A god stood in the body of his Daeva, taking in the untapped potential of the 36th Floor of The 1773rd Deiwos Tower. Xolotl, The Soul Guide of Misfortune, could not linger here, he had already decided how he was going to use his demons to take over this Floor. It was time to get into action; before the bonded player of the Deiwos Clan named The Pioneer cleared the 31st Floor and made his way up here.
Mictlantecuhtli's alliance with The Demon Reaper made Xolotl uneasy, and if he wanted to maintain his ranking in the Ilhuicatl-Omeyocan Clan, he needed to start his plans to take this Tower from the Deiwos Clan, and the 36th Floor was just the beginning.
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Hazacuri opened his eyes, fire in his veins, expecting to see the moment of his death once again but no, he was alive.
Fire. That was what stood out the most when Hazacuri died. Nine giant foxes born of fire took everything from him. His last memory was vivid as if the universe would not allow him to forget his humiliation. He remembered a woman with long brown hair who wore the fury of hell on her face. He remembered the multiple mouths covering her body and the bodies of every one of her flaming, living foxes consuming the stars he had collected over hundreds of years.
Born from the Nine-Tailed Fox’s ninth hell, brimstone consumed all Hazacuri was. The fury and anger on the woman’s face remained etched into his memory as she took his head. He was burning up, screaming in pain as he wondered how the hell she could be more powerful than him, the Visage of a high-ranking god. He would never forget why he died, even as his soul left his body, she made sure of it.
No matter how he looked at it, Hazacuri found his death to be unfair. He had been so close to Ascension that his blood, his soul cried to his master for vengeance. He wanted to be brought back as a mighty horrendous undead to wreak havoc on the Deiwos Clan and The Avatar of The Nine-Tailed Fox. But his master refused, absorbing his soul and asking him to be patient. Hazacuri never let go of his anger and resentment. He would find a way to destroy those who unfairly took everything from him. So his soul slept within his master in the afterlife, waiting.
And now, he had been summoned from the depths of purgatory to his master's side. Hazacuri’s spirit hovered before the divine throne of Xolotl, the god's essence covering him. He looked around, trying to find his bearings.
“Lord Xolotl?” Hazacuri asked. “I don’t understand. What is happening? You've pulled me from purgatory.“
“For over 200 years you have served me well in death, Hazacuri,” Xolotl said. “I know I paid little heed to your prayer when you died, but I refused to let your soul pass on because you cried out for vengeance. Well, the time for waiting is over.”
“I am sorry. You made me your face, and yet I was unable to Ascend and make you proud,” Hazacuri said as he bowed before his master. “You honour me, my lord. Tell me how I might serve you further.”
“I am offering you a chance to destroy those who took you from me.” Xolotl’s smile was cold. “Your task is simple. I will bind your demonic spirit with my essence to the body of my Daeva. A human body that is strong, healthy, and alive. He is on the 36th Floor of the 1773rd Deiwos Tower.”
Anger, pain, fear and a desire for payment for all he'd suffered gripped Hazacuri at the mention of the clan that had made his death possible when he was a seraphim. During a divine war against Tarquinius' seraphim, Hazacuri had nearly lost his life when he killed that damned Tonare Thunderbird and yet that victory had doomed him. How was he supposed to know how precious the thunderbird had been to his patron deity's master? How was he supposed to know that killing Tonare would reignite the divine war between the Ilhuicatl-Omeyocan Clan and The Deiwos Clan? How was he supposed to know that he would never be able to Ascend to deityhood because, carrying the Blessing of the deputy leader of the Deiwos Clan, Tonare’s lover would hunt him down until he exhausted all his lives?
“I will do it!” He said at once. “Who is this man?”
