Chapter 287
The sudden sound of the crowds around the miles-wide arena came into earshot when the illusions of the perimeter’s barrier vanished, and it was utterly deafening. Applause for a good fight, no doubt, but Riven was utterly spent.
Even as the system’s own spells rapidly reworked his body, repaired his equipment, cleared the battlefield’s devastation and resurrected the team mates he’d just killed - his soul was exhausted from the strenuous effort. Gluttony had receded as well for whatever reason, and a portal with three adjacent metal chests laden with gold appeared a little bit off to his left.
However, he was not in the worst of it. Most of his party stared at him, or at one another, in absolute shock at what had just happened. Fay began to sob uncontrollably, falling to her knees as she sputtered pleas for forgiveness. Azmoth looked absolutely horrified at what had just happened, an expression that was a first for the demon in all the time Riven had known the brutalisk. Allie was just staring at the ground, and Nora had folded herself up on the ground in the fetal position after experiencing what death was like.
“Could have been worse!” Athela laughed, seemingly the only one not bothered by the circumstances and giving Fimrindle a shit-eating grin. “Gotchya bitch!”
The reaper glared back at the arachnid woman, hissed, and abruptly vanished a second later - obviously not enjoying having been killed either. Riven suspected that Fimrindle’s own irritation probably stemmed more from the fact that Athela had been the one to kill him though, as the two assassins had a kind of rivalry ever since coming here to the abyss.
“I-I apologize, your excellency! I w-would have never dreamt to harm you if it was my own mind controlling my body!” Narg stuttered, aghast and growing a paler shade of green than what was normal. The beholder demon hovered nearby, trying to come up with words that would convey his sincerity - but barely managed to get out a wheeze in the next second.
Riven gave the beholder demon a dismissive wave and a smile, passing him by and stepping in to give Genua a firm pat on the shoulder. “Thank you.”
The blood priestess remained calm and professional, not even blinking. “Of course, master.”
Moving on, Riven knelt down next to Fay after that - picking the sobbing woman up and cradling her in his arms. She was by far the most emotional of his group, always had been - and likely always would be. But she had a good heart, and he gave her time to calm down for the next few minutes while he and the others discussed what had happened - and how close it had come to truly being a disaster. He’d barely won, and that was with Athela’s fortunate turn halfway through the battle - and then finally with Genua’s timely arrival. He’d gotten lucky, but on the bright side - he could safely say that his team mates had grown significantly in the time being here. They were truly firm additions, team mates that would be able to help support him in his coming trek down to the 50th level of the abyssal descent, and he was glad to have them on his side now that this mockery of a boss battle was finally over.
***
Kissing Fay’s cheek and wiping her tears away, he finally let go after seeing she’d finally calmed down. “Love you fay. Don’t worry about it, you did nothing wrong.”
Fay sniffled, her resolve having firmed and she stood up with him when she was offered a hand by Azmoth. “Alright. But I’ll make it up to you later, I promise.”
The tears in her eyes had dried, but it was obvious this would bother her for quite some time while she clutched her grimoire to her heaving chest.
Riven gave her a pat on the head, winked, and then began to fall in line next to his sister.
“I’m glad you won, but REALLY I should have won.” Allie teased, nudging him and getting an eyeroll in response.
“Oh shut up.” Riven said, waving her away while she laughed as the two siblings made for the first of three decorated chests. They were rather large, each of them easily being able to fit a person inside, and the gold trimmings on the metal were set into depictions of various demons. “I wonder what kind of loot the system is giving out this time…
“A sparkly man-bikini? It’d fit you nicely, Riven.”
“You’re just mad I beat your ass, you little punk.” Riven pushed the lid of the first chest back, ignoring the flickering portal nearby, only to abruptly pull back from the chest when a pillar of light tore open from the inside.
There, hovering in place over the chest, was the projection of a pair of large, flaming wings. Orange, magma-like veins pulsed in the demonic appendages that were each dozens of yards across, and the heat they gave off was tremendous. They weren’t attached to anything, but rather they were a set of entities entirely detached from anything else.
