by Wolfe Locke
This might be manageable, Seraph thought as he pulled away from the Shadow Man that had latched onto his foot, the light around the ankle distorted from the monster’s touch as it grew numb. Seraph’s powerful movement caused the outfit to tear upon and from within it. The Black Emblem began to glow and Seraph was able to perceive a bit of the residual energy that fed the second life of the Shadow Man. He reached out to grasp it in his hand. With an uncontrollable impulse, Seraph consumed it.
The other shadows seemed to shrink away from him rather than advance after they had seen the clothes suddenly fall to the ground. These monsters know I can hurt them, thought Seraph as he glanced up at the ticking clock showing three minutes remaining.
I won't be able to search this whole place with the time I have left to find a ticket if I don’t take them out now, Seraph reasoned as he began to channel his Starfall ability again.. Seraph knew the light had an effect on the shadows, but when in their Shadow Man form, it had another effect besides just keeping the monsters at bay long enough for him to do what he needed to do. The initial hesitation the Shadow Men had to the revelation that Seraph could destroy the soul had worn off.
Seraph unfurled all of his spectral arms as he unleashed his Thousand Handed ability, thankful that with recent usage the total amount of hands he had available was up to 11. While his real hands remained free, ready to do what he needed to do. Seraph released the charging in a flash of light that stunned all the Shadow Men in place, barely keeping them off of him.
The sudden flash of light as he released his Starfall ability was too much for the Shadow Men and stunned them in place as Seraph channeled more power through all of his spectral hands, extending and stretching out the ethereal appendages as he aimed for the bits of the soul cores that fueled the shades. As soon as his first ethereal hand grasped one of those cores, the core collapsed into a pile of dust, as did all the ones to follow. Interesting, thought Seraph as he realized he would not be able to consume the soul cores he destroyed using his ethereal hands.
The clock started to wind down louder letting him know that he had 30 seconds remaining. Seraph looked around, starting to feel a bit of frantic worry as he struggled to find a ticket, but quickly realized it was a baseless worry as a pedestal appeared in the center of the room. The pedestal was magically illuminated and in the center of the pedestal was one train ticket.
The clock chimed again letting them know was time was up and Seraph looked over expecting a train to appear but having heard no sounds and seeing no lights, the train didn't arrive.
A ghost train then, Seraph surmised as he stepped forward and inserted the ticket into the receptacle near the guard rail. The ticket was instantly accepted and the guard rail dropped down and before him he could see a translucent-looking train and stepped on it. The last thing he saw of the station was a bit of green mist beginning to fill up the room, displacing the shadows. If Seraph had looked harder, he would have seen the two appeared to be fighting.
Chapter 41: The Cabin
As Seraph passed through the door to get on to the train, the green mist began to settle behind him. It slowly expanded, spreading out until it covered the entire station and when it did, all of the lights behind Seraph turned off at exactly the same time. Each of the gas lamps winked out of existence.
Seraph looked out the window and the sudden darkness gave Seraph the impression that the entirety of the station had disappeared along with it. Likely reabsorbed by the dungeon or something like that, or destroyed by something else. It was a dark thought that Seraph didn’t want to focus on as a nagging sense of worry began to plague his thoughts.
The inner door of the train shut tight behind him with a whooshing sound followed by a loud click that let him know for better or worse, there would be no turning back. Seraph knew he wasn't going to be leaving the train the same way he had entered. The only way out of this is through, he thought as he prepared himself mentally for a fight. Seraph looked around for a sign of what he was supposed to do next, seeing only empty seats and a locked door connecting to the next car.
A light lit up above his head followed by a high-pitched ding that beckoned him to take a seat in one of the many empty rows. An otherworldly, though robotic voice announced, “You are now free to move about the cabin." That's my cue, Seraph thought as he held his weapon close to him and walked further into the cabin while scanning around for hidden enemies before deciding to take a seat about halfway between the next cabin, and the door he had come through.
