It was smooth sailing after that meeting at the bar, and before long, my small faction was growing at an impressive rate. Sure, there were only about 150 members of the resistance, but given the strict conditions for joining, and the intensive vetting process, it was an impressive number. I took another sip of my martini and relaxed on the couch, finally content to just enjoy some time to myself since my new underlings could do most of the hard work themselves. Well, with only a day left before I had to leave for Hope’s Memorial, those underlings had better be self-sufficient, at least for a little while.

  “Ah…” I muttered, “This is lovely…”

  Vadeem gave me a questioning look. “You sure your new minions can handle things from here on out? It’s a new organization, and having their new boss disappear for a week might kill any momentum you’ve built.”

  I shrugged. “Eh, I told ‘em I was going on a deep, secret undercover mission to retrieve vital information in the guild HQ. Hell, I even told them that it’s vital that nothing goes wrong once I’m in, so they’ll be on their best behavior for the week that we’re gone as well. Your own people won’t have to work hard; I doubt more than a handful will ignore my instructions.”

  Noel sat down next to me and ruffled the sheets of names I had just given her. “You know, you’re kind of terrifying, little bro.” She pointed at the papers. “These people you had infiltrated our ranks are dead men walking, and they don’t even know it yet. They’re all busy trying to be all sneaky-like, but they don’t know that they’ve already walked into the spider’s lair. Scary…”

  “I don’t think I’m scary,” I said, raising an eyebrow. “I mean, I’m pretty sure that I’m one of the worst fighters out of the core group; maybe I could beat up Yoona or the twins, but, uh, that's not really something to brag about." I shrugged. "Plus, my tentacles are more scary in the weird, creepy way than the frightening, "oh shit!" kind of way.”

  “No,” Vadeem muttered, “I agree with Noel on this one. Sure, you can’t win in a straight-up fight against us, no offense, but like,” He paused for a second, struggling to find the right words. “Hm, how do I put this?”

  Noel chimed in. “Like, the enemy will see it coming if they mess with me or Vadumb, or Jae-Hyun, but with you?” She faked a shudder. “The peeps that you have a problem with won’t even know how or why they’ve died, or what they’ve done to end up like that. A word from you means a death sentence, little bro.”

  “Exactly!” the big man added. “Which means we’re thankful you’re on our side. Hell, between you and Jae-Hyun, we’re practically unstoppable!”

  I rolled my eyes. “As if I’m in the same league as our time-traveling boss.”

  “No, I think you are,” Vadeem shook his head. “Sure the big boss can predict the future, and probably has more experience than the entire guild combined, but there’s things he can’t predict or do. You seem to be able to get all of that other crap sorted out. So between his foresight and your ability to steer us out of horrible situations, we’re unstoppable.” He shrugged. “I mean, like I said, you’d lose in a one-on-one fight against Jae-Hyun, 100 times out of 100…”

  I groaned. “Ugh, don’t remind me of that stupid practice duel.”

  “But what if you had time to prepare?” He continued. “I’m asking honestly, but who do you think would end up on top if you had time to plan against him?”

  “Eh, I think Walter’s a bottom if you ask-”

  A quick jab from Vadeem shut the other idiot up.

  “Hm…” I thought about it seriously this time. Even without transforming into a Xollon, I had a lot of advantages on my side. If I had the time and with the resources available to me, then… yeah. I nodded slowly. “I’d win.”

  Vadeem chuckled. “Exactly! Which is why we think you’re kind of terrifying.”

  “All right, all right,” I said finally with a sigh, “That’s enough, my ego can only inflate so much. I might be underestimating my own worth a bit, but I still think you guys are just trying to butter up to your new boss.”

  “Guilty as charged!” Noel said with a carefree smile. “Please don’t work me too hard, it’s bad for my skin. Feel free to use Vadumb like an ox though.”

  I finished up my drink and finally regarded my two companions seriously. Officially we were supposed to have a meeting discussing the operations between our various forces, but that had degenerated into an impromptu spa session before long. It wasn’t because we were neglecting our assigned duties, but more like the stuff we were in charge of was taken care of too well.

