Pandora Unchained - a Cultivation Progression Fantasy

The combined offensive of seven God Seeds and supporting heroes inflicted heavy losses on the Flamekin, but thanks to the Agent of Strife, they were able to retreat in an orderly fashion.

After resting for a few hours, Benjamin pushed their army forward through the poisonous lands filled with death. They whittled away at their enemy like a sharp carving knife, leaving only half of their initial numbers before arriving at the enemy base.

Due to their recent arrival in the dungeon, the flamekin had yet to erect proper fortifications. The outpost's walls were built of dead yet oddly powerful wood held together by a black mud that reminded Sorin of concrete.

Benjamin hesitated as he observed the fortress's crude construction. Sorin was similarly apprehensive about their assault. According to Nemesis, the enemy threat is no longer originating from here but from all around the dungeon.

"We'll go with our original plan," Benjamin said after a few minutes of pondering. "Hesitation will only result in uncertain variables. Charles, you and the mages will expend all your mana in an initial salvo. Our vanguard troops will break down the gates, and corpse puppets will scour the streets for survivors. Our mobile elites will dispatch them and disarm any traps that might have been left behind."

Charles cracked his knuckles and began removing large formation focuses from his hero medal. "You heard the man. All our mana." He gleefully began drawing outlines with powdered mana crystals and even powdered divine crystals. This spell would be unlike anything they'd unleashed thus far.

Something's wrong.

Obviously.

No, something's wrong. Really wrong.

Why do you say that? The web of fate has altered, but I feel no danger.

This position is irrelevant. Focusing on it is a mistake.

Even so, we need to enter.

Why would we need to enter?

No one is crazy enough to burst through the front door, not even me.

You know there's no danger.

Do I?

Just so.

As if I'd believe you.

Sorin's mind was a raging conflict, an exchange of inner voices that echoed the Madness and Strife that had burrowed deep within.

I'm losing it.

You're not. You're perfectly sane.

My analysis indicates it's the opposite.

Your analysis is based on flawed perceptions and misguided good intentions.

Second-guessing himself was getting really tiring. Would a psychiatrist or a physician even be able to help him at this point?

A poisonous dragon rose up from the magic circle, draining away its energy and sapping Charles and the assistant mages dry. Why so ruthless, Charles? You could have made the spell slightly less powerful, but your want for mayhem has inflicted mana sickness on all your assisting mages.

The dragon floated above the sad outpost in the distance and smashed into the center of the base. The wooden walls blackened as the corrosive poisons invaded them, rotting them from the inside. Dust fell from the walls as they lost their structural integrity. A stray gust of wind even toppled a section of the wall. They didn't even need to enter the city to know the base had fallen.

A quest prompt appeared, indicating that there had been a change in their mission.

Seek and Destroy: Find and kill enemy flamekin soldiers, captains, and generals to minimize the effect of Fate Sealing Spikes. (13 hours remaining).

"This changes nothing. Vanguard, charge the gates!" Benjamin commanded. A small group of tanky heroes that included Stephan, among others, smashed the gate into splinters and took down a large section of the wall along with it.

Frost filled the encampment, freezing portions of the poisonous mana still floating in the air to create green powder snow.

Only a small portion at the center of the encampment resisted the encroaching frost, creating a small green puddle and a section of dry land surrounding a spell circle drawn with hardening flamekin blood.

Five spikes stood tall where buildings had once stood. The rotten yet somehow flame-resistant wood from the death-attuned forest was rapidly crumbling away. The buildings were empty save a few powerless items that were halfway corroded. Anything valuable was long gone, and whatever had remained would soon melt away.

"Sorin, please cleanse this outpost before we move in to investigate," said Benjamin.

"Not a problem," said Sorin. The poisonous mist filling the moved away as Sorin advanced. Despite their best efforts, they were unable to escape his aura. Poison drained out of the crumbling materials, the soil, and the vanguard that had crashed in before him.

