[Corruption Wielder] Chapter 65: The Odds are Not Always Favorable (Patreon)

Kadael was not having a good day.

Item: [Elixir of the Seventy-Seventh Heaven]

Legendary, Emperor

Once every sixteen years, the repurposed ruins of Planet Ryas-5, current alias “Seventy-Seventh Heaven,” align with its twin suns and the 16 other planets in its pocket dimension, creating a mana distillation chamber several dozen trillion miles long. Through a month-long ritual, it is possible to refine a single drop of this elixir, which is renowned throughout the multiverse as one of the most potent liquors, capable of affecting even gods. Even smelling this elixir is enough to kill a User of diamond rank or lower.

“Would you like a sip?” he asked.

“Kadael,” said the god’s long-time companion. “Every sip of that costs you a cycle’s fortune.”

The Hunger was already halfway down a barrel of the liquor. Thanks to its divine nature, even the Emperor-rank booze took time to settle in.

“I have a hundred cycles of headache, Sadareth,” the Hunger replied. If he had been in a more mortal form, he would have tried to massage its temples. “Why are there otherworlders running rampant so early? Why is there a Dread Executor in metal How can one mortal be so corrupted that it reaches me?”

It had been relatively low-tier corruption, but William Li-Brown had somehow managed to infect Kadael’s gifted magic so thoroughly that the resultant power had snaked up all the way back to the sigil itself. Even low-rank corruption was an incredible pain to remove, especially when the Hunger was so new to the ranks of the deities.

That was even without mentioning Elys, Lady of the Lake. 

Like Kadael and Sadareth, Elys was a newer god. She had chosen to mold her image after a common mythological figure and secured her identity as feminine, just like Sadareth had chosen to remain a motherly figure to the elves she had reigned over as a mortal. Kadael’s case was a bit trickier. He had ascended as a male mortal, but gender was a much more fluid concept to divinities than it was to those confined by their bodies—there were many that regarded him as male, but some thought otherwise. In some way or another, all of their assumptions were true.

The liquor was taking its toll on him. The direction of his thoughts were trailing off into tangents.

Elys was still only a dimension away from the Hunger and Elven Mother’s current residence, where she was cursing up a storm at the both of them for allowing Kadael’s champion to give Elys’ sigil to the gestalt, which Sadareth ostensibly had control over.

When Mother had politely reminded the Lady of the Lake that not only was she not the sigil of the monster but also that Elys had accepted it as her sigil-holder, the other goddess had gone ballistic.

“The cycle is abnormal,” Sadareth said. “That much has become very evident.”

“I would request it be more normal,” Kadael sighed. “At least until our divinities are secure. No more surprises.”

“You should know better than to tempt fate like that.”

Moments after Sadareth finished her sentence, space shattered around them, the telltale sign of another god entering their pocket reality.

The entire planet shifted, both Sadareth and Kadael’s wills manifesting in the face of their newcomer.

“Vyx,” Sadareth said, surprised. “The Crown. I have not seen you in at least two centuries. Did you finally choose a sigil-holder?”

Kadael snarled. Vyx had been a god long before him, and he had never been a friend of the mortal who had become the Hunger.

“YOU,” the new arrival roared. “KADAEL. HUNGER. YOUR SIGIL-HOLDER IS A CORRUPTION WIELDER? YOU BURDEN ME WITH A PROSPECT WHO WIELDS THE END OF THE UNIVERSE? SADARETH. HOW CAN YOU CONSCIENCE THIS? SANCTION THE CYCLE, NOW!”

“You and I both know that this cycle is never going to be sanctioned,” Sadareth said. “Crown, we can discuss this in peace. You chose to accept a sigil-holder blindly, but we can discuss how to—“

“THE INSOLENT BOY SEEKS MY POWER? DO NOT TALK DOWN TO ME, YOU JUVENILE WHORE. I HAVE SEEN A THOUSAND MORE CYCLES THAN YOU. HE WILL DESTROY ME, AND HE WILL DESTROY YOU.”

