Elysium's Multiverse-Chapter 324

Floor 39 came after, and was a test of resolve. The Abyssal Descent forcefully expanded one’s mana, stamina, and divinity channels with extremely painful modifications to the soul itself. It made one more powerful, but the pain was so unbearable that Retesh passed out and Fay was left seizing. Riven’s vampiric regeneration didn’t mean shit in the face of overwhelming soul pressure, and he too had collapsed to fade in and out of consciousness while barely hanging on. At any moment he could choose to leave, but that wasn’t an option for any of them with Lillith on the 50th floor - and he was also growing more powerful for each minute he stayed.

Eight hours later and the pressure stopped, and Riven was finally able to come back from what felt like the brink of death. He was surrounded in a puddle of his own impurities, impurities that’d been purged from his pores all over his body and left a stinking muck along his armor and clothes. The others hadn’t fared well either, but Athela and Azmoth had by far fared the best and were only breathing heavily while still remaining upright - though they too had the same piles of gunk around them that smelled like rancid piss.

He did get a notification about his mana channels widening by 40% though, and it didn’t change the total amount of mana his soul produced - but rather changed the amount of that original mana that he could force out in a single instance. His burst damage, in essence, had become more viable; and the same could be said for everyone else there.

“Is everyone ok?” Riven asked, shakily standing and seeing a flare of light in the distance as the next floor’s portal opened up.

Atheal snorted in derision and shouldered past him, ignoring his hand to help her up. “Yes, Riven. I’m absolutely great, just thinking about all the other warlock men who’d love to have a beautiful archdemon on their team.”

The comment certainly stung, and Riven angrily pursed his lips. But he didn’t take the bait and let the angry demoness keep walking.

Fay still couldn’t look him in the eyes, and shakily got up to her knees while following Athela towards the portal.

Riven felt a large clawed hand rest on his shoulder a moment later.

“I know you angry, but they just meant help.” Azmoth said, patting Riven’s shoulder twice more before being the third in line to start off towards the orb of distant light. “They not mean anything bad when they did what they did. You need have talk before you three stay angry long time.”

Retesh, who was hobbling along with his bone staff for support, only shook his head and held up a hand when he caught Riven’s eye. “Don’t look at me for advice, young man. I haven’t had a flesh partner in thousands of years, I don’t know my own skull from my pelvis when it comes to what your personal problems entail. But if you wouldn’t mind, I could certainly use someone to lean on. My mana channels are in a state of shock, and I can’t use my own energy to support my stride.”

***

They’d taken a few hours for a break, just to be topped-off in case anyone in the descent tried to assassinate them on the other side. Riven still hadn’t seen signs of Greed’s forces despite Greed knowing he was down here, and the closer they got to Floor 50 - the more that worry grew. Narg also wasn’t back, still, and most of the descent had already been completed without the minion but Riven was completely unable to summon him or even contact him despite numerous attempts. Riven couldn’t help but wonder if Narg was even going to make it out of whatever evolutionary trial he was experiencing at all.

The long abyssal stairway was much the same as the others between floors after that. Not all floors had stairways between them, but it was a thing with over half of the transitions. The only difference was that there was a sincere lack of monsters or people, with an ominous silence hanging over the party as they descended the steps. Twice, Riven caught sight of gargantuan void titans beyond Elysium’s protective barriers encompassing the staircase - but the creatures were so large and it was so dark that even he couldn’t truly figure out what they looked like or what the real scale of the creatures were. Here in the abyss, far from the reach of the mortal realms, the monsters of the deep ruled like gods.

Nothing else of note happened on their trek down, and soon their path out was in sight. But stepping through into Floor 40 was something of a jolting experience, even more so than other floors had been. R̃âƝоᛒĚ𐌔

[Identification information has been restored.

Floor 40: A Dark Delve Through Time and Space, Part 1, is about to begin.]

WHAM

Riven felt like a truck had just smashed into his face fifty times given the throbbing headache he had immediately after passing through the rift. He was flat on his stomach, cold stone touching his skin, and was silently cursing The Abyssal Descent and Elysium for throwing him like that into the ground.

“Thank you for accepting our summons, fellow spellcaster.” An old man’s shrill voice called out to him from somewhere up above and nearby. “Elysium says that you are the one called Riven Thane, is that correct?”

Disoriented, grimacing, and already having had a bad time with the stress of his girl problems - Riven did not appreciate how high pitched and irritated the questioner’s voice was. He began to push himself up on his hands and knees, shaking his head from the vertigo that was starting to settle down, when the man’s voice came yet again:

“Ahem. You are the one called Riven Thane, is that correct?”

