Chapter 046: A Mecca of madness and morbidity

A traditional procedure in case of an open portal to any plane of existence filled with hostile beings (which meant most of them to be honest), was to close it immediately. Dark was not bound with rules of Light, and the forces on the other side were literally endless. What’s more, once opened and stabilized portal could literally vomit things into Reality endlessly.

If enough time passed, all local resistance was bound to be overwhelmed with enemy numbers alone. Eventually - if all attempts to close it ‘manually’ failed - local countries resorted to mass destruction spells.

Imperium had at least a few that could change the whole damn mountain into a crater. Talk about firepower.

Obviously our current situation wasn’t even nearly as bad. The portal was attuned to some smaller dimensional plane, probably ruled over by an Aberrant, a vassal to Agony. Which would explain why we faced such a gruesome but ultimately incompetent bunch.

If the portal connected us directly to the Rift, Agony’s personal Domain… well, the enemies would still be rather weak (portal was obviously still weak and only weak things could pass through), but much more disciplined.

Despite this, each moment the portal remained open worsened the situation a bit. The thing governing it (probably said Aberrant) was obviously pushing everything he could through the portal to stall us. This allowed the portal (being more like a disruption connecting worlds) to grow stronger very fast.

This meant that its overall capacity grew with each passing minute. Of course such a hurried crossing over had its own risks. There was a chance that the portal would fail to remain stable and collapse.

The process of said collapse could be described as explosion. Or implosion. It depended on many factors. Our enemy was pissing its pants - because of a deadly threat to its bridgehead in Reality - but in the same time saw a great opportunity.

It had no idea of our respawns (probably). All it saw was a group of adventurers that unsealed its small prison cell (pun intended). If it managed to overwhelm us and kill, it could then take over the whole area and summon more things into Reality, changing a small bridgehead into a bastion. From which it could the spread further. If none of us escaped, it could do it slowly, without alerting the local authorities.

Like I’ll let you do that, asshole. This is Overtyrant territory, and you are not welcome.

“Avhar, I really hope you have a plan!” Leria shouted to me, before setting another Pain Adherent in fire. It started burning, while making noises that sounded like it just got the best orgasm of its life.

“I do, but it’s stupid.” I answered, firing a Havoc Bolt at the Dead surrounding the Torturer.

“Alright, you piqued my interest.” She chuckled. Despite everything, she felt great. After all, she was fighting enemies of her god, and there seemed to be an endless supply of them. She was in her personal heaven.

“You’ll have to carry me on your back to the portal, so that I can close it.” She turned her head towards me, with shock so great that she almost got swarmed by Pain Adherents.

She managed to fight them back.

“This is seriously crazy… alright, fuck this. Lena! Syntar! Cover us for a while!” Both our warrior slave and the hobgoblin blood knight relocated slightly closer to her, so that they could slice the crazies that tried to charge us.

Torturer seemed rather busy with the Destroyer that our Necromancer finally managed to conjure. Right after he wiped the floor with my Fiend. Ugh.

Leria leaned down, her arms spread.

Seriously, she really trusts me, doesn’t she? I just asked her for something completely ridiculous, and she obeyed without a second of delay. I’ll seriously hook her up with someone. She deserves it.

Without a doubt I approached her from the back, and grabbed her by the uppermost part of the chest and neck. It would strangle her, if not for aura that made her invulnerable for such a measly attempts at strangling.

I crossed my legs around her waist. She raised up. And charged.

Holy shit. I didn’t think that through properly. I felt like a rather extreme rollercoaster ride. She had to avoid the biggest concentration of Pain Adherents to even reach the door to the Prison, since the wave of the Dead pushed us back quite far.

I could barely hold. She, in the same, time, probably barely noticed the additional weight. Aura. Huh.

We avoided the Torturer - despite carrying me, Leria could still use her shield and successfully stopped his whip. We dashed through the small army of enemies, and entered the prison.

Immediately after entering we faced a fork. Three corridors. One exactly behind the entrance and the one leading right seemed to lead to the cell area… the third...

...interrogation room. Perfect place for a rift in time and space leading to a domain of a being servile to the Goddess of Torture and Pain, isn’t it? Things like that were very important for portals and general summoning alike.

Pain Adherents were coming from all sides. Leria slashed the nearest face apart.

“To the left!” I shouted. “To the lef...AAAAA!!!”

I got hit by a whip. Torturer came back, called by his boss to defend the portal.

FUCK IT HURT.

I would totally fall down but when I got hit… it felt like I got shocked by electrical discharge. All my muscles contracted in a rather painful way.

Leria didn’t notice and leaped left, slicing her way through Pain Adherents that tried to stop her.

I could feel the will of the thing behind the portal. Leria probably did so as well. Unfortunate disadvantages of being an Amalthian.

