I was frozen in place, not daring to move a single muscle as our eyes met. I felt the overwhelming urge to genuflect when I looked into his vibrant, blue eyes. Yet, all I could see in the man's face was a passing interest, like a child watching ants go about their lives. A tiny spark of hope ignited deep inside of me as he focused back on Caedus. This was obviously the result of some kind of skill. And not even an EX-tier skill should allow a tier eight to summon something this powerful to fight for them. At least, I really, really, really hoped it didn’t.
I couldn’t help but think back to the last time I felt this powerless, back when I encountered that massive voidling. Except for that one time, no matter how difficult the battle was, there was always a chance, a way out, an opportunity to win. But back then, I instantly knew that I was dealing with something so much stronger than myself that all I could do was hope for a miracle.
This was worse.
The voidling back then was something eldritch, so massive I could barely comprehend it. So powerful it boggled the mind, yet still something that I eventually could hurt and maybe even defeat once I got strong enough. But this human felt like he belonged on a higher plane, like he was so far above me that I was barely considered a curiosity. Merely existing within his aura felt like I was a stray thought away from being torn to shreds, like an invisible blade was primed to dissect me the moment I made a wrong move. And so, I did nothing. Hoping, praying, that I would not invoke his ire. And then he spoke.
The man extended a hand toward Caedus with a bored expression, his voice sounding so oddly normal, but carrying the weight of several worlds behind it.
“The payment.”
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Avatar Of Slaughter (?)
Through unyielding faith, you may summon your deity to your aid… for a price. Offer up all of your faith and receive a divine buff, depending on your offering.
Cost: All of your Faith attribute points(minimum: 1000)
Cooldown: None.
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Of all the skills I possessed, this was the most mysterious one. It just showed up one day during a prayer that didn’t feel different from any others that came before. According to the asphons, certain skills could be unlocked by fulfilling certain conditions, which was most likely what happened here. My undying devotion had finally garnered some results, and I had caught the attention of the lord. My faith attribute had been above a thousand for a while at that point, but considering the skills cost, having that many faith points had to be at least one of the unlock conditions.
After receiving it, I had spent a full week praising the Lord's name, offering up more sacrifices than ever before. I had the skill for a long time now, but never used it. I would not dare to disturb the lord for something I could handle on my own with some difficulty. It also felt like directly asking for help like that was borderline heresy. But then again, this skill seemed to be a reward for the most devout, so it had to be sanctioned on some level. The borderline nature of the skill was reflected in the cost. Having to give up all of my faith attribute points would weaken me severely, thus being a punishment for using the skill in the first place.
There was no other option than to use it in situations that would otherwise be hopeless.
It was a testament to Gary’s strength that he had forced me to this point, and it was with great reluctance that I activated the skill. I raised my head to the sky and called out to Lord Trahnesh, begging for help like a useless whelp. It was both a great shame and incredibly exciting. For the first time in my life, I’d actually meet the object of my faith. There would be precious few devotees able to claim to have done so.
I wondered if there would be some sort of delay, and what form the lord would take, when my mind went blank, and my fur stood on end. Without any fanfare, any sign of his arrival, Lord Trahnesh stood before me. All of a sudden, he simply stood before me, as if he’d always been here. At a glance, the man looked like any average guy, with a bald head and blue eyes, wearing a comfortable-looking set of clothes. But his presence was beyond anything I had ever felt before.
Power radiated off of him and suppressed my own by merely existing, and I felt like a thousand blades were trained on me, a mere moment away from ripping me into pieces. Slaughter personified! I stared for but an awed moment before remembering my manners. I bowed down immediately, not daring to move anymore until I was told to. My mind raced a thousand miles a minute as I took in every shred of my lord's aura, hoping to bask in it as long as I possibly could, idly noting that he was wearing some kind of slippers instead of shoes.
“The payment.”
He had idly inspected my opponent before extending a hand toward me and gracing me with his divine voice. A system screen appeared before my eyes, and I immediately transferred the entirety of my accumulated faith, as requested.
“Tsk, I came all the way here just for this?”
My stomach fell as I heard these words. I had been under the impression that 1544 faith attribute points were quite a lot, but apparently, I had been mistaken. I was terrified that I had offended the lord and pressed myself even more into the ground, not daring to rebuke.
“Okay, okay…” I heard a sigh and almost started crying. “A deal’s a deal. Don’t use the skill again unless you have at least five thousand faith, alright? I don’t want to waste my time on such a small payout.”
