Chapter 241 – Interlude 32

Legend Xanatos

I breathed in deeply. That sweet, sweet Vitality. A shame that the big fish had escaped. His soul would have been truly delectable. But it was already a victory. Everyone was blaming the elves for the ritual, while I was the one to benefit.

The Moonwood would be a place of death for at least a century as the ritual worked its course. The deaths and suffering were just a wonderful side benefit. It was time to move onto my next scheme.

The challenge I was currently facing, was deciding what I should do. The Dark Library was being difficult and I had wasted far too much time chasing it. The rest of the Dark Cabal was in hiding or dead after the present I had left for them. A shame that my present was destroyed, but that was the way of things.

I slowly moved my limbs while focusing on my breathing. My new body had recovered in full. Rituals were the best if one was willing to pay the cost. The real trick was making others pay for you and the elves were perfect for that. They had also set up everything for me as well.

Hmm, there were no other supreme legends at the moment. While descending into the dungeon wasn’t my favorite thing to do, perhaps it was time I put in some actual work. Work destroying the Last Bastion. It wouldn’t be easy or quick. But it would serve multiple purposes.

I was almost certain that was where the Dark Library was hiding. The one place it could go that I couldn’t reach. While they let a lot of things slide, you use a couple of legends in a ritual and they get upset down there. Where was the legendary solidarity with me? Nowhere, and that was why they should reflect on their wrong doings and I would help them.

A Shadow appeared in front of me and knelt. He held up a scroll and I took it from them before waving them away. An abbreviated summary of the newest book on the Dean’s List. I could respect the College for that, they were willing to put even the most despicable information up for sale.

A soul fruit fed to a monster would create a demon? How inspired and something I would have never done or considered in a thousand years.

That was what I loved the most about life, the little surprises like this. Life was a mystery and I enjoyed unravelling its clothes and forcing life to prostrate itself before me. Oh, there was that Seraphim skill title, Demonic Hunter. I had considered that information useless before, but now the possibilities were interesting.

Creating fake memories and history was easy enough. I could maximize that skill title and then take a look up above. A long term plan and it would cost a lot of soul fruits. I might not do that, even I would be tempted by so many soul fruits. For now, I would create a Demon Xanatos. That seemed like the best use of the knowledge.

A demonic being that looked and behaved exactly like me. I would enslave it as my pet, but I would use it to stir up trouble and chaos on the surface. My plan for the Last Bastion would take time and I couldn’t let anyone figure out my true goals. Even I lost sight of them myself sometimes.

One could even say the demons should serve me, since we were working in a similar direction. It was just that monsters were so…boring. They thought in lines, I thought in colors like an artist. An artist who painted in suffering and blood, the greatest mediums of creation and expression.

I would need a good pet and a good soul fruit. Green was probably the best I would be able to get. Blue soul fruits were beyond rare. And even if someone found one, they would never share it with anyone else, no matter the price. As for a pet, I was loath to give up my Ethereal Soul Serpent. It was a hidden ace that I kept up my sleeve, both literally and figuratively.

No, I would get another pet. An Abnormal dark healer would be the best. Something that would rile up those pretentious pricks at the Five Star Institute of Healing. I hadn’t caused them enough trouble. A dark healer would have them call a crusade and move out in force. More chaos and more fun for everyone.

While everyone was running around, no one would be paying attention to the Last Bastion. Once I cracked that egg, I would be able to make some truly delicious omelets. Truly life was like that and Justin truly was my muse. Just as I was stuck about what to do, he managed to recover this interesting piece of knowledge.

His foundation was truly impressive. If I was building a heroic adventurer like his mother had done, I would have copied her almost exactly. While others might think she screwed up with all those soul fruits and alchemical products on accident, I knew otherwise. Elena was many things, but she wasn’t careless.

The divinations she had paid for hadn’t been cheap. That was what clued me into Justin in the first place. While the future was always in flux, someone always had a finger or two on the scale. I hadn’t expected her to get so upset with me just wanting a nibble.

Well more than a nibble, but why get upset over the small details? She truly was a brute and exactly what I hated about adventurers. I was glad she was dead. I had even paid a small price to a diviner just to be sure, since I had some worrying dreams. Dream Visions was an annoying but useful Tier 4 skill, warning me of major threats like the one currently approaching.

The challenge was remembering them and figuring out if the skill had worked, or if it was just a nightmare. I had been so sure the skill had worked, but it was just a nightmare. Elena was well and truly gone, never to return.

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“Xanatos,” I heard someone mention my name. No one should know about this place. I slowly turned around and saw the big fish himself. Dream Visions was correct.

“My guards and defenses are clearly lacking if you got this far, Eternal Emperor,” I said with a grin. It was so obvious in hindsight that I wanted to kick myself. I flicked my hand and the Lost Blade settled into my palm. Its rusted and decrepit appearance hid its amazing power.

The man’s soul was old. Far older than mine, but his body was much worse off. Ah, he had come to take control of the ritual feeding me Vitality. For a soul mage of his caliber and experience, the signs of what I was doing would be obvious.

“Really a weapon, how…adventurous,” he said.

“Your Tier 6 social skill, trying to get an emotional reaction out of me?” I asked with a grin as I took a step forward slowly, while activating the perfect skill for this encounter. I was on edge. This would be a fight where victory or defeat would be decided in a single instant.

“It seems your blade has a temper problem,” he calmly said and I didn’t react in the slightest.

