Read the 465 before this one!
Priam Character Sheet by the Discord guys! or https://anovelstatus.github.io/ by @fmorel / Fred on discord. Patreon key: FC9LXDxYC2uDsmQaL7w1dXCOCTTYY4PS: the Discord. Come say hello!
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Beneath Elysium’s purple sky, a flock of undead cranes scattered with shrill cries at the passage of a chimera. Even the madness wrought by the Necromoon bowed before the Beast’s dreadful Aura.
Six different pairs of wings beat one last time before the unholy fusion of twelve mythical monsters dove toward a floating island.
“Wheeeee!” one of the two passengers shouted in delight.
The ground trembled as the chimera landed, then shrank to reveal a young woman with ebony skin and a face flecked with gold. Kaya, the Beauty.
“It’s here,” she murmured, pointing toward an artificial cliff. An artist had carved the stone to depict a wondrous city of orichalcum structures and immortal inhabitants. The utopia of a minor god.
The third member of the team stepped forward. “Open.”
The air vibrated.
“Open!”
The ground shook.
“OPEN!” he roared, activating several Merits.
Reality finally bent to the Judge’s will. The fabric of space tore open, revealing a rift.
“Tyr!” Kaya cried, rushing to support the staggering colossus.
“I’m spent.”
“Your part is done,” said a young elf with silver skin, smiling as she passed him. “My turn.”
“Ève, this is the fourth time—” Kaya began.
“This time will be different,” the fae cut in, stepping through the rift. “Protect Tyr,” she added over her shoulder.
A ruined city greeted her. On the ground, bleached bones testified to the tragic end of that utopia. Raising her gaze toward the fake sky, Ève studied a yellowing dome slowly shrinking. The boundary of the inner world was eroding along with its owner’s condition.
She ventured through abandoned streets until she reached a titanic temple. Seeing that the steps leading up to its entrance were taller than she was, she scowled before climbing them like cliffs. According to Kaya, a flight ban hung over the divine realm; violating it would trigger a trap lethal enough to kill her.
At the top of fifty gigantic steps, the Champion was halted by two immense bronze doors etched with enchantments. Ève slipped on a pair of gloves before pushing them open, as, according to Kaya, bare contact would destroy her soul.
The hinges shrieked like the end of the world as the doors opened onto the temple’s sole chamber. Lavish decorations, splendid stained glass, and exquisite statues all lay in disrepair. At the far end, what could pass for a hunched elf stood with his back to her, muttering under his beard.
“Hmph… perhaps I should go out and capture a few mortals. If I could revive my cult, I might have a chance to become a god again…”
He seemed unaware of her presence and did not turn until she stood a few meters behind him.
“Hmph. I would see who dares come here and court death,” he growled, leaning on his cane to remain upright.
“That would be me, grandpa,” the fae said with a playful wink.
“Who’s your grandpa?! Do you not know who I am?”
“Viakar the Deceiver. Or what remains of him. A Fallen.”
Like Sumstreh, Viakar had once been a minor god before a spiritual injury cast him down to Tier 4. Unlike the rabhorn, he had been born an elf before betraying his race—and the Seven—to join the Faith God. Ève had had to search the collective memory of many clans to find him.
“Good. Then you know who will kill you. I may have lost my former glory, but if you think you can steal my divine realm, you are mistaken!”
“Who would want this crumbling inner world?” Ève shook her head. “No, I came to insult you.”
The answer left the Fallen stunned.
“I’m in a bind, though. I want to call you an ugly old geezer, but that’s less an insult than a description.” The fae paused, grimaced, then raised her finger. “Ah! I almost forgot the middle finger.”
Achievement - Gold: You have defied a god, insulted him and performed an iconoclastic deed before his very eyes…
Willpower + 50. Potential + 500. Title received. Talent received.
[Iconoclast - Gold] - …Your soul begins to crystallize.
“Got it!”
The old elf recoiled as if struck.
“My faith power! You thief!”
“So is your Faith God,” the fae shot back, inspecting her soul. She smiled as her Concepts responded more readily. “Instead of waiting for High Tribulations to earn a soul baptism, He created a Path that replaces quality with quantity. Stealing spiritual energy—faith—from believers to climb the Tiers. Clever.”
Among other miracles, the first soul baptism crystallized the soul, transforming all its layers—one for each skill rank—into lenses capable of perceiving Concepts. In material strong enough to support more advanced Supremacies.
Here, it was not the acquisition of [Iconoclast] that had partially crystallized Ève’s soul, but the act of insulting the Fallen. When a god was not revered, he lost power. Tarnished by the defiant act, Viakar had shed a sliver of faith power, which the System had transferred to the Champion, granting her the equivalent of a third of a soul baptism.
“My God is a venerable who has opened a broad Path toward the Zenith!” the Fallen thundered. “If the soul baptism is nearly complete before the High Tribulation, then the trial becomes trivial!”
The difficulty of a trial must match its reward. By diminishing the latter, the Faith Path weakened the former. Ève intended to rely on a partially crystallized soul to ease her test, hence her visit.
“Making High Tribulations easier, giving everyone a chance to rise. Honestly, I almost admire the Faith God,” Ève admitted. “But I’m not foolish enough to cultivate his Path under the gaze of the Seven. That said, I’ve no issue stealing your work!”
The elf nearly choked with rage. “You are bold indeed, to speak thus to my face! Do you think you can defeat me?”
“You are but a shadow of your former self… yet still a Tier 4, and on home ground. I have no intention of testing my luck.”
“At least you are not entirely blind! However, you won’t be able to flee. Tell me your name, that I may inscribe it upon your grave!” the old man demanded, waving his cane, and nearly losing his balance.
“Ève.”
“No surname? No title?”
The fae smiled faintly. “Perhaps once. Now, I don’t know anymore. Some call me the last fae. Others, the Forgotten.”
The name resonated with the crown she had gained upon becoming a Princess, allowing her to activate its power.
“An archetype?! You’re a Champion!” Viakar’s body trembled, shock flashing in his eyes—before confusion clouded them. “Wait… what was your name?”
Ève shook her head as the Fallen frowned.
“Hey, who are you? Why are you here?!”
The fae had already turned away. She left the chamber, abandoning her disoriented foe.
“What was I—? Damn it, who stole my faith power?! The loss is slight, but I swear it’s real!”
Soon, he was lost again, returning to his muttering.
“Hmph… perhaps I should go out and capture a few mortals. If I could revive my cult, I might have a chance to become a god again…”
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AN: The reward for wave 95 are in the 466, don't worry x)This saturday!