Chapter 261 (Patreon)

Chapter 261 (Am editing Chapter 260 to make it Gluttony's idea to go to the hot springs, as he 'senses' one of his marks there.)

The symbol of a scythe, a symbol of a red teardrop, and the symbol of a black sun.  They were joined by the visage of the maw, and the related pillars of his soul continued to form branching spires each time the symbols flared.

Riven hovered three feet up off the water’s surface, bare-backed and only wearing a set of pants.  He gently let his mana swim around him and created a galaxy of teal, black, red, and deep purple in the underground hot springs room where the others were relaxing - wondering just what to expect if Gluttony was correct.

“Are you sure this is the right place?” Riven whispered just loud enough for Gentry to turn his head with a confused look his way.

“Did you say something?” Gentry asked from where he sat beside Azmoth in the water, shooting the three women nearby at a glance as they ate along the water’s edge and had drinks served to them courtesy of the house.

Riven shook his head absentmindedly, keeping his eyes closed, feeling Gluttony pulse inside him with affirmation to his question.  “I was just… muttering to myself.  Do not mind me.  How’s getting ahold of your contacts here?  Any luck?”

Gentry frowned, sighed, looked down at his crystalline artifact, and shook it rapidly again before giving up.  Putting it back into his spatial sack and slapping a wet hand across his face, he let himself sink into the dark waters of the spring and groaned.  “No.  Not a single contact has pinged me back.”

The drow elf made no move to continue the conversation, only looking downtrodden.

Riven continued to watch the symbols flare in his mind, watching their energies intertwine with one another as they converged and laced together like a network of neurons or intricate webs.  Occasionally when he didn’t like the look of it, or when Gluttony pointed out a flaw in the matrix, he’d shift one connection to another spot to reinforce the bridgework he was currently working on.  He hadn’t known it then, but his ‘lattice’ had been taking form ever since The Path of Red and Black had been created back when he’d fought the Azag hive.  When those two pillars had started interlocking with one another, branching to connect, it’d been the start to his very foundation for the E-grade - and that lattice was only continuing to build.  Spontaneous connections were replaced with ones made from intent, adding organization to the chaos that would better prepare his soul for ascension.

Though even while bonded to Gluttony, the specifics of what needed to be done in exactness were not there - rather they were just impressions from Gluttony’s past life.  Impressions were, however, better than nothing - and the two of them worked tirelessly over the hours spent here in this exquisite abyssal environment.

Oddly enough, it almost reminded Riven of graphics - the same ones that Gragle the gnome used and was using to replicate some totems for him in the altars event.

Why was that?

His eyes opened, and the pulsing flow of mana froze in place when he made eye contact with Genua.  She and the other two women on either side of her were all submerged up to their collar bones, but she was the only one that seemed reserved while the other two were drunk off their asses.

She avoided his gaze instantly, looking down into the dark waters of their underground spring with a mixed expression, and then turned around to pretend to grab at some of the food the establishment had left them.

Riven’s black and red eyes followed her movement, and he closed them one more time before creating a rift in space and stepping onto semi-dry rock next to Genua’s hand.  Bending down and pulling the woman up - much to her surprise, he wrapped a towel around her and motioned for her to follow.

“We’ll be back in a minute.” Riven said with a wave of his hand when Athela scowled his way.   “I need to have a private conversation with Genua.”

“What about OUR private conversations!” Fay laughed loudly, slapping the water and getting a grin from Athela.  “WE WANT ONE TOO!”

Rolling his eyes and ignoring her, he brought Genua around a corner and into an adjacent changing room where the lockers for storage purposes were kept.  Sitting down on a bench and letting the control on his mana go, he rested his chin in his hands and gave the elf thrall a sad smile.

“I’m sorry.” Riven eventually said after a long pause as they just stared at one another, and his shoulders straightened as he went to stretch.  “I probably should have said that earlier.”

Genua slightly raised both eyebrows, but avoided his gaze again and shrugged.  “Sorry for what?”

