Chương 123: Chapter One-Hundred-and-Twenty-Three

Adam couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the Point total for the Stage as he returned to Interim Island. I got so many Points from those two Player kills, not to mention the Elites. And killing the Corruption Demon alone gave a ton of Points!

The design of the Trials was utterly despicable, because every objective bonus was multiplied by the number of Players in the Stage at the start and then divided by how many were alive at the end, highly incentivising Player-killing, especially by offering a lot of bonus Points for doing so, which was in turn doubled by having Hardmode active. But despite knowing all that, Adam couldn't help but grin. He had almost doubled his Points from last time, which was an insane feat.

Hovering in the air in front of him was a stark reminder of what it had cost him to get this reward. < < Player Leaderboard > > < Adam (MVP) — 26500 Points > < Sarah Ayala — 7350 Points > < Katherine Joan Williams — Deceased > < Mikhail Tkachenko — Deceased > < Jun Jie Lim — Deceased > I don't think Sarah got any of the bonus rewards. I hope she can at least get something out of all the Relics she was carrying with her, but when she sees this she won't be happy with me…

He walked towards the Altar, his heavy backpack and the mimic head carried by his floating arms. In front of the Altar awaited a black-and-gold chest. [Since you are the Player who received the most Points out of anyone in your team, you have been awarded an MVP Chest. This Upgrade Chest has four potential upgrades and their rarities are increased by one tier, but you cannot use Reroll Dice on it.]"Can I leave it for later? I want to use the upgrade on a different weapon than the two I'm carrying."

[It will vanish when you go to the next Stage. If you would like, I can bring a weapon from your Player House to you. It will require you to swap out one of the two weapons you are currently carrying.]"Sure, let's just do that. Swap my Spidersilk Needle for Gram." [Understood.] The stone sword appeared in his hands as his needle and thread were zapped away by the Eye. He didn't mind spending the upgrade on Gram's Chip Stone, unless of course something useful appeared.

< < Upgrades Available > > < Chip Stone — Reveal a portion of the sword > < Crush (Rare) — Increases the impact of attacks by 15% > < Defence (Rare) — Increases all defence by 15% > < Luck (Rare) — Increases luck by 3 > Getting the Luck upgrade would put me at 20, which is close to getting guaranteed Rares, but maybe I'm better off getting a free Chip Stone. After all, it'll cost me 21, 600 Points to fully evolve three more weapons for the meta upgrade, since Gram is already at level 6.

Every bit I can save is going to be worth it. Adam had 26, 550 Points, since 50 had carried over from before the Stage, which meant he'd be down to 4950 after evolving three weapons. But he also had a few Relics he could sell, so he'd still end up with about 7000 he could spend on whatever. I should probably send one of the Chimaera Stones back with the Relic Saving Chest. The Purple Slime Glove I put in there will have to go, but that one was only meant as an insurance in case I died.

Adam thought about the options in front of him for a moment, and he ended up grabbing the Luck upgrade since he figured he should hurry up and get to 25, because there would be a lot of powerful Relics he might otherwise not encounter if he wasn't at least getting guaranteed Rares. < < Upgrade Selected > > < Luck (Rare) >"Pull the Purple Slime Glove out of my Relic Saving Chest and insert one of the Chimaera Stones instead," he told the Eye. [Understood.]"I'd also like to have my Spidersilk Needle back.

And put the cores in my backpack into my storage." [Understood.] The Eye zapped his stone sword and backpack. As the items vanished, the needle appeared hanging from his belt with the silken thread coiled around it. Adam brought his floating limbs over next to him and approached the Altar. He didn't know what to expect, but the last time he'd finished Stage Six, a book had pulled him into his Patron's realm. Although he was dreading what his next task would be, Adam reached out for the round stone atop the plinth.

It was glowing faintly white with potential energy, and when his fingers touched it, a pulse moved through his body, creating a resonance with something inside him. A part of him that hadn't been there originally. The thing that the Flayed Lady had gifted him. Adam's blood started singing to her, and then he was simply pulled into that resonating part inside himself, as though it was a doorway that he'd opened and fallen through.

< < Now Entering > > < The Red Lake > Adam landed on his feet atop a large round island of crimson glass that glowed faintly. As he looked up and around, he saw red water in every direction. It was like he was inside a hollow ball, but the surface of the ball was liquid. Ripples travelled through the water from large droplets hitting the outside of the ball. It was a deeply surreal experience. Next to him, standing there as though she'd been present the entire time, was the Flayed Lady. But she looked different.

A crimson crown of thorns floated above her head, but it was like glass. She wore a suit of spiked armour that was likewise made of crystallised blood, and her skirt of flayed skin was gone with only her blood-slicked red body visible within the transparent armour. Like him, she was looking up at the ripples in the lake of blood that surrounded their glass marble of an island. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Are we inside my body?" Adam asked her." The Blood is a gateway. A bridge. I find it comforting to be connected to all my children in this way."

