Today, I felt a bit off.

It was a strange feeling. I had felt it before, but never this strongly. I noticed it a year ago, and it came and went. When it came, it was stronger each time, but faded fast. I couldn't explain it, as it was something I had never experienced before in my life. I never found the source of the feeling, and it wasn't a problem at the time. I ignored it and got on with my day.

The Dungeon was running as smoothly as usual.

I had some spare CP, so I was able to experiment again. The tenth floor was now the goal. It will have one single occupant. I had been thinking about the floor for some time and had made a decision. The stairwell will connect to the floor like all the others. The exit will be another stairwell located on the other side of the floor. The new stairwell will lead any adventurers down into the new dungeon floors when they are constructed.

I looked at the screens as two groups were in my Dungeon.

What environment will it contain?

I wanted something new. Something different.

I lack inspiration right now. I felt that I had exhausted the environments I could create at the moment.

Opening other screens, I look at the earliest version of the guardian I was creating. I had been slowly adding to the guardian base design. The disasters were numerous, and most of them erupted immediately upon creation. There were many failures, but progress was made slowly.

I had managed to merge two parts of other monsters and was working on introducing a third. This third part proved much more problematic, but my recent breakthroughs were helping me correct the issues I was discovering.

I shifted my attention to the adventurers to see what they were doing.

A young group was currently on the second floor, testing themselves against the toads. They were all pretty young, eighteen years old at most, and as if I were being generous, they had shown some intelligence and sought a mentor to help them with yearly trips into the Dungeon. They listened with great interest and attention to everything they were being told.

If they continue this way, they might make progress.

The other group was eyeing up and going to the seventh floor. After clearing the floor, I watched them standing on the sixth floor in the stairwell room. They were a more experienced group, but they looked a bit battered from their encounter with the snakes. If they went to the seventh, I would bet that there would be quite a few fewer members by the time they got off it.

They ultimately elected not to go down and returned to the surface with what they had gained from their trip into the Dungeon. I could not fault them for that, even though the essence boost would be greatly appreciated. It was trickling in as I made my way to the 10th-floor threshold.

"Here we go again, another slog."

## ## ## ## ##

Ranus was concerned.

He was sitting in his office, looking around after finishing a series of reports. Nothing outright concerned him but a general vague feeling of uneasiness. Sunlight was coming through the open window, and outside, he could hear the sounds of the city as its population went about its daily business.

Everything was normal.

It took him a few moments to understand what was happening, and then he chuckled. He had become so accustomed to crises and problems that the absence of them was causing him concern.

True, he still had issues and problems to deal with, but they paled in comparison to what he had been dealing with over the last few years. Things were going well.

The public works projects were progressing. Many were closing on completion, and the population was reaping the benefits. The buildings in the city were higher, and all the available space was gone. He had been approached about cutting steps into the mountainsides to increase the city's space.

It was a fascinating idea until he saw the projected price.

It was a firm 'no' for the foreseeable future.

Smiling, he went back to work.

## ## ## ## ##

Rickle was hiding in his realm on the divine plain.

Around the plane, a storm was building.

He looked around his realm, thinking about what was starting to happen. Those few who had seen inside were always surprised by what they saw. It didn't matter if it was a God or a Goddess. Their realm always reflected their personalities and wishes. Being able to shape your surroundings reveals more about someone than they always understood.

Stolen story; please report.

Rickle was sitting at a table. On it lay a deck of playing cards. The four different colours of the suits looked back at him. The table was cheap and poorly constructed, as was the chair he was sitting on. He looked around at the underground gambling den that represented his realm. Around him were games of chance and the desperate hope of fortune if he favoured them. The ceiling was low, and curves were everywhere, from the foundational arches to the pillars that broke up the room. The walls showed signs of dampness, and the room was dimly lit, relying on candles for illumination. On the far side of the room was a bar that looked to be held together by a couple of nails and a lot of hope. The floor was covered in sawdust, and the stones were roughly cut but sturdy. To the left of the bar, a flight of stairs led up to the door out.

The place looked like it had just been abandoned. Mugs and a few bottles were scattered around. A few coins glinted here and there, and many other chairs at the other tables were knocked over.

This was no palace, great garden or whatever else the rest chose. This was where he learned his trade so many millennia ago. In this humble underground gambling den, he began his journey towards his current position.

He laughed at the irony of it.

He leaned back and closed his eyes, expanding his mind to get a feel for what was happening outside of his realm on the divine plain. It was subtle, but he could sense the growing tension.

He was not surprised as he was the one who started this crisis.

He was once concerned, then suspicious, but now, he is sure. There was something wrong with Oda.

