Elysium's Multiverse-Chapter 342

Elysium's Multiverse-Chapter 342

Chapter 342
Chapter 342
The establishment remained absolutely silent despite being packed as Gragle watched the vampire pull out one familiar piece from a set of four items. Riven hadn’t been seen in months and many had began to take bets that he’d not come back at all, and little did he know it - but Riven had become a beacon for both hate and hope amongst those of Outpost #84. Hate, because he and the other non-cultists were doing a shit job of protecting the settlements supporting them. Hope, because Riven was supposed to be the strongest one here.
But for Gragle… it was a bit more than all that. Because unlike many of the others thrust into this situation of being dragged from all around the multiverse to participate in Panu’s world quests as side-pieces to Elysium’s schemes - Gragle may perhaps know something about Riven that the others did not. Something that had slipped the lips of Nora and her self-proclaimed ‘legion’ of shadows… as well as the other non-cultists when they’d come to discuss dealings with her.
That joke Riven had made about being Gluttony’s reincarnation?
It sounded absolutely crazy, but these people seemed to believe Riven was the real deal. Perhaps he’d not been ‘joking’ after all, and that thought terrified him. Working for someone as dangerous as a sin’s reincarnation was a quick way to end up dead, and the accomplished gnome enchanter wanted no part in that. He’d rather work for the old gangs of the outpost than deal with one of the most evil entities known in existence. An evil entity that, even if he was on good terms with, would have the angels swarming down from the heavens to burn his puny little town in a golden retribution and white flames should they find out.
Gragle blinked rapidly and whipped a trickle of sweat crawling down his forehead, and he began to nervously fidget with his mug of ale when he noticed for the first time that Riven’s armor was indeed in the visage of Gluttony’s maw. Even despite the armor being severely damaged he could still tell. Had he been too sidetracked and foolish to notice it before? It wasn’t hot in here either, but the very presence around Riven felt far different than when the vampire had left. The air around the vampire prince warped in small ways that most people probably wouldn’t be able to detect, but to a skilled enchanter like Gragle it was the difference between night and day. It was power in a raw form, a sense of competence that wasn’t as pronounced, and perhaps something else that the gnome couldn’t put his finger on.
“Are you alright?” Riven asked casually, placing a hand on the item he’d produced and turning his hooded, crimson gaze on the gnome sitting beside him. “Do you feel sick? You don’t look well.”
Gragle involuntarily shuddered when the air temperature abruptly dropped, and watched crimson frost accumulate on the nearby cups and cutlery. He felt Riven’s mana probe at his soul, inspecting him with a gentle but ominous tether of extremely potent energy before the aura disappeared altogether. The frost evaporated a second after that, and Gragle gulped.
“Yes, yes I’m fine. I’m just glad you’re back!” Gragle said with a half-hearted smile, glancing at one of the four original totems he’d made with and for Riven before Riven had entered the Abyssal Descent. “I’ve just heard some interesting rumors about you is all… From Nora. The madwoman. And… some of the others too. Anyways I finished upgrading some of the totems and duplicated a number of them, if that’s what you’re here for!”
Riven eyed the man curiously, silent in his evaluation.
Shit. Had he just pissed Riven off somehow?
Gragle didn’t have any identification abilities himself, so he tried to see Riven’s status with a trinket in his pocket; stuffing his pudgy fingers into the cloth but got nothing but a bunch of question marks as a result. When he realized Riven had felt the grazing attempt of his trinket’s mana, Gragle stuttered and tried to bridge the conversation again. “I, uhm, I’m sorry if I was rude, I just didn’t think that-”
Riven produced the status information for Gragle willingly, letting it appear between them and giving credence to all the rumors in an instant. And Riven had made it to the E-grade too, which was at least partially responsible for the condensed mana flows circulating around the vampire.
[Riven Thane, Level 201 Warlock of the Malevolent Storm, True Incarnation of Gluttony, Pureblooded Vampire, Lost Prince of the Blood Moon Requiem. MYTHIC. PANU WORLD BOSS.]
Gragle paled and felt his blood run cold. His heart nearly stopped for a moment too.
“Does this clear up the confusion on what Nora has said?” Riven asked.
Stiffly, Gragle slowly nodded. His voice came out small and weak. “Yes. I’d… thought you were only joking when you’d told me earlier. Your… Uh, excellency.”
He began to bow his head and got onto the floor to prostrate himself while trying not to visibly shake, but was brought back into a sitting position on his stool by strings of blood that flowed out from Riven’s fingertips.
