Chương 54: Chapter 53: Priam's Shadow

Finally, the creature at his feet was brought down. Its Vitality was ridiculous, but fortunately, it didn't seem to possess any active skills. It might change if the Revenants improved their rituals or for Viscount-rank Abominations. Priam took a moment to imagine a Viscount Abomination with the nine lives of Nemea and shuddered. Don't raise flags, you dumbass! Coughing due to the stench, Priam plugged his nose. The Abomination's corpse was made of the bloody flesh of human cadavers.

He had never smelled anything so bad, and only his concentration during the fight prevented him from paying attention to the smell. Priam quickly pocketed the core and consulted his attributes to ensure he hadn't triggered a fourth Tribulation. Sighing with relief, he froze the next moment. Out of the corner of his eye, he had spotted an anomaly. He hadn't deactivated [Aether Perception] and it was sending back a different image from his regular sight.

With a fluid gesture, Priam called his spear back into his hand and prepared to throw it. Twenty meters up the tunnel, between two light crystals embedded in the wall, laid an intruder. Priam's extraordinary Perception detected nothing out of the ordinary, but a gold-colored, humanoid-shaped mass of aether was visible. The golden color of the aether made Priam hesitate. Instinctively, he knew it was the color of humans.

"Who are you?" Priam chose to confront the unknown rather than play ignorant. After all, he had frozen when he spotted the intruder. The person's camouflage was sophisticated and betrayed a competent person. They had undoubtedly realized that he had noticed a problem. For ten seconds, nothing moved. Priam waited. He asked "Who are you?" not "Who's there?" If the stranger wasn't stupid, they'd know Priam wasn't bluffing.

Finally, after some thirty seconds of staring toward the aether mass, space blurred, and a silhouette appeared. A masked woman in dark clothing slowly rose to her feet. Her short-cropped black hair and a panoply of weapons strapped to her belt screamed assassin. She watched Priam without saying a word.

"Are you part of the Assassins' Guild?" finally asked Priam.

"You may consider me so, but I'm not part of the Guild. I serve my master, King Prometheus," replied the assassin. Prometheus... The name of the titanic benefactor of humanity. Arbiter of the quarrels between men and gods. Greek mythology told that he transmitted fire to humans and was punished for it. The name choice was meaningful, and Priam was already analyzing it.

"... I'm Priam."

"I know you are. I've been following you since you arrived at the Dome." Priam's eyes widened. Surprise gave way to suspicion. If this was true, then this assassin's skills were extraordinary. Neither he nor Sphinx had been able to detect it. Priam's heartbeat quickened and he kept his spear at the ready. She'd never attacked him, but he was annoyed at having been followed for so long. When will the day come when I have no more nasty surprises? Not until I became the eighth concept, I guess...

"Why?"

"By order of my master. An Achievement is rare, and only my King and his first knight can boast of having been graced with this honor. To my knowledge, you are the only human to have obtained two Achievements. My King is interested in a possible rival." Priam greeted the news calmly. Maya had been able to defeat a Baron alone just hours after him. She'd just missed out on the Achievement. It was expected for other humans to have been able to perform actions extraordinary enough to earn an Achievement.

After all, Priam knew very little about this new Universe and had certainly missed out on many opportunities. That these humans refused to announce their feat was more surprising. Instinctively, Priam had allowed the Concepts to declare his victory to notify his family. Apparently, some were more timid. Or they've got a hidden agenda.

"A rival? I'm not looking to be a king," Priam replied. Freedom was hard enough to obtain without chaining oneself to subjects. The assassin nodded.

"That's what I told my King. I also conveyed that you were too freedom-loving to bend the knee. Nevertheless, I'm going to ask you. Do you agree to serve Prometheus and help him unify humanity?" In Priam's opinion, this Prometheus was shaping up to be another raving lunatic...

"I'm afraid I must decline. Nevertheless, you're competent, and if he gained an Achievement, he must be too. Perhaps we can join forces temporarily to wipe out the Revenants?" asked Priam. If each Abomination required two Baron cores and a few sacrifices, the Revenants possibly had hundreds of these monstrosities. Priam couldn't stop them all before they devastated a Dome. The assassin shook her head.

"My King will destroy the Revenants in due time."

"In due time?" Priam raised an eyebrow.

"They'll slaughter millions of humans if they release these creatures," Priam said, looking down at the carpet of flesh and blood at his feet.

"Humanity never blooms as well as it does under pressure." Sensing that Priam was about to get angry, she added.

"Do you know the statistics of civilizations captured by Concepts? Half disappear in less than ten years. Only ten percent survive more than a century." The assassin's eyes were filled with terrifying conviction as she continued.

"Millions will die, and billions will survive. Humanity must win." Priam gritted his teeth. Of course, everyone thought they knew better. But when an opinion condemned or saved millions of humans, one had to think carefully about one's choices. Priam had thought about it, and apparently, so had Prometheus.