“Recently? Sorry for what happened with the assassination attempt.  I was too weak and too oblivious to do anything about it, and that’s on me.”  Riven gave her a sad smile as her gaze returned to meet his.  “I’m sorry for your husband Farrod.  For your daughter Ethel.  For turning you into a thrall out of my hate and spite for what your family did to me.  It’s… not something I’m proud of.  I wish I could turn back time, but I can’t.  I know I’ve said it before, if not in so many words, and I don’t expect complete forgiveness.  But I do want you to know that I’ll try to make the best for you out of the life you now have.  When all this is over, I’ll make sure to cut your tie to me so that you can spend more time with Len.  And I want you to know that I’ll keep… our baby, safe.  I’m sorry I failed you this time, it won’t happen again.”

Genua studied him intensely for a time, her hands grasping one another in front of her as she wordlessly stared.  Then she let out a soft breath of air, blowing a long strand of blonde hair from her face.  “I don’t know how much of it is the vampirism and thrall’s pact that make me want to not hate you, but I don’t hate you if that’s what you think.  As I’ve said before, what my family did was unforgivable.  But I was just as complicit and knew what we were doing back then.  In many ways, I wish I had been the one to die - and that Ethel had lived.  She had been brainwashed into hating you, if nothing else.  The elder, and my husband… Eh.  Regardless, that is in the past now and we can only look forward.  I do not wish to talk about it again, it will only make me cry.”

Hearing some commotion from further down the hall and up the stairs to where the streets of this abyssal city still had thousands of people migrating from the portals by the minute, Genua watched a burly set of incubus men walk by and give her a side-eye before traveling to their own hot springs.  “Do you really intend to let me go?”

She turned her head.

Riven furrowed his brows when he saw the doubt, guilt, and regret in her expression.  “Is that not what you want?”

She opened her mouth, hesitated, then continued to speak while nervously wringing her fingers together like one would wring water out of a wet cloth.  “Is it because I’m weak?”

He blinked, then laughed.  “Absolutely not.  Even now I’m having Gluttony’s forces train Hakim and the others back on Panu so that, one day, they’ll be able to join me despite being what most powerhouses on Panu call ‘weak’.  ‘Weak’ is a relative term, and has nothing to do with my decision.  I was going to leave you behind because of your daughter.”

Genua shook her head, then took his hand and pushed it onto her slightly swollen belly.  “Do you feel it?”

There was a pause, and he blinked rapidly when he felt something inside gently kick.

Smiling, Riven nodded.  “I do.”

She let his hand go, ran her fingers through her hair, and huffed.  “That child is going to need its father.  So is Len.  I was hoping that, perhaps, you’d consider adopting Len too.  I don’t want you to cut me from your life, and if you feel guilty - you can make it up to me by being there for my little girl.  And for the new child on its way.”

Riven was stunned, visibly so, and the ancient unholy tattoos along his body even did a quick rearranging of themselves due to his emotional backlash at the words.  “Len doesn’t want me as a dad.  You remember how she reacted to the news when we told her.  You were there at the picnic table that day just as I was.”

“Do not make me beg, Riven.” Genua snapped, having some spunk to her words with a glare that was unusual for the elf thrall given her position and usual submissive tone.  “I will not allow my first daughter to lose herself to despair when she feels herself an outcast after this child in my womb is born.  Just try to imagine, just for a moment, how she would feel if she was not included.  To be the child left behind, when a younger sibling born of a lineage akin to that of a demonic elder god overshadows your every step.  When I play mother to this child with you as a father, what will Len see?  It would be devastating.  Despite what you did and how I sometimes even now hate you for what you did, you are a good man at your core.  Despite all your flaws, Riven, you would make a good father - and I already know you’ve tried to make amends on Len’s behalf as we’ve discussed such topics before.”

Genua was now glaring at him from across the room, and she got up to walk over, sitting next to him so that her shoulder was touching his.  She gave him a suddenly anxious glance, avoided eye contact, and cleared her throat.  “Well?  Are you just going to sit there?  Or are you going to take responsibility for what you did and adopt her as your own - so that she can have a family again?”

Riven remained slack-jawed, until she gave him a fiery snort.

“Don’t be a coward.”  She hissed, almost pleadingly - but with venom too.

Guilt, embarrassment, and sadness reared their ugly heads - but he put on a forced smile and nodded, reaching out to touch her stomach with a nod.  It was a big decision to make, not one that he took lightly, but he owed it to that little girl to at least try.  “I’ll adopt Len too, or at least I promise I’ll do my best… but I’m not sure she’ll be accepting of me.”

