The raid did not slow down after the caverns.
If anything…
It accelerated.
The deeper they pushed into the World Tree, the more aggressive its creatures became. The enemies were stronger. Faster. More numerous.
But for the Vixens, that simply meant the Shadow Army had more to do.
Floors twenty-one through twenty-four remained part of the cavern system, though the terrain changed constantly. Massive tunnels twisted through the World Tree's roots like arteries carrying glowing amber sap through stone. Roots thicker than buildings disappeared into walls and ceilings. Underground rivers flowed beside narrow pathways before vanishing beneath enormous tangles of bark and rock.
The creatures changed as well.
Or perhaps evolved was the better word.
Jax had seen Thorn Vipers before.
The ones on Floor Twenty-Two were different.
They were larger. Their bark-like scales were darker and considerably thicker, and the hooked thorns covering their bodies had grown long enough to resemble knives.
Jax's Inspect identified them immediately.
THORN VIPER — B RANK
"Huh."
Pixelle hovered beside him.
"What?"
"Stronger version."
The cavern floor erupted.
Dozens of Thorn Vipers burst from beneath the stone.
Pixelle jumped into the air.
"Ambush!"
Warden was already moving.
His shield came forward.
The General planted himself directly between the Vixens and the attacking swarm.
Taunt activated.
Every Thorn Viper turned.
The first wave struck Warden almost simultaneously.
Fangs.
Thorns.
Coiling bodies.
Warden moved so quickly that Pixelle could barely follow him. The severed heads falling in his wake were the only evidence of where his sword had been.
Pixelle's eyes widened.
"Warden!"
Bunny didn't even raise World Breaker.
"He's fine."
"I can't see him!"
"That happens."
The pile suddenly exploded outward.
Warden emerged from behind the group, sword flashing.
A Thorn Viper's head flew across the cavern.
Another lunged.
Warden blocked.
A third came from his side.
Flower caught it.
The newly acquired Shadow stepped forward and extended one arm.
Roots erupted from the stone.
They wrapped around the Viper and slammed it into the ground.
Pixelle looked at Nyxian.
Nyxian smiled.
"That's my girl."
Flower turned toward her master.
A blossom opened along her wooden hair.
Nyxian put a hand over her heart.
"Oh, I love her."
Warden lowered his sword.
His Taunt ended.
Loki's began.
The entire swarm changed direction.
Pixelle immediately understood.
"Oh."
The Thorn Vipers charged Loki.
"Oh, no."
Loki raised his massive club.
"You idiots."
The club came down.
Frost exploded across the cavern floor.
Six Thorn Vipers froze instantly.
The Shadow Knights descended on them.
Ice shattered.
Fang struck from the side.
His fangs barely scratched one Viper before the poison spread through its body.
It collapsed.
Gryph dropped from above.
Talons tore through another.
Flower's roots caught three more.
The Shadow Army dismantled the ambush in less than a minute.
Pixelle slowly lowered her hands.
She had been preparing a spell.
Again.
She sighed.
"I'm going to fight something eventually."
Bunny nodded sympathetically.
"I've been telling myself that for several floors."
Jax walked past them.
"Come on."
Pixelle followed.
"You aren't going to make any of those Shadows?"
Jax glanced at the remains.
"No."
"Why?"
"Already have Fang."
Fang slithered beside him.
Jax gestured toward the enormous Shadow Serpent.
"If I'm keeping something, I want it to give us something we don't already have."
Pixelle looked back at the dead Vipers.
Then toward the Shadow Army.
Jax wasn't collecting everything he killed.
He was choosing.
That somehow made the army more unsettling.
They continued.
Floor Twenty-Three offered little resistance.
Floor Twenty-Four tried harder.
Bark Sentinels emerged from alcoves along the walls in disciplined formations. Unlike the earlier versions, these stood nearly eight feet tall. Layers of enchanted hardwood overlapped across their bodies like plate armor.