“His name is Roldan Beltran. He is an NPC but I have been cultivating his daughter, Sarahi, for years. She is not just gifted, Hazacuri. She is Branded with living potential, I have blessed her with the ability to manipulate and amplify magic at a scale rivalling the greats,” his master said. “Through her, you will turn the 36th Floor into a kingdom of nightmare, a fortress of darkness to defy The Deiwos Clan and our first step in taking the 36th to the 40th Floor. But to do so, you must deceive her. You will wear the guise of her father, earning her trust. Bend her will to mine.”
Everyone knew the rules. The pantheon that owned a Tower had to have at least one temple on every single Floor of the Tower. If he could take the 36th Floor before the players of the Deiwos Clan arrived to build temples, and the same happened in the other four, and they tipped the alignment scale of the Floors to the Ilhuicatl-Omeyocan Clan, and they owned 5 consecutive Floors, they could Challenge the Deiwos Clan for ownership. Then they could have a percentage of all earned karma in this Tower.
Even if they lost, the fact that another pantheon managed to snag 5% of the Tower from them would damage the Deiwos Clan’s reputation.
“If you can manipulate the girl, she will be the harbinger of destruction against The Deiwos Clan’s players. By using Sarahi’s powers, you will unlock a forbidden magic that transcends the realms. You will be the first true demon to be born inside this Tower.” Xolotl told him.
“But Master, Lady Picciari and Lord Adtonifulmin will not sit back and allow us to steal the Tower they worked hard to obtain,” Hazacuri said with a concerned frown. “I don't know what class this Roldan has, but at the stage of how fractured my soul shard is, I can barely summon three low-level demonic spirits! What kind of magic could I possibly use to take over the 36th Floor?”
“The magic of the eclipsed moon,” Xolotl explained, with a satisfied smirk on his lips. “You can use Sarahi to create a convergence of lunar energies so potent that it will tear open the veil between realms. You will be able to summon legions of demons, dark creatures of the night that will answer only to you. Together, you will build a kingdom that will stand as a bastion against The Deiwos Clan’s players so they cannot build a temple to their masters.”
Lunar magic? That mana discipline was not open to anyone. If Sarahi was human, there was no way for her to use it. “For that, I need an eclipse-born moon elf. Those are rare,” Hazacuri said. Dark elves were everywhere but within them, moon elves were born at a slow rate. Within those moon elves, an eclipse-born would be even rarer. Within the eclipse-born, the possibility of being blessed with the lunar mana discipline that gave demonic power to break through the realms would be so rare, that it was impossible to find.
“Hazacuri, you used to know me well through the Divine Nexus. I would not suggest something impossible. There is one that exists. She is dead but her spirit and soulblood are being held by two of Mictlantecuhtli’s followers," Xolotl told him. "If nothing goes wrong, they will reach the 36th Floor as they Climb, you must ally with them and merge her spirit and soulblood.”
“What if they free the moon-elf’s soul before I can use it?” he asked. If one had both the spirit and soulblood, there were a number of rituals that could be done to free her, and untether her from this world.
“They are two brothers whose love for her and disagreement over how to use her abilities led to her death. They will never work together to free her soul because only one of them desires that,” Xolotl said. His essence let out waves of unhappy karma. “Trust me, I have seen their hearts. Besides hatred between brothers is something I know well. I detest my brother, Mictlantecuhtli, but for the sake of your revenge, my dear former Visage, I will yield to him on this matter. Find his two followers. Because of the rules, I cannot say who they are, but you will know when the time comes.”
Xolotl’s essence was filled with malice and when he spoke, his voice was full of contempt. “The moon elf is the final piece. Bound to them by a Blood Oath, her soul contains the essence of the lunar realm, a power that complements Sarahi’s own. Sarahi’s abilities will create an endless conduit of magic, a river of power that will flow directly into you. But raw power is chaotic and unstable. That is where the moon elf comes in. Her soul’s connection to the lunar realm will act as a prism, focusing and transforming that chaos into a weapon. With her, you will be able to summon demonic spirits from not just the first, but the second level of Mictlan to strike down The Deiwos Clan’s players. You will become a true demon, not just in form but in essence.”
