Jack and Axelor rested on a piece of stone floating through the endless, colorful void. The Hall of Trials could teleport them back anytime, but Axelor had temporarily suppressed its functions. The dark man gazed at Jack, who lay sprawled on his back, a triumphant grin spread across his face.
“You know it’s uncouth to lay down in the presence of a God,” he said.
“I just kicked your ass—I can lay however I want. Besides, you’re not a God, just a part of one.”
Axelor chuckled. “Indeed.”
The silence stretched for a while. While the interdimensional sea didn’t possess the concept of time, the stone’s enchantments and the two cultivators’ aura forced it into being.
“I have questions,” said Jack.
“And so do I,” replied the God of Entropy. “How about we take turns?”
“Fine by me, just know I won’t reply to everything.”
“As won’t I.”
Jack cracked a grin. “You’re an annoying one, aren’t you?”
“I’ve been given a mortal mind. I find banter a core part of your reality.”
“I guess. So, what are you doing here? What do the Gods want with the Space Monster World?”
“We created it,” Axelor replied. “The world, its inhabitants, and the Hall of Trials. Long, long ago.”
“Why?”
“My turn. What happened to the outside universe after the Immortal Crusade?”
“You really don’t know?”
“No challenger to the Hall has left the Space Monster World. They tend to do it after, much to my annoyance.”
Jack chuckled. He wasn’t going to say everything—after all, while this version of Axelor seemed friendly, he did possess the power to vanquish Jack if he really wanted to. Letting him know he was trying to liberate Enas would be a bad idea.
“The Gods lost the Crusade,” Jack explained. “They retreated to the far ends of the universe, doing I don’t know what, while the Immortals enslaved all cultivators and pit them against each other. The plan was to create warriors strong enough to completely annihilate you Gods.”
“A sound plan,” Axelor said, nodding. “This mortal shell has many horrible disadvantages, but it adapts to change much better than our divine selves. I have no doubt that, while the Immortals mustered their armies, the Gods did nothing to enhance their power. Their omnipotence is so deeply entrenched in their minds that even defeat couldn’t shake it.”
“My turn,” said Jack.
“Not quite,” Axelor interrupted. “You didn’t finish answering my question.”
“Oh, you want to play it like that? Cool. A billion years after the First Crusade—that is, now—the Immortals launched a second one. Their goal is to purge all their opposition in and out of System space—which is the name of their territory. This Second Crusade is still ongoing. I came here to look for the power to stop them. From what I know, you Gods are rushing to join us.”
“Why would we do that?”
“Not so fast. It’s my turn now. Why did you create the Space Monster World, its inhabitants, and the Hall of Trials?”
Axelor mused. He raised his gaze, piercing through the interdimensional sea to gaze at the distant past. “We needed to fight back,” he finally said. “The mortal creations of Enas were an affront to our divinity. We feared he was raising them as warriors against us—to suppress us, devour our power, and force us to reunite as one.”
“Excuse me? Reunite as one?”
“We were one being originally. One split into three, then three into twelve. That is how the Gods came into being.”
“...Alright,” Jack replied, his eyes flashing with possibilities. He hadn’t known that. He suspected no one did.
“After we realized Enas’s intentions,” Axelor continued, “we decided to create our own toy soldiers. While our ability to craft mortality paled in comparison to him—it was, after all, his domain—we combined our powers to tame the spontaneous Dao manifestations wandering the universe. We blessed their minds and turned them from mindless into civilized, creating the Space Monster World as a place for them to prosper and slowly develop civilization. The Hall of Trials was meant to enhance the strongest of them, creating a force that could rival Enas’s.”
“No.”
“No?”
“You earned the qualifications for the seventh. The Eternal floor.”
Jack’s eyes shone. “There is a seventh floor?”
“Of course. What kind of silly number is six?”
“That’s what I said!”
It was Axelor’s turn to laugh. “There was a great battle around two billion years ago. The Trial Island split in half, forming what you now call the Dark Canal, and the Hall fell into it. The seventh floor broke off and shot upward in the process. It now lays at the center of the sky, unapproachable by all, though I can give you access.”
“What do you mean the center of the sky?”
“This world is shaped as a sphere, but on the inside. The ground is the inner side of its periphery, while the sky is the innermost part. The seventh floor currently lies at the very center of the sphere—the center of the sky, after twelve layers of clouds, where the pressure is so intense not even Overlords can approach. Not usually, anyway.”
“So nobody has been there since that battle?”
“Nobody has earned the right. I must admit, I did not expect two worthy challengers to show up at the same time...”
Jack smiled. “Brock.”
“Right.”
“And what’s there? At the seventh floor?”
“The greatest inheritance eleven Gods could create. You may access it, though not a monster yourself.”
Jack wasn’t surprised his disguise had been seen through. “The other disciples will be shocked,” he said.
“You have no idea. However, I have to warn you, Jack. The current two Overlords have been pushed to their limits by the ongoing Crusade. They intend to use a long-forged treasure to forcefully activate the connection to the seventh floor and plunder it. I cannot stop them. All I can do is give you and your brorilla companion access as well, but what you and the Overlords do is up to you. You could die.”
Jack frowned. “That makes sense,” he said. “Overlords don’t usually participate in the Delve. I thought something was up when Great Silver told me to delay reaching the Hall.”
“What will you do?” the God asked. “Will you go or not go?”
“...I want to go, but not if it’s certain death. You’re trying to set me up against two Overlords. Can you give me any advantage over them? A tiny fighting chance?”
“I can adjust the seventh floor’s energy ripples to hide you. However, it is a temporary solution. If you want to claim any advantages, you’ll need to make yourself seen.”
Jack considered it. “What if I want to escape? Can you help me do that?”
“It depends on the circumstances. I can hide you from here, but my connection to the seventh floor has been cut off. I cannot join. Helping you escape is difficult. All I can promise you is that coming down will be a lot easier than going up. However... I never said you should fight the Overlords. If you can just convince them to let you join the floor’s plunder, that will be good enough. Even if you can’t, I don’t think they’d outright kill you. You can help them against the Immortals.”
Jack had to admit that made sense. He weighed the odds. If he did visit this seventh floor, he would need to negotiate with two Overlords—two entities far beyond his current power. It was risky. On the other hand, if he settled for the sixth floor, he’d lose out. And there was always a chance the Overlords would kill each other, creating a situation where he could reap all the benefits.
No, scratch that. They’re monster and cultivators. They will certainly fight.
“I’ll go,” he decided. “Brock too. This is not an opportunity we can afford to waste.”
Axelor nodded. “I thought so. Very well. I will activate the teleporter now and pull us back to the Hall of Trials, then I’ll give you and the brorilla access to the seventh floor. Only, Jack... Can I ask for a favor?”
He raised a brow. “Yes?”
“If you become strong enough in the future, can you return to liberate us? Me and my two siblings. We’ve spent too long trapped in this pyramid. We yearn to see the world.”
Jack gave a stunned smile. “I promise.”