The sight of my precious ethereal blade jolted my entire system with hope, and also a boiling fury. Martin Briggs, that slimy murderer, had somehow gotten his hands on my sword.

"Time to die," I growled, banishing Switchblade, catching Nigel, and mentally slamming down on my hotlist to trigger one of my few scrolls of short-range teleport.

The world lurched and we appeared right behind the Briggs. They froze, staring at the spot we'd just left, totally unprotected and oblivious to the fact that I had appeared within arm's reach.

Before I could wring their necks, the world lurched again, harder, and I got punched in the kidneys by an invisible force that flung us away. As the world blinked back into focus, I staggered sideways, despite my high Agility stat.

Nigel growled in my arms and puked a baseball-sized hairball. The tawny, shaggy kitten looked green. That was a weird look for the poor little guy. His head wobbled and he groaned.

The ruined city was gone. We now stood in a large stone cavern, well lit by softly-glowing lichen on the walls as well as 4 huge lanterns hanging from chains attached to the high ceiling. An ornate gilded table stood nearby with an empty chair in front of it.

Behind the table sat the one and only Queen Marisara, still in her scaled armor and crown. Standing beside her loomed a giant, man-shaped being at least 8 feet tall, with bulging muscles and chiseled features.

He too wore silvery scaled armor, with the addition of a heavy silver chest plate, and carried an all-iron trident that looked like it must weight 100 pounds. His wings of gently-rippling water were folded back behind his broad back. Identify triggered instantly.

"Queen Marisara. Level 120 queen. The youngest daughter of King Velmaris, emperor of the tier-3 Moonlit Cascade, Marisara has been groomed to rule since birth. The empire is embroiled in a grueling centuries-long war against the Infernalith Court, so she hopes to win their cause vast new wealth by destroying all contestants from Earth."

"Thalorian. Level 124 marshal. Commander of Queen Marisara's elite force of nubinae warriors and gargoyle creations, Thalorian is the mightiest of them all, veteran of 200 years of war. He acts as the sword delivering his queen's will."

"Well, Damascus," I swore.

I'd seen Queen Marisara on video a few times, but hadn't expected to run into her in person for another week. Suddenly getting dropped to within a dozen feet of the ultimate boss of our entire death battle game was a lot more intimidating than I'd ever admit. Way worse than meeting Noctarus and Alpha both at the start of stage 2.

I'd expected Queen Marisara to be level 100. For some reason, I'd assumed it was impossible to get over level 100 and remain tier-0. Somehow, both she and her marshal were not only above level 100, but pushing up against the next major milestone level. Their sheer auras pressed down on me with physical weight. No way I was ready to face them yet.

Cyrus had said they couldn't descend to lower stages. I'd foolishly assumed that meant they couldn't get to us. Obviously I'd overlooked walking right into clever traps.

I took in the scene in a matter of a couple seconds, and that was more than enough time to realize I did not want to be there. I tried to trigger another teleport scroll, imagining Port Royale plaza.

Nothing happened. Frowning, I checked my inventory. I could access everything, so why had the spell failed? I activated Spellseer's Gaze and scanned the large cavern, but it was empty except for us, and a shimmering golden barrier ringing the walls.

Okay, so they'd activated some kind of containment area. At least they hadn't dropped me into a prison cell, or anything. I could still move and fight if I had to.

I tried to send a message to Ruby and Steve, but the interface didn't work. They were blocking messaging too? How was that possible? Did Cyrus have a hand in this little meeting?

My first thought was no, but it was possible. Live streams would be starting any second, but they had time for a final unexpected game. He could do pretty much anything he wanted with impunity. He'd said he couldn't help me as much, but I hadn't interpreted that as actively trying to get me killed.

Then I noticed another detail that helped me focus on anger instead of fear. The Briggs had not appeared with me. Losers! I wanted that blade.

Neither Queen Marisara, nor Thalorian had moved in the few seconds it took me to complete my initial scan and confirm I could not easily escape. So they didn't plan to simply squash me like a bug. The empty chair in front of the table suggested they planned to talk first.

So I took a deep breath and tried to focus my whirling thoughts as I petted Nigel. His hair had fluffed up, his eyes locked on the dynamic duo across the table, and a low growl rumbled through his tiny body.

"Not yet, buddy," I whispered, then took a step forward and flashed a smile. "I'll admit, your invitation was a bit abrupt, but I am willing to overlook that in order to accept your surrender."