Hearing this, Hazacuri's spirit was filled with eagerness. He would be unstoppable if he became a true demon lord and used those two to summon even more terrifying monsters. He was touched that his master was willing to go sar, just so he could have his revenge on Tarquinius and Adtonifulmin. Of course, there was one more person he needed to destroy. “And once we have this power, can I Ascend again? I want to find and kill Tonare’s bitch that killed me,” he asked
“Yes, of course,” Xolotl said. "That is why your spirit refused to find peace after all."
“The FireFox Queen still alive, right? She must be a constellation now. I saw her consume my karma and Stars to Ascend. Where is she?” he barked. The burns on his soul were itching for relief. He would find none until he killed her. He was weak now, but he would Ascend again and become a deity, even if it took thousands of years.
“I cannot say,” Xolotl said. There was an amused glint in the eyes of his essence. “You know The Unrivalled restricts that kind of information, right?”
Hazacuri frowned. That rule only applied to mortals, though… Did that mean she was still a seraphim, even after more than 200 years? No, he was sure he felt her begin to Ascend when he died. So how could she be mortal again?
“How indeed,” Xolotl hissed. “Go now. You have three days until the child is done with the Gate. If Sarahi suspects your deception too soon, all will be lost. Earn her loyalty, guide her, and mould her into the weapon she was born to be. Do not fail me this time, Hazacuri.”
"Yes, Master."
Hazacuri felt his spirit fall, and this time when he opened his eyes, he was alive. He was not just a soul anymore, he had a body. He lifted his hand and stared at it, feeling the essence of The Soul Guide putting the body back together. He was a human. The world he landed in was low in mana density and he seemed to be in a destroyed forest. The downgrade from an exalted Visage to a mere Daeva was humiliating, but it was better than being dead. He blinked as multiple system messages filled his vision.
[Error! A new soul shard has been detected inside a Daeva's body!]
[Contacting System Administrators. Please Wait]
[System Administrator: Soul Shard Identified as Hazacuri Xeqina, former Visage of The Soul Guide of Misfortune.]
[System Administrator: Checking if the rules were followed and whether the Daeva signed the Sponsorship Contract willingly. Please wait.]
Hazacuri could not help but snort. The system knew that the rules had been followed, the System Administrators were just being difficult because The Unrivalled detested The Soul Guide's methods of tricking mortals into doing his bidding, even though they were the ones who chose to give up their free will.
He didn't understand how anyone would willingly give up their body and soul, because he had always had to fight for his right to live. Even when he died, his fading soul had begged his master to turn him into a demon so he could wreak havoc in the Deiwos Clan’s Towers and kill the followers of The Firefox Queen who had killed him so brutally. But his master had refused, placating his soul and telling him to be patient because he had great plans for him.
[Body and Soul Shard connected. Welcome to the Deiwos Tower, Roldan Beltran]
Finally. Hazacuri took a quick scan of his stats and grimaced. He was a Level 1 Soul Cleric, and as a Daeva, he had no respawns. He closed his eyes, anger filling him again. He had gone through all the motions, cleared a Tower, earned Stars, completed The Infinite Challenge and done nearly everything required to Ascend to deityhood for over 700 years. Now he was reduced to a mere level 1 mortal? When he caught that Firefox bitch, there would be hell to pay.
Hazacuri... no, Roldan sat in front of the Gate; waiting. He had to become this man if he was to deceive his daughter. In those three days, he assimilated himself with the memories of the body he was now inhabiting. He had only one chance, one life, and he would not be able to rise to player status without the eclipse moon-elf. He would have to make do with what he had. To use every single resource in his head.
When he reached the memories about Roldan's daughter, he finally understood what kind of a game his master was playing. He laughed. Yes, he would prove his usefulness to his master this time. He would take the 36th Floor, and he would make it the Ilhuicatl-Omyocan clan’s prize. He would unite this world and build it into his own Kingdom. He was just a Daeva, and he would not be able to upgrade his contract, but it didn't matter. The foundation was already set, and he had a daughter who could end up being the most powerful Non-Player character in this Tower. Together, they would take the 36th Floor.
