Side story 1: Order of the Malefic Viper (2/2) (Patreon)

The entire hall was tense as they all saw the ever-so-proud Tortaros turn to nothing. The man died without even knowing what had happened. A sentiment that made a shiver go down the spine of every single branch leader as they knelt a bit lower than before.

“Well, that guy was annoying,” the Malefic Viper sighed as he turned back to address the crowd below, ignoring the branch leaders.

The only one who managed to remain relatively calm was Viridia. The happiness of seeing Tortaros die seemed to cancel out the terror slightly.

“Everyone relax,” The Malefic addressed out over the crowd. He seemed to speak in a casual tone, and yet every single person in the hall could hear him as if he stood right next to them.

“With that annoyance gone, let’s get on with the program. First of all, nice to be back, lots of pretty faces out there,” the god began as the crowd gave him their undivided attention.

“Been gone for a long time. But hey, better late than never, right? Anyway, let’s start with a little something to motivate you all to stop slacking.”

With those words, he opened his eyes as a green glow illuminated the entire hall. A few people were initially frightened, but their fright soon turned to joy as they saw the status messages.

*Blessing received*: [Lesser Blessing of the Malefic Viper (Blessing - Lesser)] – Be recognized by the Malefic Viper himself. Few throughout the ages have found themselves blessed by a Primordial, despite the desire for so many to be. +5% Wisdom. Grants access to many new paths. Only one blessing can be held at a time.

Every single individual in attendance was blessed. One had to know that the blessings of gods were still considered relatively rare. Much less the blessing of one of the Primordials. None of the ones in attendance had expected this, but it was more than welcome.

To make it better, it wasn’t even the lowest-ranked blessing. Blessings went from: Minor --> Lesser --> Intermediate --> Major --> Greater --> Divine --> True. But often, getting the minor blessing was as far as anyone ever got. It was a requirement for many classes or professions, making them essential.

This was also one of the major reasons why the Malefic Viper Order had deteriorated so much. Without the blessings, a lot of opportunities were cut off, the paths closed. The entire subsections of priests and other religion-related classes and professions were cut off.

The Lord Protector still gave out a few blessings, some of them even allowing evolutions in the Malefic Viper line, but it just wasn’t the same.

Everyone could also still get classes and professions related to the Malefic Viper. Just not the religion-based ones. Being taught by a higher-ranked Alchemist of the Malefic Viper would also yield unlocking it. The same for classes, though often it was done through teachings.

The simplest way, however, was through legacies. Items created which held the power to unlock a particular class or profession were rare, as creating a legacy-item was far from easy. Of course, these items also still had the requirement that the system imposed.

A blessing would open up many of these paths and make advancing easier because blessings were one of the only ways to directly have your Records affected by an outside source.

Thousands in the hall had been at bottlenecks for many years. Evolution didn’t merely require reaching the level-limit after all. One had to have sufficient Records too. Records gathered through countless means as you leveled and lived your life.

And now these people got a direct infusion to their Records. And not a simple one of quantity, but one of quality. Which why many were met by a system notification they had struggled to achieve for oh so long:

*Evolution Requirements Met*

The mood in the hall was ecstatic. The cheers turned into a concert of noises as a sentiment of fervent reverence spread throughout. The cheers got louder until a voice that deafened all else echoed.

“Silence.”

With that word, it became eerily silent. All sound was gone as if the very concept of sound disappeared - all sounds, but the voice of the Malefic Viper.

“This blessing does not come for free. I am not returning just to be satisfied with the shambles that stand before me. I have given you a chance, opened a path forward for many of you. Strive for power, reach for the peak, and this blessing will only be the beginning.”

The crowd was still ecstatic, but no matter how much they tried, not a single sound came out. His last words, however, dampened the mood a bit.

“I sincerely hope that none of you will disappoint me,” he said, as he continued.

“I doubt any of you even know who I am I. In your minds, I am but a specter of the past, a being of legends and myths. You may have heard exaggerations of who I am or what I stand for. So let me set the record straight. I am so much more than any rumor can faithfully encapsulate, and I don’t give a fuck about any of you unless you make me.”

Standing on the podium, the Malefic Viper was more severe than usual. Mortals were relatively simple like this. A small favor granted after one has done nothing for so long, and all is forgiven so suddenly. But he wasn’t satisfied. They still needed to get stronger.

His Order had fallen into disarray, which was to be expected. He had been gone for far too long. It was a miracle that the Order even still remained. He was lucky that he had subordinates that had stayed behind to keep it alive.

