The woman Goblin looked over Colin and the others with him. It was immediately apparent that the Goblin had no strong opinion of the group and whatever danger they posed to her. "I take it from your silence that you haven't seen him, pity. Well, good luck out here," she said, turning to leave.
"Stop her!" Nox's voice hissed into Colin's ear through his shadow magic. "Tell her you know me."
"Wait, I know Nox," Colin called, regretting his decision to raise his voice. The enemy could be anywhere, and it was always better to not call attention to one's location. Especially when you didn't want to get overrun.
The Goblin stopped, turned, and smiled at Colin. "Really?" she asked in disbelief. "Then tell me his Class?"
"Legendary Dusk Alchemist," Colin answered immediately.
A smile broke out over her face, "That's right! Where is he?" she asked excitedly.
"Mind if we go somewhere else to talk?" Colin asked, gesturing to their surroundings. "I'd, uhm, like to avoid being interrupted, and we could use a break. We were thinking of going in there," he said, indicating the building they were about to walk towards.
She nodded, "In there will do," she said, then immediately starting towards the business.
"Walker, what's going on?" Paladin asked, folding his arms over his chest. "That Goblin gives weird vibes, like she's really powerful but not laying all out for everyone to see, you know?"
"I know, I'm feeling it too," Colin admitted, watching the Goblin walk towards what he thought was a bakery as he appraised her. No obvious magic items, no noticeable weapons, and she carried a heavy pack on her back. She had to be a magic-user of some sort but looked could be deceiving, Nox himself was a perfect example of that himself.
The three of them started walking towards the Bakery after the unknown Goblin and Paladin kept talking. "But who's Nox?"
"Looking at the way this situation was probably going to go, Colin simply said, "you may be about to find out. Let's just say for a moment that he is a friend and that we do not want to piss him off."
Colin was sure he heard a happy little cackle reach his ears from Nox and smiled himself at his friend's response.
The Sumo named Paladin shrugged, "whatever you say, Walker. Just know that this just reeks of story mode for this world, and I love it," he said, showing Colin a wide smile.
Rielle pipped in, asking, "What does that mean, story mode?"
"Oh, story mode is a setting in some games that focus on the story instead of fighting or puzzles," Paladin explained.
"I don't get it," she said as they approached the Bakery door. "This isn't a game."
"Guys," Colin interrupted before Paladin stated something to broke the girl's perception of this reality. While he knew that this wasn't JUST a game, given that he was stuck in this world, he still wasn't sure what to make of it. Colin was just focusing on getting stronger to accomplish his goal because he was told this by the One God Above All Others. Maybe he should try to learn why a game that is not a game is actually a game.
"Later," Colin muttered, needing to focus on trying not to anger this unknown entity before him.
The Goblin held the door open for them and was politely waiting for them to enter and let them inside before closing the doors. Inside, Colin froze at the sight of three Basic Warrior Golems, all frozen in place with roots and vines slithering within their outer plating. The vines were easily noticeable from the bits that moved around exposed joints and held them firm.
She looked around the room, a complete mess with broken wooden shelves, shattered glass, and blood staining the floor behind a counter. Again, there were no bodies to be found, and Colin wondered why the bodies were nowhere to be found.
"Oh, this will not do. We cannot have a civil conversation in a room like this," she stated, gesturing towards the broken window to start. The window frame, which appeared to be a varnished wood, twitched at her gesture. Branches snaked out from the cut wood from dozens of spots around the rim and started to interlock and weave itself into a shutter that blocked out the light. A half dozen twigs sprang from their side of the window, the ends of each ending with glowing acorn-like nuts that illuminated the space with ease.
"Ah, much better I always preferred my version of natural lighting," she said, walking over to the Baker's counter. She grabbed a small cake that looked like chocolate and wiped a fork clean of dust. "So, where is Nox?" she asked, cutting into the cake with the fork and taking a bite.
"Go ahead, tell her," Nox said, then quickly added, "just give me an entrance."
The Antagonist grinned for a moment. He looked around the room and located a spot with the highest concentration of shadows. The door where they entered somehow seemed more resonant and more encroaching than it did a moment earlier like Nox was preparing the way for Colin. "Nox, my friend. Please step into the light."