"Then I think we have nothing more to say to each other. I'm not a shield or a leader. I'm a Spear. And I have no master," Priam announced. The assassin remained silent, then disappeared. This time [Aether Perception] perceived a thin thread of aether that evaporated directly into the tunnel. Lvl Up: [Aether Perception] lvl 8 META (PERC) +3 She was gone. As Priam relaxed his vigilance, the assassin's voice echoed through the tunnel.

"Anatole is on his way to defeat an Earl. His Abominations are still too weak. He will not succeed and should return to create an Earl-rank Abomination. To do this, he needs two Earl or Dome Lord cores..." Sphinx! Priam trusted his friend. She was powerful. Yet he'd had a bad feeling ever since his arrival in Viracocha, and the stranger's words crystallized it. Something nasty is up... Priam concentrated again. He didn't have much time left.

First and foremost, he decided to keep [Aether Perception] permanently activated. It was unthinkable for him to be so blind again. Moreover, the next assassins would certainly be protected against his skill if it remained low level. Before returning to the Revenants' headquarters, he observed his rewards. It was essential to know oneself in order to triumph. Title received [Fighter of the Depths - Bronze] - The Depths, the deserts between worlds, are a little-known place. Strange creatures reign there.

Some harmless, others frightening. You've attracted the attention of one of them and succeeded in slaying it. However, this artificial creature would have been too weak to survive the Depths... As you look at the Depths, they look at you. STR +10% [Depths Resistance - Epic] - The environment of the Depths is terrible. They're located between worlds, and there, the aether has become polluted. It is still usable, but its properties become corrosive and mutagenic.

Initial symptoms are a decline in the physical and mental attributes. Rapidly, skills stop working, then death follows. Some adapt but are forever changed. Creatures from the Depths spread this aether. Stop them before they pollute your world. Your body, mind, and soul gain a memory power: wounds will heal faster as long as corruption remains low. Your soul crystallizes further and gains a protective membrane. Even humanity doesn't pollute as much as the Deep. CONST +2 (error… delayed).

VIT +2 WILL +5 Killing strong opponents was a lucrative business. When you survive... After failing to identify it, Priam tucked some sort of obsidian fragment into his pocket. The [Abomination Essence] must have been too high-level. He had acquired a title, an epic skill, a hundred points of Potential, an [Abomination Essence] and an Abomination Core. In an aether-poor environment, an average man could train for a year without achieving this accomplishment.

The Concepts wanted to see exceptional performances and rewarded them accordingly. The thought gave Priam pause. Anatole and the Revenants were accumulating power by sacrificing people. Of course, it didn't belong to them, and no one had said this Universe had to be fair. However, if Anatole was so successful in his endeavors, Priam knew that others would be tempted to use cowardly techniques to gain power and influence... Easy gains could attract people, and that frightened Priam.

Why risk your life, fighting monsters, if you could build obedient, overpowered golems by sacrificing a few human lives? Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Priam was under no illusions: only personal power would count in the high Tiers. But in the meantime, how many lives would be sacrificed by fools? Shaking his head, he headed up the tunnel. He had a vault to find. Thirty minutes later, Priam was annoyed.

He had made his way up the corridor to the lobby where the multiple corridors of the lair were located. There, he'd passed and questioned two acolytes to find out where the treasure room was, or failing that, Anatole's apartments. These were the two places where he could find interesting trinkets. The two cultists had been uncooperative and he'd had to kill them when they'd tried to manipulate his mind. Apparently, it was one of their favorite skills.

Priam had then gone up another corridor - chosen at random - in its entirety before finally arriving at the kitchens... Additional rooms were to be found every thirty meters, but Priam had quickly stopped searching them. Most of them were dormitories, canteens or washrooms. Priam guessed that each corridor in the lobby led to a different part of the complex. Nobody mixed food and dormitories with precious treasures.

Insulting Viracocha and all his angels - or any other sanctified creatures affiliated with his cult - Priam had to go back to the lobby. No one had thought to make side corridors - or to show the way to the treasures. Three stupid acolytes later, Priam was pacing a new corridor. After opening a few doors and stumbling across some - almost empty - armories and rooms full of military documents, Priam was smiling again. At last, he was in an interesting part of the den.

On his way down this new corridor, he had come across and killed two guards who looked ready to fight. Priam hadn't bothered to hide the bodies. The Cult of Revenants may not have had all the security protocols of the U. S. military, but even they had finally sounded the alarm. He had killed nine cultists and their absence had finally been noticed. Priam was honestly surprised by their lack of professionalism.

Even though most of the Revenants seemed absent - having gone off to attack either the spider or the Earl - he was dismayed by the slowness of their reactions. They're so bad, it's suspicious... Before continuing on his way, he loaded one of the corpses onto his left shoulder. No audible alarm sounded, but distant footsteps informed him that he was being spotted. In all honesty, he didn't care anymore. His skills weren't developed enough to allow him to infiltrate this complex undetected.

But that would change as he was planning to find other skills to synergize with [Stealth]. For the time being, his infiltration was over, and he now intended to slaughter every Revenant who crossed his path. Priam was now walking with his spear ready. Finally, after more than half an hour of searching, he smiled as he reached the end of the corridor he'd been walking down. His Perception detected breathing some thirty meters away. Priam continued forward, stopping about ten meters from the guarded room.

