Janus and The Prince: A LitRPG Saga (The Nightmares of Alamir Book 2)

by Noam Oswin

  Erzili’s shapeshifting powers were out of my grasp, but there was no reason for Erzili herself to be so. There was no reason at all, to at least have access to the shapeshifter, if I could not have access to shapeshifting.

  “You’ll get them back, your darlings.”

  “Is that so darling? Necromancy is amongst your list of skills?”

  “No,” I said. “But… you will. You won’t remember this conversation. Or that they were ever dead, to begin with – but you’ll get everyone back. I can guarantee that. But… I’m going to need something from you to do that.”

  “What is it?” She was eager. There was not a hint of suspicion in her tone or expression.

  “First, some information. Night Emperors – what, who are they?”

  “The Emperors of the Night,” Erzili shrugged. “What else could they be?”

  That was not the sort of answer I needed. “Do you know anyone by the name… Apophis?”

  Erzili stumbled. She backed away from me, fright rapidly increasing in her eyes, as she backed up against her books, tripped and sprawled against her cauldron and backed up against the wall.

  “W-who are y-you?”

  “What?”

  “Names have power!” she screeched. “Names have power!” she cried a second time. “You – you don’t just mention the name of a Night Emperor – you can’t just know the name of a Night Emperor. T-they only reveal their names to those they kill – or to those who kill them –”

  Fascinating info. “I’m… someone special.”

  Waving my hand into the air, I focused on [Earth Control], forming sand. With the sand, I arranged letters, familiar letters that spelled the words in English:

  MY NAME IS JANUS.

  Erzili dropped to both knees. “The… Mothertongue…” she whispered. “The Lost Language… you… you can use it. You… can understand it.”

  Erzili’s bowed. Kowtowed. Her forehead kissed the floor as did her hands. “Forgive me. I did not know you were a Demiurge.”

  It was the first time I’d heard Erzili use the first-person pronoun. The first time the Slithercreep referred to herself with I. The change in demeanor threw me off. The words she uttered gave me pause. Demiurge? Isn’t that one of my titles?

  Title: [Demiurge]

  Details: A special-mythic title. Grants [Special Title] benefits. Grants [Accursed One] benefits/disadvantages. 70% chance of inflicted [Horrified] on whoever witnesses you use the Antediluvian Hieroglyphs. 30% chance of inflicting [Curse of Insanity] on whoever witnesses you use the Antediluvian Hieroglyphs.

  “Please!” Erzili roared. The Slithercreep’s head never left the ground. “Allow me – allow me to serve you!”

  “W-what?”

  “You – you are a Demiurge!” Erzili exclaimed again. “A Demiurge – and yet – yet – you lowered yourself to converse with me, with a lowly Slithercreep – I – I should have been destroyed a thousand times over for my impudence, but yet – yet you show mercy –” Erzili’s head snapped up. “Please! Allow me to atone with my servitude! My loyalty!”

  I didn’t know what a Demiurge was. I didn’t know why it was an important title. Erzili seemed to know. Erzili seemed to understand the significance. I remembered her mentioning Demiurges amongst the likes of Champions and Anathemas – but I had no clue if it was supposed to mean anything.

  Do I go along with this, or admit that I have no idea as to what is happening? No – no, the second I admitted that I was ignorant of what a Demiurge was supposed to be, there was no guarantee that things would progress smoothly from this point onwards. Admitting ignorance was best done in the presence of friends and allies who would be willing to correct that ignorance without ulterior motives. I didn’t quite count Erzili amongst that number. The Slithercreep had already admitted that she would do and say anything to survive – and that was not the type of individual I wanted to let know of my ignorance.

  At least, not quite yet.

  “I will allow it.”

  The relief couldn’t have been more visible on Erzili’s face. “Thank you – thank you –”

  “I wasn’t finished.”

  The trepidation returned. “Y-yes?”

  “I will allow it, on a condition,” I said. “First… tell me your greatest strengths and what your [Epithet Skill] does. Second, tell me your greatest weakness – and how to kill you.”