Something from within that patch of shadow stretched and gave way for the Dusk Alchemist, and the room shook with its intensity. When he emerged from the corner, he was covered with his Shadow Cowling Subskill, and it was releasing the effect it was giving like a veil falling away from a face.
When he was done, the room ceased its shaking, and Nox stood there with his favored cane, leaning forward onto it while he gave the female Goblin his patented shark smile. "What do you want from me? How did you find me?"
"What do you mean?" the female Goblin asked, "because you've been dead for the last few millennia?"
"What?!" Rielle squeaked, covering her mouth before she spoke again.
Nox nodded, "yes, for that reason. No one should know I'm alive except for… wait, how did you find me," Nox said, his tone suddenly more reverent.
"The Goddess sent me to find you," she answered. "My name is Kore, and I am her loyal Handmaiden."
"How is she?" Nox asked, only concern tinting his tone.
Kore let out a sigh, "she's… been burdened for the past few hundred years with the defense of Grimhold and the Goblin city-states as a whole."
"The defense? What happened?" he asked, his attitude wanting. No, he sounded like he needed to know what happened.
Paladin took this moment to elbow Colin in the shoulder and said in a happy low voice, "Oh, Walker. I love this backstory. This is amazing."
Nox glared at Paladin for a moment before turning back to Kore, "What happened? And please ignore them until you are done talking."
Kore nodded, and Colin held back the need to say anything just to annoy the overpowered Goblin. Kore explained, "I'll skip most of the history after you were killed and just get to the point. A few hundred years ago, a group of Sentinel Goblins patrolling the tunnels around Grimhold found a small group of Gnomes that attacked without provocation. Among the dead was a prominent member of their royal family."
"Oh no," Rielle and Paladin said in unison.
"The Gnomes declared war on our race and swore to hunt us to extinction, which led to a war that caused the death of millions of Goblins and Gnomes alike. In the end, the war ended with their annihilation on that part of the continent. But… with their loss, they triggered an event that Grimhold has to defend against to this day," Kore said, shaking her head at the thoughts.
"What did they trigger?" Colin asked, curious to know what sort of weapon could still be causing issues for an entire species.
"A gateway to another dimension," she answered ominously. "They opened a door to Limbo," Kore answered, her gaze locked onto Nox's face.
"Damn the Heavens… those idiots. Were they trying to wipe everything else out as well as the City-states?" Nox asked, awe mixed with his anger.
Kore shrugged, "Our Goddess believed so, but we've been holding the line for the last few hundred years, but the strain on our forces and our Goddess has been feeling it. The prompt that she received saying that you came back to this world was the happiest I've seen her. From what she told me, you were her favorite Hero."
"What do you want me to do? I'm here and am no longer her Hero. Why can't her current one help push the line back and disable the portal?" Nox asked, invested in a subject more than Colin had seen him since they met.
Spitting to the side at the feet of the immobilized Golems, she snarled, "Ash Cindersong, that dumbass of a Hero is barely worth the title. Before he was called to be her Chosen, he was brazen but fought for the cause of keeping the negative swarms away from our walls. Once he became hers, he started being… more so than before. Along with being a headstrong, idiotic mongrel of a warrior. Mistress says that you got a prompt from the universe about him, is that right?"
Nox stayed silent for a moment, "yes, I did indeed."
"And?" she urged, wanting him to say it.
"It said that no one god can have two chosen heroes, and thus both of our powers and rights that came with being a hero have been revoked. The only way one of us can regain our power is if one of us deposes the other," Nox said, reciting it from memory.
"Is there a reason you didn't tell me this, Nox?" Colin asked, trying his best not to sound accusatory. It wasn't as if the Goblin owed him anything; hell, he probably owed Nox a ton for what he'd helped him out with getting to this point in his journey.
Turning to look at Colin, Nox answered, "I didn't think it would be important for some time, DevilWalker. I intended to ask us to go to Grimhold at some point after you were stronger but didn't want to ask you to go for a while yet. I doubt that this Ash Cindersong will leave Grimhold to come after me unless he knew where I was."
Kore grinned, "yes, you are correct there. Last I heard, he still hasn't left the city. Apparently, he's trying to shore up some power for the next assault. I think he's trying to not show how much weaker he's been since you came back to life."