Inspect identified them as B Rank.
And their armor regenerated.
A Shadow Knight cut through one Sentinel's shoulder.
Wood immediately twisted across the wound.
The arm reformed.
"Regeneration types," Llandra said.
She raised Starpiercer.
The bowstring hummed.
Three arrows flew.
Three glowing knots disappeared from three separate bodies.
The Sentinels collapsed.
Pixelle stared.
"You just knew where to shoot."
Llandra lowered Starpiercer.
"Of course."
"How?"
Llandra pointed toward the fallen creatures.
"The mana has to originate somewhere."
Pixelle looked.
Then back at Llandra.
"You saw that from here?"
"Yes."
Pixelle sighed.
"Of course you did."
Nyxian patted her gently on the head as she passed.
"You'll get used to her too."
"I don't think I'm getting used to any of you."
"That might be healthier."
They reached the stairwell.
Another protected chamber waited inside.
Fresh water flowed from a stone basin.
Benches lined the walls.
A doorway marked the World Tree's exit stood along one side.
Pixelle glanced toward it.
Jax didn't even slow down.
They continued upward.
Floor Twenty-Five changed things.
The cavern opened into a vast chamber filled with pools of molten amber sap.
Something moved inside one.
Then stood.
Pixelle flew backward.
The creature was enormous.
Nearly twelve feet tall.
Molten resin formed its body beneath thick plates of blackened bark. Glowing sap dripped from its fists and hissed against the stone.
Then another rose.
Then another.
Then ten more.
Jax activated Inspect.
SAP BEHEMOTH — A RANK
He smiled.
Warden looked back at him.
Jax nodded.
"Yeah."
Pixelle looked between them.
"Yeah what?"
Jax drew Infernal Requiem.
"Those we keep."
The first Sap Behemoth charged.
Its fist struck the ground.
Burning resin exploded outward.
Zee slammed Sanctaris down.
A barrier flashed into existence.
The burning sap splattered harmlessly against it.
Warden raised his sword.
The Shadow Army spread.
This time the fight didn't end immediately.
The Behemoths were strong.
One caught a Shadow Knight and crushed it between both hands.
Another ripped itself free from Flower's roots.
Loki's club slammed into a third.
Frost spread across its chest.
The Behemoth roared and shattered the ice before it could completely engulf it.
Bunny's eyes lit up.
"Finally."
She disappeared.
World Breaker struck the Behemoth from the side.
The impact lifted the twelve-foot monster completely from the ground.
It flew through another Behemoth.
Both crashed into the cavern wall.
Bunny landed.
She looked toward Jax.
"These are better."
"Don't break all of them."
"No promises."
Jax moved.
Infernal Requiem flashed into his hands.
Pixelle watched him step directly into the battlefield.
Then—
He danced.
There was no other word for it.
Jax slipped beneath a massive fist.
One pistol fired.
A glowing knot in the creature's shoulder exploded.
He twisted around another strike.
The second pistol fired beneath his arm.
Another weak point burst.
Jax stepped onto empty air.
Air Walk carried him upward.
A Behemoth swung.
Jax rotated over the enormous arm.
Two shots.
Three.
Four.
Runes flashed across Infernal Requiem.
Magical explosions ripped through the Behemoth's chest.
Jax landed on its shoulder.
"Sorry."
He fired into its head.
The Behemoth collapsed.
Jax stepped off before it hit the ground.
Another came from behind.
Peacemaker appeared in his hand.
The Godslayer blade swept backward.
The Behemoth separated at the waist.
Pixelle stared.
Nyxian walked past her.
"You're doing it again."
Pixelle didn't look away.
"Doing what?"
"Watching Jax instead of fighting."
"I am studying."
"Of course you are."
The remaining Behemoths were overwhelmed.
Warden and Loki alternated Taunts. Occasionally Bunny got involved as well. Splitting the groups direction even more.
