Chapter 138 - Emperor?

Chapter 138 – Emperor?

Agnude had been an elf once, but had ascended into something greater many hundreds of years ago to become a numen. Even in his current state though, as he bowed before the dark goddess Alkir and Eleknar’s spirit vessel in her realm, he paled in comparison to their power. He was an ant, an insect, nothing more than a spec of sand amidst the vast ocean of power that radiated off the goddess and void essence.

Agnude had once crossed paths with Eleknar before, a very long time ago, and though Eleknar’s current vessel had yet to claim it – the power welling up within the essence had grown exponentially with his new host. Eleknar had not lied when he’d spoken of the bloodline’s power, and making light of what Carol was capable of had only intensified Agnude’s resolve to mold her into a weapon he could use for himself.

However… that may not be a realistic dream to believe in anymore.

“The girl is needed…” Eleknar stated as his ethereal form withered and expanded on repeat as a miasmic cloud of fluid power – crackling with red, black and deep purple mana in the expanse of Alkir’s domain.

Lightning crashed across the sky as innumerable cages with imprisoned souls screamed out their rage and pain, and Alkir’s flaming throne glowed brightly as the dark goddess pushed her pale fingers through the hair of one of her subordinate children.

Agnude warily glanced up, avoiding the gazes of the demigods surrounding Alkir as best he could. Each was far more powerful than he was, and they were twice as vicious. “Why can she not stay under my watch? I have done well in bringing her to you.”

Alkir sneered down at him, the flames around her rising higher with her irritation. “It is not your place to question why… be happy that we have let you live. Better yet, we have even offered you even more power than you could have ever imagined by serving us… but do not think the Nirvana Realms are outside of our reach. We use you and yours to draw attention away from the heir… most of the angels and lords of hell don’t believe the heir to be real... yet. If you fail me in this, it will be your soul that remains locked in these cages… remember that.”

“So calm your dogs… Carol is endangering herself needlessly. If she dies, it will be very hard to find another that can pass on the bloodline’s power.” Eleknar hummed, circling the prostrated numen as another flash of lightning cut through the air nearby. “I am entrusting you with this, Agnude. Cease your bickering with Maltetious, as you both serve the same master now. Once you have made amends, you will undertake the experiments as planned.”

Agnude tried not to get angry, but his fists balled into clenched fists despite this while his head remained low. “You are asking for both of my mouthpieces and a princess of Lumenorei, my ancient homeland. There is a great chance that these experiments will fail and they’ll all die. All three of them. What happens if your host and heir finds out that it was you who escalated the situation that ended up shredding his cousin’s soul? He may not care about Yastiel or Silvara dying, but if Carol dies – it will not be on my head.”

“The risk is worth trying… even it means angering the heir.” Alkir said with a slight shrug. “The ones we selected had the best lineages and best chance at success. If we are able to use Carol as a template for the others to pass on his power, we could have many dozens of his children battle ready within the next two decades – each of them possessing immense power that surpasses even my own children… The power of the Vatosis Inferna would be ours to command many times over. Proceed with the experiments, and let us not speak of this further until you have results. Oh… and one more thing…”

The goddess leaned forward on her throne, eyes blazing with a sickening malicious smile on her lips. “March your armies towards Zekul. Before the Labyrinth opens up, I want that city conquered…”

Agnude looked up, then nodded hesitantly. “Do you still intend to keep Lumenorei intact like you’d told me when we first struck this bargain?”

“Of course…” Alkir stated with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Now begone.”

Agnude hesitantly nodded and left Alkir and Eleknar behind, vanishing in a blink of light.

Eleknar then turned his ethereal form to the goddess and began to chuckle. “He thinks this is a way to ascend his people.”

“It isn’t necessarily a bad idea…” Alkir mused thoughtfully, tapping her foot against the raging throne. “Those that can make the transition such as Piggy did will be few and far between, but we will raise up who we can. As for the rest… they will become slaves for our kind. The voidspawn demon tribes have long awaited your return Eleknar, and once you have conquered Zekul – we will begin our indoctrination of the elvish peoples. The more worshipers I have in the area, the more influence and power I can exert there to better help you.”

“Do you think we have enough time for that?”

Alkir smiled. “Perhaps not on your own… but you won’t be alone at the end. Before time runs out, but with not enough time for our enemies to react before the opening of the Labyrinth, we will reveal the true strength of our forces on Nagochus. With the coming of the new universe, we will be sure to keep the Vatosis Inferna and your heir in a seat of power that he can use to conquer new territories as we build up our strength. Worry not… for I have a plan, even beyond the immense amount of resources I have already put into place in order to further the gains of your chosen host. I am more than confident that these investments will bear very ripe fruit.”