“There is no need for that, I hold no ill will against you whatsoever.” Riven said plainly. “I will pay you as we previously discussed if you can improve the totem swarm, though I’m not sure how incorporating new totems will affect my current 4 totems that have achieved a level of 139. Will that be a problem?”
Gragle let out a shaky breath, but stayed in the seat while gripping his mug and staring at the floor. “It will decrease the current level of the totems by averaging them out.”
“And would you be able to incorporate a new branching aspect of my Blood Sub-Pillar, should I supply you with a vial?” Riven drew out a glass container a moment later, filled with red and golden fluids mixed together under a corked stopper. The gold appeared to be blood as well, potent blood at that, but also somehow different from anything Gragle had ever seen before.
Gragle took it, then glanced again at the totem on the counter.
[Hive Totems of Bloodforged Rift Sparks (Lesser Artifact, Elite Tier, Level 139 Totem Swarm): These totems come as a set, and new totems can be added to this number at the additional cost of Willpower - with each totem adding exponentially more Willpower to the cost. Cost of Willpower is based upon attitude towards the wielder of this totem set, as well as current combat level. Current Requirements: 119 Willpower, Blood Sub-Pillar, Shadow Sub-Pillar. Bound to Riven Thane.
Adding different types of totems will change the name and description of this totem set.
Current Totems in Hive Swarm:
4 Totems of Bloodforged Rift Sparks
The Path of Red and Black has been imbued into these totems, along with numerous different sigils, and has used the blood of an ancient avatar of original sin to fuel its growth. This totem has the ability to grow and level up, but diminishes in level each time one of its totems are destroyed. This totem swarm can currently perform the following abilities:
Black Lightning
Crimson Ice
Rift]
Picking up the 20-sided icosahedron, Gragle nodded to the vial. “I’ll see what I can do to incorporate… whatever this is. Is there anything in particular you want me to do with it? Any specific effect?”
Riven shrugged. “No. Just see what you can do with it and get back to me. I’m not going to be around for very long after a brief pitstop for a room.”
“You’ll be staying the night then? I could possibly have it back to you by morning if I worked fast.”
Riven tilted his head, then shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry about it, it’s just an experiment and not a priority. I’ll be staying for probably a few hours but will probably leave late into the night after some quick sex with Genua and a nap. She’s been pestering me about it lately and thinks I’m her husband. I also have to change one of my new tagalongs into a vampire… she’s been wanting to use my blood with a token she got from the descent. Currently she’s a drow elf, but that’s neither here nor there. After I wake up, I’ll probably head out to start on the Apocolypse Beasts questline again.”
Gragle looked around, not seeing any of the others Riven had traveled with in the past.
“They’re out collecting a meal for the drow’s vampiric turning.” Riven explained when he caught the look, and gestured for the pale barkeeper to get him an ale. “They decided to go as a group for the occasion. They’ll be here shortly. Oh, and one more thing.”
“Yes?”
“I need someone to help speed up the process of repairing my armor and my staff… they’re both heavily damaged and they can somewhat self-repair - but not quickly when the damage is this bad.” Riven gestured down at the mangled remnants of his gluttonous ivory chestplate interwoven with red silk at the flexible areas. He smiled, showing his fangs. “Any chance you’d know a good smith that works with exotic high grade materials?”
***
The setting sun gently caressed the clouds, creating a puffy white playground tainted in hues of yellows, reds and oranges - extending out for miles around him. The breeze was soft on his skin, and his wings slowly flapped - filtering ambient mana to keep his massive form afloat.
Freedom.
Gluttony finally had a taste of what it was to be free again. The restrictions were not gone, but he was no longer a mere backseat driver to a meat suit that wasn’t his. Even though this new body could only manifest in short bursts, and it wasn’t EXACTLY like his original - he was sure he’d be able to add on to it over time. The secondary class and body was but a mere stage to build up a more grand version of himself for the future. Riven had done well.
Thick burgundy skin covered his body like armor. Four enormous demon wings with thin but firm membranes extended out from his back and to the sides, positioned besides long sharp spikes that covered his entire dorsal side. A long, snake-like body trailed out below his midsection for a hundred feet or more - with armored insectoid legs sticking out like a centipede’s would; numbering in the dozens. His thick muscular chest had a vertical maw running up through the center where hundreds of black teeth and barbed tendrils flowing out were seen; and his upper body was completely devoid of a head. Four clawed muscular arms similar to Azmoth’s own were also present, and dozens of black eyes covered the upper torso area right below where the neck should have been - out to either side of the vertical maw.
