Elysium's Multiverse

Chapter 318: (7 Chapters today)

Chapter 318

The abyssal spirit guide was doing wonders for their progression, and they’d made it to the 27th floor in a very short amount of time given the shortcuts it’d provided. Frankly, Riven was having a grand time at it too.

[Floor 22, The Silent Chamber, has been completed. You have acquired 3 Soul Lattice Enhancement Pills.]

[Floor 23, Abyssal Shores, has been completed. You have defeated Floor Boss: Rancid Keeper of Blight. All undead in your party, including you, gain 1% increase to your Death Sub-Pillar affinity.]

[Floor 24, Garden of Hunger, has been completed. You’ve chosen the prize of Guild Hall Add On: Unholy Garden Apparatus, to take with you.]

[Athela and Fay are both ready to Ascend into the E-grade, and will automatically do so upon your own ascension.]

[Floor 25, Wings of Chaos, has been completed. You have freed 7 other teams here in the Abyssal Descent from certain death, and Prince Rantali’s team has decided to leave the Abyssal Descent at this time. You have been awarded with an Abyssal Speaker Stone Guild Hall Add On that allows you to communicate with up to 7 different souls across the multiverse at will should they accept their end of this gift. Prince Rantali, High Queen Nephridi, Archbishop Prek An-Gash, and General Viku have all accepted their communication link and may be contacted whenever you are within the guild hall’s area of effect.]

[Floor 26, The Black Mountain, has been completed. The swarm of obsidian lava scorpions has been decimated without a single loss on your end. Infernal Dao Pill has been taken as a prize.]

[Azmoth has taken the Infernal Dao Pill, expanding his soul core and soul lattice. Azmoth is ready to Ascend into the E-grade, and will automatically do so upon your own ascension.]

[Floor 27, The Shadow Bridge, is now open to you. Cross a bridge spanning the depths of the shadow realms, where not even the brightest light can penetrate. Walk the straight line to the end under an aura of permeating darkness that tears at the soul, and you may pass on to the next floor with a boon for your soul lattice.]

Shadow realms was an understatement. Even his vampiric sight didn’t work here. He was completely blind, but fuck sight! It was overrated anyways. Riven didn’t need it, he could do this all fucking day!

CRUNCH

SQUEAL

“Die for me!!!” Riven cackled as his crystalized gauntlet of blood magic carved through the shadow beast in a swath of blood. He whipped around and shot out a blast of inferno down the front of the bridge, eradicating over a hundred of the little arachnid bastards in an instant. Even with the blast of flame, he couldn’t actually see it - but he did hear the spiders dying via the cries they made as their corpses shriveled up into burnt, charred husks.

Pulsing mana waves rippled out from his body on repeat every half second, creating a sonar of sorts just like Lillith had taught him to do when finding assassins, he was having a field day. Athela was the same and easily carved through the enemies at their rear with her arachnid blade limbs, and the twin katanas that she spun around like batons while flashing here and there with dance-like movements.

Not so much for the rest of his party though. Azmoth was second to last in the rear, using his wings to shield the others while crawling as he was able to take a real beating without much worry. Narg was still absent, undergoing some kind of evolutionary change and a birth defect? Riven wasn’t entirely sure what that was about, but he’d had a few notifications now about the process. Thankfully, Prince Rantali had left and there were less people to protect now - but Fay, Genua, Retesh, and Kara were in the middle of the pack and panicking due to their inability to accurately pinpoint the enemies coming for them. Retesh and Fay could do so to a limited extent but not what was needed for this floor, while Kara was downright useless and frequently screamed out over the sounds of battle to make sure she wasn’t alone and that she was going in the right direction.

“RIVEN WE CAN’T SEE!” She screamed, eyes closed and on all fours while bumping repeatedly into Retesh right in front of her.

“Yes you’ve said that about nine times now! Just follow the bridge and keep crawling!” Riven laughed over the storm of his own energies that crackled around them, smashing Jackal down onto another dog-sized spider in a blast of unholy energy and spinning the staff around - creating a blade of blood out the top end and slicing through another four spiders in quick succession. “Huh. I kind of miss having you as a spear-sword. Your mana recovery has gone way up and your magical blasts are way better, but smashing things and cutting things with you really just scratches an itch, ya know?”

