Chapter 254 (Patreon)

Chapter 254

Azmoth’s roars joined the fray as he clashed with the swarm of electrical, winged serpents in the field of death beyond Riven’s fight.  It was a good opportunity for the demon to level and catch up, and as Athela beat the living shit out of the matriarchal boss monster off - a huge golden tomb cobra that was getting tossed around the battlefield like a child’s plaything under the archdemon’s might - she made sure to keep tabs on Azmoth for whenever he was in a bad spot.

Not that he was by any means weak, he could take on many of the gnashing tomb cobras and their lightning strikes at once, but he’d slightly fallen behind Athela and Riven’s own climb to power.  Fay had done so even more, but Riven had plans for all of them to reach the E-grade and level 200+ by the time this event was up.

“STOP IGNORING US!” The death knight howled, smashing her claymore against Riven’s blocking gauntlet with a shower of sparks.

Riven frowned, throwing off the deathknight with another sonic-speed backhanded slap and swinging himself left to dodge another lightning strike with a disappointed look.  The glacial mage was already panting heavily, covered in shallow cuts that could have been deadly strikes each if Riven hadn’t pulled them back to continue the fight a while longer.  The lightning mage was missing an arm and had cauterized it with his own lightning, dripping blood down his reptilian face while he occasionally coughed.  Meanwhile, the drow woman’s bone armor was shattered in a couple places and she was growing quite tired at this point in time.

Spitting out two teeth, wheezing, and pushing herself up to her feet to stumble forward with a snarl - she let out a high pitched scream of frustration.  “GODS DAMN IT!”

Gluttony snickered inside Riven’s mind, even getting Riven to grin slightly at the sin’s amusement.

He looked at the three worn out cultists and then to the body of the dwarf he’d consumed not long ago.  “I must say, I’m not very impressed.  How are people like you six supposed to bring about a world ending apocalypse?  I was expecting better.”

His hand blurred and his staff swung with it, smashing down another spike of ice the size of his torso that shot from the ground.  It shattered as he literally caught a lightning bolt in one ivory-covered hand, crushing the storm mana between his fingers and not even bothering to stop the claymore’s swing as it made contact with his horned skull pauldron.

The claymore shattered, the lunging death knight widened her eyes, and he abruptly smashed his armored head forward to break her nose.

The drow’s face sprayed blood, and she stumbled back before Riven’s spear-staff slammed through her armored gut and out the back of her spine.

Her teal eyes widened, and she coughed up bile as her fingers clenched around Riven’s black weapon in astonishment.  “H-How are you t-this strong?”

She coughed more blood up, spitting it onto Riven’s face as he stared back unblinking.

Lifting her up over his head slowly, he channeled blood mana into the weapon as she began to scream.  Ribbons of red that usually kept to the weapon rushed forward in a roaring tide of power as it began devouring her alive, her body being torn apart and absorbed until the remnant energies of her mana channels made contact with Riven’s invading magic.  Her body then exploded, sending shrapnel of armor and body parts all over the battlefield.

The two naga just gawked, before both of them started to run.

“Oh don’t be like that!” Riven laughed, beginning to walk forward.  “You’ll respawn soon enough, come and fight me!”

Riven stomped a foot into the dirt and a wave of red eyes combed across the ground, coating corpses, trees, and boulders in a mad rush  that overtook the two injured naga in seconds.

The lightning mage screamed in horror as his body began to encase in the red magic, freezing solid before being ripped apart by Riven’s will.  The glacial mage on the other hand desperately resisted the freeze effect and managed to tear himself out of the red ice one, two, then three times before five abrupt spikes of red tore from the ground to pierce his heart and lungs at different angles.

Gasping, then convulsing, the naga died only ten seconds later with a last, shuddering breath.  His impaled body then went limp.

“You could have saved at least one of them for me.” Nora said with a disappointed sigh after landing with a soft thud, hanging a pair of dual-rapiers low to the ground before coming to a stop beside him.  “I didn’t get here fast enough.”

“We may be friends, but we’re still competing.” Riven winked her way.  “I can’t just LET you take the Chalgathi egg, now can I?”

Nora snorted, watching the beast swarms of Athela’s spiders, Azmoth, and the arch-demoness herself go at it in a frenzy.  “At least I’ll get the main quest points.  Are you going to help clean that up?”

Riven shook his head, planting his spear-staff into the ground and watching the fireworks go off amidst the clash of claws and teeth.  “Nah.  This is their opportunity to level up.  I’m at max level for F-grade and can’t grow more until I pass into the E-grade, so killing won’t do me much good.  There are still a couple hours before the beast tide is actually unleashed, and I’m sure they can finish it off by then.  Want to go grab a drink back in town?”

There was a pause.

“Are you asking a lady out?”  Nora slowly grinned and winked his way.

