Chapter 299: Sector
Kael moved through the darkness toward the nearest green dot.
The city did not attack him immediately.
That was the first strange thing.
In the sewers, every corrupted rat and half-made Ratman had thrown itself at the Torch of Vanitas like the blue flame was the last scrap of food in a starving world. They had ignored wounds, ignored his fists, ignored openings to bite him if the torch was anywhere near reach. The creatures aboveground were different. The red dots shifted around him, some moving along rooftops, some slipping through alleys, some pausing behind broken windows where the darkness was thick enough to hide their shapes. They watched. They followed at the edge of his light. But they did not come screaming for the torch.
Kael did not take comfort in that.
A monster that charged mindlessly was simple. Annoying, yes, but simple. A monster that watched from the dark and chose not to attack was either afraid, restrained, or waiting for a better moment. None of those options made him feel better.
He kept the Torch of Vanitas raised and moved slowly.
The blue flame carved a small circle through the black streets, revealing stone walls, cracked steps, leaning balconies, empty doorways, and patches of road where something dark had dried in uneven streaks. The buildings here had once been grand. Even now, ruined and swallowed by Vanitas, they carried traces of old craftsmanship. Curved windows. Tall archways. Carvings above doors. Metal signs hanging from chains that no wind moved. The city looked dead, but not abandoned. It felt occupied by things that had learned patience.
His minimap remained choked.
The fog of war swallowed everything beyond the nearby streets, forcing him to navigate by the green dot and the structures that appeared only when he drew close enough for the map to sketch them in. Red dots lingered around the edges of visibility. Some vanished into black. Others appeared suddenly on parallel streets, then stopped as if they knew exactly how far his sight extended.
Kael walked for a long time without being attacked.
That bothered him more with every step.
Eventually, the green dot resolved into a person.
A young man stood beneath another checkpoint lantern at a narrow intersection between three streets and a collapsed plaza. The blue flame above him glowed steadily, warding away the darkness in a clean circle similar to the one Kael had just left. The climber had two swords drawn, one in each hand. His stance was wide and defensive, but his shoulders trembled from exhaustion. Blood streaked one side of his face, darkened the leather over his ribs, and dripped from a cut near his thigh. A Vanitas torch was strapped across his back, the frame dented but intact.
Around the checkpoint, the minimap showed red dots.
A lot of them.
They pressed close to the perimeter of blue light, but none crossed it. Some paced back and forth just outside the warded zone. Others clung to walls and rooftops, waiting. One larger red dot crouched at the mouth of an alley, its shape hidden by darkness except for the faint suggestion of too many limbs.
Kael stepped closer.
The young man saw the torchlight first, then Kael’s armored figure behind it.
His reaction was immediate.
"Don’t you fucking come any closer!"
Both swords rose toward Kael, the blades shaking only slightly despite the fear in his voice. He looked ready to swing if Kael took another step, which was impressive considering he looked barely able to stand.
Kael raised one hand, palm open. "Wow, man. What’s going on?"
The young man stared at him, eyes darting over his helmet, gauntlets, torch, armor, then back to the darkness around them. "You’re..." His voice caught. He swallowed. "You’re not with them."
"With who?"
The young man’s grip tightened around the swords. "What guild do you belong to?"
"Solo," Kael said, stepping closer.
"I said don’t move!"
Kael stopped, his raised hand still open. "You’ll keep me in the dark here?"
The young man hesitated.
Suspicion remained on his face, but something about Kael’s words or the lack of immediate aggression made him lower one sword by a finger’s width. His eyes moved above Kael’s head, then over his shoulders, as if searching for something visible to him and not to the monsters.
"You don’t have a red tag?"
"Didn’t kill anyone," Kael said. "So no, not a PK climber."
The young man exhaled shakily, though he did not look relaxed. "Fine. In the safe zone, but not too close."
Kael moved forward and stepped into the lantern’s blue radius.
A notification appeared.
[You have unlocked Sector 1-3 Checkpoint.]
Kael glanced at the notification, then back at the young man. Sector 1-3. So he had skipped at least one checkpoint or approached them out of order. Vanitas apparently did not care about clean progression, or the city had more routes than the minimap could show through the fog.
He kept a respectful distance inside the warded circle. The last thing he needed was a half-panicked climber deciding that the stranger in the Spartan helm was a delayed threat.
"What happened to you?" Kael asked.
"Got mugged," the young man said. He gave a short, bitter laugh that turned into a wince. "Shit happens."
Kael looked at the blood, the two drawn swords, the torch strapped across his back, and the red dots patiently waiting outside the checkpoint. "Rough day."
