Elysium's Multiverse-Chapter 358

Elysium's Multiverse-Chapter 358

Chapter 358
Chapter 358
Halfway across the world from Allie, Amelia Deathfeather’s six massive black angel wings carried her through the star-laden skies along with her entourage of other angels of death - while Tre’Zix and other demonic hunters of the Klinac’Tal Clan began to move in on their target on the ground. The demons could fly too, but they preferred to fight on land rather than in the air; should the enemy actually be here and engage them before arriving.
The last three weeks had finally produced tangible results, and none of them wanted to blow it. It was clear to Amelia that the vampire Crendir who’d stolen the fallen elder god’s blood essence had left Umbra entirely, but after having left the death-attuned continent where both undead and demon were considered to have citizenship rights - these other lands across the sea were far from friendly. Usually that wouldn’t bother Amelia, except that none of the people here wanted to give out information or be helpful in any way, shape or form to someone like her. Often she and the others had to resort to more forceful and violent means to get what they wanted, but they couldn’t just leave a trail of bodies in their wake either - as it’d give Crendir and Greed’s forces a heads up on her approach.
Abductions had fixed that in some cases. Disguises in others. Bribes were used frequently as well. They did have some sources available to them through the intelligence networks the Thane Necropolis had extended out beyond the heartlands, often in the form of various cults and covens that remained in hiding beyond Umbra’s shores. But even there, she and Tre’Zix had to be careful not to let on too much about who they were or what they were doing - because these people could also be compromised. So instead of asking for Crendir by name, or actively telling people what they were about, she asked about very specific things that couldn’t be traced to Allie. Crendir was an E-grade vampire trying to absorb a fallen god’s blood when he wasn’t a pureblood himself - rather he’d taken a shortcut through Elder Thune’s guidance that wasn’t a permanent one; so he’d need a lot of resources to help him maintain the absorption process. Blood dao treasures moved in bulk, vats of blood repeatedly sent out in large quantities, newcomers in the underground dark arts markets, massive unusual fluctuations of ambient blood energy in areas it didn’t have it prior to the last few months, there was an entire list of these things that Amelia checked for. With dozens of false leads checked out, it’d been the faint remnants of a Greed-based ritual found in a forest that’d led them into what was likely their best bet yet.
The breadcrumbs were growing larger.
The ocean glittered under moonlight to the eastern coast under a summer’s breeze. Rolling hills with flocks of sheep passed underneath her, and the shepherds tending to their flocks never saw her approach or pass them by as she began the descent towards a large village nestled along a rocky V-shaped wedge next to a seaside shoreline.
Mantis-like demons stealthily collapsed in from all sides, even lying in wait underneath the waves, and her dozens of angels began to climb at her signal. With another wave, she formed a sharper descent while folding their wings to dive - separating herself from the rest as she started the search.
***
Cloaked in a plain brown robe, she looked like an ordinary but abnormally beautiful woman with long dark hair and a confident stride. However, she did have a bandage wrapped around her eyes, covering them entirely, which got her some odd looks. There were other traders here though, most of them having docked ships along the shoreline, so it wasn’t too abnormal to have a stranger walking through the dirt streets full of fishing equipment and farmstuffs.
Her senses extended, not picking up anything abnormal. If greed operatives were indeed here, they were pretty good. But she doubted Greed would send anyone but the best that he had on hand for a job like this, killing the other reincarnations was probably very high on the original sin’s list of priorities to do. So she kept her invisible mana feelers extended and her soul on guard.
And then she saw it.
The first sign that she was in the right place.
Pausing, she stared down a dark alley to the back end where a large pile of hay was laid out against a stone wall. A scrawny man was there, stick thin and loudly hacking with a vicious cough. The skin along his body was sunken and fragile, with large green and purple spots starting to show themselves, and he was missing a single finger on his left hand. For anyone else they’d have just assumed the man was bruised, but for her…
Amelia had seen this kind of sickness before.
Making an effort to see if this sickness was present elsewhere she quickly found it present in other places too. While calmly walking to the large village’s interior, she saw two young women in an outdoor bar with similar hacking coughs - and an older woman who was retching while feeding her horse tied to a post. The old woman in particular had spots that were more visible than the others, was missing part of her ear, and people were giving her wary glances - with some drunk passersby even telling her that she should go see a healer.
“I’m fine! I said I’m fine!” The old woman croaked, dry heaving out to the side and finishing the knot to keep her horse in place before using a cane to start hobbling down the street - swatting at a young man who tried to help her. “Get lost kid! I’m going to get a potion from my son’s shop. I’ll be right as rain soon!”
