Chapter Two-Hundred-and-Ten

“How are you here?” Adam asked, trying to remain calm. He hadn’t heard anything about the Absolutes appearing inside stages like this, but he hoped there were some boundaries in place, since it would be no understatement to say that she could exterminate every living thing on the surface of this world if she so desired.

A golden coin appeared in her clawed skinless hand. The flayed woman regarded the relic, turning it this way and that. “Peculiar that something this powerful is given to the players in the Seeing One’s game. Perhaps he cannot foresee what potential it holds. Used once to give a wish, used twice and more to inflict a curse, but when tossed to a wishing well, its power grows. Strong enough for an opening to form, letting curious things pass through.”

So reusing the coin is the reason she’s here, and using it on a wishing well makes it more powerful.

But why would she come here?

Adam gritted his teeth.

No, I know why. She wants to torment me, because I’m not following her quest.

Unlike her other playthings, I won’t break, even when she pulls off my head. That fact clearly amuses her.

“You know what I want,” she said. “I can tell you wish to disappoint me. To betray me. It will not work, Adam. Do not waste my gifts on something so foolish. I believed you to be more capable than that.”

She pulled off Diwa’s left index finger and turned it around so that the bleeding stump was like a pen. As Adam watched, she stooped and drew a sigil onto the ground in front of the well.

He didn’t dare move against her, even though he recognised the spell immediately.

The flayed woman stood back to her full height and regarded him for a moment.

“Do not disappoint me, Adam,” she said. “The Masked Whore’s adherent was lost to your mercy, despite my best efforts to make you do what I asked. In his place I will allow a substitution for the Disfigured One’s pawn.”

She’s the reason why Heiner betrayed us!

Her face pulled into a sickening grin that nearly bisected Diwa’s malformed and skinless face.

She looked at Natalia who was stuck in place. “You will do what I asked of you,” she said to Adam.

Then she released her grip on them, and before Adam could stop her, Natalia shot past the flayed woman, activating the katana’s special skill to behead her.

“NO!” Adam yelled, leaping forward to try and catch Diwa, but he was too slow.

Diwa’s malformed body died onto the ritual sigil, and, in an instant, she was pulled away, leaving behind only her clothes, relics, and that twisted red mask.

Seo-Yoon collapsed to her knees, wiping blood from her eye canals and nostrils, while Natalia steadied herself against the well, gasping for air.

< Patron Quest Updated >

< The Flayed Lady >

< Complete the sacrifices >

< Sacrifice the worshipper of Nharlla >

< Sacrifice the worshipper of the Guardian >

< Sacrifice the lead worshipper of the First Light >

< Capture the essence of the Forlorn Shadow >

< Reward: Relic evolution >

“What have you done…?” Adam muttered, looking at the spent ritual spell in front of the well.

“Adam,” Seo-Yoon croaked breathlessly. “What just happened?”

Adam’s hands were pressed into the stones before the spent ritual lines.

Chien’s melody finally arrived behind them, but it was far too late.

Perhaps it’s for the best he wasn’t here. The Flayed Lady can’t sense him, but if she’d known, she might’ve killed him outright, given how much she hates the First Light and its adherents.

“Where is Diwa?” Chien asked.

Adam didn’t reply. He couldn’t force himself to tell them the truth.

“She’s gone,” Natalia said. “She had the wishing coin and used it on this well. She wanted to get her amalgam helmet back, but instead this red mask appeared.”

Chien looked down at the red mask, noticing the clothes and relics next to it.

“Why are her things here?” he asked, his confusion turning to suspicion and dread. “The angel says something vile occurred in this place.”

“The Flayed Lady took her,” Adam finally said. “She’s the reason Heiner betrayed us. Somehow, she is able to possess demon relics. She said they are like openings. She said the wishing coin, when used more than once, creates a curse, but if it is used on a wishing well, it creates something more insidious.”

“Why would she appear here?” Chien asked. “The Gods are not allowed to interfere directly.”

“She doesn’t believe in following the All-Seeing System’s rules…” Adam remarked with a frown. “And she’s upset at me for refusing to do her patron quest.”

Natalia looked down at Adam. “What is your quest?”

