Chapter One Hundred and Seventy One – 171

Chapter One Hundred and Seventy One – 171

The items on the shelf burst into brilliant vapor, their essence torn free and streamed into Felix's open mouth. This, he realized, this is what is worth stealing in a church.

Power surged in him.

A storm lit within his belly, and a confusing flurry of notifications flickered in front of his eyes. With a fierce effort of Will, he muscled them down for later review. More importantly, the influx of Essence helped counteract the nightmarish pressure that had built up in his core. Fire Within told him a dangerously potent gathering of System energy pooled within him, blocked by his Will and the desire not to Tier up. The pain faded though as the two seemed to balance one another, System-granted and Felix-stolen, but the pressure didn't go away. He'd have to make choices before too long.

He was sick of not thinking things through, however. He wasn't going to Tier up again in the heat of the moment.

The priest shouted in outrage but his voice was distant and slow. Felix could feel the strain in his core ease even further, and the rampant, static inducing flickers of his notification icon slowed and settled.

He was finding a balance. But he needed more.

More.

Ravenous Tithe!

Felix swept his arms down the shelf, putting his body into the abundant aura of the relics. They pressed at his Manasight like a screaming crowd, smelling of laughter and joy, while the sound of choir bells danced along his tongue. Potent.

Goblets and statues and tiny glass enclosures filled with bones. All of it burst apart at his touch, turning entirely to glowing vapor filled with multitudinous lights. Gold predominated, but white and green and deepest blue was present as well. All of it rushed into him, inhaled in a moment, and he straightened with a sudden alacrity.

Felix turned toward the priest who had stumbled backward in shock and horror. "What have you done!"

"People keep asking me that," Felix muttered. He narrowed his eyes at the priest and gestured around him. "Unless you want the rest of your hoard evaporated, I'd suggest you let me pass."

I can't use my Skills, apparently, unless I want to get hurt. I'll just have to rely on my stats, then.

The priest's eyes darted down at the would-be thief's prone form, then back up at Felix. Light still gathered on his liver-spotted hands, not dimming in the slightest, and Felix could see that Stabby had disappeared. Before he could even wonder where he'd gone, they all heard a terrified scream from overhead.

"No! NOOOEEUUUGHGH!"

Wet squelching and tearing sounded from above, and the scent of rotten, putrid blood coiled through Felix's sight. No. Not here too.

Moments later, the Revenants crawled from above. Three skittered across the ceiling and walls while five more landed heavily upon the ground. They had their varied snouts in the air, tongues lolling with thick spittle as they lashed about.

"God damn it," Felix snarled, and took a gamble.

Sovereign of Flesh!

Sovereign of Flesh (Transcendent)

Flesh is as clay to you! Gain increasing control over your Body, increasing your Strength, Endurance, and Vitality by a flat 25% when active. Requires Essence to function. Control and speed of transformation increases with each level, pain decreases moderately per level, and Health regeneration increases slightly per level. Amount of Essence required per transformation decreases minimally per level.

Immediately, Felix's skin began to shift and transform. Heavy scale plates formed across his chest and shoulders, midnight black in color, while finer growths appeared down his arms and legs. It was mostly hidden by his shirt, trousers, and boots, but his face and arms were easily visible. His skin burst and twisted, accommodating the breaking bones beneath the surface as the monster inside of him was unleashed and his Body swelled with muscle. A discordant thrum of power surged through his veins, siphoning away a large portion of the Essence he'd just taken to fuel the Skill. A series of glowing cyan lines formed upon his chest, arms, and legs, shining even through his clothes, swirling atop his scales like convoluted knots.

Felix barely registered the priest's screams when he began to move.

All of them looked exactly as he'd recalled. Rust-colored scales covered most of their bodies, save for the pulsing veins of sickly yellow flesh that criss-crossed their arms and chests. Their faces were different from one to the next, ranging between canines, lizards, and worse. Yet all of them lacked eyes and their fanged mouths took up nearly half of their faces.The original appearance of this chapter can be found at Ñøv€lß1n.

A quick pivot and they hissed when they saw the priest. When they looked past him and noticed Felix, every single one of them let out a baying rattle-scream, as if their throats were filled with vibrating thorns. They recognized him. They knew him.

Part of him, at least.

Like hounds loosed for the hunt, they exploded into motion. Felix didnt give them a chance.

They had barely shifted when Felix appeared, slashing his black talons into them. Limbs flew as his preternaturally sharp claws cut through enhanced scale, muscle, sinew, and bone in one swoop, and a dark, fetid ichor poured onto the rubble strewn floor.

"REEEAARRCH!"

The thing screamed piteously, and he knew that each Revenant was once a Human or a Dwarf or any number of poor innocents shoved into the Domain's corruption. But Felix had no mercy left in him. Not for them.

He ducked under the wounded creature's wild swipe, spinning around to slash at two others. Scales split without effort, and the stink of their blood tripled in less than a second. Screams cascaded through the room, but not for long. Felix pushed himself, moving through them like a ghost, and he tore them to pieces.

