Chapter 214: (END OF BOOK 4)

Chapter 214: (END OF BOOK 4)

Chapter 214 (END OF BOOK 4)

Athela slowly shut the door to his manor room behind her to leave only a crack open, smiling at Riven’s bare rising and falling chest while he recovered. Then her eyes fell to the pair of feathered boots that Riven still kept at the side of his bed, and her smile faltered. The past few days had been... difficult, with the serious damage to his soul very apparent. He could barely summon mana at all. Frankly she’d been surprised that he didn’t have permanent damage because that kind of event would have outright destroyed most cultivation efforts forever, but she was thankful the worst hadn’t happened and that in time he’d be fine.

“You’ll stay here to watch over him?” She turned to Azmoth, and the large demon gave her a curt nod. “Good. Thank you, I have business to attend to in the nether realms.”

She turned to go, but was stopped by a large clawed hand that landed on her shoulder.

“Say hi for me.” Was all he said, and Athela stiffened slightly.

She nodded, removing his hand and turning back to look up at him with pursed lips. “What do you think I should do? When Tupper came to get me, I...”

Azmoth slumped his shoulders, looking away and out a window in the hall where faded sunlight pierced through the fog of the haunted landscape outside. “I not know. But I like her. Fay always kind to me, even if dirty succubus.”

Athela’s frown deepened, and she clutched the sides of her body in a self-hug, looking down shamefully to the floor. “I think... I may have overdone things. Back in Dawn’s capital at the battle of Rippenvire, when I ate her. It was really mean, I was just so angry I... I felt betrayed and felt like she was trying to steal him away. Perhaps we should have talked more first.”

“Yes.” Azmoth nodded in agreement. “You should have.”

“What do you think she wants to talk about with me?”

“Not know.”

“Will Riven abandon me if she comes back?”

Azmoth reared his head back and had to stifle a laugh, putting two hands on his hips with two more behind his head in a stretch. “No. Riven love you.”

“But I can tell he misses her. He talks about her in his sleep.”

“Yes, but he chose you. You not know what he was like when you died. Was very, very bad.”

Athela gave a half-hearted smile, shifting her long black hair off to one side behind her ear. “Yes I know. I suppose he did choose me - but I’m not sure it was for the right reasons.”

There was a silence after that, and eventually Athela muttered a goodbye - waving at Azmoth while she disappeared down the steps of the manor stairwell and exiting out two stories down on the bottom floor. There, she met Tupper. The blue-skinned, white-haired incubus dressed in a tuxedo was waiting patiently for her arrival, and he bowed his head upon her approach.

She nodded to him in acknowledgement and took in a deep breath, fingers clenched. “Hello again Tupper.”

“Mistress Athela.” Tupper replied with a hesitant smile. “Thank you again, for agreeing to meet my sister. You didn’t have to do so.”

“I know. But there are things that’ve been on my mind, things that I’d like to get off my chest probably just as much as she does. It wasn’t all that long ago that we were friends.”

Tupper opened his mouth to reply, but hesitated - then shut it again. Without a word he opened up a blue-rimmed portal leading into a private nether realm, then gestured for her to walk inside.

***

The nether realm she’d created was only a temporary one, displaying a simple octagon room with low-hanging yellow lanterns overhead that gave off a warm glow and two fluffy couches facing one another across a small table.

Fay fidgeted nervously, taking in deep breaths over and over again with long exhales to calm herself down. She’d been sure to make herself look presentable and wore a modest white dress, plain and simple but still form fitting. Her black eyes stared vacantly at the table in front of her as she crossed her long blue legs, and a ball was forming in the pit of her stomach as she went over all the possible scenarios that could go oh so terribly wrong. She just wanted to... to change how things had ended. She wanted to have a clear conscience after what had transpired.

“Hello Fay.”

Fay startled, looking up to see a slender, athletic woman she’d come to know rather well over the past year. She abruptly stood up, still clutching her sides involuntarily and giving a forced, nervous smile. “Hello Athela. How’ve you been?”Ne/w novel chapters are published at novelhall.com

There was an awkward pause while Athela considered this, and she gave a noncommittal shrug while looking away. “Could be worse, could be better.”

Well at least Athela hadn’t snapped at her. That was promising.

“Have a seat?” Fay asked when the portal to Panu shut behind the other woman.

Athela nodded, then stepped forward and sat herself on the couch on the opposite side of the table. She straightened her posture, put her hands on her bare knees, and then made eye contact when Fay sat across from her. “What about you? How have you been doing? I hear you have a new master.”

The words stung, though it was unintentional and there was no malice hidden there.

Fay grimaced, but thought about the old man and some of the tension left her shoulders. “I’ve not been good. Not at all, but the person I’ve contracted with is helping me out. He’s something of a therapist.”