***

A mechanical voice from deep within Trey’s brain echoed:

“You have completed an EPIC unholy quest from the goddess Alkir: Dadik’s Heart - Infiltrate the holy city of the vampires and steal an artifact for Alkir.

Completing this quest has resulted in the following: 50 combat levels for you, your minions, and your entire party. Specifically, this includes the following: Your party member Taen, Taen’s flesh golem Butcher, Taen’s ghoul Bann, Taen’s phantom Coriana, Ezdeath, Rivia, Napoleon, Atharost, Sithis, Izumi, Jason, Piggy, Juila, Telipe, Ashe, Ashe’s minotaur Tuth, Ashe’s minotaur Wretch, Ashe’s minotaur Wrokan, Osi, Nothel, and Rusoe. Your level has risen to 102.

Due to the quick actions and finishing of this quest, Alkir is doubly pleased and at great cost to herself has given both you and Ezdeath a large additional sum stat points – administered and directed by Alkir to balance out your weaknesses.

Be advised, Hellsteeds stored within your soul stones are now available for use as you have surpassed the base level to dominate

Your minion Telipe has evolutions to consider as a gift from Alkir.

Enslave the souls of Osi, Nothel and Rusoe for further evolutions as a gift from Alkir. She will not give such blessings to those who are not forcibly loyal to you.

You will also be able to retain the demonic artifact Dadik’s Heart. Alkir has revealed the status page of Dadik’s Heart to you.  The status page is as follows:

Dadik’s Heart

Item Tier: (17) World

Bonuses: +3000 HP, +2000 MP, +2000 SP, Place ALL minion slots at a requirement

of 5 Willpower per slot while wearing this amulet.

Requirements: Be of a royal bloodline concerning undead or demonic lineage

Durability: 286,000/286,000

Special: After wearing long enough, this item may imbed itself in the wearer’s

body and merge with the wearer for additional unique abilities.

The ‘Arachnid’ evolution tree has been opened and the evolution has been expedited. Evolution does not interfere with already acquired evolutions. Evolution ‘Arachnid’ will commence within the next few hours, features may be masked at will.

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*BE ADVISED* - NEW EPIC QUESTLINE ADMINISTERED: CONQUER ZEKUL*

*BE ADVISED* - NEW EPIC QUESTLINE ADMINISTERED: CONQUER ZEKUL*

*BE ADVISED* - NEW EPIC QUESTLINE ADMINISTERED: CONQUER ZEKUL*

Though Alkir is pleased with your progress, events have changed. The dark goddess has warned you before of the imminent destruction of the Nirvahna Worlds, and the merging of the Labyrinth. The spree are actively seeping out of Pandora, and the cosmic webbing is deteriorating ever more rapidly.

To make sure Eleknar’s Heir, AKA – YOU, are in a position of power when the worlds come crumbling down, she has prepared a plan of action that she highly encourages you to take. Agnude’s armies have pledged themselves to your cousin as his mouthpiece, and your own forces – though small in number – are growing exponentially stronger. Alkir Wishes you to do the following, and has set aside a multi-part questline in preparation for the All Spirit’s merging.

1 – Form a True Guild: When the All Spirit merges worlds, guilds will be a very important aspect of the things to come. Register this guild with the All Spirit itself, this is something you can ask Maltetious about as the numen has been prepped on what to expect with the new changes to the universe. Certain events will transpire that require you to be part of a guild to participate in, and there is a certain cap to the number of people that can form one… though that number is not yet known. For the time being, grow your guild and train others to become summoners like yourself. Ashe has already taken the path descending into hell, but Izumi may also be a good candidate. Taen already has the required power needed to aid you, but you will need to turn his morals around so he does not confront you in the decisions to come. Alkir advises against turning Jason down this path, as she finds him rather hopeless – but it is up to you. After you’ve found more people as candidates for the summoner class, work on building up their minion count as minions will not be clumped in with the guild maximum number. Be sure to contact Maltetious, the numen Taen serves, and his two friends: Michael and Chris. They and their comrades will be good additions to your forces and are highly capable allies to have. Once this guild is formed, this entire questline will also be transferred to them. You may also invite your cousin and her vetteresie allies… but be warned that they may have ulterior motives for helping you.