Jackal gave an inward confirmation, agreeing with Riven’s assessment as Riven skewered yet another spider with the crystalized blood-blade protruding from Jackal’s top skull. Smashing Jackal downwards yet again in a fiery explosion of infernal energy, Riven lifted a hand and went full sith-lord on the bastards while electrifying another three hundred of them with outstretched fingers. “Huzzah!”

“Is this really the time to be playing around!?” Genua called out over the blasts of magic, thunderclaps of Riven’s aura storm, and splattering carnage. “I’m leaning towards Kara’s assessment that this isn’t very safe! Especially for our baby!”

“Oh quiet you old wench and keep crawling!”

“I’m going to divorce you if you call me an old wench again!”

Riven was about to retort that they’d never been married in the first place, but Genua had lost her goddamn mind. She now believed the remembered experiences with her late husband - the one Riven had murdered - were actually experienced shared with Riven; and it was likely his fault in more ways than one. Even worse, he felt guilty about it even despite their attempt to murder him, and felt like he had an obligation to take care of the insane elf along with her daughter Len whenever he got back. So he just grunted, played along for her sake, and continued blasting. Muttering to himself, he thought back to that Pixar movie he couldn’t quite remember with the orange and blue fish.

Finding Nemo, was it?

“Just keep swimming, just keep swimming… Dun-dun-dun I can’t remember the other words!” He saw another swarm of much larger spiders appear on the bridge ahead of them. His eyes narrowed and his hands began to rotate with the staff as a ball of condensed blood energy gathered in front of him. A shockwave radiated out from his body and shattered the oncoming frontline of spiders right before his hands thrust forward to unleash the magic. “Nefajia crecus blood nova.”

The bridge before him shook under the monumental energy unleashed and an ear shattering boom sent the growing orb of blood forward like a gigantic cannonball. It rolled through the enemies like bowling pins and splattered dark guts everywhere, and watching it through his echo-location mana sense made it all the more fun to watch.

“Gotchya bitch!” He turned around and shouted over the screaming wussies in the middle. “ONWARDS PLEBIANS! Thou art too slow, and I am growing tired of your shrill feminine screams! Especially you, Azmoth!”

Azmoth grunted from the back, wings spread and still on all fours just like the others so that he didn’t accidentally smash them. “Riven asking for pummeling after this I think.”

Athela cackled from beyond the brutalisk with an enthusiastic: “OH HE DESERVES IT ALL RIGHT!”

“Fucking ungrateful peasant minions.” Riven muttered, but loud enough for all the others to hear.

Retesh chuckled and shook his head, his bone fingers scraping at the long bridge created from shadow. “May The Scythe strike me dead so that I don’t have to listen to these rambling fools any longer. But if fate holds, it’ll be them that get me killed first.”

***

Allie cleaned off a piece of gore she’d missed after torturing one of the captured vampire traitors, using a dainty hand to wipe her cheek with a handkerchief and triple-checking the mirror to make sure she looked presentable. Truthfully she could have mutilated and killed those assholes later, but she’d been putting off going to this event because of her nerves.

Hatefully and brutally murdering people made things better and gave her a sense of calm, while simultaneously appeasing Wrath in the back of her mind.

A knock at the door came.

“Enter.” Allie called, smoothing out her form fitting black dress that left her shoulders and back bare in order to let her wings out;, and adjusting her sleek, spiked, platinum crown as Mara and two servant girls entered. The servants had come with the manor she’d bought only yesterday, and they gasped and dropped to their knees when they saw who it was.

“C-Chanelor Mara!” One of the maids squeaked while keeping her head low. “You did not say that we were to help dress the queen!”

“Your majesty!” The other meekly said while repeatedly bowing in place, obviously a nervous wreck. “We thought we were to help another lady in attendance of Duke Arthur Brix’s party! We are not qualified to help one as esteemed and gorgeous as yourself!”

Stolen novel; please report.

Mara let out a huff of annoyance at the brown-nosing. “It appears our queen has already dressed herself, but you may help me with my own dress. Please, fetch the red one from the closet and style my hair until the queen is ready to leave.”

