One of the best perks about the Claimed Hells is how much real estate is available. People are always dying there—always—so things get vacant a lot. Furthermore, you can exercise some pretty interesting strategies to get people to sell to you.
Which is why I strongly recommend acquiring your first unit in the Claimed Hells. Let me explain.
You don't need to be there in person. What you can do is hire a local and have them perform a set of operations for you to your benefit. Now, you want to secure housing in a low-conflict area. This is usually mapped out by the season through the Crossroads Census. Be sure to subscribe to that if you also have the resources.
Now, after this, you want to secure your unit first. Don't think of expansion. Think of hardening the district. This is why we recommend low-risk districts or districts currently undergoing renovation or phases of gentrification. Stability is good for business, but struggles? That's bad.
Another part of the claimed hells is how great the value spikes. You don't want to be in the path of a major acquisition. The Circles—they battle with each other all the time. They displace housing and population, so be sure to mind their waves of disruption.
For more details about investing in the claimed hells or other hot zones in the fathoms, please stay tuned to this psionic-broadcast.
-The Cruel Investor (A Crossroad Mindwave)
II-26
Settling In
Schrödinger let out a sigh as Wei approached. "What? Hotel not to your liking? Room not fancy enough?"
A second, even deeper sigh followed the first as nearly forty key fobs splattered on the counter, which the goblin manned.
"Terrorist attack," Wei answered. As a recording of the SegSec announcement played in the background, he continued, "You might have heard something about it."
"Yeah, might have. Jesus Christ, kid, how do you keep getting into this?"
"It's less how I keep getting into things and more how things keep coming after me. My foes are unwise," Wei finished.
Schrödinger nodded. "So what now? Are you gonna find someplace to slum, cozy up to some other master? I heard some of the security here chattering about how you're on the out-and-outs with the lodge already." The goblin snorted. "Bad riddance. Self-righteous bastards. The Lodge is as dirty as anyone else. Their hands are dark with blood too. Don’t let them tell you otherwise."
"Indeed," Wei finished. As for where I'm going to go..." The young master trailed off but didn't fully tell Schrödinger anything. "We will see. But I will see you soon, Schrodinger. I'm sure of that."
"Yeah, yeah," the goblin clicked his small pointed teeth together. "Listen, about that, uh, cipher lesson thing. If you're serious about that, you're gonna want to look through the Compendium first for details. I want you to understand that ciphers aren't some kind of weird magic or a bullshit weapon you can pull out of your ass in desperate times. You literally need to invoke things that exist, things in the environment. Connect shit together—fucking like if programming had sex with origami and electrical engineering. When you finish with the basics and, uh, come talk to a version of me, I'll find time to tell you a few secrets, show you a few things."
The faintest smile spread across Wei's face. "Thank you, Schrodinger. It is remarkable how one so ugly can hide a heart most genuine."
The goblin's face turned to an outright frown. Every single Schrödinger manning the counter glared at Wei. "And while you're at it, maybe read up on, uh, basic compliments.”
With that settled, Wei turned and saw the rest of his sect gathered. They were a group gathered just beyond the in-building spatial passage. The lockdown was still in effect, but due to their “unique circumstances,” management gave them special passage rights to leave. It didn’t take long for them to gather their belongings, either. What little belongings they had. Some were even wearing hotel robes with the ruination of their original articles of clothing.
“The check-out is settled,” Wei declared. “We leave.”
They left along the same paths they first arrived, moving toward the Crawler station that carried them over from Arrival Plaza. The station leading into Cherub’s Corpse itself was a level above, and all Wei needed to do was follow the signs.
The interior of the Third Rib was utterly vacant now. It was astonishing how the Crossroads managed to clear the hotel of guests. Echoing footsteps resounded through the vastness of the chamber. Tables laden with scattered cards, discarded chips, and other trinkets characterized the surrounding space. Slot machines stood vacant, bright lights flashing, but no one dared indulge.
Thirty-seven walked the main lobby of the Third Rib. Thirty-seven upward, joining a flow of foot traffic before finally reaching their new platform.
As the centipede-deep-like demon crawled in, Wei noted it had none of the luxury the earlier one possessed. Its body was rough gunmetal gray, and inside, rather than luxurious couches, ample space, and tables filled with food, there were only metallic seats and poles for people to grip when standing in the middle, and portals at the end of each Crawler segment, allowing passengers to move between the demon’s inner sections.