  “As you wish,” she said, without so much of a lick of hesitation. “My epithet skill is [Muliebrity]. It grants me the power of feminine allure, making me desirable by all creatures, and reducing their likelihood of them wishing to harm me. It enables creatures to feel more comfortable and at ease with me as a man would be with a woman that lends a kind ear. As a result, all will speak the truth from their hearts when exposed to my aura, and they will find themselves growing to love me, whether they desire to or not.”

  Never did I believe I would be glad to have been a skeleton.

  “My greatest strength is a result of my Slime physiology and heritage. I can transform my body into any liquid as long as I understand the components, and my default secretion is a powerful hallucinogenic aphrodisiac that will entrap creatures in vivid visions of pleasure. I can change my form to appear as whosoever or whatsoever I desire at will, however, I cannot change my voice to match, hence, I restrict myself to mostly feminine forms.”

  “My greatest weakness is my only weakness – Holy Magic. Perhaps Dark Magic and other esoteric arts may affect me, but I have never been hurt by them to know. I regenerate instantly from damage, and as long as so much as a teaspoon of my body remains, I can regenerate from it. To kill me, you would need to find the six thousand and fifteen parts of me that I have scattered across Alamir, and eliminate all of them, before destroying my main body. Unfortunately, I do not know where all the parts are, as a safety precaution should one ever attempt to glimpse them from my memory.”

  So my mission was futile from the start? Six thousand and fifteen parts – scattered across the world like phylacteries and I could not kill Erzili without destroying all of them. To go to such extents just to survive?

  “Have… have I satisfied you, my Lord?”

  I did not feel easy with being addressed by my lord. I wanted to know, to ask, what is a Demiurge? Yet, I couldn’t. An instinct, or perhaps, a sixth sense, told me, that I should not ask that question. That something extremely bad would happen if I asked that question. The instinct was such that once I opened my mouth to ask it – I found the words dying immediately.

  “You have. You may serve me.”

  “Excellent, my lord!”

  New Notification!

  Erzili the Slithercreep is requesting to become your Minion.

  Would you like to accept Erzili the Slithercreep as your Minion?

  [Yes]

  [No]

  What’s this? Fine… let’s see –

  Warning!

  You are about to permanently enslave a Nightmare of a Higher Tier than you!

  You are about to permanently enslave a Nightmare of a higher level than you!

  You are about to permanently enslave a Nightmare with a Domain!

  Do you still desire to accept Erzili the Slithercreep as your Minion?

  [Yes]

  [No]

  Permanently enslave…?

  Erzili was waiting, expectantly. Does she know? Am I missing something?

  I decided I wasn’t. At the very least, I had my backup timeline if something went wrong. With that knowledge, I pushed the button.

  [You have acquired a new Minion!]

  Name: Erzili

  Race: [Slithercreep]

  Specie(s): [Slime] (Metamorph Variant)

  Monster Rank: Tier 5

  Level: 204

  HP: Does Not Apply

  MP: 7.2M/20.2M

  Negative Effects: [N/A]

  Positive Effects: [N/A]

  Epithet Skill(s): Muliebrity

  Title(s): [Nightmare of Ten Thousand Forms] [Elder One
of Ecstasy]

  You may view more information about your Minions in the Minion Menu.

  “Minions.”

  Minions

  You have (1) minion.

  Minion(s) Available: Erzili

  Would you like to view More Information on the Minion [Erzili]?

  [Yes]

  [No]

  I selected the [Yes] option with no hesitation.

