Side Story 12 - What Happens in Nevermore, Stays in Nevermore (Patreon)

Dungeons.

As a staple of the multiverse, dungeons have existed since the very first era. Before the rise of any gods, there were dungeons for any creature ascending on their path. Before tutorials became a part of integrations, beings of any grade were diving into dungeons.

The number of famous dungeons throughout the universe is also numerous. Factions will battle over monopolizing certain natural-occurring dungeons, often building entire settlements around them. They are strategic resources for any faction, a chance for their members to battle and grow within a confined space.

Resources, not just in the form of equipment, but ores, wood, herbs, or any number of materials or ingredients for a myriad of professions, can be found within. And to make it even better, these resources will reappear with every new group that entered, making it the gift that just kept on giving.

But… these are just the normal dungeons - the sub-spaces limited to five-person groups, each creating their own parallel dimension of sorts when entered. Any person would be bound to the first timeline they entered, so if five people entered a dungeon together and all left, they would all still be bound to that version of the dungeon. So if a single person reentered alone at a later point and killed everything within, it would be dead for anyone else of that party of five that entered the first time around. But it also meant that if you entered a dungeon alone, you would have to either do it alone as there were no options of ever having others join you.

These dungeons can either be made directly by the system or be creations of individuals with professions allowing them to make dungeons. Often created dungeons didn’t have the same capabilities of time-resetting and parallel dimensions but serve more just as sub-spaces that contain challenges or enemies to fight. They often have some abilities to become autonomous, but they are, in most cases, a long shot from the natural-occurring ones.

That is unless one obtained a Dungeon Core from the system. Some compare them to Pylon’s of Civilizations as they allow access to an entirely new part of the system and allow individuals to create their own dungeons. These cores come in many grades, but once one is obtained, it is often possible to upgrade it in the future.

Besides the ‘normal’ dungeons, there are Challenge Dungeons. Challenge Dungeons are significantly easier to make and often far simpler in design and scope. A popular place for fallen experts to leave their Legacies for the next generation.

System-created Challenge Dungeons are a lot rarer but will often contain substantial awards upon clearance. This type of dungeon is also known for often being non-lethal, likely due to the insane level of difficulty. Be warned, however, that this is no guarantee as some Challenge Dungeons are lethal by default or contain certain challenges within that can be lethal.

Besides these two regular dungeons… some dungeons don’t fall into any particular category - one of those being the most famous of them all: Nevermore.

--

Viridia destroyed the creature before her as she saw its body disintegrate from her spells. Magic swirled around her, countless runes, each holding power to destroy planets, yet they had only done minor damage to the late-stage S-grade before her.

In the last few centuries, she had grown more than she thought possible. She wasn’t alone in her growth either, as she stood with two others who were only slightly inferior to herself. They were both Branch Leaders of the Order of the Malefic Viper and had fought with her throughout this time.

Originally they had been a team of five, but two had fallen. A total of twenty had joined the expedition: Herself, the Lord Protector, and the branch leaders of eighteen of the nineteen branches - the last branch leader rightfully killed by the Viper before they departed.

Her two teammates were also women, with the two died being the only men in their group. Not because of any specific reasons; they had just been the weakest. The three of them were all late-stage S-grades, and they had finally slain the last boss of his floor and were prepared to go to move on to the next.

Nevermore was a very unique dungeon in many ways and a place that nearly no powerhouse hadn’t set foot. Viridia had already been here dozens of times before, but this was naturally the furthest she had ever gotten.

The first part of Nevermore required D-grade to enter, while where she was now required S-grade. The dungeon was split into floors, each of impossible size and each its own separate dimension. It was like the entire dungeon was actually many dungeons layered on one another, as the rules for regular dungeons existed for each floor separately. This is to say you could only clear one floor with the group you entered it with, while you could do it with anyone else for the next floor.

Granted, it was a requirement to clear a floor before one could move on to the next, so often, parties stayed together for a long time. It was also often hard to find trustworthy companions outside of the powerful factions… and even in those, it could be a challenge.

