Elysium's Multiverse-Chapter 348

Elysium's Multiverse-Chapter 348

Chapter 348
Chapter 348
Riven disposed of the bodies simply by throwing them off the cliff, then shut and barred the gate before he pulled up the latch in the back. It was literally the only way in, so he wasn’t too surprised to see a passageway with rungs for footholds leading down.
Listening for a moment and only hearing the faintest thud of heartbeats further into the fortress, Riven dropped down and landed without utilizing the footholds at all. Standing to his full height, he made sure to look for any additional traps given there weren’t any guards here.
And he was right to do so.
Two more tripwires were easily spotted in the narrow passage and a third pressure plate was also discovered through his mana detection, as the pressure plate itself was actually made from enchanted material that gave off a faint aura of its own. He even paused to admire the piece of square stone that so seamlessly blended in with the rest of the floor, and thought about trying to rip it out. It was technically a totem in itself given the faint fragment of a soul lodged inside the item, and he was interested in why they’d make it that way for such a particular and specific device, but thought better of it. He didn’t have a lot of time to be spending here and had already gone through quite a bit of the time he had allowed himself to pursue this curiosity of his - concerning the blood spirit on the third floor.
He still had cultists to hunt and spawn kill after all. Preventing them from getting their points would be a safeguard to stop any apocalypse beasts from reaching Panu’s surface and wreaking havoc amongst civilization. If even one of the non-cultist categories failed to claim their apocalypse beasts then the result would be catastrophic.
However, what proceeded after his initial entry was a solid hour of walking around through a tunneling maze of booby traps and empty rooms. The further he got, the more and more confused he became. Where was everyone? Why weren’t there guards, and why had even the faintest echoes of heartbeats ceased? It was like walking through a ghost town. Even the mess hall with still-hot bowls of meat stew had been left, as if the occupants had ran away on short notice.
Weird. Very weird.
The armory was almost barren.
The bedrooms where creatures had obviously been sleeping recently were abandoned.
There was no sign of life at all, and he was growing ever more confused.
Riven walked down the next passage and inspected the door, still not hearing any additional heartbeats close by, and checked the handle and around the wall before pushing his way inside.
The inner room was just a storage area at first glance. Another torch lit it on a left-side rack and was burning out, probably having been left there for some time now, but it was the pile of clothes underneath it that really caught Riven’s attention.
Because on top of that pile of clothes was a bloodied and familiar hood.
Riven furrowed his brows and approached the pile, bending down to pick up the article of clothing before flipping it over. It was ripped and covered in blood, a black hood with green trimming, and had a familiar, circular dragon etched into the outer side.
[Chalgathi Cowl (Non-Cultist): This is a soulbound item only you can wear for the remainder of this event, it gives you no stats or bonuses, but it marks you as a Chalgathi Non-Cultist to friend and enemy alike.]
To Riven’s knowledge there were only three other Chalgathi Non-Cultists here in the event. It was Riven, Nora, and two others he didn’t know. The others outside of himself and Nora was a man, who'd been what Riven had categorized as a living fashion statement with rather flashy orange katanas and multiple rings and bracelets along each hand. He couldn’t really remember much about him otherwise and hadn’t even tried back then to get to know them.
But why was the cowl here? It shouldn’t just be sitting here like this, and for multiple reasons. The first reason was that it’d be teleported back onto the head of an owner if it was taken off for too long. The second reason was that this dungeon only had 10 delver slots at a time, and Riven had been the last. The third reason was that even if the non-cultist had been killed and his hood removed, the man would still respawn - and with it the hood would vanish to appear back on that person’s head. Then there was the fourth reason, being that the people governing the city that controlled this dungeon’s access hadn’t ever met another non-cultist.
So… What was this hood doing here this deep in a mountain fortress, within an isolated dungeonscape?
It was, as far as Riven understood things, impossible for this hood to be here right now. The only thing that even came close to making sense was that one of the other non-cultists had somehow snuck in, had been murdered before Riven had come inside the dungeon - otherwise there wouldn’t have been room for Riven’s own delve, and Riven would have had to enter within a time frame that meant the other non-cultist had died and not respawned yet.
So the kill had been very recent.
And that meant…
Riven’s eyes went wide.
He thought it over some more. There’d only been 9 people inside the dungeon upon his presentation, which the captain of the guard had said was strange. She’d stated that most of the time Jerico took full groups inside for the maximum number of 10. Had they murdered another non-cultist who’d been with them? And if so, then why?
The cultist that Fay had interrogated before being fed to Kara during her awakening as a vampire… That man just happened to have a book on him describing both a very detailed description of a blood spirit that Riven would probably want to check out, and the very valuable location of the Altar of Despair. Something that Riven and the other non-cultists, and in particular - Nora, had been looking for. Or so words through the grapevine had told him.
