Tower of Avarice: A LitRPG story

Chapter 94 – Floor 9: Part 15

Yule gasped for air as she tried to withstand the turbulent energies that were pervading the Pavilion. The crushing weight of the pressure drove her to her knees and forced her head to bow toward the ground.

She had never experienced anything like this and wasn’t the only one affected. The other Chronicles had fallen, some had collapsed entirely, and she didn’t know if they were still alive as they lay unmoving.

With all of her might, Yule tried to raise her head. She wanted to witness what was about to happen, although she couldn’t say that she would survive to record it.

“An Adherent. God damned traitors, every single one of you. You sold us all out, threw your lot in with the fiends, all for a little more power.” Alivia spat; her pretty face was twisted with anger.

“It wasn’t like that, not that I would expect you to understand. We’re all here for a reason. The goal is to achieve our wishes, our dreams. I can’t help that you lot were too slow or stupid not to grasp every opportunity.” Mercy replied.

“And what about the rest of you? Were you Adherents as well?” Aster asked. She flexed her hands, making white-knuckled fists before relaxing them and starting the process over again.

“What do you think?” Ludvig responded, his face breaking into a grin.

It explained why they were all so close, although Yule had no idea what an ‘Adherent’ was. But from the words ‘traitor’ and ‘corrupted’, she had an idea that it wasn’t anything good. It was also why these six felt so different from the others.

Mathew and the Upper Ranks felt similar to the Lords and Ladies of the Lineage, powerful but not evil. The Lower Ranks were twisted and vile. There was a malevolence in their auras that Mathew lacked. Yule was thankful she had been assigned to him, not one of the others.

“How did you all survive? I thought we eliminated all of you after Samuel died.” Joseph inquired. The illusionist was shaky and pale; his near-fatal mistake of underestimating Ludvig had left him nervous and wary.

“We cut a deal! I told you they were a bunch of ignorant losers. You praise these ‘gods,’ but they are as petty and easily swayed as anyone else. We made a lot of promises, said we were sorry and that we would be good little boys and girls from now on.” Lucas explained, laughing uproariously at the end.

“They even granted us new Blessings and Disciplines to replace what we received from the Outer Deity.” Osmund added.

“We can’t work with this lot. Did you all forget what they did? I saw the bodies and what they did after they sacked Refuge. They stripped the bodies and left them in a line for miles in each direction. They were people, just like us.” Joseph shouted at his allies.

“I agree. Once a traitor, always a traitor. Better we kill them all now before they stab us in the back.” Aleks commented, throwing his cigarette onto the ground and running his palm along the pistol at his hip.

“We do that, and we’ll all die to the locals.” Aster countered, and Alivia scoffed.

“Rock and a hard place. I’ll take my chances.” Alivia stated, and even Kristen nodded. The Prophet’s white eyes hadn’t left Mercy’s face, and the woman was shivering at whatever her visions were showing her.

“Mathew, make them see reason. We just need to work together; we don’t need to be friends.” Aster said, looking to the last person who hadn’t made his thoughts known. Yule could only make out a small bit of Mathew’s face from where she kneeled, but he looked as grim as death.

Unlike some of the others, there was no fear in his expression. He hadn’t moved an inch since the revelation that Mercy was an Adherent. Yule didn’t know how he could stand the tension. It felt like waves of mana were battering her.

“No, we don’t need to be friends.” Mathew muttered, and everyone quieted at the sound. There was a hard edge to his words, an anger that simmered under the surface, barely under control. He held his hand out to his right side with the palm facing upwards.

Yule watched, fascinated, as an object fell into his grasp.

It was a mace, massive and imposing. The head of the mace was a clenched fist, and Yule could feel the mana emanating from it. It gave off an aura of calmness and complete control that Yule felt the violent energies colliding still.

The pressure that was weighing down on her relaxed, and she could breathe easily for the first time since she had arrived at the Pavilion.

The weapon was clearly magical; Yule had seen enough of them in the past to recognize that, but it was on a whole different level from those items. Streaks of white light wrapped around the fist, cascading up and down the length of the mace and reaching Mathew’s hand before travelling back to the fist.

“Impressive weapon, but it won’t do much good in the hands of a weakling.” Lucas sneered.

“I was gifted this from Righteous Subjugation after I killed Samuel.” Mathew said, and the mocking look was wiped from Lucas’ face.

“I killed the Apostle of the Outer Deity. How much do you want to bet that I can do the same to you?” Mathew threatened, and Yule felt a chill from the Demon Lord. Lucas took a step forward, his hands now holding a sword bigger than Yule’s entire body.

“Not a chance! It took an army to take Samuel down, and I only see the seven of you!” Lucas bellowed. He was about to run forward when a deafening roar sounded out. The sky above them darkened, and the clouds, which had been fluffy tufts of white, turned black and menacing.

‘Ding!’

Yule clapped her hands over her ears in fear at the noise; it resounded throughout the pavilion like a gong. The Demon Lords, who had been about to attack each other, stopped at the sudden commotion. Yule watched in confusion as they each raised their matching silver bracelets.

Burning words appeared in the air above them, a fiery sentence that Yule knew came from the gods.

A reminder to all Players. Infighting is forbidden on the Ninth Floor. Attacking others will result in severe penalties.

Yule read the message quickly before turning to look at Mathew’s reaction. Strangely, he ignored the hovering words for a smaller version that appeared above his wristband. This message was different, and judging by the content, it was intended just for him.

Play nicely with others. – Mischievous Depravity.

Yule watched Mathew dismiss the words with a gesture, but their impact was immediate. His mace returned to the nothingness that it had appeared from.

“We may not be able to kill each other, but that still doesn’t mean we need to work together.” Alivia said, and the others agreed with her.

“Fine. I knew this was going to be a waste of time. But when you all are under siege by the locals, don’t expect us to come running.” Mercy replied.

The meeting ended quickly after that, with the six Lower Ranks taking portals to wherever they had come from. Aster looked distressed and worried at the development, an odd expression on her otherwise cold face. She had purchased the item that allowed the travel, and she had rested her hopes on their success through cooperation.

But even she couldn’t have foretold that the Lower Ranks were Adherents of the Outer Deity.

“Well, that went to shit pretty fast.” Alivia commented from where she leaned on the railing of the Pavilion. Yule found that she liked the ‘Drafter’; she was easy to read and understand.

Alivia was the type of person that what you saw was what you got.

“It was always destined to end that way. We were naïve to think otherwise.” Kristen commented.

“Yeah, well, we had to try. I hope those bastards give the Lords and Ladies enough trouble that it takes the heat off of us. What’s the plan?” Aleks said, and they turned to look at Aster.

“We grow our territories and band together if one of us is attacked. The objective isn’t to rule this Floor or defeat all of the Lords and Ladies here. We’re to gain renown and ‘shake’ things up.” Aster explained, and Joseph laughed.

“Things seemed to be well and truly shaken. Fine, I’m on board. Keep in touch, everyone.”

The meeting between the Upper Ranks ended much more harmoniously than with the Lower. Returning through the portal, a much better experience now that Mathew recognized the problem and provided her potions, she had barely stepped inside the hall of his mansion in Reesh when he announced that he would be travelling again.

A few days later found Yule and Mathew in the southern plains of Reesh, hunting the undead.