  Vadeem’s enforcers, the ones that wore uniforms and were clearly visible, were patrolling the streets with military discipline, and aside from the small scuffles that arose here and there, there was relatively nothing of note on his end. Of course, it helped that Vadeem’s faction comprised the elites of Pandora, comprising of the survivors of the Director’s hellish training. They wouldn’t be an inconvenience by a few drunk Aspirants.

  Noel’s work was equally easy. With most of the useful and skilled troublemakers being siphoned off into my new organization, all that was left for her and her small task force of assassins to do was to clean up the obnoxious, talentless idiots who didn’t know how to shut up about the new regime. They were quietly taken away into one of the guild HQ’s many sound-proof subbasements and were never seen again. She didn’t even need to use her usual interrogation methods thanks to Claire. All in all, I was very sure that the Abyss guild could survive the week that the three of us would be away.

  “Alright, I think we’ve relaxed for long enough,” I said, forcing my aching body off the very comfortable sofa. “What say we get some food with the rest of the guild? I think we scheduled some Korean BBQ for tonight, right?”

  “Yeah,” Vadeem replied, “The twins were making a big fuss about trying some after they heard about it from Yoona.” He got up and stretched his muscles. “Could use some good protein after all this booze. Let’s go before we’re late. You know the spot, Walter?”

  I nodded. I couldn’t walk with the rest of the guild members given my new role, which necessitated that I travel to guild locations separately. It was a bummer, sure, but a small price to pay for anonymity. Hell, the Regressor and his sister would be pestered at all times whenever they were out in public, and it wasn’t that much better for Vadeem and Noel. Sure most people were terrified of their presence, but the Aspirants still sneak in looks every now and then.

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  No one bothered to give me a second look whenever I walked down the street, and that was without Noe’s ability shielding me. With the perception shard active, I might as well have been a ghost for all it mattered. I didn’t know if I should feel proud of that or not, but being unnoticed suited me just fine in any case.

  I cleaned up the rest of the meeting room as my two friends left before I remembered that I was technically an owner of this place and got some of the various staff to do the job for me. I kept forgetting that I was someone important now, even if I didn’t really feel it. With that done, I grabbed my stuff and headed out of the door. Or, I would have if I didn’t see Vadeem and Noel loitering in the lobby with confused looks on their faces.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “Uh…” Noel pointed outside.

  I frowned, not sure what she meant, so I walked toward the exit and almost fell to my death.

  Vadeem grabbed me by the scruff and pulled me back to safety. I looked down at where the ground should have been and saw that the guild HQ had somehow moved a few hundred feet above the air. I had to cling to the black metal gates to make my way back inside.

  Wait, metal gates?

  Now that I wasn’t freaking out at the prospect of going on a cordless bungee jumping session, I saw that the outside of the guild building, which looked like those colorless gray office buildings from the 80s mind you, had changed into a horrific gothic castle. A floating gothic castle. Like one Dracula would reside in.

  Worse, that change seemed to be spreading into the halls themselves and rooms as well. The bland decor of the eggshell white walls and faded carpeting molded itself into alabaster white stones and ebony black marbling. Dim candles and torches replaced the buzzing fluorescent lights, while boring motivational posters and charts were morphed into portraits and busts of important-looking people.

  “Guys,” I urged, taking on my secondary form immediately, “This might be another fucking invasion. Noel, Vadeem, get your weapons out!”

  Before I could say another word, a looming figure appeared from one of the entrances. I instinctively lashed out at it with a tentacle, thrashing with as much force as I could muster so that my friends had more time to prepare, but the blow was easily stopped.

  “Sorry, Walter, you were busy with Claire’s brother so you missed part of the meeting,” Jae-Hyun told me before giving Vadeem and Noel an icy glare, “I told those two to get you caught up, but apparently they had a better idea…”

  I relaxed a bit, still not exiting my secondary form. “What do you mean?”