The air smelled with pain, tasted like torture and felt like hatred. It went beyond what I could describe with words that made sense for a person to never feel it. The aura of the thing that tried to send its minions through to our world was everpresent, distorting everything what I could consider normalcy.

Not for long, sucker.

By the time we reached the portal I managed to mostly recover from the whip shock… and I even managed to avoid vomiting my last meal, despite the speed and sudden changes of direction that Leria made me suffer.

Ugh. That was seriously the worst.

The portal, as most portals, didn’t look like one. There was a breach in reality in the middle of the room. A two meter high, one and a half meter wide stain through which things kept spilling into our reality.

I dismounted Leria as she charged the portal up front and began slicing apart the Pain Adherents that tried to get through it. I circled the portal and started using my magic to close it.

First thing I did was applying a temporary patch that would prevent things from walking through it. Then I moved over to a more permanent solution.

The tide of screaming madmen turned. Creatures that were already here detected what I did. They reacted in the most obvious way - by charging the room. If they managed to overwhelm us, the patch I applied should break on its own.

After all, there was nothing I could anchor it on. I was its only anchor.

“Defend me!” I shouted to Leria. She turned towards the Pain Adherents that came spilling into the room.

This time, her situation was rather dire. Charging through them was one thing. Even with me on her back and with her heavy armour, by using aura she could remain mobile. Jump around the biggest concentration of enemies, use powerful offensive techniques to destroy (kill was too small of a word) those crazies that tried to block the doors. Now?

Ugh.

Defending the door to the room was her best bet. They had to go at her one at a time, allowing her to dispatch them easily, their own dissolving bodies bodies (they were manifested in hurry and the natural process worked much faster). So she should be able to hold the fort indefinitely!

Well, not exactly. It could work in old games or against more disciplined opponents. Here? They charged. While one leaped at her, another tried to crawl beneath her legs.

They swarmed her. Five… six… seven fell before they managed to do that, but in the end they pushed her back.

They were about to rip her into shreds when…

…what on Earth was that?

Eight… or even ten, it was hard to count… of Pain Adherents were suddenly set aflame almost simultaneously?! What the…

… oh. She combined Lightning Strikes with a Holy Smite. Each of those ultrafast (but light) strikes she directed into different enemy, each of the attacks reinforced with her Transcendental.

They screamed. The cacophony was deafening. Dead still bore the weight of their sins in life, and it was enough to increase the damage to at least more or less sensible level.

“How much longer!” Leria shouted to me.

“Just a while longer, keep them at bay!” I shouted back. I could her growl loudly before she returned to slaughtering the Dead.

Hey, what I’m doing is hard as well! Maybe some fucking respect!

I was about to close the portal completely when the Torturer entered the room.

Ugh. This is going to hurt. Literally.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

I tried to whip me, but Leria shielded me. Another attack met the same fate.

Pain Adherents swarmed the Chosen One of Overtyrant. She fought bravely, but they quickly ripped her into pieces with their magic-enhanced jaws.

Well, congratulations. You failed.

With the last, almost agonic shriek, the portal closed. The supernatural lighting it produced disappeared, and the room was covered in darkness.

YOU DIED!

Cause of death was being ripped into shreds (too many wounds contributed to your death to find a single cause of it).

RESURRECT

Yes, well, it hurt horribly, even despite the fact that pain was weakened in the game… but I probably killed a lot of them by firing Havoc Bolt for as long as I could. I don’t even want to imagine what sort of gruesome recoloring of the room I’ve done.

***

Partywipe. Well, mostly.

When we charged inside, the rest were on the verge of getting wiped. The battlefield expanded so much that the Pain Adherents managed to reach our casters even despite the best efforts of our warriors.

Might have been different if the Warforged wasn’t murdered early and we managed to hold our defense line near the door. But after they pushed us out into the main cave… and don’t have me started on Kovacs and the Metallist, that got pushed towards the collapsed corridor and simply massacred. Early on.

The catgirl Daggerer died as well, I failed to even notice that happening. Simea died right after our reckless charge.

While it wasn’t a party wipe per se, we certainly suffered loses that make us unable to continue the fight. In the end those that survived simply retreated all the way to the acid moat. They even raised a bridge.

Then we all ate a dinner, and made fun of those that died and of me mounting Leria like a warhorse (it was bound to happen so I prepared mentally beforehand).

Kovacs group decided to excuse themselves. Too many deaths in short succession. Instead, they departed for a simple raid to Descent. Dig some things, kill some other things, then retreat. Play it safe. That sort of stuff.

They were certainly useful, but it was slowly getting dangerous. Especially for their NPCs.