As soon as Seraph was settled in, he heard the sound of a train whistle that announced the train would be departing as pistons moved the rail wheels and the cabin lurched forward. Seraph kept his eyes peeled, looking for signs of danger and things to check out, but aside from the seating, the cabin was sparse.
Seraph reached out to grab the looped train strap above him as the train lurched forward with movement while his eyes noticed the shifting shadows that began to move towards him as they forced their way through the cracks in the doorway and started to spread out through the train cabin.
Within his hand, Seraph began to channel his Starfall ability to stun and destroy the shadows like he’d done in the station, but they didn’t press any further. Seraph guessed that the absence of clothing on the train had meant they were unable to find for themselves a host, but some doubt existed in his mind, almost as if the shadows were a rearguard instead.
It did not take long for the door leading to the next train cabin to open up. Seraph glanced over at the shadows, but none made their move as Seraph stood up and moved towards the exit, keeping his eyes peeled on the shadows. I’ll need to be careful of these. It seems they intend to follow me. I won’t be able to let my guard down for a second.
As he passed through the short tunnel between the cabins, Seraph heard the sound of laughter coming from the next room. This could be bad, thought Seraph as he peered through the glass of a window, Seraph saw no one, even as the laughter continued. I'll have to take care of this then the only way I know how. Straight and thoroughly.
An idea came to him, as Seraph felt the heat of the Black Emblem pulse against his chest, pressing into him. Seraph focused on the Emblem, channeling the power within him to amplify his senses as he stepped through the doorway into the room. Once more Seraph looked around, and though he smelled the faint reek of old cigars on wallpaper and spilled brandy on red shag carpet, he couldn’t see anyone. The laughter could be heard littered through the room coming from a lounging couch, a chair near a table, and a barstool.
With his attention focused, gradually the truth of the room came into view, showing that the laughter appeared to come from disembodied spirits that lingered in the room. Seraph stopped, still not content and drew out more of the power from the Black Emblem until finally he could make out the vaguely human shapes of the spirits in the room.
The laughter abruptly stopped and turned to whispers as the temperature in the room turned cold as Seraph’s breath turned white. The whispers were followed by silence as each of the disembodied spirits in the room turned toward him, realizing he could see them. Whatever basic humanity they might have possessed disappeared as the closest spirit leaped off the barstool and as it moved through the air, the spirit gained physical form as the translucent outline changed, growing brown, revealing tight tanned skin that smelt of rot. A ghoul, Seraph thought as he reacted.
Though the ghoul was quick, Seraph was quicker with the recent stat gains and whipped out Ajana’s Wrath. The barbed weapon lashed out, the metallic bones wrapped around the ghoul and cut deep as it collapsed inwards, slicing the ghoul clean in half. The monster fell over in two parts and turned immediately to dust and was reabsorbed into the dungeon.
Before the ghoul had even landed on the floor, a table was sent flying towards Seraph, thrown by another monster. Seraph was forced to drop his weapon and duck underneath it as the monster followed up with an attack, trying to barrel over Seraph and dig its monstrous fangs into his flesh. B
ut Seraph was prepared and activated his Burning Hands ability and dashed forward toward the ghoul, meeting the monster head on and grabbing its face.
Seraph pushed more energy through the Black Emblem and amplified the effect of his burning hands as the light intensified in a brief but intense flash followed by a pop as the ghoul’s head exploded in a charred mess. The smell of burning flesh filled the room and without fanfare, the monster dropped the ground in a smoking pile that turned to dust.
Where’s the last one? Seraph thought, realizing there was a third monster unaccounted for. In response a sense of warmth flooded through his body. The warmth was jarring and forced Seraph to look behind him where he saw a spiritual visage of Ajana in her lamia form, projected through the weapon he had dropped like an avenging spirit. Her coiling snake body had encircled the last of the ghouls, but rather than simply kill it, Seraph watched as Ajana tore out that bit of spiritual essence within it and hungrily consumed it, just like Seraph himself had done many times.
