then he shook his head vigorously; he flared his nostrils; his mustache trembled. "However! I shall persevere! And for that I have you to thank, Zane Walker!"
Zane was baffled. Had they met?
"You showed me," said Cain, "The futility of the path I followed!"
He chuckled ruefully. "Why—the moment I saw you achieve three hundred kills in thirty minutes, I knew I would never be the best again. Never! I daresay that was the exact moment I lost all hope!"
He cleared his throat. "I may laugh about it now, but… I must admit! At the time… at the time it was quite painful. I… may have shed a tear or two."
Zane was not sure how to respond to all this.
"But! It was the best thing that ever happened to me!" Cain continued. "I learned how pointless it is to compare oneself to others! There's no need for that. No—I must be the best version of Cain Hastings I can be!"
He thumped a fist to his chest; he was feeling all fiery again. "If I'd never learned that lesson, after that last… frankly brutal destruction our Nigerian friend wrought upon me… I would have given up altogether. But no! You have the word of Cain Hastings—I shall never surrender!"
"Okay," said Zane.
"Do take care, old boy," chuckled Cain. He gave Zane a pat on the back and left.
Wait.
Oh. Right. This was the guy who Eze beat up.
Zane wasn't really sure what he was yapping about, but he seemed happy.
Anyway.
Speaking of—Zane caught sight of Eze right about then. He stood there on the other side of the room. The guy looked miserable. He was alone, frowning a little, still as a statue. He looked kind of awkward actually. Nobody was talking to him—but he didn't seem to want to talk to anyone. He seemed like he wished the whole thing was over.
Zane had never really seen him comfortable anywhere in public. Except in a battlefield.
Then Eze caught sight of Zane. And blinked. And started walking over.
The crowd parted before him, and soon they came face to face again.
"We meet again, Savage Sage," said Eze smoothly. He held out a hand, a slight smile on his face. Zane shook it.
"And this is your lovely partner?"
"Reina."
"Well met, Miss Torres."
Eze held out a hand. Reina did not take it; she just glared at the guy.
Eze blinked, shrugged, and turned back to Zane. "It was a wonderful fight," he breathed. "Since our match, you've given me a new… excitement, shall we call it? A new fire."
Zane could feel it. There was this sense of tension just when they stood next to each other; Zane was getting a little amped up too. Something about the guy just set off his fighting spirit.
"In the past few days I have gained two new Major Laws of Darkness! That completes the set. As soon as this…" Eze wrinkled his nose. "Gala. Is concluded. I will attempt the breakthrough."
"I plan to do that too," said Zane.
"I look forward to it." Eze smiled. "Do give the Hell Array a try. I'm quite curious to see how you compare."
Zane got the feeling the guy thrived on this kind of thing.
Eze bowed to Zane, then to Reina. And left.
"Hmph," said Reina.
After about an hour, Zane had gotten tired of all the talking. And he wasn't even doing most of it. Reina, thank goodness, was still warm and smiling and making everyone feel good. She could still go for a while.
Then there was a chime, and all the talking stopped all at once.
Elias got up on a dais in the center of the room. He wore a ridiculous robe—it looked like some kind of silver space suit. He cleared his throat and grinned.
"Thank you all so much for coming to this humble party of mine! Truly—it's an honor."
Tepid applause.
"You may be wondering about the announcement I've been teasing all week… well! I won't leave you in suspense, friends. It all has to do with this!"
With a showman's flourish he brandished something aloft. It looked to be a tattered leather book, its pages yellowed and fraying at the edges. Confused murmurs all around.
"This is a rather unique treasure," said Elias, eyes twinkling. "Furnished to me very recently from an A-rank dungeon. Get this—it's a diary. And not an earth diary, mind you! A diary from a certain 'Laithan, Star Paladin,' of planet 'Nomon.' A diary which has some fascinating hints as to just what's coming for us! Because you see—'Nomon' had been very much like Earth. A normal planet populated by humans many, many light years away. Then the Change struck—or as they call it, the Great Reckoning!"