But the strength had fallen. Not a single new god had arisen, which was honestly pathetic from his point of view. Only a measly 15 branch leaders remained in the entire Order. Well, it was 16, but that one guy had honestly been way too annoying.

A loss to many, but the Viper didn’t care. The man had been arrogant and self-satisfied with his measly achievements. The man himself had known that he would never step into godhood. He had stagnated, and he had accepted this stagnation - a crime that was worthy of death. A crime he was not going to let any of the other leaders follow.

“The Order has turned to shit. With my return, there will be changes. No longer shall we find ourselves confined to this single Hall or even Universe. Instead, we shall expand, and we shall conquer. Have every single living being quake at the mention of the Order of the Malefic Viper.

“With those words, get the fuck out there and get those levels and evolutions. Grow, prosper, and dominate. My decree shall soon come, and then you will move to impose my will upon the world. Our destinies are our own to make, fate but a feeble excuse for the weak.”

Turning to the branch leaders and Viridia, he gave them all a command.

“Get your deputies, or second in commands, or whatever you call them over here,” he said, as he allowed sound to exist once more.

None of them dared to dally, as they all called for them. They were in the middle section of the hall, above the masses, but below the true leaders.

They quickly made their way up, as they too kneeled. All of them were A-rank, some of them close to S-rank, but they were still weak mortals in the end. But their martial power was not what they needed for what the Malefic Viper planned.

“From today on, all of you will step in as active branch leaders,” the Malefic Viper said, as he felt the distress of the actual branch leaders behind in. Turning to them, he continued.

“As for all of you… well, let’s see if we can’t get you whipped into shape.”

Out of a crack in space, the Lord Protector emerged, as he too bowed to the Malefic Viper.

“Snappy here is gonna take you all out on a nice expedition,” the god said, as he patted his oldest subordinate on the shoulder.

“Where to, Lord Patron?” One of the branch leaders asked. A young-looking man, who was only at A-rank, yet gave off a significant presence for his rank, easily rivaling some of the S-ranks at his side.

“Nevermore.”

A word that got quite the response as pretty much all the branch leaders paled.

“You’re also going, little Hall Master.”

Viridia had hoped to avoid going but had that hope quickly died. Then again, perhaps this could be a good chance to reach for more strength. If any place existed filled with opportunities, it would be Nevermore.

A few words later, a portal was opened by the Lord Protector, leading them closer to their destination. They didn’t even get any time to prepare, to the distress of many of them.

Which could only be described as good riddance by the Viper. Being prepared for combat at all times was one of the most basic tenets of the strong, and not being alert at all times was a great way to get yourself killed.

Dismissing the followers, the Viper watched on as they were led out of the hall by the deputy Branch Leaders. No one knew how long they would be acting leaders, so many of the lesser officials had already started groveling up to them, much to the Viper’s dissatisfaction.

Too many politics, the Viper thought, as he turned around to the one individual still in the hall.

“It’s been a while.”

“Disciple greets master,” The old man, Elder Duskleaf, said with a nod.

“No need to be cordial after so long,” the Malefic Viper said as he smiled. “Besides, I have well and truly been a shitty master, haven’t I?”

“Yes, you have,” Duskleaf agreed without any hesitation.

“But seriously, after so many eras and you have barely made any progress. What the hell have you been doing all this time?” the Viper asked, genuinely confused.

“Alchemy,” The old man said with a beaming smile.

The Viper could only sigh at the man, whom he had accepted as a disciple all those eras ago. The snot-nosed kid that had cared for nothing but alchemy and had to be forced to do anything else.

“Well, you better show me your progress then!” he said, slightly defeated.

“Of course!” Duskleaf said, smiling happily.

If anyone had been there to see this interaction, they would have been more than a little confused. The Malefic Viper had not appeared for eras, far longer than any mortal could possibly survive.

The explanation was simple, as Duskleaf wasn’t mortal.

“Oh, and why the hell are you still keeping up the whole ‘old wise alchemist’ charade?” the Viper asked as they walked towards the alchemy lab.

“Because it makes people leave me alone,” his disciple answered. “They wouldn’t stop bothering Snappy all the time in the period after you left. They pestered me too. It was honestly so distracting, I couldn’t even spend a millennium or two experimenting without someone coming knocking. So I decided to just act like an elder, and suddenly they left me alone.”

Laughing, the Malefic Viper patted his old disciple on the shoulder.

It was nice to be back.