Chapter 275 (Patreon)

Chapter 275

The city rumbled as The Gambler’s body tore through the black earth and soared towards the abyssal heavens.  The hive mind creature roiled and surged, exploding in volume by the second while thousands of demons - none of which were pushovers - all made a mad rush from various spots of hiding.  They came from the nearby buildings, from up in the darkened sky, and from across the central portal vortex as the creatures of Greed tore forward.

Gluttony’s mind addressed Riven with a malevolent chuckle, whispering into his ear as if the sin were standing there right beside him.  “And so it begins.  I will be with you, Riven.  Under our combined might, will not hold back as we crush the insignificant ticks before us under boot and claw!  KILL THEM ALL!”

Their minds merged.  Riven’s aura soared in a staggering surge of force and his body sang with energy, as his mana took hold of his items to equip them in an instant.

Riven lifted his hand - wreathed in the power of raw sin, and the purple lightning storms overhead parted like the red sea before Moses.  Riven’s third eye ripped open across his forehead with a dark purple hue to look upwards, and Gluttony’s maw opened above the city with hundreds of gigantic tendrils that tore through the air with a roar of hunger that shook the very mountains around them.

The Gambler turned his gaze upwards and roared back, surging skywards to meet the oncoming onslaught of Gluttony’s tendrils with mountains of pulsing flesh made from billions of worms and insects.

BOOM

A shockwave rippled across the city, and the two titanic forces clashed as a slow smile spread across Riven’s lips.

The signal was sent, and Gluttony’s servants went on the counter attack.  From within the black portal of the descent itself, from deeper within the second level, a sea of allied demons in full battle attire launched themselves into the city to join the fray.  Casters positioned in key locations across balconies surrounding the portal infused prepared runic diagrams and launched attacks, and allied assassins hiding in wait began attacking ranged fighters on Greed’s side that’d posted up along the portal’s perimeter.

Violence ensued.

Lillith turned to Riven’s team, looking at each of them one by one with meaning behind the gaze.  Azmoth, Athela, Fay, Allie, Nora, Lillith, and Retesh - intentionally ignoring Fimrindle in hiding nearby to not allude to his position should enemy reapers for hire that were doubtlessly out there see the glance.

“This will be a battle unlike anything any of you have ever experienced.  These are the best of the Unholy Pillar’s young, and none of them will die easily.  Stay alive and uncaptured.” Lillith said, nodding once to Riven and Gluttony.  “All you, until I get back.”

Without another word, the lady of black skies vanished without a trace.

CRUNCH

Riven’s hand snapped forward, spiked knuckles crackling with sin energy as Messenger’s sturdy body collided with a teleporting wraith only two feet away.  Simultaneously Fimrindle flashed in and skewered the ethereal undead with his scythe, and Athela’s twin doves flashed forward to rip into it a split second later.

The wraith, a reaper itself, let out a squeal of agony for only a moment before its body shattered and split - evaporating into the ether of the abyss like a fog in the night.

“Ugh…I have a long way to go.” Nora muttered to herself, stepping aside to make way for the charging hordes of demons passing them by.  “But I’ll do my best.”

Allie began to laugh, and spread her wings to take to the sky as myriads of souls flew out of her body.  “Riven, care to join me?”

Fay’s demon wings spread next and she shot upwards too, garbed in silver and grimoire in hand while channeling a green fog that began to spread about her like a miasmic cloud.

Athela warped her body, shifting into a pool of blood that wrapped itself around Riven’s newly upgraded armor and wordlessly began to evaluate the surroundings for highest possible threats.

Nora and Fimrindle disappeared.

Glancing  to Azmoth and Retesh, and then to the cyclops smith Jamal who was glaring daggers at the oncoming enemy hordes while his trading company packed in tight - Riven began to lift off the ground.  Messenger’s ‘Quickening Flight’ took hold, and the air around him rippled when red snowflakes began to bloom and soar around his position.

“Just like we planned.”  Riven stated.  “Retesh, show me what you’re made of.”

Retesh cackled, and his undead began to tear each other apart to build something new.  “As requested, vampire prince!  I’ve been looking forward to this, but I wasn’t sure it’d happen!”