Genua’s shoulders immediately slumped in relief, and she let out a long breath that she’d been holding in during her glare.  “Thank you.  And she will, she just… she just needs time.  She knows that you were not the one to choose the fight that led to Ethel’s death, or Farrod’s death, and she is already excited about the prospect about a little brother or little sister.  Even if when we first broke the news to her, she had other concerns.”

The laughter of his two girlfriends splashing in the hot springs was masked by the slapping of bare feet on the stone walkway coming from the stairs.  Riven looked up and down the hall, noting the redheaded succubus and owner of this establishment walking his way with her flowing black dress out behind her.

She stopped just in front of him, bowing slightly and sweeping back her hair behind her two thick short horns.  “Sir.  I was hoping to have a word with you.”

The succubus shot Genua a quick look.  “In private.”

Genua exchanged a glance with Riven, but he put a hand on her shoulder and gave a reaffirmation squeeze.

“Go have fun.” Riven said, ushering her out of the room and closing a sheet curtain behind her.  Turning, he put his hands behind his back and gave her a lackadaisical gaze of one who was assessing a cheap cars salesman selling a poor pitch.  “It took you long enough.  I was beginning to wonder whether or not this was the right spot.”

The succubus, who’d now straightened, raised an eyebrow curiously and withdrew her wings into her back - leaving her long black tail to flounder out behind her.  “I’m not quite sure what you mean by that.  Are you saying that you know why I’ve come?”

Riven raised an eyebrow, then snapped his fingers.

A sigil flared to life on the woman’s neck where there’d been none before, one of the Great Maw within a pentagram, and she gave him a wicked grin.

“Clever boy.”  She tilted her head to the side with a wide, brilliant smile, then withdrew a pendant of similar origin and took a step forward.  Her blue eyes tracked down to the jewelry in her hand, then back to him.  “I thought I’d hidden my identity as a contact rather well, but then again - if you do know without my introduction… That must mean you’re of one of the blooded families.  Who are you working for?  Are you a scion of one of the greater houses?”

Riven smirked, then shook his head.  “No.  I was just told to come here on good faith by a friend who - more or less - is part of the higher rungs of the church himself.  Personally?  I’m a nobody.”

“Well I wouldn’t say that based on all the markings you’ve gained…” The succubus muttered, head-nodding to the numerous unholy scripts laced across his skin.  “You don’t just get those by being a nobody.  Very well, keep your secrets.  As long as you’re one of the touched, I am able to offer you information and services paid for by our church.  Fencing stolen items, contracts, guides into the deeper realms, arena matches, hard to get resources for cultivating your lattice, you name it and I’m here for it.”

She smugly stuffed the pendant between her large breasts with a wink.  “And for you love, I’d do more.  You’ve got a real sense of… umph, about you.  If you know what I mean.  So how about it?  Want to ditch your three enslaved minions and let a real woman ride you for once?”

Riven didn’t even twitch.  “I’m going to pretend like you didn’t say that last part, regardless of how pretty you might be.  And for the record, I’m doing you a favor.  The archdemon back there, Athela, already has a jealousy problem even with Fay.  If I added another succubus to the picture, she’d probably castrate me and would no doubt kill you too.”

The woman chuckled, and held out a hand.  “Lavini, Church of Gluttony representative, at your service.  I’ve been here a few thousand years now and know all the dirty secrets of what goes on here.”

“Riven.” He replied, taking her hand to shake.

She eyed him curiously.  “You don’t happen to be an ex-shard holder, do you?”

“Shard holder?”

“Did you hold a shard of Gluttony before he reincarnated?  You have a very distinct and potent smell to you.  Maybe even two shards?  Were you a harbinger?”

Riven grinned and withdrew his hand to fold his arms in front of him, pausing to let a couple of drow elves and one slave pass by.  “Yes, I was.  Is it normal for people to have slaves here?”

Lavini looked over her shoulder to where an elf woman was being led up the stairs by the two other drow men.  “No.  They must come from a very wealthy family to afford buying a ticket for a mere slave.  Some people just have too much money to know what to do with it.”

“You don’t say.  Do you think they have the money on their person?” Riven asked curiously, thinking back to the new types and tiers of Elysium Coins that easily outstripped his relatively pathetic display of wealth from an integration world.  “Do you think I could mug them and get away with it?”

