OLD Chapter 196 (UPDATE AS OF 11/23/23 - These original chapters 195-210 will be pushed out to another future part of the book or recycled. New chapters starting at 195 are being posted after the original 210, and these original chapters will soon be removed. For now, skip ahead to the NEW Chapter 195 past old 210) (Patreon)

Chapter 196

“MASTER PLEASE!!!”  Fay screamed in horrified pain, squirming as her chains rattled while her new master branded her with a hot iron depicting his sigil.  He continued to laugh at the succubus while pushing it down against her bare right breast, then put a foot on her face in a display of dominance while having her bear his full weight as she sobbed.

“Ah this is so fun!” Portus said with a grin, rubbing his black mustache and setting the brand aside.  He turned his rather handsome face to his underlings and adjusted his warlock’s hood, grinning at other lesser crime lords who ran different parts of the city; then pushed his hands into his pockets.  “No matter how many times I kill her, she always comes back when I pay the fee.  These demonic contracts truly are glorious, breaking her has been a lot more exciting that doing it with other humans because humans die so easily.  The sex is pretty good too.”

Chuckles from around the room echoed, and the men laughed or joked with one another for another few minutes before they left the room to shut the door behind them.

It locked shut, leaving Fay in darkness to weep by herself aside from a small window that let in dim green light from the sky above on this disgusting planet.  She shuddered, eyes tightly closed and let out repeated sobbing cries.  “Riven… Riven I miss you so much… Riven… I… I wish I hadn’t left…  I miss you… and, and I hope you’re happier than I am…”

***

[Deranged Dragon of Abyssal Madness, Level ???]

What the fuck kind of name was that!?

Riven was paler than usual, back to the wall and not daring to look out should its large yellow eyes accidentally settle on him.  The shadowy creature was the size of the fucking titanic and had an aura that made him want to vomit by how utterly suppressing it was, the feeling of taint and never-ending darkness infusing into it as the large clawed feet dung trenches into the battlements of the old ruins it lumbered through.

He shuddered, looking at Athela who’s eyes had gone wide across from him, and Azmoth who was holding Allie to keep her calm as she battled the remnant effects of having traversed into the abyss without any sin components to her soul

Insects of species from Riven’s nightmares came out from crevices along the walls to inspect the inhabitants, but quickly retreated upon his gaze as the dragon crashed its feet one after another - sniffing the air outside to try and find whatever it was the thing was looking for.

Eventually though it turned its head right, and with a roaring scream it launched itself off the battlements and into the air right as a much larger squid-like creature tore through the air on feathered white wings that radiated holy flames.  The gargantuan titan crushed the dragon utterly, causing the ground to shake and Riven to hold on to the window’s ledge for stability as the monsters outside ripped into one another.

But it was a short lived fight, and soon the battle ended with a strange humming-like sound emanating from the winged creature that’d attacked the dragon.  Looking out again and seeing the squid-like thin raise four enormous wings that blocked out the sky crackling with purple lightning overhead, the monster’s many tentacles - each tipped with vicious needle-like blades far bigger than he was - picked the mauled corpse of the dragon up before launching into the sky again in a brilliant display of holy energy.  Sizzling black blood was left plastered against the battlements for hundreds of yards, and oddly enough the damage the drake had wrought to the constructs around them began to slowly heal.  The trenches its claws had dug began filling in, the stone building across from them on the other side of the wall began to rebuild itself, and the suppressing aura of the victor began to quickly fade as he caught a final glance before it broke through the clouds high above.

[Angelic Vorshi Titan, Level ???]

Riven slumped back down to the ground, shaking slightly while he took in a deep breath of air.  “Holy shit.  That thing just took out a dragon way, way stronger than I was like it was nothing.  You weren’t kidding when you said this place was dangerous, Athela.”

She shuddered, actually showing visible fear for the first time in a long time, and crept over to the window to peer out with him.  “I hate angels.”

“How the fuck are we supposed to ring three bells without drawing attention to ourselves!?”

“I have no idea.”

“We’re probably going to be eaten, picked up like grapes and used as chew toys!”

“Probably.”

There was a pause, and the two of them held eye contact before they each began to softly laugh at the ridiculousness of their situation.

“Lahn had better appreciate you coming to save him if we get out of here.  You should probably contract your next two demons before we do anything else.  We appear to be in a secluded place now the dragon is gone…” Athela said, and Riven gave her a nod.

“Yeah, and we need time for Allie to get her senses together as well.” Riven gestured to where his sister was still showing them a confused, almost crazed look - but she was quickly getting better.  “And we need all the firepower we can get.  Athela, Azmoth, just like last time I’ll be depending on you.”