"Thanks for that," Seraph told the spirit, thankful that he seemed to have found a useful ally that hadn’t turned on him. The spirit nodded dismissively and resumed its ravenous feasting until moments later the monster turned to dust. The spirit shot Seraph a disappointed and hungry look before it disappeared back into the weapon.
Up ahead, the door to the next cabin opened. Seraph looked around for drops or things to use and found nothing. Not that it would matter much. My inventory is still sealed. Anything I find has to be hand-carried.
Chapter 42: Wormwood
As soon as the door to the next cabin opened up, a thick white mist began to pour through the opening, making it near impossible for Seraph to try and assess for danger and threats. He found his vision was unable to penetrate the thick fog. Alright, I’ll just have to do that again and use the emblem’s power, Seraph thought as he tried to channel energy through the Black Emblem.
The Emblem hummed with energy as Seraph leaned on more of the forbidden power he had finally unlocked. But even then, his eyes which let him see souls and spirits could not penetrate the fog. A wasted effort, he mused disgustedly while hanging back and not committing to entering.
From within the mist, Seraph could hear the movement of something heavy dragging and knew it would be a danger to go in blind. Seraph tossed a casual glance behind him and saw the swirling shadows had departed, though the entrance to the first cabin had been sealed, and all he could see on the other side was a thin haze of green.
No way it could be… Seraph thought as his heart began to beat faster as he processed the threat. If that was what he thought it was, he would not survive exposure to it. Wormwood should be years away. Wouldn’t the codex update if it had?
Wait, thought Seraph as a horrifying revelation dawned on him. The codex hasn’t been updating, not since leaving the Ruined High School. Did something happen? Has Wormwood come early? Did I do this? I need to know.
Seraph stepped away from the door leading into the next cabin and backtracked away from the fog and went to look through the window into the first cabin. Through the looking glass, Seraph could see that the seat he had been sitting in had begun to charge, warping with the presence of the green mist as leather pulled away the seat and formed over the inner wiring, reshaping itself into a low crawling body.
A Wormwood Golem, Seraph thought as he identified the monster, wondering why the notification didn’t follow. The Golem raised itself up on its newly formed appendages and rather than reach out and try to force its way through the door to attack him, jumped sides and slammed into a shadow and began to siphon life from it as the other shadows emerged from the darkness and flew at the Golem as various portions of their own bodies became corporeal as they tried to damage it.
But it wasn’t enough. Little by little, the first shadow began to change, warping until it had become some kind of nightmarish creature and assisted the Golem as they started to hunt down the remaining shadows to exterminate them.
Run, you fool. I cannot hold this place for long, sounded the voice of Amarath, the spirit of the Dungeon in his head as the Emblem responded in resonance. Not quite understanding, but knowing that something fundamental had changed, Seraph turned and ran, heading straight towards the fog with a plan in mind.
I can’t linger here. Wormwood is coming and if it touches me, I’ll be transformed too. I need to clear this area and move ahead. If I can’t see through it, I need to make my own way. Seraph summoned his ethereal arms and thrust them into the thick fog and began to use his Cold Hands ability to siphon the thermal energy out of the air. In a matter of seconds Seraph watched the fog thicken, rather than lessen, but he knew what he was doing as the water in the air began to freeze and fall to the ground in snowflakes.
His vision clear, Seraph was able to see what had been hidden in the dense fog. An undead slime, a monster comprised of the reanimated parts of the door after rot had set in. Seraph wasted no time in cracking the whip above his head and watched as the tip of the whip carved into the monster and cut it in pieces straight down the middle with bone edges sharper than any knife.
Instead of being destroyed, the two halves of the monster turned to face Seraph as they adjusted themselves with a sickening wet movement as they both launched themselves at Seraph with a hiss, as rows of teeth opened in gigantic mouths as they came for him. But Seraph was prepared.