  Minion Information

  Name: Erzili

  Epithet Skills: Muliebrity

  Mystic Arts: N/A

  Skills: [Morph] [Liquify] [Acid]

  Master Commands: [Meat Shield] [Damage Transfer]

  Master Skill: [None Assigned]

  Tasks Assigned: N/A

  Combat Tactic: [Protect Master] (Default Tactic)

  Apparel:

  Head – N/A

  Body – N/A

  Legs – N/A

  Arms – N/A

  Feet – N/A

  Weapon – N/A

  Loyalty: Lv. 1 [45/100]

  Fear: Lv. 4 [55/100]

  Loyalty Bonuses: N/A

  Fear Bonuses: N/A

  Bio: Erzili is a six-hundred and twenty-six-year-old nightmare that commands the nightmares Fort Zyvar. From a normal, unintelligent slime, Erzili was captured and used by a young Marisian Mystician for the manufacture of forbidden aphrodisiac tonics and love potions. While in the care of this Mystician, Erzili acquired sentience from the listening to endless narrations of romantic woes, and, ultimately, was experimented upon to create the perfect subservient being for sexual gratification. The experiments succeeded and triggered Erzili’s evolution into a Slithercreep – wherein Erzili proceeded to slaughter the Mystician, and wandered the land before encountering the Nightwitch Gothel the Lovelorn, and being granted a name.

  “You can see it, can’t you?” Erzili spoke. “They are beautiful, the words… the Nightscripts of yore.”

  “You can see the words?”

  Erzili nodded. “Yes – but – not understand them. They are in the Mothertongue after all. And Erzili is not so gifted as to be able to understand it.”

  You have enslaved a nightmare with a Domain!

  You have acquired a minion with a Domain!

  You may now control the Domain of your Minion!

  You are now the owner of the Domain – Fort Zyvar!

  Your [Domain] may not be fully utilized until total [Sovereignty] is attained.

  Your Influence has gone up!

  Your Influence Ranking has upgraded!

  There were a lot of questions I had. Too many questions to ask. A lot had happened in an extremely short amount of time, such that there was barely any space for me to think. From Erzili going from being my enemy to being my subordinate was jarring.

  “You seem conflicted Master.”

  A shudder traveled down my spine. “Don’t call me that.”

  “As Erzili has become your minion, you have become Erzili’s master, from now, till the end of time.”

  “Why?” I couldn’t help myself. “Why?” I needed to know. “Why did you choose to allow yourself to be enslaved?”

  “You are a Demiurge.”

  “I don’t know what that means.”

  “It means you can become the King.”

  “King?”

  “The King of Nightmares.”

  I laughed. Ridiculous. “I don’t have any interest in doing something like that. I just want –”

  “To live?” Erzili wagered. “To survive?”

  “Yes.”

  “That is what makes you more worthy than anyone to be King. To be… Erzili’s King.” Erzili smiled. “With you – it may be possible, Erzili’s dream.”

  “A dream of a family?”

  “A much larger dream. A dream of a world, where nightmares and men are not engaged in eternal battle. A world where there exists a Kingdom of Nightmares, and that Kingdom trades, and visits the Humans, Midwarfs and Elvani.”

  “You want… coexistence?”

  “Don’t you?”

  Yes. Of course. I would give anything for that. To walk through the human cities and experience their culture, music and cuisine. To study their architecture, history and art. To trace back their anthropological origins and tinker with their magics and ability to defy the known laws of physics. Without the threat of old age and disease, I could spend as much time as I wanted simply immersing myself into the richness of Alamir.

  “I do,” I said. “But… there’s something I have to do first.”

  “There is?”

  “I need to find the Night Emperors… and kill them, and perhaps kill those above them.”

  Erzili stared at me. She backed away, suddenly. Cautiously. “Why?”

  “There’s a ticking time-bomb over my head,” I admitted. “If I don’t kill them, a lot of people might die… and I’ll lose all my memories.”

  “Do you care about the people who will die?”

  Do I? The entirety of earth, according to Oblivion. The entirety of the earth’s history would be changed completely if I failed. The world I knew would be gone. Would never exist. It didn’t mean that it would be destroyed… just altered. History, changed on a massive scale that would cause different people to be born and others to never be born.

  “No,” I admitted. Erzili’s [Muliebrity] was still active it seemed. I couldn’t lie. It was the truth. “Even if I saved them, they would never know I did. Never be aware of it. I’m unfortunately not that generous, or that selfless of a person. I care for myself. My knowledge. My memories. That’s why I can’t afford to let them go. Why I have to find and hunt down the Night Emperors.”