"Yeah, well. Vanitas does that." The young man wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his wrist without lowering either sword fully. "What about you? What are you doing here, in the first sector?"
"Just got here."
The young man stared at him. "Alone?"
"How else?"
"Like with a guild," the climber said, as if explaining something obvious to a man who had walked into a burning house asking why it was warm. "You wait by the first lantern for other people to join and move with them."
Kael glanced at the blood again. "How’d that turn out for you?"
The young man’s mouth tightened.
Then, despite everything, he gave a small nod. "Touché."
Kael’s gaze shifted toward the darkness outside the checkpoint. The red dots were still there, pressing close but not entering. Some crawled along the walls just outside the blue radius, moving slowly, almost mockingly. They could see the two climbers. They could smell the blood. Yet they waited.
"Tell me," Kael said. "How come they’re not attacking?"
The young man’s eyes sharpened. "You can see them?"
"Feel them more like," Kael said.
It was easier than explaining the minimap.
The climber looked at him for a long second, then shook his head. "I guess you really are new here. This is a safe zone. Monsters can’t attack inside the checkpoint radius. They’ll wait for you outside, though, which brings me to ask..." His eyes narrowed again. "How did you not get attacked? I saw you walk through the dark. They didn’t even jump you."
"I’m also wondering about that," Kael said. "Got me quite confused. Back in the sewers, I got attacked by all kinds of shit."
The young man froze.
"The sewers?" he asked.
"Yeah."
"Alone?"
Kael looked at him. "Yes."
"You cleared the sewers by yourself?"
"Why?" Kael asked. "Did you come from somewhere else?"
The young man lowered one sword fully now, not out of trust, but disbelief. "There are multiple entries to Vanitas. Most people spawn somewhere along the outer streets or near a sector gate if they’re with a party. Some get rooftops, some old plazas, some broken towers." He nodded faintly toward the manhole Kael had come from somewhere behind the streets. "The sewers are a death sentence for anyone coming in alone. You lucked into the worst of them."
Kael sighed.
"Ah. I see." His shoulders dipped slightly. "Just my luck."
The young man studied him more carefully now. "You really came through the sewers?"
"Had to kill a giant Ratman the first time. This time it was a lot of smaller ones. Very eager teeth. Bad manners."
The young man did not laugh.
Kael looked back toward the darkness. "I need to get out of this place. Can’t believe I only have one torch on me left..."
"That’s foolish," the climber said instantly. "Why’d you only buy one?"
"I bought two from the guy on the second floor."
The young man’s suspicion returned all at once, sharper than before. "What floor are you on right now?"
"Was supposed to be ninth," Kael said. "But here we are."
The young man became very still.
Then he raised one sword again and pointed it at Kael.
"Why are you lying?"
Kael stared at him. "Cross my heart. Didn’t lie."
"That doesn’t make sense," the young man snapped. "For you to be here from Floor Nine..."
He stopped.
The unfinished thought settled between them.
Kael nodded once. "Yep. Second Vanitas floor. Sub ten floor..." He looked toward the blue lantern overhead, then to the torch in his hand. "And I don’t have another torch. Knowing my luck, the moment I go to Floor Ten, I’ll probably get another invitation."
The young man lowered the sword slowly.
The fear on his face changed shape. It was still fear, but no longer directed at Kael. Anyone who understood Vanitas understood what that meant. Being invited once was already a nightmare. Being invited twice before Floor Ten was the sort of cruelty climbers used as a joke because believing it could happen made their stomachs hurt.
For a while, neither of them spoke.
Then the young man said, "I have an extra torch."
Kael looked at him.
The world became much more interesting.
"Oh," Kael said. "Now we’re talking."
"But..."
"There’s always a butt. Just say it."
The young man shifted his weight, jaw tightening as pain flashed across his face. "I need help getting to the next sector. I’m too exhausted and weak to make the run alone."
"You know where that is?" Kael asked, looking around at the dark streets surrounding them.
"Well..." The young man turned his head toward one of the roads leading out of the checkpoint.
Kael followed his gaze.
The minimap showed the largest cluster of red dots in that direction.
Of course it did.
The climber lifted one of his swords and pointed into the dark. "We gotta get through that."
Kael stared at the road.
Beyond the blue perimeter, the darkness seemed thicker there, layered between buildings that leaned close over the street. Red dots shifted inside the fog of war, too many to count cleanly until they moved near the edge of visibility. A few large ones sat among the smaller dots, waiting in the exact path they needed to take.
Kael let out a slow breath.
"Ah," he said. "How wonderful."