Holding out one of his hands, the jade halberd Riven had bought at Gluttony’s request appeared encased in an egg shell. It’d been incubating now since the bloodscape of the descent, back when Riven had found the taboo blood pearl and the clam. He inspected the old notification, and then the new one in turn.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, the incident.
[Your awakened weapon, Giant’s Jade Halberd of Dissolving, has become: Egg of Halberd’s Hatching.]
[Egg of Halberd’s Hatching is ready to break.]
Without another thought, the large egg was shattered with one of Gluttony’s claws, and he let the pieces fall through the sky towards the realm below as he beheld the weapon that would start his new era of conquest.
It was a beautiful piece of metal. With gunmetal gray coloring, imbued with demonic runes along the blade - and it held an aura of deep sin that resonated with Gluttony as he reached out to grasp it. The halberd was far longer than most but it suited him perfectly given his elongated body, and the weight was sufficient enough to suit his fighting style.
Turning his body to stare across the top of the clouds, his body erupted in swaths of purple light - and space itself shattered with a resonating shockwave of energy as the realm parted before him. Onwards, to find the Naga that’d tried to kill his recently born child. He could literally smell the creature even from here, across half of a planet’s length, and Gluttony would have the pleasure of killing him numerous times before Riven was done collecting the amount of points necessary to leave this place.
The hunt was on. The apex predator of the cosmos, truly reborn.
***
Now, when Athela had said “Let’s hunt for a meal and meet up with Riven afterwards!” concerning Kara’s upcoming transition into vampirism, Kara (and probably Riven too) hadn’t thought she’d really meant “Let’s go attack a small cultist-affiliated city, slaughter thousands of the defenders, conquer it in Riven’s name, and take some specimens for Riven’s blood farm.”
But that’s exactly what they were doing. Especially since flying over the fortified medieval city had given them a handful of system quests such as the one she was looking at right now. Apparently Athela and Azmoth had been occasionally going back into the Apocalypse Beasts event to do minor quests in between their training before actually taking their descent, and moving throughout the landscape of this realm would give you occasional pop-up instances of such quests that they had to find and complete for points.
[Riven’s Quest #11 of The Altars of Despair and Hope:
Conquer Odayndir: The city of Odayndir has fallen under cultist control through threats and bribes. Kill those that support the cultists and claim the city for your master. Maintain control of it for a minimum of 1 week in order to acquire 12 Event Points. For each of the 3 cultists residing here that your team manages to kill before they escape, you will acquire another 12 Event Points.
Total Event Points Already Accumulated: 3216. 10,000 event points are needed to leave. You are now in 18th place overall. Netithi Bluskish, Level 205 Naga, Apex Rank, Champion of the Kraken, and a Chubin Cultist, is in 1st place at 8762 event points. No participants have managed to leave The Altars of Despair and Hope. Yet.
Kara blinked, held her wolf puppy tighter to her chest, and watched the carnage unfold from the sidelines on a hillside as billowing smoke rose up from numerous points from the settlement. The single curved horn protruding from the center of her forehead was a testament to her new soul link to Riven, but even amidst the fighting she couldn’t help but repeatedly glance at it with a smile. She didn’t know what it did yet, but Riven was certain it would improve her abilities somehow. The fact that he’d still not pushed her to share what her class or related abilities were was something she was both very thankful for, and embarrassed about.
Meanwhile the sound of battle raged.
Athela’s drider form barreled through a city wall, with hundreds of icy crystalline spiders rushing over men and women flinging spells or swinging swords in a desperate attempt to push her back. She spared few that tried to fight her, decimating their ranks and binding those that chose to surrender for future lives under the rule of Riven. Athela had surprisingly enough sprouted a long strand of brilliant red hair exuding Blood energy from one side of her forehead after Riven’s soul link and pearl had emphasized their bond, and even from here Kara could see the small but long patch of red locks swaying out and about alongside the rest of her hair. She called it ‘her punk-rock bangs’, whatever that meant.
Azmoth’s maul whipped around and over his head in the middle of the main square, slamming down like a comet onto the fleeing cultist which comparatively looked like an ant next to his building-sized body. The man screamed only for a second before being obliterated into fiery goop and splashes of bloody body parts, and the archdemon gave out a deep chuckle of amusement before using his eel-appendages along his back to breathe fire onto the crowd of defenders trying to assist the cultist. The major change that Azmoth had gained in the ascension to E-grade was a Sin-filled rune network across the front of his metal eyeless face right above his rows of teeth, carved into the thick obsidian face-plate fused with his flesh. It was Gluttony’s mark in the middle of the rune network that glowed a deep purple, and was both beautiful and complex in how the surrounding formations fit along the Gluttonous center.