Riven merely chuckled.  “I’m afraid it isn’t the way you’re thinking.  Athela and Fay would be rather mad.”

“Oh?  I’d been under the assumption you were rather free of spirit after learning from Azmoth that you’d impregnated the elf.”

“That was a one night stand.  I’m dating Fay and Athela.”

“So who’s to say you can’t have another one night stand then?  Mr. Vampire Prince?”  She waggled her eyes at him, then laughed at the look of discomfort and waved at him while turning around.  “I’m just kidding.  I’m into girls anyways.”

“Really?”

“You betchya.  Kind of jealous, not going to lie.  Athela’s smoking hot.  Let’s grab a drink and talk about how I’m going to steal your girlfriend.”

Riven rolled his eyes with a laugh.  “Sounds good, but I’ll have to find that gnome before we do.  I have a lot of questions pertaining to those abilities he was using, as I think it’ll give me some insights for totem making that I could very much use in my own work.  In fact, I have a totem project I want to show the gnome as soon as we get back.”

***

The cavern before her eclipsed most underground lairs Lillith had seen throughout her long years of existence, coming close to the top but not quite breaking the top ten in terms of both style and size.  B+ material, if she had to give it a grade.  It was so large that it fit an entire jungle inside, was akin to entering another world in the underdark, and she could barely make out the distant figures of ruined buildings beyond the more obvious pyramid ahead of her.

She licked fresh blood off one of her black claws with a hum of delight, taking in all the sights, sounds and fragrances that permeated her senses while a flock of colorful birds flew by.  Her white eyes watched them go without moving from her position, relishing in the feeling of being alive again.

She’d been a prisoner with her comrades and master for far too long.  If she’d been given the choice again of relinquishing her power to escape the void from where her soul had been imprisoned, and taking this rebirth as a way out - she’d have made that sacrifice every single time.  The chances of putting the shards of sin back together outside the purview of Elysium were just too slim, and the wait had gone on far too long.  Eons had passed in that dreadful hole, and she’d at a few times during her stay thought she might actually lose her mind if it went on any further.

Thankfully that wasn’t a worry anymore.  Instead, she was free to roam around and explore all the little things she’d once taken for granted long ago.

She could fly if she needed to, and she could teleport to an extent, but she’d rather walk and take in the scenery.  To feel alive again.  The signature of Allie’s soul given to her by Gluttony still pulsed strong.  It was inside that temple and hadn’t moved for well over three days now, which made Lillith wonder why that was.  Alive, but absolutely unmoving for three days straight?

Strange, but she’d figure it out soon enough.  Thankfully Lillith was a born tracker, and two of her perks in combination with one another made it almost impossible for other people of her own level and grade to avoid detection if she wanted to find them.

Taking her time, Lilith jumped off the cliff that showed recent signs of battle - exiting the underdark’s tunnel and allowing her body to float down into the jungle’s canopy.

The earth shuddered underneath her figure as her bare feet touched the dirt, and all the sounds of animal life abruptly stopped when she breathed in the fresh air.  The corpses of those blue-skinned vampire precursors littered this place, having no doubt picked a fight with Allie’s group on the way in.  Monsters of various species that were native to this place stopped feasting on their corpses to scurry away with their tails tucked between their legs as the athletic, lithe demoness wreathed in shadow - features mostly obscured - walked elegantly through the underbrush with silent steps.

Though her aura was not oppressive at the current moment, her mere presence sent waves of power through the ground she trod upon.  She was a Mythic-grade being, an Elysium ranking that only very few across the entire multiverse ever acquired, and any who looked upon her to identify her person saw the purple flames of her obscured information as reason enough to run away very quickly.

“How I have missed these sensations…” She said with a sigh, but then abruptly stopped.  Her pale white eyes turned downwards to a rather odd soul signature in a nearby plant, and her brows furrowed with curiosity.  She bent down, flickering void-black toes digging into the mud beneath a small tree where a yellow flower was struggling to grow.

“You’re a rather odd find, aren’t you - little one?  You’re not just a normal flower despite your looks.”

It was partially wilted, and would likely die on its own, but when she plucked it - she took pity on the struggling flower.  The smell it gave off was still amazing, and with a though she imbued her own energy into the tiny yellow petals with a smile.

The wilting flower immediately bloomed, taking on streaks of black down the center of each petal as it grew three times the size it’d been, and she willed it to grow roots.

The flower did as asked after consuming more of her mana, and she let it wrap its small, fragile roots around one of her seven black horns to feed off of her while she continued onwards towards the pyramid.

“I think I’ll name you… if you ever gain consciousness.  Do well, little flower, and perhaps we will become friends.”

Lillith giggled at the idea of being friends with a sentient flower, should it actually happen.  Her close comrades in Gluttony’s order would no doubt make fun of her, but she didn’t care.  She would not be swayed!