2 – Enslave Lord and Lady Okt, then do the same with other Vampiric Noble Houses: House Okt will be a good place to set up a base of operations for the guild to act on. Take control of the compound and imprison or kill the other vampires here while putting up a front to the rest of the city that maintains nothing is out of the ordinary. In order to do this, be sure to evolve the three vampire women with you first – Osi, Nothel, Rusoe – and unsummon / resummon your other minions to get them here. Not even one of the Okt vampires can escape to spread word of what has happened, lest this plan fail. Afterwards you will need to enslave the matriarchs and patriarchs of as many noble houses as you can in order to make things easier when the time finally comes to strike at Aktovan and take Zekul for yourself. Those that you cannot enslave, you need to assassinate to sew discord. Be very careful not to get caught, as Aktovan is actively seeking the one who stole Dadik’s Heart already and will be suspicious of any abnormal activity. Use these matriarchs and patriarchs of the houses to convince their underlings to work for you when the time comes, making the transition of power much easier later on.

3 – Summon your other Allies to Zekul: Your allies have grown in strength beyond your realization, even before the very recent level boost administered by Alkir. Many battles have taken place in your absence, and your friends will be essential assets in maintaining control of the Okt compound while taking over other noble houses. Though it may not be suggested you invite your cousin into your guild, it is suggested that you use her and her gathered soldiers when summoning your other allies. In order to summon them all at once, have Rivia set up a portal – she’s recently been practicing my miracle and has gotten rather good at it. As long as she’s been to the area before, it shouldn’t be a problem in creating a portal back to that area. One of my shadow fiends, Ikt, is also leading Maltetious’ group to a drop point that Rivia has been to before. You will be able to portal them in as well within the next 24 hours. Be sure to bring them all at once though… from both areas. Alkir will be sure to subdue the wards on the city that prohibit portals for you this time, though doing so more than once will certainly alert Aktovan and the Infernal Crown she serves to Alkir’s actions.

4 – Summon and Subjugate the Angel: There is a fallen archangel within your sword Talsh’Noc’Un, held there within a greater soulstone. She will be a valuable asset in the battle to come, and compares to the power of Ezdeath and Sithis in fighting ability. Along with her, the other two demons you have present there also may come in handy. Subjugate them all with the help of your allies, but be particularly careful about keeping the angel’s power suppressed with your entire entourage. Simultaneous effort will be needed so that she doesn’t break free.

5 – Await Agnude’s Forces, Kill Aktovan, and name yourself Emporer: Even now, Yastiel – Agnude’s other mouthpiece aside from your cousin Carol, marches her armies towards Zekul after conquering the dwarvish nation of Kag’Dul. She will arrive within a month’s time, and when she arrives you will work from the inside to help her army get in. Alkir may be able to portal in some of her own minions, though this may be stopped by the other infernal crowns if they notice it and is not a promised thing. It would also be nearly impossible to enslave the numen Aktovan, as her willpower is immense. Conquer the city and take Aktovan’s head, then claim the city in Alkir’s name with you as Emperor. A princess of Lumenorei, the elf woman named Silvara who accompanies your cousin Carol, is to be wed to you as one of your queens for a total transfer of power. You will not only rule over Zekul, but the lands of Lumenorei and Kag’Dul as Alkir has promised the numen the elves worship – Agnude – power in exchange for this. The King and Queen of Lumenorei have been made aware of this, and will bow to your will as emperor once the wedding is fulfilled. Conquer the surrounding lands about Zekul’s mountain afterwards, and make your presence known to the world as my shepherd.

6 – Await the coming of the Labyrinth: When the Nirvahna Worlds soon break down, you will be forwarded ahead to the new worlds with a number of your allies. However, the lands that you have conquered will traverse with you. Agnude has pledged his own armies to my cause, and the kingdom of Lumenorei – as well as the conquered dwarvish kingdom of Kag’Dul – will also be transferred over to the Labyrinth in a mix-and-match pattern across otherwise unoccupied areas of land. You are expected to use these people, cities, and forces as a starting point for your new empire, but they will come at a later date as rituals on a level far beyond your understanding will be needed to keep them intact – which will slow down the transfer. Upon final transition into the Labyrinth, the questline will end – and you along with your allies will receive Alkir’s rewards based on your performance.”

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Trey gaped at the notification and read it aloud for the third time since acquiring it. He held the smoldering amulet, warm to the touch, in his right hand and just gawked.

There were just too many damn things to concern himself with! What the actual fuck!?

The amulet alone was an absolute game changer. Not only would it make him an absolute tank with fuel reserves beyond belief, but the willpower for each minion slot being reduced to 5 was unbelievable. He’d had to concern himself with that willpower requirement doubling every time he hit a certain amount of minions, but now… now that wasn’t the case at all. He could have a literal fucking army of enslaved demons and undead at his command without worrying about running out.