Flower bound legs with roots.
Fang poisoned anything that managed to break through.
Gryph attacked exposed cores from above.
The Shadow Knights swarmed isolated targets.
And the Vixens tore through everything else.
When the last Sap Behemoth fell, Jax surveyed the battlefield.
Several corpses were badly damaged.
Others weren't.
He looked toward Warden.
"How many?"
Warden studied them.
"Eight, my liege."
"That's what I was thinking."
Pixelle looked at Jax.
"Eight?"
Jax raised his hand.
Darkness spread beneath the fallen Behemoths.
"Come Forth."
Eight enormous bodies moved.
Blackness poured across molten amber.
Their burning cores turned violet.
One after another, the Sap Behemoths rose.
The Shadow Army moved without being told.
Knights shifted positions.
Archers stepped aside.
The eight massive creatures formed a heavy line near Loki.
Pixelle stared.
"You just added eight A-Rank monsters to your army."
"Yep."
"Eight."
"That's what Warden recommended."
Warden looked toward Jax.
Jax looked at him.
"Good choices?"
"Yes, my liege."
"Great."
Jax started walking.
Pixelle remained where she was.
Nyxian held out a hand.
"Come along, darling."
Pixelle landed on it.
"I remember when eight A-Rank monsters would have been considered a crisis."
Nyxian smiled.
"Now they're employees."
Jax looked over his shoulder.
"Unpaid employees."
Bunny nodded.
"That's how you know he's a good businessman."
"Hey."
They continued.
The next several floors proved exactly why Jax had kept the Behemoths.
They became the Shadow Army's heavy infantry.
Warden placed them where he needed a line broken.
Loki froze enemies.
The Behemoths shattered them.
Flower immobilized targets.
The Behemoths crushed them.
When narrow passages forced the army into columns, the Behemoths simply walked at the front.
The creatures of the World Tree became stronger.
Unfortunately for them, so did Jax's army.
And every battle made the next battle easier.
On Floor Twenty-Seven, Mana Leeches filled the ceiling.
Shadow Archers eliminated most before they descended.
On Twenty-Eight, Root Colossi burst through the cavern walls.
Jax kept six.
On Twenty-Nine, a pack of heavily armored Bark Sentinels held a narrow bridge over a river of molten sap.
Warden sent the Sap Behemoths first.
The bridge belonged to Jax less than three minutes later.
Pixelle watched another notification appear.
EXPERIENCE GAINED
Then another.
Then another.
Her experience bar moved.
Again.
"This is ridiculous."
Zee glanced toward her.
"What is?"
"I've gained six levels."
Bunny smiled.
"Congratulations."
"I've barely done anything!"
"Congratulations."
"That doesn't make it better!"
They reached the protected stairwell after Floor Thirty.
Another exit waited.
Another fresh-water basin.
Another safe room.
They walked straight through.
The next floor was different.
Jax noticed the ceiling first.
It rose hundreds of feet above them.
The chamber was enormous.
An underground forest grew inside it.
Massive roots crossed overhead like bridges. Glowing sap rivers wound between trees. Clouds of luminescent insects drifted through the canopy.
Pixelle stared upward.
"Oh, that's beautiful."
Warden stopped.
His helmet tilted.
Jax noticed.
"What?"
Warden didn't answer immediately.
He seemed to be feeling something.
The General slowly turned his head, studying the cavern.
The ground moved.
Once.
Twice.
Then everywhere.
Shapes emerged from between the trees.
Dozens.
Then hundreds.
Bark Sentinels.
Root Colossi.
Sap Elementals.
Creatures Jax hadn't seen before.
The forest itself seemed to be waking.
Pixelle's expression changed.
"Oh."
Bunny lifted World Breaker.
"Now we're talking."
Jax looked toward Warden.
"What do you suggest?"
Warden continued studying the chamber.
He looked upward.
Then toward the enormous forest.
Then casually back at Jax.
