The only thing I felt upon witnessing this horrific display was … joy. My beloved mistress had feasted well, all thanks to me. After all, it was I who fattened him up and brought him to her.
[Now, my love, open yourself fully to me; I want to know you completely.]
In my haste to comply, I acted without thinking. I opened my character sheet and directed its information ribbons to her.
Her beautiful head jerked back in surprise, and her eyes lost their focus, staring at something in front of her.
And then, it was like an invisible net that was wrapped around my brain suddenly melted away. I could think again. At the last second, Hoshisu halted her strike, her two daggers inches from my neck.
I looked down the pointy ends of her weapons, still poised to strike. I feebly held up one hand. “I’m okay now, sorry for the slip. It won’t happen again.”
She didn’t respond. She just looked at me, narrow-eyed, as if measuring me.
[Why have you forsaken me, my love? Come to me.]
That certainly got my attention.
“We have to end this, now,” I said to Hoshisu.
Her nostrils flared. “Good idea. It’s not like we weren’t giving it all we had until now.”
I scanned the room, taking in my surroundings. Kuzai was at a quarter health, facing off Jawbreaker, who was standing strong with over 80 percent of his health. Malkyr was still struggling to move.
“I have an idea, but I’ll need Kuzai’s help. Do you think you can tank Jawbreaker for a few moments?”
Hoshisu bent down, putting her face right in front of mine, holding my gaze. “Watch me.” Then she turned and ran at the gigantic boss.
As she approached the melee, she tucked and rolled between the immense demon’s legs, coming from behind it. Her daggers stabbed at its leg as she passed, scoring sneak damage despite her opponent’s heavy armor. That was enough to get his attention and the demon whirled around to face the woman, ignoring the dwarf it had been fighting.
“Kuzai, over here!” I moved to stand near the shrine.
The dwarf was bloodied and looked like he was all for continuing the fight and ignoring me. But Hoshisu waved him off and he reluctantly disengaged and came running at me.
I placed my hands on the shrine. I could easily sense the power coursing through it, connecting it to the lower planes. I knew I could try pushing against that power, trying to force it to close in a harrowing battle of wills. But I didn’t have to. I wasn’t the only priest around here, and as luck had it, the other one was a follower of the light. Kuzai was diametrically opposed to the shrine’s power and much more suited than I to resist it. And in case anything went wrong, he was also more disposable.
“If we can consecrate the shrine, the demons will lose their anchor to our world,” I shouted. “Your god loves the light, right? You alone can do it!”
The dwarf eyed me suspiciously. “Why nay ye do it yerself?”
“I can’t!” I held up my arms. “I don’t worship Durang like you do. The darkness I wield is inadequate for the task.”
Wiping blood off his face as he weighed my words, Kuzai finally nodded. “Ye got that right. Ruddy goblins.” He placed his hands on the shrine, his face grimacing in agony as he did so.
The shrine’s evil powers were anathema to the followers of the light and contact with it had clearly caused the dwarf pain. Good to know.
Kusitesh switched her attention to the dwarf. Her eyes shone and tendrils of enticing mana shot out toward him. Kuzai’s ever-present golden aura flared up, deflecting the attempt. The dwarf’s god protected him from her influence.
“No!” the demoness shouted. “Stop him, my love. Kill him and we can rule this plane together. I will not try to force my will upon you again, you have my word!”
“Will you give me the shrine as well?” I countered.
“Yes, gladly!”
“Then swear it in the name of your dark master.”
She hesitated “I cannot. But I promise you shall have it, along with my body to do as you please. You can experience boundless pleasure, wrapped in my embrace for an eternity …”
Now that was an interesting offer …
Oh, right.
“I got a counter offer, bitch. Go to hell.”
Barter skill level increased to 12.
Vic laughed. <‘Go to hell’ – good one, Boss!>
Thanks, Vic.
Kuzai puffed his cheeks, his whole body straining as if trying to lift a great weight.
With my Mana Sight, I could clearly see what he was trying to do. He was forcefully pushing his radiant, holy mana into the dark, unholy shrine. But the darkness fought back.
Kusitesh closed in on Hoshisu, her eyes boring into the other woman’s, commanding her to submit to her will. Hoshisu had no chance of resisting a spell with such an obvious power gap, and her knees buckled. Jawbreaker bent down and snatched her limp form with both hands and activated his Burn Soul skill. With two harmful Master-ranked skills affecting her at once, Hoshisu was doomed. Within seconds her body wilted and crumbled to dust.
“No!” It was Malkyr. The sight of his sister dying gave the man new strength. He broke away from the power that held him down and roared. His axe and his own body glowed orange together, reflecting the same intensity. I could see the runes from the gauntlet extend over his entire body within that glow.
Malkyr charged straight at Kusitesh and struck hard, cleaving between her perfectly shaped breasts. She drew back from the raging man with only a shallow cut marring her perfect skin. Jawbreaker stepped forward to stand between his mistress and her enemy.
Well, at least the siblings had kept them engaged this long.