Ahead laid the antechamber to the treasure room. A very predictable ambush awaited him. Too bad Sphinx had all the grenades... Releasing his mist, Priam waited a few moments for it to infiltrate the enemy positions. The mist was almost invisible, but it was there, informing him of the presence of humans in front of him. What interested him most was the existence of firearms and explosives. Most humans didn't have the attributes or skills to hurt him, but he was still vulnerable to an explosion.

Priam concentrated as hard as he could on the feedback from his skill. Lvl Up: [Moon Mist] lvl 19 PERC +4 CHAR + 2 META (AFFI) +3 A small room with a large door opening onto a much larger space. Six guards in front, barricaded behind overturned furniture. One guard on each side of the entrance, ready to pincer me in. No suspicious volumes. Small quantities of modern explosives could be devastating, but Priam didn't think mere guards - or even a Captain - had the authority to use such a thing.

Moreover, [Kinetic Control] - reinforced by a bit of Potential - could ensure his life as long as the explosion wasn't huge. A few meters from the antechamber, Priam stopped and lied.

"Look out, here comes your Grand Master!" Priam accelerated and threw the body of the dead guard into the room. The body crushed an overturned desk and one of the guards screamed before rushing to the body to check its identity. Focused, Priam leaped forward, past the entrance to the room then used his kinetic skill. The first use stole his speed, allowing him to negotiate a right-angle turn to the left. The second use restored his speed and he accelerated towards the guard.

His fist slammed into the guard's stomach. The shock was violent enough to explode the poor man's organs. Lvl Up: [Strike] lvl 16 STR +1 After the kill, Priam instantly turned to face a throwing knife. His Perception was struggling to keep up with the weapon's speed, which had been thrown using a skill. Priam dodged too late and the blade struck his chest. Instinctively, Priam used [Kinetic Control].

The knife lost most of its kinetic energy, and the rest dissipated on Master Boss's clothing and his hard body without piercing him. Priam watched in disbelief as the knife fell to the ground. The weapon should have pierced him, but level 20 [Kinetic Control] was a milestone and significantly boosted the skill. Priam picked up the knife and threw it back. The weapon pierced the head of the helpless thrower. Turning, Priam saw three guards retreating towards a huge open door. The vault.

The last three guards raised their swords in front of them as if to protect themselves. The left guard was even moving rather discreetly to the side. This way, Priam wouldn't have to deal with him to get through.

"I'm sorry, but I've seen what your faction is capable of. If I let you live, the System will force you to continue. I'd be a coward to let you live," Priam explained. He wasn't sure why he was justifying himself, but the six guards before him couldn't have been more than thirty years old. Seeing six - almost - humans of his age and terrorized left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"We... We can let you through!" Priam took a breath to answer before stopping himself. Two seconds later, he sighed. What was the point of talking? Why waste time and humanize these guards by talking when he had to kill them in the end?

"Sorry..." As he spoke these words, Priam realized he wasn't in his right mind. He'd seen a man cut in half. He'd killed people. Many people. Priam didn't know whether to laugh or cry to overcome the shock, but he knew he didn't have time. He buried his hatred, his anger, his distress and his fear. Priam disappeared from the guards' view. Fully using [Kinetic Control], he smashed into them like a bowling ball intent on a strike. The three guards flew in all directions.

His spear moved quickly, and he pierced their bodies in the air thanks to Micro. Without stopping, the young man entered the still-open vault. Lvl Up: [Strike] lvl 17 STR +1 No sooner had he passed through the open gates than Priam suddenly stopped. The three guards who had taken refuge there had disappeared. Only their weapons remained on the ground, testifying to their disappearance. Above the swords, three silent Abominations stared at him.

Each was five times more imposing than the horror he had destroyed thirty minutes earlier. Priam backed away slowly before hitting a wall. A glance made him swear. The enormous vault door had closed without a sound. His mist had sensed nothing, and some skill must have manipulated him. The Revenants had succeeded in deceiving his senses after making him lower his guard. He had fallen into a trap the moment he set foot in the cathedral. The central Abomination screamed and Priam clenched his spear.

He would admire his enemies' plan later. For now, he had to try to get out alive to not destroy Bechar's seal and trigger a fourth Tribulation.

"It's going to be complicated..." Status: (Average value for a Homo sapiens male before integration: PHY 10 / MEN 10 / META 0) PHYSICAL: Strength 143 (+3) Constitution 197 Agility 150 Vitality 215 Perception 284 (+5) MENTAL: Vivacity 168 Dexterity 155 Memory 39 Willpower 193 Charisma 138 (+3) META: Meta-affinity 122 (+3) Meta-focus 86 Meta-endurance 61 Meta-perception 26 (+3) Meta-chance 114 Potential: 862 (+7) Tier 0 [He Who Eludes Death] charge: PRIMED. [Tribulation]: Tribulations are coming.

Time: 22 hours 46 minutes 27 seconds.