Sadareth sighed deeply, then flicked her fingers in the direction of Vyx. This place was her domain first and foremost, and he was a trespasser. He was gone before he could get another divinity-infused word out.

“I’m afraid that I’m starting to like my sigil-holder,” Kadael said mildly.

As the planet settled back down to its original form, Sadareth sank into a conjured seat. “I’d like that drink now, if you don’t mind.”

#

Remaining Users: [3].

Caiyeri wished she could make use of a sigil. Of the twenty-one who’d died or quit out so far, only two sigil-holders had died in the arena. One of them had been looted by the time Caiyeri got to the corpse, while the others sigil had tossed up a message making it incredibly clear that the Scrap Ascendant wanted nothing to do with an abyss elf, especially one who already had a sigil, no matter how weak it was.

The one she’d obtained was from Justice, a major god. To most, that would have seemed ideal, but Justice was a god who cared very little for the results of the trial. The sum total of the abilities it had given her were a cruddy perception power and a ritual to detect good and evil. Even her aura senses worked better than both of the silver-rank skills she’d picked up.

“A decent sigil skill would be perfect right now,” she muttered to herself. “Of course it’s all the losers who can’t work for their own abilities who get them.”

Excluding Will, maybe, but even that human had been graced with luck beyond anything the Mother was willing to offer Caiyeri.

Both of the remaining fighters in the arena with Caiyeri were humans. They hadn’t come from the same part of their planet, but they had unified in the time-honored tradition of killing those of another race.

To be fair, if there had been another elf here, Caiyeri would have done the same, but it rankled nonetheless, especially when the other two were both strong sigil-holders while hers was… lackluster, to say the least.

Her aura sense told her that they were trying to flank her from either side. The ample cover provided by the artificial blocks of this arena meant that she was able to slip away easily.

“These sigils are wasted on you,” she complained, knowing the sound would draw them closer. 

With a stealth skill that hid her from mana senses and enabled her to mimic sounds, she slunk away, repositioning onto a small divot atop one of the artificially placed blocks that she’d spotted out earlier.

“Where the hell is that bitch?” one of the humans said. He was a high bronze. Caiyeri knew enough about him to get that his primary elements were Light, Shadow, and Water—not very synergistic. His class wasn’t that much more impressive.

She didn’t care about him.

His companion, a darker-skinned woman, was the real threat. She was a silver with the Fire, Wind, and Space elements, perfect for the Conflagarationist class she’d picked up. The only reason that the human woman hadn’t burned the entire place down searching for Caiyeri was because of her ally.

Weakness, Caiyeri thought. They’d been chasing her around for nearly fifteen minutes now in the ever-shrinking circle, and it was her superior senses alone that had let her avoid them for so long. Had one of them just forfeited, the other could have pursued her and forced a fight by now.

Not that the human would have won, but that was besides the point.

“She has to be around here somewhere,” the woman said. “We’ve exhausted the entire arena by this point.”

Finally, after so long, both of them made their way out into the open, impatience outweighing their caution.

Caiyeri drew the seven-shooter Will had gifted her.

Skill: [Rigged Dice]

- Passive (luck).

- Cost: varies.

- Cooldown: varies.

Silver

You only need to win one hand to come out ahead. Rig events against yourself so you can guarantee a victory.

Guarantee a magical effect that has a chance of happening, such as a critical hit or an effect trigger. This skill’s cooldown and mana cost increases the less likely the effect is. After using this effect, you will automatically fail a number of luck-based events proportionate to the unlikeliness of the event triggered.

[Calculated Risk] (silver) - If you use an item below your rank, the luck debt does not apply and the mana cost is vastly reduced.

A simple addition, but it turned the previously debilitating after-effects of the seven-shot six-shooter into a complete non-issue.

[Instant Death selected.]

It was a one in a thousand chance to select it. A rank ago, it had cost her so much mana that she’d nearly blacked out selecting it once.

The bronze-rank bullet quadrupled its velocity and ignored resistances of up to gold rank, alongside shattering protection of the same. It was an incredibly strong item for its rank, only usable because Will had removed the corruption from it.