"Dante."
Jax nodded.
"Okay."
Pixelle slowly turned toward him.
"Dante?"
Jax looked toward Warden again.
"Anyone else?"
"No, my liege."
Warden turned toward the forest.
"We will walk through this one unscathed."
Jax smiled.
"Works for me."
He raised one hand.
"Come Forth."
Darkness exploded upward.
A massive head emerged.
Then a neck.
Wings unfolded.
The cavern suddenly felt much smaller.
Dante rose from Jax's shadow.
The Flame Dragon stretched his wings.
Pixelle flew backward despite having seen him before.
There was something fundamentally wrong about getting accustomed to an adult dragon appearing because someone asked for him.
Jax looked up.
"Missed you, my friend."
Dante lowered his head.
Jax pointed toward the forest.
"Now…"
He smiled.
"Go have some fun."
Dante roared.
The cavern shook.
Pixelle covered her ears.
Dante launched.
One beat of his enormous wings sent dust and leaves exploding across the chamber.
The creatures below looked upward.
That was their first mistake.
Dante opened his mouth.
Fire filled the world.
A river of flame carved through the underground forest.
Bark Sentinels disappeared.
Sap Elementals ignited.
Root Colossi burned where they stood.
Dante banked.
His wings nearly touched the distant cavern walls.
He came around again.
Another wave of fire rolled across the forest.
Pixelle stared.
Jax started walking.
She looked at him.
Then at Dante.
Then at Jax.
"We're just walking?"
"Warden said we'd be fine."
Ahead of them, Warden marched through the burning forest.
Loki followed.
The Shadow Army moved behind them.
The Vixens joined Jax.
Above them, Dante made another pass.
An enormous creature emerged from the trees.
Dante landed on it.
The impact shook the ground.
His jaws closed around its upper body.
Pixelle looked away.
Then immediately looked back.
She couldn't help herself.
"I know I've seen him before."
Jax nodded.
"Yep."
"I know he's your Shadow."
"Yep."
"I know he obeys you."
"Yep."
Dante threw the creature across the forest.
It struck a cliff face hard enough to crack stone.
Pixelle stared.
"It's still insane."
Bunny walked beside her.
"You should've seen our faces the first few times."
Llandra glanced over.
"The first few?"
Bunny considered that.
"Fine. It's still pretty impressive."
Nyxian smiled.
"I'm mostly jealous."
Jax looked at her.
"You have Flower."
Flower immediately turned toward Nyxian.
Nyxian smiled at her.
"Yes, I do."
She stroked Flower's cheek.
"And she's perfect."
A roar echoed overhead.
Nyxian looked up at Dante.
"But I wouldn't object to one with wings."
Jax laughed.
They reached the opposite side of the floor fourteen minutes later.
Dante landed near the stairwell.
Jax looked back.
The enormous cavern behind them burned.
Almost nothing moved.
Pixelle stared at the devastation.
Jax looked at Warden.
"Fifteen minutes."
Warden nodded.
"The stairwell was distant, my liege."
Jax laughed.
"So the only thing slowing us down was walking."
"Yes, my liege."
Pixelle looked between them.
"That isn't something you should sound disappointed about."
Jax dismissed Dante before entering the stairwell.
Again.
They continued.
By Floor Thirty-Three, Jax had become noticeably more selective.
Not because the enemies were getting weaker.
Because they were finally getting stronger.
B-Rank creatures were increasingly common.
A-Ranks appeared among them.
Those made Jax pay attention.
A heavily armored Cavern Troll fell to Warden.
Jax kept it.
Three more appeared later.
He kept those too.
A Root Hydra attacked them on Floor Thirty-Four.
Seven heads.
Regeneration.
Poison resistance.
Enough strength to pin two Sap Behemoths simultaneously.
Bunny eventually crushed its central body with World Breaker.
Jax stared at the corpse.
Bunny looked at him.
"What?"