Abruptly after that, the next box opened up too and without any effort on his part. Again, a pillar of light shot up out of the inside of the large chest to reveal the projection of an abnormally long and slender tail, sky-blue in color, that crackled with sparks of a deeper-blue plasma. The tail also had curved plasma blades starting halfway down its length and getting larger until they reached the end - where a very long spike of said plasma had sharpened to a point. It looked ‘wicked’ if Riven had to put a word to it, with a touch of sci-fi as well given the neon blue energy.
Then, finally, the third box opened next. Just like the other two, a brilliant pillar of light erupted out of the chest to reveal yet another projection. This time it was a pair of demonic horns. They were large, dark black horns that curved around - reminding him very much of the horns of a ram. They were very smooth, and somewhat thick, and gave off an oppressive aura just by looking at them.
Beneath both of these projections were three glowing ascension cards, similar to the one Azmoth had used long ago to acquire the Carnivorous Maw trait.
[Ascension Card: Wings of the Hellscape Giant, TRAIT – acquire the wings of a hellscape giant. These wings are soulbound and can only be used by Azmoth, Riven Thane’s familiar. These large appendages are both sturdy and provide a drastic speed bonus, allowing Azmoth to fly, and will cause Azmoth to grow in size. Size is retractable but will cost stamina. Routing energy into the wings causes them to expel fire at a greater rate, increasing speed at the cost of stamina. Acquiring these wings will also push Azmoth into his next evolution. It will cause Azmoth to ascend into becoming an Archdemon, with other minor changes included.]
[Ascension Card: Succubus Battle Stinger, TRAIT – acquire the Succubus Battle Stinger. This tail and stinger are soulbound and can only be used by Fay, Riven Thane’s familiar. It will replaced the tail she currently has, but is retractable much like her wings are. This stinger has a high piercing chance, and can create bolts of Depraved energy which both damage the target and have a chance to cause hallucinations. Acquiring this stinger in conjunction with Greater Succubus Horns will also cause Fay to ascend into becoming an Archdemon, with other minor changes included.]
[Ascension Card: Greater Succubus Horns, TRAIT – acquire the Greater Succubus Horns. These horns drastically increase the radius and potency of all spells cast by the succubus who equips this ascension card. These horns are soulbound and can only be used by Fay, Riven Thane’s familiar. They will replace the minor succubus horns she currently has, but are retractable much like her wings are. Acquiring these horns with Succubus Battle Stinger will also cause Fay to ascend into becoming an Archdemon, with other minor changes included.]
As soon as he finished reading all of them, the system went into action and the cards launched themselves towards their desired targets.
Two cards slammed into Fay’s chest and she let out a gasp, her eyes rolling into the back of her head while her body began to spasm.
Azmoth took the hit to his chest without more than a surprised grunt, but he was quick to groan and then fell to one knee - supporting his weight with one of the shengari shields he carried.
And before Riven knew it, the two of his minions were changing before his very eyes. Why the system had targeted these two specifically after his win was a curiosity to him, but he was glad to see it as their bodies shifted, morphed, and evolved. In fact, he was rather pleased with the results.
Azmoth’s body surged and buldged, muscles expanding and limbs lengthening while the remnants of armor on his body began to shatter and fall off; revealing his more natural obsidian plates underneath as flaming flesh between the cracks radiated newfound power. Claws and teeth extended, and spikes along his spine jutted out to new lengths. The eel-like maws protruding from his back screeched and roared, and two wings sprouted from beside each of the carnivorous maws with a blast of inferno that scorched the ground.
The hellscape brutalisk was growing up.
Others of the group quickly backed away while Azmoth continued to grow in size. Big became bigger, and bigger became huge, and the ground underneath him cracked with his weight as Riven’s eyes slowly followed the massive demon’s new form and up and up. He continued to move his eyes upwards with the growth, until he was looking at nothing short of an absolute beast.