Fish had minimal outer change aside from her constantly glowing purple eyes; but said that her inner body had undergone significant changes to her muscles and organs, letting her be far faster and more adept with magic after her organ of water breathing evolved to add a mana-breathing component. Lizard had acquired an inner snakelike maw that could spew goblets of sine energy from the draconian’s throat with an eerie resemblance to Gluttony’s maw - and he was incredibly fast now. Brute had gained ram’s horns and now looked like an actual demon, while his bulk had become even larger than the half-ogre had already been with a significant increase in strength.
Fish, Lizard and Brute were fighting alongside General Caltan and his currently 7 bloodstricken undead. Brute was having particular amounts of fun with the murdering and was rampaging through the weaklings like they were children. The group of soon-to-be-thralls and undead were all above level 200 and easily murdered the horrified defenders by the dozens. Eventually they found out where one of the cultists was hiding and a larger fight ensued, where they were mowing down paladins fighting alongside the robed female cultist that was conjuring various curses. Those curses did little more than splash off the bloodied high leveled opponents despite her best attempts, and the paladins were all below level 160 - spelling a quick end for them as the skeletons fought as a unit.
Overhead, the aura of an ‘Abyssal Eye Beholder’ - which was the type of archdemon Narg had evolved into after the Abyssal Descent’s benefits had finally taken hold - was floating over the city like a looming black cloud that blotted out the sun. Raining down Unholy and Infernal magics like a rainstorm, the creature looked like an oversized and far darker version of the demon it’d once been.
If this group had attacked her hometown back in Universe 70 - she had little doubt that her old home would have fallen as well. Perhaps not the capital or her elders at the height of the drow empire’s power, but it was also considered to be a high D-grade faction with thousands of years to cultivate their sions.
THUD
Sanguine landed next to her amidst the trees with a struggling and mangled cultist in its clawed right hand, and Genua riding atop the large blood drake wearing an imperious look from underneath her ornamental metal headdress. She was keeping the cultist alive through her blood aura’s magic but only barely so, and spat at the captured enemy with a look of disgust that only marginally changed when turning Kara’s way.
Genua too had changed just slightly since absorbing some of Riven’s essence through the established soul link, courtesy of the Abyssal Descent’s E-grade ascension and the blood pearl Riven had acquired. Genua’s appearance was not what had changed though, rather it was her very soul pillar affinity for Blood that been enhanced. Previously after turning into a thrall, it’d jumped to nearly 60%. Now however, it was at 91% - which was ridiculously good by anyone’s standards. It’d made all of her abilities that much more potent, healing and offense alike, and made her a truly valuable part of the team. By vampire-thrall standards, Genua was essentially a prized cow and would fetch an amazing price in Elysium Coins if Riven were to sell her to another vampiric master; of that Kara had no doubt given her own dealings back in Universe 70.
Genua was now a valuable asset. Unlike Kara, who was still struggling to fit in despite her desperate attempts to do so. Even with the massive buffs of Heaven’s Bane that increased all Unholy abilities or branching pillars while resisting Holy affiliations, or the additionally massive +20% stat amplifier they’d all received for finishing the Abyssal Descent the way they did - Kara was still at the lowest rung of this totem pole. That was why she’d been made to sit back and watch as their relatively small group decimated a city’s defense and wiped the floor with the enemy cultists residing there.
“I caught one for you, wench. Just as the others wanted.” Genua said with a frown, gesturing to the wheezing bloodied man in the drake’s grip. “Now do you have your token ready? We shouldn’t be too far from Outpost #84 with Sanguine’s speed.”
Wench?
Ugh. Not again.
Kara grimaced right back. She did not like Genua much, and felt like the older elf thrall had little tolerance for her compared to the others. When it was just the two of them, like in this situation, Kara always received glares and frowns and curt insulting words. Especially since Kara had declined to become a thrall herself in the descent, in favor of retaining her individuality and turning into an actual vampire.
Another thought Kara had was that Genua didn’t like Kara’s system-established class. Or perhaps it was even that Athela had been using Genua less and less in favor of using Kara; despite Kara only doing this out of a sense of debt to the arch-demoness. If Kara had to guess, Athela was even trying to date her outright - but she didn’t truly KNOW if that were true. All she knew was that Genua gave off seriously intense hate-filled stares laser-focused her way whenever the two of them were alone.