Another thing that separated Nevermore from other places was a rest area of sorts on every tenth floor. And they had just arrived in one such area. A glorious city appeared before them, one that had anything the heart desired… the only thing separating it was who inhabited it.

Not a single person below S-grade could be found. The only ones who could be construed as such were creations or summons of those S-grades serving the city.

“Come,” they heard a voice say as a figure appeared behind them. The Lord Protector had sent one of his avatars to lead them towards a residence that the Order owned on this floor. It hadn’t been visited in a few million years, but when they arrived, it looked well-maintained.

The Lord Protector took out a small medallion as the barrier sealing off the residence opened, and they all went inside. Viridia didn’t plan on staying there long due to the temporal rules of Nevermore.

Nevermore wasn’t just well-known due to the many floors and unique design, but due to the special rights, it had been afforded by the system.

Time moved differently on all the floors compared to the Realtime. This warping increased the deeper one went, and in the floor they had just cleared, a week outside would result in over a century inside. Temporal warping wasn’t anything special in itself, and Viridia could easily accelerate or slow down time by a few thousand times, but it wasn’t the same as in Nevermore. Because the same rules didn’t bind the time-warping of Nevermore as normal time manipulation… it acted like realtime.

The effect time-manipulation normally had on Records and experience gain was well-documented, which made training or crafting within time-warped spaces an unwise idea usually… but not in Nevermore. This was one of the reasons why the dungeon was so popular, as it allowed powerhouses to go train without fear of their faction falling apart. To be out training for a few thousand years was normal after all.

The Wyrmgod of Nevermore created the dungeon during the 2nd era and it quickly became the namesake of the Primordial. It was created not with a usual Dungeon Core but something specially granted through an unknown event.

Many mysteries surrounded the exact circumstances of how the dungeon came to be, but some things were clear. The Wyrmgod of Nevermore hadn’t left the dungeon with his real body since the dungeon’s creation and had been developing the dungeon for over 90 full eras.

On the lower floors, god-grade enemies appeared, and Viridia had no idea what dwelled on the lowest floors… though nearly everyone predicted it to be the Primordial.

“Master has called us back to the Order once more,” the Lord Protector said once they were inside the residence.

“Yes!” Viridia said enthusiastically before asking. “The expedition was shorter than expected. If I may… did some issue arise back in the Order?”

She had only been gone for a few months in Realtime, but she was still a bit worried. It had been many millennia since she left the Order before her journey into Nevermore. Viridia always had enough to do, as the highest-ranking mortal in an organization with billions of members and trillions of subjects under their rule.

“No. Master just decided to expand, so he killed the Brimstone Hegemon and has usurped his conglomerate and made all other organizations on Primorial-4 and surrounding planets swear allegiance, and the Order is currently expanding,” the Lord Protector said casually. “The Ladies of the Verdant Lagoon have also returned and will assist the Order from now on.”

Viridia just stood there, mouth wide open as she was trying to comprehend everything that just happened. W… what? Brimstone Hegemon dead? Expand? My ancestors returning? Wha-

“I… I see… we should hurry back!” Viridia practically yelled as her head was spinning. Oh god, so much work would be waiting for her when she returned, so many factions to deal with…

“Yes, I shall send you back as well as the other survivors. Eleven others made it. Better than expected,” the Lord Protector just nodded. “We leave in a few days.”

With that, the Lord Protector disappeared.

--

The Lord Protector reappeared in a massive space, planets floating everywhere, none of them holding life but instead growing a variety of invaluable ingredients or filled with vast mines with ore that would make even gods greedy.

Normally this was not a place that could be entered, but the Lord Protector held a medallion in his hand that allowed him to. His master had given it to him before he left to Nevermore, and it had on it engraved the motif of the Malefic Viper.

“Vilastromoz has not been subtle in his return,” a voice echoed throughout the area as the Lord Protector bowed deeply to a phantasmal shape of a dragon that was slowly coalescing before him.