He opted for the one on the right and darted towards it, using the force of its own momentum to latch and swing himself around the monster’s body and lay both of his hands upon it as he used his Abyssal Touch ability to break down the undead flesh into nothingness, a pile of dust between his hands.
The other half of the monster turned back towards him and tried to launch itself again, but Seraph was taking no chances and lashed out with the whip to contain the monster. But rather than kill it, Seraph had an idea as he put his hand on the monster and used the energy he had stolen with his touch to instantly flash freeze the monster. Satisfied, Seraph undid the whip and shattered the frozen undead.
His plan wasn’t to kill it, merely harvest it. Many of the pieces he burned, but more than a few, Seraph stuffed where he could. Hopeful that the tiny residuals of the monster would stay frozen, and he could use the frozen pieces to heal himself if needed. When he had collected and burned the last pieces of the undead, the door to the final cabin opened.
Chapter 43: The Bound Table
Knowing what madness he had left behind him, Seraph stepped through the door to the next cabin without hesitation and found himself in a metallic room with no other doors or windows. The room reeked of fresh and old blood, with signs of rust on the walls, but otherwise was well lit by a halogen lamp and against the far side of the room, Seraph saw something on a table.
As Seraph approached, he realized that the largest man that he had ever seen, in this life or his previous one, lay strapped across the table by chains that were easily as thick as the man’s arms. It was clear to Seraph that these chains kept the gigantic man bound. Not just any giant, either, thought Seraph as he approached and more of the man came to light. A Gigas, maybe even a Titan. It looks different than the one Paul killed during the tutorial.
As Seraph approached, he examined the body as he could, noticing that the giant’s chest still fell and raised. It’s alive, Seraph realized as he saw the giant’s sides were torn open from a fresh wound. The source of the blood then? Why am I here? Rational thought told Seraph that the wound while mortal for most would never kill the giant.
Notification: To Kill A God
Details: Here lies Prometheus, the Titan of Creation. To seize his power for yourself, simply cut his throat and drink his blood as it spills and his power will become yours to command.
Seraph looked at the bound Titan, and for a moment, the Black Emblem around his neck burned with energy and a powerful compulsion that was near impossible to resist as the Titan’s spirit revealed itself deep within the Titan’s chest. It was a soul like none Seraph had ever
seen before. Radiant gold, like pure light harnessed in a bolt of energy. Power like that leads to godhood, Seraph thought as he was reminded of the power he had once used that far surpassed the energy he felt from the Titan.
The temptation lingered in the air, it was power that Seraph needed to survive, needed to get his revenge, and needed to protect the world. A power I can make mine, Seraph thought as a glint of metal grabbed his attention and he reached forward to grab a jagged shard of blackened steel he saw lying on the front of the table. The makeshift knife in his hand, Seraph gripped it tight as he moved around to the front of the table and moved closer towards the Titan’s neck and raised the jagged shard to slice open and kill the giant man, just as the prompt had guided him to do.
With the edge of the shiv on the Titan’s neck, Seraph’s hand shook, unsteadied. He sighed. He pitied the Titan. Whether this giant was named in homage to the one of mythology or not, Seraph had a good idea of what his punishment was, and what it was he had done to deserve it.
Killing the Titan didn’t feel like the right decision to him. I’m not going down that path again. Seraph dismissed the idea altogether of killing the giant. He had accepted enough offers of power to last a lifetime. He would not find himself indebted and changed again. Instead, Seraph threw away the makeshift knife and peered down as the Titan began to groan and move as it regained awareness.
Instead of killing the Titan, Seraph looked around for a way to free him. Seraph didn’t see a way to remove the restraints, but he did find a wooden bucket full of water at the base of the table. Seraph grabbed a ladleful of the water and brought it up to the Titan’s mouth. It was a minor act of kindness. Half-conscious, the Titan swallowed the water as Seraph brought up more water to wash away some of the blood from the seeping wound.