I tightened my jaw and calmed myself with a long exhale. Like a movie about a suburban American cult, the mundaneness of such a place within these unforgiving tunnels only caused me to experience greater suspicion of the eventual reveal. If this Hell that I fell down into was meant to be the endless suffering of all who arrived, why hadn’t the powers at be interfered to destroy this peace? If they were strong enough to supernaturally bestow power, they also must be more than capable of stripping it away.
Pýlicles looked strong, dangerously so. That extended beyond the well-toned physique of the human portion of his body, looking like an Olympian of Ancient Greece with the demeanor of their philosophers. The spider portion of his body looked beastly. It dwarfed me in size, each of the spikes at the end of his eight legs could puncture my scales.
Despite the eagerness and excitement within the only part of my brain that rewarded me with happiness, I was at least restrained enough to know that this was a beast that I would not easily overcome at Level 3.
Pýlicles was easily Level 5.
“Forgive Pakara,” Pýlicles said apologetically. “It is her habit to overshare at times. From what I’ve heard, you have recently crossed the great River Styx to join us in Tartarus. There are more pressing questions to ask than the specifics of this place.”
“Yes, I am sorry that I spoke too much,” Pakara apologized with a deep bow.
As I was about to speak, Squealer stepped in instead. The demon’s quills were pressed down to show their own wariness at the situation.
“It’s quite alright,” Squealer forgave, clearing his throat. “My name is Squealer, and I wanted to compliment you on such a peaceful place.”
Pýlicles smiled with a great deal of self-satisfaction. He seemed to pose his upper body in a way to accentuate the definition of his muscles. I couldn’t bemoan the action, there was something empowering about flaunting your strength in front of others.
“I’m glad that you can appreciate what’s been done here,” the spider replied graciously. “As you may have seen, the Bowels of Tartarus are unkind. Portals are often overrun by mindless beasts of negative emotion or staked out by gangs of ambushers looking to steal away your stats before moving on. I cleared this place out with my own bloody hands and welcomed all those who wish to follow the rules of this place.”
Demons began to congregate in the bioluminescent garden to watch Pýlicles speak to us. I scanned my surroundings for a way to escape, but could not find a way to leave without facing some amount of opposition.
“I can’t speak for the both of us, but I wouldn’t mind cooperating with you until I reach the level to leave,” Squealer replied positively.
“Leave?” Pýlicles questioned, tilting his head like a parent who heard their child say a strange thing. “I assure you, I have met the quality of the former-human that makes it to the next area. They are steeped in hatred and malice; only able to leave this place by murdering others. You will only meet the worst versions of ourselves in far more uncomfortable places than this. I doubt there is anything that could even remotely be considered community or civilization on the other side. Besides, our Portal must remain inert at all costs. There must be no trace of our presence in the event that the powerful have a way to return.”
Squealer nodded along to the words without noticing, the spider’s warnings reaching his heart. He was an accountant, not a fighter. His nose twitched in thought, but it was likely only the debate of whether or not he could exist in this cavern for the rest of time.
I was not so convinced. If anything, the knowledge that better opponents existed beyond here made me all the more motivated to leave. Everything that I found in the Bowels before meeting Pýlicles had only temporarily held my attention or disappointed me entirely.
The spider talked much in the same way as Mayor Horowitz, my hometown mayor. They cried out against immigrants and criminals and socialists that never once graced our tiny Southern town. While they might have argued that the fact they were never an issue was due to their initiatives, the eighty-thousand dollars that they embezzled likely did far more damage than any of those people could. I had heard that students were still using the same textbooks that I did fifteen years ago. Those were already fifteen years old when I used them.
Much in the way Mayor Horowitz preached of the feared outsider, it did not appear that Pýlicles really knew of what he proselytized about. And, much like that mayor, I believed that the spider benefited more than he let on.
“How do I join?” Squealer asked while I was busy with my thoughts of a mayor that I hoped to meet again one day.
“The simple answer is that you join my party,” Pýlicles answered plainly. “However, there is one thing that must be done first. Bashir! Are you there?”