His actions were not those of the God he knew. He was underhanded when needed, but never this reckless. On the surface, it looks like the Dungeon he had created was the answer to their problems. The concern about how it was put into place was addressed, so that many came to understand why he had done it.

After their last meeting, Rickle knew that something was wrong. He had questions, but Oda did not address them. So, he started asking 'innocent' questions to those he knew would seek the answers for him.

The answers returned crystallised his fears.

The Dungeon he created could eventually save their world, but also destroy it. If he had replicated the core as planned, each one would have been a waiting disaster that needed only one foolish person to trigger. If just one core were breached, they would receive a new world breach, similar to the one created during the Folly.

Oda had confided in him that they faced a cunning and patient opponent. He had been investigating to determine the identity of this traitor amongst them.

Rickle had come to fear that Oda was that traitor.

It was incredibly hard for him to accept, but the evidence slowly mounted against him, and it could not be denied. Many of his actions were contrary to their very nature, making it difficult to understand everything.

He had told him that he suspected that the void corruption had entered the world from an outside source and that someone had introduced it. Rickle had thought about that extensively and realised only one possible solution existed.

As the God of balance, it was his duty to maintain it within the world and ensure the smooth flow of time. He was the only one who left their domains and planes out of all the pantheon.

This presented a scenario in which he brought the corruption to the world.

But why?

That was the burning question at the heart of the problem.

He knew that they couldn't move forward and undo what he had done unless they knew why he had done it in the first place. Once they understood the why, they could examine what he had done, both for good and ill.

You can just move against the head of the pantheon.

The heads of the two courts organised their supporters to prepare for what was to come. They had to be careful not to over-show their hand and alert him to their moves to isolate him in the pantheon.

He was a single God, but he was one of the strongest. They had to plan everything carefully since they wouldn't get a second chance.

Rickle knew this game the gods played. He might already be aware that they were planning to make a move on him, as most of the pantheon was aware by now. This was why the tension was building outside his realm; things would soon come to a head.

Tensions here were starting to spill over to the mortal plane. Their mortal followers did not know what was happening, but sensed something was happening and became increasingly concerned. If they didn't handle it correctly, this could lead to all forms of trouble in all the planes. History has taught them that bitter lesson many times in the past.

The mortal's prayers were now filled with questions, and they were going unheeded. This was not unusual, but the volume of prayers was increasing as more and more of those in tune with the gods or goddesses became aware of the growing tension in the divine realm.

"Soon."

He said to himself, "Yes, it will be soon. One way or another, this will be resolved."

## ## ## ## ##

Averance walked into Elian's office.

There was no warning or knocking at the door. She just opened it and walked straight in. Elian and Albrot had gotten used to this and made no comment. She closed the door behind her and walked over to the window. She reached over and closed the shutters, which was different for her.

The other two in the room turned their attention to what she was doing. She turned and looked at them, faces grim. This instantly set off alarm bells in both of their heads, as even at the direst of times, she was either smiling or had a neutral expression on her face, almost as if she were bored.

"Albrot, get up your anti-scrying wards." It wasn't a suggestion, but an order, and he instantly did what she instructed.

She watched everything like a hawk as he worked. Elian was getting fearful now. Averance was dangerous when she was silent and alert.

"Both of you sit." She points to the couch in the room. Elian got up and crossed to sit on it with Albrot. As she does, Averance takes the chair from in front of her desk and positions it before them. She sits and looks at them calmly.

"What I am about to say, goes no further than you two. I will know and punish you if you mutter anything about this, even in your sleep." The delivery was made even more terrifying by the tone in which it was spoken.

"We understand," Albrot spoke, but Elian could only nod in agreement.

"Good." She took a moment before continuing. "There is a tension building between the churches and temples."

Both were confused but waited for her to say more.

"It's subtle but has been building for a few weeks. Those I trust in the clerics tell me it focuses on all the major deities. Something is happening in the Divine realm, and it is tense there."

"Do you have an idea?" Albrot asked, grasping the seriousness of what she was saying.

"No. Something happened last year, and things have been strange since. These last few weeks have seen lines being drawn."

"The two courts are threatening to clash again?" Elian asked in disbelief.

"Not this time. Many are working together in the courts or are staying out of the way."

The silence was thundering. Neither had an inclination of the storm brewing in the divine realm, as all the priests had been silent. But now Elian understood the strange tension that had been present in the last few meetings, which the priests had attended in numbers.

"What can you discern from your contacts?" Albrot asked, his face now white. A divine war in the realms was always a devastating prospect. Adding in the aftermath of the Folly and the void corrupted, it was a recipe for a nightmare.

"I cannot say, but whatever is happening will reach a head soon."

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