The old woman had turned to scold the young man, and didn’t see that Amelia had placed herself in front of her. The hag ran right into Amelia’s chest with a resounding UMPH, before rubbing her nose and scowling up at the much taller, blindfolded stranger.
“I’m walkin’ here, you blind bitch!” The hag said with a growl, and began to step around Amelia - when Amelia’s hand shot out to place a palm on the woman’s sternum.
“Tell me…” Amelia ignored the rude jab, using a soothing voice while bending over to whisper into the old woman’s ear. “Do you happen to have any gambling halls here?”
“Gambling halls? Of course we do! It’s been here forever, now scram!”
From behind her, the young man who’d been slapped with the cane coughed under one hand to get Amelia’s attention. “Eh, nah the old lady’s wrong. The place has only been open a little less than two months now, but we do have a gambling hall further down and to the right. Has a signpost saying ‘Greggis Narzizi The Coinpouch.’ Don’t ask me about the name, but that’s the place.”
The villager pointed further down the street.
Amelia’s grin spread further, to almost extreme proportions concerning what most humans could do, and quickly stood to bypass the hag and the young man - flipping the boy a platinum coin which he scrambled to catch when he saw what it was.
Five minutes later she was standing in front of a rickety 2-story wooden building with no windows and the stench of sweat wafting out the front door. The poorly made sign overhead next to a burning lantern spelled out ‘Greggis Narzizi The Coinpouch’ in poor black ink, just like she’d been told to look for.
Pushing open the wobbly hinged door, Amelia scanned the room.
Three large circular tables playing cards were in the center. A bar was in the back, and a cockfighting ring was set up to the right where some birds were killing one another. On the left hand side were two scantily clad women dancing with men throwing drinks on them while hooting and hollering.
The ceiling though… that was where her interest really turned to. Unknown to all the mortal patrons inside, which comprised most but definitely not all of the people in this ‘establishment’, a runic formation of very specific demonic origin had been placed down with invisible ink over their heads. The tell tale signs of the Church of Greed stood out like a neon sign to her, not only in the formation but in the people themselves. The gamblers at the table had manic looks in their eyes, betting away their life savings against the house to the hollering laughter of onlookers. The screaming people at the cockfighting ring had froth coming out of their mouth, their eyes bloodshot, and many of them had already bet away the very clothes they had on their backs - going all in more often than not on a single bet.
And when they couldn’t pay for their losses?
Well that’s when they started betting pieces of their own bodies. A finger here, the tip of a nose, an ear, a toe…
A liver.
One man was already dead on the floor in the corner from lacking that particular organ, though many of the other patrons either thought he was just passed out due to intoxication - or they were so caught up in the ritual circle’s potent draw overhead that they didn’t even care. The spots on their bodies were beginning to show on seven of the attendees as of right now, and doubtless the others would soon see purple and green spots appearing on their own skin if they stayed more than a couple hours or visited frequently. The places of worship Greed inspired were always like this, where people either came out on the very top with absolutely everything - or having bet away their very lives. These people, even if they left today with massive amounts of wealth, would very likely come back here and do the same thing over and over again until, eventually, they’d lose it all in one massive bet. Then they’d be right back at the bottom again, losing it all to the house in the end.
This story has been taken without authorization. any sightings.
And if there was a Greed church here on Panu… well it was highly likely that the vampire was close by.
Amelia reached into her pocket and clicked a button on a circular device two times over, sending the coded message indicating that it was the place they were looking for and to be ready at a moment’s notice - but not to charge in just yet. She got the response signal only three seconds later indicating that they understood.
Behind the bar, one of the burly shirtless men working there smiled wide at her appearance and waved her over. “Eh, pretty lass! Want a drink!?”
Amelia slowly shifted her stance, then proceeded to walk to the bar.
“I can get a stool for you and help you sit-” The man began to say, but Amelia pulled out the stool herself and easily sat down by her own efforts. The man raised an eyebrow. “You could do that so fluidly but don’t have eyes to see with?”
“I have eyes.” Amelia said with a sweet smile, inspecting the man’s illusory body up and down - seeing through it like it was only a ghost of an image. “Just not the kind you think of when you use the word, ‘eyes.’”
The tiefling, for that was what he was, furrowed his brows in confusion - and she sensed an identification ability of some kind sweep over her; but she was certain that anything in the F, E, D, or even C grades wouldn’t be able to identify her properly even as she was now. Not unless she willed them to see. So instead, the man just saw her as a level 1 human woman. Not a threat, likely a civilian due to absolute lack of combat levels, and mortal at that.
