Chapter 188

Despite the abrupt surge in power, despite revealing his ultimate form to combat this demonic arachnid, Tikus felt both inferior and small when the creature began to reform. His gray wings sagged, his flex claws that’d so recently torn the spider’s body in half stiffened, and his eyes widened in shock as he beheld the creature’s new body recreate itself before his very eyes.

Bones snapped. Scythe-like legs each bigger than he was snapped out and crashed into the ground. Four narrowed red eyes looked down at him like he was some kind of bug to squash, and a smile of jagged teeth smiled wide.

What was once a small, dog-sized spider had now rapidly warped from the pieces of its mutilated body and grown to hundreds of times its original size. Black flesh turned to white, crystalline flowers bloomed along the creature’s skin, and a drider far larger than any should ever become grinned down at him with teasing malice as Athela licked her lips.

She oozed power. The very air around her became frosty, and occasional sparks of lightning crackled around forming snowflakes as a crystalline maw down her lower midsection opened with a hiss - tendrils of black and blue snaking out in his direction with slow, monotonous intent. She was beautiful, but also a creature that could be torn out of nightmares, and her own aura of something primal - something that reached out to him with a hunger at the most basic essence of conscious thought tore into his very soul with probing feelers.

Tikus took a step back without thinking, whispering under his breath. “What in the hells!?”

A warhorn echoed to his left, and both Tikus and the large demon took a moment to look. Marching towards them, over five hundred vampiric paladins wielding claymores and mechanical armored biosuits were rushing their way - activating various buffs, speed boosts and martial arts in preparation for battle. They were some of Rippenvire’s elites, and the Slayfather’s heart grew firm with resolution. He still stood a chance.

Though the demon… laughed, and she didn’t seem intimidated or worried at all.

Athela lifted up one arm, and the ground shuddered when a pillar of ice tore out of the ground in front of her. Red runes intermixed with deep black, writhing along the pillar that continued to rise out of the ground like a monument to her glory. Ice sculpture carvings, figurines of beautiful women and men, demon and fairy alike, but most of all - hundreds of spiders all climbed atop one another to try and reach the summit while being weighed down by rune-inscribed chains of red-black flame. Half the zone within the 5 mile battle bubble began to simultaneously burn and freeze, spiraling around her in a great cycle that interchanged in waves of elemental fae ice and sin-based flame.

Her hands raised higher, the pillar climbed, the ice sculptures screamed out as one - and the great maw along her midsection roared with a pulse of energy that breathed a storm of destruction. It interwoven into the cycle, creating a huge tornado of ice and dark fire that roared and shook the earth with voluminous, expanding, ripping force.

Tikus flared his wings, channeling his mana as the paladin elite of his homeworld joined him in solidarity. One by one they saluted him and formed a line, awaiting his orders with red eyes flaring alongside their auras. “MEN OF RIPPENVIRE!”

“YES SLAYFATHER!” The hundreds strong soldiers yelled back, claymores simmering with unholy light - and as one they conjured large towershields that crashed into the ground with a resounding boom.

A defiance in the face of the immense power this archdemon faced. And Tikus? He couldn’t be more proud of them.

Towering over the others and drawing a battle formation, the equivalent of dozens of sigils and empowered circles of dark mana, that reinforced a given area for all defenders inside it - the large winged vampire snarled at the oncoming tornado that continued to build. The formation boomed and roared, unleashing a wall of miasma that tore through the sky of the enclosed system-made dome - and Tikus pointed. “YOU WILL FALL, DEMON! THE MEN OF RIPPENVIRE WILL NOT FAIL HERE! AND I WILL MOUNT YOUR GIGANTIC HEAD ON MY WALL!”

“Hmmm… hmm-hmmmhmm-haaahahahahaAAAHAAHAHAAHAAA!!!!” Athela’s laugh grew and her hands weaved tapestries of intricate keys, unlocking the mechanisms of her spell until a gigantic single celtic-styled rune ripped the sky overhead. The pillar of ice, flaming chains and climbing sculptures with red and black sigils made contact with the skybound mark - and as soon as it did, the earth thundered.

*CRRASSSSSSHHHHHH*

It was like an atomic bomb had gone off. Rows of buildings froze, burned, and crumbled. Fire tore through the earth, ice froze the very air, and the barrier erected by the vampiric elite crumbled in a flash.

Tikus screamed in fear when he realized what that strange energy really was. Watching pieces of his hand alight as he kept an arm over his eyes, he felt pieces of his very soul apparatus begin to chew away.

He hadn’t been sure before, but now he was certain. This was SIN energy.

This creature had somehow acquired a piece of original sin… and now that he was sure of it with mounting horror, he saw that giant vertical maw along her front for what it really was.