Riven’s world stabilized, and he found himself in the middle of an enclosed circular arena devoid of any allies. His entire team was gone, he was alone, but a few hundred robed men and women of various species were sitting on bleachers while talking to each other in low tones. Many of them were nonchalantly reading grimoires, looking at crystal balls, casting small spells for entertainment in their designated areas on the benches, or looked just plain bored with staves and wands in hand. Many of those spells looked like earth and water manipulation, or even jade and purple arcane variants he wasn’t all that familiar with. It looked like an assembly of spellcasters, and most of them certainly weren’t even of the Unholy Foundational Pillar - which Riven thought was quite odd considering he was in the Abyssal Descent. But one look around begged to differ, given he could see blue skies and dotted white clouds through glass windows on the left and right sides of the long hall.

An older man with a long white beard and a janky wizard’s hat with stars speckling the blue cloth was glaring down at Riven from over a pair of rimmed glasses - though his eyes went wide when Riven’s own lit up a vibrant red to glare back.

“Oh my, a pureblooded vampire. I haven’t seen one of your kind for about a thousand years.” The old man scribbled something down on a notepad he had up on top of his elevated desk. Then he put the pen down and looked over the spectacles at Riven with raised eyebrows. “But let us carry on so that you can be on your way. As the system notification specified, we have summoned you here today because you have offended one of our members, who claims you unfairly took his minion from him. He hopes to settle this fairly by means of trade and payment, but will duel you with the stated prize on offer for his defeat if you wish. This court assumes you have accepted this summons in order to see what kind of recompense he can provide before taking his minion back? Hmmm?”

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Riven’s armor let out a rumbling growl from the vertical maw along his chest when Messengert, and he, sensed multiple people using an identify on him and his items. After his training with Lillith and the Church of Gluttony though, he could tell that it was all being blocked by the obscuring amulet he’d received from the dark elf Gentry before the man’s untimely demise at Greed’s hand.

That didn’t mean he couldn’t identify everyone else here though.

[Master Arcanist, Human, Level 308.]

[Fire Mage, Human, Level 71. ELITE.]

[Eyes of the Storm, High Elf, Level 213. ELITE.]

[Shaman off the Dread Oak, Ent, Level 49.]

[Water Mage Apprentice, Greenscale Naga, Level 8.]

[Eclectic Enchantress, Brightbulb Fairy, Level 20.]

[Necromancer Adept, Human, Level 105.]

[Shaman of Golden Fields, Red Orc, Level 56.]

That was a large spread of levels, foundational types, and races.

All in all, there were only five people in this entire arena that were a threat to him - and even they were people that Riven could probably take on without too much issue. Feeling out his connections to his minions, they were all intact - every single one of them. They were just, for whatever reason, banished to their nether realms. Retesh was another matter entirely, he had no idea where Retesh had gone and hoped the old lich was ok - but that wasn’t nearly as concerning to him. Retesh was more of an acquaintance, and the old bag of bones could likely take care of himself.

Riven relaxed, planted his staff in the ground, and leaned into it. “Yes my name is Riven Thane, but I’m not entirely sure you know who I am if you’re asking me to give up one of my minions. Is this still part of The Abyssal Descent?”

Riven got a few curious glances at the comments, but otherwise the people in the stands kept doing whatever it was they were doing to entertain themselves through whatever this was.

The old man’s expression grew grim up above, and he leaned forward to hunch his back even more while keeping the brim of his hat out of his eyes with one hand. “No, young man. This is certainly not The Abyssal Descent. Is that were we summoned you from? If so, there are a lot of people here that’d like to ask you a few questions after the proceedings are done.”

Riven continued to look around, finding this entire situation quite odd, when another man about 40 years of age walked into the arena’s center. He had a cleanly cut black beard with a white streak down the middle, a short crew cut of similar color, with vibrant blue eyes and an annoyingly handsome face. His long purple robes swept along the stone floor with the click of a black-jeweled staff made from wood, and he arrogantly looked Riven up and down before posturing only a few feet away.

[Warlock Slaver, Human, Level 219. ELITE.]

“Jarrod Presbell.” The man stated his name with a sniff, and yet again looked Riven up and down in slow motion while shaking his head. “Thank you for attending this summons… though I did not realize you were of the… Blood, sucking, variety.”

He said the last three words with disdain, but quickly cleared it up with an obviously fake smile. He pulled out a large jeweled pouch and tossed it to Riven’s feet, before pulling a large enchanted slave collar out of his spatial bag while spinning it around one finger. “Because you accepted the summons, I’ll assume you are ready to sell her back to me. The pouch should be more than what she is worth on the standard market, please take a look and let me know if you’re satisfied.”

The man, Jarrod, seemed rather confident, and Riven didn’t have a goddamn clue to what this guy was talking about.

“You’ve lost me.” Riven said flatly, kicking the bag of coins back in the other warlock’s direction. “I never received any notification about a summoning. Tell me why I’m here and how to get out of this floor, stop fucking around.”