Pulling up his screens and coming to the part where it had the number of contracts available to choose from, he frowned.

[6,402,441 Demonic Contracts Available]

“Jesus.”

Riven scratched the back of his head, then gave Athela a sheepish smile.  “Mind sorting through these for me?”

He pushed the notification over, and she snorted a laugh.  Scooching over to where he sat against the wall, sighing, and laying her head in his lap while crossing her long athletic legs into a more comfortable position - she nodded.  “Sure thing twirp!”

“Hey!  You can’t call me a twirp anymore.  That’s hurtful, I’m your lover now.”  He scratched his head, thinking about it for a moment.  “That’s really weird to say- OW!”

“It’s not weird.  I’m your girlfriend, shut up about it.”  She jabbed him in the stomach with a glare, then giggled and took the screen away from him to start minimizing the number.  “Alright we can sort them by level first, that’ll cut out the majority, and… We’re down to 605,932 Demons who are at your max level of 130.”

“Can’t contract anyone over my level, right?”

“Correct.”  She nodded, checking off boxes available to her as she scrolled through the list.  “Let’s see… Maybe one of my clan mates is in here.  That’d be neat.  And… no, there isn’t.  Let’s check the archdemon tab here, tag it with sin infused creatures here, and… oooh.  Still at 948.  Alright, this may take a bit.  Give me an hour or two and we’ll see what can be done.”

***

It was nightfall.  Allie was slowly recovering but still had gone in and out of consciousness, though at least her mind had come back to her.  Traveling here had seriously done a number on her, and she’d already taken one of the supreme recovery potions provided by Kathrine to speed things up.

Because of this they hadn’t moved, but it’d also given Athela a lot of time to scroll through the list as she cuddled up next to Riven with a content smile.

Azmoth continued to meditate on the Infernal Daos, which was a pretty common hobby for the demon at this point, and Riven sipped on some blood they’d bottled for traveling purposes while watching his demonic girlfriend sift through the list.

A couple heaven-shattering battles erupted in the distance from time to time, and there was one point where they had to take extra precautions to hide themselves when a slime-like creature three hundred yards long wriggled past them on the ramparts; displaying numerous other creatures inside being digested within its green semi-translucent body.

But by midnight Athela had picked out what she considered to be the top 5 best.  She unselected the others, at least for now, and displayed them to Riven with a smile.  “These are the ones I’d choose, but keep in mind their personalities and how they get along with us are going to be a big deal.  If none of these work out, we’ll start over with the next 5 best.  That ok?”

“Sounds good to me.”  Riven smiled and took the screen from her, shifting it in the air to hover in front of his face as he began to read the descriptions.  With Fay gone he had two slots to fill, 454 total willpower and 188 free Willpower points to use for those two contracts.

He tried not to frown at the thought of Fay, but failed, and had to take in a deep breath as he moved on.  Hopefully she was happy, wherever she was.  Funnily enough, the list of these demons was a lot different than the prior list he had.  Previously the names hadn’t been listed by the system, but just like when Athela had evolved into an Archdemon - these archdemons all had their own names listed too.

Interesting.

“Athela?  Why do these demons have names in front of their species?”

Athela glanced up to him with a smirk, then reached out her hand to hold his own - interlocking her slender fingers in his.  “That’s because archdemons are considered Elite monsters by the system, and they’re often unique variations of more basic demonic breeds.  Have you tried identifying me lately?”

Riven raised an eyebrow, shook his head, then did so.  Immediately her name appeared, but to his surprise her letters were outlined in flames just like the satyr warlord’s had been back in Negrada’s hellscape.  The only difference was that the satyr warlord had been listed as ELITE, and the flames were gold.  Here though… Here, Athela’s name was outlined in red flames.

The title of LEGENDARY, and PANU WORLD BOSS were also plastered onto the end of her title.

[Athela, Level 127 Archdemon: Unique, 3 forms.  Cute Wittle Blood Weaver / Gluttonous Arshakai / Gluttonous Fae Drider.  LEGENDARY.  PANU WORLD BOSS.]

He raised an eyebrow and he failed to speak for a time.  “Question.  Why does it say ‘wittle’ in the name?  Was that your doing somehow?”

Athela snickered and shook her head.  “That’s what you’re going to ask me?  Come on!  Act impressed!  No, I had nothing to do with it.  That’s Elysium being ridiculous.  Don’t ask me why.  Ask me about the red flames and titles!”

“Alright.  Why is your name outlined in red flames with the legendary and world boss titles?”

She cackled and flipped over to stare at him with a devious grin.  “After the battle in Mandon, the system officially designated me… and you… as world boss creatures for the invaders to kill.”

Riven blinked.  “Huh?”

“Identify yourself!”

