Lewd Dungeon, Chapter 222 (Patreon)

Chapter 222 – Sacrifice

Contrary to Mark’s opinion, Father Jacobs decided not to use one of the annoying religious types that had tried to condemn their faith in Lord Kuronoth as the sacrifice. There had been a few who were pushier, and more vocal, than the rest. A capture ball removed the problem, provided they could throw it without being caught. And no one looked too hard when a Karen stopped showing up to cause trouble.

But some captures were ‘hotter’ than others. Getting caught with any of the capture balls filled with people would likely land them in hot water. After all, that almost certainly fell under terms like ‘false imprisonment’ or ‘kidnapping’, to say the least. But there was one capture that was quite a bit more problematic to have on hand than the rest.

It had been a commission job, actually. While they had been spreading the word of Kuronoth to Destin and the people in the north of the state, they had been approached by the individual’s wife. She had promised to convert, and to spread the words of Kuronoth to her circle of high society friends in the area, but needed to get her husband out of the way. The fact that he had cheated on her, with an underage girl, and then got exposed to the media gave her all the motivation she needed. She just asked that he never be heard from again.

That wasn’t entirely uncommon, of course. Even before the System Apocalypse, there had been tales of jilted lovers or vengeful spouses seeking ‘outside help’ to get rid of an unfaithful partner without getting their own hands dirty. What was uncommon was for a sitting member of Congress to be the one getting ‘taken care of’.

They’d caught the sacrifice in a hotel room with a different underage girl, so they had staged the scene to make it look as though the Congressman snapped, killed the girl, and then ran. Thanks to Lord Kuronoth’s power, Father Jacobs had simply taken control over the Congressman’s body (something that was laughably easy to do, since he was only level 5 in the Tier 1), while Stephanie used a Silence spell to keep any sound from escaping. Once the deed was done, a capture ball on the Congressman was all that was needed to complete the scene. By the time his bodyguard woke up from the sleeping poison that had coated the dart Mary hit him with, they were long gone.

Now, atop the necropolis, the Congressman was let out from his capture ball for the first time in months. Stunned and confused by the sudden change of scenery, especially since his last memory was of being a passenger in his own body, he hadn’t even thought of resisting until he was tied to the altar. And, at that point, it was too late.

Father Jacobs smiled as he looked up from the area around the stone altar. He had been studying the runes engraved there. “We are in luck. This altar has not yet been dedicated to any god. There are runes here, but they call upon the powers of undeath in general. The power from the sacrifices looks as though it was originally supposed to flow into the necropolis, enhancing death magics in the area, but there’s some evidence that the runes have changed, and now the power flows to the core itself.”

Brad nodded. “So, this really is something that the Dungeon repurposed from the original Necropolis, then? I was wondering. Even if the dungeon is smarter than average, something on this scale is a bit… advanced for a dungeon that wasn’t under the rule of our Lord, or another former human turned Dungeon Master. Even I know that the magic involved in this whole setup is not something a novice could just come up with on a whim.”

“Yes, and the mechanism to enter the necropolis itself is probably something that was there in place already, from whatever source the necropolis was originally summoned from. Some kind of tribute or sacrifice in order to enter and partake in any mysteries or ceremonies inside would be a logical step for a place like that. That sacrament of sacrifice would bind the practitioners together, while at the same time providing an initial line of defense against those who might come to purge the ‘abominations’ from this place.”

“Who the hell are you people? Where are we? Do you know who I am?”

Mary sighed, and looked back at the Congressman, who had chosen that moment to start protesting his treatment. “Who we are and where we are do not appear on the list of things you need to know, Congressman. And, yes, we do know who you are. We simply don’t care.”

“You can’t do this to me!”

“Actually, yes, we can. As evidenced by the fact that you are here, now, about to be sacrificed on an altar so that we can sanctify it to our god.”

“B-but I’m a Christian!”

Father Jacobs shut the Congressman up with a fist to his face, not holding back any of his strength. He might be a priest, instead of a class that focuses more heavily in combat, but he was still Tier 2, which meant that it was little surprise when a couple of the Congressman’s teeth went flying. “Oh, no, you aren’t. You’re a sad, pathetic little worm that thinks being hateful towards gays and having sex with underage girls while sniffing the Idiot in Chief’s ass makes you a follower of Christ.”

The priest continued, with fire in his eyes. “The best part of converting to my new faith is that my Lord does not suffer hypocrites. There are monsters in his faith, those who have done far worse than you, I am sure. But they do not lie and pretend to be something they are not.

“That is one of my Lord’s commandments. ‘Own it.’ Whatever you do, you own up to it, say it openly, and have no shame in it. If something causes you shame, or you don’t want it to be known, then you shouldn’t be doing it, or you should be moving to accept it, and embrace it, so that you can openly be who you are.”