Oddly enough, the four shengari shields adapted to Azmoth’s size - unlike the armor had - and each of them was now the size of a tree. The wings themselves unfurled to great lengths as Azmoth stood up, easily being the size of a three-story building in height, a true giant in all ways. The carnivorous maws could swallow a small car whole, the massive hands could doubtless tear houses out of the ground, and with a flex of his newfound ascension - a pillar of hellfire burst out from Azmoth’s body to crash into the ceiling with a boom.
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It was rather impressive.
“Damn…” Athela muttered underneath her breath, then she whistled. “I’m not sure I can beat him up anymore.”
A scream of pain caused Riven’s trance to disappear, and with a worried frown he turned his attention back to his other evolving minion.
Fay’s transition was slower, even despite the lack of growth in size, but the level of raw energy coming off her body was about equal to Azmoth’s own. Her tail was being torn apart and remade, elongating, the black cord of her old version now turning to the shade of blue the rest of her skin was colored in. Additionally, neon blue plasma blades were sprouting from her skin, and the stinger came next - exiting like a spear that retracted and expanded randomly until settling on a three-foot length of solid neon energy at the tail’s tip. Her horns were obviously the most painful for her though based on her reaction, both of her old smaller horns had fallen off - and in their place new ones were growing.
They were the same shade of pitch black as her old horns had been, but just like the projection - they were somewhat larger and thicker. They curved around to a forward-facing point much like a ram’s would as the original visage had shown, and cast a shadow on her snow-white hair as her hands clutched at her forehead while she screamed.
Riven was about to reach out to her, but knew he just had to wait it out - and resorted to frowning and tapping his foot nervously while the transformation finished its course.
“She be ok.” Azmoth said from far above them, and his body let out a hiss of steam amidst a rapid shrinking process over the crunch of bones and obsidian plates. The shengari shields once again followed suit, reducing in size, and Riven gave his minion a sidelong look while nervously waiting for Fay’s system-gifted transformation to complete.
“You’re a real badass now, my guy. One that can even fly!” Riven said with a smile, fist-bumping Azmoth as the demon flared his wings excitedly to show off. “I’m glad the system included a shrinking ability though, otherwise you’d be way too big to have following me around all the time. You’d just crush everything around you!”
Azmoth smiled, lifting one of his shengari shields to view it admirably. “Other brutalisk trainer had enchantment made for this day. Knew I grow big eventually, so weapons modify with me. I grow big, they grow big.”
Athela aggressively nodded her head. “And you two are archdemons now! Just like me! Riven, that’s three archdemons you’ve got contracted to you!”
Retesh let out a hollow chuckle, folding his bony arms over one another to watch the evolution process with interest. “You act as if this is a surprise. He is Gluttony’s reincarnation.”
“But the three of us contracted with him BEFORE we knew that he would be!” Athela retorted with a finger lifted into the air. “That’s significant! Because the willpower cost is way, WAYYY down from what it would otherwise be!”
“Oh look, Fay’s body is…” Nora started to say, but let her voice trail off while both eyebrows rose in surprise.
Athela glanced over and immediately began to giggle, while Allie just rolled her eyes in jealousy and disgust.
“Ohhhh… Oh my.” Riven said with a growing smile as Fay’s screams started to die off. He cocked his head to one side, and then the other, and then reached down to pick up the trembling succubus - holding her in his arms. “Are you ok?”
Wrapping his arms around her, she reciprocated the motion with a shaky breath - her legs weak in the knees.
“I think so…” She muttered, still traumatized from the upgrade. “I just…”
She stopped, blinked, and looked down at her chest after feeling that something oddly soft was inbetween them. “Oh wow.”
“Sometimes life just isn’t fair.” Allie muttered, shaking her head from side to side.
Riven certainly wasn’t complaining. “I do believe you’ve grown a couple sizes larger in the… uhm… chest compartment. It looks very good on you.”
Stepping back, Fay let go of Riven to get a better look at herself. Her witch’s hat had fallen off because the larger horns wouldn’t allow it to stay on, her tail was twice as long and flickered - neon blue blades being accompanied by neon sparks; and her upper body had gained a couple bra sizes to boot.
“This is the first thing you comment on!?” Fay said, exasperated as her two lovers ogling her began to laugh. “I became an archdemon, with an awesome new tail, and the first thing you notice is my chest!?”