Lavini again shook her head, and even pressed a hand to Riven’s chest when he went to take a step forward.  “Not here, and not them.  We don’t want to blow up a perfectly situated rest spot for the church.  And even if you were a harbinger, and are one of the touched, those two men are particularly powerful drow hailing from the Yerus Dynasty.  If you didn’t notice, they’re both LEGENDARY tagged and they’d kill you before you knew what happened.  Meanwhile I don’t see a tag on you at all.  Or is that just the necklace you have on, masking it from my sight?”

Riven had to repress a snort, but backed off as they left the establishment.  “I see.  Well I was hoping that you may know a man by the name of…”

Riven paused, waiting for Gluttony to give him the identity of the man they were looking for.  “Amano is the name.  Half minotaur, half gargoyle.  Ever seen him around these parts?”

Lavini arched an eyebrow and folded her arms, scrutinizing him.  “You really do have contacts in high places, don’t you?  Yes, he’s currently assigned as master of the church sanctuaries here in the Abyssal Descent.  I’m afraid that if you’re looking for him, he’s already on his way.  I am obligated to report the sigils that I see and recognize, and he seemed a bit off-put when I mentioned this one…”

Her finger drifted to Riven’s chest, and pointed out a seven-pointed star being devoured by the great maw with unholy markings in languages Riven didn’t entirely understand.  “I hadn’t seen it before.”

“I was wearing armor.” Riven pointed out, confused.

“And just as you were able to sense mine, I was able to sense… yours.”  She shrugged.

Riven hadn’t necessarily sensed her marking himself, but rather had acted on Gluttony’s own instincts and had infused sin energy into his finger-snap from earlier to elicit the glow on Lavini’s patch of skin.  Not being able to sense such things caused a minor amount of irritation to rise up in Riven’s chest, but knew he’d probably have such things come to him as he cultivated a greater grasp on the sin energy that permeated his new soul pillar.

A buzzing sound came from Lavini’s pocket, and she picked up a black orb - holding up a finger Riven’s way before nodding, and turning around with a swish of her tail.  “Looks like he’s already here.  Come on and follow me.”

He nodded, and the two of them left the hot springs behind.

However, instead of going back up the stairs - she went left.  Winding and twisting, then coming into a closet after deactivating numerous enchantments, she pressed a hidden panel in the stone wall and let the hidden door swing open.  “I have one of my coworkers currently running the place, but I don’t like leaving her by herself with all the new bloods walking around.  It’s dangerous, so let’s hurry so I can get back.”

“Are you implying you’re a fighter?” Riven asked, skeptically eyeing the succubus and her scantily clad attire.

She gave him an amused smirk over her shoulder while pushing into the dimly lit hallway when the door clicked shut behind them.  “Of course, Mr. Vampire!  I’m one of the instructors here.  Maybe I’ll fight you for an opportunity to hold you down!”

Instructors?

She gave him a flirtatious wink and didn’t bother expanding on the subject, but as the tunnel curved into a spiral descent through the ground - Riven soon found himself looking upon a very large rectangular room.  It was big enough to fit a few thousand people inside, and there were dozens currently there.  Some were meditating on prayer mats with sin-affiliated energy crystals in their hands, others were sparring in semi-translucent barrier cages, and some were eating at one of two long tables set at the far wall.  To his right, there was even an altar to Gluttony - where a horned priest garbed in black was reading scripture from a book to three other hooded demons.

“Pass.” A muscular red devil standing twice Riven’s height said, stepping in front of the path into the room and folding his burly red arms while glaring toothily down at the duo.

Lavini rolled her eyes with a huff, then presented a medallion.  “Jevis, you know me well enough by now to stop asking me every time I come in.  You’re doing it just to annoy me at this point, aren’t you?  This man is a new blood who just came from the portal openings.  Let us through.”

The devil snickered, then head-bobbed over to a set of large, sturdy couches.  “Amano is waiting for you.  Get movin.”

Grumbling and glaring at the devil, Lavini started for the couches Jevis had nodded to.  There, on the middle one, was Amano.