“Snoarix greets the Wyrmgod,” the Lord Protector said, sincere respect in his voice. “My master brings his well-wishes upon thee and a token to reignite old friendships.”

He summoned a dark green orb and offered it up to the phantasmal dragon.

“What’s he after?” the Wyrmgod said, staring down at the orb. Not for one second buying the old “reignite old friendships” part.

“The master did ask me to help complete the purge… a few gods affiliated with the Brimstone Conglomerate have sought refuge in the depths of Nevermore, you know my master’s insistence on completing a task once begun… so if the Wyrmgod would expel them or allow this little lizard to purge them, it would be highly appreciated,” Snoarix said, smiling a bit under his breath.

“… Fine. I can’t be bothered with expelling some weak gods, so just do what you want to do. I shall transfer their hideout to another subspace… go finish them there… with the death of that Brimstone merchant, and they are technically squatting, so they broke the rules first,” the Primordial said. “Oh, and tell Vilastromoz to stop by… it’s been a while.”

“I shall make sure to convey the Wyrmgod’s words,” the Lord Protector acknowledged as he disappeared once more, leaving only the orb behind.

The Wyrmgod stared down at it and chuckled, making the entire space shake. A token of friendship… you sure haven’t changed.

[Totally Not Useless Orb of the Malefic Viper (Divine)] – This Orb does not have any functions despite being nigh-indestructible and perfectly spherical.

--

Six gods sat inside a residence within Nevermore. Two of them were in the Fourth Layer of Divinity, three in the Fifth Layer, with their leader a powerhouse in the Sixth Layer, close to the Seventh - a pinnacle mid-stage god, nearly at the late-stage, and an expert that could find a home almost anywhere.

Yet she had chosen the Brimstone Conglomerate as the Hegemon had offered her things she simply couldn’t refuse. The massive wealth of the now-dead god was staggering, and now that had all been claimed by the Order of the Malefic Viper.

It was impossible to predict that the Brimstone Conglomerate would fall from one day to the next, and it left many gods in precarious situations. These six gods were within Nevermore when they heard the news of what had happened outside and were currently hiding away, weighing their options. They believed themselves to be safe as the Wyrmgod of Nevermore had clear rules about fighting in the safe zones.

“I have contacts in the Holy Church, and I may possibly be able to seek refuge there…” one of the gods said, quite a bit of uncertainty in his voice.

“There is a lot of risk in seeking out any organization linked to a Primordial… the relationship between those twelve has always been peculiar, and it is doubtful that they would accept any of us due to old friendships,” another of the gods said.

“But surely the Holy Church would be accepting? Isn’t the Malefic Viper and the Holy Mother on bad terms?” the first god asked.

“It seems like that on the surface, but I have heard many rumors saying otherwise… some even that they are quite close, or at least used to be,” a third god butted in. He was only in the Fifth Layer, but out of all of them, he was the oldest, having lived for more than forty eras already.

“I see…. what are your plans, Linea?” the first god asked the sole woman of their group, and also the strongest of them. “You shouldn’t have too many issues finding somewhere safe…”

“I have no plans of joining any faction. I only joined the Brimstone Conglomerate for the benefits they provided, and it was a limited contract anyway… and with the death of the Hegemon, that contract is now void,” she answered, shaking her head. “So I will go alone. My priority is reaching the Seventh Layer for now.”

The other gods just nodded, none finding her ambitions laughable. She was a young god, the youngest of them, yet she was already a full Layer ahead of the second strongest. Her stepping into the Seventh Layer was almost a given, and she had a good chance of reaching the eighth and possibly even ninth… if not becoming a Godqueen.

In the Brimstone Conglomerate, she was already one of the ten strongest at the Sixth Layer. The Hegemon had been a Godking, sitting in the Tenth Layer, if barely. Which meant that she had the potential to possibly one day become stronger than him.

But her plans of going solo to pursue strength would soon have a wrench thrown in the cogs.

She was the only one who felt the subtle shift of space. And her eyes opened wide as the others just kept talking, unaware of the situation.