Rila Velvanel, the liberated slave and the chief cook of the Kovacs group remained in the Hold. Even without inquiring I was almost sure she and Kovacs were a pair. Hmph. Would have explained her breaking apart when he got lost in the Sewers. She certainly seemed much more… stable now.

Maybe I should give the two of them a room?

I wasn’t saying this loud, but if he truly had a thing going with her, the fact that she remained in the Hold was… a guarantee of their loyalty. Pragmatic, true. But I wasn’t going to pick any chances. Not with a Doomplace.

After we all rested properly we launched another assault at the Prison. Easily wiping the floor with the remaining Pain Adherents and the Torturer. Leria kept him busy while the rest slaughtered his surviving lackeys. After they fell, the Torturer was no longer a threat. His attacks were painful, but ultimately there was no follow up to them.

Leria practically chopped him into pieces.

The lack of resistance was almost saddening. They understood they lost the moment we closed the portal. The rest was an unavoidable banishment back into the Dark. To lie in waiting for another occasion to arise.

Prison reconquered. Exactly seven cells on level one, plus a torture room (where the portal was) and what we presumed to be a barracks for the guards of the prison. After a while we discovered that a small room on the other side of the cells was in fact a stairwell.

Seven more cells on lower level. Three, probably special ones, above. Together - seventeen, a holy number of Overtyrant.

The lack of Hall of Penance and Redemption was interesting. Was it possible that the Ardent Flame resorted to this abominable method only after most of it was wiped out? As a means of desperation, a way to at least try to recover some of their former glory?

“I think this place would work nicely for a village.” Leria commented after we succeed in our conquest.

“Really? A prison?” Simea interjected, obviously not convinced.

“I think she is right.” I added. They both looked at me. “Leria, I mean. The cells can easily be refurbished into quarters. All you have to do is to replace the rusted iron bars with wood. Three per three meters wide flats might sound like something horrible to people of our world, but for the Sewer Rats it will be more than they ever dreamt of.

I mean, they literally lived in a sewers! Anything would be an improvement. Even if they were to live (a whole families at that) in former prison cells.

***

Reconquering Graveyard was another thing on my list. Seriously, let’s focus on one thing and push it as far as its possible, before we switch to typical routine of anomaly visiting.

The departure of Kovacs put a dent in my plan, though. It was completely logical decision, but it made us wait. Pushing into the new location on our own would be a terrible idea. So, instead, it was time to do something else.

Leria and Lena were training. Simea was busy lazing around and reading books. Vaera… well, I wasn’t 100% sure if he even was literate. He generally wasted time as well. Non-combatants cleaned up the prison.

Me? I had something to do. Namely deciphering the scrolls I pillaged in the Baptism of Blood headquarters. They were all Transcendentals, that much I knew. And most of them were Transcendentals of higher level than those we used. Sure, they were already overpowered for their mana cost, but they were handed out together with a Lesser Blessing. And there were also Blessings, Greater Blessings and, ultra rare, Grand Blessings (in WR unachievable for Players).

At least half of the scrolls I managed to decipher were Blessings-grade Transcendentals of Pentagram. I burned them immediately. Trying to combat Pentagram with Pentagram was obviously the most retarded idea of mankind at least since certain woman decided to eat an apple. This simply didn’t work like that.

The rest… well, most of them were Transcendentals of Black Pantheon. Tyrant, Shadow, Deviation (ugh) and, strangely, Locust. Locust has Chosen Ones?! That’s something new.

There were also seven scrolls that I failed to decipher completely. I simply didn’t know the language. One especially interested me. I could almost sense the power dwelling in the parchment. It was hard to guess what sort of skin was it made of, but it definitely wasn’t normal as well.

Greater Blessing-grade Transcendental? Of what deity? Curious.

“Maybe I’ll show it to Grandma?” Ytar, my assistant, interrupted my thoughts. “She knows a lot.”

Well, I wasn’t sure if a leader of local slums community could decipher these languages, whatever they were… this was obviously thaumaturgical language. Only mages and sorcerers typical knew those. But… she was an enigma. She had secrets. Maybe… just maybe…

...I couldn’t show it to any regular magician, after all. If they were White Pantheon Transcendentals, they would get confiscated. So I could as well try it.

“Ok.” I answered. “I was planning a visit to the city, so we could there as well, together.”

“You do? Great! It’s nice to stretch my legs from time to time.” Uh-huh, somebody is awfully enthusiastic.

“Let’s just admit - there is a girl you like there. And that’s why you want to go.” I decided to tease him a bit.

“Wh...what? N… no, it’s obviously not that, I mean we just like to talk, and…” ...I didn’t expect that. I patted his back.

“I’ll give you some money this time, invite her somewhere nice.” He looked at his feet and mumbled something similar to ‘Thank you’. Huh.