Nox nodded, "it would make sense. Especially if he grew his powers around whatever gift he got from the Goddess. My power was already molded when she bestowed my power to me. So why did you come to find me? Did she ask you to find and bring me home?"
Kore nodded but stayed silent.
"Why would she send one of you, I wonder? I can sense that spark within you, Kore; I know what you are." Nox said, serious but straightforward.
"What is she?" the Sumo rumbled, his eyes locking onto the female Goblin's.
"None of your business and of no concern for this moment," she said, then her eyes moving onto Colin's for a moment.
The moment lingered for a second, long enough for something within him to twinge at the attention he was receiving. He recognized the feeling that he was getting from her but just couldn't place it.
For like a second. Then the thought occurred to Colin; his Channel Effigy Skill was reacting to the Goblin.
"Who are you?" Colin asked, bewildered by what he was seeing. Loki and Scylla, he could believe, were deities. It was something in their bearing, the way they held themselves and acted like gods or immortal monsters. This being before him was powerful, and that much seemed evident, but a god?
"I'm Kore," she responded plainly. "Do I need to be anything else?"
"No, but it would make more sense," Colin said, shrugging.
She smiled at him, the expression knowing as she said, "whatever you say. So what do you say Nox, Hel needs you back in Grimhold; will you come back and reclaim your title as the Hero of Hel?"
Nox shook his head slowly, "that's up to DevilWalker over there. He's the reason I'm alive right now, and I will not go without him. Whatever he says goes, and I will not allow him to be bullied into going to Grimhold."
Then the possibly almighty Goblin Goddess turned her gaze back to Colin and eyed him, "well then. What do you say, DevilWalker? Will you and yours go to Grimhold with Nox here and help our Goddess?"
Colin thought about it, honestly, thought about it. He had many reasons to accept Kore's request, starting with the most significant reason. He owed Nox a lot, starting with his assistance in beating the dungeon that got him his Antagonist Class. He gave him both shadow and water magic, helped him defeat the Scarecrow Golem in Scutch town, and even gave him advice and explanations when asked.
But then there were three reasons to stay. In order of importance to Colin, he needed to kill Volkiere, which was absolutely going to happen. Outside of a dungeon, this place was the best place he'd seen to grind experience that did not involve killing players. Lastly, he wanted to figure out what this ALAN Golem guy was doing and see if he could do it himself. A literal robot army, what better way to gain power.
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"Kore, when we are done with this city, I would not mind going to Grimhold with you and Nox. But I have matters where we need to complete, so no, I will not be leaving the city yet," Colin told her, hoping that she wasn't some wayward god of smiting.
Kore let out a small sigh, "unfortunate, but I understand. How long do you expect this to take? An hour or two?" she asked.
"Maybe a few days," Colin said, recalling his last twenty-four hours. "I might be able to finish one of my objectives today if I am lucky, but otherwise, I don't know."
"What level are you?" she asked, a little confused.
"Fifteen."
Paladin took a step away from Colin and looked him up and down, "really? I honestly thought you were at a higher level with your skillset. How is that possible?"
"I got lucky," Colin said quickly before talking to Kore again. "Why are you curious? Were you expecting higher?"
"Yes," she answered bluntly. "You're traveling with a level one hundred and seven Legendary Dusk Alchemist who was previously the Hero of Hel and the Conqueror of Hallowed Shadow. I honestly expected more from you, DevilWalker."
"If I may," Nox said, interjecting before she could continue. "He's been only leveling up for around two months now. He was level one when he started his growth."
"Really," she said, eyeing Colin again with the new information in mind. "Interesting life you must be having then to be a warrior type with a Mythic Weapon and the Channel Effigy Skill."
"Channel Effigy?" Paladin asked, obviously hoping for an explanation.
"Later," Colin promised, trying to move away from that dangerous topic. So far, he was reasonably sure that it would be safe if Paladin somehow found out about him being the Antagonist, but… he hadn't known him for long. He wasn't sure of what inconsistencies and oddities there were with his skills and levels that it might make him suspicious. But given the amount of experience he would currently give if Paladin killed him would be massive, all of his now almost fifty-seven thousand experience.
"So what are you doing now?" she asked curiously.
