Chapter 70: Silenced by Rock Buddha
Nathan felt the eerie silence as pressure around his chest. Then his mental link began to fray—Mirko’s presence dimming, Kuro’s voice growing distant, then gone. The connections drowned, one by one, swallowed by a stillness with teeth.
[Warning: Zone of Absolute Silence. Mental link suppressed.]
He looked across the chapel. Mirko was already looking back, pink eyes wide, lips shaping a word—Master—that arrived nowhere. No sound. No thought-voice. Nothing. Mental link silenced.
The Buddha’s six arms unfolded—slow, deliberate, almost gentle. Then the first fist came down.
Nathan threw himself sideways. Snow exploded where he’d stood. Mirko intercepted the second fist with [Impenetrable Fortress], the barrier fracturing but holding.
Nathan came up with Moonlight in hand.
No orders. No voice. Just Mirko’s eyes finding his, reading his weight as he leaned toward the Buddha’s left flank. She was already there, blade singing into [Unstoppable Force]’s opening swing.
Elise stood at the chapel’s edge, hands moving through drilled signals—platform, right flank, ten seconds. Ten seconds later, a sheet of ice erupted beneath the Buddha’s feet, climbing both stone legs to the knee. The Frost Golem hit the frozen legs a heartbeat later.
Dillon’s Cloud Serpent threaded the chaos, static crawling along its length. It looped behind the Buddha’s shoulder and struck, electricity pouring into stone. Hairline cracks traced the Buddha’s spine.
Garrett and Red held the rear, intercepting debris the Buddha’s strikes hurled skyward. Red’s wool caught what would have taken Elise’s head off.
Kuro appeared on the Buddha’s shoulder. [Invisibility] had carried her past every swinging arm. Her daggers found the granite near its neck in two precise strikes—not to kill, but to mark. A hairline fracture spread from the impact point.
She caught Nathan’s eye. Moonlight rose. [Focus Shot] began to charge.
Ten seconds. The Buddha swung two fists at Mirko. She blocked one, deflected the second into the chapel wall.
Fifteen seconds. Elise’s [Mana Shield] bloomed over Mirko as the third fist descended.
Twenty seconds. Kuro traced the fracture a second time, and the glow along the crack deepened.
Twenty-five seconds. All six arms converged toward Nathan.
Thirty seconds. The. He released.
The arrow struck the fracture dead center and punched through the granite. A silent shockwave rolled outward from the Buddha’s collapsing core.
The Stone Buddha froze mid-swing. Then it collapsed into a pile of inert, ordinary stone.
The silence lifted.
Sound rushed back—the crackle of settling rubble, the crunch of snow underfoot, the whistle of wind through shattered windows. The mental link flared back to full strength.
’Master. That was extremely unpleasant. I do not recommend fighting such a being again.’
’Noted.’
[Ding! Tower of Silent Stones Cleared!]
[Overall Clear Rank: A]
[Level Up! Nathan Cross: Level 36]
[Level Up! Kuro: Level 20]
[Reward: Silent Stone Fragment (Rare Material) — A piece of the Buddha’s core. Absorbs sound and vibration.]
Nathan lowered Moonlight. Everyone was standing. Everyone was breathing. No shattered summons.
Elise walked toward him. "Pretty good for a party that fought without exchanging words, right? ."
"Yeah, I’d say so myself "
"We’ve come a long way from Ashwick, Nathan."
Nathan met her eyes. "Yes. We have."
---
Celestial Peak’s observatory was warm after the cold of the highlands. The party filed into Valerie’s office, where the Guild Master was waiting behind her cluttered desk. The map of the outer regions was spread before her, the Tower of Ash circled in red ink. Boris snoozed in the corner.
"Helena gave me the clear report," Valerie said. "No verbal communication, no sound-based skills, mental link suppressed on the boss floor, and you still pulled an A-Rank clear." She leaned back. "That’s the kind of coordination that clears High Class Towers."
Nathan stood at the head of the party. "We’re ready."
"I know, I know" Valerie lifted her TUFF GRANNY mug. "You’ve cleared four Mid Class Towers since the Tower of Ash. You’ve rebuilt your confidence. You’ve handled environmental hazards, undead, underwater combat, magical silence. You’ve Even uncovered a new threat. Garrett’s becoming a better climber. Dillon’s fighting on his own terms. Elise has chosen her path." She set down the mug. "You’re not the same party that extracted on Floor 9. You’re stronger. Smarter. Better."
She stood, bracing her hands on the desk. "Return to Ashwick. Clear the Tower of Ash. Show that black spire what Celestial Peak Climbers can do." Her eyes swept the party. "And don’t shatter any summons this time. Boris will be disappointed if he doesn’t get to hear about a proper victory."
Boris rumbled in what might have been encouragement.
The party exchanged glances. Nathan stepped forward. "We won’t let you down."
"I know you won’t. You never have." Valerie grinned. "Now get out of my office. You leave at dawn."
---
The party gathered in the common room one last time. The Tower of Ash was visible through the eastern window, a faint black silhouette against the stars.
"Same inn?" Garrett asked.
"Same inn," Nathan confirmed. "Marta’s probably wondering what happened to us."
"She’ll be happy to see us back," Dillon said. "She seemed disappointed when we left."
"We did provide entertainment. Just not the kind she wanted."
Elise was quiet, studying the map on the wall. "The Pyre Wyrm. Floor 10. We know what to expect now. We know the heat thresholds. We know the enemy patterns. We’ve trained for this."
"And we’re stronger than we were," Nathan said. "All of us."
Mirko’s voice came through the link, warm and steady. ’We will clear it this time, Master. I am certain of it.’
’The probability of success is significantly higher than our previous attempt,’ Kuro added. ’I have calculated.’
’You always calculate.’
’It is what I do.’
Nathan looked at his party, his friends. Garrett, steady and reliable. Dillon, irreverent and determined. Elise, calm and fierce. Mirko, proud and loyal. Kuro, silent and lethal. They’d come so far from the broken party that had limped out of Ashwick weeks ago.
"Tomorrow," he said. "Ashwick. The Tower of Ash. We clear it with No extraction."
"No extraction!" the party echoed.