This was a harbinger of Gluttony, and an instant after the area of effect attack went off - the giant creature was amongst them.

*WHIP*

*SNAP*

*CRACK*

*BOOM*

Blood sprayed everywhere.

Athela’s scythe-like legs tore through the vampiric paladins like they were a child’s dolls. If he hadn’t known better, Tikus would never have guessed these were the strongest soldiers of their level prior to being let into this newly integrated world. This was not how things were supposed to go, this was not how the invasion was supposed to proceed. How could he let himself die within less than a week of arriving on this new planet?

How had this happened?

The demon’s hands rapidly underwent motions, summoning magics that crashed into her surroundings as dozens, then hundreds, and then thousands of spiders poured out of her giant maw like an avalanche. It was so fast that the vampires nearby were buried within seconds, and only their screams were heard as the dog-sized white and blue arachnids - a variant of blood weavers - poured over the vampiric invaders like a wave of hunger.

Electrified snowflakes rippled and swirled, latching onto the mechanical armor of the paladins and stunning them for the spiders to attack - and thick, icy mists rapidly bloomed out of the flowers all along Athela’s body as she moved three times faster than any of the vampiric host could.

Tikus coughed blood and then screamed as he felt one of the thousands of spiders tear into his leg, but he smashed the ice-made creature with a single blow.

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Only to have three more launch themselves his way - taking him down with frenzied screeches and biting fangs that spread frostbite all along his body.

It would have been his final moments, laying there being devoured alive by the archdemon’s summoned minions, but then something odd happened.

Time froze yet again, similar to when the world-boss fight had started, and a new notification appeared with screens blipping into existence in front of all participants currently locked in combat within the dome.

WARNING

WARNING

WARNING

A JUDGEMENT DESCENDS.

THREE HARBINGERS OF GLUTTONY HAVE COME TO JOIN THE BATTLE. THEY SEEK TO CLAIM SHARDS OF SIN FOR THE GREAT MAW, READY TO TAKE BACK WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY OWNED BY THE HUNGERING ONE. ALL WILL SUFFER, ALL WILL PERISH, ALL WILL BECOME FUEL FOR THE TIDE OF THE HUNGERING CHOSEN.

DESPAIR.

BEGINNING BATTLE IN

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

Tikus felt numb, his chest burst and split, and before his very eyes - tendrils of darkness ripped out of his heart and buried themselves into his limbs. His mind faded into the background as something else, a new, sinister entity overcame his thoughts - overpowering his will and creating nothing but a husk of the man that’d once been Slayfather of the Rippenvire invasion fleet.

And in his place, a monster began to rise.

***

Athela watched in silence as her own shard of Gluttony screamed at her to eat and devour the three newcomers; the three apostates that would dare defy the maw’s will.

Odd, that this particular piece of Gluttony viewed other pieces as nothing but food for its own growth - but so was the will of the great maw. Until only one remained, they would eternally be in conflict, trying to devour each other until a singular entity finally remained.

Her spiderlings withdrew, the wave of white and blue spreading out rapidly through the mists as her four red eyes narrowed into slits. She took a step back when the three bodies, each of them previously having been ranking vampires of the Rippenvire, exploded in showers of gore. Vertical maws ripped out of their chests and screamed to the heavens, black tendrils ripping out from the void and tearing into any biomass nearby to quickly devour it - fueling the transformation of the three harbingers while their bodies rapidly grew.

The first was a giant burning stag with a skull for a face, sightless and horns radiating even more brilliantly than the rest of its body.

The second grew into a grotesque abomination, fat and full of rolls with various arms, legs and eyes. It had two main humanoid legs and the same could be said for the arms though, while it carried a large morning star with a shadowy spiked ball on a chain.

The third was more human in shape and size when compared to the giant abominations who first appeared, but this one was by far the most powerful. A creature built of shadow, this was without a doubt a dread-wraith. A void creature, partially built of spirit and partially built from empty space itself - dressed in black robes with a black hood and black scimitars. In fact it was so black that the only thing giving off any true definition was gluttony’s maw up and down the front of its chest.

Which was a similar trait that the other two shared as well, though each of these maws had their own unique characteristics. Gluttony’s maw on the dread-wraith was created from shadow, Athela’s was created from crystalline ice, the abomination’s maw breathed out toxic rotting fumes and leaked flesh, while the stag’s was made of infernal flames.

Each monster emitted auras that matched Athela’s own, each was a true powerhouse just as she was, and each of them hungrily eyed her as the four seeds of gluttony roared and screeched at one another in anticipation of the fight to come. It also appeared that because the stag particularly had claimed the Rippenvire Slayfather as a temporary host, Athela couldn’t end this event without killing the creature inhabiting him too.