Thalorian took a menacing step forward, Adonis face darkening with rage, but Marisara waved him back. Her expression did not change and she surveyed me like one might a weird bug that had crawled across their living room floor. Did all royals have that condescending look so perfected? In her own way, she was even more intimidating than her hulking companion.

"Quick recovery from surprise, attempt at humor to conceal fear, no major acceleration of the heartbeat. He has the making of an elite, don't you think?"

Thalorian grunted. "He lacks discipline." His voice was deep, but surprisingly smooth, in a similar accent to hers.

"That can be taught, can it not?" Her scratchy smoker's voice sounded extra harsh after his.

"Perhaps."

Not the greeting I'd expected. "You guys don't often struggle with recruitment, do you? Your pitch is terrible."

"You will address my liege as Queen Marisara," Thalorian growled, fingers tightening on his trident.

I held his gaze and shrugged. "She's not my queen."

Marisara again gestured the zealous marshal back. He looked like he'd prefer to vault the table and skewer me with that trident. Under most circumstances, I'd encourage him to try, but despite the vast amounts of power I'd accumulated over the past week, I wasn't ready to take on the level 124 captain of the ultimate boss queen's army.

"You are the human known as Lucas," Marisara stated, and her gravelly voice with that Austrian accent, made my name sound pretty boss.

"I am. You've been spying on me using the Briggs?"

"And other resources."

I grimaced. "Times must be tougher than I knew if you had to resort to using those scumbags."

"They serve a purpose, as do all my subjects." Her lips twitched into the hint of a smile. "You may wish to focus more on how I plan to use you."

"Serving isn't really my thing. I'm the guy who kills the people who get in our way."

"Indeed. Your exploits have been quite entertaining to watch."

No way she got the daily highlights reel from Cyrus. She must have spies with abilities to record, or to share what they saw real-time. That was good to know. The enemy was already studying us, learning our abilities and weaknesses.

Speaking with her face-to-face was an unprecedented risk, but also potentially an unrivaled opportunity to learn more about her. I'd gained tons of insights from Noctarus and even Velexis and Sixel.

"Always happy to meet a fan, although I'll confess, kidnapping me does dampen the moment."

"It could not be avoided," she said dismissively, then gestured at the table. In a blink, it was covered in a high tea setting, complete with towers of tiny sandwiches and cakes and cookies, several pots of tea, and half a dozen tea cups ringing small plates. "Sit. Take some tea. We have much to discuss."

I cautiously approached the table, letting Nigel drop to the ground beside my chair. Hopefully they'd ignore him. If it came to a fight, a surprise hit from him might turn the tide. The food was definitely a spread fit for a queen.

"None of this was prepared by zombies, was it?"

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Thalorian growled angrily, half-raising his trident, but Queen Marisara only laughed, a surprisingly musical sound, considering her speaking voice sounded like she regularly ate chain smokers. "These are delicacies crafted by my very best chefs for my personal consumption."

"I guess that'll do, then."

Despite another growl from Thalorian, I piled my plate with the little delicacies and started wolfing them down. I had poison immunity, so why not take a chance? At first, I did it just to annoy them, but her chefs were seriously talented. I could have gorged myself for an hour.

Out of respect for her chefs, I swallowed before saying, "You're not kidding. How do you stay so trim if you eat like this every day?"

Before I even registered that Thalorian moved, his trident appeared half an inch from my throat. His glare could have melted most armor, and his half-flared wings had darkened like he'd swallowed a tempest.

"You will refrain from making inappropriate comments about my queen, or I will remove your ability to speak." The marshal spoke softly, but in a tone of absolute authority.

I forced myself not to swallow. Dude, that was freakishly fast! Did he have an insult response instant teleport ability? As far as intimidating enforcer side kicks, he topped the charts.

I looked up and met his gaze and grinned. Leaning back to give myself a bit of room from those 3 deadly points, I clapped slowly. "You've got some skills, buddy. It will be an absolute honor to kill you when I get up to stage 4."

He showed no surprise, no anger, no reaction to my words, despite how they must rankle. Well, hopefully they rankled and he wasn't simply so powerful that he could ignore anything I said as patently stupid.

At my tier-1 level, I could potentially go toe to toe with a level 124 monster, but that didn't account for the increasingly huge boosts they got from milestone levels like level 75 and 100. Plus, he was clearly a boss. That marshal designation probably boosted his abilities entire tiers above common level 124 monsters. All of that added up to one seriously tough opponent.