“Yes chancellor!”

The servant girls rapidly nodded, got to their feet and hurried to the closet to obtain the desired garment.

Mara slipped out of her work attire, letting the clothes fall to the floor around her as the ghoul woman stared with milky eyes at her best friend.

“You look like you’re about to have a panic attack.” Mara commented, holding out her arms and stepping into the dress as one of the servants began to pull it up and zip the back. The other servant had a comb ready and was brushing Mara’s long black hair out while applying a gel to straighten it.

Allie shot Mara a withering look, flaring her wings and almost knocking one of the poor servant girls over in the process. “All is fair in love and war. Do you know that quote?”

“I have heard it.” Mara nodded. “I believe it is a saying from your world?”

“It is. It will very much apply in tonight’s events, I think.” Allie confirmed, turning back to the mirror, and then stepping into a pair of high heeled black boots that came up to her knees. “I fucking hate these shoes, I can barely walk in them, but they look too good not to put on.”

“Since when is Queen Allie Thane, The Butcher of Carnis, Angel of Death, Reincarnation of Wrath, concerned with how good her shoes look?” Mara giggled with a wink. “You’re unbelievably nervous for someone usually so confident.”

Allie shot her another glare. “Don’t start.”

“Just saying…” Mara whistled, while perfumes were added by the servants.

“I don’t need any perfume, I’ve already applied some of the best money can buy.” Allie remarked when the deathtouched enlightened women shot her questioning glances. “Mara, who else is going to be there aside from Lahn?”

Mara shrugged. “Some of the other nobles of Dawn’s dominion. Your appointed duke is obviously hosting so he’ll be there, and Lahn’s family will probably be there too. But this event is focused on mingling the young of the noble houses in order to find wives and husbands… Dawn needs to repopulate after Rippenvire’s attack and the recent war against Tereen, so you can expect a strong presence of younger people like yourself.”

Allie tisked in annoyance, her pale face turning into a grimace. “I should just murder them all and be done with it.”

The two servants froze in place, horrified at what Allie had said but neither being brave enough to address it.

“She’s joking.” Mara said placatingly to the servant girls. “Allie, you should really be careful about the things you say in the presence of others in case they take it literally.”

“Eat a bag of dicks, Mara. I do what I want.”

“Eat a bag of what!?”

“You heard me bitch!”

Allie let out a laugh and grinned for the first time all day, and swatted Mara’s face with a wing. “That’s what you get for telling me how to live my life.”

Mara rubbed the bridge of her nose where she’d be whacked and glared back. “You’re starting to sound like Riven and Athela. Isn’t that something they often say?”

“It is.”

“Are you nervous they aren’t back yet?”

Allie scoffed. “Absolutely not. He’ll be back and soon enough likely overtake me for the number one spot on Panu’s power boards again if things keep going the way they have been, and then I’ll be forced to one-up him again to show him who’s boss.”

“Mmm. I see. Well, are you ready to go?” Mara asked, thanking the two servants and stepping away to put a hand on Allie’s bare shoulder - staring in the long mirror at their dresses and appreciating the style of the craftsmanship. “We look great.”

“Mara, are you even dating anyone nowadays?”

“Allie, my private life is off limits.”

“That’s not fair! You know everything about mine!”

“Tough tits bitch.” Mara gave Allie a jab to the ribs and smirked when Allie recoiled. “Now put on your big girl panties and look the part. We’re about to make a splash, and you MUST maintain your composure while there. Remember what you promised me, no tantrums, no killing, and no matter what - no giving in to Wrath’s impulses if you see Lahn dancing with another girl. Got it?”

Allie grumbled in a whisper. “Yes mom.”

“What was that!?”

“I said yes! So shut up and come along, I don’t want to have to go all by myself and lord knows your stubby ghoul legs are going to slow me down since you can’t fly!”

“I think I’m offended.”

“Good. Nin and Vin would have wanted it that way.”

Mara snickered, then her face fell slightly with a hint of sadness. “Yes… Yes, I suppose they would have.”