“Why did the Shadow start a band? It already had a dark sense of humor,” he said with a small smile. I had to resist the urge to mirror him. I took a third step towards victory.

“Your favorite weather, a bleak outlook,” he joked. My fourth step faltered as a surge of amusement raced through me. “Any last words?”

“The name of the skill?” I asked out of curiosity.

“Heartbreaking Pun-Fu,” he replied as my heart exploded. I smiled at him calmly as he looked at me in surprise.

“What, were you expecting me to explode and die? Hahahahahaha! I replaced my heart the moment I learned about your skill. Emotional resonance, truly the peak of social skills. But I am Xanatos and you are no Elena,” I replied as dark ethereal chains burst out of the floor and ceiling.

“If you think that is the extent of my skills, you would be mistaken,” he calmly replied but I could tell he was incredibly tense as I took a fifth step forward, already half the distance had been crossed between us. The chains began wrapping around him as he looked at them calmly.

“Indeed. I know you are an accomplished soul mage to have lived for so long. But not as accomplished as me. So go ahead, deploy your next skill,” I replied and took a sixth step forward.

“I think I am going to gamble when you move to strike me down.” His calmness was unnerving but I wasn’t about to let a big fish go. I took a seventh step forward as the chains wrapped tightly around him.

“A fan of Pulse Strike like your son?” I asked and took an eighth step forward.

“I prefer bigger life and death gambles. Not a game of cards and coins.” I took a ninth step forward. “The Unrelenting Ten Steps, I didn’t think I would ever see it again.”

This time I felt a trace of fear go through me. He had seen through this Tier 5 skill? I grimaced, he was the Eternal Emperor, he had killed a past leader of the Dark Cabal. “And I have one more step. Your time is up,” I said and took the tenth step forward.

The skill required being activated ten times, one for each step. It was insanely hard to use, but once the ten steps and ten activations were completed, my victory was assured. The later one backed out or screwed up the skill, the greater the blowback.

I stabbed forward with the Lost Blade, piercing his heart. “The weakness of the skill is how it is all or nothing and the conditions for activation. But I suppose taking an enemy’s experience and skill levels in full would tempt anyone. Especially if the target was the Eternal Emperor.”

My body was suddenly hit with a massive Mana blowback. I stumbled backwards as I pulled the blade out of his chest. “What…how?” I demanded, since the skill had failed. That was impossible.

“My knowledge of people is the true strength of my social skills. And a slight bit of misdirection. You never took the second step,” he calmly replied as he waved his hand. The dark chains holding him in place dispersed into nothingness as I kept stumbling backwards trying to regain control of my Mana. Failing at the ninth step was disastrous. Even with my skills and knowledge, the blowback was horrendous. That was why the skill was too risky to use except at the most opportune of times, not counting its other drawbacks.

The Eternal Emperor reached inside his light armor and pulled out an amulet that was smoking. “Combined with an Amulet of One Strike Dispersion, even your Lost Blade didn’t harm me, you fell into my trap Xanatos.” He walked forward and pulled out a ritual dagger. He was going to kill me!

My back was up against the wall as I smiled. “It seems, that it is my loss,” I replied.

“Soul Lock. Indeed it is your loss, despite your preparations.” He stood in front of me and raised the ritual dagger. My Ethereal Soul Serpent rushed out of my clothing and bit down on his neck. The Eternal Emperor stumbled backwards.

The skill holding me in place failed. “A shame about your Heartbreaking Pun-Fu. It would have been an excellent skill to add to my collection. But I value my life far more than an interesting skill,” I calmly said as my Mana had finally settled.

The Eternal Emperor tried to say something, but my pet kept injecting soul destroying venom. It would be weak for a while after using so much venom, but I was taking no chances against an opponent of this caliber and I wouldn’t be allowing him to speak again.

“You really should have learned from your son, about the value of a truly useful pet. I suppose I should say something as you finally pass from this world Edric Eldarin, the Eternal Emperor no more. I truly enjoyed your plays and the metaphorical use of a midget. Truly inspired and I spent a decade looking for you a couple of centuries ago when I realized you were still wandering about,” I reminisced as the man kept struggling against his final death.

“But all things come to an end. You got careless in your old age, exposing your ultimate skill. An Empire…bah. A waste of time. In the game of wits, I remain unbeaten,” I declared.

“El…Elena,” he choked out.

“True, that bitch only won, since she flipped the board. It is rare for a confrontation of this magnitude to occur without wanton destruction, a pleasant surprise since I like this hideout. An ultimate test of skills, knowledge, and understanding one’s opponent. A shame I wasn’t good enough to take everything about you. But don’t worry, you can rest now. This world is in good hands, my hands,” I said with a smile as my opponent stopped moving.

Just as I began to revel in my victory, I felt a curse skill try to settle onto my soul. “Nice try with a death bound curse, but I am too strong for such nonsense.” A bit of focus and a wave of my hand crushed whatever death curse was being used. Death curses lacked true power. If someone could kill you, they would not be affected by such nonsense.

The corpse was quickly melting away from the sheer amount of venom my pet had injected into his soul, which in turn was melting his body. I wouldn’t be able to even extract a skill Alchemically. A true waste of such a valuable resource.

Hmm, social skills. I had always looked down on them. But this man had opened up my mind. Another mystery unraveled. “Heartbreaking Pun-Fu. How hilarious,” I said with a smile.

END BOOK 4