Chapter 262 (marked for editing, see comments - self note) (Patreon)

Chapter 262

The main arena of the central sanctuary was, in one word, enormous.  Numerous platforms, steps, balconies and seats ranging in size from small to huge were located all around the stadium in a non-uniform manner.  A mile high and a mile wide, this place had been carved out of the very bedrock of whatever dark metals were native to this strange abyssal realm, with an enormous statue of Gluttony’s maw standing as a monument on one end.

It was under this monument that the largest balcony was located, with Riven’s minions and Lillith having taken up residence there at the front amidst a hesitant but excited swarm of higher-ranking young demons from various clans across the multiverse.

And with word having quickly spread amongst Gluttony’s followers, the crowds of demons from dozens of different species continued to flow in.  Teleportation gates flashed, openings in the numerous enormous passages let out the sounds of thundering feet and claws, and Church of Gluttony clergy he’d come to identify - dressed in hooded black and purple robes for the most part - were literally singing strange hymns that Riven couldn’t make out while guiding people to their seats.

Watching them come in such numbers and in such a fervor, especially with some kind of scrying orb putting him on full display for the masses to focus on with an image overhead, really put into perspective just what his position had become.

Previous to this, he’d thought of Gluttony as more of an abstract… eh… friend?  More or less, anyways.  They’d actually gotten along really well, if Riven had to say so himself.  Even despite what Athela and Fay had told him numerous times over, it hadn’t really clicked until now that he was a bonded symbiote and the physical representation of a being that was worshiped across many demonic societies as a near godlike figure.  Lillith was treated much the same, and by proxy - so were his minions as he watched them from afar.

Devils, void beasts, succubi, incubi, imps, minotaurs, beholders, arshakai, dryders, fallen satyrs, jabobs, brutalisks, demonic wyverns, cthulu-like humanoids, and dozens of other species he didn’t know the names of were all in attendance.  And the vast majority of them were focused on him.

“You seem slightly nervous.” Gluttony whispered in amusement through their thoughts, and Riven could only help but nod.

“This is a lot more than I’d been expecting, coming here.”  Riven said slowly, watching the mulling crowds start to settle down when Lillith and a number of robed clergy step forward to the balcony’s front underneath the large statue monument to Gluttony.

Lillith raised a hand, and her aura of shadows lightly pressed against the noise and beings present with a gentle rush all across the mile wide arena.  The people and creatures present all immediately fell reverently silent, some of them even bowing their heads or prostrating themselves in respect.

And when she spoke, her words traveled across the large underground room like a whisper - as if she were actually standing beside Riven and speaking into his ear; rather than standing nearly seven hundred yards away from him.

“Greetings, children of the maw.”

It’d become dead silent as her white eyes crossed the crowds of demonic beings.  “It pleases me to see that, despite our time being banished to the deepest parts of the abyss over untold eons, we have not been forgotten.  That Gluttony has not been forgotten.”

As one, the clergy scattered throughout the room echoed a nonsensical chant.

Riven would really have to learn whatever language it was they were speaking in.

Lillith continued her speech after a short pause.  “The younger generations of our great houses stand before me now, scions of the pillars of our monumental societies that have remained to flourish even in the aftermath of Gluttony’s passing and the descent of Elysium - when it caught the sins and dragged them down into darkness to almost fade from memory.”

At the mention of Elysium’s action, the room went into an uproar as the demons cursed the system itself.

But Lillith held up another hand, causing them all to quiet down once again.  Her seven black horns seamed to gleam under the firelight of balls of hellfire as they burst into radiance overhead, illuminating the dark colosseum and giving it a warmer ambiance.  She smiled.  “We are not here to dwell upon the past.  We are here, as first contact with the greater multiverse since our return, to show you all that Gluttony is back.  That he intends to take this era into new heights!  To rebuild what we have lost, and to reclaim his place as the greatest of the sins so that all may know his glory!”

The crowd immediately went into another uproar of applause.

“After you leave this place-” Lillith continued to speak over the thundering crowd.  “I want you to return home to your families!  To your clans and your countries!  To your kingdoms in the hells and your ziggurats in the void!  To your nether realm homes where the weaker members of your clans remain huddled in fear after millennia of persecution during our absence, just for holding true to our cause, to let them know their time for fear is now past!  To your strongest on the battlefields, call them to arms!  And finally, I wish you to let our enemies and those who have turned traitor to know that it will not be long before their their time of reckoning is at hand!  Before we enter the eternal war, Gluttony has made it clear to me that we will wipe clean the filth of those who betrayed our trust!  Who seized our assets and killed our faithful to obtain our artifacts!  Those who took our once sacred lands and sold them off to the highest bidders, or the demonic tribes who subverted the bedrock and foundations of our orders for their own greed!  Let them ALL know that it will not be long before the banished regain our former power, and that we are coming for them.”