Just as Gluttony had said, he was a half gargoyle, half minotaur mix.  He had large black wings, obsidian skin, but also had the face of a bull.  His legs were also bull-like instead of the claws gargoyles usually had, and a large patch of brown fur was located down his back and along his tail.  All he wore was a large loin cloth, a red sigil of Gluttony tattooed into his chest, and had two wicked looking obsidian horns  curving out from his skull.

“Amano, master of sanctuaries.”  Lavini addressed him with a low bow - motioning for Riven to do the same.

Riven didn’t bother, instead eyeing the level 248 demon with moderate amounts of curiosity.  When the demon’s brow furrowed in annoyance at the lack of respect, and Lavini shot him a piercing look that could kill, before Riven bowed.

He followed Lavini’s lead when she straightened with a huff.

“We answer your summons.”  Lavini said, awaiting the demon’s words as others around the underground sanctuary occasionally shot them curious looks.

Amano continued to remain silent and sitting, arms folded, while his demonic tail slapped the ground from time to time during the staring contest he was having with Riven.  Eventually he grunted and stood to his full height, towering over Riven by almost four feet and looking down at him with mild amusement based on the slight grin he had.  “I can already tell you’ve got an attitude, boy.  But I like people like you.  Believe it or not, it takes that kind of arrogance to get to the top - or so my elders tell me.  May I see the sigil?”

“Which one?” Riven countered.

Amano smirked.  “Show me all of them if you wish, but I was hoping for the seven pointed star.”

Acknowledging his words, Riven sent sin energy pulsing through his tattoos as they lit up across his body and glowed through his thin clothes.  They covered his arms, feet, legs, torso, back, and face - and as the seconds ticked by he brought out more from his deeper layers that’d been hiding just underneath the surface.

Stacked layers of the sigils poured out as the eyes of Amano and every single demon in the room went wide in shock, until Riven finished and had his colors on full display like a peacock.

Bending down to get a better look at him, Amano studied the runes and circled him with intent - coming to a halt right in front of where Riven stood while scratching his chin.  “These are all… ascendants.”

He tapped the front of his chest.  “Like mine.  They are not just gluttonous markings, but they are on a level I haven’t seen before.  Only high priests of our order, S-ranked or higher, can mark someone like this…”

Lavini seemed surprised, then confused, then ended with a mixture of lust and fear as she settled her gaze on Riven - only to tear it away when he met her eyes.

Amano’s words trailed off, as if a question, and when Riven didn’t respond - he let out a long sigh.  “Which elder sent you here?  I do not play in the political games of our church, I swear it on Gluttony’s name.  I merely need to know so that I can avoid pairing you with others who would intentionally cause friction.”

Riven let on a slow grin.  “I believe there is a misunderstanding… I do not wish to form a group.  I already have one heading here now, those who aren’t already present upstairs.”

Amano seemed to be confused by this proclamation, as was Lavini.  “You already have a group for the descent?  Are they people I know?  Usually we have guides, people who’ve already been down to the deepest levels, so that our scions from the outer realms don’t get killed.”

Riven waved a hand, sensing a very familiar presence entering his aura from the opposite side of the room.  He smiled.  “Oh my guide has already been down.  More than anything, I’m here to use your training halls.  Recently I’ve been told that I’m quite lacking in certain areas and am too dependent on overwhelming force, rather than skill.  I have been told that when deemed ready, I will be able to make the descent with said party.  Until then, until I am up to par with a very particular person’s standards, I won’t be allowed to finish the descent.”

Now both Amano and Lavini gave him furrowed brows and tense expressions, exchanging glances with one another while Lavini scratched her head.

“Did your elder send a personal trainer?” Lavini asked with a frown.  “What clan do you hail from?”

Before Amano could ask anything else, a silent, ominous shockwave of presence radiated from where the door to the sanctuary had opened across the hall.  

Nearly everyone immediately fell to their knees or hit the floor, even despite their desperate attempts to stand back up.  The sparring ring barriers flickered and died, people started to gasp or gag in shock, and a couple people outright fainted under the sheer weight of the aura afflicting the room.  Shadows wreathed around a woman seemingly made from the abyss itself, as her lithe, athletic form stepped into the room with one bare foot.  The very stone underneath her rippled, and a large crack formed under her position as she walked; and she pulled back her hood to let her seven black horns materialize across her head like a crown.

