The staircase inside the tower was dark and spiraling and endless.
Llenn had been teleported atop the tower, so she hadn’t been here yet.
The spire was only six feet wide, with a round and delicate pillar placed in the center and narrow steps descending in a spiral. The steps were quite steep and had wide gaps between them. A child could easily fall through. If this were an ordinary home, it would be condemned for code violations.
There were no windows and no artificial lights at all, but somehow there was enough light inside to see where you were stepping. It was a game, so you were allowed to do things like that.
Llenn sped down the stairs, trying to catch up to Tanya. Whatever the reason for Shirley’s last-second teleportation, if she hadn’t totally stomped on Llenn, she could have left the spire opening at least thirteen seconds sooner.
It was a 150-foot spire, which would make it at least ten stories ordinarily. That took some time to descend. Llenn rushed as fast as she could go, battling centrifugal force.
“We’re all hooked back up,” Clarence announced lackadaisically into her ear. That meant that the four remaining members of LPFM had active comms once again.
“Thanks!” Llenn said, too busy rushing down the stairs to have taken that step for herself.
“Yo, Llenn. Sorry for killing Pitohui,” said Shirley, who had just been teleported on top of Llenn moments ago.
Shirley did not sound sorry or guilty at all. In fact, she sounded proud of having bagged a particularly desirable prey. Their feud had been going on for ages, so Llenn couldn’t blame her. She must have been very happy to snipe her archenemy.
In any case, what’s done was done. There were more important matters now.
“I don’t care about that—just help us! We wanna be the last two teams with SHINC!”
“Got it. Now that we’ve reached this point, I promise to do anything I can for the team. Although the money would be nice, too.”
“Thanks!”
They had a crack sniper back on the team. A very good sign.
Clarence took it as a sign that the conversation was over. She chimed in, “Anyway, Shirley! Get out my backup gear! I went to all the trouble of getting it and practicing with it—I was afraid I wouldn’t get a chance to shoot it once!”
“Okay. I’ll give it to you now.”
“Yesss!”
Llenn continued to rush down the steps, leaving them to their business. She had to hurry, or things were gonna get bad. Real bad. If she didn’t reach the exit at the foot of the spire before MMTM had it surrounded, she’d never be able to get out.
She couldn’t see Tanya ahead of her, but she felt like she could hear her footsteps ahead. And sure enough, being faster than Tanya, Llenn soon saw the flash of white hair ahead of her.
They were almost at the doorway. Just past the final step of the spiral stairs was the lowest floor of the spire, with a hole just large enough for a person to fit through, facing south toward the center of the castle. There was no door to shut.
Beyond that was the foundation of the keep.
She hadn’t been able to look down earlier, but according to what Clarence had said while they were back in the forest, it was a round, flat space a mile and a quarter across, arranged with a bunch of breakable barricades like a coliseum-style practice arena.
The maze had collapsed by now, so this was the only place in SJ5 that you could move around in. Originally, it had been a map six miles to a side.
But this was good news to Llenn.
An area with solid footing and reasonably placed obstacles was a godsend for players like Llenn and Tanya who had maxed out their agility. The final battle of SJ1 took place in a wasteland that was just like this.
She could use her innate speed to hit and run (or hit and gun) and kill as many foes as possible while staying on the move.
“Wait, Tanya! I’ll go out with you! Two is better than one!” she called out.
“Got it! But I’m under orders to protect you. So don’t make it too difficult!” she replied, stopping to wait a few seconds at the door for Llenn to reach her.
There was no telling who might be waiting for them in the bright sunlight outside, but with their speed, it would be difficult to hit them.
Tanya gave Llenn a brief look, silenced Bizon raised at her shoulder. Llenn nodded back.
Her combat boots hit the mysteriously smooth but non-slippery surface outside. A beat later, Llenn followed her—and immediately gasped.
“Huh?”
The instant Tanya had jumped out into the light, she turned back around, hard expression on her face. The muzzle of the Bizon was pointed straight at Llenn.
Helpless to react, Llenn could only watch as Tanya jabbed her with the suppressor end of the Bizon, right in the chest. She put her weight into it, a very clean hit. Light as she was, Llenn was thrown right back into the tower she’d just exited.
“Wha—?!”
Llenn landed on her butt and stared up through the open entranceway, where Tanya was lit up in the sunlight. The silver-haired woman grinned at her, clearly satisfied with what she’d just accomplished.
“Get down!” she yelled, right as the bullets came flying.
Llenn twisted and dropped flat to the floor at the very same moment that the bullets riddled Tanya’s body.
All she could do was watch helplessly at a distance of ten feet as they shot through Tanya, one after the other. She was pockmarked with red damage bits all over her body.
“Hrya!” Despite her shock, Llenn leaped instinctually into action.
She scuttled across the floor like a certain black, shiny, oily insect that shall not be named—and clambered up the stairs.
An instant later, bullets tore in through the tower entrance, either passing through Tanya’s body or because she had fallen. They hit the stone of the tower interior, some chipping away at the surface and others twanging and deflecting farther.