Chapter 2225 (Patreon)

ToC: https://www.patreon.com/posts/23899958

Just one tonight. For those who aren't a Devick fan, this will be the last chapter from her for a bit.

Coughing and sneezing, Devick popped into existence positively twitching with energy. Once the environment registered, once she had escaped the deep shadow of the lifeseal and his low laughter, she went on the defensive. She twisted around, looking for the looming forms of the massive armed Turtleine guards that were inevitably waiting for her… and slammed her shin into a stubborn. She howled and hopped on one leg for several seconds, eyes squinted against the pain.

No one attacked her as she quickly mastered her shock. No one even seemed to notice her appearance.

As she steadily recovered, the gloom of the surrounding tunnel left Devick nonplussed; released from the strange ritual, she appeared to have come out in an abandoned side passage within the maze-like structure within Homewell. Although clearly carved, the passages had a noticeable layer of dust across the stone. At least the whisper of wind against her skin informed her she wasn’t far from the surface.

After confirming her condition, Devick shivered. She could still feel the constant pulse of the lifeseal against her skin, but the tone of it felt different. A kinship had been established when she received the gift for being the first individual to claim not to be virtuous during the ritual.

She could feel, roiling and still partially unformed inside her gullet, a new sort of vicious hunger. A Skill of pure greed, an image honed and hammered and without identifying details, passed over to her so she could thrive. For the first time, Devick realized she might be able to close the distance between herself and Nether King Hungry Eye before either of them had become ancient.

She began walking with a bounce in her step. “And sure, I’m not exactly responsible for the image, but I am the one who can make use of it. I will make it my own, given a little bit of time. And then…”

While her imagination began to expand, creating an entire world where she ruled as queen with a certain emerald-eyed consort, she experienced something rather unexpected; the greed in her chest soured slightly. It spoke independently of her wishes, wondering why she would pour so much effort into pleasing someone else. Especially when all of her energy could be dedicated to furthering her own desires.

Devick paused. She offered a gentle smile, hidden in the shadows of the stone tunnel. However, more so than this exciting new image she had absorbed from the dark history of the lifeseal, she felt changes reverberating through her body as dangerous emotions coursed through her body. The sleek and bloodthirsty form of Misery, the vicious hare image, sharpened behind her. She could now see the fatal look in the hare’s eye, the color a reflection of the lifeblood leaking out of its prey until the shade of crimson had consumed its entire gaze.

“I’m only going to say this once. You are an image. If you question me, I’ll eliminate you. No, I won’t just eliminate you. I’ll debase you, weaken you, force you to indulge in acts of spontaneous generosity until you weep.” Devick told this giant slab of greedy potential. She meant every word. She took a deep breath and her certainty solidified inside of her. “In the end, you can give me tools, but you are just that; an extraneous help. My decisions are my own.”

The image protested weakly and squirmed, but soon relented and settled back into place. The hollow-toothed hare smiled at the new image, happy that a certain hierarchy had been established, despite the obvious difference in their powers. Devick quickly returned to her mood and dove again into the land of imagination. She continued walking, doing her best to be unaware there would be a price to pay from Homewell authorities.

Now, Devick had always resolved herself that at some point she would be brought up on charges of flagrant disrespect for her actions within the strict hierarchy of military command, but she hadn’t suspected she would break so quickly. For whatever reason, she figured she would have managed to pilfer a rather sizable command before her superiors realized her true colors, making her almost impossible to be rid of. Or that she would be shoved into the decision such a gold-shelled bastard, who appeared to have possessed quite a bit of pull. Then there was the matter of the Colonel-

Who needs to die, Misery whispered. Even the unformed edifice of greed hummed its agreement Devick approached the exit of the tunnel with a wide smile, promising bloody vengeance.

… on the other side of the threshold, a cool observation jolted her nervous system so badly she released a small and very unattractive shriek.

“Who are you planning to kill with a grin like that?”

Nether King Hungry Eye, weirdly out of his usual black robes with golden trim and instead garbed in soft-looking shirt and pants, tilted his head to the side as he considered her. Devick blinked an aggressive amount of times, confirming this wasn’t an imagined episode and he had really turned up in front of her. A few seconds ticked past. When he remained reassuringly real, she realized that the opportunity for witty banter was slipping away from her; banter had a harsh time limit. So she marshaled her entire intelligence and responded, aiming for something cute and quirky.

“Ha.”

Devick paled, wondering where all her insight and humor had gone; she usually was quite funny. Instantly, the floating form of Misery in her body turned a suspicious eye on its new punching bad, the half-formed image of greed. Perhaps it had devoured her charm in its misplaced enthusiasm?

While the greed protested its innocence, Nether King Hungry Eye shook his head. He didn’t seem upset, just somber. “Well, just be careful. I’ve sensed some pretty killable assholes since coming into Homewell, but the lifeseal is genuinely well-made. Recklessness can take others by surprise, but its no help against raw force.”

“What are you doing here?” Devick blurted out, finally cobbling together enough words that she wished she had just stuffed her foot inside of her mouth.

The Nether King chuckled. “Toss me out to the curb pretty quickly, don’t ya? Am I not allowed to visit? Well, I can understand-”

“Obviously if you were here for me I would go crazy-” Devick interrupted him, then flushed. She bit her lip, wondering where her usual confidence had gone. In her chest, Misery again turned its bloody gaze toward greed, wondering whether it had been gobbling up more of her personality than she knew. When she spoke again, she hated how trembling her voice sounded. “Are… you here for me?”