Caiyeri’s aim was unerring. The human woman jerked back, then dropped to the ground, her head a bloody ruin.

Remaining Users: [2].

The elf waved away the system message informing her of the name of the dead woman. She didn’t need to know who she’d taken down.

Before the mesage was even finished disappearing, she realigned her aim and fired again.

[Instant Death selected.]

The man threw up a forcefield with commendable speed, but the bullet shattered it. Caiyeri followed up with a silver-rank Manaburst, blowing the surprised man’s body to bits.

Main Challenge 2 (Free for All) has been completed.

You have gained 1,000 bronze credits. You have advanced to the next Main Challenge.

She felt the telltale pull of spatial transportation dragging her away.

Pity, she thought coldly, not a thought spared for the nine she’d killed to get this far. I could have gotten a real sigil.

#

Haoyu had definitely seen better days.

His Warrior class was very focused on straightforward devastation, with items that would enable him to smash through even the toughest defenses. His sigil skills were more of the same, enhancing his strength until his heavy weapons could break through even gold-rank defenses with relative ease.

That was accompanied by a relative lack of strong movement skills, though, with most of them focused on resisting opposing speed rather than amping his own. That meant that when his arena was submerged in oceanwater up to knee level and waves crashed against every piece of dry land, he couldn’t make any bold moves.

And when there was a massive, headless gold-rank monster the size of a sixteen-wheeler thrashing around blindly. Blood stained the water where corpses had been torn apart and thrown about. Though the silvers had banded together to try to mount a defense against the devouring gestalt, there was nothing that could be done.

Remaining Users: [6].

He took a look around. Two of the remaining non-gestalt Users were at the peak of bronze and had somehow been holding their own up until this point, but the dark blood in the water where they had sunk in didn’t look promising. Even as he watched, one of them disappeared, barely conscious enough to forfeit.

“Shit,” he muttered. “Everyone! Fall back and fall out if you can!”

He hadn’t lost yet, so he could tank a single failure. Haoyu had hoped that with the help of some of the other silver sigil-holders across Earth, they could mount an offense to keep this massive monster from devastating their planet afterwards.

That wasn’t looking so possible now. The creature was high gold, and despite its apparent lack of eyes, it had been able to move its deadly appendages so fast that nobody could avoid taking a hit.

“I’m going to lose my sigil,” Jeanine, a woman who’d provided Haoyu with an understanding of the ongoing disaster in south France, said. She shook with fear, a thin silver-rank forcefield protecting her. “I can’t—“

Somebody shouted a command and Haoyu hit the deck, his silver-rank danger sense skill flaring at him. Jeanine wasn’t fast enough.

Remaining Users: [5].

Remaining Users: [4].

[Andrew Scott] has forfeited. Remaining Users: [3].

“Damn it.” Haoyu couldn’t let himself feel pain for her death now. Emotion would only cloud him. “Hua, I hope you’re doing better.”

Forfeit Main Challenge 2? [YES / NO]

You have forfeited Main Challenge 2. Your next failure will lead to instant elimination.

#

“Well, ladies,” Liam said. “And gentleman. Apologies. We appear to be at an impasse.”

“No shit, Sherlock,” Hua said. “How the hell did we even end up in the same arena?’

“Beats the fuck out of me.” Liam scratched the back of his neck. “Good thing so many people ran.”

“Why did they do that?” Hua asked. “There were a bunch of silvers here, and a bunch of strong sigils. They could’ve taken us, even if we were fighting together.”

“You’re famous, mate. Top five on the leaderboard, every sigil showing the world who you are. I bet a platinum every bloke in this arena’s seen you work your magic once or twice.”

“I have not,” said Thalia Brooksoul, who was somewhat awkwardly standing with an intense ritual suffusing her body and twin orbs of magic orbiting her shoulders.

“Me neither,” added a man the system had simply labled as Nathan. He was the only gold-rank present, but to the humans, he looked like a silver. His aura control had grown strong with time. “Look, fellas, it’s been a long year. You mind if I pass onto the next one?”