It was over in fifteen seconds. Their bodies piled upon the ground, meat and blood, some faintly twitching with the last memory of life.

Yet he wasn't done. Dropping to his haunches, he thrust his hands out, driving his talons into as many bodies at once as he could manage.

Ravenous Tithe!

Zara started walking, and Felix followed her. "I wish that were so. The population of these Revenants has exploded in the hours since their arrival. That first hundred turned to two, then three, and now there are nearly two thousand spread across this city at my last estimate."

Felix choked and stopped walking. "Two thousand?"

He imagined the damage they could do, a mess of Tier II monsters imbued with the Maw's worst qualities. It was horrifying to think on. "What's happened to the people? Dusters and everyone else?"

Zara's face was grim in the dark. "Many have died. Far too many."

Holy shit. Felix's heart ached. Is this my fault? If I hadn't interfered with the ritual, would the Queens have eaten all of the Revenants?

A sleepy pulse of warmth shot through his chest, a formless, wordless comfort that settled his spinning Mind. Pit was right. Had they not interfered, it was likely the Ravager King would have killed them all. That thought sparked another, and Felix looked to Zara with urgency.

"Vess and Evie? The others? Did they all make it out?" Zara nodded, and Felix sighed so deeply he nearly lost control of his core. A quick, fierce struggle with his Fire Within mastered the volatile mixture of essence and power, but it sent a wave of sweat across all of his skin at once. "Where are they?"

"Back at Calesca's warehouse, though that term may not be entirely accurate anymore," Zara said, but her eyebrows tilted in concern. "Felix are you alright? Your Mana seems...tangled."

"I'm...fine."

Zara gasped. "You're holding back your Tier. Of course. How long?"

"Been a bit over nine hours, maybe," Felix grunted. "Glasses. Whatever."

"You should be fine for nearly a day, yet. Why do I see such pain in you?" Zara put a hand on Felix's shoulder.

"Monster essence and...System energy doesn't mix well," Felix said, and revelation lit up Zara's face.

"That...explains much," she said. "I had wondered how becoming part Primordial would affect you."

Felix's eyes snapped up to Zara's, but the Naiad was patting her robes as if she'd forgotten something. "Ah, here it is." She pulled out a large, fresh fruit. "I figured, despite your meals below, you're probably hungry for actual food, yes?"

Felix eyed her, but took the fruit and ate it after quickly identifying it. Kelaan fruit. He hadn't had once since he'd left the Foglands.

"What do you know?" he asked.

"Well, that is quite a broad question," she admitted and started walking again. They were heading west, near as Felix could tell. Without the stars or familiar buildings to orient on, he was mostly guessing. "Regarding your situation, I know that you've had some unfortunate encounters with the Primordial in the Labyrinth."

"Unfortunate. That's a good way to put it," Felix snorted a laugh. He had spent so much time fearing that Zara would find out about his connection to the Maw and she'd known all along. What was the point of hiding anything, anymore? "I killed it back then, sorta. Then I killed it for good in the Domain."

Zara was tapping her lips, watching him with her ice-blue eyes, far more vivid than his own. "No, you absorbed it. Which, strictly speaking, is impossible."

Felix felt his gut lurch, but he refused to give into the fear. "No. It's dead. The Mind of the Maw was destroyed when I ripped it from the Ravager King. It's gone for good."

"Perhaps," Zara admitted. "Perhaps not. I will say, however, the Primordial's power is still extant in this city. So in that sense, your Maw is still quite active."

The Revenants. Felix nodded, unable to muster the energy to object to the Maw being termed as "his."

"I have to admit, Zara. I figured you'd kill me if you found out I'd had a piece of the Maw riding inside me," Felix said.

"That is a completely reasonable fear," she agreed. "I would have, had things been different."

"Different?" Felix asked, ignoring the admission of his potential murder. "What are you talking about?"

"You conquered it, Felix. A task I would not have imagined attainable, yet here you are. Whole. Of sound Mind, Body, and Spirit," Zara shook her head. "It is remarkable. An achievement that only reaffirms my commitment to making you my apprentice."

Felix wasn't sure what to say to that, so the silence stretched as they navigated the ruined streets of Haarwatch. The city had been broken in many places, but there were still swathes of neighborhoods that seemed entirely untouched. Untouched, that is, save for darkened windows and smokeless chimneys. Everything Felix had seen had been abandoned.

"Where did everyone go?"

"There are several hidden redoubts around the city, though most are like the cathedral I found you in. Small with relatively limited access to food and water. It has been in flux all night, but a new balance is forming. There are three camps. The Guilders at the Wall, the Inquisitors in the Sunrise Quarter...and you."

"Me?" Felix asked, confused.

"Well, the Blue Eyed Fiend, at least," Zara smirked at Felix's frown. "A third camp has gathered, and the vast majority are doing so under your name."

"What? Why?" Felix gaped. "How?"

"I think showing is better than telling, don't you?"

Felix clenched his jaw. Zara's smile could have cut glass.