He paused; he seemed to enjoy having everyone's eyes on him, holding everyone in breathless anticipation.
"And it went much like our own. Their planet was entirely transformed into dungeons, ranked F to S! And like us they began to clear them. And like us, they noticed something strange… over time, the rate of dungeon breaks and dungeon re-spawns was only accelerating. Soon it would overwhelm the planet! Their first theory was that reaching 100% clearance—that was, taking out all the A-rank and S-ranked dungeons—would stop the bleeding!"
He shook his head. "But no. There was one last trial before the planet could stabilize. After they cleared the very last S-rank dungeon… there was one last dungeon to clear. A dungeon that only spawned after Completion hit 100%—that is, after the last S-rank cleared. And this guy's notes make it sound like the mother of all dungeons."
Astonishment rippled through the crowd. Zane blinked too. But he sensed no deception from the guy—he seemed to be telling the truth. Huh.
"The Monsters—and treasures—were like nothing they'd ever seen!" Elias continued. "The sort of dungeon you needed a team of the very best in the world to clear. Alas... The diary ends there. Laithan died in this Superdungeon. Because his planet was stuck in a vicious civil war! They went into the Superdungeon divided, battling each other… and there they perished. So did their planet, soon after."
Silence.
"Clearly," said Elias. "If we want to survive this thing—and avoid the fate of our poor friend Laithan—we'll need to work together. First to tackle the 18 remaining A-ranks, then the 2 remaining S-ranks… and we'll strike out at the Superdungeon together! With how much the degeneration seems to be accelerating, the very best from every continent will need to assemble. And I'm happy to say we've already got our Asia team!"
He gestured to his left, grinning. "It'll be led by Yuki Urabe of the Cherry Blossom Order!"
Yuki was the only guy in the whole place not wearing formal robes. Just a paint-splattered T-shirt. He was a skinny guy. His hair was quite messy. He looked like he'd just crawled out of bed; he yawned and waved. "Yo."
"Then there's Somsak Srisuwan of the Bangkok Top Team!"
A fierce-looking man in a colorful rope headband nodded.
"And while they couldn't join us, Jian Shi Ming of the Shaolin Temple and Kalyan Ramanathan of the Tigers of Madras have signed on too."
Elias nodded. "Friends—it is up to us to rise to the challenge. To meet this existential threat head-on! And that also means taking advantage of our best resources."
Here he cleared his throat. Zane sensed a certain excitement start coming from him—which probably meant he was thinking of money. "Which is why I, Elias Ventor, hereby pledge that the Silicon Coven will always be at the bleeding edge in terms of resource treasures! As soon as we can afford S-ranks, we'll get them. And after VGI—which has been a bit of a trial period for all of you, a taster, if you will, of just what we can offer—I also pledge to open up our treasures to all World Rankers… for a discounted rate!"
Now everyone was staring incredulously.
"It is," Elias said, nodding. "Of existential importance that every single World Ranker takes advantage of the Silicon Coven's resources. Indeed—my heart bleeds when I think just how much profit I'm giving up with this discount… alas! I do it for the benefit of humanity."
At all the frowns people were giving him, he cleared his throat and gave a hapless little smile, a 'hand-in-the-cookie-jar' look. "Alright—perhaps… perhaps I do stand to gain as well. But I'm telling the truth! Let me say to all those present, feel free to audit this diary! It's open to all. The Superdungeon is coming. And it's obvious to all of us that dungeon breaks are only accelerating. All I offer is a leg up in the coming apocalypse! Take it or not—we'll still need to be ready."
Nobody seemed to know what to think. Everyone was looking at everyone else.
"…Well!" said Elias at last. "Lots to digest, clearly. Take your time! I've said my piece. Have a wonderful evening, everyone!" He hopped off the stage.
The pavilion exploded in discussion.