Riven’s puzzled expression turned into a small grin, as he did as she asked.

[Riven Thane, Level 130 Warlock Devastator, Harbinger of Gluttony, Pureblooded Vampire, Lost Prince of the Blood Moon Requiem.  LEGENDARY.  PANU WORLD BOSS.]

Just like Athela’s name, his own identification information was also outlined in red flames.  He was a bit surprised that the system had outwardly labled him as a harbinger of Gluttony and as a lost prince of the requiem, but that was less surprising than the system considering him a ‘legendary’ creature and a ‘Panu world boss’.

“Why wasn’t I notified of this earlier?” Riven asked, glancing over at Azmoth to get a look at his other minion’s identification information.  Unlike Athela and himself, Azmoth didn’t have the titles they did.  But his name did now glow in gold flame lettering, and he was labeled as ELITE just like the satyr warlord dungeon miniboss had back in the hellscapes.

That was also new.

[Azmoth. Level 95 Infernal Crusader Initiate, Hellscape Brutalisk.  ELITE.]

He looked up again, bewildered.  “Athela, why wasn’t I notified of this?”

She grinned.  “You were notified of it.  I’m sure of it.  But with all the drama going on with the attack on the city, the leveling notifications, the battle notifications, the harbingers of gluttony coming to take my shard, the dispute between Fay and myself… I can see why you didn’t see it.  You probably just dismissed the notification by accident and never looked.  I figured that was the case, I’ve been waiting for you to say something.”

Riven stared, then slowly clicked his tongue.  “That’s… kinda neat actually.  Not sure how to feel about this.  What makes us ‘Legendary’ or ‘World Boss’ quality by system standards exactly?”

“Titles are gained by the feats you accomplish for the level and grade you’re at.  I may have discussed this once a long time ago with you, but it also incorporates things like your species too.” Athela said simply with a smile.  “You can be very strong and not gain such titles, but proving yourself in battle on the scale that you have multiple times now… and it doesn’t surprise me too much.  The Legendary and Elite titles will give whoever kills you a massive XP boost as well as a system reward, similar to how we got all that gold and a prize from Negrada in his dungeon.  Legendary titles will give far more though.  As for the Panu World Boss titles, that’s more for the invaders and other creatures who are part of the world quests - ones pitted against the natives.  The system sees both of us as major obstacles to world domination and devastation, so it will give any invader or any of the opposition in other world quests a very large boon if they slay one of us.”

“But does it do anything for us otherwise?”

“Other than bragging rights when people try to identify us?  Nope.”

Riven snorted in amusement and shook his head.  “Of course not.  Whatever, I’m gona take a look at this list and we’ll see who is both stupid enough and brave enough to come help us here in the Abyss.  Should be interesting.”

“That, I agree with.”

Kissing her on the forehead, he turned his attention back to the screen in front of him.

[6,402,441 Demonic Contracts Available.  You have manually minimized your list to 5.  These 5 demons have been following your progress and are interested in obtaining you as a partner.  Click on each for further details concerning the potential minion and their contracts.