Yes, she would be sure to nurture it to full health and would see what happened.  If anything, it would be an interesting experiment.  At best, she’d gain a new pet.

An odd radiating pulse of energy reached her, originating at the top of the pyramid and snapping her out of her daydreams.  The archdemon raised one of her eyebrows, then began skipping towards the large structure in the distance at a doubled pace.  Whatever was going on inside, it was sure to be interesting - and Lillith was rather excited to meet this newly born angel of death.  More importantly, Lillith was excited to meet the sister of Gluttony’s bonded partner for reincarnation.

She could only hope that they would get along.  Perhaps, just perhaps, they could even be friends.

***

The sight inside the pyramid was rather bloody, without a living thing in sight.  She could sense souls up above her in chambers not far off, but powerful wards of an ancient nature she recognized as pre-system blood script wouldn’t allow her to peer any deeper than at surface level.

Nevertheless, she skipped and hummed across the mutilated corpses - avoiding traps and giggling to herself whenever one of those silly mechanisms tried to slice her in half or attack her with various forms of poisonous blood mists and explosive shrapnel.  The blood energy here was different than what she was used to though, tinged blue, reminding her of the days before the so-called ‘Blood God’ had wiped out his rival pantheons to claim the top spot of power on the Blood Sub-Pillar’s domain.  These traps had blood energies that were… hmmm.  What was the word?

Primitive?

No, that wasn’t right.  Their means of blood magic were just as viable, they were just… for lack of better words: different.

It was a long forgotten path of blood arts that were declared heresy and taboo by the current Blood God.

Why might one want to claim a path as taboo?

Many reasons.  But Lillith could only guess as to why the current Blood God would do so.  Perhaps, because he’d not chosen this route, he’d have less control over a specialty such as this?  Perhaps if people didn’t choose his route as the prime path through the Blood Sub-pillar, it’d weaken his following and potential for prayer and worship?  Or maybe he was just spiteful after having potentially been locked out of this path by one of the enemy gods he’d slaughtered - though this was of course just one of many guesses.

She really hadn’t paid much attention to him back then, as he hadn’t been a big deal when Gluttony was at his prime.  He’d just been one of many gods vying for the top.  While being locked away in the Abyss, which was the lowest and deepest level of the Void that even beings like her couldn’t easily get out of, she’d not had the opportunity to observe the ongoings of the multiverse either.

She ducked, weaved, and hopped through another series of explosive traps.  She repeated this one floor at a time, avoiding the seemingly alive pyramid’s defenses as it desperately tried to kill her, all the while laughing jovially as she made her way to her destination.

More bodies, more blood, more recent signs of battle.  Vampires and precursors alike, along with other types of undead were now present, and she eventually made it to a point where she was standing in front of a large, metal door that showed signs of claw marks and bloody handprints on the thick metal.

Allie’s soul signature was just beyond this door.

The demoness gave a slight push on the cold steel, and when it wouldn’t budge - she crashed one hand deep into the sturdy metal.  Claws ripped into it like a knife through butter, and she absentmindedly watched the ancient defensive enchantments across its surface flicker in protest and die before tearing the entire thing off its hinges and casually tossing it aside with a loud crash.

Making sure her new pet flower was ok, she dusted off one shoulder and stepped inside the dark interior beyond.

What she saw next was somewhat surprising.

“Oh my… am I interrupting something?” Lillith cooed, mouth crooked with amusement as she brought a hand up to her lips.  “Is this, perhaps, a bad time?”

The room was a large dome in the center of the pyramid, with large spikes along the walls impaling well over fifty individuals who were still living - but only barely; and they were all in an unconscious state.  They were all vampires or other forms of undead, with energy from their bodies being sucked into a large coffin in the center of the room in swirls of light.  The coffin was intricate beyond measure, carvings upon carvings upon carvings that intertwined and radiated that same pulsing energy Lillith had felt earlier in the jungle.  It was ancient, powerful, and ominous - but so was she.

Unlike most beings that would look upon a coffin like this, Lillith was not intimidated.  The dread that most would have felt only excited her, and she wondered just what kind of power she’d gain if she ate whatever it was that dwelled inside.

Immediately over that coffin was another object - an orb constructed from mana that glowed a dull gray.  Blue and red runes clung to the orb, corroding it away before the orb would repair itself seconds later time after time, and inside that gray orb was the hovering form of an angel of death that had defensively wrapped itself in its wings.  A magnificent sword in the angel’s wings continued to power her barrier, and her halo continued to burn with figments of true death, but she was deep in a meditative state as the spirit of something sinister crouched just outside the sphere.