A huge influx of mana and life force surged inside Sorin, creating a dwindling buffer of energy that would temporarily empower him. "It's done," Sorin said to Benjamin. "The base is fully purified."

Benjamin ordered Celine and a group of rogues to scour the outpost for hints while he and a group of exhausted mages inspected the formation at the center. The spell circle's lines were painted in molten flamekin blood. Judging by the quantity and the resentment lingering in the spikes, hundreds of flamekin had fallen to create it.

"The five spikes are identical to what we've been seeing," analyzed Daphne. "As for the spell circle, it's something called an Omnidirectional Escape Circle."

"Could you translate for the uneducated?" asked Benjamin.

"It's a random teleportation circle," said Charles. "Something like an emergency teleportation talisman but on a large scale."

Benjamin breathed out a sigh of relief. "Celine, Michael, I take it your marks are still present?"

"They are," confirmed Michael. "Celine has already activated her Star Beacon skill. We'll start feeding you coordinates shortly."

"Much appreciated," said Benjamin. They might be competitors in this dungeon, but they were united in fighting the Flamekin and any other lackeys sent by the Seven Evils.

A dozen avian familiars, including Gareth's, flew into the sky. Threads of karma marked their targets on a map and infused twenty needles and over 50 medallions with information. The general then fused the needles into coin-sized compasses.

"What's the status of our analysis of the spikes?" asked Benjamin once he'd finished. "Do the words Fate Sealing Spikes shed any light as to their function?"

"This is some sort of infusion formation," reported Daphne. "I don't understand the specifics, but it looks a lot like a brand you'd use to control a beast or an elemental. I don't understand why they'd try to take over the dungeon, though. It should theoretically be impossible."

"If the flamekin think it's possible, then we need to assume it's possible," said Benjamin. "We need to eliminate these flamekin before they can complete their formation. Judging by the quest, that will take another 13 hours."

"Splitting up seems unavoidable," Michael commented. "That said, there's a big difference between targets, both in terms of difficulty and distance. How do we make sure all of us get a chance to explore the mausoleum?" This was, after all, the initial goal of their expedition.

Benjamin thought for a moment before turning towards Messa Payne, one of the God Seeds in his faction. "Can you figure something out?"

"If it's a fair negotiation you're looking for, you've come to the right person," answered Messa. "Since all enemy squads have been marked and mapped, it's just a matter of statistical assignment. That said, some of the more remote points seem to be a little too far away to make things equitable."

"I'll take them out," volunteered Benjamin. "André will help me. Exploration is meaningless for the two of us and will do little to advance our path. All I ask in exchange is that some of our heroes and other Flesh-Sanctification cultivators receive favorable assignments."

"That's fair," agreed Michael. "But how will we determine the remaining assignments?"

"More targets and greater distances will have a huge impact on the investigation of the mausoleum," Sorin chimed in. "Whoever clears their list will be able to return to the center to maximize their search time."

"I assure you that the distribution will be absolutely fair," said Messa.

"And how exactly will you do that?" asked Charles. "Not to be rude, but your faction has a bit of a reputation for being sneaky."

Messa smiled. "I'll be relying on my Divine Ability, of course. Most of you know it as Win-Win Negotiation."

Sorin had heard of this ability in his clan's archives. It was an aggressive yet completely fair ability that allowed the Payne Clan to make strategic bargains. In essence, they could force a trade or sale if they wanted a particular item. This could be done as long as the other party wasn't dead set against the offer in the first place.

"My team will have to refuse," said Sorin, shaking his head. "We don't take kindly to manipulative abilities."

"Calm down, Sorin," interrupted Michael. "I think I know what she's getting at. Messa, will you only be making partial use of your ability?"

"Indeed," said Messa. "You might have heard and been warned of my ability, Sorin, but one of the requirements of the ability is that the bargain be fair. As such, the ability is able to assess what would consist of a fair bargain.

