The entrance to Floor 44 was deceptively quiet.
No buzzing insects.
No towering monsters.
Just a circular clearing inside the World Tree, its bark walls polished so smooth they almost looked like glass.
Jax stepped forward first.
The moment his foot crossed the threshold, the clearing shimmered.
Then figures appeared.
Six.
Standing directly in front of them.
Pixelle gasped.
They looked exactly like the Vixens.
And Jax.
There stood another Jax Darquebane, Peacemaker resting casually on his shoulder, twin pistols at his hips.
Next to him stood Bunny with her massive hammer.
Llandra with Starpiercer.
Zee with Sanctaris.
Nyxian with Lilith's Kiss.
Even Pixelle—tiny wings fluttering beside them.
Llandra immediately drew her bow.
"Are we supposed to face… ourselves?!"
Zee's voice tightened.
"This can't be good if they can duplicate Jax."
But Jax didn't look alarmed.
He looked… curious.
Like a scientist staring at a new experiment.
The mirrored group stood silently.
Then they began to move forward.
Weapons raised.
Jax tilted his head.
"Huh."
Without another word, he hurled Peacemaker.
The giant double-bladed sword spun like a sawblade of annihilation.
It cut straight through the entire duplicate group.
One clean arc.
Six bodies split apart.
The mirror sprites shattered instantly into drifting fragments of glowing bark.
Peacemaker curved through the air and returned to Jax's hand.
The entire encounter lasted less than two seconds.
Jax rolled his shoulder casually.
"They may have looked like us."
He rested the sword on his shoulder again.
"But they were not us."
Nyxian crossed her arms.
"Was it that easy to kill me?"
Jax blinked.
"I didn't even attempt to kill you."
"But you killed my doppelganger without hesitation," she said, narrowing her eyes. "I expected at least a moment of pondering."
Jax frowned.
"But they were NOT you."
"But they could have been," Nyxian replied dramatically. "What if they teleported us and replaced us with clones?"
Jax shrugged.
"Then I'd expect you to dodge."
"That's not the point."
Nyxian put a hand to her chest.
"Now that I think about it… I'm pretty sure you smiled while killing us."
Bunny's ears drooped slightly.
"You smiled while you murdered us?"
She sounded genuinely curious.
Jax threw both hands in the air.
"I didn't murder you! I killed the enemy in front of us!"
"They were clones of us!"
Nyxian bit her lip to keep from laughing.
She loved doing this.
Getting Jax into trouble for absolutely no reason was one of her favorite hobbies.
Now the other Vixens were staring at him suspiciously.
Nyxian gave him a smug little smile.
Jax pinched the bridge of his nose.
"…I hate all of you."
Pixelle was giggling so hard she nearly fell out of the air.
The next chamber of Floor 45 was far stranger.
The room opened into a wide basin filled with glowing pools of golden sap.
Even from a distance the Vixens could see something was wrong with the liquid.
Inside one pool, a small creature moved painfully slowly, like it was trapped in thick honey.
Inside another, a beast darted so quickly it almost looked like teleportation.
Pixelle fluttered closer.
Her eyes widened.
"That's… time sap."
Jax raised an eyebrow.
"Time sap?"
"Yes," Pixelle said nervously. "Some pools slow time. Others speed it up."
They watched one of the creatures inside a fast pool dart back and forth with terrifying speed.
"It's incredibly dangerous," Pixelle continued. "Adventurers who fall into the wrong pool can age years in seconds… or be trapped moving so slowly they starve before they escape."
The group examined the basin.
There was no path around it.
Which meant raid parties were supposed to enter the sap pools and navigate the distortion.
Jax crouched near one.
Instead of stepping in…
He summoned his kitchen tent.
Pixelle blinked.
"You brought out… your kitchen?"
Inside the tent's dimensional space were shelves, ovens, chilled storage units—and two empty wine barrels.
Jax dragged two out.
"We finished the wine earlier," he said thoughtfully.
Then he lowered one barrel into the slow-moving sap pool.
Carefully.
He sealed the barrel.
Then placed it into his dimensional storage. He placed the 2nd, empty barrel in his dimensional space as well.
Pixelle stared.
"You're… collecting it?"
Jax nodded.
"Of course."
He stood up.
"Now we cross."
Nyxian tilted her head.
"How?"
Jax looked at Bunny.
They both smiled.
"Wind Walk."
A moment later the plan began.
Bunny lifted Zee easily into a princess carry.
Zee blushed bright red but didn't protest.
Pixelle flew above them.
Jax crouched slightly.
Nyxian jumped forward.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.
Llandra climbed onto his back and held his shoulders.
Jax blinked.
"You are making it difficult for me to see when your face is right in front of mine."
Nyxian smiled sweetly.
"Oh Jaxy. I'm sure you'll figure it out."
She shifted slightly.
And deliberately pressed her chest against him while "adjusting her grip."
"I'm trusting you."
Jax sighed.
But despite the awkward positioning, the weight was nothing.
His stats were so dramatically high that both women felt almost weightless.
With a single step—
He walked into the air.
They moved across the basin in graceful leaps, landing briefly on patches of solid bark before jumping again.
At one point Jax stopped mid-air.
Below them a pool churned violently with creatures moving at impossible speed.
His eyes lit up.
"This must be the accelerated version."
He summoned and lowered a second barrel.
Even while holding two Vixens.
He collected another sample.
Pixelle hovered beside him.
"Why do you want this sap so badly?"
Jax shrugged.
"I honestly have no idea."
Pixelle blinked.
"…What?"
Jax sealed the barrel and stored it.
"But until I study it, I won't know what it can do."
He shrugged again.
"What if the slow sap could be used in medicine to slow aging?"
Pixelle's eyes widened.
"What if the fast sap could increase energy output in mills or waterwheels?" he continued.
"You could generate far more power than normal."
Pixelle stared at him.
"That's… brilliant."
Jax grinned.
"Or completely useless."
Nyxian leaned close to his ear.
"That's Jax for you."
She whispered softly enough that her breath brushed his neck.
"Always looking for angles."
Jax shivered slightly.
Nyxian smiled innocently.
As if she had done absolutely nothing.
They crossed the basin without ever touching the sap.
For the first time since entering the raid…
They didn't bother clearing the floor of all beasts.
And Jax didn't mind.
They reached the exit staircase quickly.
Still moving at record speed.
Still racing the Crimson Vanguard somewhere far ahead in another version of the same raid.
The World Tree stretched higher above them.
And no one yet knew just how many floors remained.