“Can you blame us?” Athela asked, still staring at Fay while blindly fistbumping Riven next to her. “Those are some nice jugs. The things we are going to do to you-”
“Ok just stop! That’s enough!” Allie said, swinging her large claymore up and over one shoulder while stomping over to the portal. “It’s time to leave, get all your shit together. Keep it in your pants and let’s get a move on - I want to get back to Panu as soon as possible and I have on idea how long this trek is going to take. For all I know, Lahn has found another girlfriend and I’ll be damned if I’m stuck here with you horny idiots for more than another week!”
“She’s just jealous.” Riven said staunchly, before quickly ducking when Allie flung a death ball his way. He held up his hands in surrender. “Alright! Alright, come on Fay. Not everyone is angry that you’re a new sex icon. Ignore the grumpy angel, and if you want I can even give you a piggy back ride if you’re still feeling shaky.”
Nora face-palmed, Fay let on a deep red blush - holding her grimoire close against her chest to hide it, and Athela let out a laugh of agreement with an offer of her own.
“I going to transform back into regular size now.” Azmoth stated a second later, giving them a wave to follow and heading towards the portal next. His body began to snap and crack while his mass expanded yet again, until he was three-stories tall once more; his wings flared out to either side in a spray of flames. “Making my body small tiresome. I stay like this unless need. Come, we go find Lillith. Then we hurry to finish Chalgathi trials.”
***
The portal was a blur of noise and colors, and after exiting out the other side - the party found themselves inside a dead-end room. The walls and ceiling were made from black energy speckled with various colors, almost akin to space colored by the stars of a galaxy.
Walking forward to touch one of the walls, Riven confirmed it was indeed solid and made from some kind of stone. The speckled colors were, as far as he could tell, actually soul stones of different grades - each one radiating a faint aura that were both ancient and ominous in nature.
[You have arrived on Floor 20 of the Abyssal Descent. Beware other descent dwellers, as killing other participants grants you their ranking points.]
He blinked, then went back to inspecting the odd construction of the room.
Thankfully it was large enough to easily hold Azmoth, and despite the massive demon’s growth - he could still move around in here without much trouble. This place was no doubt made to include demons or other denizens of the unholy pillar, and it made sense that there’d be enough open area for creatures like Azmoth to move around in because of it.
“What is it that you sense, master?” Genua asked, coming to stand beside him as Riven remained with his palm flat against the dark corridor’s surface. “Something troubles you.”
His red eyes turned to meet hers, and then they darted down to her pregnant belly. “I wish you would have stayed back in The Blood God’s realm. Thank you for coming to help, but it worries me that you’re here.”
Genua put on a gentle smile and shrugged. “There is no point in worrying about it now, master. It is unfortunate that I cannot return after having passed the first floor of the descent, but that is a risk I knew I would take after making the choice to intervene.”
He slowly nodded, withdrawing his hand and motioning her to follow as the others began walking in Allie’s footsteps. Fimrindle, Athela and Nora all vanished into thin air to scout ahead, and Azmoth’s flames billowed out to illuminate the darkness as Retesh and Fay took the rear.
Unfortunately, none of the undead minions Riven had slain were able to be revived or reused - as they’d been mysteriously recycled by Elysium after the battle had finished. Much to Retesh’s annoyance - and the lich was already muttering to himself about what changes he needed to make in order to avoid assassins like Athela in the future. It appeared that he’d also come to the same realization Riven had about quick, sudden attempts on his life - after the abrupt end he’d suffered from Athela during the floor 2 boss battle he’d been a part of.
“How go your studies with the other clergy?” Riven eventually asked, glancing left to where the priestess held herself in perfect posture to silently walk beside him. “Do you enjoy your trips there? I am unsure of what it is like, I’ve only ever heard stories and my own life has been rather hectic lately.”
Genua remained with her hands clasped in front of her, staring ahead with the chiseled features of a statue and not showing much emotion while she considered his words. “The studies are beneficial. I have grown much and learned much. The Blood God is truly a being of magnificence, one of ultimate power, and a being that I can say I am proud to learn from personally.”