“You never explained it,” Seo-Yoon added.

Adam took a deep breath. “She wanted me to sacrifice specific adherents,” he said, feeling the way their melodies soured at his words.

“Who?” Chien asked.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“Father Adam in Old Town, the Forlorn Shadow in the castle, and Natalia and Heiner.”

“But you weren’t planning on doing it, right?” Natalia asked, hoping Adam was telling the truth.

“Of course not,” he replied. “But because Diwa took a gamble with the coin, she created a way for my insane patron to get through, and since the Flayed Lady is vindictive and cruel, she took Diwa with her.”

“Will your patron be able to come back?” Chien asked.

“Not unless someone touches this mask, grabs a demon relic, or reuses a coin on a wishing well,” Adam replied. “She doesn’t follow most of the rules, but she’s clearly still bound by them in some way.”

“My body wouldn’t move,” Seo-Yoon remarked, still on her knees and clearly shaken, since her normally joyous melody was muted and fearful. There was dried blood on the left side of her head, trailing down from her ear.

“I thought I was going to die,” Natalia said. “Now it’s my fault Diwa is gone…”

“You did nothing wrong. You did what you had to do,” Adam told her. “Who knows what might’ve happened if you hadn’t killed her?”

He looked back at the mask on the ground in front of him, before getting to his feet.

With the remnants of his raiment, he shaped two bone hands and lifted the mask towards the well, walking with it while the others watched.

Unable to stop his curiosity, he inspected the mask.

< < Demon Relic > >

< Red Pawn Mask (Epic) — Transform into a pawn of the Red Lady for 30 seconds. 24-hour cooldown >

Adam paused mid-step as the cruel realisation sunk in.

Diwa died for nothing…

She would’ve been able to revert back once the effect was over.

The Flayed Lady knew how Natalia would react when given the chance to fight back.

She fooled us…

She couldn’t activate the sacrifice ritual herself, after all.

It’s no different than using an illusion spell to make someone commit a heinous crime by making them believe they did the right thing.

Adam managed to keep his face neutral as he let the mask fall down into the well.

I can’t let the others see this.

I can’t allow there to be any doubt about what Natalia did.

We’ve had enough discord in this team. With only four of us left, we need to avoid infighting, otherwise we’ll die.

He might’ve felt differently, if most of the bosses weren’t hard-countering his entire build, but since he was relying on the others to clinch the victory, he needed to make sure their team stayed cohesive.

As the evil relic vanished into the depths of the well, Adam turned back to look at the others.

“With Diwa gone, we need to reconsider our strategy for how we take on bosses,” Adam said.

“I will take responsibility and assume her role,” Chien decided, approaching the pile of loot.

Since there was no body, all of it was just there for the taking.

< < Relics > >

< Amalgamated Armour (Epic) >

< Reckless Warlord’s Cape (Epic) >

< Duellist’s Glove (Rare) >

< Green Slime Glove (Rare) >

< Treasure Hunter’s Well-Worn Boots (Rare) >

Chien swapped his captain’s cape out for the reckless cape, and the red fabric behind his silver armour made him look somewhat like a superhero, while the blue cape had made him seem more regal. He also took the other duellist’s glove, since his left hand was free.

Adam put the rest of the items in his backpack. They would soon need a third bag for all their loot.

As they slowly returned to the barracks, Chien and Natalia each took a horse, while Seo-Yoon and Adam walked.

The invading force of the forlorn army would likely attack sometime around dawn, Adam projected. They were slowly coming closer with every moment, as though their victory was a foregone conclusion and this was their parade march to celebrate what they already knew would happen.

Adam tried to not imagine what fate Diwa was now doomed to suffer, all thanks to his hubris and erroneous belief that the Flayed Lady could be successfully betrayed.

The image of Cienna flashed in his mind’s eye.

“We should go kill some forlorn,” Seo-Yoon suggested by the time they reached the barracks.

Chien and Natalia were already inside. They had been given access to the guard captain’s quarters and were getting ready to go to sleep.

Adam paused in front of the door.

“That sounds like an excellent idea,” he replied.

Seo-Yoon grinned.

“But you’ll stay on the wall,” he added.

“Why!?” she exclaimed.