It was a massive wraith-like abomination, hooded and cloaked with six clawed hands and no legs.  It was far larger than either Lillith or the angel, and its dark blue, partially translucent claws cracked and shattered as it attempted to grab at the barrier with an irritated growl.  Its four eyes were black slits in its nose-less face that narrowed and turned to watch the approaching demoness with curiosity, letting its claws that were just destroyed rebuild themselves in front of their eyes.

“Transgressor…” The wispy voice of the odd wraith echoed through the chamber, filled with power as it looked down on Lillith’s form.  “You blaspheme by coming here.  Do you know where it is you tread?”

Lillith ignored the giant wraith, glancing around at the intricate carvings that even by her standards were of a time long past.  “Fascinating work you’ve done here… I think I’d like to study it.  Even though Blood isn’t necessarily my area of expertise, I’m sure my master will make use of it as his new host is a vampire.”

She walked over to where a particularly familiar rune with twin overlapping pentagrams was etched into the wall, blood from one of the staked vampires leaking into it and powering it up over time.  “Hmmm.  This rune is wrong.  It’s a rather ingenious method of soul transference, but your work with the unholy sigils is a bit off.”

Sensing the wraith shift within a half-second to appear behind her, she casually looked up over her shoulder at the hulking undead creature that glared down at her with all six clawed hands out to its sides as if to embrace her.

“I do not know who you are, little one…” The dark-blue wraith hissed with its black eyes narrowed, ethereal robes shifting in a non-existent breeze.  “But you made a mistake by coming here.”

The attack was so fast that space itself tore apart and briefly opened up the void, claws stretching and cleaving through reality that sent shudders of power through the entire pyramid; sending clouds of dust from the ceiling above.

The wraith paused, looking down in shock when it realized it hadn’t even touched the demoness in front of it.  It tried again, this time harder and faster, and it reeled back in an agonizing, shrill scream when Lillith allowed it to finally touch her.  The claws tore off and burned with black flame, sending ripples of her power up across its arms that rejected its attack entirely, before the wraith regained its composure to stare in bewilderment.

“How?” The wraith asked, dumbfounded.  “No creature on this planet should be able to compare to one as majestic as I!”

Lillith smiled slyly as she felt the Elite-tier level 199 wraith try to identify her, wagging a finger back and forth at the large creature overhead as its eyes went wide in horror.  She literally felt its fear climb to new heights as it realized the gravity of its mistake in attacking her, and the amused smile she wore grew abruptly sinister.  “No, no, no… That simply will not do.”

The room flashed with black light, and in an instant the wraith was thrown across the room with a scream.  Pieces of its body shattered and decayed instantly, and it crashed into a barrier on the outer wall of the dome with a howl.

Lillith was there in an instant, seemingly having appeared from nowhere, her mouth widening in rows of sharp white teeth as she began to suck in the air around her.

The undead ghost screamed in terror, desperately trying to get away and leaving huge claw marks in the stone and barrier encasing the room underneath before it was abruptly torn up and into the air.  Like being sucked into a black hole, the wraith’s body compressed and flattened - vanishing in an instant into the belly of the grinning demoness.

Lillith burped, patted her stomach, and watched her levels climb again with a malicious giggle.  “Now, now… Let’s see just what is going on here with this odd little contraption.  I wonder…”

Using a finger to pat her lips three times over, her white eyes flicked from rune to rune - trying to decipher what she could understand and piece together clues from what she couldn’t.  Then, trotting over to the intricate coffin, she let down a clawed hand and lifted up the lid.

A foul stench came out from the coffin, and seeing what was inside - she abruptly slammed the coffin back down with a gagging sound - sticking out her tongue in distrust.  “Even GLUTTONY wouldn’t eat that thing!  How utterly disgusting!  Just what kind of foul magic is festering in there!?  Gross!”

Putting a hand back over her horns in dismay, she shook her head in disappointment.  “And to think that I’d become excited at the prospect.  I’d never stoop so low, not ever.  That will have to wait for Riven or Allie, if Allie can even absorb it now that she’s not a vampire anymore.  Now, let’s see about waking this little darling up…”

She turned around and used her knuckles to knock on the orb, frowning when Allie didn’t move, and becoming irritated at the large gaps of knowledge she had after her bid for a second chance at life.  With a tisking sound, she growled and grumbled to herself.  “To think that I’ve been reduced to being flustered by an F-grade curse complex… My ancient enemies would be laughing themselves to death if they saw this.  Curse that damnable Elysium, but I’m just glad I was able to retain some of what I know - or this would be a lot harder than what it even is now.”

Cracking her knuckles and getting into a cross-legged position in front of the orb that was still being attacked by various blue and red runes emanating from the coffin beneath, she began meditating as she entered a transcendent state of thought.  Before long the room had turned a pitch black, then the pyramid came after that, and the jungle outside came next.  Before long, the entire cavern was bathed in darkness.