Story so far
When Juice Box leapt into The Nothing, Justice Light told her he was going with her. He lied. He needed to remain on this side of the veil to arm his last device, so he hid his presence with a spell while Emberus set the whole of Larracos and the rest of The Ninth Floor on fire. Porthus knew the plan; The Apothecary knew a challenge was coming but not how much worse everything was about to get. He took quiet solace in the fact that most former crawlers had already taken their deals and were on their way back to orbit.
He looked one last time over the elaborate system of traps he had built and never needed, then turned to a single tiny one. With a talon he snapped a piece of twine, and a legendary trap toppled, dropping the Bijou Trap and the Demon Trap into the permanent portal into the Nothing made from the broken, blood-soaked The Winding Box. He signed off with a last message — "I am not sorry. Peace to you all, brothers and sisters" — and as the fire took him he cawed into the air, never seeing the system messages that followed. He died imagining four planes folding together, the bijou threads tightening into a flower pattern, and the darkness at the center breaking apart.
Appearance
A crow-like bird whose feathers and talons are the last thing visible as Emberus's fire engulfs him in the burning ruin of Larracos.
Role
The architect of the Nothing-breaking trap, who sacrifices himself on the ninth floor to change the course of the war.
Relationships
Juice Box — Told her he would follow her into the Nothing; lied so he could stay and trigger the trap.
Porthus — One of the few who knew the full plan.
Emberus — The god whose world-burning fire kills him.
Earlier in this series
Also appears in books you've already read — spoiler-safe to their endings:
Sources — 21 recorded facts, by chapter
Chapter 8
- Skyfowl former crawler and infamous trap master, now an indentured shopkeeper terrified of being reassigned to fight.
Chapter 16
- Eagle former crawler among the returnees, reputed to know more about traps than anyone who ever entered the dungeon.
Chapter 27
- Stoic one-winged skyfowl trap-master and cookbook author who preps Team Retribution's throne room and a secret project.
Chapter 28
- Veteran whose rediscovered trap-protection spell keeps the crawler minefields hidden throughout the trench war.
Chapter 30
- Provider of the enhancement tips that made the Posse's Dazzlers far louder than expected.
Chapter 38
- The base's secret last line of defense, whose existence the worm-taken Lonnie knew and may now have leaked.
Chapter 40
- One-winged skyfowl trapper, cookbook author, whose obsessive contingencies underpin the castle's defense.
Chapter 49
- The crawlers' fabricator and fixer, able to repair Jamal's broken legs without a saferoom.
Chapter 58
- Even the stoic Justice Light passes Carl information meant for the Cookbook's next edition.
Chapter 64
- Advisor who taught Carl to put recordings, playlists and an advanced menu into alarm traps.
Chapter 65
- One-winged skyfowl trap master whose ninth-floor tunnel works hide a far larger plan than anyone suspects.
Chapter 69
- Trap-lord ally who asks Rosetta to chop the Dreamers under 3,000 before letting them into his lair.
Chapter 72
- Justice Light panics over the stolen gate, insisting he personally needs it back without explaining why.
Chapter 80
- Rosetta's old comrade and self-declared brother, demanding immediate action against the war mages holding the Gate.
Chapter 90
- Frantic skyfowl who finally learns from Carl that the gate artifact is inside a Midnight Market merchant's stomach.
Chapter 93
- Justice Light reports the Gate of Feral Gods retrieved and her group back in position, ready on Juice Box's word.
Chapter 94
- Absent but invoked: Juice Box teases Carl that he has no idea what Justice Light has cooked up.
Chapter 96
- Demands to know what's happening, shrugs off the apocalypse, and confirms his trap is already live.
Chapter 97
- Takes the long way to the twelfth floor with Juice Box instead of transferring with everyone else.
Chapter 98
- Vanished trap-builder who left a trans-dimensional trap hidden beneath the castle before disappearing.
Chapter 99
- The trap-master crow who stayed hidden on the ninth floor to spring the one small trap that broke the Nothing.