"Can you see and hear and feel whatever I'm experiencing?"" Of course, Adam. How else would I have safeguarded you from the grasping tendrils of the lascivious Siren?"

"So that was you who intervened," he remarked, both surprised and off-put by the fact that she had such control over his body." She is never satisfied with what she has. She always has to take and charm everyone she can dig her hooks into," the Flayed Lady went on, ignoring his words. The Siren she was referring to was the Masked Courtesan, and the 'lascivious' comment was a clue about the Absolute that he hadn't realised.

It was suddenly obvious to him that the Siren had to be the Primogenitor of Lust, since many of the Absolutes seemed to be the origins of specific vices.

"How can I protect myself against being charmed again?" Adam asked." You have a paramour, which inoculates you to an extent. To safeguard yourself truly, you must kill those who wish to corrupt you."

"I can't do something with my flesh and blood to prevent it?" he asked, deeply wanting there to be a way to avoid being mind-controlled again." When an adherent of the Masked Whore lays their hand on an object of their desire, her power flows through them briefly. As you can tell, it is better to cut such wayward children at the neck and return their blood to the earth."

"You wouldn't want the Siren's adherents in your fold?" Adam asked." Such betrayal is delectable but a rare delicacy. Her corruption is deep-seated, sprouting roots that are difficult to pull free, even for me. The only solace is that such corruption stains her followers. The visages they come to possess engender no love in those that behold them. The Siren wears her mask for that reason."

Adam could tell that the Flayed Lady clearly wasn't a fan of the Courtesan, but the comments about her mask and 'corruption' made it seem like worshipping her would curse you in some way, perhaps turning you into a monster. A siren was, after all, a hideous creature that pretended to be beautiful to lure in its victims. He looked away from the ripples above him and shifted his gaze to his Patron. In her hands covered by clawed glass gauntlets were pages with an indecipherable script and strange diagrams.

It took him a moment to realise what they were, and then he looked down at himself and noticed that he was wearing all of his Relics and carrying his backpack and weapons with him." The little boy has such boring fascinations," she commented as she read through Alepheria's notes on chimaeras." With but a bit of imagination, even you could make this."

Adam was surprised by that and he wanted to ask more, but then the pages disintegrated in the Flayed Lady's hands and were replaced by two crystallised blood shards, pulled straight from his backpack." I enjoyed the way you collected the first one," she said and Adam felt proud by the acknowledgement of how he'd killed Jun using the Hobgoblin Pendant to disguise what he was doing. She went on, " But the second kill is not worth mentioning.

I enjoy it most when blood is stained by betrayal. The song it sings then is far more beautiful." She absorbed both of the shards into herself and then tiny strands of blood appeared from the tip of her left index finger, spreading out like strands of spidersilk. She wove them together in the air and the intricate patterns blew Adam's mind with how detailed and complex they were, while each strand was no thicker than a hair.

After only a few seconds she was done, and balancing on her finger was a ring shaped like her crown of thorns. Except, when he inspected it, it wasn't a ring. < < Unique Relic Obtained > > < Sigil of the Prince's Gambit (Common) — Drains 50% of Adam's Mana to double his manipulation capacity with Red Prince invocations > That's quite a gambit…" Sacrifices must be made in the pursuit of power," the Flayed Lady responded to his inner voice. I'll have to get more Mana, he thought as he accepted his reward.

The sigil moved over to his left wrist and wrapped around his arm, planting itself onto his skin directly below the control sigil already on that hand. A sudden hollow feeling came over him, but that was the only thing he noticed, and it quickly passed. The Flayed Lady was already holding something else in her hand, and this time it was the chunk of the mimic's head. Adam had no idea where she'd gotten it from, because the floating limbs that'd been carrying it were all gone."

The Shapeshifter is an amusing one,"she remarked." They say I am the envious one, but I have never wanted to be someone else. All I ever wanted was power, but for that I was given my title. You should not let others decide what truths you believe. However, the Seeing One made this silly game, so it dictates how we are introduced to our prospective adherents. It is unfair, is it not?" Adam didn't know how to respond to that.

The Flayed Lady crushed the metal head like it was nothing, and no sooner had its pulverised remains floated up into the water above them than a new thing appeared in her hand. It was the time-frozen egg.

"I would like to keep that intact for the next Stage," Adam told her. He was quite sure that she was just in a bad mood and taking it out on his collection. And while he didn't think most of the quest objects had much worth, he had at least seen the value that the egg provided in Stage Seven, since it belonged to Mast-Chewer and could ingratiate him with the Drakes faction." It would be foolish to make an enemy of the Sleeping Dragon," she replied ominously.