“Going for the older guys now?” Athela gave a halfhearted, teasing smile.

Fay couldn’t help but frown, and shook her head. “No, I... we haven’t done anything of the sort. He’s just a friend.”

“Ah. That’s rather unusual, considering the type of people that usually contract with your race.”

“Yes, I agree. It is.” Fay paused, gathering her courage and clasping her hands in front of her while avoiding eye contact. “Riven was like that too, at first.”

The silence reigned heavily on the two women after that, each mulling over their own thoughts.

“I was told he recently got injured, pretty severely.” Fay started again, glancing up for confirmation.

Athela nodded with a grimace. “Yes. We’re not sure how long it will last, but he should recover. It isn’t the end of things, but it is enough that his newest contracted familiar left. It was a basilisk of some kind, it didn’t want to wait. Short sighted, if you ask me, but at least we weeded out the bad apple if you catch my drift. Riven is a great master to have and I wouldn’t choose anyone else over him even if he could never cultivate or level again.”

“I suppose that’s a point we both agree on.” Fay’s gaze fell, and tears began to well up underneath her eyes. “I wanted to talk about what happened between us. What I did. I... I was hoping that you’d accept my sincere apology. I was immature and selfish, and I sacrificed our friendship over what happened. I’ve thought a lot about it, and I was willing to let him be with any other woman except you there at the end. That was... That must have been rough to hear for you. And you and I both know that I knew how you felt. I’m sorry, Athela. I really am.”

There was a pause.

“And you’re telling me this... why?” Athela asked uncomfortably.

Fay gave a quivering smile, wiping away some of the tears dripping down her cheeks. “I just feel bad. And I miss all of you. I miss Riven, sure, but I miss you and Azmoth as well. I know it likely isn’t repairable, and I’m not asking to come back. I just don’t want to go the rest of my life knowing how badly I fucked things up and not trying to have reconciled with the people I wronged. Namely, you. It is why I asked to meet only with you, and not with Riven. I owe you that much.”

Athela silently gazed ahead, staring at her while Fay continued to talk.

“I was also hoping that you’d pass along a message.” Fay said with a self-loathing laugh. “To Riven. Tell him that Tupper has a letter, you can look it over first if you wish - but tell him that you were right. That I tried to manipulate him while you were gone because I was so head over heels, and I was jealous of you. I wanted him for myself. The time I spent with all of you was the happiest I’ve been, even though it was rather short - and I ruined it.”

Athela clicked her tongue. “Yes... He told me about the date the two of you went on.”

Fay outwardly cringed at its mention. “I... see... What did he say?”

“He told me what you two did and described to me how it made him feel.” Athela replied sadly. “He said he wants to find that with me. He invited me to go on a picnic and a nature walk with him sometime as our own first date. I’m excited to go.”

“You’re implying he doesn’t already feel that way about you?” Fay asked warily.

Athela shrugged. “Honestly I’m unsure.”

“He chose you over me, Athela. I’m sure he feels that way about you.”

“He did, but even in the beginning he admitted that he hadn’t seen me as a romantic interest. He treats me like one now, certainly, but I get the feeling he’s doing that out of... obligation.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Fay protested, frowning.

Athela laughed. “I’m not being ridiculous! I know he loves me, I don’t doubt that at all. But the way I love him is perhaps different from the way he loves me. I view him as a romantic partner and have ever since my transition into this body. Meanwhile, he views me as a best friend - as family. It is different, you know. When he sleeps, I’m not the one he talks about.”

“Oh? How are those two doing by the way? I haven’t talked to them for some time now.”

“Very good. They have taken up managerial positions under Mara and help run the city. General Bruner from Chicago is also in Mara’s inner circle, and I get to see the four of them quite often since I work at your estate. They’re far busier than you’d imagine.”

Riven snorted. “Well I’m glad SOMEONE enjoys that kind of work. It certainly isn’t me.”

He pulled up his status page and scrolled over to the quests menu. From there, he selected the most recent Chalgathi update.

[Chalgathi, The Apocalypse Beasts World Quest, Panu:

Congratulations on being the 3rd person to collect all 5 Chalgathi artifacts. Now that all artifacts have coalesced into one item set, you are to be given eventual access to the sub-event: Altars of Dread and Hope.

The Altars of Dread and Hope are exclusive areas designated by the Elysium Administrator, where only the chosen of the apocalypse beasts may enter after having acquired their given artifacts. This applies to all apocalypse beasts, not only Chalgathi. Here at the Altars of Dread and Hope you will be divided into two groups: Cultists and Non-Cultists. As previously described, the outcomes of this world quest differ greatly depending on which of the chosen acquire the prizes for these quests. Thus, cultists will be pitted against non-cultists when reaching these altars. Non-Cultists across all three apocalypse beast categories will arrive at the Altar of Hope, and Cultists across all three apocalypse beast categories will arrive at the Altar of Dread. It will be highly incentivized to work together with your given team upon arrival, and severe punishments will be handed down to those who intentionally harm any others within your own category while involving yourself in this sub-event of the questline; with more details to arrive upon event initiation.