“Athela…” The shadowy wraith spoke her name as a whisper, but the voice was so filled with power than her very body trembled involuntarily. It took a step forward and held out a hand to her, black blades forming in either palm and pointing one of them in her direction. “We have come to claim your soul… In the name of the great maw, we have judged you unworthy. Prepare to…”

The wraith’s head turned left, and within only seconds the entire domed arena Elysium had set up shook and quaked. A feeling of utter rage set upon them all, red frost beginning to coat the ground rapidly from the point where this malicious aura crept from. The sky of the event dome turned red, then bright crimson, and through the wall of shimmering light - Riven walked through.

His plated foot touched solid ground with a resounding boom, his own maw across messenger’s ivory breastplate screamed in anticipation, and red eyes flared as he leveled the blade rippling with ribbons of blood at the three monsters aligned against his friend. The weapon roared, the seeds of gluttony all simultaneously screamed, and the city shattered under his feet when he launched himself forward.

***

High Queen Nephridi cackled with delight on her balcony as she watched her great grandson demolish the Rippenvire fleet over the course of mere minutes. And the fact that it was Rippenvire, a vassal of The Blood Moon Requiem's most prominent but still friendly rival, only made it even sweeter. And hilarious. Entire squadrons fell in the blink of an eye, torn asunder by powers far beyond anything that should be expected at this level. Clouds of blades, torrents of crimson ribbons, and thunderous clouds of black bolts vaporized absolutely everything that got in his path.

Truly her grandson was something special. In the beginning, Nephridi had higher hopes for Allie - and although her granddaughter had still shown incredible promise, it still paled in comparison to her brother now.

If Riven continued to grow this rapidly, if he continued to gain insights this fast, if his seed of Gluttony was able to absorb the other pieces here, then she had no doubt that he’d be almost unstoppable when thrown against the other forces on this planet. Riven was developing into an army killer, one that did better against larger numbers than he did against smaller groups of concentrated power. Each death fueled him even more, if only temporarily. She was already betting the other invaders were avidly hoping for his downfall here against the unforeseen judgement, but should he live…

Should he live, the only way to kill him with the forces they’d mustered would be to make sure he didn’t engage their united armies. They’d have to take him out with fewer numbers of elites, perhaps some supreme treasures if they’d brought any, in order to make sure his power didn’t grow to exponential heights like it had now. The accumulation of death and blood in the area had empowered him to match even the harbingers of gluttony in a one on one battle at the moment, but it was only temporary. It was a boon granted to him by all the carnage he’d created amidst the weaker members of the Rippenvire fleet, now reduced to hundreds of thousands of mangled corpses that would no doubt feed his sister’s army of undead. All that blood energy mixing in with a man who had a 100% Blood affinity was just astronomically terrorizing, and she had to give it to him - he’d been the first to have that particular affinity reach 100% ever since herself.

It made her wonder just how alike they’d be in terms of how they handled Blood mana, and she was interested to find out should they ever meet.

Turning her attention to Allie and her own activities concerning that human boy, High Queen Nephridi’s smile faded into a frown. She tisked, and caught the attention of her man-servant who held a tray of tarts to her side while overlooking the capital city. “I do hope she doesn’t fall for that welpling… There are so many others who’d literally kill to take her as a bride. Even now, bidding for her hand in marriage has begun - and I’d hate to break it to her the hard way that she now belongs to The Blood Moon Requiem.”

Her manservant raised an eyebrow, red eyes shining almost as brightly as hers. Though he was merely a servant, to serve the queen meant he had to be at minimum a pureblooded vampire himself - lest he tarnish her presence with his filth. “Do you not feel the same way about your grandson?”

“What about him?”

“His relationship with… that succubus. The people of the empire watching these events unfold on the frontier are eating it up rather nicely, I must say. Many are cheering for her, but then again - many are rooting for Athela too.”

High Queen Nephridi giggled, then loudly laughed while watching the battle unfold between five harbingers of Gluttony - a rare sight indeed. “No dear, those are demonic contracts. They are toys, nothing more, so he can play with them however he chooses. Do not worry, we will find Riven a good, pureblooded wife. And I do believe that, according to Kathrine’s reports, she’s already managed to woo him once. Her family is delighted, and the bidding wars on him are already raging just as fiercely… though should she claim his heart before integration ends, I have already told her that she may have the spot regardless of who wins the bidding. We will see how it all unfolds, and five years from now when we bring them to their family’s inheritance - I hope to see them both bear us children. They both have the gift, and chances of passing the prophecy on to future generations is exponentially increased by ones who are more than just passive genetic carriers.”