"Enough," Marisara said softly and Thalorian withdrew his trident slowly. "Do you feel it wise to test the limits of my patience, Lucas?"

I shrugged and shoved another mini cake into my mouth. It exploded with more flavors than I could count and I couldn't speak for a couple seconds as the culinary evolution rippled across my tongue. I held up a finger for patience before finally managing to swallow and take in a deep breath.

"To answer your question, you didn't go through all the trouble of luring me down here, preparing all of this." I gestured at the table and food and cavern. "Just to leap into a cage match together. You clearly want to talk, and as much as I'm interested in hearing what you have to say, I have to even the field a bit."

"You think mocking the honor I offer by sharing food and drink with you somehow gives you advantage?"

"Not really, but you've been spying on me, studying me, and sending the Briggs to annoy me. Giving back a bit of that annoyance seems fitting."

We spent a few minutes in silence, me gorging myself on the piles of excellent sandwiches and cakes while she munched on a few with delicate, proper manners. She made it look like she was bestowing the greatest honor upon each bite, like sandwiches should be lining up for her to eat them.

"So you're from a tier-3 world?" I finally asked.

"You know of world tiers?" That seemed to pique her interest.

"A little. I know bosses for the game are brought in from other worlds and that you receive payouts for risking your lives, as well as huge bonuses for any of us you kill."

"You are far better informed than I expected." Those ice-blue eyes of hers seemed to be trying to dissect me as she studied my face.

"Let me guess, your family needs the loot to win the war and keep the dynasty running strong."

For the first time, she showed real surprise. "How can you know this? Basic Identify does not share such details."

"I got an upgrade. Can you tell me about it?"

Part of me didn't want to know about her home-world problems. Hearing about Noctarus's troubles, as edited as they might have been to make him look more like a victim, had made me less eager to fight him. It seemed most worlds in the multiverse had serious problems. At least, lower-tiered worlds did. I wasn't sure a tier-3 world was considered low or not. I guess anyone could get stuck in a no-win war of extermination.

Still, the glimpses I got into Noctarus's world and, more importantly, the worlds Velexis and Sixel came from, sparked a burning curiosity about the multiverse. The maps I'd briefly studied in my vault gave me more clues, but not nearly enough. I'd still have to defeat her and her armies, but the more I learned, the better prepared I'd be for whatever came next after we returned home.

She leaned back in her chair. "My family has ruled the Moonlit Cascade for 2000 years. It is a gloriously beautiful continent spanning half our planet, where we lived in peace and prosperity for many generations. Then the Infernalith Court rose in revolutions of blood and fire and carnage that swept away every nation across the other half of the world. Only we survived, but they eventually consolidated their power enough to launch an invasion on our homeland. The war has raged for 250 years and our situation grows desperate."

"Why do you share such information with this unworthy alien?" Thalorian growled.

"I usually would not," she admitted, her blue-eyed stare piercing. "Perhaps I wish to understand why these weak humans were chosen to participate in the great game. Perhaps I see in this man a chance to find another way."

Her gaze sharpened and she leaned forward again. "You possess a rare title. I've never known anyone with the public title of Intergalactic Guardian, although I have heard of it in our histories. Those who possess it arise very rarely, and only through exceptional deeds that benefit multiple worlds."

Huh. I'd forgotten they could see that title. "In the last stage, I found a way to complete our quest and also allow one of the bosses to complete his."

She nodded, expression deeply thoughtful. "All witnessed those events, or at least the fiery departure of the ships. Truly remarkable. I do not know the specifics of their world, but no doubt they felt compelled to take the chance to compete. I too must win at all costs in order to save my home."

It still totally sucked that the game pitted us against each other, but no matter how good her world sounded, Earth still came first. "I imagine you invited me here for a purpose other than chatting about our homes."

"Indeed." Her expression turned eager for the first time. "I expected to find no being such as yourself, blessed with insights to help worlds beyond your own. That you are here opens the door to new possibilities. I am reluctant to kill you all and doom your world to destruction."

"I appreciate that," I said, waiting for the punch line.

"Lucas, I have a plan that will allow us all to survive together. If we work together, we can both succeed, just like you managed with the lesser boss of stage 2."

I forced down the urge to laugh. Had she and Noctarus both purchased the same documentation from the system store? I could easily imagine a book titled 'How to Scam Game Contestants in 10 Easy Steps'.