Thalia was the only one present who actually possessed any ill will towards the other humans, but the combined power of Hua, Liam, and Nathan dissuaded her from continuing. She needed to continue. The competition had not quite been cut in half yet, and if she damaged her sigil—or worse, lost it—she would prove herself unworthy of her mother and the Mother of all elves. On the other hand, her aura senses were strong enough to realize that Nathan was a rank higher than her. Without a tree of life to siphon power from, she didn’t know if she wanted to take the risk.

Liam was a little more relaxed about it. He’d breezed his way through the other challenges, and he greatly preferred Hua, the Australian superhero, to make it through. Liam had joined the trial to challenge himself and advance without the constant, suffocating oversight that his government had insisted on giving anyone with a less-pleasant element. The sigil strengthening him was incidental to his goals, and he knew that it would be a much better look for Hua or Haoyu to come on top over him.

Hua just didn’t want to die. Her aura senses weren’t quite powerful enough to tell that Nathan was hiding his rank, but she recognized the same confident, chilling way he held himself. She’d seen that in Will just before he’d utterly obliterated the other two members of her team and when he’d taken out a massive chunk of the gestalt on his own.

“Oh, let’s just get this over with,” Nathan said. “My fight isn’t with you guys anyway. I’m looking for a corruption wielder. Have any of you seen him?”

Liam and Hua both tensed at that, though they tried to hide their reactions in their aura. Hua was more successful than Liam at that. Thalia masked her recognition perfectly.

“You two,” Nathan said threateningly, unveiling his gold-rank aura. Hua’s eyes widened. Liam whistled.

“Mate, you could have saved a lot of time if you pulled that out to start,” Liam said. “If you’re going for blood, I don’t think I want that smoke.”

“You know William Li-Brown,” Nathan said. “Tell me—“

“Nah,” Liam said. “Bounty hunting is for monsters, and that guy’s a decent bloke.”

“Oh my fucking god,” Nathan complained. “It’s always like this with you people. ‘Oh, the obviously evil cultist is actually such a nice guy!’ Like, come on, man! Did people get dumber while I was gone?”

“Gone?” Hua asked.

“Hua,” Liam said, a warning in his voice.

“Yeah. I see it.”

Nathan thrust his hands out ahead of him, using his gold-rank spatial magic to restrain the two silver-rank humans, but it was too late.

[Hua Fang] has forfeited. Remaining Users: [3].

[Liam Bailey] has forfeited. Remaining Users: [2].

Thalia made her move, releasing her two held orbs of plague.

Nathan moved faster than her senses could track, appearing behind her.

“Sorry, lady,” he said. “Just bad luck you ran into me.”

A massive force generated through the distortion of space twisted her perception, cutting off oxygen to her brain for nearly a minute.

The moment Thalia passed out, she disappeared.

ERROR: Otherworlder found. This User is not currently enrolled in the Trial of the Champion. Resolving…

User [Nathan] has advanced to the next Main Challenge.

“He’s still here,” Nathan murmured to himself, examining his Bounty skill. “William Li-Brown. Can’t run, can’t hide. What are you going to do?”

#

Will found himself in a very, very familiar space. Rather than the blank darkness of the Hunger’s domain, though, the Crown’s was a throne room. This god actually saw fit to present itself to him, lounging regally atop the opulent gold and silver seat, which, on closer inspection, was made of hundreds if not thousands of different crowns.

“Very Game of Thrones. I’d approve, but we all saw how that ended. Are the writers behind your gig going to try to jump ship to a Star Wars project that ultimately gets canceled because of how dogshit they handle you, or do you have something real to say.”

“WHAT ARE YOU SAYING, INSOLENT MORTAL!?”

Will tilted his head, a cocky smirk playing across his lips.

“Oh, man. You’re new to this, aren’t you? Wanna tell you how this is gonna go, big man? Here’s a hint: you can call me Daenerys, because your kind really doesn’t like the ending I show them.”

#

“Give me the bottle, please,” Sadareth said.

“Saddy, you’ve had five millennia of liquor.”

“Never call me Saddy again. Now hand it over.”

Kadael took another sip, then passed the bottle.