“Are we not going to wait for them to finish here?” Kara asked uncertainly, petting the growling wolf puppy in her arms and glancing to where the battle was still going on.
Genua laughed, throwing her head back and slapping her thigh with a shake of her head. “The archdemons do not need our help! And they have decided to go on to finish the other quests in the area before heading back. We’re splitting into groups to get Riven his points faster, and Gluttony has moved to indefinitely suppress the naga Netithi Bluskish from achieving success and leaving the altars event before we do.”
“This is the first I’m hearing of us splitting up!” Kara protested, feeling uncomfortable at the thought of flying off somewhere with only Genua and Sanguine present.
“You are not privy to such discussions because you have not earned your place with us yet.” Genua spat. “We have discussed it and we cannot let these easy opportunities pass us by when we’ve lost so much time in the descent already. We need to help Riven catch up in points. Fay and Athela will split into the northwest to hunt down another cultist performing a sacrifice ritual there and will steal his points by finishing it in his place. Narg and Azmoth will head west to complete a dungeon quest brought in from Universe 39. Fish, Brute, Lizard and General Caltan’s group will remain here to rule the city for the next week to acquire the quest points; and to establish a new ruling class before returning.”
“But I can help! Ask Athela!”
“No, you can’t.” Gena replied with an irritated sniff. “Athela confirmed the plan with me before I was sent to retrieve you. Perhaps if your soul link to Riven is strong enough after our cumulative ascension into E-grade, you can discuss it with him directly. Otherwise, if it is not, then you will do as I say.”
The high elf thrall smirked from atop her draconic mount, knowing full well that out of all the blood ties created by the pearl in Riven’s ascension - Kara’s was by far the weakest even compared to the three would-be thralls. She could only feel a very slight tug in Riven’s general direction but couldn’t communicate with him like Athela had been able to for months now - and like how many of the others now could after the recent evolutions they’d acquired.
“But I-” Kara began.
Genua cut her off. “I said no! And you’re making me late as it is!”
“Late to what!?”
“My turn for a date night of course! Or did you not know that Riven does that?” Genua jeered. “And you making me late means less time I can spend with my husband before those other two try to force their way into the room.”
Kara’s face fell and she felt a red-hot flush overcoming her features, but she didn’t manage to get anything out of her mouth to reply.
Satisfied at Kara’s reaction, Genua turned Sanguine to the side and the drake lowered a wing down for Kara to climb up.
But Fay’s singsong voice called out to them from the trees just as Kara was about to hop on. “Darlings! One more thing, before you go!”
The succubus literally appeared from nowhere, as if she’d been planeswalking or utterly invisible. Her horns were retracted into their smaller forms and her long tail swayed back and forth while walking until she stood next to them on the hillside amidst the small clearing. Her wings had gotten far larger and were far more colorful now though, portraying a number of different tropical colors that very slowly changed over time along their membranes.
Genua’s expression became neutral. “Yes, Fay? I really do need to be going, I hope this doesn’t take too long.”
Fay giggled with a hand up to her lips, twirling her bone wand of curse reduction in the other hand - and her grimoire was tucked under the same arm to keep it in place. She tipped her witch’s hat down in Genua’s direction with a slight bow. “I apologize for keeping you from your time with Riven, priestess, but I wanted to give this to you for delivering purposes. It is a notebook, along with a map of various locations the cultists have been hiding in the countryside on this continent and the next.”
With a flourish of green flames, a book with folded papers stuffed into it appeared above Fay’s hand and she gave it to Genua. “Riven will want to see this as soon as possible.”
Genua genuinely smiled, knowing full well that she’d be on the receiving end of the praise for delivering such a gift - and it made Kara want to gag.
“Thank you, Fay.”
“Your daughter is still asleep inside my pocket realm, if you were wondering.” Fay said, beginning to float off the ground with wings spreading as her body became translucent - fading into the surroundings. “I’ll keep her safe, a promise made on my very life. Please be safe on your travel back, both of you.”
Kara nodded and waved, but Fay was already gone. It appeared that Genua was telling the truth about having agreed with the others to send Kara to a safer area under Riven’s direct supervision, and embarrassment clouded her mind again as she accepted Genua’s proposal more genuinely with slumped shoulders.
Climbing up Sanguine and sitting behind the blood priestess, she settled in for the ride as the drake launched itself off the ground and into the sky at extraordinary speed.

Chapter 342