The tiefling disguised as a shirtless human man blinked, shrugged, and smiled while passing over a mug of thick foamy ale. “First drink’s on me! Then you’ve gotta either pay up, or start gambling. Gamblers who bet at least three times a night have a free drink every hour without charge!”
Amelia snorted in amusement, and looked down at the cheap ale barely fit for pigs. She dipped a slender finger into the concoction and swirled it around, getting rid of the foam to see her reflection staring back at her. She took a sip, and it tasted just as bad as it smelled. Putting it down and pushing the drink back towards the bartender, she leaned forward with a playful and seductive smile. “This isn’t for me. I was hoping you had something better… stronger, perhaps?”
“Stronger? How strong are we talking?”
“The strongest you have. And if you want to put anything in it to give it a little bit of a kick, that’d be appreciated.”
She was pushing for a very specific concoction. One she knew the Church of Greed often used to incapacitate mortals before the drink rewired their brains. It was more of a poison than an alcohol, even though it was technically alcohol by exact definitions, but it was cursed by the priests of Greed with a drop of pure Greed-flavored sin. It was an easy way to get sacrificial followers for the church, and although it wasn’t mind control it did have very persuasive effects that let people give in to their basic and most greedy natures.
Why was she pushing for that?
Because she wanted to see where they brewed it. The alcoholic concoction had to be cursed by a Greed priest an hour or less prior to being consumed for it to work, and she couldn’t risk this not being the place that Crendir the vampire was being kept. A priest would be needed for interrogation purposes. If this man was just a simple acolyte or honor guard, which probably made up the majority of the Greed agents currently on Panu as true priests were hard to come by in lower grades, then striking him down and abducting him should they not find the vampire in this place would lead to little information and blow their chance at recovering the elder god’s blood.
So if they gave her the drink she was looking for… that very specific tonic, then she would know a priest was very close by and this wasn’t just some Church of Greed outpost.
Lo and behold, the man’s eyes twinkled in delight behind the counter, and he leaned forward with a telling grin. “Oye… I think I have just what you might be looking for!”
Reaching down behind the bar, he unlocked a cabinet and pulled out a large glass jug of purple liquid. The fluid inside screamed out to Amelia Deathfeather’s senses like a banshee’s wail, and due to her own ingrained doctrines of Wrath she had to keep herself from recoiling.
The man glanced left, right, and center - popping open the jug and letting it pour out into a smaller, more pristine glass one would usually find in a high class restaurant. He passed over the drink of purple simmering fluid and excitedly gestured for her to drink it. “Go on! This one is on the house since you didn’t like your first round… But be nice to me even if you hate it! I made this drink myself!”
Himself?
She almost paused in her act of reaching out to take the glass, but fluidly continued on as if what he’d said hadn’t triggered her in any way, shape or form. Knowing this kind of drink wouldn’t affect HER at all like it would a mortal woman, she downed it in one go - and let the foreign sin energy try to wrap its tendrils around her soul as the fluid dispersed throughout her body.
The man’s eyes narrowed in delight. “Do you like it?”
She let out a satisfied sigh as she felt the Greed-flavored sin get washed away in a rapid torrent of Wrath sin within her, and purred in delight while setting the glass down. She raised her chin to stare at him more closely, and motioned for another drink. “May I?”
“Certainly!” The man said, beginning to pour yet again as the fine fluid splashed into the glass cup.
She hummed in amusement at the eagerness he expressed. She’d heard that these priests got some sort of points in a merit system by taking in people like her, if they gathered enough souls that could be absorbed into their profane rituals they got massive boons. But she didn’t know what those boons were, nor did she care. However, she couldn’t help but snicker at the sheer outpouring of happiness the man had by feeding her cursed liquid in an attempt to make her soul one of those that counted towards his rewards.
“Hey… I have a question.” She said, taking the second glass and sipping it halfway down before eyeing the man curiously. She kicked up a leg an displaced it onto the stool next to her, showing a bit of her ankle as she drew up her skirt inch by inch. “You wouldn’t happen to have a place where visitors could stay long term now, would you?”
The tiefling eyed her ankle, then her exposed lower leg. He chuckled with delight and nodded, hiking a thumb to the back door. “This isn’t an inn… but we have a cellar out that way where some of our workers live… If you’d want to stay the night, perhaps something can be arranged?”