“Because you’ll be able to cause far more damage that way.”

Seo-Yoon frowned. She clearly wanted to go with Adam, but he knew it was too dangerous to bring her along, particularly because he wasn’t sure how well he’d be able to fly if he utilised the mantle.

“But before we go, we’ll need a bucket and some water,” Adam said.

She gave him a concerned look.

Twenty minutes later, Seo-Yoon was on the top of the Gothershall wall, both of her feet in a small metal tub of water. They’d upgraded from a bucket when Seo-Yoon had reminded him that she needed to be able to walk in circles to benefit from the mana regeneration of her boots.

“I wanted to fly over the enemy and rain down destruction…” she muttered sadly.

“Look at it this way,” Adam started. “When the enemy rolls up to the gate, they’ll be within your mist and completely at your mercy. And the further you spread it, the more devastating your attack will be.”

“It’s not as cool,” she remarked, although he could tell she was nevertheless excited about bringing an entire army to a standstill.

“I’ll be back shortly,” Adam told her and hopped off the wall.

I’ll be at risk of encountering the shadow bird if I stray too far and stay still, I think, so I’ve gotta make this quick.

Seo-Yoon is right next to a true flame, so I highly doubt the bird would target her, even though she’s up there on her own.

Since it helped him see slightly better in the dark, Adam was wearing the aspirant’s cowl instead of the red halo. He had the melodies of the forlorn soldiers and the two knights to follow as well, but he was wary of relying on the blood sense as much after realising just how many of the stage’s enemies had the ability to fully conceal themselves from it.

After only a few minutes of flying, Adam passed over the front of the large army. Even from fifty metres above in the air, he heard the rhythmic pounding of their feet against the green hills they traversed.

The army wasn’t quick, but it was ceaseless, moving like a horde of organised and armoured zombies.

Adam couldn’t see the herald that guided them forward, but he could hear him and sense his powerful and tainted melody. Even the beat of his melody was like the rhythmic feet of the army that followed him.

It’s almost like they’re a hivemind, Adam thought, though he knew that wasn’t quite right. A hivemind would move individually for the purpose of the whole, sharing knowledge and objectives, like how the Voidspawn purportedly operated.

No, this is something else.

It is like an unseen hand pulling a thousand strings.

Maybe that explains why they are not that fast. To control that many at once must be difficult.

There was another powerful melody somewhere near the middle of the army, and he guessed this one belonged to the forlorn bulwark.

I want to obtain his weapon. It’s strong enough that Alexander Nova used it for his build.

Although he knew it would give him away, Adam fired a bright flame from his fire glove, sending it slowly drifting down towards the army like a flare. He needed its light for what came next.

Before the archers within the mass of soldiers could spot him, he flew away from the bright light and took aim with one of his finger bullets. He had layered the simple spell pattern for Dilution onto the finger, along with a snare. Both had to be quite small to fit, and their effect wouldn’t be as powerful, but power wasn’t the goal of his test.

Here goes nothing.

Adam shot the finger, aiming it for one of the archers who wore less armour than the normal soldiers.

[4 Afflictions applied.]

He felt heat and pain spread along his body.

All of the afflictions took hold.

His test was a success, but the backlash from just afflicting one target was quite intense.

Adam gritted his teeth.

This next part is going to suck.

Before the archer could succumb to the rapid exsanguination from Adam’s 130% bleed damage and Dilution working together, he flew even higher into the air and then triggered the mantle of atrophy.

The archer immediately dropped, and from his body spread a hundred glowing red arms, which pierced through all the soldiers around him, passing on the four afflictions.

[464 Afflictions applied. Your Affliction bonus is now 724% and your Antivenom bonus is reduced to -1066%.]

Adam’s mind immediately short-circuited from the backlash. It was like a mountain of agony slamming into his tiny brain, delivering 116 soldier’s pain back to him.

He didn’t even register the sensation for what it was, because it was so overwhelmingly powerful. Instead, he saw blooming white pinpricks in his vision that immediately expanded to blind him. It was as if holes were forming in his mind from the sheer magnitude of the pain.

Adam plummeted down towards the ground below him, heading for the circular field of fallen soldiers who had all died at the same time.