Azmoth snapped his Shengari Tower Shields apart, forming two halves of each - one half in each clawed hand and spinning their bladed edges around with a happy grunt.  His flaming antlers pulsed as obsidian teeth bared down.  “Azmoth will be ready!”

The hellscape brutalisk dashed ahead, first falling into ranks with the other swarming demons of numerous species - before breaking off and climbing up the side of a tall building by use of claw, tail, and the two overarching eel-like maws he had coming out of his back.

Riven wasted no more time, and as another explosion of force radiated out from where Gluttony’s soul clone ripped and tore at the pillars of flesh that composed The Gambler, he turned to face the oncoming fliers who were traveling across the pool of the black portal at the city’s center.

Jackal’s flaming eye-sockets flared along the skull at its top, and mana began to channel into his staff as he began to build a spell.  Three eyes peered out from underneath the ivory helm of Messenger, underneath a hood of bloodsilk and shadow, as the storm of red and black began to build around him like a font of the apocalypse.

Already Greed’s forces were halfway across the lake of abyssal power between Riven’s position and the opposite shore at the far edge of the inner city.  Even more of them were coming directly from above, though they were taking fire from pre-positioned Church of Gluttony members that were launching barrages of unholy curses and flame into the swarms.  Still, the followers of Greed surged ahead.  Devils, incubi and succubi, harpies, draconics, imps, shadow fiends, beholders, cthulu-like creatures and more began charging attacks in a synchronized strike while closing in on his position; while their land-based comrades closed in from the nearer side of the city.

“HERE THEY COME!” Allie yelled out over the already raging battle around them, snapping down her newly modified visor and adjusting her full-plate soul-woven bone armor; black wings spread wide.  Halo surging with mana of true-death, her divine-quality claymore roared to life with teal flame - and the thousands of souls at her beck and call began to condense along her body to enhance her.  “THIS IS IT!  ARE YOU READY!?”

The enemy swarms of fliers came crashing down in a thunderous cacophony of strikes, and Riven put a hand on his succubus - who was trembling slightly next to him.  “Just like we planned.”

He felt Fay steel herself, and she let out a sharp breath.

Instantly, the world turned gray as Riven and Allie forced their Malignant Prophecies into a unified foresight.  The world froze around them, and Riven’s out-of-body ethereal soul looked back at the figure of his sister not far off.  Their minds linked.

[Malignant Prophecy has activated.

Desired Action: High Tier Manipulation.  Combined Current Willpower stat: 4809.  Sufficient Willpower to perform desired action.  Performing this act will put your malignant prophecy on cooldown for significant amounts of time.  Do you wish to proceed?]

They spoke in unison.  “Yes.”

The desired action was selected.

[Your manipulation of fate has gained you each 9 Malignancy Points.  Beware, this action has been noted by the Elysium Administrator, as a significant amount of fate has been adjusted to your own benefit.]

Time reverted back to normal, and Fay’s dreamwalker zone took hold.

One, three, seven and then a dozen replicas of Riven’s skyborn team took form - illusions born from Dreamwalker Zone as Allie and Riven flared their own building spells with conjoined effort.  The succubus grit her teeth, snarling, and channeled as much mana as she could into the Viper Grimoire of Curses and Schemes.  A power stone, given to her by Lillith for this exact moment, appeared in Fay’s hand.  With a scream and raising the black object over her head - wings outstretched - the stone cracked and exploded with energy that cycled through Fay’s body into the grimoire; and the world warped around them.

Up became down, left became right, and the sensation of gravity became meaningless as the newly power leveled succubus put literally all of her effort and her entire mana pool into shifting the perspective of the oncoming swarm.

Immediately, the oncoming enemies let loose their attacks.

But nearly half of those attacks went astray.

Greed’s minions began flying into one another, misfiring fireballs, necrotic clouds, or bolts of lightning into each other as they screamed and roared.  Hundreds died in an instant as chaos ensued, and many more were injured, and even more of the oncoming horde that went unscathed targeted false illusions while their minds were twisted to confuse them.