  “If, all you care for are your memories, then there is another path,” Erzili said. “After the Hlahan Forest, there exists a steep jagged mountain covered in a perpetual fog. We call it the Masakh Mountain. There, a being known as the memory-thief exists. If you were to enslave them as your minion, you could command them to make a copy of your memories… save them. Such that, should you lose them, you will always be able to get them back.”

  Make… a copy of my memories? “I… I can do that?”

  “You would have to enslave the memory-thief to find out,” Erzili said, “But yes. It should be within their power.”

  A third option. So… so I don’t have to fight the Night Emperors? I don’t have to face off against god-slaying beings?

  The weight of the world that had been on my shoulders dropped. Fell, silently. I’d never been so relieved before. Never remembered being so absolutely relieved to hear anything, in my entire life.

  Would it… would it work?

  There was no reason for me not to try it. No reason for me not to take that option, than choose to begin a crusade against enemies so far beyond me. Erzili, as she was, was already far more powerful than I, far more dangerous than I, and yet, according to her, she was nothing in comparison to a Night Emperor. If a being who’d scattered numerous parts of itself across the world in an attempt to survive was terrified at the mention of the name of a Night Emperor… what were my odds of success? Of victory?

  As much as I would have loved to be an unknown hero of humanity, I wasn’t foolish. Not fearing death did not mean lacking value for my life. I wanted to live and not waste this second chance at life, rather than spend it in pursuit of an impossible mission thrust upon me.

  “I’ll meet this memory-thief,” I said at last.

  Erzili clapped in cheer. “Excellent. We could always use more members, those willing to join our cause. The more people you recruit, the stronger we all become, and the further you progress to becoming the King of Nightmares.”

  Meeting Erzili was either an unbelievable stroke of luck or a godsend. Never would I have believed, that there was a nightmare with plans to make a society of monsters. To attempt to coexist, rather than destroy. To be knowledgeable enough to provide helpful solutions to my problems. A part of me, felt genuinely guilty now, that all I’d offered to Erzili in exchange was the destruction o
f all of her troops.

  “I’ll bring back your darlings for you,” I said, finally. “But I need something, that if someone were to present to you, would make you believe them – ally with them.”

  She rose a questioning eyebrow. “Erzili… does not follow.”

  As much as I was grateful to Erzili, I wasn’t willing to tell her about my [Duality]. I would never tell anyone about my [Duality]. Once people knew I could escape death by jumping timelines, they would be more cautious about planning my downfall. It wasn’t that I believed Erzili would plot something against me – but I couldn’t discount the possibility. Even Jesus was betrayed.

  “A failsafe you have to send yourself a message if someone wiped your memories. Or if a version of yourself from the future came to the present, and you needed to make them prove they were you, you’d ask them a question only you would know the answer to, or a secret that no one else but you could know.”

  Her eyes slowly, widened. “Your Epithet Skill…”

  “It allows me to turn back the hands of time,” I said. “But only for a limited time.”

  “That’s how you were so prepared against my darlings? Erzili believed only the Amendments or a Floater Relic could do that.”

  Amendments? Floater Relic? Some objects can rewind time? Alamir just keeps on giving…

  “Do you have something, that I can show to your… past self?”

  Erzili hummed for several brief seconds. “Erzili might have just the thing –”

  Her right hand turned into a sharpened blade, and she sliced down, severed her left ring finger. There was no blood, and the digit grew back into place. “This,” she handed me the finger. “Take this. If you go back in time – having a piece of Erzili will be enough to ensure Erzili joins you once more.”

  The left ring finger was light in my hands. It seemed, more than anything, to be suspicious if I were to present this to Erzili in another timeline. However, Erzili already admitted to scattering thousands of herself across the world, so I suppose she gave parts of herself to allies for safe-keeping.

  “I’ll be going now,”

  Erzili curtsied. “Of course, Master.”

  “Janus,” I said. “Just Janus.”

  A smile appeared on her face. “As you wish, Lord Janus.”