Chapter 258: The Elegiac Society's Grand Plan |
[Megaman Tiga: Help! I'm being hunted by FOUR GODDESSES working together!]
Ambrose didn't hesitate to call for help. After all, the president had inducted him into the Elegiac Society. Surely he wouldn't just stand by and watch him die.
Unfortunately, the president didn't respond. Instead, Heki Stone, always the first to react, popped up as usual.
[Human-Hater: What kind of nonsense are you playing at today? I don't get it at all.]
[Megaman Tiga: Stay out of it. This isn't something a dwarf vampire can meddle in.]
[Dullahan's Crown: Brother, I've got to say,this makes no sense. Four goddesses teaming up to hunt you? There's a limit to bragging. What deity needs backup to deal with you?]
Ambrose sighed. When he told the truth, no one ever believed him. So he laid everything out: what he'd witnessed in the tower, and even Shara's plan to have him betray the other goddesses.
The first rule of the Society was clear. Nothing said within the group could be shared outside.
Ambrose trusted the President's authority, and that no one would dare break the rule.
[Black Rose: I asked you to handle a minor problem for me, and you ended up provoking a coalition of goddesses? I don't even know what to say anymore. Is Milena safe?]
[Megaman Tiga: She doesn't know yet, but she's safe for now.]
[Pale Little Skeleton: Wait… who's Milena?]
[Black Rose: Our daughter.]
[Pale Little Skeleton: ?????]
[Human-Hater: *******!]
[Dullahan's Crown: Are you joking? Since when can undead have children?!]
[Poet: I, too, must know. Such a feat deserves a poem!]
Ambrose was speechless. Was this really the time to focus on that? Still, even Poet had appeared. Maybe he could reach the President through him.
[Megaman Tiga: The child isn't the point! The point is I'm being targeted by four goddesses. If you don't help me, you'll never see me again.]
[Pale Little Skeleton: Gareth and I will help for sure. But you must tell us how the child was born!]
[Dullahan's Crown: That's right! I'll risk my life for this!]
It seemed that this undead couple had long dreamed of having a child.
Unfortunately, Ambrose hadn't actually made that possible.
[Megaman Tiga: Lady Rose, please don't phrase things so misleadingly. I wove Milena's soul, and Lady Rose prepared her body. Milena is simply an undead we created together.]
That explanation seemed to crush the couple's hopes. They fell silent for quite a while.
Ambrose felt a twinge of regret. If undead reproduction were possible, that would be a very profitable business.
…No, now wasn't the time for that.
He quickly grabbed onto his real hope. [Megaman Tiga: Senior Poet, you're close to the President, right? Could you ask him to help me? I'll owe you a huge favor.]
The Mourner—the President—was someone even Shara treated with respect. Almost certainly a god… and likely far more reliable than the God of Alchemy.
[Poet: Stop daydreaming. The President will not interfere in conflicts between gods. But you are right about one thing—you are a member of the Society. We older members have slept for too long. The world has forgotten our name. Four gods joining forces against one lich? How shameless. I shall help you this once. It's time we stretch our limbs a bit.]
Ambrose felt a surge of excitement. Was this mysterious Poet going to act personally?
He had long suspected the Poet might be a god, but perhaps not.
Gods could not directly intervene in mortal affairs. Even this alliance relied on empowering mortals rather than acting themselves.
Still, even if not a god himself, Poet, like that ghost ship Aige, was surely at least a demigod. That alone would greatly improve his chances.
[Poet: But if we are to help, you must tell us what exactly you intend to do? According to Shara's plan, you'll simply conceal yourself with an illusion and stab that drow. It's simple enough. Why not leave the rest to her?]
[Megaman Tiga: Senior, this alliance consists of Tiamat, the Spider Queen Loss, Levitra, and Shara. Not a single one of them is trustworthy. If Shara intends to recruit me to betray the others, what makes you think the Spider Queen hasn't prepared her own scheme? I guarantee that Shara has already proposed to team up with Tiamat and Loss to eliminate Levitra. And the others are surely planning the same. Three against one, two versus two—every possible combination. Four women with eight different schemes.]