***

The previous king and now Duke of Dawn had quite the elaborate home rebuilt on the top layer of the city. Magic had been used to clear the clouds by mages over the event, and starlight from nebulas far above created a beautiful tapestry along the night sky as the sound of music and dancing from within the miniature palace could be heard even from the front gate.

Even now, hours late to the event, there was still a moderately sized line of people waiting to get in as they presented themselves to the palace guards with invitations at the ready. They were all dressed in their fanciest clothes and loudly talked to one another in braggart fashion about the estates, businesses, and wealth they owned while trying to attract those of the opposite sex nearby. It was a mating ritual of the wealthy, with snobby parents trying to play matchmaker with each other in hushed whispers as their young-adult children flirted casually on the side.

Pulling up in a nondescript carriage with tinted windows, the horses came to a stop - and Allie studied the line with a worried frown. “I don’t see Lahn or his family.”

“That’s because they’re probably already inside, idiot.” Mara smacked Allie upside the forehead with an open palm and laughed at the expression she made. “That’s what you get for earlier when you hit me with your wing!”

“Hmph.”

Allie lifted her nose, took in a deep breath, and closed her eyes. Folding one hand on top of the other, she proceeded to breath in and out to calm herself - nervously tapping one of her feet as she did it, and eventually gained the courage to get out. “Here goes nothing. Let’s hope that he’ll at least see me, so that I can try to explain why I haven’t talked to him in so long.”

“All you can do is your best.” Mara happily agreed, and pulled the latch to swing the door open. “After you, majesty dearest.”

“Oh shut it.”

Steeling herself after another brief eye roll, Allie led with one foot to step out of the carriage and onto the ground. People were already watching to see who the unmarked carriage had brought, and the click of her heels on cobblestone were met with resounding gasps and hushed whispers as she stretched her wings after being in that cramped space for so long.

Dead silence ensued on the outside of the gate, and slowly but surely many of the noble families quickly took a knee and bowed their heads in submission as she stared out at them. The palace guards gawked but quickly followed suit, and the only sound was now coming from inside the palace itself where people were still blissfully unaware of Allie’s presence.

“You may rise.” Allie said to the crowd, and they all quickly stood as one of the more prominent families she’d met in Mandon came to greet her.

Though she couldn’t remember their names.

“Your majesty!” The man with a cane and a pointy short beard said excitedly, flashing his wife in a pink ball gown a wide grin before coming to stop in front of the pair of women. “And Chancellor Mara! What an absolutely exquisite surprise! No one had informed us that you’d both be attending the Duke’s ball tonight, was this a spontaneous decision or a surprise he has yet to tell us about!?”

“You both look utterly stunning, might I add!” The wife in pink exclaimed with a wave of a fan. “Absolutely beautiful! Are either of you looking for a husband too? This is a mingling event for the young nobles to meet after all, may I introduce you two lovely women to a few of the young men our family knows?”

Mara shook her head with a polite smile. “No thank you. I believe the queen already has her sights set on someone very particular.”

“Oh really!?” The wife exclaimed jubilantly. “My, my! Is he here then?!”

Allie gave the woman a half-hearted smile. “He is… though whether or not he’ll receive my presence well is to be determined.”

“What fool would not receive your presence with anything but joy!?” The husband said in very real shock. “You’re a hero to our people and beyond stunning, if I may be as bold as my wife here! You will have no problem in your endeavors, whoever it may be. I am sure of it.”

“Agreed!” The wife chipped in.

Allie laughed. “If only I had your confidence in myself.”

They probably would have kept on talking, but Allie cut the conversation short with a curt nod and another forced smile before simply walking away. Moving with Mara beside her and bypassing the entire line, Allie came to the gates where the palace guards promptly stood aside with another low bow.

“Your majesty!” The lead guard in shiny armor said, saluting as he stood straight again. “Chancellor! We were not made aware of your coming, I apologize! Otherwise we’d have had an announcer call it to the crowds!”

Allie pursed her lips, thought about it, and then said: “How about you escort us in, and do the honors for us?”

“Y-You wish me to announce your presence to the ballroom?” The guard asked curiously. “I would be honored, your majesty! Please, follow me! There are refreshments in the guest hall beyond the ballroom if you need any, and there are private lounges with balcony views overlooking the flowering fields on the second floor if you wish to have a more scenic view.”