There were other people present as they boarded. Wei caught glances from a smattering of liches still clustered across the segments among their own cliques. The young master entered without fear, but he sensed a note of hesitation among his disciples. Slowly, they trickled in as well, filling a single segment to twenty-five percent capacity. Then came the whispers and statements from the liches.
"What's this? Some new arrivals. What a peculiar look the boy has."
"I think that one's a cultivator. Look at his hair. His facial structure. Even his bearing."
"Ah. Those are always fascinating. And what a unique fragrance his Essences form. What about the others?"
"Mm. They're chaff and nothing more. Aside from that large girl next to him and… that’s not one of ours, is it?”
“Oh, no. Absolutely not. No identification.”
Echoes from another place. This exchange between red-skinned women wearing only transparent silk sheets rather than proper clothing. Their Classes noted them as succubi, and Wei resolved to keep his gaze far from them to avoid any uncouth situations. “Say, do you think that one is the new boy? The one called Wei? Defier of Circles? Arrived in the Claimed Hells through his own power alone”
"Defier of Circles?"
"Oh, yes. That rumor is about someone who made it through the claimed hells without accepting a sponsorship. Propaganda, I suspect. Why, the last person to manage that was the Bastard. And you all know how much of a monster that man is. Good thing Countess Forbida claimed him first. Hmm. I wonder what it would take to buy some of his time from her…”
A series of klaxons sounded from the Crawler, and a light above the open door turned yellow, yellow, then red. The door slammed shut.
"Door closing. Proceeding toward Gasgill Station."
Once the crawler began moving again, gliding ahead via spatial magics and rising velocity. The demon undulated, twisting and turning through a narrow den of winding tunnels before it finally emerged into the light. Brightness filled the world.
Wei looked upwards and saw a map of Cherub's Corpse with hundreds of local stations. They were like parts of a greater constellation. Eleanor said they were heading toward Willow Way Station, after which, they simply needed to reach the 225th floor to find it. That was forty stops away. However, each stop only took thirty seconds to reach. So fast was the crawler, and so efficient was the infrastructure of the Claimed Hell’s Heights that Wei couldn’t help but feel a bit awed.
All major cultivator sects traveled by essence-driven skyships if they could afford it, but most led hard lives, carried by ox-drawn carriages or horses. Powerful practitioners could traverse the world by themselves, but possessing a vessel of prestige was a statement of one's status and the power of their organization. Such a thing couldn’t be ignored.
If anyone from Wei's homeworld could see where they were now, they would have flinched back, shrank in speechless disgrace. Even the lowest Sinners traveled like Ascended Elders here.
The Fathoms were vast and overwhelming. Wei felt small, despite everything he had survived.
A series of moans and scenes of questionable intercourse began playing across all the windows within the Crawler. They also distorted Wei’s view of the cityscape outside. The young master grimaced and accessed the interface using his Class Settings. A set of intuitive controls spilled across his mind. He quickly searched for one option. The moment he found the "Turn Off" choice, he selected it mentally, and the pornography vanished—but only on the screen in front of him. The others remained.
“Hey, I was watching that!”
Wei turned to stare at the passenger who said those words. He saw a muscular humanoid with thick fur coating their upper body. Lightning danced upon the goat horns jutting from their head and their lower body was likewise hoofed.
Hgnasdne: Infernal Runner Lv. ???
Unlike other people who had their Essence Level hidden, Wei could feel this one’s spirit, and unless the goat-man was suppressing his power through some unknown means, his essence wasn't particularly strong. Wei, on the other hand, just finished fighting a whole gauntlet of foes far more powerful than he.
The goat-man looked away, unable to bear the tension, and Wei sneered. No one else complained at him anymore.
“I don’t bloody understand it,” Roggi said, muttering as he and his forgekin studied the pornography. Ellena and Agnesia, meanwhile, were both beet red. Wei used his mother’s technique of pretending the uncomfortable matter wasn’t happening and just stared out the window, trying to ignore the ambiance.
Demons of all shapes and varieties drifted through the sky like schools of colorful fish. They left traces of Essence emissions in their aftermath, and these emissions melded into vibrant mirages that materialized scenes of battle. Wei blinked as he realized he was staring at an advertisement.