But why would the cultist have put those details in the book? Why scribble that down?
Why would the cultist also put down the exact location of the altar of despair inside that book? What would be the purpose? Riven had just taken it at face value since he trusted Fay, but had Fay thought this over either? Had they both fucked up?
Had the group of 9 Riven came with really decided they didn’t want to delve the dungeon with him just because he was a vampire, or was that only part of the truth? Had they distanced themselves for another reason?
Slowly the dots began to connect, and Riven’s fingers let the bloodied, torn cowl slip from his hands.
The governor had lied. Hadn’t he? At bare minimum there was at least one faction of people inside this city working with the cultist side. The people of this city met non-cultists before, and he’d made his choice between the two sides all right. The book on the cultist they’d found had probably been a plant. Had Ren’s appearance outside the city been a suicidal act to buy whatever was going on in here more time? What if he’d gone to the altar’s location instead of this one? Had there been a contingency plan for that too? To throw in two very important pieces of information and hoping that he’d bite on at least one of them?
WHY was there a non-cultist hood here, bloodied and laying on a pile of clothes in the middle of a fucking dungeon!?
WHERE WERE ALL THE DUNGEON MONSTERS THAT WERE SUPPOSED TO BE GUARDING THIS PLACE!?
His mind raced.
This was a setup. This was a trap. But for what purpose? They couldn’t kill him, could they? His opponents were far too weak to best him in combat, likely even if they put all of their fighting strength together. He’d already tested it with a handicap when fighting the serpent monster swarm outside of Outpost 84’s borders. He’d mopped the floor with a good handful of the cultist side and hadn’t broken a sweat. Not only that, but unless they killed him repeatedly - then one death wouldn’t make much of a difference beyond a handful of points for their kill. Their best bet to win these trials was to outpace him and get out of the Apocalypse Beasts trial altogether and back onto Panu, where they could search for whichever apocalypse beast they were reaching for.
So…
What was this all about? What was the end goal? He was missing something, and a growing sense of dread began swelling up inside him. Then, as if on cue, the connections to all his minions were abruptly cut. It was like a sharp knife had been stabbed directly into his brain, and he cried out in shock as blood spurted from his nose given the backlash.
He dropped to his knees, holding his throbbing head and blinking rapidly while trying to understand just what had happened. His soul had somehow been isolated, though he had no clue how that was even possible, and that growing sense of dread surged to new heights.
Whatever scheming was going on, it wasn’t good. He needed to get the hell out of here, and he needed to do it now. Snarling, he decided to forgo all attempts at secrecy and screamed in rage as his aura blasted out around him.
The mountain shook under a torrent of black and red, and the insides of the fortress were eradicated as stone rooms and walls were washed away in a frenzy of madness and power.
He just hoped that it wasn’t already too late to fix whatever was going on. The worst part about it though, was still not knowing what he was even up against.
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***
Outside in the forest, a very particular Chalgathi cultist of Japanese descent whistled in satisfaction while smoking a pipe as he watched the top of the mountain blow off. Chuckling to himself as the runes activated all around the containment zone, he stroked his neatly trimmed white beard and motioned to the group of other cultists who’d participated in setting up the ruse.
“Let’s get out of here. It appears to have worked, and the instance dungeon should take care of the rest.” Kenji said with a spiraling motion of his head with one hand.
A death knight drow woman, one of the other cultists, put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. “How long do we have, ritualist? I have plans of my own and I can’t have this madman getting out if I want to enact them. He and his pets have already been a massive pain to deal with, and that Nora freak too. But at least they’re able to be handled with numbers, the vampire though - is not able to be killed.”
She looked grim when she said it, and her bone gauntlet tightened down on his shoulder to the point that he was starting to bruise. He knew her story, how she, the chaos dwarf berserker, and those naga had tried to fight him before getting absolutely obliterated. He’d toyed with them mentally, and it had left lasting scars that this warrior woman would likely not forget.
“How long?” He laughed and violently swatted her hand off before moving ahead. “Not a clue. Hopefully forever, but that would be wishful thinking.”
He didn’t want to stay around and find out if it would work, and just like the drow - he was absolutely terrified of that bloodsucking freak they’d just trapped here. Kenji had seen what Riven could do when he was angry the first time he’d pissed the vampire off by killing his minion Athela, and he had a few less colleagues for it. Permanently. It was time to get going, and hopefully the presents they left behind would make sure that no one came to free him either.
After all, they had 12 billion Elysium Coins to spend after killing the governor and impersonating him with one of their own. Taking over the city had been rather simple in that aspect, but now that their plan had come to fruition - it was time to bury it all and be done with it.