I turned my attention back to the dwarf. He was sweating profusely now and giving off an equal share of sweat and blood. I could see that his bright mana already filled half the shrine, but the darkness fought back for every millimeter, forcing Kuzai to strain to his limits, even to maintain the progress he had made. His mana was draining rapidly. He was in for the battle of his life.
Glancing back at Malkyr, I saw he was now afflicted with the ‘Dominated’ debuff. The large man could only stare helplessly at Jawbreaker as the creature pummeled him with heavy punches. He had only 40 HP left when Jawbreaker raised both fists and brought them down together, smashing my companion to the ground. Another fatality.
Kuzai was panting hard, almost out of mana. Even his health bar dropped from the intense effort. The shrine’s darkness was almost completely replaced by the light.
With no one left to block their way, Jawbreaker and Kusitesh finally turned their attention to us. The temptress shot two crimson bolts from her eyes, but they were repelled by the last bits of brilliant mana pouring out of the dwarf. Jawbreaker took a huge step toward us.
“Now would be a good time to finish,” I advised the dwarf.
“Aaaaaaarrrrghhhhhh!” With one last push of Herculean effort, Kuzai forced the final few points of mana through his hands and into the shrine. Then he dropped to his knees, fully spent from the exertion. The shrine swirled with black and white lights, each fighting for dominance. Kuzai had failed to completely sanctify the shrine, but it was enough.
Jawbreaker faltered and buckled at his next step. He fell, hitting his head on the shrine, and remained there, flinching, but unable to move.
Kusitesh ran at us, screaming something in an unknown language, her face wilting, becoming emaciated and horrifying.
That was the moment I had been waiting for.
Staring at the head in front of me, I drew my dagger a
nd struck down hard.
16 – Darkness Rising
Kuzai sacrificed. +112 Faith Points (Cult of Nihilator) [base 28 X 4 using an altar]
Quest failed: The Holy Dwarf 3
You have killed Kuzai, ending his journey, and forfeited your chance at establishing beneficial relations with the BoulderBelly clan.
For a split second, Kuzai’s eyes reflected his shock at my betrayal. Then his body liquified and was consumed by darkness. Almost as an afterthought, I withdrew my dagger and stabbed Jawbreaker’s head as well.
Jawbreaker sacrificed. +252 Faith Points (Cult of Nihilator) [base 63 X 4 using an altar]
Level up! You have reached Character Level 25. You have 1 ability point to allocate.
Well, losing the new trade option was a shame, but I doubted the dwarves would have given us a fair deal anyway. Dwarves were notoriously untruthful, any goblin worth his salt knew that. But the attractiveness of the reward was irrelevant. My master wanted a ‘proper sacrifice’ to sanctify his shrine and Kuzai was it. Jawbreaker would have been a worthy sacrifice, yes, but I had no doubt that the evil Nihilator would much rather have the soul of a priest of light. And as it turned out, I was right.
After the holy dwarf was consumed, my master’s power manifested, extinguishing both the pesky holy light and the impure darkness, claiming the sacred place for his own. The shrine shone with new power, radiating with beautiful, serene darkness.
With a shrill scream, Kusitesh dropped to the ground and began convulsing. Gashes opened all over her now disfigured face, making her an even more hideous sight as she writhed in agony.
Her arms tightened against her body and her knees snapped up to her chest. It looked as if an invisible hand was crushing her like a soda can. She kept shrieking as her bones audibly cracked and her head bent down, grinding her chin into her chest. Then her entire body compressed, accompanied by more sounds of crunching bones. Something metallic appeared within the gruesome ball of bloodied flesh. In a few seconds, whatever remained of Kusitesh was sucked into the metal item which fell to the floor. Where moments ago a voluptuous demoness stood, there was now a chalice, glowing with unholy aura.
Quest Updated: Dark Missionary
You have dedicated a place of worship to The Cult of Nihilator.
Remaining places of worship to dedicate: 1
Time remaining: 17 days
“HA HA HA, you have done well, my minion,” Nihilator’s voice sounded, coming from his new shrine.
By now the bodies of the dwarf and the Ogre had melted into pools of darkness, oozing down the shrine.
“Hmmm, how interesting. The essence of a demon and the essence of the once divine, coming together on my shrine. How … quaint.”
Instead of coalescing into new void crystals, the two pools of darkness flowed into each other, merging together into a single puddle.
“You shall not have the crystals, my greedy minion. But do not fret, Nihilator rewards his loyal minions. Behold!”
The puddle of darkness flowed over the shrine, rippling but maintaining its shape without a container to hold it. I distractedly put the new level-up attribute point into Mental as I watched events unfold around me.
A shape slowly emerged from the puddle, first, a head appeared, then hands, torso, and legs. The pool subsided as the body grew out of it until it vanished completely.
Standing on the altar, looking around him with small, beady eyes, was Kuzai.
But it wasn’t the same Kuzai. Though he still looked to be mostly a dwarf, his appearance was greatly changed.
His skin had become deep grey, like a corpse. He was completely bald, without a trace of his previous proud beard. His head was thinner and elongated, with a pointy chin and sharp, long ears. His fingers were twice as long as before and had three knuckles on them. He looked like a nightmare version of a dwarf, one whose name was used to scare small dwarven kids into obedience.