***

It was still at least two days before Kovacs team returned, so we departed to city. I hated the place, but that was the only place around with at least some degree of… entertainment. Even if most of them seemed to qualify you for burning at a stake in any even remotely civilized places in the world.

Ytar took money and the troublesome scrolls, before departing into the slums. Kytar went to replenish the food supply of the Hold. Leria, Syna and Lena decided to visit the khardic village in the Sewers, which I supported completely - I tasked Leria with informing the village priest about the soon-to-happen chance for moving somewhere else. Somebody had to do it.

This left me alone with Simea.

Well, I wasn’t going to complain. It was a very fun evening. She really loves sweets. We spent most of the day raiding through various confectioneries, either eating or, when we no longer push anything down our throats, storing in the inventory. Things put there didn’t age, so we could enjoy them together next day.

“Aah… I’m totally stuffed.” Simea commented when we were returning to the inn. “I’m probably going to regret it later on. “

I chuckled.

“Well, at least we are going to suffer together. Both the unavoidable diarrhoea and nausea… and the probably avoidable vomiting.”

Romantic. In a rather weird way. Ok, not romantic all, but at least I tried.

She smiled regardless.

“Well, at least you tried.” Ugh, don’t salt the wound.

***

The inn was a rather low standard one, right next to the Grandma’s slums. At least it was cheap.

The innkeeper looked a bit like a pig. A bit. But seemed rather friendly. We rented a room. It was already evening, and the streets around were emptying themselves quite quickly.

Curiously, Ytar came back. He looked quite… joyful. I decided to not ask him, but it was pretty obvious that the date went great. Good for him.

We sat around a table in the far edge of the inn main hall. Ytar wanted to buy beer, but he was obviously underage (at least he would be classified as one in the more enlightened countries of Imperium) and, seriously, making him drunk would be a bad idea. He had to return to slums before the night, after all.

“So, I visited Grandma.” He started, while handing me back the scrolls. “As I expected, she deciphered them all. Here you have their written description.”

“She did what?!” I said, while grabbing the list. Yes, everywhere was there. White Pantheon Transcendentals, as I expected. “She knows three separate thaumaturgical languages?!” I looked quickly at the list. “Two from Imperium, the third…”

“She didn’t decipher that one.” Ytar quickly interrupted me. “She said it looked like an inrithian liturgical language written with high imperial alphabet. The best bet is trying to find an inrithian priest.”

Yes, inrithism and khardism (and some other monotheistic faiths) had at least some of their Transcendentals written in their liturgical languages rather than thaumaturgical languages of local nations. Made using them easier for the faithful, regardless of their nation of origin, since especially priests knew them regardless of their nationality. Literally like latin for the Catholic Church.

“Completely coincidentally I seem to know one.” I said. “But the more I think about it, the more unlikely it seems for Grandma to be a simple grandma ruling over an apartment block in the slums.”

Ytar nodded.

“I know. To be honest only now, when I saw a bit of the world, I began to see it. She knows too much.” So even he saw it. Huh. “Well, I’ll be going. She will shelter me for the night. It… might not be healthy to go around after dark.”

“Why?” Oh, Simea. Why do you even have to ask? There are obviously enough thugs around, ready to step into the light right after nightfall.

“People disappear around this place.” Ytar answered briefly. “There are talks that there’s a serial killer, but one smart enough for no body to be found.

Well, serial killers were quite often encountered in the Doomplaces. Already depraved places tended to have their crazies be on the truly high level of insanity. At least those that weren’t Pentagram worshippers or local aristocrats/magicians that silently indulged in urges that were forbidden even here.

Most of the killers started in the slums. But after a while the ruined bodies and minds of their inhabitants were no longer satisfying them. When that happened, they inevitably began rampaging around ‘civilized’ districts. Because of that, city militia actually tried to investigate at least especially sadistic killings even in slums.

“It’s probably the case. Well, sooner or later the killer will get tired with it, move somewhere else, city militia finds him… or the Overkill.”

“Overkill?” I answered, suddenly curious.

“Oh, well, that’s a sort of a joke around here.” Ytar answered. “After all, the serial killers are around often enough that sooner or later they are gonna start killing each other.” That was seriously as much insane as it was sad. “That’s how the Overkill myth started. For a year or so people attribute all deaths of serial killers to him. Most of them were rather… painful. But so it happens that people out for revenge tend to be sadistic.” He shrugged. “There is no Overkill. Unfortunately.”

That he would barely qualify as a teen in our world made this even more depressing.

***

Unfortunately, all the sweets I ate during the day finally took a toll on my poor stomach. The pain woke me up in the middle of the night.

Well, let’s go downstairs, there should be a toilet there.

I left the bed (waking up Simea, but she promptly went back to sleep after she found out what was happening) and then left the room.

Weird. Did I just hear something from the downstairs?