Then there was the 50 level bonus he’d forgotten about. He and his minions, his friends, had all gotten a serious power boost. He’d doubled his levels overnight, plus even more promised stat points from Alkir as well beyond that.

But even more fucked was the idea that he was supposed to make himself emporer over the vampires of this ancient city, as well as the elves to the south and the conquered dwarvish nation just north of that. He was a nobody!

Well… not really a nobody. Technically he was bonded to Eleknar and was apparently this thing of myth and legend that’d been talked about for eons as a potential savior of the void. Vatosis Inferna? Not many people had heard of it in the mortal realms, but the demons certainly treated him as a god whenever it was mentioned. Rivia and Ezdeath basically drooled at the idea of being his chosen mates, and even Atharost showed him significantly more respect since the title had dropped – even at Trey’s protests to treat him normally and as a friend.

But still. Emperor? Really? Alkir had certainly pulled a lot of strings for this one. He vaguely remembered that silver haired elf the quest talked about, Silvara, but he’d not realized she was an actual princess. As for the talk about his cousin…

He sighed. He figured she’d be somewhat of a hothead but she’d truly gone over the top with her bullshit. It didn’t surprise him in the least that Alkir was warning him about possible ‘ulterior motives.’ Still, he’d use them to his benefit. He highly doubted they’d outright betray him as he had Alkir’s backing, so he wondered what possible plans they could be conniving in their offtime.

Reality warped back into perspective as he went rigid again with pleasure.

Osi, Nothel and Rusoe were smothering him with their kisses, breasts and bare skin on the velvet bed of his room as Trey dismissed the notification with an eyeroll. He stiffened slightly as a wave of euphoria overcame him when Ezdeath began sucking with a little more vigor, but didn’t look down. She gave great blowjobs and was utterly stunning, beyond anything any normal woman could ever hope or dream of being, but he didn’t want to make Nothel more jealous than she already was. It was obvious the vampires he now claimed were intimidated by the succubus, and he couldn’t necessarily blame them – but he liked Nothel for who she was even beyond his physical attraction to her.

Meeting Nothel halfway to kiss her soft lips with a gentle smile as he blasted a load into Ezdeath’s mouth, he let out a sigh and his body relaxed. Holding up the amulet Ezdeath had obtained for him after killing the priest and lighting the temple on fire, he examined the large glowing stone of red and blue light that fluidly changed colors at random.

Conquering Zekul though? Really? The catacombs leading down here were vast and full of traps, how the hell were Agnude’s armies supposed to get here without mass casualties?

Or perhaps they expected mass casualties.

The women shifted positions and Rusoe took a turn in the middle – her abnormally long, bare legs swinging around to put her pale ass up in his face while she started aggressively licking and then head bobbing.

“Good job on acquiring the amulet Ezdeath.” Trey stated as he watched the succubus plop herself beside him on the left and wipe the cum off her face. “Alkir congratulated us both, but it was really all you.”

Ezdeath’s golden eyes flashed with pride underneath her horns and a huge smile crossed her lips. Her black wings folded in, retracting into her back, but her tail continued to swish happily out to either side. “Yes master! Anything for the heir!”

He let out a long sigh, thinking about how he was going to pull this off. “First… first we need to enslave Lord and Lady Okt. Taking them will be easiest and we can do the guild thing later, after my arachnid evolution kicks in. I’m really hoping I won’t get numerous eyes here… but it does say I can retract the features if I need to. Anyways, after I enslave the Okt heads of household we can get any information on the other noble houses we need from them while keeping their subordinates under wraps. I see what Alkir is doing here – if I enslave the matriarchs and patriarchs of as many noble houses as I can, we can control all of their subordinates with a lot less bloodshed and possibly even create an army of our own from the inside when Agnude’s armies arrive.”

He felt the back of Rusoe’s throat and grinned as she gagged, then slapped and groped her curvy right asscheek for a time to play with it absentmindedly before pushing his fingers into her smooth vagina. She really was tall for a woman… had she gotten taller since becoming a vampire though? He was pretty sure she had.

“Did Rusoe grow in height?” Trey asked Nothel as the stork-ish Rusoe rapidly head-bobbed down below with sloppy slurping sounds. “She seems taller.”

