am-books Chapter 312: (7 Chapters today)
Chapter 312: (7 Chapters today)
Chapter 312: (7 Chapters today)
Chapter 312
[You will be required to visit all 4 Chalgathi altar sites and activate each of the shrines, as well as acquire 10,000 event points before being allowed to leave this event. Doing so will also give you knowledge of the location of Chalgahti’s Temple, where Chalgathi’s incubation chamber has been hidden.
There are 21 registered Cultists.
7 Chalgathi Cultists, 6 Chubin Cultists, and 8 Nekra Cultists
There are 9 registered Non-Cultists entering this event.
3 Chalgathi Non-Cultists, 4 Chubin Non-Cultists, and 2 Nekra Non-Cultists]
The old notification was dismissed from her vision.
With Riven’s temporary absence from Chalgathi’s games, the cultists had used their numbers to far outstrip the non-cultists meant to save Panu from unleashing the apocalypse beasts. Interrogation methods had revealed to her that the cultists were mostly around the 5000 to 6800 point mark, while most of the non-cultists were trailing behind that and on average sitting around 3500 to 4500. Far beyond what Riven had at the moment.
But those odds had drastically changed once Nora had arrived, new and improved - and with a vendetta. It was also now known to her that point accumulation got harder the more people acquired. Point accumulation on the side of the cultists had thus abruptly stagnated, and although the other non-cultists weren’t necessarily on Nora’s team - they wouldn’t be able to make up the difference in points to matter enough by the time Riven got back. She would leave the other non-cultists alone... for now.
“Twinkle, twinkle, little star!”
Blood splattered along the castle’s far wall as Nora’s singsong voice echoed throughout the corridors with the laughter of her others.
“How I wonder what you are!”
CRUNCH
SPLAT
RIP
Her target squealed in pained anguish. “HELP ME YOU COWARD BASTARDS!”
But the others were running for their lives. She moved, ripping off a cultist’s arm and beating him to death with it in three quick strokes before dropping the bloodied limb with a splat.
“Up above the world so high...”
The abyssal giant’s spirit she’d captured rumbled into under the twinkling night sky, a shadowy remnant of the creature she’d killed in the labyrinth - its giant foot crushed fleeing peasants that’d decided to support the cultist cause. It reached down, a sickly smile on its face, its eyes a pale white, as magma dripped out of its maw. It grabbed a fleeing man as the peasant tried to scream, but crushed him in its grasp before bringing the corpse to its mouth - and chomping down with a gory gnashing of teeth.
Nora stopped her singing, watching the procession of dying people scramble like ants to flee not only the fortress - but the city itself. All around her, shifting two-dimensional vantablack figures crazed with gleeful laughter tore their claws through the spines and innards of their victims. She was the butcher, and everyone else here were lambs for the slaughter.
Bringing a finger up to her black lips, the sickly smile that nearly never left her face was stretched from ear to ear underneath the Chalgathi Cowl event item she was forced to wear in this place. It designated her as a non cultist, so these people all knew just why they had to die. They were paying for their sins. Paying for who they’d helped. “Now, now, now... Where did that other cultist run off to... I swear I smelled her earlier... and we can’t have them get to 10,000 points without Riven being here of course!”
A flash of light to the left caused Nora’s eyes to dart that way, and she let out a giggling exclamation when she finally found the target she’d been searching for. “Oh goodie! TIME TO KILL!”
Nora’s blades stretched and warped, her limbs elongated to gangly, unnatural things that propelled her forward - and in an instant she was gone. Off to murder another one.
***
[Blood Token Prizes are now finished. You and your minions have been analyzed based on need and want. Narg has not participated in this floor, and will not receive any prize. Fay’s lack of her entire ability set has been noted due to high cost of pain and self injury when casting cursed Affliction Fireball, and so a wand has been made for her to reduce the pain. Genua’s desire to make her healing more potent to keep others safe has been noted, so prayer beads that increase the efficacy of her miracles while chanting have been granted. Athela’s desire to be a real princess has been noted, so her tiara has been modified to hold influence over her own weaker arachnid counterparts while maintaining the assassin traits of the original tiara. Azmoth’s lacking confidence to effectively use his race’s traditional Shengari Shields and a desire to use his old Hellforged Maul has been noted, so the shields have been melted down and remade into a maul fitting of such an archdemon, while maintaining the size-shifting properties of the shields so the maul will match his own stature. The Unholy halberd Gluttony chose as a temporary weapon from what you could find in the descent has been re-evaluated to make it a better long term weapon: adding Sin aspects to the weapon while maintaining the dissolving acidic effects. Your halberd has been engulfed in an egg, and will emerge from its egg to match your secondary class based on how Gluttony forges the class.]
[Fay has received: Bone Wand of Curse Reduction]
[Genua has received: Prayer Beads of the Red Dawn’s Chant]
[Athela’s Tiara of Silent Killing has become: Tiara of the Spider Princess]
[Azmoth’s Shengari Shields have become: Infernal Shengari Maul]
[Your awakened weapon, Giant’s Jade Halberd of Dissolving, has become: Egg of Halberd’s Hatching.]