"We actually tried working with the zombies on stage 2, but they double-crossed us in the end. Turns out, their entire plan was to use us, then kill us all for the big bonus they'd get for stopping our advancement."

Marisara might be the all-powerful queen of her little faction, but she wasn't as good at hiding her emotions as she thought. Just a little flinch, a brief inhalation, and a slight widening of her eyes. It all passed in a fraction of a second, but she might as well has shouted, "That bastard! That was my plan."

She recovered quickly and tried to salvage the moment. "And yet, you still found a way to reach an accord."

Maybe I should play along, try to buy my people some time, but I was tired of pretending we were allies just to see when the other shoe dropped. Working with Noctarus had won me tons of personal improvements and we'd dodged his final traps with miraculously few casualties. It would be supremely stupid to hope we could pull off a surprise win again, though, so I went with honesty to see what I could shake loose.

"Not really. The boss dude in charge of them all laid a pretty cunning trap. We broke it and I had to force him to flee the world by triggering his escape ships early. Otherwise, we would have had to fight to the death."

"My plan avoids such hostilities."

"I don't see how that's possible," I said flatly.

"It will be tricky, but are you at least willing to consider the possibility of reaching an accord?"

If I spit in her eye, could they kill me right now? They'd sucked me off of stage 3, but was that enough to circumvent the rules? The zombies had kidnapped people in stage 1 and dragged them up to stage 2 to die. So, maybe.

I couldn't defeat them, not yet, so I played along, despite the growing urge to draw my blades and throw down.

"What will that accomplish?"

"Perhaps avoiding all-out war. Otherwise, Thalorian would happily kill you now."

The big menacing marshal nodded, smiling for the first time. Loser.

Marisara's voice grew more menacing. "Would you prefer I send agents to assassinate your team, or your brother and his mate?"

"That's pretty low," I said through gritted teeth, trying in vain to control the rage her words triggered. They knew way too much about us. They'd trapped me as easy as a fly in a web, and I was the strongest human. Her threats were not a bluff, and I couldn't stop them.

Other than kill them both. They'd probably kill me, but I'd survived too many death battles where I should have died to lose all hope. At minimum, I'd make it hurt.

Some of my thoughts must have cross my face, despite my best efforts. Marisara added, "Thankfully, those are options I prefer not to explore. Yet. You are different than others of your kind. You see potential where others do not."

I fought to keep my tone calm. "That doesn't tell me any details."

"You are the only human we have studied who might act as an intermediary between our forces."

"So, what's in it for me?"

She sighed. "I do not like repeating myself. You and your loved ones are not slaughtered outright."

"You know, threatening me isn't the best way to beg for my help."

Marisara sighed. "Damn." Then she glared up at the ceiling and added, "Why do you insist on forcing me to use these inane human swears?"

Cyrus didn't respond, but I laughed. "He's a meddler sometimes."

"Indeed. I grow tired of this conversation. It is clear you will not treat in good faith. No matter, I will use your life nontheless."

With that, Thalorian lunged across the table, leading with his spear. I was ready for the move this time and deflected the plunging blades aside with my bracer while dropping Echo into my hand and stabbing toward his chest.

He twisted the haft of his weapon, deflecting my blade, and hit me with an open palm as big as my chest. The impact struck like a runaway train, and my entire torso creaked as my Crash Test Dummy jacket distributed much of the force. The blow still catapulted me backward across the cavern.

Nigel roared and the table exploded as he leaped up through it, going for Thalorian's throat. The marshal dropped his trident, caught Nigel by his long fangs, and spun, hurling him after me.

Whoa. That was something no monster had ever managed to do before. He'd just batted both me and Nigel aside like weaklings. I landed over 100 feet away and slid another 20 yards before stopping. Nigel twisted in mid-air and landed on all fours, claws gouging furrows in the stone as he arrested his slide.

The table and chairs and feast had already disappeared. Marisara's voice carried across the cavern. "The conversation was more pleasant than I expected. I will return to collect you before your sacrifice is needed. Rest easy here, Lucas. If we do not return within 2 weeks, know that your compatriots have all failed."

They disappeared.

I spun, scanning the cavern to make sure Thalorian didn't appear right behind me like Velexis had done, but they were gone.

"Prague, Paris, Detroit!" I cursed as I scanned the huge, empty cavern. Marisara hadn't wasted any time after realizing the gig was up. They hadn't killed me, but if I couldn't get out of that cavern, I was as good as dead.

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