“Ah, that makes sense, as a late-stage, I believe many factions would be head over heels fo-“

Linea shot up, while the others just looked confused at her… until the next moment. Space cracked around them as a scalekin humanoid walked out. His aura spread throughout the chamber, bearing down on all of them.

One more powerful than even the Brimstone Hegemon.

“You-“

All of them recognized the figure before them as the somewhat enigmatic guardian that held the Order of the Malefic Viper together in the absence of the Primordial. To many of the younger gods, the Malefic Viper was just a figure of old, more a rumor than an actual entity. On the other hand, the Lord Protector was a real tangible individual that had made several moves over the eras… most resulting in the deaths of other gods.

“By order of the Malefic Viper, I have come to purge you. But I’ll give you all one chance to swear allegiance and dedicate yourself to the Order,” the Lord Protector said uncaringly to the six gods.

At the same time, he summoned a slave contract. It wasn’t the same as what was used on mortals but far less powerful. It didn’t give power over the life and death of the one who signs it, but it would result in a backlash if broken. It was more the concept of it that mattered. Besides…

Five of the six gods looked at each other with fear as they all didn’t hesitate to kneel. Immortality was in many ways a double-edged sword and often led to gods shamelessly caring about survival above everything else. Because if one survived, one had infinite time to turn around their situation, and patience was the greatest of virtues.

Sadly, they had chosen wrong.

The Lord Protector looked at the sole woman of the group.

“You choose death?”

She didn’t answer but just exploded with power as she attacked. The Lord Protector scoffed as he easily deflected all her attacks and his arm tore through space, shattering all her defenses as he grabbed her neck.

He held her up as he extended his other arm towards the five gods kneeling. They barely had time to look up, their expressions confused, as the arm transformed into the head of what looked like a massive crocodile. Its maw closed around them as they each tried to escape, but their struggles were meaningless as they were devoured.

The Lord Protector returned her attention to the woman as he smiled. “What’s your name?”

“… Fuck you,” Linea muttered as she materialized a spike and jabbed it into his neck. It didn’t even manage to penetrate the Lord Protector’s scales as it shattered upon impact.

“Hah, good instincts,” the Lord Protector said, as he laughed before letting her go and turning around. “Come.”

Linea looked confused up at the god. What?

“The Wyrmgod put us in a separate space… you cannot leave on your own, so unless you want to spend the next many eras here, I would recommend following,” the Lord Protector said, as he opened up a crack in space.

“What is the meaning of this?” she asked, far from certain what was happening.

“You got the job if you want it. If not, leave. I have already killed the dogs that thought themselves gods; my task here is done.”

--

Viridia had spent the last few days exploring the city and purchasing some items for herself as well as the Order. To walk through the vast streets had been… liberating. The gazes of respect and fear they threw her way were far different from what it had been in the past.

She was even certain that the prices she got were quite a bit cheaper than average, and many of the S-grades were overly respectful. Even the one Demigod she met nodded towards her in greeting the moment he saw her robe.

The revolution of the Order of the Malefic Viper was almost tangible… everyone knew the Viper was back, and all factions were desperately trying to adapt. Before, no one really cared about the Order. Sure, you didn’t mess with them for no reason, but you didn’t go out of your way to respect them. They just were.

But now, they were so much more. The Order had already usurped the Brimstone Conglomerate’s wealth and had conquered nearly an entire Great Planet in only a month.

As she sat in meditation with her two comrades, space opened up in front of her as the Lord Protector appeared… but he wasn’t alone. With him was a celestial woman with long blue flowing hair and eyes filled with red starlight.

“Come, it is time to return,” the Lord Protector said. Viridia looked a bit bewildered at the woman but didn’t question anything. She could feel that the woman was a god… was she a new recruit? Oh, the Lord Protector was sure something else! The Order has struggled to recruit any gods for so long, and he had managed to snatch one up in only a few days!

The future was truly looking great for the Order of the Malefic Viper.