"Do you have to break the good ones that much?"
"You told me I could hit things."
"I did."
"You didn't establish limits."
"Fair."
The Hydra still rose when Jax called it.
It joined the growing army.
Pixelle watched the ranks expand.
Eight Sap Behemoths.
Root Colossi.
Cavern Trolls.
The Hydra.
And those were only the creatures Jax considered worth keeping.
Most were left behind.
Pixelle looked toward the army.
Then toward Jax.
"How many Shadows can you actually have?"
Jax continued walking.
"A lot."
"That isn't a number."
"I know."
"How many?"
Jax thought about it.
"I don't know."
Pixelle stared.
"You don't know?"
"I haven't found the limit."
That answer was somehow worse.
Floor Thirty-Five finally made them work.
The enemies attacked in coordinated waves.
Bark Sentinels held the front.
Sap Elementals attacked from behind.
Mana Leeches descended from the ceiling.
Root Colossi emerged from the walls.
Warden's sword rose.
Purple-black energy spread through the Shadow Army.
Every Shadow reacted.
The newly acquired Behemoths moved with the veterans.
Cavern Trolls reinforced the flanks.
Shadow Mages attacked the ceiling.
Archers targeted the Mana Leeches.
Flower's roots erupted beneath the Sentinels.
Loki charged.
His club struck.
Frost spread.
Bunny followed him.
World Breaker came down.
The frozen formation exploded.
Nyxian's Lilith's Kiss wrapped around a Sap Elemental and dragged it directly into Fang.
Llandra's arrows found weak points faster than Pixelle could identify them.
Zee's barriers appeared wherever the formation threatened to buckle.
Jax moved through the center.
Peacemaker spun.
Infernal Requiem flashed.
Magic filled the cavern.
And Pixelle—
Finally—
Fought.
Nature magic gathered around her.
Vines erupted from the cavern floor and wrapped around a Bark Sentinel.
Pixelle pulled.
The creature stumbled.
"HA!"
Gryph hit it.
The Sentinel exploded.
Pixelle stopped.
She stared at Gryph.
Gryph continued fighting.
"You did that on purpose!"
Nobody answered.
Pixelle pointed after him.
"I had that one!"
Nyxian laughed so hard she almost missed her next strike.
Eventually the final creature fell.
The cavern went quiet.
Jax checked the time.
Just after eight.
They had been inside the World Tree for roughly eight hours.
He looked toward the stairwell.
"Dinner."
Nobody argued.
They entered the stairwell after Floor Thirty-Five.
Inside was another protected chamber, almost identical in purpose to the rooms they had encountered after Floors Ten, Fifteen, Twenty, Twenty-Five and Thirty.
Fresh water.
Stone benches.
No monsters.
And another exit.
Every five floors, beginning at Floor Ten, the World Tree offered adventurers a choice.
Continue.
Or leave.
Jax and the Vixens had ignored every one.
Until now.
Not because they were quitting.
Because it was eight o'clock at night.
Jax looked around.
"This works."
Llandra nodded.
"Defensible."
Warden immediately began positioning Shadows.
Jax watched.
"It's supposed to be safe."
Warden looked at him.
"My liege."
"Yeah. I know."
Nobody trusted supposed to be safe.
The Shadow Army spread throughout the chamber.
Sap Behemoths guarded the lower entrance.
Cavern Trolls took the upper.
Archers positioned themselves along the walls.
Flower remained near Nyxian until Nyxian gave her a small nod.
"Go on."
Flower joined the others.
Warden adjusted the formation without a word.
Jax reached into storage.
The tent appeared.
Pixelle looked at it.
Then at Jax.
"I've learned not to trust the outside dimensions of anything you own."
"Good policy."
They entered.
Pixelle stopped.
Of course.
The dimensional tent wasn't a tent.
Not really.