A trumpeting sound came out in response. An elephant-faced man wearing a thobe emerged from the crowd. Their nose was wrapped around their neck like a scarf.
“Bashir, if you would please check our two guests,” Pýlicles requested.
The pachyderm’s trunk slithered off of his shoulders and rose towards us. First, it passed over the rodent. Large inhales were taken over various parts of Squealer’s body.
When it moved to me, it took one sniff and froze. It did not explore the various places of my body like it had for Squealer nor did it even take another sniff in the same spot. I could see the nose quiver and Bashir’s body vibrate from a crippling nervousness. My eyes began to move back towards my surroundings, a foreboding feeling rising from the reaction.
“Now, Bashir, do you have good news for us?” Pýlicles asked.
“I smell blood,” Bashir reported, taking several steps back from the newcomers. “The lizard’s scent is far stronger than I’m used to.”
The demons surrounding the group chittered at the reveal. Body language that was once one of defensive wariness now became outright hostility. But Pýlicles only smiled. I was the sort of creature that my mayor once worried about, the bogeyman that justified their paranoid ramblings and strange legislation.
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“Now, now, everyone,” Pýlicles cajoled the other demons into calm. “Let us not forget, many of us have killed others in the past. Whether that was for reasons just or unjust, we must offer them that opportunity to integrate and prosper with the rest of us.”
“So, what happens now?” Squealer asked.
“Many of the people here are non-violent,” Pýlicles explained with great pride. “I cannot rightly allow known killers to walk around this place without proper trust. Allow yourself to be declawed. Be killed until you reach the beginning and I will restore your strength when your trustworthiness and belief in the community has been proven. Goodwill will be reciprocated with goodwill. Humanity will be reciprocated with humanity.”
I now understood why Pýlicles felt so much more horrifying than anything else that I had seen so far. His power was built upon the deaths of innumerable others. I could only imagine the amount of extra stats that he accumulated as this Portal’s gatekeeper and ruler of this settlement. Who remained here now was likely not the full extent of those he robbed for an initiation.
This system was all too familiar to me. Boss Raymond demanded a pack of cigarettes as a stage in his initiation rite. ‘Give me all your packs and you can have a smoke whenever you want.’ Yet, I knew who got to smoke the most cigarettes; far more than the amount he could have afforded on his own. The only thing that kept me from breaking Raymond’s nose was the fact that he offered far more than just smokes. Something that I did not believe I would receive here.
“So you excuse and forgive your own killings, but not the killings done by others?” I asked, annoyed. “You say that you must come to trust me, but how am I to trust you who plans to kill me and steal my stats. How do I defend myself? How do you plan to return them to me when your need for trust is met?”
Pýlicles’ legs began to twitch anticipatorily, revealing his intent in a split second. There was never a choice.
One of Pýlicles’ barbed appendages flashed towards me with menacing quickness. It threatened to rip my stomach open and spill my guts all over the garden. My awareness allowed me to take a reactive step backwards while Squealer yelped in surprise and rolled away.
“I cannot risk allowing you to be a danger to my people!” Pýlicles proclaimed as his body rumbled forwards.
Much as I wished to take him head-on this very second, I could not afford to be caught here. It did not matter how strong you were, getting jumped was the fastest way to know the taste of asphalt. I ran directly at the circle of demons. My bearing led me towards the hovels and towards the lower level tunnels I originally saw. The ring of demons tightened in an attempt to hem me in while I heard movements from both Squealer and Pýlicles behind me.
A spray of silk shot into my left foot. It instantly hardened and pinned me into place. I splayed my claws and quickly slashed my way out. I looked over my shoulder to see the spider scuttling my way at a high speed.
I couldn’t afford to begin weaving to avoid the attacks. Any loss in speed would only get me caught by the speedy arachnid. Instead, I lowered my head and raised my spiked tail and ran with reckless abandon.
