ALL NOVEL Chapter 66: Unaffiliated
Maria quickly began distributing the 250 Free Stat Points that she accumulated before opening up her [Log] and [Inventory] to take a look at her loot.
[Devil Greed has been defeated! Acquired 25,000,000 EXP]
[For accomplishing this incredible feat, you have earned the title [Saintess] and [Divine Priestess (Dark)]]
[Saintess
Epic Ranked Title
You have accomplished the impossible by destroying the Sin of Greed!
Your reputation in both the dark and light faction churches will reach the [Intimate] level.
You receive the recognition of all factions. Reputation set at [Like] by default.]
[Divine Priestess (Dark)
Epic Ranked Title
You have been acknowledged by the Gods of the Dark Faction for your incredible feat. You will be worshiped by all citizens of the dark faction. Reputation set at [Worship] by default]
"Reputation related titles...I guess I'll get better treatment now?" Maria mumbled to herself before continuing to look down her [Log].
[Acquired Items:
Shackles of Avarice and Charity x1
Devil of Greed, Asmodeus's Soul x1
666,666 Gold]
"Oh, isn't this that guy's chains? [Inspect]"
[Shackles of Avarice and Charity
Rank: Epic
Lv. 50 (Upgradeable)
ATK: 800 ~ 1705
Random Stat: +100%
Restrictions: None
Bound
Level Requirement: 50
Description:
These shackles were originally the Holy Shackles of Charity. It was used to bind the devil of Greed, Asmodeus, after he was sealed away by the Ophanim of Charity, Azariel. However, due to being exposed to Greed's aura for so long, the holy shackles have been tainted by the sin of greed and have thus been transformed.]
"Oh...that's weird. The stat boost is random..."
[Equip the Shackles of Avarice and Charity? YES/NO]
"Yes sa~"
[Intelligence has been selected. The Shackles will now boost your INT stat by 100%]
[1,880 INT → 3854 INT]
Maria was too preoccupied with looking at the chains that had been binding her earlier so she didn't pay too much attention to her [Log] to see that her INT stat had rose to an absurd level. After a while, she nodded happily before she began swinging them around.
"Hmm...I can probably use this as a weapon or—Oh, I know!"
Maria retracted the chains and wound them around her dainty arms before locking one of the shackles onto the handle of her Calamity. She started laughing and then began spinning her weapon around using her newly acquired chains.
"Hahaha, I'm a genius! A chain-scythe or axe! This'll open up a broader way for me to attack!"
"M-Master, please stop swinging that dangerous thing around!" Lilah yelled.
"Oh, sorry. Anyway, now that I can use the Skill book, let's learn Dark Ray now!"
Maria pulled out the Dark Ray skill book and quickly slapped it onto herself. This was the objective of this entire trial so she was glad that it was over with and she could finally learn the skill. She only hoped that the skill was worth all the trouble that she went through.
[Dark Ray Lv.1 (0/2500)
Rank: A
Fires a deadly beam of black energy at the target, reaping away 10+(INT x 0.001)% of the target's HP with a 10% chance to inflict [Blind].
MP Cost: 2000+(INT x 0.01) MP
Cooldown: 10 minutes]
"...what's with this skill? It deals damage based on my target's health percentage? The cooldown's a bit long, but it's still really strong even at level 1!" Maria exclaimed in shock.
She was really pleased with the skill. The shackles that she got were already a pretty good item so now that she got another good skill on top of that, all the trouble that she went through inside this place was all worth it.
"I also got so much gold! Though the number is a bit dubious, but it's still gold!" Maria cheered happily. She also didn't forget about the final item that she got, [Devil of Greed, Asmodeus's Soul]. Maria wasn't sure what it was but since her other items were awesome, that too would bound to be awesome as well.
Maria couldn't find the item inside her [Inventory] so she went over to Greed's corpse and looked around. It didn't take long before she noticed a blinking light within Greed's chest. She stabbed her hand into the corpse and quickly grasped the blinking light before pulling out her hand.
Within her grasp was a black crystal that was pulsating with a dark light.
"Is this that devil's soul?"
*DING*
[Essence of Life detected, would you like to absorb? YES/NO]
Maria tilted her head and mumbled to herself, "Huh? What's this?"
Ash walked over to her side and took a look at the black crystal before answering his Mistress's question.
"My Lady, this crystal is the core or [Essence of Life] of the devil that you just killed earlier..."
"Hmm...So it's his soul?"
"Yes, My Lady. It's Greed's Soul..."
"It says that I can absorb this thing...should I do it?"
Ash widened his eyes in shock before he exclaimed, "Master, are you crazy?! If you absorb that devil's soul—"
"Will it make me stronger?" Maria cut off and asked.
Ash was a little skeptical at the question, but he still answered her, "Y-yes, but doing so would be highly risky! Your body and mind may become affected by Greed's soul!"
Maria smirked when she heard Ash's words. In the end, Universe Tales was still just a game. Even if she did consume the item in front of her, at most, it will affect her in-game character's body, but not her mind.
It'd be a pretty flawed and dangerous game if an in-game item was able to influence a player's mind. The pain receptor of the game was already too much for most players so if there were items that directly affected the mental state of the players, UT would be quickly put out of commission.
While Ash was giving his long tirade, Maria had made up her mind so she quickly popped the small crystal into her mouth.
"Also, there are the repercussions from the God's that need to be taken into accou—MY LADY!!!" "MASTER!" Ash and Lilah screamed together in horror.
