With the chaos spreading across the entire Setting Sun, Vincent was dashing through the various halls. After parting ways with Marezi—who was in full control of the Collider—Vincent found himself running through the twisting corridors of the Gold Pillar.

In the early stages of the fighting, the halls remained mostly intact and peaceful. However, by the time he made it to the Diamond Pillar, the mayhem was as clear as crystal. Glass monuments lay shattered across the floor, once prestigious works of art were defiled to unrecognizability, and the echo of metal and might clashing was the prominent sound.

As much as he wanted to join and kick the asses of every noble person, Vincent was already dead set on his mission. He had it make it to Lucretia's throne room in the Upper Echelons. With how much time he was taking, he figured that his friends would be waiting for him by the time he got there.

Swiftly, he managed to make his way to an elevator. When he pressed the button for the doors to open, nothing happened. Confused and filled with adrenaline, he rapidly pressed the button dozens of times. Still no response from the elevator.

Without a second thought, Vincent unleashed a starbreaker right at the doors, causing them to fly backwards. Peering his head in the now vacant space, he saw the straight plummet that was the elevator tunnel. He propped himself from falling over the edge by keeping both hands on the opposite sides of the walls.

Damn, he thought, I don’t think I wanna fall down that.

His still-focused eyes then darted around the empty space in search of something. He looked for a rope that usually dangled down in empty elevator shafts in movies. When he didn’t see anything like it, he looked for something else that could help him up, like a ladder.

After about a minute of searching—which to Vincent, was 40 seconds too long—he wound up with nothing. He hated the idea of pondering about the situation and his adrenaline barely let him think. Luckily for him, he wouldn’t have to do much thinking.

“There he is!” someone shouted from behind him.

As he turned around, he saw a group of guards rushing his way. Unlike a lot of the guards that he had encountered in the lower Pillars, the ones coming towards him actually had some protection to them. Around their chests were kevlar vests and resting on top of their heads were full-covering helmets. The helmets completely engulfed their heads and the glass around the eyes were darkened so much that he couldn’t see through it.

With a smirk, Vincent backed up so that his back was just at the ledge of the shaft. Sticking his tongue out, flipping them off, and saluting them, he leaned back and off of the ledge. Instantly, he started to rapidly descend. Fortunately, just as quickly as he began to freefall, he used Godspeed to propel himself straight up the elevator tunnel. He breezed past the opening he created in the Diamond Pillar, and then continued to fly up for another 20 feet or so.

As soon as he began to feel the effects of gravity starting to take over, he reached over and grabbed at the wall. His hands found purchase on a jagged stone that slightly jutted out. It slightly cut his hand and the small trickles of blood silently dropped into the endless abyss below him as he dangled there.

After taking a few seconds to admire the view, Vincent let out a quick sigh and flung himself to the middle of the hole. He then used Godspeed again.

I gotta be close to the next floor, he thought, while his head slowly began to cool down.

Just as the momentum from his Godspeed wore off and gravity began to take over, he saw two metal doors directly to the left of him. He quickly reached over and grabbed part of the shaft that protruded towards him and pulled himself to the wall. Using his core muscles, he kept his balance while standing on the small lip that stuck out from those doors.

With a crack of his neck, he created a void right where the doors were, causing them to buckle a bit, but not completely fly off their hinges. It seemed that he did not create a big enough void. Rolling his eyes, he created another void, which then completely sent the doors rocketing away from their frame.

Stepping into the hallway before him, Vincent saw both a perplexing and an immaculate sight. The corridor before him was long, wide, and tall. If it wasn't for the fact that it eventually opened up into an even larger room, no person would even dare call it a hallway.

The passage was minimalist, but extravagant nonetheless. The walls were colored in almost nothing but a golden exterior, while also being adorned with a few sparse, but carefully placed pieces of art. Around the golden walls were trims of purple that encircled the art pieces and several of the ornamental lights.