Father Jacobs spat in the Congressman’s face. “There are monsters in my Lord’s church, and I, and my companions, are among them. But we know what we are, and do not hide behind pretentions of holiness, like you, and those like you, have done for so long before the Apocalypse.” He took a breath, and then said, “And, in concordance with my Lord’s commandments, I will own the fact that your death will bring me no small measure of pleasure.”

And, with that, he turned his back upon the Congressman, who was too stunned by the violence and vitriol to speak. Reaching into his inventory, he pulled out a bucket filled with blood, the same enchanted item he had used to prepare the bounty hunters’ ship for conversion into the Bloodhawk. With a command, they spread out, Mary and Brad guarding the altar and ensuring that nothing allowed the Congressman to go free, while the rest began painting sigils around the etched runes.

The two guards ignored the Congressman’s tirade, as it moved from sputtered denials to outraged demands to begging and pleading. Even his offer of a bribe, paying them anything they wanted, did not stir them. After all, they had their Lord, and they had each other. And, on a more earthly level, they knew that the Congressman no longer had any assets left with which to pay a bribe. His widow had seen to that quite thoroughly.

Before long, the preparations were made. The six servants of Kuronoth, Lord of Domination and Pleasure, stood in a circle around the altar, each holding a sacrificial blade, designed and enchanted for just this purpose. Power swirled about them as Father Jacobs, High Priest of Kuronoth on Earth, led the chanting.

The cyclone of power swirled around them, drowning out the Congressman’s cries from the violence of the wind, and yet their words could be heard clearly, despite the noise. As the power and the chanting reached their zenith, the area around the altar shone as the stones glowed brightly with a bloody light, casting shadows across their faces, like children telling ghost stories with a flash light under their faces, but in a red hue. The air had a sanguine taste to it, and their words echoed with power, felt as much as heard.

As one, they brought their blades down, once, and then again, and again. The Congressman cried out in pain, the first two times, as they had deliberately aimed at areas that were not immediately vital (though one of the blades pierced the Congressman’s groin, potentially turning him into a Congresswoman). The last blows, however, were done with care. Each of them were blows that would prove mortal, if not lethal outright. Together, though, they were easily enough to end the Congressman’s life.

Several things happened at once. The runes around the altar exploded in sanguine light, blinding them all. When the light cleared, a statue of Lord Kuronoth now stood atop the pyramid of the Necropolis, looking down upon the dark altar. The altar, itself, had changed from simple granite to onyx mixed with iron. The runes now claimed this area as a shrine to Kuronoth.

About the only thing that hadn’t changed was the wretched bloody husk atop the altar. And even that was not the same for long. Green light cut through the red, and surrounded the corpse, infusing it. The clothes and flesh melted away from the bones as the newly-animated skeleton rose up, and whisps of black smoke swirled around it, cladding it in black armor, and arming it with a sword and shield.

As the new Death Knight descended the stairs of the pyramid, there was a series of clinking sounds. Looking back at the altar, the party found six identical pendants there, each bearing a symbol of the pyramid, with a skull atop it. Clearly, these were the necklaces the pictures below showed.

Deathsign   of the Necropolis

Type

Neck

Rank

Uncommon

This pendant   can only be obtained by conducting the sacrifice of a living sentient upon   the altar of the Dark Necropolis dungeon. It is soulbound to one individual   the moment they pick it up, and can be used by no other. While the Deathsign   offers some benefits to its wearer, its most important ability is the Passage   ability.

+10 to   all stats

Deathsign   – +5% damage dealt and +5% damage received while inside the Dark Necropolis   dungeon.

Passage   – Allows the bearer to enter the Dark Necropolis dungeon. Need only be worn   or carried for this function to work.

Carla shook her head. “I guess this dungeon really isn’t connected to the Lord’s dungeon. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of him having a magic item that was so… unimaginative. This is much more in line with what we’ve seen in other dungeons.”

Mark nodded. “Yeah, definitely something that you’d see in other dungeons. But it looks like you were right, Father. These pendants ought to let us come and go as we please.”

Mary chuckled. “Well, in that case, why don’t we stop wasting time, and go check out what this dungeon has in store for us?” The rest of the group agreed, and they quickly moved down the pyramid, the pendants in their pockets.

Father Jacobs followed at the trail end of the group. He was a priest, and, as such, had a certain sensitivity that others might not. And his senses were screaming at him now. He was used to being, if not actively watched, then at least observed by Lord Kuronoth, through the connection that his powers came from. Now, however, he could feel the dungeon’s gaze upon him. Not the feral, animal intelligence that he’d felt in other dungeons, but something stronger, more powerful. Perhaps this dungeon really was different, as the Lord said.