Others around the stands began to laugh, and the other warlock looked at Riven like he was stupid. “Excuse me? Did you just kick that pouch in my direction? I have half a mind to teach you some manners, boy! What I’m giving you is a gift, and you haven’t even looked at the contents!”

The elderly wizard with the starred hat slammed a large book on his desk to get their attention and loudly coughed a couple of times before intervening. “Rivon, was it?”

“Riven. Not Rivon.”

“Bah! Same thing.” The old man waved a dismissive hand. “In case you had a hard knock to the head when you landed, and it looked like you did, you’ve been summoned to the Blue Swan Wizarding Courts.”

The old man looked rather proud to say it, but his face fell when Riven didn’t have an inkling of recognition.

So the old man continued. “Ahem. As I’ve already said, this man here - Jarrod, is a member of our society. And as a highly regarded wizarding faction spanning across the stars, with the purpose of unlocking our multiverse’s mysteries! However, we take slights against our members rather seriously. Not that you yourself offended him, but the succubus in your possession did. She is Jarrod’s property, and Jarrod here has been complaining about the loss of his succubus for nearly a year now. Because we’ve scried you as being the current owner of that succubus, we sent you a summons - which you must have accepted. If you hadn’t accepted, you wouldn’t even be here right now.”

The old man said it as a statement, rather than a question, though he did look a little bit confused. Possibly concerned. “You may want to see a healer for head trauma afterwards.”

“Yes.” Jarrod began with arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently. “Come back to your senses so we can get this negotiation over with already. Fay was mine for years, and I want her back. Please-”

The older man bent down and picked up his sack, and this time pushed it into Riven’s arms. “-Take a look at what I’m offering you before you start trying to play hardball. We all know you wouldn't’ be here if you didn’t want to negotiate. You will be treated fairly under the rules of the Blue Swan Wizarding Courts per the summons.”

Riven really didn’t know what he was doing here, but now he was in a state of shock on top of the confusion. This man was Fay’s last master? What the hell was HE doing here?

Just for curiosity’s sake he took a look at the coin pouch in his hands and opened it, and he saw perhaps fifty thousand Elysium coins in total.

Riven blinked, almost speechless.

Was Elysium fucking with him since he, Athela and Fay were having a rough time? Was this Elysium playing some sort of stupid fucking joke? This had to be a joke. No way it wasn’t. Why else would Elysium send him here right after he was having a fight with his two minions, right after he’d literally said ‘you can find another warlock’?

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Was it trying to push him into actually doing so, or was it trying to make a point?

Was there even a correlation? Was this man actually the person he said he was? Hadn’t her last master died or something? He honestly couldn’t remember but he DID know she’d been treated like shit by the sole other person who’d held her contract.

Jarrod stroked his finely trimmed beard and gave Riven a perfectly white smile, nodding in satisfaction at Riven’s open-mouthed expression. “Yes, I thought so. I put in an additional 10,000 coins over standard slave price for an F-grade succubus at her tier. Is she still below level 30? That stupid bitch doesn’t have the talent for anything besides sucking my cock! I’ll have to put her through some dungeons and force her to fight to catch up if it’s even possible, but I’m sure you see now that I’m paying more than what is fair!”

Riven’s hold around Jackal was so tight at this point that he could feel his finger bones starting to snap, and with a very forced smile that displayed his fangs - he looked up from the pouch and let it drop to the floor with the jingle of coins.

He tugged on their connection and summoned her to his location as the pentagram of wings on his chest representing their pact lit up beneath his armor. “Fay.”

In an instant she arrived, and she was already kneeling on the floor babbling something ALMOST incoherent while clawing at his legs.

“W-Why is HE here!? P-Please Riven!” She gasped, sobbing and giving Jarrod scared, hateful glare between pleading puppy-dog eyes. She wrapped her arms around Riven’s leg and buried her face into his thigh. “I d-don’t want to leave y-you! Don’t force me to w-wear that c-collar and go back to t-that MONSTER! I didn’t think y-you were s-serious about m-me finding another warlock! P-please! F-Forgive me!”

Jarrod’s jaw dropped, and a huge grin spread across his face as he started walking forward. “Fay!!! So nice to see you again… No need to say such terrible things about me! We had such great times together!”

He grinned devilishly, but his eyes traced up to Fay’s larger curling horns - and a look of surprise overcame him as he staggered to a stop. “Wait, you-You’re an archdemon now!? You’ve evolved!? And you’ve leveled up so much! How did-”

Riven’s fist smashed into Jarrod’s chest when he got within range. Ribs audibly cracked, blood flew out of the older man’s mouth, and despite the mana shield the other warlock managed to erect a split second before the impact - he was sending flying backwards into the stone arena wall, cratering three feet deep with a spray of stone debris and an aftershock of displaced air.