Riven and Gluttony chuckled at the absolute mayhem that single ability had wrought, and with Malignant Prophecy guiding him - flexed their shadow pillar with a supreme will upon lifting the fingers of his left hand in their direction.

Rips in space tore open at dozens and then hundreds and then thousands of places within the time it took to take a breath.  Incoming enemy attacks were rerouted into other Greed followers, adding to Fay’s induced chaos, and yet more of the enemy demons were sent spiraling into one another by redirecting their flight patterns.  

With his right hand Riven gripped Jackal and raised the staff overhead to where a sun of hellfire had begun to burn twenty yards above him.  With the staff he created a circle of flames above him - drawing it in the air around the sun with slow but steady intent; before clenching his fist tightly around the shaft.  Then his forearm twisted while chanting the words he had only spoken once before while he hovered over the black lake of the abyssal portal below.

“Rain fire upon mine enemies, cast doubt upon divine providence, and bathe the land in a blaze of profane glory.”

[Blaze of Profane Glory (Infernal)(Tier 3) - Detonate a massive ball of infernal power overhead, devastating the surrounding landscape and burning your enemies alive.  This spell seeks out all living creatures, avoiding non-living material, causing soul damage as the fires of hell temper the innocent and guilty alike.  1 week cooldown.]

The sun overhead exploded over the sound of the battles behind him, and the supernova blew in all directions before turning into streams of flame that sought out all living enemies ahead and above him.  Trails of liquid fire dove through combatant formations, blasted through barriers and armor, and burned enemies alive as they screamed in pain.  Due to the nature of the spell, it wanted to seek out even Riven’s allies - but through supreme force of will he was able to temper the trajectories of the spiraling flames and turn them away and onto those who sought him harm.

If only he could gain levels by killing enemies here.  It made him wonder just how much XP he was missing out on by being in Chalgathi’s questline right now, but his leveling would have to wait until he finished the Altars of Despair and Hope.  For now only finishing event quests would give him personal XP, and the thought made him flinch at just how much progress he’d lost because of this.

A flash of neon light tore open above the sky just as he finished conjuring Blaze of Profane Glory, and the eye of some deathly god awakened to glare down at their enemies.  Allie held her claymore straight up, still channeling some kind of fiery, gray spell into her weapon while deathly presence crushed many of the fliers and flung their flaming bodies into the portal below through a storm of swirling red snowflakes.

Immediately after that, Retesh unleashed his own attack.

Hundreds of newly constructed skeletal siege weapons pulsed with green energies before launching cannonballs of miasma into the enemy swarm.  They were joined with Riven’s own barrage when thousands of red and black storm razors sang through the howling winds to smash into the oncoming tide - eviscerating many and exploding when they didn’t cut through.  The air thrummed, and Riven didn’t even bother turning around when he sensed a new presence appear behind him.  Instead he coated himself in Hell’s Armor, and let Athela and Fimrindle do their job.

Athela’s blood form dispersed from his body and shot forward like a bullet, taking humanoid shape as a hail of blades clashed with the opponent in a blur of exchanged strikes.  Fimrindle closed in quickly to help, and Riven saw a distant tower get crushed when one of Gluttony’s tendrils smashed one of The Gambler’s writhing limbs into the city streets.

And yet, despite all of the power and carnage on display, despite the storm of mana that’d been dropped on the incoming tide of flying enemies like an atom-bomb, well over a third of the enemy forces were still coming in strong.

These were the best of Greed’s forces, some of the best in the multiverse for their tier, and there were many that’d come out without even so much as a scratch.

Allie’s body blazed with gray light as she finally finished channeling the souls around her into a condensed layer of fine energy, and her angelic figure pointed her claymore back down at the oncoming tide like a valkyrie of legend.

Riven did not bother looking her way, as his cloak of shadow rippled about him on frosted red winds.  Gripping his staff more firmly, and channeling a series of blood lances into his left arm, he shot upwards like a torpedo to gain distance from his enemies - initiating a sonic boom while his sister met the charge to the dance of a prophecy yet fulfilled.