The floor was a sheen marble texture, but the color was just as gold as the walls. That being said, running parallel to the walls. like zebra streaks, were carpets of deep purple. Even though the Gold Pillar was covered in gold, more so than this floor, the Upper Echelons could be described as being “crowned” by gold, rather than smeared with it.

The other thing that Vincent realized about the floor—the thing that confused him—was how empty it was. There was no panic, not hustle, no sense or urgency, and certainly no signs of struggle. Unlike every other floor, even the Diamond Pillar, it was like nothing significant was happening. He could not believe how far removed the Upper Echelon was from the rest of the system—even from the extremely wealthy patrons just one floor below.

After shaking his head a bit in disbelief, he ran forward through the hall, topwards Lucretia’s throne room. As he ran, his footsteps echoed through the beautiful, yet terrifyingly hollow halls. With every room that he passed, he noticed the lack of gambling machines and card tables. The rooms that he did pass were as follows: a room full of black-lined pools of unimaginable proportions, an empty massage clinic that smelled like heaven itself, and a room whose giant doors were closed, but the windows beside it showed a blackened room, barely lit up in parts by neon lights. In the last room, although he wasn’t sure, he swore that he saw someone in there with little-to-no clothes on, surrounded by other people of similar attire.

Still he pressed forward, determined to meet up with his friends at the promised location. With every twist and turn, he used all of his brain power to remember the routes on the map that Zander laid out for him.

After a few minutes, he finally was at his destination. And just like they had planned, he saw 3 figures gathered in front of the majestically designed double doors, which were stamped with a giant L in the middle.

The figures in front of the doors turned as soon as Vincent began running in their direction. As Vincent waved to them, they responded in kind, although he could tell that the air around them seemed a bit off. As he approached the figures, the nervous faces of his friends became all too visible.

“Yo, it seems like everyone’s here, huh?” Vincent remarked, looking at Zander, then Fang, then Eliot.

“And it seems like you’re the last one,” Zander commented.

“That’s a first,” Eliot joked, raising both eyebrows.

Taking a second to breathe, Vincent replied, “Well, I had to kick a lotta asses—you know how it is.”

Each of them chuckled for a bit before the tension washed over their faces again. Noticing the change in attitude, Vincent looked at each of his friends and just gave a smile. They returned it in kind, although it was obvious that some were a bit more forced than others—namely Eliot and Zander’s replies were the most noticeable.

“So, uh, we all ready for this?” Fang asked.

“Oh yeah!” Vincent enthusiastically responded. “Let’s get this door open and finish this!”

Zander rubbed his hand against the back of his head and stated, “You see, that’s the problem—that’s why we’re waiting out here.”

“Can’t open it?” Vincent then turned towards the door. Stretching his arms, he added, “Leave it to me.”

He then placed a hand in the middle, right where the L was, and said, “Devoid”. At that moment, a void was created at the end of his hand. The screeching and scraping of metal could be heard as the area of the doors where the void now occupied was forcibly scrunched against itself.

As he released the void, a hole about 3 feet in diameter was left in its place. Gesturing towards his friends, with one foot already on the other side, Vincent said, “Let’s go!”

One by one, each of them stepped into the throne room. The room itself could only be described as spaciously ostentatious. The floor was made of the same marbled gold as the hallway, the walls were covered in nothing but gold, and draping from the ceiling were chandeliers, dressed with purple robes and adorned in transparently purple crystals.

On the very back side of the room, resting 20 feet in the air on a shimmering platform accessible via its stairs, elevated above everything else, was a magnificent throne. In fact, there was nothing else of note in the empty room besides that throne, making it the sole focus of everything—the center of all attention.

Behind that royal throne was a spherical door that looked to be made of some kind of silver metal. It was about 9 feet in diameter and had Lucretia’s symbol etched on it for all to see.

As the last of the friends made their way into the room, they each were caught staring with all their being at the throne. Their faces could not be more tense, more nervous, and more pale. For sitting upon her royal throne, coldly staring down at the tiny creatures beneath her, was the Lady of the House herself…Lucretia.