She clicked the button on her trinket five times inside her pocket to signal the others. Her smile abruptly grew vicious, causing the man to backpedal at the strange presence she exuded just by the face she’d made. “Perhaps. But it depends… You wouldn’t happen to have a vampire named Crendir in there too, would you?”
The tiefling disguised as a man went from curiously off put, to suddenly shocked. Then multiple high tier presences slammed down onto their surroundings sealing off all escape measures or artifacts and closing down a spatial lock around anyone that’d try to flee through skills. Five other people, all tieflings disguised as humans throughout the bar, shot up to their feet in abrupt alarm as yelling and shouting between them in demonic tongues could be heard over the crowd of patrons. Meanwhile, the man looking back at Amelia began to grow pale.
Licking his lips, his eyes never left her bandaged gaze as towering auras exploded all around the village and began to converge. Sweat trickled down his brow, and he nervously gulped while whipping it away. His voice came out as a quivering whisper. “Oh no.”
Amelia couldn’t help but cackle. “Oh no? Not oh no! How about, oh yes!?”
CRASH
A mammoth crab, a five-legged clawed creature of the abyss, suddenly launched itself through the floor and up into the establishment just as Tre’Zix blew through a nearby wall. The abyss creature and the archdemon were simultaneously caught by surprise as debris flew throughout the room, scattering screaming men and women in various directions as a shockwave exploded between the two beings. Surprised tieflings shedding their illusions began to draw wands, shortswords and daggers -and many more of them began flooding in from the back door where the cellar should be.
But the demonic mantis warriors were already tearing through different parts of the walls and through the open door. Massive blade arms and piercing clicking mandibles launched themselves towards the tieflings with incredible speed, and angels of death from overhead placed buffs on them to dissipate many of the miracles, martial arts and spells being flung their way.
“THE OTHER SINS HAVE FOUND US!” An alcyote warrior shouted over his shoulder to the oncoming Greed servants before his head was sliced cleanly off and sent spiraling across the floor, bouncing on the wooden floorboards and dripping blood.
The low level civilian humans in the crossfire were ripped apart with little thought, acting like bloody gut-filled pinatas that couldn’t take even the most pathetic of attacks from these much higher level combatants facing off.
“FOR GREED’S GLORY!” The bartender screamed, ripping out a large stone from a spacial bag at his side as his illusions vanished to reveal the horned, tailed demon man with red skin staring back at her in a manic fashion. He crushed the stone in his palm, and began to howl as sin energy raced along his arms and into his chest.
Amelia cackled and let her six black wings tear out of her back, green eyeballs along the feathers opening simultaneously by the dozens to stare at the tiefling and paralyze him in place.
He gasped at the sight, recognizing who she was immediately. His voice began to stutter as he said: “A-Amelia D-Deathfeather… Oh fuck…”
She could feel his aura struggling against her own, and the violence around them picked up as ambushed tieflings were barreled over by the larger buffed mantis counterparts, but she kept her focus on the one who had claimed to make that tonic all on his own. If he was a priest he would know far too valuable of information to just let him die in a suicidal act to blow himself up like that.
Gently lifting a finger, she touched the stone in his hand and began to draw the suicidal energy back from within his body and into the artifact again. The paralyzed tiefling’s veins bulge along his face, and watery teardrops of frustration and shame began welling up under his eyes as a tieflings corpse split in two flew by them by only a few feet.
“Now…” Amelia said as the carnage heated up around her. She took another sip of her drink, only having eyes for him while tiefling warriors futility battled on in a desperate attempt to beat back one of the best and most loyal warrior clans Gluttony used in the crusades of old. “Tell me what kind of traps you’ve hidden in that little cellar of yours! I know your kind well, Greedling, and wouldn’t want my people walking into one of those ridiculously complex booby traps you creatures like to place inside your lairs. Tell me what I want to know, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll let you live.”
The Greed operative’s nostrils flared, and he let out a croaking scream of denial.
She merely shrugged, blasting away a claymore-wielding tiefling man with one of her wings, and reached slowly forward with her left hand to caress one of the man’s eyes. “Tell me what I want to know… or you’ll end up just like me. Without eyes.”
Her fingers dug into the man’s eye socket, as the rest of his body remained clenched up, his soul not able to call on his mana given the extreme pressure she was putting on him. The suppression was complete, and he could only scream and cry as she plucked an eyeball from his head - ripping out the optic nerve and all.
“I have all night!” She mused as he began to shake and sob. “Just tell me what I want to know… so that I don’t have to go all the way with this. Tell me what secrets that cellar has in it, Greedling, and perhaps I’ll even have a place in our ranks for one such as you.”

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Chapter 358