***

They were violence incarnate, a perfect unison of a song yet sung and a playbook written only for their eyes.  He supported her from afar with magic as she engaged in close combat, while he was simultaneously supported by Fay’s illusions as she mustered the mana to help again.  Every move the siblings made was part of a dance, moving as one entity tied together by strings of fate tethered by their shared bloodline; fueled by the power of an Original Sin and the burning seed of one who had taken the first step into divinity in death.

A fake image of himself flew left from his position and took with it three pursuing harpies.

Riven snared three imps in a black net of unholy rage that dug into flesh and dragged them down through the portal below - into waiting claws of Gluttony’s army still pouring through from the other side.  Their marks of Greed burned on their souls like a blazing sun to his eyes, and he moved on to deflect two orbs of hellfire with unnatural ease while swatting them away with Jackal’s skull.

He dodged through the air under the effect of Blessing of the Crow, connecting with a platform of bone Allie made for him to push off of before righting himself and flinging a blood lance into an enemy’s skull above the city skyline.  Whipping himself around and vanishing through a portal while avoiding the claws of a devil - only to appear above the archdemon before sending a blood nova into its back.

The explosion ruptured its lungs and upper spine, splattering it all over a nearby succubus before she too was consumed by the explosive blood discharge.

Allie crashed into another gargoyle and tore one of her wings into the demon’s own, cutting cleanly through before kicking the creature’s face with a spin that sent its teeth through its neck and its body spinning into the black portal far below.

Athela had rejoined him now, flying upwards and latching herself onto his body and was playing anti-assassin on high guard the entire time - occasionally zipping out to take her humanoid form and strike down enemies before zipping right back as a ribbon of blood.

CRUNCH

BOOM

SPLASH

Riven weaved through the continued barrage of the magical siege weapons created from Retesh’s minions, diving easily through the hail of fire while Gluttony’s own fliers had been called in through a mental tug.  The full on melee had been brought on not only through the city streets now, but raged over the city in the sky itself beneath the black dome of the abyss - while void titans on the outside curiously watched the ants fight.

Creating a platform of ice in the air hundreds of feet up, Riven landed with a crash and a spray of crimson shards before turning and summoning a wall.  The ice shards rapidly condensed from the storm of snowflakes and froze the space in front of him to block an incoming spear of crackling orange energy, before the spear was yanked back by an overzealous insectoid creature that’d been tailing him throughout much of the battle-

“RAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!”

CRASH

Azmoth’s propulsion smashed the four blades of his shengari shields into the mantis monster, hacking and gnawing at the screaming demon that was taken out of the sky like a bird by a stone.

Riven summoned another two blood lances back to back and flung them into oncoming incubi, headshotting both of them with perfect precision before resummoning Azmoth through the minion sigil on his chest.  Azmoth disappeared from where he was beating the insectoid to death right before hitting the black lake underneath, then reappeared on Riven’s crimson platform.

“AGAIN!” Azmoth screamed, covered in blood before bursting into flame with an excited laugh.  “AGAIN, AGAIN!”

Riven didn’t need to be told a fourth time, and his free hand sprouted a thick net of wretched snare.  Using it to propel Azmoth just like Riven did with many of his blood lances to speed them up, he launched his armored flaming minion into the closest crowd of flying fighters that he could see.

CRUNCH

The ice underneath him shattered and Riven’s staff whipped around to collide with a huge hammer.  Jackal’s passive exploded with hellfire to rebuke the attack and Riven did a 360 spin before kicking out against the mammoth gargoyle that’d assaulted him, putting distance between the two but not having many places to go with so many combatants.  Malignant Prophecy had worked overtime to get him here, but even with the prophecy active it’d been an absolute hassle to follow each of the steps perfectly.  Due to the messy nature of the battle, he’d ended up with a few fuck ups that’d left him scrambling to get back into the prophecy’s alignment.

And even with the prophecy active, given the skill and power of all these powerhouses present in The Abyssal Descent, he was being pushed to his limit.  Attacks that would normally level city blocks would sometimes only injure his enemies depending on the target.  With Gluttony suppressing Greed’s main player - The Gambler - and Lillith on her own side mission to take advantage of the circumstances, it was all he could do to keep himself on track while killing as many of his opponents as he could.