"Of all the Absolutes, he is the only that the Seeing One fears. Without time, nothing else matters. Should he ever rise from his slumber, then all who traverse the coil shall be brought to a standstill. It would be no different than death, and though I would revel in the downfall of the Seeing One, I would perish alongside it should this come to pass." Is she saying that the Eternal Serpent is the Absolute responsible for time itself? That would make him more powerful than all the others combined.

I wonder why he's even participating in the Trials if he is so powerful. She made it sound like all of the Absolutes, herself included, don't have much of a choice, since they are less powerful than the All-Seeing System. A thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Are there Absolutes that aren't participating in the Trials of Defiance?"" The Headless One is absent, but I do not concern myself with the rest, since they are weak and disinterested in power. Though I was amused to see that the Petrified One is participating. He has almost as few worshippers as the little boy." Petrified One? Is that one of the Absolutes I know or one of the missing few?

"Is he the one called the Keening?" Adam asked. The Flayed Lady stopped shifting the egg around in her hand and looked right at him. Then her mouth widened into a grin that reached all the way to her long ears." He would not take kindly to such a comparison." That's gotta mean the answer is 'no'. The egg disappeared from her hand and was replaced by the resistant organ tied to the Guardian." You ought to study this,"she told Adam." The Guardian is a useful one to imitate for those who chose the Blood."

"Would it make me more resistant?"" It would, if you can learn its secrets,"she replied and the obsidian organ vanished from her grasp." While you have moved past your fear, you have yet to fully comprehend the power you possess. You have not yet heard the song of the Blood in your heart. The way you shape the flesh around you also leaves much to be desired. A true Red Prince manifests his power within himself." Is she saying I should attach the limbs to my body?

The Flayed Lady turned and suddenly grabbed Adam's right hand, the obsidian limb with the pearl-white nails. He immediately tensed up, preparing for a flood of eldritch knowledge to explode his mind. But nothing happened." You are safe from its perversions in here,"she told him, holding his hand in the claws of her large glass gauntlets." It is very like the Seeing One to turn all of its gifts into traps and lessons. But we do not all have to play by its absurd rules."

As she spoke, the obsidian hand transformed, becoming translucent red glass like the armour that covered her skinned red body. The trigger sigil on the hand sank down into the limb, making him wonder if he'd ever be able to change away from the blood mage weapon type.

< < Unique Relic Obtained > > < The Mandate of Blood (Legendary) — Resonates with the song of the Blood | When its thirst is quenched, knowledge is imparted upon its wearer > The Flayed Lady pulled her hands away and Adam inspected his transformed limb.

"Will it still allow me to understand the things that I touch?" he asked." It was not understanding that it imparted upon you,"she replied." I have attuned it to the song of the Blood. Only now will you comprehend what it shows you." Adam wasn't quite sure how to feel about that. He had hoped to be able to learn all of Sylvia's spells, but now he didn't know if it would work. The Flayed Lady grabbed Adam by the chin, forcing his eyes to meet hers. The black pits with the red pinprick pupils bored into him."

You are underestimating my gift. You may not understand this yet, but I broke the Seeing One's rules for you. The song will resonate within you now. When you hear it, you will comprehend the truth." Adam didn't break her gaze. She broke the rules to give me this. She let go of his chin and he took a step back. Then the Chimaera Stone that had been in his backpack suddenly appeared in her hand." Get rid of this. Do not use it. It is another trap."

"Why?"" The transformation will sever your connection to the Blood. It will dry up the wellspring of magic inside you. And besides, you already possess the ability to take on the shape that it would enforce upon you. It is only your attachment to your vessel that is holding you back. A Red Prince does not fear the loss of such vanity."

"I will sell it," he told her. It vanished from her hand, which he hoped meant that it returned to his backpack. She looked back up at the ripples in the red sphere of blood that surrounded their glass island." I have a new task for you. In the painted world, you will meet another of my children. She will fulfil a request for me, and I want to make sure that she survives the ordeal." < The Flayed Lady > < Aid the Flayed Lady's adherent in the painted world. > < Reward: Relic >"Another Player?" he asked.

"How do you know who I will be teaming up with?"" Even the Seeing One is possessed of blood, and it sings to me, murmuring about what is to come." Adam was surprised that she possessed such a power. It would explain how the Tome Keeper had said she was always a step ahead.

"What task is she going to perform?" Adam asked." She will explain it to you herself," the Flayed Lady told him. Then suddenly Adam fell upwards into the lake of blood. With a gasp, he found himself standing in front of the Altar, his hand hovering above the spherical stone. Of all the places to go, inside my own body was not on my list. Adam looked at his new right hand. I need to find out how this thing works. But first I'll go to the Market.