Chương 481: Chapter 450: Ascension Chamber

The city took the threat of the Chosen seriously as they quickly began to gather the military. While most others were about to enter the city or were moving through the streets, trying not to get spotted by the crazy human party fighting in the middle, Thalion had completely different plans. He had moved forward underground. After finding another chamber filled with Scarlet Wardens, Thalion began multiple experiments.

First, he tried using one of the red crystals to improve their power, and it seemed he was indeed able to create Sanguine Prelates. For that, the whole red crystal had to be consumed, which wasn't ideal in his opinion. Currently, there were twelve red crystals left, and he didn't want to waste them all in one room. Instead, Thalion waited in this chamber and gave the Sanguine Prelate who was about to awaken a good dose of his curse.

It turned out that a being that was unconscious wasn't able to do anything against the curse conquering and altering its body. Maybe it had something to do with their high blood affinity or the fact that they were blood cultivators—Thalion didn't know. What mattered was that the soldier before him woke up with red glowing eyes, fully consumed by the curse and loyal to Thalion. For how long, that remained to be seen. Right now, Thalion just wanted more information.

For those Scarlet Wardens, this had to be some kind of ascension chamber. To end up here, they must have accomplished feats of strength while holding a relatively high position in the city. With this blood slave, he had high hopes of getting solid information. His first blood slave was a human who now sat up, looking at Thalion with eyes like a sorcerer's. The red robe the blood slave wore was far superior to Thalion's, something he only noticed now. He probably should change clothes again while keeping the mask.

"It has been some time. What has happened to me? I thought this was the ascension chamber to become a Sanguine Prelate… Thank you for making me so much more. I am Ryath." Ryath spoke in a rusty voice, bowing deeply after getting off the stone bed he had been lying on for quite a while. Thalion tried to use his title to detect any ill intent but sensed nothing. Good so far.

"This power hasn't been given to you without purpose. The Scarlet Continuum has begun. I want you to tell me everything you know about it." Thalion began his questioning.

"Already? Looks like the king couldn't wait any longer. The Scarlet Continuum is a sacrificial ritual that uses the blood of all citizens to help the king progress in his body tempering and grant him a higher-rarity race right before his evolution. Therefore, the sacrificed blood will be gathered in the royal chamber that lies deep beneath the ziggurat." Ryath explained it all with an ancient accent, speaking as if every word carried weight. Thalion, meanwhile, wore a wide grin. This Ryath seemed to know a lot.

If he knew where the royal chamber was, he should also know where the guards were stationed and where all the other ascension chambers were located. If they had an armory, Thalion wouldn't say no to a quick visit either.

"Thank you. Now I need the location of every ascension chamber or any chamber similar to this one. I also need more of those red crystals, and if you know a place where I can get a better robe, I would be very interested." Ryath didn't hesitate and eagerly provided the information.

"This structure is built in levels. We are currently on the first level. As long as you don't venture deeper, you will find more and more ascension chambers for Scarlet Wardens. On every level, there are two blood pools and one armory. The red crystals are hoarded in a chamber on the second level. If you seek weapons, you should go for the absolute best on the fifth level. On the fourth level, the sacrificed blood is further empowered by blood priests before it flows deeper into the royal chamber.

I don't know exactly what lies on the fifth level, which is the one right before the royal chamber at the very bottom. I do have a question. Where are the others? Normally, there should always be several Sanguine Prelates present."

"They are currently dealing with an invasion by very powerful individuals, which must be why we have relatively free rein down here. Do you have a rough number of ascension chambers on each level?" If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. That was one of the more important questions. Thalion had no idea how long it would take for the Chosen to make their way underground. Maybe it would be smartest to purge the ascension chambers on the first level.

"I don't have an exact number since I never counted them. I would guess that on the first level there might be around eighteen ascension chambers. On the second, there are about five, but those are bigger. On the third, there should be no more than four," Ryath summed up after thinking for a moment. All in all, Thalion was very pleased with how his infiltration had worked so far. With all the information he now had, there were many possibilities for making the lives of his opponents far more miserable.