SLAKE YOUR BEAST AT THE BLOODGROUNDS!
The words flashed at the top of the mirage, and Wei watched a flashing series of images: depictions of gruesome killings and brutal triumphs. The advertisement turned black, and sprawling lines of text beckoned passengers to visit local arenas to join ongoing tournaments, watch grudge matches and other violent spectacles with VIP tickets on sale at discounted rates, starting from 5000 Sins and up.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Finally, the mirage brightened again, and Wei observed two Sinners squaring off against each other. On the left stood a towering humanoid serpent, twirling a whip of lightning in their hands. Their eyes gleamed with the cold blue of winter, and their dark scales were riven with scars.
Across from the serpent was a human man, his incandescent hair and beard crackling like an open flame. A scar ran along the bridge of his nose, and his brown eyes gleamed with barely restrained hate for his foe. He wielded a traditional sword—a cultivator's twin-edged straight sword at that.
Wei’s interest was captured. And rose further when he realized he recognized the symbol on the back of the man’s robes—the symbol of the Blackwind Sages. The mirage displayed the match's title: Silt of Storms vs. the Midnight Sage. Below it was the subtitle: Annulment or Betrothal!
The battle was scheduled as tomorrow night’s main event. Wei stared at the screen, his jaw tightening.
"What's wrong?" Agnesia asked, noticing his focus. "You're staring pretty hard through that window."
Wei exhaled sharply. "I think... I think that man is from my world."
The princess frowned, peering at the screen. "What, the dark robed guy with the burning hair?"
"Yes," Wei replied. "He's wearing the robes of the Blackwing Sages. My mother claimed to have eradicated them. They were an unorthodox cult on my world, dedicated to spreading techniques among the masses without restriction, to bring down the old orders.”
“So…” Agnesia breathed. “Is he a friend or a foe?”
“I do not know,” Wei answered. “But he is a cultivator. And I assume to be an Ascended Elder at that. I am not sure how else he arrived here aside from leaving the realm before my mother’s purges. He should know about what happened to Evernest. I owe him that courtesy, at least, despite whatever else might follow.”
“Wei,” Agnesia said.
“Hm.”
“You’re a good man. An honorable one.”
The young master shifted. “Yes. I—” His Shell loomed. “But I need to be more.”
***
As the crawler neared its destination, Wei observed the cityscape more carefully. The bulk of the architecture sprawled outward, like lichen clinging to the body of a corpse. A few structures jutted upwards, clustering into massive towers that culminated in platforms reminiscent of mushroom caps.
Wei wasn’t surprised. The entire city seemed thematically built around the corpse it rested upon. Growth from decay. Fungal life blooming from death. Whoever designed this place had merged artistry and morbidity in their vision.
For all of hell's depravity, Wei couldn’t deny its unfettered creativity. Despite the pain and offense this place had inflicted on him, he could see why someone powerful, ambitious, and visionary might wish to reside here.
It took nearly half an hour for the crawler to arrive at Willow Way Station. Compared to the other stops, Willow Way was sparsely populated. Foot traffic was minimal, and there were fewer liches here as well. Mostly, it was humans. Humans that didn’t like outsiders entering their community.
The non-humans in Wei's group immediately drew vulgar glances from passersby as they disembarked. Wei himself wasn’t spared from the disdainful looks.
More than once, he heard mutterings: "Fucking pseudos," and, "Great, now that the consulate's cleared out, they're letting bloody fictionals move in."
Wei’s summoned his Pale Fang at some point, and as the celestial flame wrapped over his bloody, the surrounding murmurs grew quieter. Soon, the locals found it wise to create greater distance from him and his disciples.
He didn’t even need to ask what a "fictional" was. After everything Asaru revealed and the Trespassers had told him, Wei had connected the dots. The locals here weren’t just mainly human, they were real humans from Earth. That sparked a fire in Wei’s chest. Oh, how he would relish taking their world from them. A world for a World.
They found an elevation platform as soon as they left the Willow Way station. After spending a few more Sins to call a platform, Wei found himself accelerating upward to the 225th level. As they came to a stop, Ellena’s words proved true: It was easy to locate the consulate. Mainly because it was the largest structure around, and also because a massive demonic face projecting a force field around the premises was actively glowering at everyone in the area.