The city would burn. Tonight.
***
Fay’s eyebrow twitched as the shrill feminine shrieks from inside their room continued to carry into the living quarters. Rapid whiplike slapping sounds joined in as the shrieks from Genua and Kara became louder, while Athela’s laughter cut over the shrieks of both elves as she had her way with them.
Should Fay even think of Kara and Genua as elves anymore? For whatever reason, she still did. Even though Kara was technically a uniquely horned vampire now, kind of like a unicorn, she still mostly looked like a drow. Same could be said for Genua, who was both a blood priestess and thrall with blood red eyes - but she mostly looked like a high elf. And though Fay sometimes joined in on such activities, she was irritated that the small breaks they were allowing themselves inbetween conquering outposts, finishing quests on Riven’s behalf, and hunting down cultists was spent on this. She’d much rather try to get stronger through study and meditation. A metaphorical fire had been lit under her sky-blue ass ever since her training with the Church of Gluttony. She never wanted to be seen as the weak link in this party again.
But Athela never had been subjected to that problem. She’d always been relatively strong, so she probably didn’t think she needed to work as hard. As long as Fay didn’t have to utilize her Dark Pact spell to bring the two elves back from the brink of death again, like the last time Athela had nearly strangled the two lessers to death two days ago, then Fay would let Athela have her fun. It was only another 24 hours before they’d need to be on to the next quest anyways, time enough to let Nora meet up with them for a run at a particularly difficult quest target.
The shrieks turned to gurgling wails, and Athela’s laughter picked up. Fay just rolled her eyes as she continued trying to read.
Thankfully she didn’t actually have to be inside that room while trying to babysit and simultaneously meditate as they’d rented out not only that room, but the entire pub was exclusively being utilized as a home base - with only members of Riven’s team, the pub’s barkeeper, and Gragle being allowed inside.
Fay’s body hovered mid-air, lotus position with her grimoire on her lap, cycling her mana to cultivate the ambient power of this realm. It just wasn’t the same as the descent had been. Not even a thousandth of a percentile of the ambient unholy mana found in the descent was present here, and she realized she’d become accustomed to the density of the abyss. She’d been spoiled.
Azmoth, who was rocking Iris back and forth in a slow monotonous rhythm, looked up from the sleeping baby wrapped in a blanket and cocked his head to the side. “Why Athela like hurting them?”
He motioned with one of his free hands in the direction of the shut door.
Fay grunted, turning a page in her book and going over her spells step by step while cycling her mana as she tried to maintain focus. “It’s called sadism, Azmoth. For some people it’s a kink to hurt other people. Athela is one of those.”
“What is kink?” Azmoth asked curiously, ignoring Gragle as the gnome paid the barkeeper for another drink and went back to the corner table to continue working on Riven’s totem project.
Fay growled under her breath as the sounds of sex beyond the door hit another octave. “I’ll tell you one day, Azmoth, when you’re older. But for now, please, just let me study in peace. It’s bad enough that Athela is a fucking bedroom sociopath and won’t shut the hell up.”
The gnome raised his voice from the corner while continuing to work. “I would argue that she’s a regular sociopath too.”
Fay ignored him.
“You angry with me for being loud, but I not loud.” Azmoth retorted with a snort. “I quiet. It Athela who loud. No be angry with me for asking things Azmoth not know.”
Fay gave up on cultivating, snapped her book shut, and let out a low groan while she closed her eyes and slapped her face with the brunt of the grimoire. “I give up. I give up.”
“So you not tell me?” Azmoth pressed, still curious.
Fay opened one eye and raised that eyebrow, glaring daggers at the winged brutalisk as he continued rocking the sleeping baby, spawn of Riven - reincarnation of one of the original sins, in his large clawed hands. “No. I won’t tell you Azmoth, you’re still an infant.”
“I’m big boy!” Azmoth protested, hissing with a puff of flames through his teeth. “Riven say so!”
“Riven was being nice. You’re still a little wee baby.” Athela held up her fingers and pressed them together to show just a tiny sliver of space between them. “A WEEEEEEE lil innocent baby boy! Those are grown up things. If you want to know what kinks are, ask Riven. Maybe he’ll tell you. And haven’t you used the word ‘kink’ before?”
“Yes.”
“Then shouldn’t you know what it means before you use it?”
“I thought it sound funny so I use it.” Azmoth shrugged indifferently. “Fine. I ask Riven when he get back. He not mean like you and Athela. I should throw mean succubus out window again like I did in dungeon with dragon.”
Fay snorted, remembering how he’d launched her across the dungeon in an attempt to cock block her during those early days, back when she’d still been trying to weasel her way into Riven’s love life, and pointed a fingertip his way. A green ball of cursed fire flickering to life. “I’ll light your fat ass on fire and set your nerves on a one way road to pain town if you try throwing me out that window! And these fires aren’t the normal kind you can just absorb either! I’m not as weak as I used to be!”