"Trying to get to the eastern wall. There's a building over there that I want to look at. Trying to find someone who could be in there," Colin explained.
"Why? Trying to save someone?" Kore inquired dubiously.
Colin shook his head at the obviously uncaring Goblin and decided on honesty; it felt unlikely that she would just go warn some random player. "No, I want to kill him in the most vicious and brutal way I can."
Kore nodded in understanding. "Ah, I can understand that," she responded somewhat sagely. "May I ask why we don't just go there and kill him now?"
"I am just waiting for my Summon Familiar lockout to end so I can get him back out here," Colin answered. "He died in our last battle, and I am trying to play it safe since one of us cannot come back if we die and the other one like that is unlikely to die here." Colin gave a small smile to Nox.
"How long do you have left?" she asked. "And what kind of Familiar do you have?"
He checked, "around… another hour and a Demon."
She let out an impatient sigh and reached into her bag, "let me see what I can do. I don't feel like waiting another hour in this place eating day-old cakes." She started rummaging around, taking out pouches of plants that she named as she set them down. "Stinging Nettle, Anise seeds, Anise leaves, Mandrake root, powdered Juniper, Sweet Briar thorns, Elder Berries, Elder Wood chips, Mistletoe, Sage leaves, Wolfsbane seeds, Lavender… Ah, here we go. Deadly Nightshade berries and leaves."
"According to lore," Kore said, removing a mortar and pestle from her bag. She began to carefully place a few of the dried leaves into the mortar, a stone bowl, and grinding them with the pestle, a small club-shaped tool. She worked as she spoke, "deadly Nightshade has connections to the devil. Some parents in particularly backward villages say that if the fruit of the deadly Nightshade was picked, it would let them meet the Devil face to face. Silly superstition, of course, but it does have some alchemical applications with demons."
"It's also a super deadly poison," Colin pointed out. "Were you planning on killing me here?"
"I am not some charlatan apothecary who poisons people instead of curing them, "she spat. "I can make this not kill you with ease," she said, adding in six berries to the mortar.
A few seconds later, the mixture started to glow as she added a pinch of other ingredients from other pouches. She just kept mixing and grinding as the mixture became thick and jelly-like, with a weird green-purple color. She then reached into her pack and withdrew a vial with a clear fluid within it. She removed the stopper and carefully poured out a few drops of the liquid into the mortar.
The glow vanished in a snap of Magic, and the color seemed the same weird color mix of purple and green but somehow more vibrant as before. She removed the pestle from the bowl and extended the gross looking mix to Colin. "Here, ingest this."
The Antagonist took the mixture and looked at Nox, nonverbally checking for his opinion. He looked at Colin and nodded at him with a feral grin at what was being held.
He did not expect this mixture to smell or taste good; Colin took a moment to prepare himself and pulled the whole thing down his throat in a single, long pull. The jelly-like mix slid down his gullet uncomfortably slowly, and he was right; it did not taste pleasant in the least. It seemed sweet, tart, and wrong simultaneously, like something you knew could be past its expiration date, but you ate it anyway.
He swallowed, and the whole thing moved further inside. Warmth seeped into his entire being, starting and settling in his stomach before spreading around his body. A few moments passed as the heat grew into a raging fire that became uncomfortable and grew into actually painful for long moments. Colin's hands clenched as he growled with the pain and tried to keep from whimpering. Then the pain slowly subsided, and a prompt appeared, making his eyes widen in surprise.
The Potion, Nightshades Influence, has been ingested and applied to you. All lockout timers for anything referring to the infernal has decreased by one hour and may be reused if this causes the timer to expire. Any Infernal powers applied to your character are now doubled for the next hour as an extra effect.
You have drunk a potion with strong ties to the infernal made by a goddess of nature and herbal mixes. This mixture also strengthened some of your skills due to your strong Infernal ties with your Demon Lord Candidate title. You will gain extra skill experience towards your skills; Infernal Magic Manipulation, Infernal Aura(Massacre), Summoning Magic, and Summon Familiar. This experience shall be split four ways.
Your infernal Magic Manipulation Skill is now level 7. You can now craft spells that have to do with the infernal.
