Greed God chapter 193 (Patreon)

April 7th 2016 Brightedge City, The Perigrinator's Club, 8:00 AM EDT

I've  never been one to worry or fret about things. I'm not entirely certain I  actually feel fear the way other people do, or at least I've never  experienced anything like what I've heard described as terror. I've been  nervous, been worried, I've known something could hurt me, but I've  never had my logical thought processes compromised by any of those  feelings. I suppose I do feel fear after all, but perhaps a muted form  of it. It's hard to really grasp dread when you don't have anything to  lose, and with the sole exception of my connection with my girls after  Branding them (and even that wasn't too extreme) I'd never been attached  enough to anything to be scared of losing it.

All of this  was to say that I was not a person who overreacted or lost my cool over  nothing. Which is why it should tell you something when I lashed out in  rage at the wall nearby, smashing my fist through the rock without a  hint of hesitation. "FUCK!" I bellowed. "Crassus what the fuck? Can't  you sense these assholes or something? You couldn't warn me one of them  was nearby?"

Even as I asked it I knew the answer. He'd  basically already told me as much with his little speech earlier. Still,  I had to ask. I needed someone to blame.

[Obviously  not. If I could I would have told you. If you die I die too. You just  want to bitch at someone, but save it for somebody else. We don't have  time for your panicking. Get your shit together and shove your worry in a  box like everyone else does, you can bounce your hips off one of your  sluts later to work out your frustration.]

I  blinked. Crassus...Crassus didn't really say things like that. Come to  think of it he didn't SOUND like that. There was genuine fear in his  voice. He was clearly worried and scared. I could relate. While I wasn't  feeling any gut wrenching worry about the Fear Host killing me or my  girls, I was feeling pretty worried about what the fuck he was doing  here.

I'd put a LOT of work into this meeting. I needed it  to go smoothly so I could take the city and get the income from that.  Now some random asshole with powers beyond mortal comprehension was here  and I was pretty fucking unhappy. I knew what the Greed System was  capable of. I was betting the Fear System was broken as fuck too. I  forced myself to calm down, taking a deep breath. "Ok. You're right.  What can you tell me? You were forbidden from giving me information  about the others last I checked, does the other Host being here change  that?"

[Yes. But only about this one. The Fear  System...as I mentioned, it isn't the strongest, though it is one of the  quickest to grow. The Fear System allows the host to manifest the fears  of their enemies. Once a fear construct is manifested it continues to  generate fear. Fear can be invested into the construct to empower and  strengthen it over time, allowing it generate more fear, or used to make  more constructs.]

"Wait what? But that's  bullshit. It's totally self sustaining. That sounds like it would be way  stronger than the Greed System." I had to own shit to get points, but  it sounded like the Fear System generated them anytime one of the  constructs scared someone. That was so fucking broken.

[Don't  be stupid. The Fear System grows quickly but doesn't empower the host  directly. The Greed System is the most powerful of the systems because  it not only grants you the ability to personally empower yourself, but  to create items and empower others. The other systems only do one or two  of those things.]

That was a valid point. "Ok,  fine. So the host doesn't get stronger. I can work with that. But if  there's no way to find the son of a bitch how am I supposed to get rid  of him? Also what happens if I kill him? Do I get some kind of benefit  from that? Like can I take the Fear System?" I considered the benefits  of merging something like that with myself or one of my girls, the Greed  System was strong enough, I couldn't imagine what I could do with a  second, even if it wasn't as good.

[Not how it  works. Getting rid of one just gets rid of one. There are still five  more. As for the benefits...not really. The Greed System was made for  this purpose. I can't really go into details, but suffice to say that  you'll be forced to deal with the others whether you like it or not.  Best to get that shit out of the way fast.]

"Fair  enough." I grumbled, annoyed at being put to work for free. "But does  this mean that he's going to know what I can do? Or at least what the  Greed System can do? Also why is Greed the strongest exactly?  Like...it's awesome, but that seems a little arbitrary."

[Greed  is always the strongest. Not just in terms of the Systems, but even the  li-. Ouch. Nope, that's not allowed. It just is. Enjoy the advantage.  It's not going to be as much of one as you might think. Fear isn't too  much of a threat, but the Rage System is absurdly dangerous in one on  one combat. You'll need to be ready when you run into the red one, or  they'll crack your chest open and chew out your still beating heart.]

Cheery.  "Thanks for that. Anyway, I need to go. The fucking meeting is going to  start soon, and knowing there's some kind of super powerful fear  monster conjurer around means I have to actually fucking participate in  security. Ugh. Fucking Court of Owls are going to think they can put me  to work. I better get to dick Silver into a dripping mess tonight. I  have a feeling I'll need the stress relief. Or maybe I can just convince  her to slobber my knob for old times sake. She seems to be pretty into  Mammon."