Lillith lifted her arm, and a long, intricate spear made from abyss itself flashed into focus before exploding with her aura, and the entire underground arena shook under her might.  Everyone there, even Riven himself, was put to their knees under the pressure she exuded for that brief instant.

“THIS IS MY PROMISE TO YOU!”  Lillith shouted out as her aura vanished once again, and she slammed her wicked spear into the rock of the balcony with a resounding boom that sent cracks spiraling down the reinforced walls.  “WE WILL SEE THEIR BLOOD SPILLED AND OUR GLORY RESTORED!”

The demons all roared in agreement.  Wings flared, auras heightened, feet stomped and fists pounded against the ground as a chant started arising from the crowd - the same chant that some of the priests had been uttering in that strange language earlier.  It rose higher and higher, until every time the chant was uttered - the ground underneath Riven’s feet shook with the force of it.

A quick snap of power radiated from up above, and the room fell silent once more as reverent stares and gaping mouths hung open.  Eyes widened and gasps appeared to all, as Gluttony’s great maw opened up across the ceiling - stretching the entire length of the arena as wisps of black tendrils snaked out and slowly down towards the floor beneath.

Some demons began to weep, while others began to cry out to him as others took knees or prostrated themselves once again.

They all watched in awe as those tendrils began to spiral, intertwining with one another and closing in on Riven’s position - before they embraced his body like a blanket.

Riven felt the cool tendrils of sin energy surging through his vessels and soul aperture, felt the soul start to change, and closed his eyes as he activated his demonic form for the very first time while whispering under his breath.  His hands clasped together, with his last three fingers on each hand forming a roof while the thumb and pointer finger formed holes.  Bringing his hands up to his face, the third eye on his forehead tore open and glowed a deep purple under the roof - while his red eyes looked out through the holes his finger and thumb made.

• Gluttony’s Aspect of Demonic Heritage (Sin)(Tier 3):  A martial art that enhances you through the power of your fully formed Mark of the Sinner.  Your body merges with your soul clone for 1 minute, allowing you to take on an ultimate demonic form as an aspect of the Great Maw.  Very long cooldown, which can be reduced by killing and eating others.

His body exploded as the tattoos along his skin all lit up from black to violet.

Muscles surged, and ripped.  A long, huge tail tore out of his tailbone and whipped around in a frenzy.  His chest split down the middle to incorporate Gluttony’s usual visage in a vertical maw.  Huge demonic horns sprouted from his head and his hair receded to reveal pitch black skin with glowing violet sigils emblazoned upon his skin, and his hands and feet exploded with claws.  Legs snapped backwards and grew larger, inverting like a T-rex, and spines tore open across his spine while he grew to five times his normal height.  Bone spikes  tore out of his kneecaps and elbows, and his teeth grew like knives.

When the four, bat-like demon wings of black and violet spread open with a wingspan that could likely encircle a house, Riven finally opened his eyes again.

He slowly looked down, a little over thirty feet tall, with his tail and wings slowly drifting out behind him.  His chest opened up to reveal tongues of dark black licking out at the air in front of him for dozens of feet, tasting the air while his body thundered with power.

He was unstoppable in that moment, a being of pure destruction with no equal that caused the very space around him to flex and bend.

And when he spoke, it was as one with Gluttony.  The two of them had temporarily merged in both body and soul, and their consciousness had become linked.  The sin energy was beyond anything that Riven could have ever imagined, being so palpable and so raw, and it felt like Riven could literally tear the world apart if he so wished for it.

“You come here, and bring honor to your clans.”  Riven and Gluttony spoke out in a dual, deep set voice that echoed effortlessly across the stands. “It pleases me to see such loyalty in ones as young as you.  Lillith has voiced my thoughts well, and we will see it done that our enemies find an early grave.  However, today is a day of celebration… one that will be celebrated with trials by combat for all our F and early E grade prodigies to witness.  And perhaps it will be an opportunity for many of you to even participate in.”

A huge set of double doors on the opposite end of the colosseum creaked opened, and through it walked Amano.  The half gargoyle, half minotaur master of the church sanctuaries in The Abyssal Descent was fully outfitted in sleek silver armor that starkly contrasted against his black skin.  He had a huge battle axe in one hand, and he knelt in reverence when the doors shut behind him.