[Human-Hater: Why only eight?]
[Megaman Tiga: You study history. Don't try to do math. The problem is, I have no idea what contingencies they've prepared. Yes, I can hide and strike following Shara's plan, but what if it's a trap? I don't want to walk blindly into danger.]
Like that old saying from his past life, put four people in a dorm, and multiple chat groups would naturally form. Ambrose was certain that none of these goddesses were simple-minded. Each one had her own agenda.
That dagger Shara gave him was clearly prepared in advance, which meant that she had another plan even without him.
Time was running out.
The ritual would be complete in a day or two, and he couldn't divine anything about gods—his dice of fate returned nothing but the void.
Otherwise, he wouldn't need help at all. He'd simply map out every hidden danger and blast everything apart with Meteor Shower.
[Poet: So your concern is hidden traps. I know how to help.]
A crystalline outline appeared on the Necromantic Codex. Then, a small crystal materialized before Ambrose.
[Poet: I've sent you a recording crystal. Break it, and it will loop my newest composition.]
Ambrose: "…"
A song? Was he supposed to play it at his own funeral?
[Poet: While it plays, it should temporarily block the will of those four goddesses for about five minutes.]
If Ambrose still had lungs, he would have gasped.
Block divine will? That was essentially cutting off the effect of their divine descent. This was practically a divine artifact!
As expected, everyone in the Society was a monster.
Even their casual gifts were absurdly powerful. Five minutes without divine interference… That would be enough for Ambrose to tear through this tower several times over.
[Megaman Tiga: Thank you so much.]
[Poet: Don't thank me just yet. If we are to act in the name of the Society, we cannot do this halfway. Four goddesses targeting one of us—if we don't make them pay, wouldn't that disgrace the President?]
Poet's tone was domineering, as if those four evil goddesses were nothing more than schoolyard bullies.
[Poet: Do what you must. The rest, we seniors will handle.]
With that, the Poet fell silent. Ambrose had no idea what "handle" meant. Surely not… killing the goddesses?
Levitra, perhaps, but the Spider Queen, Tiamat, and Shara?
Those were ancient, infamous powers. The elves themselves had failed to destroy the Spider Queen. Tiamat was a ruler of Hell. Shara was older than creation itself.
Killing them was impossible, but wounding them and stealing their divine power seemed far more likely.
That was visionary. What he knew of the Poet sounded like a joke: he liked to force people to listen to his poems. But when it mattered, it seemed that he even hunted gods.
Ambrose silently reflected on his own shortcomings, then steadied himself.
His biggest concern was resolved. With a way to block divine influence, plus the Golden Throne, and even Milena as his trump card, there was nothing to fear.
"You're right, Senior," Ambrose muttered. "I represent the Society now. I should think bigger."
Still cloaked in illusion, he drifted toward the ritual array.
It bore the unmistakable style of drow magic, intricate and alien. He couldn't tamper with it as freely as he once had with Harvey.
But he could see its flaws. The array was clearly cobbled together with four distinct sections each representing a different goddess. Like four lumps of clay hastily pressed together, they were individually exquisite, but crude and unstable where they joined up with each other.
The drow, however, noticed nothing. They followed the design meticulously.
Meanwhile, Trisna had begun preparing the sacrifices.
Creatures from across the Umbral Depths were dragged into the tower. She killed them personally, flaying and dismembering them, harvesting not their flesh, but their suffering, hatred, and despair.
Those emotions, mixed with blood, became the finest offering to the gods.
Fortunately for her, all four goddesses were aligned with evil. Such corrupted sacrifices suited them perfectly.
Each kill was performed with solemn devotion. Slowly, the massive pool of blood, several meters deep, began to fill up.
Ambrose estimated that the blessing ritual would begin when the pool was full.
Milena would likely be among the sacrifices. Would the girl realize what was coming, he wondered?
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