Whenever I heard the deep swooshing sound of webbing leaving the spider, I activated my tail’s ability and slashed blindly behind me. Sometimes, the webbing missed entirely, slapping against the rocks nearby. The rest of the time, the spikes of my tail ripped through the silk. I felt it cling onto my tail and begin to weigh it down.
I spread my claws and opened my mouth before tearing full speed into the demons that blocked my path. Blood sprayed over my ebon scales and limbs were severed. My tail flicked across, ripping skin and flesh off of anything that it came in contact with. My teeth tore into the neck of a fly of Beelzebub, filling my mouth with the first enjoyable flavor the entire time I had been down here. The demon died instantly and their bloody tribute restored most of the health I lost in the exchange.
After the initial contact, much to my surprise, I was able to keep sprinting. It was one thing for Pýlicles to give up after his webbing plan failed and I maintained my distance. It was another thing for the nearby demons. My temporary stoppage by ripping through the line should have given ample opportunity to pressure me further. Even though they could not die, even though they had the chance to rid themselves of a threat, the demons of Tainaronopolis were still terrified of death and terrified of the person that could deliver it to them.
It was a glaring weakness in a place where such luxury was not afforded.
I moved through the tunnels, attempting to get as far away as I could. Random beasts roamed the tunnels, but were turned into paste on impact. Somewhere, in the melee, I reached Level 4 and the creatures that once gave me some challenge now served no more purpose than a pebble on the road.
After a satisfying distance, I stopped running. I activated my map to confirm that Tainaronopolis was far behind me. I sat down, allowing myself a moment of relaxation and to pick the web that mummified my tail.
However, I heard soft padding steps coming from the direction of the demon village. I returned to my feet and raised my claws in preparation to disembowel whatever overeager motherfucker that followed him this far. But, I only got to see the frantic visage of the rodent I had been traveling with.
“Ishmael!” Squealer shouted. “I finally caught up to you.”
“Did you bring them with you?” I hissed. “How did you find me so fast?”
“No, I swear that they stopped following me,” Squealer promised. “I don’t want to stick around with a group that’s going to kill me until I revert to Level One. As to how I found you, I smelled you. Also, the map shows the position of party members.”
I relaxed again, taking a deep breath before spitting onto the rocks.
“Fucking place,” I cursed under my breath.
“At least we made it out,” Squealer replied optimistically. He lowered himself onto the rock floor. “I guess we’ll have to find a different portal if we want to get out of here in one piece. Pýlicles there reminded me too much of my old boss.”
I gritted my teeth and scowled angrily. I did not like the idea of going back to wandering the caves. I had unfinished business with that spider and it wouldn’t sit right with me to tuck my scaly tail between my legs, pack up, and try some other Portal who knows fucking where.
image [https://i.imgur.com/lke5HNU.jpeg]
Quest!
The Most Disgraceful Coward in the Bowels:
While some Demons may respect the acts of suffering that Pýlicles inflicts on those that wish to ascend, the Beasts of Rage that follow your journey despise this hidden settlement and wish for it to be destroyed. Shatter their illusion of peace, kill Pýlicles, and use their Portal.
Rewards vary by satisfaction.
I flashed my needle-like teeth in appreciation of the ever-timely quest. My base instincts wished to inflict pain on the ones that wanted to force him into submission. Now, I had proper motivation to follow through.
“No, I will be going through that Portal,” I said definitively. “Wandering the tunnels will only take far longer.”
“And how do you plan on doing that?” Squealer pressed, dissatisfied with the answer. “They outnumber you a hundred to one.”
“You heard the reason why we got kicked out,” I sneered, shaking my head at the rat’s naiveté. “Those creatures don’t fight. There are maybe ten that actually will try, and only the spider will be capable of putting up a real challenge. The way I see it, not only will we get out of this place quickly, but we will gain a lot of stats in the process.”
Squealer’s eyes narrowed as he calculated the risks and rewards of such an unlikely event. He looked down one of the empty tunnels and wondered just how far he could go on his own. He sighed before he finally looked back at me.
“So, how are we going to do this?”