Pale white eyes stared out at the demons present, black hair flowed down to her waist like a flag, and the only signs of color on her figure aside from them and the cloak she wore was a small yellow flower clinging to one of the horns on her right-hand side with its roots.

“Ah… There you are.”  She began walking forward, and behind her - two more figures appeared.  One was the presence Riven had sensed coming their way, and despite her features having changed - Allie was unmistakably beautiful with her angelic wings folded behind her.

Though she did look rather put off, sad even, until her eyes met his - and then she beamed as bright as a sun before dashing over to slam into him with a bear hug.

“Riven!” Allie exclaimed, retracting her wings entirely while squeezing him all the tighter.  “I have so much to tell you!  There’s so much that happened, and that is currently happening!”

He embraced her back, kissing her on the forehead and feeling a warmth spreading from his chest.

“Allie.  Remember our talk about presence and how to carry oneself in public?  You are a queen.  Act like it.” Lilith said, almost scoldingly, and she cleared her throat when Allie stood straighter to step back with a sheepish smile.

“Sorry Lillith.” Allie muttered, which surprised Riven to no end considering how Allie had become something of a lovingly self-assured psychopath ever since the integration had begun.

The third figure was someone Riven didn’t recognize.  He was no doubt a lich of some sort, and looked pretty bad in terms of how he was missing one skeletal arm and had cracks or burns all over his bone body.  Odd organs that were present inside the bone cage of his torso were partially rotten, and clothes that’d once been exquisite robes were now displaying patches and holes with burn marks and blood stains.

The aura faded when Lillith came to stand in front of Riven, and the audible gasps and deep breaths the demons around the room were taking were mixed in with angry roars and shouts - tempers flaring with auras all around them as they called out.

“WHO IN THE SEVEN HELLS-”

“KILL THAT BITCH!”

“DO YOU KNOW WHO WE ARE!?  HOW DARE-”

Above the ruckus and threats, with imposing figures closing on their position, Lillith gave Gluttony a sad smile.  “Forgive the younglings.  It is not their fault that they don’t know who I am.”

Riven could literally feel the anger that’d been building up slowly fizzle away, as Gluttony considered Lillith’s words - and a pulse of thought traveled between them that Riven could only barely make out.

Lillith nodded, and then turned to face the only person in the room who seemed to be aware of who she was.

Amano was visibly shaking, and it looked as though he was about to vomit before her eyes fell on him.  He immediately hit the floor and prostrated himself on all fours, crashing his horned head into the ground with a shrill, high voice.  “ALL HAIL LILLITH!  ALL HAIL THE BLACK HAND OF GLUTTONY!”

Abruptly the shouting and threats stopped, and the angry crowd looked at one another in confusion.

“The Black Hand of Gluttony is dead.” A large three-eyed, skinny, gray-skinned humanoid said while gesturing with all four of his clawed hands.  “What is this nonsense, Amano?  Are you playing a trick on us?  Is this a joke?”

Some of the people around the room gave nervous laughs, while others continued to stare as if finally making the connection.  One incubus had actually taken out an old recording crystal, and was watching what was no doubt a history of the church based on Gluttony’s memories.

When the images on the crystal stopped on Lillith’s figure, and he took in a sharp breath of air, everyone nearby went rigid and stiff.

There was a long pause.  Many exchanged looks as if to confirm what they were seeing, and slowly one of the devils nearby knelt with deep, horrified breaths.

“H…How…?” The same three-eyed humanoid who’d spoken earlier looked deathly pale as he let out the whisper, and then true horror overtook him as he realized the truth of things when he attempted to identify her and saw the purple flames.  One by one the others did the same, and a mixture of fear and awe permeated the room in mere seconds.

[Lillith, Level 119 Archdemon: Unique ???.  ???.  ???.  ???.  ???.  ???.  ???.   ???.  Commander of the Gluttonous Legions.  MYTHIC.]

“Forgive me…” The demon said, eyes bulging, and his head hit the floor in a prostrating motion so fast that blood splattered along the stone.  “This one does not deserve your mercy, but I plead for it nonetheless!  I did not know you had come back with Gluttony’s rebirth!”

The others rapidly followed, all around the room, demons big and small - humanoid or monstrous - all prostrated themself in an absolute silence while Lillith eyed Amano.  