Riven and Gluttony spread their wings to their fullest extent, and they raised a clawed hand to point in Amano’s direction.  “You all should know Amano, Master of the Sanctuaries, quite well since you’re all here.  He will be the first to challenge my symbiotic partner - Riven - in one on one combat.  Through the coming weeks we will hold trials of combat meant to teach Riven both humility and technique, and anyone who manages to best him will be greatly rewarded.  Anyone who wishes to challenge him may do so, and anyone who is able to take him to the point of death’s door where Lillith and the clergy need to personally intervene to save his live - you will even be granted a boon.”

Murmurs of both confusion and excitement began to echo throughout the room as Gluttony held up a clawed hand.

“Though you may find this request odd, it is essential that my partner learns that simply wielding a bigger stick isn’t always a viable option. This is an opportunity for him to both learn, and to correct a personality flaw when subjugated to the reality of what the multiverse can provide as opposition - as opposed to the weaklings on his currently integrating planet. So what boons and rewards do I speak of?  To any F or E grade church member here who beats Riven into submission in combat, you will be granted a minor blessing.  To anyone who does it without being harmed at all, your house will be honored with an artifact from the church coffers.”

The murmurs of excitement grew in volume and pitch.

Riven’s mind and body twisted, and suddenly he was standing in his own body again.  Sweat drenched his skin, and Gluttony’s maw was separated from him by a couple feet as it continued to speak.

“Together, we will celebrate our return by clobbering my counterpart to death time and time again.  Inbetween, instructors that have already been selected from your ranks will train him for the next round of challenges.  During these intermittent periods of time, others will be allowed to fight for the entertainment of the crowds. This will repeat for however long I deem fit, until he is an acceptable vessel to take further into The Abyssal Descent.  Let the games begin.  Please feel free to partake of the highest quality food and drink available as it is brought out over the coming days, provided as a courtesy of the church.”

***

Gentry, the drow man who’d been either unfortunate or fortunate enough to follow Riven to the ‘special event’ hosted by Lavini the succubus - had been expecting some kind of scandalous get-together with Lavini’s sisters.  Maybe some of her friends.  The way that succubus Lavini had looked at Riven over and over again on their descent while following the strange but very powerful demon Amano had made Gentry scratch his head in jealousy and confusion.

But he’d never expected something like this.

A secret complex full of demons that followed one of the lost sins.  Lillith, a figure of myth and legend that stood directly in front of him while he sat back with Riven’s other minions.  Dozens of some of the most prominent demonic figures of his age and tier group vying for attention with people he’d been having a hot springs bath with only an hour ago, while Riven himself was the reincarnation of some godlike demonic origin?

He felt his throat catch as Lillith came back to sit down beside the Allie girl, who was apparently Riven’s sister and a fallen angel at that.  Looking over his shoulder, there were even two representatives of the scythe - reapers if he was correct, who were waiting to speak to Allie but had been told they’d have to wait until the ceremonies were done.

Nobody told reapers they had to wait.

Gentry pushed his fingers up against his temples, and got a knowing pat on the shoulder from Azmoth - who was the only one Gentry felt comfortable talking with at the moment given the three women minions of Riven’s retinue hadn’t taken much of a liking to him after his gawking stares.

“It ok.  You fine.” Azmoth consoled the drow man who was trying not to hyperventilate, but failed when Gentry let out a startled scream when Fimrindle flashed to his left and took a seat in an empty chair.

The strange, metal scarecrow slowly turned his head to the startled drow, scoffed, and then shook his head before passing Azmoth a large slab of meat he’d confiscated from the refreshments table.  It was the size of a fully grown hog, and Azmoth started chomping down noisily without a care in the world to the attempts at getting his attention from ambitious young scions of the more prominent demonic families here.

“This should be a good fight, Amano is very capable from what my informants tell me.” Fimrindle said in an uncharacteristically upbeat and talkative mood.  “I heard Lillith say that Riven doesn’t stand a chance with his current capabilities after viewing some of Amano’s fight records, but it’ll be good to see Riven get pushed to his limits.  I don’t think I’ve actually seen Riven fight at 100%, not truly, and certainly not recently.  Even Allie wants to fight him.  It’ll be interested to see how my own master stacks up to yours…”

Fimrindle glanced back at Azmoth from across where Gentry sat.  “Don’t you think?”

"Allie get crushed under Riven's might like fly under boot!" Azmoth roared happily, chomping down onto the meat and ripping a piece off to swallow - only to get a glare from Allie who'd heard his comment. Azmoth raised a hand in his own defense. "I must support master because he friend. You just sister of friend. Sorry."

Fimrindle chuckled at the innocent comment and Lillith grinned with a sideways glance before the sound of a booming drum and the rolling thunder of cheers announced the start of the fight - with the announcing high priest shouting:

"BEGIN!"