• Chavi, Archdemon, Devil, Unholy / Infernal / Chaos / Sin (Wrath), Level 130 - A sion of the burning legions and the youngest son of a hellscape warlord, Chavi is a terror to behold.  This young devil is Wrath incarnate, and has little time to talk in favor of berserking across entire battlefields by himself to slay his enemies by the thousands.  Easy to anger, but respects the way of the warrior and those who have struggled to surpass their limits.  Despises weaklings and those who have not known hardship.  [181 Willpower Required]
• Rheufa Chak Tal, Archdemon, Unique: Thousand-Eyes Beholder, Unholy / Shadow / Sin (Greed), Level 130 - One of the most calculating and cunning demons of his generation across the multiverse, Rheufa Chak Tal started his rise to power by burning away entire cities in the hellscapes when a certain incubus tricked him into giving up an item of power.  Since then, Rheufa Chak Tal has waged wars against entire clans of enemy demons - laying traps and springing ambushes to blindside his enemies with long range bombardments from numerous angles.  Since his recent evolution into becoming an archdemon, his power has seen drastic upgrades and he has become an overwhelming force to deal with as he plunders enemy holds for wealth.  He is known as an ambush predator, and a loner.  [136 Willpower Required]
• Fimrindle, Archdemon, Unique: The Iron Scarecrow, Unholy / Blood / Death / Machine / Sin (Sloth), Level 130 - This truly odd and misunderstood demon created from metal was actually spawned as part of an experiment done by black magic users who tried merging a machine, an undead, and a demon.  The experiment was a success, but the creators didn’t survive the ordeal.  After destroying multiple cities, the creature was banished and sequestered into a soul stone laid in a crypt at the bottom of an ocean trench.  There he remains, waiting for the right summoner to take him from his wretched prison, so that he can once again experience life.  He doesn’t talk much, and he’s a bit creepy even by Elysium’s standards, but he certainly knows how to wield a scythe.  [159 Willpower Required]
• Zrogmanthon, Archdemon, Abyss-Lord, Unholy / Shadow / Depravity / Sin (Pride), Level 130 - Zrogmanthon is a very prideful demon that often spends more time gloating about his victories rather than actually fighting.  This is in part because he enjoys boasting, and in part because he kills his enemies incredibly fast.  His build is focused on tearing reality itself to create critical strikes to gut his opponents before they know what hit them, or at least they wouldn’t know what hit them if he didn’t tell them about what was going to happen before it happened.  Regardless, they still die.  As an ethereal creature of doom, this demon is very hard to kill with physical attacks and would be sneaky if he didn’t go out of his way to boast so much.  [160 Willpower Required]
• Yattazi, Archdemon, Unique: The Devouring Serpent, Unholy / Infernal / Chaos / Sin (Gluttony), Level 130 - Once a tiny snake, this creature devoured the heart of a fallen unholy god purely by happenstance.  Since then, Yattazi has become something of a menace to anything living.  It had forgone its draconic evolutions in favor of becoming a great basilisk, and from there became something much more when it evolved into a demon.  It lives in the lava pools of a volcano, coming out from hibernation to feed and in turn - create genocidal waves in surrounding habitats.  Yattazi isn’t very smart, but makes up for it by the sheer devastation it can cause.  This creature is lonely, is wanting to find a companion to share in its gluttonous sprees, and is on a quest to find bigger and stronger things to eat.  [122 Willpower Required]]

His brows furrowed.  Riven glanced down to his status page again, and realized there was a problem.  He should have guessed this would be the case because Athela now required 190 Willpower to hold her contract, and if these demons were comparable to her…

He only had 454 total willpower, and 188 free Willpower points to use.

Riven would only have enough points to choose one of these creatures to bond with, despite having two open slots.

“Damn.”  He rubbed his chin in thought.  “These descriptions are a lot more intense than they were previously… it’s like they’re telling me their life stories.  Very weird, but I like the change.”

“That’s going to be more and more common the more you grow.” Athela stated with a yawn.  “Previously the demons you could pick from were all so low level, including myself back then, that we hadn’t had any accomplishments.  But as we get older and have more experiences, the system docks those into the descriptions you now see here.”

He nodded, skimming through the text one by one in deep thought - when his soul began to shudder.  Looking down at his chest, he began to see a dark orb forming in front of his body.  He… would have been concerned, but Riven could tell that it was actually an extension of his soul aperture taking physical form just by looking at it.

“That’s weird.” Riven said, nudging Athela who looked up and began to frown.  “Don’t worry it’s a piece of me, I can tell it’s not dangerous, but… do you have any idea what’s happening?”

Slowly she began to shake her head, and even Azmoth grunted in curiosity while beginning to ready himself just in case - setting Allie to the side as she slept.

“That you?” Azmoth asked just for one more confirmation as the dark orb continued to expand.

Riven hesitantly nodded.  “Yeah… don’t attack it.  That’s a piece of my soul, I think.  If you were to damage it, I may…”

His words cut off, and yet another notification appeared as his hand tightened around Athela’s - adding onto the ridiculousness he’d already experienced over the past day.

[Harbinger of gluttony, Sin Class, Secondary Class, has finally finished its construction.  Harbinger Soul Clone is now finished.  +2 Sturdiness, +9 Free Points per level will now be distributed with each level up.]

The air shuddered, and the pocket of darkness became more solid in nature - expanding in front of him until it created a mirror image of himself.  The figure was just as tall, but was naked, and instead of a pale white - his skin was a pitch black almost like Athela.  His eyes were also a deep purple instead of red, and he slowly lifted one hand to evaluate himself before turning to Grin Riven’s way.

“Hello, chap.” the harbinger clone said with a smile, displaying teeth that looked oddly like the ones Gluttony had on all its maws.  It pointed a finger in Riven’s direction.  “I do believe you and I need to have a talk.  And get your hands off my girl, I don’t share.”

• Harbinger of Gluttony (Sin Class Title) - The Harbinger of Gluttony is the most basic sin class specific to the original sin of Gluttony and creates a secondary self-regulating soul clone to fight alongside you.  Successfully landing any offensive attack with your soul clone will cause soul-damage to your opponent, decreasing all mana, stamina, divinity and health regeneration until the enemy soul has healed.  +2 sturdiness, +9 Free Points per level.