I was muttering to myself at that last bit, since  Crassus wouldn't care, and then turned around to head upstairs. I had a  fucking host to find and kill. I just hoped I wouldn't run into another  of these bastards anytime soon. I had too much shit to do to be  spending all my time worried about this nonsense.

I still  had a bit of room to look around, but now I KNEW there was a threat, and  the actual meeting was the probable target, so I retraced my steps to  make my way back up to the club itself. I debated keeping quiet to avoid  trouble and just having my girls fan out , but in the end the Court  didn't get to pawn their shit off on me for free. I gestured to Silver,  motioning her into one of the side rooms off the main lounge.

"I'm  afraid we've run into something of an obstacle." I said impassively.  "Specifically I was attacked by a pair of nightmare monsters in the  basement, and after an investigation have reason to believe the summoner  may be hiding amongst the guests." Hiding from appraisal too  apparently. The Systems, according to Crassus, were too high level to be  detected themselves. The ones that altered the host could be picked up  from that, but the Fear system didn't, which made detecting it almost  impossible.

It was also why I couldn't merge it with any  of the girls or with myself. It made sense since I couldn't exactly see  my own System, but it was annoying all the same. Silver, it seemed, was  also unhappy, though probably not for the same reasons. Her pretty face  creased in worry and displeasure. "Summoner? Do you know who it is? I  could have the Talons pick them up as they enter. They can be subtle  when it's called for."

"No clue." I said with a shrug.  "The traces I found weren't anything that detailed. I have my own  methods of detection. If I had to guess, I'd say they probably have a  personal summon guarding them." That would be my first move with that  System. Being the weak link would drive me nuts. I'd have some kind of  shadow demon or ghost creature with me constantly for protection.

Thankfully  I could upgrade myself, which was much better. I wondered what Crassus  had been about to mention earlier when he got cut off. His statement  about Greed being the strongest. It had sounded important. I made a  mental note to look into it. It sounded like he'd been about to say  light. Greed light wasn't anything I was familiar with, but if there  were others (and I now knew fear and Rage) I could maybe cross  reference.

Regardless, now wasn't  the time for that. Silver obviously knew it too because she snarled  slightly in frustration. "We need to start the meeting. The guests have  started arriving and if we force them to wait they'll know something is  wrong. Some of these factions were nearly impossible to wrangle, and if  this falls apart we might not be able to put together another." The  polite fiction that she was concerned for me and my people's ability to  rope in the fae again was left unsaid, despite knowing I could do so  easily and she was really talking about them.

The  Court of Owls were the kings of Gotham, but this wasn't Gotham. Their  infrastructure and networking had taken a massive blow when the cities  merged. Stirring up the hornets nest made people ask questions about why  they should listen to other people, not to mention the physical changes  that undoubtedly disturbed stockpiles and caches of weapons. "Just  start it." I said with finality. "If something comes up I'll handle it."

She  looked relieved and nodded, scurrying off to begin the proceedings. In  reality there was a non zero chance some of the guests would die if the  Fear Host attacked, but I didn't actually care. My girls were strong  enough to keep themselves safe until I could help them, and seeing me  flatten something that had just killed some big shot would do nothing  but reinforce my own prowess. Not to mention almost all of these people  were technically competitors.

Still,  at least my allies should be warned. I fired off a text to dad before  heading over to talk to Tamlin, who had arrived with his pair of porn  star dryads on each arm. Dude knew how to travel in style. "Greetings,  Tamlin the Falconer." I was positive nothing as sloppy as my mask would  effect a C ranked magic user who regularly interacted with fairy  bullshit, and sure enough, Tamlin's eyes flickered with amusement when  he saw me. "I was hoping to have a private word."

A  flick of his fingers sealed the area around us from sound. Less showy  than his verbal command magic in the undercity, but also more practical.  I filled him in on the Fear Host (what I was willing to share) and he  grimaced. "Summoners are often obnoxious and difficult to deal with. I  shall keep watch for suspicious folk. Please alert me should you notice  something I do not."

I  nodded my agreement and left, looking over the other parties who were  in attendance to get a feel for the meeting. I noted a lack of my dad,  but within seconds of having the thought I got a text message. I opened  it to find a response letting me know he'd sent one of his best agents  and that this individual was extremely suited for dealing with monsters.  I'd texted him as me, so I told him I'd pass on the message to Mammon,  and then turned to watch the entrance as I'd just been informed  Checkmate had arrived. I wondered who my dad had sent. Hopefully it was  someone cool.