Chapter 179

UPMC Presbyterian, The Pitt - 11:45 AM

Despite my Heat Resistance passive keeping me comfortable at temperatures as high as 150 degrees Fahrenheit, I was already starting to sweat from Olivia’s missed attack. The woman’s abilities would have been terrifying anywhere else, but her demeanor and circumstances always made Greg outshine her.

While she was trying to track me with the pillar of fire, I went on the offensive. With Cheetah Sprint active, none of the Demon players could hope to match my speed. That didn’t stop them from trying.

I wasn’t sure if Black & Gold had made enough points to max out their stats, but it certainly seemed like they had. Their race change would have allowed them to break that limit, as well.

I ducked under a series of three darts that erupted out of the leader’s bulky chest. His body had gotten a lot larger with a trio of holes in his torso and thick arms and legs. Winding up, I threw My Golden Bowling Ball and activated the Iron Anchor’s blessing. It went up in flames as it sailed through the air.

The heavy 30 pound ball struck the Demon player’s body with a heavy thunk, and I thought I heard his ribs break. Attempting to Pull the bowling ball back to me, it did so at an unacceptably slow pace. Even though the attack had to have caused a lot of damage, I noticed he was pushed back only a few feet. He was definitely augmented in a way that I had seen before.

Amlex came to the forefront of my mind. Pustibule had been able to make her exponentially stronger with undoubtedly experimental procedures. It had come at the cost of her life span, which had been drastically shortened, but that didn’t matter to the doctor. She was just a pawn in his game against me.

It was likely these players received the same treatment.

I grit my teeth as the lot of them disappeared when the woman, who’s name I remembered was Leslie, cast a spell. My Aura Sense was still active, and I could tell where they were with that. It only took me a few steps before I was on the leader, making sure I was never lined up with the dart holes in his body.

He looked down at me, and I remembered the look of panicked terror and sadness on his face. Unfortunately, it was too late to save them. There was nothing left to do but put them down. The Demonic player became visible as he tried to swing at me.

Ducking low and spinning, I dropped the Writhing Belt Whip into my off hand and used In The Palm to retrieve the Scalpel of Angelic Healing. The moment it was free from the extradimensional space, I activated Demon Slayer. The tool transformed into a full blown heavenly sword.

The next second, it was cutting through an enemy’s body, netting me my first player kill of the run.

There was no time to lament how early it was. It was necessary to end their suffering now rather than give them hope. If I had a way to save them, I would have done so. This was all I could do.

The heavenly sword cut through the player like a hot knife through butter, and his lower half flopped to the ground and was soon joined by the rest of his body and his head as I made a second devastating attack to make sure it stuck. With one down, the non-magical assailants were on me.

Black & Gold had a ranged attacker for a leader, three melee fighters and two mages. Leslie seemed to be an Illusionist, though her invisibility did drop whenever someone made an attack. It was up in the air on whether or not she was the one who could cast the sleep spells or if that was Devin, the one with the detection spell. Either way, one was a lot more dangerous than the other right now. With my eyes closed and Aura Sense active, no illusion was going to fool me.

The three remaining fighters surrounded me. One of the bodies was big and tanky like the leader’s, though it had one large arm like a shield and a smaller one that ended in a black blade. The other two were on the smaller side, with one having twin axes instead of hands and the last having multiple arms that ended in sharp points.

All three attacked at once. The first attempted to bash me with his shield, the second sliced at me with both axe hands, and the third thrust forward with several of its arms. It was a fine strategy, just one that wasn’t going to work on me.

Still operating at double speed thanks to Cheetah Sprint, I jumped and bounced off of the shield, avoiding the attacks by going over them. Spinning, I lashed out with my foot to kick the axe man in the face and knock him off balance. At the same time, I twisted and slashed my sword. Not at any of the melee fighters, but towards the mage known as Devin.

From the tip of my blade, a beam of light emerged and cut through the air. The Distant Slice skill. Devin tried to jump out of the way, but his legs were short stubs and his arms were almost nonexistent. It cut a good chunk out of his shoulder, almost getting his neck. The blow caused him to fall over, though it wasn’t enough to kill him. Feeling heat under me, I performed an Air Step and jumped through the ceiling tiles.

Flames followed me as I scurried my way through the small space, trying my best not to fall until I needed to. Leslie hadn’t moved much since the fight started. Her body was almost all legs, with a squat, almost diagonal torso and long, spindly arms. It was easy for her to tell I was coming her way, but she was slow to start moving.

I tumbled through the ceiling with my heavenly sword above my head. Leslie waved her hand and I felt something similar to the sleep spell attempt to grab hold of my mind. It was much more potent now than it had been on the Spell Dart, but it didn’t matter. She was about to die, and I ignored the rest of the combatants to make sure that I killed her in one blow.

My sword cleanly bisected her before it sunk into the ground, and Leslie fell into two pieces. I shifted as I readied myself to take an attack from behind. It was out of reflex that I tried to activate Shield, but the psychic ability shimmered for a fraction of a second before disappearing completely.