“One question, before we go.” Allie pressed, holding up a finger before the man could turn to lead them in. “Wings? Or no wings? I want a man’s opinion on the subject.”

In another second, her wings had retracted back into her skin - leaving only her bare back where they’d once been protruding. She then extended them as the black feathers pressed outwards, and retracted them once more.

“Well?” She asked curiously, eyebrow raised. “What do you think?”

The soldier was put on the spot, and he helplessly looked to Mara who gave no indication of what she thought - and then he glanced at his compatriots who all shook their heads.

“I…” He hesitated weighing his options in case he said something wrong. “I believe you’d probably navigate the passages and crowds better without wings, your majesty. You look stunning either way.”

Allie chuckled at the remark, holding a hand to her lips as her wings slowly disappeared into her back. “Quite the diplomatic response. Very well, no wings it is. Please, take us inside and introduce us - I am curious to see what Duke Arthur Brix has done with his new palace on the interior. He’s quite the bragging type, so I can only hope it lives up to expectations.”

The palace guard nodded, quickly turned, and began leading both women past a series of well-kept gardens and into the interior entrance.

The music became louder as they walked, and Allie didn’t say anything else as she felt her heart beating rapidly in her chest despite her efforts to keep herself composed. She couldn’t believe how undeniably stupid she’d been in not contacting Lahn for so long, but honestly she’d taken him for granted. In her mind, she’d felt like he’d never leave her and she had nothing to worry about. Not that he hadn’t deserved an explanation, but she’d thought he didn’t need one since he’d basically worshiped her prior to her leaving.

That had been a mistake, a foolish and arrogant mistake, and now she realized that it’d also been selfish. She’d not done it on purpose, but he’d been put to the backburner in her mind as more pressing issues arose. She’d not considered how he’d feel if she’d just left to attend to these things without actually trying to initiate contact to keep him in the loop. From Mara’s point of view, if it was accurate, he’d felt abandoned.

That was entirely, 100%, her own fault. Allie had already acknowledged that.

So no matter what she saw here, no matter what his reaction to her was, she would take it in stride and try to do better next time. If there was a next time, and if he hadn’t already been stolen by some rabid bitch in the-

She felt her nails biting deep into the flesh of her palms, and realized she was gritting her teeth as an electric trickle of sin snapped out and killed a nearby potted plant. Already there were murmurs and more gasps as they continued to follow the palace guard through the entrance hall and past groups of noble families playing politics with one another, so she quickly reigned in her building rage at something that she hadn’t even verified yet and healed her hand before anyone noticed the wound. This required a delicate hand, not a violent one, even if she needed to win her man back from the clutches of some undeserving hag.

“Easy tiger…” Mara whispered out the side of her mouth, leaning in. “Remember what you promised.”

Allie grunted her affirmation, and within a few short seconds they were under the arch of the entryway leading into the ballroom.

And boy oh boy, the duke had not lied about his estate in the bragging letters he’d sent her when inviting her over for tea.

Chandeliers made from crystal hung from an arched ceiling painted with tapestries of battles, some of which were even depicting her. Large stained glass windows illuminated by glowstones rose up from the floor to the ceiling, with Roman-style pillars holding up the roof on the perimeter where tables and alcoholic beverages were set. The archway they stood in actually had a wide staircase leading down into a hollowed out bottom spanning dozens of yards across to accommodate where the landscape had dipped on the hill that this palace was built on, allowing Allie to see from a bird’s eye view nearly twenty feet above the rest of the party dancing below as an orchestra set up in one of the corners played music over jovial laughter.

But that all stopped over the next few seconds as people began looking up to the archway where she stood, and it went dead silent when the palace guard cleared his throat and jammed the butt of his spear three times onto the floor to get their attention.

“Esteemed ladies and gentlemen, nobles and aristocrats!” The palace guard shouted at the top of his lungs, and he turned to grandly gesture with a flourishing bow towards the two women at his right. “May I present Chancellor Mara, and the very legend of our fine necropolis - Queen Allie Thane, who has chosen to grace us with her presence tonight! Please, welcome them both with me as they descend onto the dance floor!”