Your Infernal Aura(Massacre) subskill is now Level 7. The percentage increase to your Attributes has increased by a small margin. At level five, the subskill gained three extra seconds between kills to maintain the Aura.
Your summoning Magic Skill is now level 4. The available options for free and directed summons have increased.
Your Summon Familiar subskill is now level 4. The capabilities of your familiar have increased by a small margin. Resummon time decreased to 96 minutes.
"Holy shit," Colin breathed.
"What is it?" Rielle asked, concerned.
"DevilWalker?" Nox inquired.
"I just got a few new levels in four different skills... from drinking that," Colin said, pointing to the mortar that he was still holding.
"Huh, interesting. I can honestly say I didn't expect that," she said, taking the mortar and cleaning it off with a rag she took from the counter. "Is there anything I was not aware of about you for that to happen? Maybe a weird ability or achievement?"
"No, no weird ability or achievements," Colin said defensively.
"Well, no matter. Call it a bonus, this sort of event happens on the random great occasion but never from the same source twice. Not that you can take that blend twice within the same two months, it takes time for the body to recover," Kore said, shrugging.
"Recov-" Colin said, interrupted by another, well-timed prompt.
Due to ingesting a mixture that mortals should not put in their bodies, you now suffer from the Nightshade Rupture Debuff. If another dose of anything that includes Nightshade in its ingredients is ingested or administered, you will suffer from the 'Devil's Lie' degenerative effect.
"What is the Devil's Lie degenerative effect?" Colin asked.
"More or less, it causes your body to start to erode and shut down from the inside out. It is sort of treatable, in the sense that you have to keep the afflicted alive until the timer wears off. Commonly about a week." Nox answered.
"Alright, no more Nightshade," Colin said, not wanting to suffer any of that. "If you don't mind, I am going to summon Larry, and we can get going."
No one said anything, so Colin channeled his Summon Familiar subskill and brought Larry back into this world in all her tall and ruby skinned glory. He looked around at their surroundings and smiled before spotting the female Goblin.
"A little early to be resummoning me, isn't it, Master? And Master... who's the Goblin?" he asked, pointing at the short, green female standing across from Nox.
"Her name is Kore, and we will be very nice to her," Colin ordered his Demon.
Larry nodded his head in understanding, "whatever you command, Master."
Colin then faced Kore and asked, "so, I guess we will leave in a few moments. What are you going to do?"
"I think I'll stay here for the moment and mind my own business. Suppose the entity controlling the golems leaves me be. In that case, I'll leave it be," she said, looking at one of the vegetation bound Golems and its piercing yellow eyes.
The voice that came out of one of them was ALAN's. It was seemingly annoyed, "I will agree for now," it responded, then the eyes switched back to the red they were when they first entered the shop.
"How long had he been listening?" Colin asked, gesturing at the Golems.
"Not long, only a few minutes," she answered. "So, I'll see you soon, DevilWalker and friends. Nox, come find me if he dies; I'd love to take you back to Grimhold myself."
Nox nodded and hopped into Colin's shadow without another word. Colin headed towards the door, with Larry immediately behind him. With the Demon in mind, Colin made his first two Infernal Spells, Weak Heal Demon and Lesser Bolster Demon, as he walked out into the street.
Spell name: Weak Heal Demon
Mana Cost: 75
Casting time: 1 second
Range: touch
Duration: 5 seconds
Effect: A Demonic Entity that the caster is touching when this spell is used is healed for 50 HP over five seconds. This does not recover lost limbs or cure debuffs (unless normal healing could do that). This spell cannot be used to damage the undead with its use like normal healing spells.
Spell name: Lesser Bolster Demon
Mana Cost: 50
Casting time: 1 second
Range: touch
Duration: 5 minutes
Effect: The strength and Build Attributes of any touched Demonic Entity are increased by 15 percent while this spell is active.
Feeling a bit more ready to deal with the next part of this, Colin drew his Ravenous Mythic Xiphos and allowed Larry to lead. As he passed, Colin stopped him for a moment to say, "I just got a new healing spell that works on you and a buffing spell. If we have time when Combat starts, come to me so I can use it," Colin told his Familiar.
"Of course, Master. What kind of Buff?" he asked.
"Strength and Build Attributes by fifteen percent," Colin answered.