The entrance opened into a large living area furnished with couches and chairs. Beyond it was a full kitchen with stone counters, refrigeration, ovens, cabinets and enough supplies to feed them for weeks.
Hallways led deeper into the dimensional space.
Bathrooms.
Several of them.
Pixelle didn't ask how any of that worked.
She had learned there were questions involving Jax's dimensional magic that were better left unanswered.
The large bedroom occupied the rear.
One enormous bed dominated the room.
Pixelle stared at it.
Then looked at Nyxian.
Nyxian smiled.
Pixelle immediately looked somewhere else.
"Kitchen!"
Jax laughed.
Dinner took time.
Nobody cared.
The Vixens showered and changed while Jax cooked.
The smells began filling the dimensional space.
Chicken.
Garlic.
Butter.
Pasta.
Fresh bread.
Jax wanted protein and carbohydrates after eight hours of constant movement.
The Vixens wanted whatever Jax put in front of them.
By the time everyone sat down, nearly an hour had passed.
Pixelle took her first bite.
She stopped chewing.
Jax noticed.
"What?"
Pixelle slowly put down her fork.
"This is unreasonable."
Jax looked at the food.
"It's chicken."
"No."
Pixelle pointed at him.
"This."
She gestured toward the plate.
"This is unfair."
Nyxian poured herself more wine.
"You'll get used to his cooking."
Pixelle looked at her.
"You keep saying that about things I'm clearly never going to get used to."
"That's because it's funny."
Dinner lasted another hour.
They ate.
Talked.
Drank.
Laughed.
For the first time since entering the World Tree, nobody watched the next tunnel.
Nobody checked for enemies.
Nobody worried about what waited on Floor Thirty-Six.
Warden and the Shadow Army were doing that for them.
By the time they finished, it was approaching ten.
Jax leaned back.
"We could probably do a few more floors."
Five women stared at him.
Jax looked around the table.
"Or not."
Bunny pointed her fork at him.
"Not."
Zee nodded.
"Definitely not."
Llandra lifted her wine.
"We have been moving for eight hours."
Nyxian smiled.
"And I have other plans."
Pixelle looked at her.
"What plans?"
Nyxian's smile widened.
Pixelle paused.
"Oh."
Jax stood.
"Ten o'clock it is."
They left the dimensional tent for a while before bed.
The protected chamber contained something the others hadn't.
A natural spring fed a large stone pool along one wall.
Steam drifted from the water.
Pixelle dipped one hand into it.
Her eyes widened.
"It's warm."
Bunny was already removing her boots.
"I'm getting in."
The decision was unanimous.
The Shadow Army continued guarding the chamber while the Vixens took advantage of the World Tree's bath.
Nobody bothered with swimsuits.
Jax had a towel.
That apparently counted.
The warm water felt incredible after hours of walking and fighting.
Pixelle had shifted into her larger form and sank until the water reached her shoulders.
Zee leaned against the stone edge with her eyes closed.
Bunny disappeared beneath the surface and emerged several feet away.
Llandra relaxed against Jax.
Nyxian stretched her arms along the edge of the spring.
"This," she announced, "is how adventuring should work."
Jax nodded.
"I've had worse days."
Most of the Shadows paid absolutely no attention to them.
Fang guarded the entrance.
The Sap Behemoths stood motionless.
Loki looked like an enormous statue.
Flower remained near Nyxian's belongings.
The Shadow Knights maintained their positions.
They were Shadows.
Naked people apparently didn't rank particularly high among battlefield concerns.
Warden was different.
Jax noticed him standing near the far side of the chamber.
His helmet remained pointed very deliberately toward the tunnel.
Nyxian noticed too.
She smiled.
That was never a good sign.
"Warden?"
The General became very still.
"Yes, Lady Nyxian?"
Nyxian leaned against the edge of the spring.
"Are you avoiding looking at us?"
Warden continued staring toward the tunnel.
"I am maintaining vigilance."
Nyxian looked around.