"That should be the gatekeeper," Ellena said, gesturing at the grotesque face. It was almost a kilometer in height, and even from far away could Wei feel its baleful rage.
Kevin Collins: Indentured Gatekeeper Lv. 210
Wei regarded the buildings here aside from the warded consulate first. Most of them were overly white, used too much marble, and were built upon lawns of emerald green. Inside, he found worried people peeking at him out from their windows. Already, there were prying eyes. Time to go.
As they climbed up a long set of stairs, they finally came before the Gatekeeper, and Wei mustered his will for whatever was to come.
Though the Gatekeeper was mostly composed of Essence, its burning orange eyes were sunken with obvious fatigue. It noticed Wei and his group approaching, its mouth widened in desperation. A thunderous voice boomed: "Oh, please, please, PLEASE tell me you're here to buy and not piss on my Restriction Field.”
Wei blinked, startled. "What do you mean, ‘piss on your Restriction Field’'?"
"That's what people have been doing!" the Gatekeeper roared. "I hate it! I don’t want to see any more of that! Everyone who hates the Inheritors comes by and..." His voice trailed off, and he let out a disgusted rasp. "Listen, I understand if you hate the Inheritors. Everyone does. I do too. I can’t stand the Trespassers! They're self-righteous: 'Oh, I’m the only one that’s real! Oh, I’m special, and you’re not because I can swap out any Class I want!'"
The gatekeeper's voice grew louder. "I hate them. However, would it kill not to involve me in their grudges?
The Gatekeeper's sudden outburst left Wei slightly disturbed. Glancing behind him, he beheld nearly forty sets of wide-eyes.
“Right.” Wei returned his attention to the Gatekeeper. “I’m sorry you’ve had to endure that,” he said, his tone carefully measured. “You have my sympathies.”
The Gatekeeper opened his mouth to continue his rant, then paused, letting out a mournful sigh. “...Thanks. It’s just—I need to sell this, okay? I need to sell this so I can finally finish my indenturement. Do you understand? I’ve been doing this for years, but I need to be done. I need to! Ten years, watching over properties, trying to convince people to buy unwanted estates! Do you know how many times I’ve been sued because I tried to create a bubble by lowering the price? Do you?!”
The Gatekeeper’s tone shifted to a mocking lilt. “‘Oh no, lowering the price devalues the local market!’ ‘Oh no, you’re disrupting supply-demand balance!’ Do you know how many times the Crossroads have sued me? The Circles? Thousands. THOUSANDS. Literally.”
The Gatekeeper exhaled shakily, his eyes glowing brighter in agitation. “My lawyer is sick of me. And I can’t go any lower here! If I go any lower, I’m going to get sued again. So PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, buy this place from me! It’s just under a billion! This is as low a price as I can make it, okay?”
Wei calmly folded his arms, his voice even. “Can I see the grounds first?”
The gatekeeper froze, his burning eyes blinking. “Wait... you’re actually going to consider buying it? You’re not lying to me?”
Wei tilted his head slightly, frowning. “Why would you offend my virtue this way?”
The gatekeeper sniffled, his voice softening. “Good... good... Are you all right?” Wei asked, watching the gatekeeper carefully.
“Yep,” the Gatekeeper replied, his voice cracking. “Never better.”
With a resounding clash, the chains wrapped around the structure receded into its walls. The gatekeeper rose, revealing the property he had been guarding.
Before them stood the Inheritors’ Consulate. The structure resembled a massive flower, closed tightly before the point of unfurling. Its name, The Unblossomed, was emblazoned across its façade. However, the front doors were missing, hollowed clean by what looked like a scorching column of fire.
Several gaping holes scarred the walls of the consulate’s outer layers. Wei quickly realized that the structure was layered like an onion. Each "petal" of the outer walls formed a revolving row of defenses protecting the true core of the consulate.
Wei and his disciples stared at the open wound carved into The Unblossomed for a long moment. Finally, Wei shrugged.
“Well, I suppose it’s not as destroyed as our last place.”
A series of tired chuckles sounded.
“What’s the bet that we get attacked here too,” the Shadow Archer joined in.
“I hope they do it early if it does happen,” the Hivekin broadcast.