Athela’s tiara had grown in size and added intricacy, with the forefront protrusion at the front of the tiara now sticking up just slightly beyond the front of her hood. Carvings of arachnid demons lined the black metal, with the image of her own drider form lifting up the central ruby, and a few more elegant protrusions with their own rubies were now present out to the sides of the central tallest on along her forehead. She was absolutely ecstatic, more or less because of the tiara’s name rather than anything else, and Riven had a hard time not laughing at her excitement. Instead he merely encouraged her and talked about how pretty the tiara was, which made the demoness all the happier.
Azmoth’s maul was, for a lack of better words, exactly identical to his old maul except that instead of stone - it was made from the metal of the shengari shields that’d been melted away. There were lines of magma and infernal power running up and down the huge weapon, but honestly this one rather confused Riven. He’d had no idea that Azmoth didn’t like his new weapons and wondered why the hellscape brutalisk had even used them in the first place if that’d been the case.
Kara was rather interested in the old lich’s story, especially about the part where he wanted to tear down civilizations with blight plague and turn them all into undead - but it didn’t take off the nagging feeling she had about what was about to come. “Somewhat... Though I would not say that I am jealous of Riven. Perhaps I am jealous of Athela and Fay, but that is because of his affections towards them - not because I am wanting their power. I barely scraped by to level 200 and doubt I’ll ever reach the D-grade, I am weak, I hate fighting, and it was nothing less than a miracle that I got to where I am. I would have died without Riven’s interference a few floors back, and probably should have died numerous times over before then as well. More than anything I am just adjusting to the idea that I may actually accompany Riven back to your world, Panu - and am wondering what life there will be like if I manage to make it.”
“He said you could accompany him back?” Retesh asked. “Interesting. I do not mean to be rude, but why? As you have said yourself, you don’t bring much to our group. And I’m not even sure how he’d manage it to begin with. Crossing universes is no easy feat.”
Kara winced, but she’d said it herself and couldn’t argue otherwise. “I believe it was a combination of pity, circumstance, and empathy on his part. I will likely remain in his service forever given the life debt I owe him, but I will attempt to repay the kindness in one way or another.”
“Odd to think than an original sin’s reincarnation would find it in their heart to have empathy towards you.
Kara laughed. “I agree! But I won’t take it for granted.”
Riven’s voice cut across their conversation when he turned around and finished talking to his three demonic minions and Genua. “Has everyone chosen to accept their requested audiences? Am I alright to proceed?”
Prince Rantali gave a thumbs up. “My parents will be attending the audience! I should like to introduce you!”
Riven smiled with a nod. “That is fine. Retesh? Kara?”
Retesh summoned a chair of bones from the piles around the altar and leaned back. “I have none. My followers were given instructions to follow the laws of the Thane Necropolis after migrating, I can’t think of a reason why they’d need to speak with me right now anyways given Allie’s return.”
Kara’s eyes met Riven’s, and she felt herself stiffen under his gaze.
“No need to be shy, hun!” Athela teased, jabbing her in the side to produce a yelp. “I thought we’d gotten over this in our little bonding experiment!”
The vampire knights following Prince Rantali laughed.
Blushing profusely Kara huffed and swatted away Athela’s elbow and ignored the way Athela hungrily looked her up and down. “I-I just am nervous is all.”
“Why?” Riven simply asked, shifting his weight to lean on Azmoth’s arm with a protruding elbow of Riven’s own.
“Because my audience... Uhm, my father is going to be there. Probably.” Kara winced as Riven’s face hardened. She knew Riven wasn’t a fan of what her father had done to her, but she didn’t want this interaction going poorly even if she did end up finding a way to Panu. There was also the chance that she’d have to go back home and wait for the means to do so, and she really didn’t want to be in bad graces with her father, Zafima, and especially the leader of her empire. “Eh... possibly the emperor too. Probably. Do I have to accept?”
“Ahh! She’s so cute!” Athela laughed, patting Kara on the shoulder. “Of course you don’t have to accept!”
“If you don’t want to accept, then don’t.” Riven shrugged indifferently. “Not any of our business.”
Kara bit her lip. “Uhm... and if I do accept? Will you all be there with me?”
Fay rolled her eyes as Athela began to laugh louder.
“Quite unnnnnn-confident in ourselves, aren’t we?” Riven said with a smirk. “What, do you want us to stand next to you as you speak to them?”
“I, uh, that’d be great!” Kara said, beaming at the idea while looking at the floor and kicking at the ground with one of her leather boots. “It would help a lot... actually...”
Riven gave her a flat look, then snorted a laugh. “Sure. We can all stand right beside one another and get chummy.”
“I’ll even hold your hand!” Athela giggled, pressing up against Kara’s body and wrapping her obsidian fingers around Kara’s own.
Kara stammered something unintelligible, but nodded and accepted her fate. Then she selected the option to accept the audience with her homeland.
“Looks like we’re ready then.” Riven said as he made some selections with the system administrator. “Not sure what to expect, but here goes.”
[Floor 22 is near completion. Your team has accepted the following audiences:
High Queen Nephridi, of The Blood Moon Requiem, Universe 10
The Unholy Archbishop Prek An-Gash, of The Church of Gluttony, The 9th Circle of Hell
The Court of Emperor Adali, Ruler of Purturis, Universe 70
King and Queen Rantali, of the Vampiric Kingdom of Garth, Universe 70
You will have a short time to speak with them one at a time, before Elysium offers these outside influences beyond The Abyssal Descent a list of potential buy options they may purchase with Elysium Coins. The first up is The Vampiric Kingdom of Garth, Universe 70.]