The creature – Kuzai – looked at me. His lips peeled back in a sneer, exposing gleaming sharp teeth.
Kuzai, Aberration, Acolyte of Nihilator
Level: 28
Type: Boss Tier 1 [Priest]
HP: 354/354, MP: 541/541
Attributes: P: 11; M: 20; S: 1
Skills: Mace 21, Shield 21, Control Shadow 18, Shadow Heal 18, Banish Good 10
Traits: Half-Demon, Shadow-Touched
Resistances: Physical 25%, Magic 20%, Fire 50%, Mental 50%, Holy -100%
Description: After being sacrificed on Nihilator’s shrine, Kuzai’s soul became mixed with that of a demon. Intrigued by the paradox, Nihilator allowed the new mixed soul to be reborn as his faithful minion, instead of devouring it.
I stared at this obviously unnatural being, speechless.
“I am reborn,” the creature that used to be Kuzai said in a flat, whispery voice, He lowered his gaze, examining his own hands. “The Master demands obedience; we are all his servants.”
That was unexpected. Kuzai was now a monster, a boss one. His stats were impressive but still lower than mine. Though he was three levels above me, my higher boss tier more than made up the difference.
I blinked a few times, trying to wrap my head around this new development.
“Yeah, sure. All hail the master,” I said, still trying to figure out what was going on. “You mean Nihilator, right?”
“You DARE utter the master’s name!” The creature’s nostrils widened. “You are unworthy! Perishhhh!”
He directed his palm at me and I felt his will manipulating the shadows around me. Patches of darkness swelled, threatening to bury me.
I raised my hand as well, channeling my mana, resisting and countering his influence with ease. The darkness slowly deflated, returning to normal.
“Now listen here,” I growled. “Play nice or I’ll sacrifice you again.”
“So, it has power,” Kuzai muttered. “The mark of the master is seared on its flesh. But it is a lowly goblin! It cannot be worthy of such honor. How could it be? Ah … it wields power … and magic. Yes, the master always chooses his servants well.”
The creature continued talking to himself. On the bright side, while he was talking he wasn’t trying to kill me, so I had that going for me.
Kuzai jerked up his head and studied me. “Oh, it has a companion. A being of shadow-weave and blood. Come here, minion of a minion.”
To my surprise, Vicloak disengaged from my shoulders and slithered, still in his cloak shape, to the mentally unstable dwarf.
What are you doing, Vic?
Vic reached Kuzai. The dwarf held up his hand, and Vic flowed into his open palm, condensing himself into a purple ball.
“That’s enough,” I said sternly.
Kuzai raised his eyes and looked at me steadily. “Minions should learn their place.”
I could feel his will clenching, pressing down on Vic’s mana-made body. I could have probably resisted what came next, but everything happened so quickly, I was still trying to figure out what was going on.
The purple ball started leaking mana, becoming smaller and smaller.
I got a grip on myself and tried to counter Kuzai actions, but it was already too late. All the mana was promptly withdrawn from Vic, and the only thing that remained of my companion’s body was a few drops of blood, dripping between the creature’s fingers onto the ground.
“You made your point,” I hissed, clenching my fists to stop myself from blasting away that conceited dwarf. Despite the provocation, there was no reason to go to war over his little display. After all, I could resummon Vic in a heartbeat.
My eyes flashed with ang
er as I examined his uncaring expression. “So I take it you’re also a priest of Nihilator?”
He bristled as I dared utter the name again, but restrained himself with visible effort. “I am the master’s most devoted servant,” he declared proudly. “I shall forever follow his command.”
“That’s awesome, good for you,” I said dryly. “I wish you all the best. I’ll be going now.” I turned my back on him and started walking away.
I was bluffing, of course.
“Wait!”
And it seemed to be working. I stopped and looked back at the dwarf. He began to slowly circle me. “The master has marked it,” he muttered again. “It is bound on the pain of death, and oh … it was to be devoured.”
Surprisingly, he finished that sentence with a tone of respect.
“What are you going on about?” I demanded.
“The master wished to devour you. You were deemed worthy of such an honor. Whereas I …” he looked down, “… I was unworthy. My essence was rejected. My fate was to be reincarnated instead.”
Okay, now I missed having Vic around. With his body gone, something about the dark energies permeating the chamber blocked our mindlink. He would have said something along the lines of, ‘That deranged puppet’s deepest wish is to be devoured by a larger, even more deranged puppet?’ I shook my head. Yeah, Vic would probably make a better punchline than that.
“Yes, that’s right.” It was time to dazzle him with how close Nihilator and I were. “I’m Nihilator’s head priest. I offer him sacrifices, feeding him until he grows strong enough to break his chains. Oh, and he also taught me some useful skills. We’re buddies, really. Bros almost. He touched me in a special way, putting his binding rune into me. You think he does that with just anyone he meets?”
On second thought, maybe it was a good thing Vic wasn’t around to hear me say that.
Kuzai lowered his head. “It is favored by the master. I shall offer my services.” He looked back at me “A piece of my essence once commanded this place. As such, I offer you the choice to do with it as you please. In the end, all our achievements are to the glory of our master.”
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