Immediately the entire arena was in an uproar, with defensive and offensive spells flaring around from the surprised crowd. Wards along the stone room began to glow bright yellow as well, and the wizard with the starry hat started shouting something and pointing at Riven - only for Riven’s aura to descend upon the room like an avalanche.

Immediately, the wards along the stone wall shattered, the glass windows shattered, the building’s supports started to groan, and spells were snuffed out like candles in a gale. People started to gasp for air as they were crushed underneath the immense weight of his presence, and Jarrod - who was the target of Riven’s ire, began to scream as bones snapped one by one and blood flew out of his orifices. Even the two level 300+ people in the room were having a very hard time standing or even breathing, but one of them managed to activate some sort of spell which set off alarms that blared across the room and outside in whatever campus or city they were a part of.

Pulling Fay up to her feet, he gave her a firm hug and brushed a hand through her hair. “I’m sorry I ever said that, and I don’t mean it. I didn’t back then either and I don’t want either of you two to go, I was just angry and in the moment. This place-”

Riven gestured around at the dying people as they suffocated and began to frost over as red ice started clinging to their clothes, skin and surroundings. “This place has nothing to do with trying to get rid of you. It’s part of the descent, don’t ask me why we’re here because I don’t-”

[Floor 40: A Dark Delve Through Time and Space, Part 1, has begun. Tear out Jarrod’s soul, rip it apart, and reclaim the piece of his soul lattice that he previously used to bind Fay with. Then incorporate that lattice into your own soul before you’re hunted down and killed by the Blue Swan Wizarding Court enforcers. This will be the first step to incorporate your closest minions into your own soul lattice, thereby empowering each side of the pact and strengthening your connections.]

His words cut off, eyebrows arching in surprise, and a sly smile crept across his face. “Fay, silly, you cry far too often for your own good. The real reason why I brought you here was to ask if you’d have any problem if I killed this man.”

“W-What?” Fay sniffled, and she glared with puffy cheeks up at him with arms still around his chest. “You’re not going to sell me?”

Riven though he’d die because he rolled his eyes so hard, and bopped her on the for head. “I mean this lovingly, but don’t be fucking stupid. I didn’t come this far only to sell you off to someone else, and I am so, so sorry I made you feel like I would.”

“Promise?”

“I promise. And you know what? I also promise to make all this up to both of you after we’re finally out.”

She sniffed, glared at Jarrod, and then noticed the notification Riven was trying to show her. She startled in surprise but didn’t release her grip. “No, I… I hated him. It was awful, and though I wouldn’t have gone out of my way to see him dead - I wouldn’t feel bad if you chose to murder him either.”

The weight of other descending E-grades and high-tier F-grades were racing down on their position from a few miles out, Riven could feel it, and that was easily in striking range for many of that caliber. They likely hadn’t blown the building yet because of all the other people inside.

“Good.” Riven gave Fay a kiss on the forehead and squeezed her shoulders, then turned around and started towards Fay’s old master with a sinister grin. “Because though I hadn’t seen this one coming, I can’t say I’m going to feel bad about it either.”

“Riven?”

He paused, and looked back over his shoulder. “Yes, Fay?”

“Are you still mad at me?”

“Fay, I just said that I-”

“No, you said that you wished you hadn’t said those things about finding another warlock.” She wiped at her face and this time directed her glare at Riven. “Tell me you’re not mad, and I’ll tell you that I won’t ever lie to you again like I did. Unless it’s about something silly, like spitting in your food when you’re not looking because I’m irritated with you.”

“You’ve done that?”

“I did it yesterday.”

Riven blinked, grinned, and cackled before coming back and sweeping her off her feet. Holding her in the air, he kissed her long and hard before setting her down again as Athela and Azmoth flared into existence through portals of their own. “I forgive both of you, I’m sorry, and I’m not mad.”

“Yeah well that makes one of us.” Athela muttered, not bothering to look at Riven as she made her way over to the man imbedded in the wall. Drawing a long red Katana, she gutted the man ripped off his head - before tossing the body of Fay’s old master in Riven’s direction with a splat. She pointed at riven with accusation in her eyes. “You and me are going to have a talk of our own about how much of an unappreciative jerk you’ve been now that you’ve finally said you wish you didn’t say what you did. I was watching from the nether realms and I saw everything, but know this - I have well over three thousand viable warlocks gunning to have me as their next minion, and just because you’re some big hotshot reincarnation doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to get away with threatening to leave me like you did!”

Athela’s lips quivered, and she stood trembling a ways away from the decapitated body before spitting in Riven’s direction. It was probably the most angry she’d ever been, or at least the angriest Riven had ever seen. “You can’t just tell me you love me and then make me question everything about our relationship because of one fucking stupid mistake I made, Riven! I don’t think you know how much that hurt. And you know what? I didn’t intentionally hurt you. But you, and what you said - that was intentional, and it very damn well hurt ME!”