"Tell me, Ryath. Is there some kind of code phrase I should use if I encounter others down here?" Thalion asked. He hoped that if there was one, it would be something simple. If this was true, he might even be able to move freely through the tunnels beneath the ziggurat. If that turned out to be the case, he had no idea how this stage could get any better for him.

"There is no phrase, but everyone has a sigil we always keep under our clothes to identify ourselves," Ryath said, producing a dark red sigil from a hidden pocket inside his robe. Thalion quickly checked his own robe, but there was nothing.

"You are wearing the clothes of someone who isn't part of the inner circle. Go and take the sigil from that one. He is one of the higher-ranked officials. His name is Azrak." Good to know, Thalion thought with a smile, quickly switching his robe for the one Ryath had recommended. This one bore a similar sigil, which meant it was time to make a decision. What should he do next? And what orders should he give Ryath? Right now, every move he made could decide whether he ended up in first place—or dead.

With every passing second, the others would draw closer. By then, he needed to have killed as many as possible. There was another major problem. When the king reached the brink of evolving to D grade, Thalion would stand little chance of killing him. The king had to be the strongest of them all, and the advantage of the Sanguis Impera wouldn't be enough to bridge that kind of power gap. That was the exact conundrum Thalion was facing. He could easily farm points as long as he remained undiscovered.

At the same time, he couldn't face the king under any circumstances—not yet. All while the clock was ticking down. The next big hurdle was that Thalion had no idea how to stop the Scarlet Continuum. Most of the blood had already been gathered, and simply blocking one of the channels wouldn't be enough. Thalion guessed it had something to do with fighting the king directly.

The king was likely preparing to activate the ritual, which would probably happen the moment someone invaded the royal chamber and he saw no other way to survive. That was Thalion's current theory. There might be other options, but he couldn't afford to leave the tunnels beneath the ziggurat. The loss of leaderboard points would simply be too significant. Entering the king's chamber prematurely was also out of the question. Thalion thought through all his options for a few minutes before finally speaking aloud.

"Ryath, you go up. Try to kill as many soldiers as possible while spreading the curse. Feed to your heart's content." The problem with Ryath was that everyone would immediately see something was wrong with him. Red mist rose from his mouth, his eyes glowed crimson, and his aura was unsettling. By sending him upward, it would hopefully cause more chaos while no one suspected that someone had already infiltrated one of their inner chambers.

Meanwhile, Thalion would clear chamber after chamber until he found a way deeper.

"As you wish. I will indeed feed to my heart's content," Ryath grinned before leaving the way Thalion had originally entered. Thalion knew this could go terribly wrong, but it was the best option he had at the moment. He hurried deeper into the tunnels, slowing to a normal pace only when he heard footsteps ahead. Most ignored him or quickly hurried past after noticing that he outranked them.

Since there were more red crystals on the second level, he used all his remaining ones to upgrade the soldiers before consuming them. The Sanguis Impera had the time of its life and simply couldn't get enough of the empowered blood of the Sanguine Prelates. Over the next half hour, his leaderboard points skyrocketed. Eric was constantly gaining points as well, but it was nothing compared to Thalion's farming strategy down here.

After half an hour, Thalion was in first position again with one hundred sixty million leaderboard points. For now, though, that was the end of his streak. He entered a large chamber where many soldiers and ritualists were moving about. It also meant it was time to find a way deeper. The time it would take to go down, find the crystals, and handle everything else would likely allow Eric to surpass him again. But after that, Thalion should be able to secure first position once more.

The biggest problem right now was what he couldn't handle on his own—the king and stopping the Scarlet Continuum. The reward for accomplishing that would surpass what he was farming down here by quite a margin. There was one other way to completely fuck up the leaderboard: killing other contenders. If second place killed Eric, it would catapult him past the three-hundred-million leaderboard point mark.

At the moment, the Chosen were probably focused on farming soldiers, but at some point, they would start attacking each other. For the Chosen, it was an easy way to eliminate competition and gain an edge in the great war that would break out in the days following the treasure hunt. The conclusion was simple. Thalion could make as many points as possible, but in the end, the final minutes would decide who came out on top—and anyone could become number one.