By the time the Deiwos Clan’s players got here, it would be too late. One Floor was only a small blow, but if his master could trick other NPCs from the 31st to the 40th Floor, the Ilhuicatl-Omeyocan clan could own the entire Third Storey of The Deiwos Tower. He could coordinate with the followers of the Thousand Undead when they climbed up here since the dark elves of Raluka were located on the 37th Floor. He was curious which of them would reach here first. If the Ilhuicatl-Omeyocan clan could take this entire storey, or even just the 36th to the 40th Floor, they could severely stunt the growth of the Deiwos Clan’s players and prevent them from earning karma.
That would be his revenge. His greatest mistake was killing The Tonare Thunderbird in a divine war. He had died multiple times because he had killed a seraphim dear to a high-ranking member of the Deiwos Clan, and that god sent his constellations’ seraphim to hunt him down until he permanently died. He was butchered and set on fire by The Firefox Queen because he had killed her lover. He had not forgotten. He would never forget.
Three days later, the gate opened and a young woman stepped out. For her, though it had been three years inside the Gate. Those three years had aged her and made her spirit stronger.
“Papi!” Sarahi cried, running towards him.
Roldan smiled and opened his arms. His weapon of revenge was here, and he would do whatever it took to bring the Deiwos Clan to its knees and take this Tower for his master.
Prologue 2: Prelude to the Special Gate Arc
The walls of the old dam shook as Funduvus sealed the corrupted maladic fluid into her body, boosting her tolerance for it. Thanks to the legendary water-lucent crystal, she no longer needed to wait between sessions. The corrupted water fuelled the darkness inside her and she absorbed the karma of the larvae that failed to live through the transition.
It was annoying now that she had killed all the mortals in this domain, because her karma was starting to drain again, and she needed to feed.
She closed her eyes and reached into the Void, but it rejected her. Again. She still owed The Venerable One more karma.
"Have you thought about my offer, maestril?" The grating voice of the 1st Floor Overlord greeted her when she stepped out of the cocoon.
His spirit hovered above the corrupted water, watching her.
"I will never lower myself to the level of accepting power from a mere mortal, powerful though you are, seraphim," she said.
She was a creation of The Dark Void, and she would only bow to him. "I appreciate you wanting to use your gifted Authority on me, Floor Overlord, but it makes me wonder what could be so important about these incoming players that you would jeopardise your standing with your employer for it." Perhaps if it was a constellation of The Dark Void offering her Sponsorship, she would consider it, but a mere seraphim of Hillius?
"You are weak. No constellation will allow you to become their Daeva," King Maetrolugy said. "They only start looking from the 10th Floor Boss. I am your only salvation, maestril. The players coming to defeat you are the very best of their batch. You will lose."
Funduvus would not be defeated by mere agents of Order. She refused. She would kill the lot of them and consume their karma. Over and over again, players would fall before her cleavers, and she would earn enough karma to redeem herself before The Venerable One. Even in the unlikely event that players killed her, she would respawn, but as a Daeva, that death would be permanent.
"Leave me alone, Floor Overlord. I will not take your Contract."
"So you say," King Maetrolugy laughed. "But I shall leave. When you are ready to accept my help, you just need to call out to me in desperation, and I will elevate your power to Tier 2, and crush those players in your stead. Perhaps Lord Chaos may be impressed by the karma I will earn for you, and allow you to be recreated in his image."
Before she could snap at him to begone, the seraphim disappeared, leaving only his laughter behind.
A Tier 2 Daeva against Tier 1 players...It went against The One who claimed to have no rival's rules, and skewed the balance in Funduvus' favour. The offer was indeed tempting. She stepped back into the cocoon to hibernate, so that her powers would be improved when the players arrived.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
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