  Another glare from the Regressor made the other two chuckle nervously before Vadeem decided to answer. “Er…We wanted to surprise you a bit. Take the tension off things, you know, since you’ve been so busy lately.”

  “Surprise…?” Noel added, half-heartedly.

  Seeing that there really was no immediate danger and that this wasn’t another stupid scheme from the Overseer or its Trash Matrix out to get me, I fully relaxed and allowed my secondary form to dissipate.

  I raised a hand and gestured at the still-transforming building. “Alright, what the hell’s going on here? Why’s our base turning into Dracula’s castle? And more importantly, how are we supposed to get down from here?”

  The Regressor tossed me a ring. “That solves the transportation issue, I’ll show you how to use it in a sec.”

  I looked at the metal band and placed it on my middle finger.

  Jae-Hyun chuckled. “You don’t have to actually wear it, Walter. Just put it in your inventory or pocket. Wearing it will all but shout that you’re a part of the guild.”

  I nodded again and did as I was told, stuffing the thing into my shirt pocket.

  “As for the change in our guild hall…” Jae-Hyun gave me one of his rare smiles. “Well, now that all of the city-states have chosen their representatives, we have officially moved on to the base-building stage of these sick games. Pandora was first among the city-states, and hence, we have the unique opportunity to choose a reward that will dictate our future growth.”

  “So you chose… a floating castle?” I frowned and thought of something. “Wait, it’s not just on a really pointy rock this time as well, right?”

  “It’s properly floating this time, little bro.”

  “And I didn’t pick it based on its aesthetics, Walter,” The Regressor continued.

  “I would have totally picked it only for its looks though!” Noel added, even though no one asked, “Now we look like a proper evil guild! It's only fitting for the future demon lord to reside in a demon castle!”

  I frowned. “I mean… I know we’re not good or noble, but isn’t this a little much? This kind of castle’s approaching mustache-twirling, orphan-stomping levels of evil.”

  “Normally I would agree with you,” the Regressor answered, “But subtly doesn’t exist in the Main Stage. The other city-states will not be informed yet, but they will find out, too late might I add, we will all inevitably be railroaded into following one of two paths.”

  “Good and evil!” Noel chimed in again. “And we’re evil!”

  “Those cities that choose the middle path will find that their growth will stagnate as the trials increase in difficulty, and they will not be equipped to face what is ahead of us.” His eyes turned cold. “I will not make the same mistake again.”

  “Uh, but why the evil route?” I asked, despite myself.

  Noel looked at me as if I was stupid. “Uh, little bro, you okay? Has the Abyss guild ever been filled with good people?”

  Vadeem sighed. “I think what my friend means is why choose this path at all? It’s a valid question; we’ll be announcing to the world that we’re vile individuals.”

  “And that is a risk that we will need to take,” Jae-Hyun nodded, “But I have considered this for a long time. While the path of good might be more stable, it is too slow. There are too many things to consider, and a democratic society will not survive what is to come.”

  “Hence we’re evil!” Noel said with aplomb.

  Jae-Hyun sighed and nodded. “Hence we are evil. The risks are high since we will naturally be the target of, well, practically everyone.” He shrugged. “Like I said, we can’t exactly be subtle about our approach, but the rewards are well worth it if - no, when, we survive. It’s the fastest method of growth, and I will allow nothing to stand in my way.”

  Noel poked my side and whispered. “Yeah... He’s definitely hot when he’s all dictator-y, eh, little bro?”

  I rolled my eyes and ignored her. Man, that was the second time she's said it; maybe Noel's secretly got a thing for our time-bending boss. Now that would be a couple I'd be interested in seeing.

  “And with Jae-Hyun at the helm and Walter in the background,” Vadeem added, “our chances of surviving anything’s as high as it’ll ever be. And it’s not like this group of people’s made for the righteous path in any case. It’s a win-win situation.”

  I sighed again, but I couldn’t dispute the truth there. Guess we’re super evil going forth, wonderful.

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