The Altars of Dread and Hope will first open with an event initiation in 2 months, 19 days, and 11 hours from now. Upon opening, the next phase of World Quest 2, The Apocalypse Beasts will begin. You can expect to enter an alternate pocket realm at that time along with other various people, places, artifacts, and events drawn in from around the multiverse; and can be expected to be gone for a minimum of 1 year’s time. Participants who do not collect all of the necessary apocalypse beast artifacts upon event initiation will still be able to join the Altars of Dread and Hope sub-event upon completion of the item sets.]

He re-read the ‘2 months, 19 days, and 11 hours’ part.

Would that be enough time for him to heal?

And damn, being gone for an entire year or more... That was rough.

Had it really only been a month and a half since he’d collected Messenger? So much had happened in that short amount of time... It was almost unfathomable. His thoughts trailed back to that day, the day Athela had died - the day he’d saved Fay from the cultists. He was simultaneously sad, angry, and happy all at once when thinking about it. Sad because Fay had left, angry that the cultists had dared harm people he cared about, and happy that Athela had returned to him.

Perhaps it was selfish to think he was angry that things didn’t turn out better, given the ridiculous circumstances he was in.

Taking a look at his own spatial bag, he pulled out two objects. The first was a system-proclaimed ‘treasure map’ related to a dao treasure of Sin that he’d acquired from finishing the quest to save Fay. The other was a dao treasure related to Blood that Athela had acquired herself after the harbingers of Gluttony had been defeated in Mandon.

Unlike most treasure maps, this one was actually a 3-dimensional hologram. It was created out of a small metal cylinder, with the top of the cylinder creating a very intricate diagram of a part of Panu from a zoomed-out view.

The hologram displayed a tropical island with a volcano at its center. It had a very distinct boot-shaped protrusion that formed a cove on one side, with trees and other features on the island so tiny that they were smaller than a pinhead but still somewhat discernable. The map spanned many meters across in any direction from the cylinder, and he was even able to get up and walk through it - identifying a glowing dot underneath the volcano through a large sprawling set of ancient ruins that were built into the ground underneath the island. There, where a ruined city lay long forgotten by the looks of how decimated the architecture was, were flowing rivers of magma that eventually led to an odd-looking temple.

It was here, at this temple, that the icon continued to flash.

It had no description otherwise, no details, only the outline of the island, the ruins, and the path down the magma rivers leading to the temple where the dao treasure of sin was located. The very large problem he now had though was that he had zero clue where this island was. It could literally be anywhere, and he had no doubt that the combination of three merging planets would only make it all the harder to find.

But people in Chicago were already working on finding the treasure map’s location by using drones. The mapping of Panu was underway, and many of these drones were already far out to sea to the south of Dawn. It might be a long time from now, but he’d find the island he was looking for eventually.

The dao treasure of Blood he already had, and it required a bonded partner to use it. Probably made specifically for Athela by the system itself, it was shaped like a tear and fit in the palm of Riven’s hand - only being the size of a tennis ball, rounded with a point, and it glowed a bright red similar to the color of Riven’s eyes.

[Tear of the Blood Good (Legendary F-Grade Dao Treasure): Must have a bonded, contractual partner to use. Reveals insights into the Dao of the Blood Subpillar and drastically increases the resilience and size of both partners’ Blood Pillars after use regardless of what your insights gain for you.]

It was perfect. Not only because the Blood Subpillar was his specialty pillar, one that he had a 100% affinity for, not even because he had the accomplishment title of ‘Bloodthirsty’ that increased his damage output for any blood abilities he used. No, it was perfect because this treasure in particular would be able to reinforce both his and Athela’s pillars - and perhaps it could even heal his blood pillar entirely.

He’d be finding out sooner rather than later, that was for sure. He felt rather exposed the way he was right now, and was pretty certain that even the weaker members of the Thane Necropolis military could likely put him down in his current weakened state. He needed to recover fast, and this treasure perhaps held the key.

“Do you intend to use it before you leave to meet with Hakim?” Genua asked curiously, cocking her head to the side. “Or not until you get there?”

“Probably before. Might as well use it here where I’m safe, rather than waiting until I’m in relatively unknown territory to expose myself if anything goes wrong. But Athela has to get back first. After that I plan to work a bit on totem making, power level Hakim and the others, then maybe go after this other dao treasure before Chalgathi’s quest happens if I’m recovered before then.” Riven replied, putting the items both down on the stack of tomes next to his wheelchair and grunting with pained exertion upon turning the chair around. “Oh boy... This chair is a real pain to use. I don’t know how Lahn manages to...”