The multi-armed skewer Demon pierced me with several of its appendages, though he didn’t hit anything vital thanks to the way I moved. He lifted me off of the ground, surprising me at how high his Strength was. It didn’t look like he was planning on tossing me but instead holding me there for the slower fighters to strike.

Before I could be put into a more disadvantaged position, I kicked off of the air with another Air Step and pushed myself off of the bed of spikes. Activating the skill once again, I jumped off and spun, kicking the player in the head. He was bloody and his nose was clearly broken, and this blow was enough to knock him down.

Raising my sword, I slashed downwards and released another Distant Slice. It hit true, but didn’t manage to cut through him. He began to bleed black from a thick gouge in his body. He was a lot tougher than his magic counterparts. That was likely going to be my last Distant Slice for the fight. The cooldown was only reduced when I had more than full health and that certainly wasn’t the case anymore.

I landed on the ground to find that the other two melee players had been hasted, moving faster than before. The shield Demon attempted to ram me while the other trailed behind in case I dodged. Holding my sword in front of me, I activated Crash Test.

The scalpel pierced through the Demon’s shield and into its body, though I was stopped by his large frame and high Strength. A jolt passed through me as I took the recoil damage from the skill, but it was worth it. I ejected the Cable Conglomerate from my Vambrace of Wires as quickly as I could and used it to force his hands together so he couldn’t strike.

I worked my sword free, spilling blood onto the floor. We were pushed back as the axe Demon slammed into his comrade. Before I could get away, the long arms of the other demon swung around both me and the shield player. The axes didn’t slash me, but I was stuck tight.

Flames washed over the three of us, and I grit my teeth from the pain. They were hotter than I had expected. Certainly more damaging than those I dealt with in the Mausoleum of the Arsonist. The Demons seemed fine even as my skin and clothes began to burn. Given the shield player’s large size and the fact that he had stopped Crash Test, I struggled but knew I wasn’t breaking free without taking more damage than I wanted.

Even though the magical fire took up most of my sight, I could still see thanks to Aura Sense. Glancing towards Devin, I activated Fae Step. This fight was already taking up more resources than I wanted to as I was forced to use another cooldown skill, but whatever Pustibule was using to shut down my psychic powers was really ruining my day.

Once I was free, I raised my sword over Devin. The Demon couldn’t stand up due to the small appendages he had been given, and his eyes widened as he saw me appear over him. He didn’t have any time to cast a spell before I beheaded him. The body twitched and spasmed as if it were still trying to get up, but I ignored it to pat out the flames on my clothes.

A quick glance to Olivia showed her still crying, her eyes red and puffy, but she didn’t stop her attack. The Demons that had been caught in it trying to hold me there screamed now as whatever magical protection they had been under disappeared with Devin’s death. Concentration based mages were powerful, but the moment they were incapacitated their spells stopped working.

The skewer Demon lunged at me, and I sidestepped the attack. It pivoted and came at me hard, aiming low at my lower half in an attempt to slow me down. With a crack of my Writhing Belt Whip, I bypassed his shield of attacks. Eldritch Chomp didn’t activate, but I was still able to pull his own legs out from under him. Slashing out with the scalpel, I tried to cut through his arms, but only managed to cut through one of them before it was stopped by the others.

As he fell, I knew it would be hard to get a killing blow. The multitude of long arms made it very hard to enter his reach. I could do it with the whip or the Vague Stick, but the former wasn’t great for this situation and I would have to drop one of my weapons for the latter, losing out on a lot of good stat bonuses. Instead, I made use of a new spell.

Tapping into the Crown of Broken Bones, I activated Boneshake with the skewer Demon as the target. He was in the process of standing up, but immediately fell back down as he started convulsing. The spell was honestly hard to watch if you weren’t used to it, and imagining all of the bones in your body violently vibrating against your wishes had made me shudder for a long, long time.

Now, it couldn’t be helped. Boneshake was just another tool.

Sliding forward on my Heelies, I jumped over a few arms that happened to swing my way before plunging my sword directly into the skewer Demon’s skull. The corpse continued to convulse even though it was no longer under the effects of Boneshake, and it appeared to be the same death throes as Devin. Pulling the scalpel free, I noted that the axe and shield Demons had stopped screaming.

Olivia’s fire was still raging, but both of them were on the floor, unmoving. The deputy guildmaster of the Greg Davis Crew was panting, her two small hands forced together as she continued unleashing the torrent of flames on the duo. I hesitated as I realized she was fighting Pustibule’s influence, however strong that was. She had found a way to waste her mana, which had undoubtedly increased from her transformation.

I was proved correct as she collapsed to the ground, her fire going out. “I… I helped… holy Angel,” she coughed. Her voice was distorted from the Demonization. “Do you… think I can… still go to Heaven?”

Remaining cautious, I approached to what I considered a safe distance and squatted down so I was eye level with her. Olivia looked ready to burst into tears all over again, but she held them back.

“This was Greg’s idea, wasn’t it?” I asked, making sure to hold back all the anger I felt. The fire mage hesitated, as if she didn’t want to get him in trouble. My fists clenched around my weapons as I thought about what she had to go through. “It’s okay. You can tell me.”