More laughter. More jadedness. But they were still here. Still with him. Bolstered by that, Wei took his first step into his enemy’s old abode.
As they passed through the interior of the Unblossomed, scenes of carnage greeted them at every turn. Blood smeared the cracked floors, defensive barricades were shattered, and debris lay scattered across the hallways. The lingering stench of Essence overloads brushed against Wei’s senses, heavy, and suffocating.
Shadows of people were burned into the walls and floors. They were frozen in postures of desperation—hands outstretched as if begging for mercy. But mercy, clearly, had not come.
“Not at the hands of the Harbinger,” Wei murmured to himself as they moved deeper into the structure.
Screams echoed faintly from further within. At that moment, the Gatekeeper reappeared, phasing through the ceiling. His enormous face filled the hallway, looking sheepish.
“Oh, right, that,” the Gatekeeper said nervously. “Uh, how do I explain this... A bunch of Trespassers tried to escape, and the Harbinger did something... Uh, you know, sound-dampening materials can be found across the district. Not hard to install.”
Wei didn’t reply. He wanted to see the full extent of the horrors awaiting him, and see them he did.
When they reached the innermost chamber of the Unblossomed, Wei froze.
At the epicenter of the space was a grotesque mass—a writhing abomination of flesh, bone, and limbs fused together in a way that defied all reason. Worse was how spatial reality seemed to twist and tighten around it.
Rather than horror, the sect responded with jeers and a series of sighs.
“Always with the mutilation and flesh,” Nocturne wrinkled her nose. “And the bloody smell…”
There were other buildings in this interior space too. Stacks of residences behind the final layer of folded “petals” Most of them were burned, destroyed, devastated, and so on, but there was still furniture inside. Beds. Items the Inheritors didn’t get to send away in time. That could be useful for his Sect. Or there could be lingering traps.
Over four hundred of these residences were clustered together inside four kilometers of area, and at their center was a large mansion with only one wing left standing. Through its midsection ran three enormous claw marks leading to the nightmarish flesh-thing that Mepheleon left as a housewarming gift.
Cries from men, women, and children sounded. They were fused over a teleportation mechanism. Wei was sure of that now. Could feel it. Bringing his Pale Fang to bear, the space around him brightened. “I’m going to remove this and scour the rest of the grounds. Will that be a problem?”
The Gatekeeper snorted. “Sure. Knock yourself out. I hired an entire crew of—”
Wei channeled his Empyreal Wrath. Celestial Lightning leaped from his glaive and carried the Fires of Deconstruction across the vast distance between him and the mass. It passed through the punctured interior of the mansion, bathed the surrounding houses, and finally splashed against the mass.
The mess of fused bodies disintegrated, turning to grains of dust as an entire chunk of their bulk vanished. Wei felt multiple Essence signatures blink out as well. Though some of the bodies began to heal, they could replace what he destroyed outright, and the Gatekeeper let out a shocked ‘The hells?” as Wei poured the rest of his Scorn into the strike.
“I’m not going to stare at that mess up close,” Wei muttered. “I tire of this place. It’s depravity. It’s pointless cruelty.” The Inheritors were his enemies. But he could feel the children twitching inside the mass. And instead of granting him a vengeful joy, it was just tiring. All this was tiring.
He suffered enough of the Claimed Hells. If he was going to stay here, he wasn’t going to have it infest his living space too.
A flash of black fire roared from beside him as Agensia channeled her flames as well. Rafael sent a few bolts thereafter, and Roggi joined in, launching acid-filled worms that streaked through the air from his fetid wings. At once, everyone began pouring their Skills into the abomination, and though Wei’s fires did most of the work, his power did not burn alone.
The sect was with him. With him still. And they just might stay tomorrow as well.
An overwhelming tide of radiance washed Mepheleon’s handiwork away, and Wei caught a proud look from Ellena. He studied the space using his Omniscience, seeing only a gust of dust trailing through the air.
“Whoa,” the Gatekeeper said. “What the hell is your Class Specialization? Was that supposed to be Celestial Fire? I had a whole bunch of people try and—”
“I am going to check the rest of the premises personally. If I find things to be acceptable, I will conduct the transaction directly.”
“Direct—I—”
“I have the Sins. Do not worry.”
The glowing face just stared at him. “Dude… I wish I could give you a giant hug right now.”