“The lord is almighty and wise,” I said, idly noting that the cost line in the skill window had changed to five thousand. “I would not dare defy a direct decree.”
“Good. The buff you’ll receive for your offering won’t be anything crazy, but looking at the voidling over there, it should allow you to win comfortably.”
The Lord bent down and gently touched my head; indescribable power flowed through me almost immediately. The incredible high was almost enough to drown out the agonizing pain that came with it, but not entirely. I suffered in silence, taking in the Lord’s gift with as much grace as I could while my body changed. I had already disappointed once; I would not do so again. I vaguely noticed that the lord was walking over toward Gary, but found myself unable to care through the ecstasy and pain, and distracted myself by reading the details of the buff.
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Buff: Avatar Of Slaughter (B)
The divine power of your deity flows through you, allowing you to embody the concept of slaughter.
All attributes: +200%
All cooldowns: -70%
Temporary Passive Skill: My Body Is A Weapon (B)
Temporary Passive Skill: Rip And Tear (B)
Temporary Skill: Executioner’s Blade (B)
Duration: 2 hours
My Body Is A Weapon (B)(Passive)
Gain the ability to turn every part of your body into a weapon.
Rip And Tear (B)(Passive)
For every wound you inflict, gain a small attribute bonus. The buff can stack infinitely, but degrades faster the more stacks you possess.
Slaughter’s Frenzy (B)
Usable with any bladed weapon. A series of lightning-quick attacks, inflicting the bleed status with every successful attack that draws blood.
Cooldown: 1 minute
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I made myself as small as possible, pressing myself into the ground hard, my eye stalks mostly retracted. The look I’d received moments ago had shaken me to my core, and I decided then and there that I wanted nothing to do with that guy, whoever he was. I was quite far away from the two, yet I could hear every word that was exchanged with perfect clarity. For some reason, the guy was disappointed with Caedus. Following the conversation, I was able to figure out that Caedus’ skill allowed him to summon this monster, and in exchange for some form of payment, receive a buff in turn.
The concerning thing was that I had apparently been found lacking.
The guy, supposedly the god Caedus believed in, bent down and gently touched his forehead. Immediately after, Caedus started convulsing something fierce as the buff was applied. It was a horrifying sight, but even more horrifying was that the man turned around and casually approached me. As far as I was concerned, that was the worst-case scenario. I really didn’t want to be anywhere near something that powerful that had a reason for wanting me dead, even if the chances were small. I did attack one of their believers, after all. It didn’t take too long for him to reach me, and I couldn’t help but avoid his eyes as he stared down at me. Was this it? Was I about to be killed like a bug after all my hard work?
“A voidling traveler, huh?” The man said with some interest, which immediately gave me some hope. “Quite the rarity. It would be a shame to lose you to one of these stupid fanatics before you even made it into the initiative proper. Let me help you out a bit to make this at least a little fair. And if you manage to survive and we ever meet again, do remember that you owe me one, okay?”
I was stunned upon hearing his words. Well, more stunned than I already was, anyway. I did notice that he had quite the cavalier attitude toward Caedus earlier, but this all but confirmed it. I wasn’t a fan of owing one to an existence like this, but was I really in any position to say no? Even if I said no, he could just go through with it anyway and decide that I was eternally indebted to him or something, so I would rather owe a solid to some fucked up god-entity, over forced indenture. I reluctantly nodded, giving my consent, upon which my forehead was also touched.
“I hope I’ll be seeing you around.”
And just like that, he was gone, and a huge weight fell off my shoulders. It took me a moment to figure out what he’d done to me, but a quick check of my status revealed that he’d fully healed me and topped off my mana reserves, as well as applied a small buff. Looking at the still convulsing Caedus that had somehow grown to twice the size he was before, I couldn’t help but think that I may have been screwed without this buff. I wondered if that guy somehow was able to read my status and gave me exactly what I needed to fight back.
Either way, I would still have to fight tooth and nail to come out on top, and there was really only one realistic road to victory for me. Caedus convulsions were slowing down, and I took that last moment before the fight started back up to calm myself down and make sure I read the buff correctly. Everything would come down to the temporary skill I got from it, after all.
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Buff: Slaughter’s Menace (D)
All attributes: +100
Temporary Skill: Slaughter’s Menace (D)
Duration: 10 minutes
Slaughter’s Menace (D)
Target your killing intent towards a creature. Should you win the battle of wills, the target creature will be inflicted with the fear status effect for ten seconds, as well as the stun status effect for 3 seconds.
Cooldown: 2 minutes.