“It seems I was right again, unfortunately,” she frigidly stated. Her legs were crossed while she sat so naturally in her throne. Her one elbow was resting on the armrest, while she had one finger lightly pressed against her cheek. Most people would take this posture as one of pure relaxation, but those people would be deathly wrong. The amount of focus and awareness in her eyes could not be understated. Cold and calculated couldn’t begin to describe her.

“What are you doing here?” Vincent blurted out.

“What am I doing here?” she retorted. “What are you doing here? Although, I suppose I shouldn’t ask questions I already know the answer to.”

As she straightened her head from its leaning position, a chill was sent down Vincent’s spine.

“You have been such a pain to me—so much so that it almost isn’t worth it,” she commented. With unwavering eyes, like a predator to prey, she continued. “You asked why I’m here, right?”

“Exactly,” Zander agreed, “I thought for sure you would be dealing with the situation at the Collider.”

Staring directly into Zander’s soul, she replied, “I don’t remember telling you that you could talk.” She then straightened her back and raised her chin, all while maintaining the downward glare at the party. “However, I am dealing with that little squabble at the Collider that you all created. After all, that’s what my paid plebeian guards are for. But I knew that this wasn’t another fruitless attempt at a rebellion—I know that you all had other plans. And that plan was to see the one thing you all came to this country for.”

As she said that, her eyes glanced back at the large circular, steel door behind her throne. “Am I wrong, Chosen boy?” she asked.

Stepping in front of his friends, Vincent responded, “You’re wrong!” He then pointed directly at her. “Our goal is to kick your ass and take revenge for what you’ve done to everyone here.” With his other fist clenched, he added, “Especially to Livia.”

Lucretia uncrossed her legs and gripped her armrests tighter. “Oh how noble,” she teased.

“How could you do that to her!?” Vincent shouted. “How could you kill someone, especially your sister, and feel nothing!? Why do you do what you do? Is it for the money? For the power? Is it for fun?”

“All of it,” Lucretia answered, standing up. “And when it comes to that misguided woman, she knew what would happen if she betrayed me, and she paid the price for it.”

Gritting his teeth, Vincent angrily responded, “Lives don’t have prices.”

“Everything has a price,” she solemnly stated. “It doesn’t matter what it is—good, evil, fun, or boring—those who can pay the price get it. Nothing in this world is free…not even freedom.”

“You’re mad. You are so disgusting. As high and mighty as you may think you are, you’re lower than scum.”

Lucretia replied to his accusations with a mere sadistic smile.

“We’re going to put an end to your games,” Vincent continued. “We’re going to take you out and bring this casino to ruin. You won’t control any more lives and the people who you trapped here will be free to live their lives how they please.”

Lucretia laughed. Her demonic smile widened further than humanly possible. Her twisted face finally showed her true colors…and they were bleaker than anyone could ever imagine.

“Vincent,” she menacingly, yet coldly said, “don’t think for even a second that you’re in control of your own life. No matter who you are, no matter where you are, there is always something or someone else pulling the strings.”

As she said that, she outstretched her arms in both directions. In response, the golden walls began to quiver.

“Call it what you will—oppression, addiction, fate, freedom—I don’t give a damn, but everyone is bound by something and there is nothing you can do about it. If you think, in your hubris, that you can rise against this fact, then I will bring you down.”

The walls were now bending and flowing like water. Some of them even had sections starting to protrude outwards like giant spikes.

“I don’t care anymore,” she continued. “I don’t care about that man anymore. Vincent Huron, I will kill you…right here, right now. And when I’m through with you, I’m going to slaughter the rest of those pathetic, ill-guided peasants that think that can fight against me and the system.”

Atop her golden pedestal, surrounded by her golden spikes that she controls, in her golden room, stood the greed-guided demon, Lucretia.

“Now come fight me and learn the true price of freedom.”