Chapter 584: Boundaries
Tom himself had only reached Ascender rank not so long ago. In Ascender terms, that made him fresh.
The youngest in the group, and the weakest of the four. He was completely at peace with that fact. Being the weakest Ascender in a group of four Ascenders was still, functionally, being an Ascender. He would take that trade any day of the week.
Tom fell in beside Farid and Sierra as the three of them moved into positions behind Samuel. None of them spoke about what had just happened. The exchange between Samuel and Alaric had been quite intense, but it wasn’t any of their business.
They had all been alive long enough to know when family politics were being aired in public. You didn’t touch that conversation.
There was a bubble to worry about.
There was an entire operation that had turned out to be far worse than any of them had estimated, and the drained corpses of the elites were still floating dark red streams of stolen energy into the containment.
Everything else could wait.
Tom changed his stance slightly and glanced at Samuel from the corner of his eye.
’This is... not going to work.’
Tom’s grin faded slightly as he studied Samuel’s posture.
The older Ascender wasn’t moving, or even preparing to strike. He was standing with his hands clasped loosely behind his back, watching the bubble ripple ahead of them calmly.
Tom cleared his throat.
"We need to do something about the bubble." He kept his voice level. "We can’t let him continue whatever transformation is happening in there. Every second we wait, whatever comes out gets stronger. We need to hit it now, together, and break it before it finishes."
Samuel didn’t look at him.
"And why should we?" Samuel’s reply came slowly, with the trace of a subtle smile curving at the corner of his mouth.
Tom, Sierra, and Farid frowned in unison.
Sierra stepped forward first. As the oldest of the three, she had the seniority to challenge Samuel without it becoming an insult.
"Samuel. This is serious. There are millions of civilian lives at stake in this Zone alone. There is the political stability of the kingdom at stake. There are our own lives at stake. This isn’t a Monday morning discussion. We need to break the bubble."
The rules of Ascender cooperation gave Samuel command authority when they operated against a shared enemy. His strength and experience placed him at the top of the informal hierarchy. But that authority came with expectations, and refusing to engage a critical threat wasn’t one of the actions those expectations permitted.
Samuel finally turned to face them.
His grin widened slightly.
"I’m well aware of what’s at stake, Sierra. My question is the following, why should we stop him from rising to the next rank?"
His eyes swept across the three of them, "Consider it. Whoever is inside that bubble is trying to ascend. A dark organization asset that has been building this for months, possibly years. If he succeeds, he becomes stronger. If he becomes stronger, he becomes a larger prize. A larger prize means more meat on the bone when we take him down. Wouldn’t that be more satisfying? Wouldn’t the rewards from his corpse be more worthy? Wouldn’t the Association’s bounty on him be dramatically higher?"
His grin sharpened, "Why would we ruin a good meal by killing the sheep before it’s finished growing?"
Farid’s expression darkened.
"Samuel. If what’s happening in there isn’t an evolution, if it’s a mass-scale attack, it could wipe out the entire zone. Every civilian, every fighter still standing in this arena.
If the strike is directed at us, we won’t leave unscathed either. And if it is an evolution, it’s not a normal kind. The stolen energy alone is enough to push someone through multiple stages in a single breakthrough. Whoever steps out of that bubble will be formidable. Possibly beyond formidable. We shouldn’t gamble on which outcome it will be."
Samuel’s eyes turned to him.
His smile didn’t fade.
"Are you afraid of a Surpasser who just ascended in battle?"
Farid shook his head, Samuel wasn’t getting it.
"There are four of us." Samuel continued. "At most, there are two of them, if we assume Klein is included in whatever emerges. Four experienced Ascenders against a traitor and a freshly minted Ascender. What are you so afraid of? Wait a little longer. Enjoy the fight when it comes. Reap the rewards when it’s over.
Or would you rather we all rushed in now, spent our best skills breaking a bubble and exhausting ourselves before the real fight begins?"
The three of them stayed silent for a moment.
Samuel wasn’t entirely wrong. The argument had some merit when it came to the benefits. But the risks were to high to ignore.
Sierra’s grip tightened on her bow. She looked at Samuel with the expression of someone who had known him for decades and had just been reminded exactly why she had always kept her distance.
"You’re gambling with the lives of everyone in this venue and this city."
Samuel’s smile widened.
"I’m gambling with an opportunity, Sierra. There’s a difference."
Seeing his arrogance, Sierra’s expression turned colder, "Whatever difference that is, I will not entertain it. The least we can do is attack the bubble. Even if we can’t break it, we can force whoever is inside to burn their reserves defending against us.
Every scrap of energy they spend on shielding is energy they can’t use on offense when they emerge. If we do nothing, they walk out at full power. If we press them now, they walk out weaker."
She didn’t wait for Samuel’s approval.
Her hand was already reaching for her bow.
Tom and Farid nodded in agreement without needing to be prompted.
Tom was a shrewd businessman. He had been one for a long time, and he had built his fortune on decisions most people would have called ruthless. But even Tom Glassy had moral lines he didn’t cross, and standing aside while a mass-scale attack could possibly be incubated inside a barrier was well past every line he had ever drawn.