“Personally?” Riven asked, surprised. “You talk to him?”
Genua slowly nodded, their footsteps echoing in the dark passage that continued to lead out for hundreds of yards before turning left and right at the end. “Yes, or at least I learn from a portion of him. He has split off a piece of his soul to project it as something akin to a clone, and has come to personally teach me in the way of blood miracles. He’s taught me how to grow my divinity channels, and I can now even summon some of the same creatures that you can.”
“Legionaries?”
“Yes. The Legionaries of the Blood God are at my command as well, though my ability is a miracle rather than a spell - and it works somewhat differently than yours. The end result is the same, however.”
“That’s a pretty damn good miracle to have.”
For the first time since beginning their walk, Genua grinned. “Quite. I’ve also been granted another miracle called ‘Blood Mirror’, that allows me to communicate long distances. Len and I have been speaking through it, and my daughter is doing quite well in Tupper’s care. She’s even grown slightly… and it has made me happy to see how excited she gets when I contact her. She’s also come around to the idea of having a little brother or sister, and has started making baby clothes for when her sibling arrives.”
Genua’s grin widened into a genuine smile, and she let out a sigh of contentment. “I would have shown you earlier, but you seemed rather busy and I did not want to irritate you with my intrusions.”
Riven raised an eyebrow, using Jackal as a walking stick while forging ahead at a slow monotonous pace. “You’re carrying my child. Don’t ever think that I don’t have time to speak to you if you need it.”
There was a long pause after that, before she rapidly glanced his way. Then she shifted her eyes back ahead of her and down to the floor. “Uhm… Alright. Thank you, Riven.”
“Don’t mention it.” Riven said, suddenly feeling a little bit awkward. He was still brutally aware that he’d been the one to kill Genua’s ex-husband, and her daughter Ethel back when they’d attempted to murder him. The thought was always, without fail, a raw area to think about. Scratching the back of his head, he tried to hold in his grimace. “What kind of clothes has Len been making?”
Genua giggled at the question, unaware of his state of mind, putting one hand to her mouth and shaking her head. “She’s been making dresses mostly. I told her that we don’t know if it is a boy or a girl yet, but Len seems adamant that it’ll be a little sister rather than a little brother. She just ignores me when I tell her that she’ll have to rethink her fashion choices should it be a little brother, but more than anything - I think she’s just happy with her newfound ability as a startup seamstress. Tupper has again been the one teaching her, and he’s apparently a very good tailor.”
“News to me.”
“Yes, it was news to me as well.”
“GUYS, GUYS, GUYS!” Athela appeared from the shadows, waving her arms back and forth excitedly while beckoning the others to come faster. “I found something really neat! Come quickly! And I think we’ll need Narg’s help on this one, so hurry it up you overgrown eyeball!”
Narg, the beholder demon, had been unusually quiet ever since the end of last battle after Azmoth and Fay had ascended. However he quickly perked up, orange eyes alight with intent, as he rushed over to following Athela’s wake. “I will do my best to assist, dear lady!”
Smiling and doing a once over inspection of each of his minions, Riven escorted Genua forward while the two of them caught up to the other casters in the back. Fay was waiting patiently for them and took his arm in hers, and doing the same with Genua’s on the other side - she began dragging them forward at a faster trot while Azmoth’s giant steps led the way in front.
[Athela, Level 200 Archdemon: Unique, 3 forms. Cute Wittle Blood Weaver / Gluttonous Arshakai / Gluttonous Fae Drider. Classless. LEGENDARY. PANU WORLD BOSS.]
[Azmoth, Level 200 Archdemon: Winged Hellscape Brutalisk. Infernal Crusader Adept. LEGENDARY.]
[Fay, Level 200 Archdemon: Greater Blue Succubus. Curse Witch. LEGENDARY.]
[Genua, Level 200 High Elf Vampiric-Thrall. Priestess of the Blood God. ELITE.]
[Narg, Level 200 Beholder Demon. Seeker. ELITE.]