Riven’s voice trailed off, and he nearly staggered when his eyes locked on two figures standing at the corner of the building behind where Genua now stood.

Genua turned upon seeing his look of shock, then her eyebrows rose - and she quickly dismissed herself with a polite bow. Walking away and past the other two women present, she made herself scarce and vanished from sight.

Athela stood beside Fay, holding hands with the other woman while smiling fondly down at Riven’s seated form. Fay on the other hand looked incredibly nervous, avoiding eye contact and only managing to spare Riven brief glances while biting her lip.

Eventually, as the silence wore on and Azmoth turned to look as well, Athela nudged the horned succubus in the ribs and then gently shoved her forward. “Go on. I know you’ve been looking forward to this.”

Fay looked over her shoulder, legs shaking slightly, and her head hesitantly turned to look Riven’s way while her hands fidgeted with the long, white, silky hair trialing down her front. She caught Riven’s watery gaze while he stared her down, and she gulped with a light wheeze. “Hi... Riven. It’s... It’s nice to see you again.”

Riven’s hands balled into fists, and his red eyes shamefully hit the floor, unable to meet Fay’s own while his body began to tremble.

“Are you unhappy to see me?” Fay asked worriedly, stepping back and almost tripping over her own feet. “I-I can leave, if you want. I just thought that maybe...”

Riven held up a hand, shaking his head. He turned to stare at Athela, who gave him a warm, smiling nod, and then he turned his attention back to the succubus while slowly beginning to wheel himself over to where she stood. Looking up at her and coming to a stop a foot away from the young woman, he barely got out a whisper while trying to contain his emotions. “Are you here to stay?”

Fay bit her lip, trying hard to fight the urge to cry and failing. “Do you want me to?”

“Of course I do. I never wanted you to leave.”

Fay choked, and she nodded adamantly - kneeling down onto the dirt below and wrapping her arms around his waist while shuddering. “Ok. Then I’ll stay.”

Azmoth watched the silent, crying duo embrace one another before lumbering over to where Athela stood watching over them - arms crossed in satisfaction. He turned to match her posture, looking back and forth between her and the succubus who was shaking in Riven’s arms. “I surprised.”

“Are you now?” Athela asked curiously, raising an eyebrow up at the currently larger demon before lightly punching him in the shoulder. “I’m full of surprises.”

He nodded in agreement. “Yes, yes. I proud of you. Did you forgive?”

Athela let out a long sigh, and her shoulders relaxed while leaning into the armored titan beside her. “Yes. I did forgive her.”

“And she forgive you?”

“Yes.”

Azmoth smiled. “Good. Maybe it go back to way it was, or better. I hope better. You made Riven happy too. The way he looking at you says lots.”

Athela blinked then followed Azmoth’s head-nod to where Riven was still sitting in his wheelchair, hands holding Fay’s kneeling figure while she quietly sobbed into his lap. Happy tears trickled down his cheeks, and he was giving Athela the most genuine look of appreciation she’d ever seen.

Her heart nearly stopped, and a faint blush started overcoming her. Then she straightened and huffed, pointing his way. “I hope you appreciate the things I do for you, mister! You don’t even WANT to know what I had to go through to get her here! Hmph!”

With that, Athela twirled around - black hair swishing out behind her, and she made her way into the manor to get some food. “Come on Azmoth! Let’s get breakfast. I’m starving, and a spider princess needs to keep up on her diet!”

Azmoth chuckled, gave Riven a wave, and then left with his friend to follow her inside.

Unbeknownst to Riven in that very moment, as his heart thundered approval with every beat while holding Fay close, his soul aperture was undergoing more changes than just a self repair.

Tendrils of sin energy were spreading from his Mark of the Sinner on his right arm, silently spreading like a cancer into the demolished pillars and scattered fragments littering his soul. They pulled and pushed, yanking the pillars back together piece by piece - infusing each of them with Gluttony’s presence while the great maw watched in avid fascination. It was a unique situation that the main body of Gluttony had not encountered before - having a harbinger finish his or her sinner’s mark immediately upon a soul shattering.

It provided a very unique opportunity to weasel himself inside, to circumvent laws that would otherwise keep him held back.

[Estimated time until soul repairs and symbiosis are complete: 16 days.]

“Riven...” The great maw hissed at its notification in the eternal black of its abyss - tendrils from the deep places of creation spiraling upwards and outwards, waiting for his soul to reform. “Oh Riven... How I cannot wait to see how you turn out. You and I... we’re going to be very close friends... Very... Close... Friends...”

This is the End of Book 4. Thanks for reading!