Maria frowned a little when she felt the sharp texture of the crystal in her mouth. She quickly swallowed it down despite her two companions' protest.
"Ah, relax you two. It's an item that's meant to be used! What's the worst that could—Eh?"
[You have consumed Devil of Greed, Asmodeus's Soul. You will now begin absorbing his Essence of Life]
Maria began feeling her body heat up all of a sudden after the message window popped up in front of her. It felt stifling and uncomfortable, but still manageable.
"T-this feels weird..."
"Master, are you okay?" Lilah asked as she moved around her and checked Maria's body from all angles.
Ash didn't dare get too close or touchy with his mistress since he was quite afraid that she would smash him away. He could only send her a worried look.
"Mistress, we should get out of here. It's dangerous if we linger here any longer," Ash said.
"Yeah...we should get going—"
[Would you like to leave Death's Realm? YES/NO]
Maria tapped on the [YES] and her body was sent out of the instance along with her pet and champion.
After being teleported out, Maria looked around and saw that she had been transported back into her original place before she went into Death's Trial.
"Phew... damn, I'm feeling really, really hot..." Maria complained.
[Time left until Essence of Life is fully absorbed: 65:55:36]
"...Do I have to deal with this stupid heat for almost 2 day—AHHH!!!"
[Due to your race, absorption has been accelerated! Remaining Time: 44:36:01]
[Due to absorbing the Devil Greed's Soul, your taint value has increased.
WARNING!
Taint Value has risen by 66,666 units! Your Taint Value has exceeded the 50,000 unit threshold. Your body will be greatly affected and changed!]
"OW! It hurts! Guhhh—"
"Master!"
"My Lady, w-what's wrong?!"
"Hey Ash! Don't just stand there, do something!!!" Lilah hysterically screamed.
"W-what can I do?! It's definitely because of that [Essence of Life] that master consumed earlier! It's causing her body to change!"
"Then why is she in pain?!"
"How am I supposed to know?!"
Lilah tried to approach Maria who had now collapsed in a fetal position on the cold, forest floor, but an energy barrier had formed around her and prevented anything from getting too close.
"AHHHHH!!! OWWWWWW!!! HAHAHA, IT HURTS! IT HURTS!!!"
Amidst her screams, Maria's avatar was slowly changing. Her white wings which were turning a little bit gray were immediately washed in black and the two smaller wings on her lower back immediately grew to the same size as her primary wings.
Her nails began changing into claws and a long bone sprouted from her lower back. It was quickly wrapped around in flesh and skin at the same time that another pair of black wings sprouted from her back.
Those were the only visible changes that occurred but even after the transformation of her avatar's body seemed to have stopped, Maria continued to lie on the ground while occasionally groaning out in pain.
The pain receded only after another half hour later. Maria opened her eyes and quickly jumped to her feet as if nothing happened.
"Phew, I'm glad that's over~"
"M-Master! Are you okay?!"
"My Lady!"
Maria's two companions quickly rushed over and asked in unison. Concern and worry was apparent in both their eyes. Maria looked at the two and grinned.
"Hehe, no problems here~ I've undergone something even more painful than that so I'm fine!"
"..."
"..."
The two didn't seem so convinced since just a few moments ago, Maria was just screaming out in pain. It didn't seem like she was used to that sort of excruciating pain at all.
"Stop looking at me like that. Anyway, there's some good news from this, I did get stronger!"
*DING*
[Partial Assimilation of the Essence of Life has been completed!
All skills +1 Skill Level and all stats have been adjusted.
Skills:
[Angel's Compassion Lv.5] → [Fallen's Cruelty Lv.1]
[Angel's Rage Lv. 9] → [Angel's Rage Lv.10]
[Gehenna's Eye Lv.1] → [Gehenna's Eye Lv.3]
[Arc Swing Lv.9] → ...
...
...
...
...]
[Changes have occurred to your titles due to your actions.
Titles:
[Saintess] → [Fallen Saintess]
[Divine Priestess] → [Fallen Priestess]
WARNING! Due to some changes with your title, your Affiliation has been changed from [Dark] → [None]!]
Maria was rather pleased seeing the first message window since all of her skills had leveled up but she frowned when she saw the second message window.
For some reason, her affiliation had suddenly changed and it was because one of her titles had changed.
She quickly opened up her [Titles] menu and tapped on the two titles that had changed earlier.
[Fallen Saintess
Un-Ranked Title
You, who were once a Saintess, have done the unthinkable by absorbing the [Essence of Life] of a corrupted being which in turn, has corrupted your soul.
All factions curse and resent you for your decision but they fear the power that you now hold. Affiliation set at [None].
NOTE: Due to the title, you cannot change affiliations and you are unwelcomed by every faction.]
[Fallen Priestess
Un-Ranked Title
The Gods of both Factions lament at the unthinkable decision that you have made. You will be feared by the citizens of every faction. Reputation permanently set at [Special: Feared] by default]
"W-what the hell?"
Maria quickly tapped on her reputation and quickly read the description.
[Special: Feared
You are feared by all intelligent and faithful beings. No merchant will wish to trade with you. No organization will welcome you and any organization that you were once a part of has now begun to shun you.]
[WARNING! You have been forcefully kicked out of the Guild [Fallen Angels]]
[WARNING! You are unwelcomed in any [Dark], [Light], and [Neutral] Faction territory.]
"W-what the hell?!!"