A quest notification appeared as soon as the words left Sorin's mouth.

Bonus Objective Discovered: Heal or Kill. Choose One:

1. Assist the fallen deity, Ouroboros, and aid his recovery. Reward: ??? Punishment: ???

2. Assist Ratten Hyde in killing and reanimating the Ouroboros. Reward: ??? Punishment: ???

"What the… a reward and a punishment?" muttered Stephan. "And it doesn't say if it's for failing or clearing the mission?"

Sorin frowned. "I think it has to do with the complicated situation. Let's say we help the Ouroboros, and those spikes manage to control it. It defects to the Seven Evils out of gratitude. Wouldn't we be punished?"

"I'm more interested in why there would be a punishment for killing the Ouroboros and aiding Ratten Hyde," said Daphne. "On paper, he's a strong ally of Olympia, but judging by his relationship with the Zeis Clan, there's a bit of a power struggle going on."

"To clarify, I will under no circumstances help Ratten Hyde," said Sorin. "That guy's trouble and my instincts on that haven't changed."

"Okay, so you're going to help this deity recover and somehow sabotage what those two agents did?" said Stephan. "Can you even do it?"

Sorin thought about it for a few seconds before answering. "I might be able to, but I'd need some help. Dealing with corruption is no problem as long as I extract it instead of absorbing it.

"As for the strange foreign energy, it's also not a problem. This battle has been raging for so long that the Ouroboros has destroyed most of the energy. The spikes are just finishing the job. Cleaning up its body and accelerating its healing, as it were." He turned to Lawrence. "How are your mana stores?"

"Pretty good," answered Lawrence. "I didn't spend much during our fight since I fight very cautiously."

"And how would you feel about kidnapping a God Seed?" asked Sorin. "A pretty one."

Lawrence's eyes lit up. "Who did you have in mind? Is Messa Payne? She is quite the looker, and I wouldn't mind—"

"I'm sorry, but it's sounding like you're about to do something unethical again," interrupted Daphne. "Are you sure it's not Azrakul's influence?"

"I was joking," said Sorin. "I need Gabriella to deal with this situation. She's good at dealing with life and death and might be able to resolve the situation with Ratten Hyde."

//??

"Didn't you say she's been cursed?" interjected Gareth. "Is it really a good idea to get her involved?"

"I think the bigger problem would be getting her out of the Kepler Clan compound," said Stephan. "As I understand it, Gabriella's political situation is a little sensitive."

"Which is why we'll need Astley to stand in for her," said Sorin. "Lawrence would extract Gabriella while Astley plays doctor. It shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"To clarify, you want me to impersonate a God Seed," said Astley. "A trained physician. You realize that I can't copy her abilities, don't you?"

"But you can copy her appearance and Fineas's abilities independently, can't you?" asked Sorin. "Enough to fake things for a few hours while we figure this out?"

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"I'll see what I can do," muttered Astley. "But remember to fill me in on any details you might discover."

"Naturally," said Sorin. "In the meantime, I'll get started on these spikes. There's no telling how the spikes will interact. I have no idea what the fallout will be. That said, I think just about anything is better than Ratten Hyde gaining control of a deity."

Having said this, Sorin poured increasingly large amounts of poison into the Ouroboros's body. Though he expected resistance, they entered the body almost effortlessly. In fact, Sorin found his control range was greatly enhanced as he traversed the creature's massive body.

The large spike closest to their position contained the largest dose of corruption, so Sorin sent his poisons a few miles away to a different location. Five spikes had been inserted near a spine bone to form a potent rune of Hatred and Strife. A small war was being waged in a tainted abscess, and thanks to the outside interference, the Ouroboros's divinity was eking out a narrow victory.

Sorin inspected the formation and discovered that it wasn't as complex as he imagined. This wasn't a slave seal. Instead, the seal's goal was to form a karmic link of gratitude. They were trying to get the Ouroboros to join the Seven Evils willingly.

Having confirmed the situation, Sorin sent tarnished divinity into the Ouroboros's body and attacked the foreign formation. He first struck the portion of the circle corresponding to Strife, then greedily gobbled up both the Strife and Hatred stored inside it. Sorin's tarnished poisons, invigorated by the infusion of corruption, threw themselves at the small mass of tainted energy at the center of the ruin, expending just as much corruption as he'd gained in exchange for routing the malignant speck.

Sorin proceeded then to the next site and repeated the process. The masses of foreign energy were eliminated one by one, freeing up resources for the Ouroboros to accelerate its recovery. Sorin also took the chance to eliminate masses not marked by spikes. Little by little, the life aspect of the Ouroboros's divinity grew, though not quickly enough to stave off the steadily encroaching death mana.

The Ouroboros can't properly regenerate its tissues when they're fully suffused in death, Sorin analyzed. In addition, the Ouroboros's divinity is too scattered. It's gradually being overwhelmed. There was also the fact that the Ouroboros had been dying for several centuries. Prolonged exposure to death-aligned energies had likely skewed the creature's alignment and decreased its resistance to such energies.

Sorin continued disabling spike after spike until he disabled 80 percent of them. Suddenly and without warning, the remaining twenty percent acted up. The large spike in their location let out a violent pulse of energy, and to Sorin's horror, the corrupt runes erupted, injecting large amounts of corruption into the Ouroboros's flesh.

"A part of the quest just updated," said Gareth.

"No, the seek and destroy quest," Sorin muttered. "It appears my actions resulted in the detonation of all remaining spikes and even the remaining flamekin in the realm." He tapped his lips thoughtfully. "Should we send out half our group to search the mausoleum?"

"And deal with an enraged Ratten Hyde after you're done doing what you're doing?" laughed Gareth. "I wouldn't dare."

Daphne and Stephan were also in agreement. They opted to wait as Sorin finished inspecting the serpent and confirmed his suspicions. "The corruption seems to be targeted not at its divinity but its mental state. I have no way to determine the impact. As for its body… I can't save it. Not without help."

"It's good to accept your shortcomings and the limits of the poisonous path," came a melodious voice. "Really, you should read up on the benefits of Life Mana and how they're superior in cases where the life of the patient is truly at risk."

Sorin chuckled. "So you're the one lecturing me, now? How the tables have turned."

It was naturally Gabriella who'd just arrived. She was strangely unaffected by the Ouroboros's energies and managed to land in the pit without assistance. "Thus far, this has been a perfect day, Sorin. First, Ratten relents on his stupid death energy curse. Then Lawrence helps me stick it to that spoiled brat, Fineas, by helping me escape.

"And now, the motherlode. Lawrence said something about a huge patient, but I hadn't realized how literal he was being. Do you have any idea how far I'll be able to progress my divine mission by healing a deity? I might sanctify enough of my flesh by accomplishing this that Ratten will have to think twice before cursing me."

"I take it you're amenable to helping me thwart Ratten's efforts?" asked Sorin.

"My dear Sorin, it would be impossible to chase me away at this point," said Gabriella. "I'm going to save this massive snake even if it kills me."