The Demon grinned, "you got it, Master."
"Alright, I have no more fucking spell slots to play with, so let's go before I regret all my life choices!" Colin announced, pointing in the direction they were going. Larry nodded and took off at a light jog.
Colin was about to start after him when Rielle grabbed his arm to stop him, "Walker, are we sure this is a good idea?" She said, concerned. The Golem's probably know where we are going, and he knows about us specifically. There is probably going to be a trap somewhere along where we're going." she said, expressing her concern.
"Yeah, probably."
When he said nothing for a moment, Rielle pressed, "well, what are we going to do about it?"
"Nothing," Colin told her. Then after a second, decided to elaborate, "what can we do? We only have so many viable choices. Either continue to the Auxiliary that we are close to, head towards the northern one, or take a different route to the eastern wall. There is no point in going to the northern one yet since we are already partway to the Eastern Auxiliary. I'm not sure how we could navigate the alleys and side streets to get to the Eastern. So the straight path is the best choice. Unless you have a better idea?"
"Sewers?" she asked quickly.
"Maybe, if we knew where underground these golems were coming from. If it's connected to the sewers, they are likely patrolling down there to protect whoever ALAN is," Colin answered.
"Rooftops?"
Colin shrugged, "it could work if we didn't have Paladin with us. I'm not sure he could go from roof to roof given a few of the distances, not to mention his bulk."
"Master, you coming?!" Larry called from around twenty meters further down the road.
"Our best option is speed to get there without encountering too much trouble and from there to just hope for a straightforward fight," Colin explained quickly. "So we need to get going, you good?" he asked.
She nodded.
Colin then started towards the Demon, waiting patiently for a few moments before starting back up his jog. They encountered another patrol of the Basic Warrior Golems with a few Rogue Golems mixed in, but that was dispatched quickly enough.
Colin took a moment to heal Larry after the fight since he took the brunt of the attacks. He was about three-quarters full before Colin ran out of MP to continue healing him. Larry told him that his effort was good enough and would allow him to keep moving for the moment.
A woman's scream up ahead made all but Larry pause. For Colin, he only hesitated for a moment before hurrying along and turning into an Alley to find a heavy set Golem holding a woman's body in its sizeable right hand. It turned to look at Colin before running down the space, away from Colin with the body in tow.
They considered pursuing it, but it was too risky. It may have killed someone, but only Larry could afford to die against these things. He had no way to know what it could do if pressed. For all, he knew it was a simple cleanup golem to keep bodies from staying in the streets.
"What would it want with the bodies?" Paladin asked.
Larry shrugged, "who knows, it most likely isn't going to be pleasant for us."
"Agreed, we had better keep moving," Colin said, gesturing to the wall they were closing in on.
Another battle later, they were within sprinting distance of the wall and were met by a single Basic Warrior Golem with calculating yellow eyes. It stood stock still with its arms held behind its back in a very imperious manner as it stared at Colin.
"So, What's your next move here, ALAN?" Colin asked, tone angry.
The Golem chuckled a little, the laugh definitely sinister, "I just wanted to tell you that I finally got something fun to play with magically speaking. Death Magic Manipulation will be a rather interesting new way to augment my armies, not that you'll live to see it."
"What makes you say that? We've beaten everything that you've sent at us so far," Colin told it, trying not to sound boasting with his words. He may be the Antagonist of Pride, but that did not mean he had any room for arrogance since that got people killed.
"But I think you deserve to fight against one of the unique Golem's my owner had given me before he escaped. This is one of my favorite Golem's, so please don't dirty it too much with your blood," ALAN said before stepping back. The basic Golem then gestured to a space between some buildings nearby.
The thing that approached was big, like five or six meters tall big. It was a humanoid Golem in basic shape, but with four arms coming out of its chest, the second set immediately under the first. All along its limbs and back, shoots of shimmering red and blue crystal that reflected and captured the light. The crystal lined the Golem's claws and the back of its hands. Its clawed feet also had a layer of colored quartz. Worse yet was its head, its human-like head with three eyes of all different colors, no mouth or nose but a mohawk of the crystal decorated his head.
"Good luck," ALAN said, as the Golem he was watching through stepped away from the line of attack to watch the fight.