“He said… even if I was… praying… I shouldn’t… kneel to… men that… aren’t him,” she slowly admitted, trying to make her voice work. “I was… given… to…”

I held up a finger so she would stop talking, and she immediately complied. Opening my inventory, I tossed the Writhing Belt Whip inside. I knew that Greg Davis was a scumbag. An actually terrible Human person. This, though, was beyond anything I had thought he had been capable of.

Just hours before, Greg had been making salacious comments about Olivia. He did so knowing that she was going to end up like this.

There were a lot of evils in the world that I put up with, but knowing this man had given the one person who would act as his conscience to a Demon for this purpose was not one of them.

For Olivia, the victim, I could at least be merciful.

“Olivia, I’m very sorry this happened to you,” I told her honestly. “It was never my intention for things to go this far. Greg was supposed to warn me that Pustibule was in Pittsburgh, and I was supposed to kill him. This was never supposed to happen. You didn’t have to find a way to help me, but I appreciate that you did.”

The red haired woman watched me, saying nothing.

I held up the Scalpel of Angelic Healing. “There’s nothing I can do to revert you back to how you were,” I admitted before I started telling her something that wasn’t all true, but I thought would help her be at ease. I held up the scalpel. “This is an artifact from Heaven. If I kill you with it, then you can go there. Your soul will be free despite what has been done from your body.”

She choked back a sob. “Please… I don’t…” Olivia stopped talking and started nodding. Even with her circumstances, she was a fighter, and asking for death didn’t become her no matter how much she wanted it.

“I understand,” I said, my words heavy. Standing back up, I walked behind her and raised the Scalpel of Angelic Healing to my shoulder. I stood there, preparing to do what had to be done.

My eyes cast towards the members of Black & Gold. Even though their methods were unscrupulous at best, they didn’t deserve this. Their evil was of a lesser, petty kind. They did not kill, only steal, which was something I could tolerate as their impact on the world was a small one regardless.

Murder had come easy to me, once upon a time. Back when I thought removing a few people was necessary in the long run. Unfortunately, it never stopped at just a few people. There were always justifications to remove obstacles from my path. They hurt people, or stole important things. They made life miserable for others, or monopolized power.

But then I was hit by a simple truth, given to me by Coe Valen of all people.

“If they’re not killing people then, by virtue of strength, they are saving lives,” he had said. “If you kill them, then they can’t protect their little slice of the world, and that’s the one thing you can trust them to do. Without the strong, the world would die. What’s worse for the weak, Anthony: being miserable? Or being dead?”

That had been a debate between us over several of my runs, not that he knew it. Back when I was stubborn and headstrong, I didn't want to hear it. Now, though, it kept me sane. Saving as many people as you could was a numbers game, as much as I hated to think of it as one.

Removing my left glove, I looked at my golden ring. Esaraphelscion’s Love had sat on my ring finger from the moment Sara slipped it on. I placed my hand on Olivia’s head, and immediately wanted to pull it back as I felt the Demonic energy inside of her. It was stronger than it was in the atmosphere, but I didn’t move.

The fire mage hissed as the ring started burning with a radiant heat, comfortable for me but painful for her. She remained still.

A notice appeared in front of me, and I knew Greg would be seeing something similar from the perspective of a guild leader.

[[Warning!]]

You have attacked a member of the guild [The Greg Davis Crew]. This is the first strike of three from [Sol Ligatus]. Continued aggression will result in heavy penalties.

“Olivia, are you ready?” I asked, lowering my head and opening my menu. Pustibule was right in the next room, but I felt like I had to, if only for Olivia’s sake.

“Please…”

Exhaling, I navigated to the guild menu as I began reciting. While not particularly religious, and I wasn't counting the Church of My Girlfriend, I felt like it would put the poor woman at ease.

“Olivia Hunt, I have seen your life, your sins, and your deeds,” I quietly said. “God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of His Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins.”

I typed up a letter to the members of Sol Ligatus as I spoke. They would need to put a few things in motion once I did what I had to in order to avoid the penalties for killing someone in another guild, and I had to make sure that Mercury knew I needed him to act soon.

“Through the ministry of the Church, may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” I finished. Esaraphelscion’s Love started glowing as I said my piece, and I looked at it curiously. It only lasted for a moment. “I’ll see you again in Heaven, Ms. Hunt.”

I sent the message and left the guild.

[[Guild Notice]]

You have left the guild [Sol Ligatus]. Deputy guildmaster [Kayla Mills] has automatically become the new guildmaster.

[[Warning!]]

You are not affiliated with a guild. Points gained from kills in this dungeon will still accumulate, but you will not be able to liberate the building.

“Thank… you…” she gasped.

Gripping Olivia’s thick, red hair, I swung my sword and beheaded her on the spot.

My anger was still potent, but it wasn’t nearly as overwhelming as it had been before. Replacing it was a bone-deep weariness as I threw her head into my inventory and pulled her body in after. They were needed for when I dealt with Greg.

“You blasted child!” Pustibule screeched from deeper within the hospital. “Do you know what you’ve just done!”

Gripping the scalpel tight in my hand, I grabbed My Golden Bowling Ball as I ran towards the source of screams. It was time to end this once and for all.