Dozens of Shadows surrounded them.
"Yes. I can see how desperately you're needed."
Warden's helmet moved slightly.
His gaze found Jax.
And stayed there.
Jax was sitting at the edge of the spring with a towel around his waist.
Nyxian's smile became dangerous.
"Oh."
Jax knew that tone.
Bunny knew that tone.
Zee opened her eyes.
Llandra quietly covered her smile.
Nyxian tilted her head.
"Is Warden shy around naked women?"
Warden stared directly into Jax's eyes.
"My liege."
Jax tried very hard not to laugh.
"Yes?"
"I believe the upper entrance requires additional inspection."
Nyxian laughed.
"You were just over there."
"A second inspection is warranted."
Jax lost the battle.
He laughed.
Warden's helmet remained locked directly on him.
"I will begin my rounds now."
"Of course."
Warden turned.
Quickly.
Perhaps a little too quickly.
His cape swept behind him as he marched toward the upper entrance.
Nyxian called after him.
"Don't worry, Warden! We'll still be naked when you get back!"
Warden walked faster.
Bunny burst out laughing.
Zee covered her mouth.
Even Llandra gave up trying to hide it.
Pixelle stared after him.
"Can Shadows be embarrassed?"
Jax watched his General disappear through the doorway.
"Apparently."
Nyxian settled deeper into the water.
Her smile was triumphant.
"I knew I liked him."
Jax shook his head.
"Leave my General alone."
"No."
The bath lasted considerably longer than anyone intended. The healing nature of the bath also soothed muscles and healed minor scrapes and wounds.
It also restored something else that the Vixens didn't need help restoring.
Eventually they returned to the tent.
The Shadow Army remained outside.
Warden remained particularly committed to guarding the farthest possible entrance.
Inside, the lights dimmed.
Pixelle shifted into her five-foot-six form.
The enormous bed suddenly seemed like a very good investment.
The Vixens settled in for the night.
And Jax discovered that Nyxian's earlier comment about having other plans had not been theoretical.
By the time the dimensional tent finally became quiet, Jax had gotten considerably less rest than everyone else.
Morning came peacefully.
Mostly.
Jax woke early.
Zee was already awake beside him.
She smiled.
He looked at her.
"Morning."
"Morning."
Somehow, the two of them were the first into the kitchen.
Somehow, breakfast didn't begin immediately.
And somehow, when the others eventually woke, the entire group had acquired another iPoint notification.
Nyxian walked into the kitchen.
She looked at Zee.
Then Jax.
Then the notification.
Zee smiled innocently.
Nyxian nodded.
"Productive morning."
Zee sat at the counter.
"Very."
Jax turned back toward breakfast.
"I hate all of you."
"No, you don't," Bunny called from the hallway.
Jax smiled.
"No."
He didn't.
Breakfast was substantial.
Eggs.
Meat.
Bread.
Fruit.
Enough food to prepare them for another long day.
Eventually, Jax stepped back through the dimensional doorway.
The Shadow Army remained exactly where Warden had positioned it.
The General approached.
"My liege."
"Anything?"
"No threats."
Jax nodded.
"Good."
He looked toward the stairway.
Floor Thirty-Six waited above them.
Nobody knew how deep the World Tree went.
Fifty floors.
Seventy-five.
A hundred.
Maybe more.
Jax looked at the army around him.
It was already larger than when they entered.
Eight Sap Behemoths stood among the ranks.
Root Colossi.
Cavern Trolls.
A Root Hydra.
Flower.
Loki.
Warden.
Fang.
Gryph.
And they were only thirty-five floors in.
Jax smiled.
Yesterday, the World Tree had tried to stop them.
Instead, it had supplied reinforcements.
He rested Peacemaker across his shoulder.
"Alright."
The Vixens gathered behind him.
Warden turned toward the stairs.
The Shadow Army followed.
Jax looked upward.
"Let's see what else is worth keeping."