She then turned her attention to Lavini, the succubus, and smiled widely.  “Thank you for escorting Gluttony’s reincarnation, Lavini.  He gets lost and forgets to keep his guard up quite often, I have no doubt he’d likely have stumbled upon a spike trap or some kind of bomb on the way here at the rate he’s going.”

There was an absolute silence after proclaiming Riven as the reincarnation, and Riven could see both Amano and Lavini rapidly pale while they remained prostrated.  He heard a few hushed whispers of disbelief and further awe from around the room, but that was all.

Riven winced at the mocking jab, even despite Lillith’s teasing smirk.  “Hello, Lillith.  It’s good to see you.”

“Yes, quite.”  Lilith said with a chuckle.  “I’m glad you made it here without getting stabbed or something.  Are you ready to begin?  I brought your sister and a rather interesting dog that I found on the side of the road in Panu who was begging for scraps.  They’ll be your teammates in the descent, along with me as your escort, and that Nora girl you’re playing house with upstairs.  But only when the three of you aren’t so utterly demoralizing in your… displays.  I would call it ‘skills’, or ‘spells’, or ‘battle readiness’, but you’re all so far beneath the standard definition of what those should be that I gag at the thought of putting them upon even a single one of you.”

She held up a finger.  “Oh, and bring your minions down here too.  Your contracts need a lot of work, especially that Fay girl and the elf thrall you have.  Truly, without offense being intended, you could do better in your choices.”

Allie and the undead lich winced when Lillith’s gaze fell on them, but the archdemon was quick to turn her attention back to Riven.  “I’ve heard just how pathetic you were in that recent attempt on your child’s life.  I’ve also been told you have no real training under your belt, other than with an old high elf thrall and some very limited attempts at the Blood Moon Requiem’s compound.  It’s time that we kick it into high gear now that you’re here, and pit you against some real combatants while you’re at it.  It’ll be a good opportunity to see just how you stack up against some of the best the Unholy Pillar has to offer for your range and league.  You have extreme potential and amazing amounts of mana for your grade and level, but to say you are lacking any real skill would be an extreme understatement.  You win most of your fights because you’re bringing… Ah, what was it Gluttony had said when comparing it to your world’s jargon?”

Lillith paused to think it over, then snapped her fingers with a smile.  “Yes!  That’s it!  You win most of your fights because you’re bringing a nuclear warhead to a knife fight.  But what happens when the other guy brings a warhead to match yours?  Perhaps by the end of the descent, and by the time you exit Chalgathi’s trial, you’ll realize that you’re not the only one with large amounts of mana or high affinities to throw around.  Hopefully you’ll be something of a warrior wielding a sharpened sword - rather than a barbarian baby wielding an unbalanced club.  So to speak.”

She gestured to Amano, who was still kneeling and shaking in what was either excitement - or absolute terror.  “You, master of the sanctuaries.  You’re a LEGENDARY tagged demon and are almost maxed for this zone at level 248, which is 48 levels higher than Riven is now.  To begin our training session, I want you to fight this vampire.  I want you to beat him so badly that he cries tears of blood by the end of it.  I want him to feel humbled, or else none of this will be taken to heart.  Do you understand?”

The half-gargoyle, half minotaur looked up in shock, still visibly shaking while he glanced uncertainly to Riven nearby.  “I-I could never!  The reincarnation of Gluttony is too sacred to-”

His words were cut off when the visage of Gluttony itself split open in the air, while both gasps and shrieks of delight - along with some shaky sounds of weeping - were heard around the room.  “I would ask that you do as Lillith says, Amano.  Do not think of it as fighting me.  Rather, think of it as helping me.  My partner and I are bonded, but he needs to hone his skills if we are going to fluidly work together.  Please… destroy him in the ring.  Go all out, we will make sure he lives.”

A twinge of irritation couldn’t help but fizzle to the surface in Riven’s mind at the needless insults to his pride, and the apparent lack of caring concerning bodily harm.

Amano was torn between elation and confusion while staring at Gluttony, but rapidly nodded his head and continued groveling on the floor.  “Yes, oh great maw!  I will do as you ask!  But perhaps, it would be better to enter our largest arena in the central sanctuary?  I won’t be able to utilize my full power here in these practice arenas, but I promise you - I will make it a showing that the entire membership of the church here will remember for the rest of their lives!”