Why the fuck do I sound so whiny? Devick winced.

As she looked at him, the small muscles of Nether King Hungry Eyes’s face shifting minutely between expressions as he decided how to respond, Devick realized he looked tired. Some of the intensity of purpose he usually possessed had vanished. In its place, she could sense indecision and hesitation. Through all that, he settled on offering her a small smile. “About half for you. I’m not sure exactly how it happened… but you just consumed something pretty massive, right? Are you feeling okay?”

“Well enough,” Devick tapped the spot where her ribcage split, housing her diaphragm and the massive, steaming chunk of image the lifeseal had given her. “I’ve given it a firm talking to. You know how strict I am with myself.”

“And with your subordinates,” Something in the Nether King’s gaze flickered. Devick winced, remembering how she had handled the Toll situation. Hungry Eye eyed her critically and continued. “Be very careful. I’m honestly an expert on the subject; spiritual indigestion is no fun. Take your time, making sure you can handle the energy before you get into a real fight.”

Devick forced herself to unleash her highest-wattage smile. “Don’t you worry about that. My appetite has always been large! And I have quite a bank of experience swallowing strange substances-”

Devick paled in consternation and Hungry Eye snorted. His indecision vanished as he rolled his eyes. She was almost happy when, in the next instant, several powerful images locked onto their position.

Within ten seconds, almost fifty powerful Turtleline guards moved to surround Devick and Nether King Hungry Eye. They marched in tight rows, spreading out in layered arcs centered on the Nether King. At the back of the group, the familiar bastard Goldie gave Devick a baleful glare. However, even the massive-shelled individual moved respectfully to the side and allowed a greying Turtleline crone to totter forward through the line of guards. Compared to the armored individuals, the woman seemed quite small with her hands folded in front of her. She barely stood half the size of Goldie. Yet there was something… strangely compelling about her.

I bet that limp-dicked bastard wouldn’t dare call her an egg warmer, Devick frowned. She glanced sideways at the Nether King, wondering whether the two of them would need to fight their way out of the encirclement, back to back, learning to rely solely on each other. Her imaginations halted abruptly when she saw the look of wonder on the Nether King’s face.

“Ma’am,” Nether King Hungry Eye took a step forward and stuck out a hand. The Turtleline guards hunched forward aggressively but didn’t actually attack. Perhaps the genuine admiration in his tone gave them pause. “Your image… is positively sublime.”

The Turtleline crone drew up short and looked out at the Nether King with wrinkled eyes. Whatever she found there pulled a cackle out of her throat. “Oho? I expected a troublemaker after hearing so much about you, Nether King Hungry Eye, but never imagined you’d be quite this much trouble. Well, thank you for recognizing. For an old woman like me, one of the few infallible aspects of myself remaining is pride. I suppose if you insist, I can give you a practical demonstration.”

Nether King Hungry Eye demurred. “Ma’am, I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“You drive a hard bargain; where does a young man get off, insisting? Well, I suppose I can give you just a peak.” The Turtleline cleared her throat. Next to Devick, Nether King Hungry Eye straightened.

The world flickered as these two individuals simultaneously unleashed their images. From Nether King Hungry Eye, a massive tree exploded into existence, making the Turtleline guards hunch over and tighten their grips on their weapons. The tree reached and reached upward, filling the entire sky with rustling emerald leaves. Due to its size, it cast a shadow that probably covered all of Homewell. Warm breezes shook its canopy softly, in almost a slow, natural dance.

Devick had never seen the Nether King’s singular image manifested so clearly. It burned with life. She felt like she could cut into the bar and drink its sap. The greed in her chest perked up immediately at the thought, but she quickly smothered the impulse. Ornate and gorgeous symbols covered the trunk and Devick rapidly had to yank her eyes away from the sagas carved there so as not to be completely engrossed in the image.

At least as a horrid stone to keep her grounded, the greed image proved useful.

From the bottom of the Nether King’s image, several golden roots stretched outward toward the Turtleline woman. And from her, came a giant orb of brown, pink, and forest green. It floated above her head, a sphere with as much diameter as a child is tall. Compared to the domineering size of the tree, the Turtleline’s image looked much less impressive. But where one was large, the other was deep. The sense of possibility and growth within that orb shook Devick as much as the stories upon the tree’s trunk. It was a seed that could grow into almost anything.

The two images brushed up against each other, chiming a pure harmony. Although the shapes differed, the two existed along the same spectrum of life and growth. Without aiming for such a result and being developed separately, the two images came together so perfectly in the present. The seed pulsed as the golden root reached out.

The energies brushed and sang together.

A wave of pure image power blasted outward that knocked Devick’s breath away. From the bulging eyes of the surrounding Turtleline guards, they were similarly afflicted. But the sensation wasn’t negative. Devick’s doubts, her indecisions, her small pettiness, all were blasted out of her mind by a cleansing aura. Touched by that light, she felt reborn. Elation tingled through her veins and sparkled out her pores, from her fingertips to her toes.

The light gradually faded, leaving Hungry Eye and Devick still standing surrounded by Turtleline warriors. The crone cleared her throat. “Quite a bit of trouble, but not without benefit, yes? But setting aside this party trick, we must get to a much less wholesome matter. You are under arrest, Nether King Hungry Eye, for murdering a soldier fighting in Homewell’s defense during a time of war.”