An ominous chuckle echoed out from a dark recess in the back corner near where Gragle was sitting, and a single large eyeball revealed itself as the shadows parted to glare at Fay. “Not as weak as before, but still weakest amongst us demons.”
Fay gritted her teeth and stuck her tongue out at Narg, before the weird-as-fuck beholder demon went back to sleep, or back to meditating, or back to whatever the hell it had been doing before it saw fit to antagonize her. She didn’t know what had come over Narg since becoming an archdemon and overcoming his family’s bloodline defects with Lillith’s help, but three things were certain. First, the beholder demon was far different in form and composition than any other beholder demon she’d ever encountered before. Second, he was far more powerful than he’d been before. And third, which was most important to her in particular, was that he’d become an absolute asshole. It was as if the polite gentleman of a demon she’d known previously was now gone, and he’d been replaced with his evil step brother who had a massive chip on his shoulder. She had half a mind to tell Riven to get rid of the weirdo creepy fuck, but knew the precognition element that demon had would be invaluable to Riven in the future if it gained leverage as they grew in cultivation together.
“Keep your comments to yourself, you ugly little shitstain.” Fay snarked back, pulsing out her aura at the other archdemon with a sneer. “You have yet to do anything but be an anchor and weight on our team due to your absolute incompetence in the descent. You were for a loss of anything better, a pathetic excuse for a minion. You literally underwent seizures the entire fucking time and did nothing else, and you would do well to remember that whenever you open up that stupid overly sized mouth of yours in the future.”
The eyeball wreathed in darkness opened up to glare at her again, along with a dozen other smaller eyeballs blinking her way, and a large toothy smile with gleaming teeth glimmered back at her for only a moment - before they all disappeared again into darkness. But he didn’t say anything to retort, so she took it as a victory and let the silence hang between them.
The familiar jingle of the pub’s door interrupted the tense silence seconds later and General Caltan walked in, accompanied by another officer of the bloodstricken undead subordinates he’d subjugated recently - a captain or something like that, and one that could think and speak for itself. The two armored, skeletal figures filed in and took a knee in front of her, as Caltan raised his head.
“Honored lady.” Caltan said from underneath his horned helmet, his thick plate armor catching the light of the nearby fireplace. “We bring word that the city we recently conquered is completely under our control, with the last holdouts of defiance snuffed out. Fish, Lizard, and Brute rule the city from the old king’s palace with a dozen of my bloodstricken under their command, but the local garrison of guards is more than willing to follow orders after a couple public examples were made.”
“Executions.” The other, captain undead, stated to clarify. “Also I would like to say it is an honor to be working in service of you and your great master. The oceans of the blood legion have been suppressed too long, and the chance to right the wrongs done to the Blood Subpillar of old will be righted in a glorious nova of battle.”
Fay pooched her lips in approval. She waved a hand their way while glaring over at Narg. “You see this? This is how you should speak to me. Especially when you look like a pile of dung some kind of bird shat out yesterday, before sprouting worms. You know, worms for those tentacle appendages you have your other eyeballs stuck on? Yeah, I think you know.”
Narg merely blinked here way, then shut his eyes again as Azmoth looked back between the two archdemons with a curious smirk.
“If you don’t mind me asking…” Caltan said, standing up from his kneeling position and placing his hands behind his back with perfect posture for a moving armored skeleton. “Where is the great master now?”
“Oh, Riven? He’s doing a quick dungeon delve and then scouting out the cultist base.” Fay tapped a slender finger on her blue lips and hummed thoughtfully over Athela’s loud shenanigans and Genua’s ear-splitting shrieks in the background. “What was it called again? The Altar of Despair I believe?”
If a skeleton could smile, then Caltan was doing it now - and he pulled up a stool to sit and lean against the bar with eagerness oozing out of his glowing eye sockets. “We’ve found their base? I’ve been waiting for that. When does Riven want to move? Right after he gets back?”
Fay nodded. “If he confirms it, then yes. Probably that. For now, we’re just to continue making him points by finishing event quests - and then we’re to accompany Nora for an off-world strike through one of the portals she had a hard time with earlier.”
Fay tugged on her soul connection to Riven, which was still as firm as ever, and frowned when he didn’t respond again. She sighed, and even felt a little bit bad that he was ignoring her. “I guess Riven’s just busy. I’ve tried to ask him some questions about how much longer he’ll be gone, but he doesn’t ever respond. So we’ll just keep to the plan… and will talk to him whenever he feels like speaking to his girlfriend again.”

Chapter 348