"We just need to use certain parameters—such as the likelihood of getting to the center by a certain time or minimizing the time one might statically need to return to the center according to each team's capabilities. We'll be using my ability to determine a fair solution without the use of compulsion. You'll then be free to accept or refuse my offer before we set out."

Seeing as Michael was on board with the plan, Sorin decided that it couldn't be too bad. "Fine. But if I don't like our assignment, I'll back out without hesitation."

"That is your prerogative," said Messa. She then picked up the tokens representing the remaining groups of Flamekin and tossed them in the air. They swirled around as karmic threads danced around and settled near their separate groups.

Some groups had fewer, more powerful targets, while others simply had weaker targets due to the relative weakness of their groups. Sorin grumbled as his group received a single token. "Yes, completely fair," Sorin said drily. "You expect my team to fight the Agents of Strife and Hatred all on our own?"

Messa shrugged. "Their group is relatively close to the center. Statistically, this is the hardest battle out of the lot but winning should be doable. If you manage to clear out this one group, you'll reach the center well before anyone else."

Karmic strings danced in the air, rearranging themselves as each group accepted their missions. Only Sorin considered if he should accept or not. "Wouldn't it make more sense to have Celine's group tackle this one?" asked Sorin. "She's the strongest individual out of all the God Seeds."

Message shrugged. "The party members aren't as strong as yours, however. What's more, your group has been assessed by my divine ability as especially suited to fighting these two agents. In fact, your odds of successfully eliminating the group without casualties is twice as high as any other group's, Celine's included."

Sorin's eyes narrowed as he realized how accurate this assessment likely was. His ability to handle corruption far exceeded any other team's, assuming he was free to use his corruption as he wished. "Fine. We'll do it," said Sorin. He just hoped his team wasn't dead set against the dangerous mission.

"I have some bad news for everyone," Sorin said to his teammates when he returned from the meeting. "It looks like the two agents are ours."

To his surprise, Gareth, Daphne, and Stephan all perked up upon hearing this. "This is good news. Bounties on Flesh-Sanctification Agents are extremely high, and the fact that we're fighting them inside a dungeon means a multiplier will be applied to the reward. We're looking at a reward of at least 30 divine crystals for the two of them, and that's not even counting the mission reward."

"Looks like you're still our lucky star, Sorin," said Stephan. "Not just in terms of material rewards but mission credit as well. Our rewards for the dungeon are bound to be a good one.

When do we leave?"

"Right away," said Sorin. "There's no time to lose."

"I'll lead the way!" said Lawrence, tossing his ball of silver yarn into the blighted jungle.

"Let's see how my cousins react after I get such a huge windfall," said Daphne with a gleeful chuckle. "Serves them right for pushing me out of the insurance industry."

Sorin wasn't sure why, but there was a feeling in his gut. Convincing them had been too easy. It's just like when we entered the harpy dungeon. There's some sort of compulsion that's pushing everyone forward.

Astley walked up beside Sorin. "You're feeling it too?"

Sorin sighed. "It's like we're puppets, dancing to someone else's tune. And the worst part is that we don't even know who's pulling the strings."

Astley shot him a tired smile. "Not a day goes by where I don't question humanity's direction. Is it Lord Hope, our supposed savior, who is leading us, or has the influence of the Seven Evils infiltrated Olympia and the Infinite Dungeon?"

Sorin frowned. "Surely that isn't the case. There are literal deities holding fort in the inner city. That's not even counting the forces of the Divine Clans and the demigods patrolling the infinite dungeon to root out Agents and intruding myths."

"Would we even notice if it was the case?" Astley pointed out. "Corruption is a slow but certain progress. Besides, don't you recall? There aren't just seven evils, but eight. What's more, the legacy of the dead gods is a stubborn one. Who knows how they might be pushing their descendants from beyond the grave. Perhaps a few are still alive and carefully plotting their revenge."