Nothel wrapped an arm over Rusoe’s long right leg and then Trey’s chest with a yawn – showing off her vampiric fangs with the motion. “Yes she did. She was malnourished as a slave, but now as a vampire she is able to achieve the height she was meant to have in the first place. It happens on occasion. So… do you really intend to enslave the souls of Lord and Lady Okt? When do you plan on doing this?”

“Sooner rather than later probably.”

“You should just kill and eat them instead.”

Trey raised his eyebrows while continuing to play with Rusoe’s firm rear end, but looked to Nothel instead. “Why’s that?”

“Because they’re bastards, the lot of them.” Nothel stated sourly, burying her face and flushing in embarrassment as she caught Ezdeath silently laughing. “It’s not funny! I hate them!”

The gorgeous succubus only laughed louder.

Trey smirked in turn. “Tell you what, when we’re done using them – I’ll let you eat them yourself. Deal?”

“Deal!”

Osi, who was massaging Trey’s right calf, peaked over the others with a curious raised eyebrow. Her usual bun had been let down and her hair trailed down to her shoulders, and she held up a finger as if to pose a question.

“Yes Osi?”

The woman cleared her throat. “Are you really going to be a demon lord?”

“He already is a demon lord.” Ezdeath hissed angrily, venom in her words before Trey’s grip on her wrist caused her to calm down.

Osi frowned at the succubus, then turned back to Trey. “So… if we have your children, do they become demon royalty? Does that make us queens if we’re your mates? I know you’re supposed to wed that elf bitch… but…”

Osi trailed off without finishing the sentence.

Rusoe actually stopped sucking his cock to turn around and look at him for this question, and even Ezdeath calmed her irritated expression to wait for Trey’s answer.

Trey put his hands behind his back, then exhaled while looking up at the ceiling. “Not entirely sure I’m able to have kids. I’ve been trying with the other minions and slaves I have, but nothing seems to catch. I think I may be infertile. But let’s say it did work, that I do become a legitimate demon lord – because despite what Ezdeath says I’m really not yet – and that I make myself Emporer of Zekul and the kingdoms to the south. Sure – I suppose that’d make the kids royalty. The queens thing… I guess so. I’m definitely not going to be tied down to this elf princess if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“You’d be willing to have more than one queen?” Ezdeath prodded eagerly. “Queens by authority and not just title?”

Trey gave the power-hungry succubus a suspicious look, then smirked again. “Yes. Let’s not focus on that right now though… we have important things to do. Like… Rusoe, you need to keep blowing me.”

He gave her a raised eyebrow and the vampire blushed before continuing her rapid suckling with new vigor and animation, even beginning to twerk slightly as the other women laughed.

“Seriously though…” Trey continued with a groan. He placed the amulet around his neck, and immediately felt a spike of power similar to what’d happened when he’d acquired the 50 levels for completing the Dadik’s Heart quest. “As soon as I evolve, I’ll be turning you three girls into minions. After that we’ll use Alkir’s gifts to ascend the lot of you. I’ll contact the rest of the guild, which we’ll definitely have to change the name of because Invictus is cool and all but it doesn’t really catch what we are. Maybe have ‘Cult’ in the name? Anyways, we’ll form a legitimate guild under the All Spirit, I’ll summon the rest of my minions over, we’ll take control of house Okt and then get Rivia to portal in the rest. I want all of this done within two days…”

His voice trailed off as another high pitched scream of rage echoed throughout the volcanic city from across the massive cavern – another temper tantrum being thrown by the numen Aktovan far off who presided over it. She’d been regularly blowing houses up, killing people she came across out of sheer fury, and making a futile attempt at figuring out who had actually taken the amulet and killed her most prominent servant. The tournament of games had even been canceled, and the mood of the city’s residents had seriously deteriorated.

“Ugh…” Trey muttered to himself. “Yeah, two days. I don’t want to get caught out in the open with that crazy powerful woman and not have good amounts of backup to fight her with.”

Eleknar internally chuckled. ‘You’d probably die.’

Trey grimaced. “Anyways, we’ll get the guild and Carol’s people here. Then we’ll summon the angel, maybe throw a small reunion party and go about taking over the other noble houses by either enslavement or assassination – depending on the situation. As many as we can anyways, before Yastiel gets here. It’s a little ballsy, but where’d the fun be if it wasn’t? Oh, and Ezdeath…”

The succubus perked up and brushed the snow-white hair out of her eyes while snuggling in closer to his body. “Hmmm?”

“Remind me to go assign my stat points and do some minion page monitoring after the arachnid evolution takes hold. Other than these three having their own evolutions to go over, we’ll also have Telipe’s too. Rivia has a new miracle to portal people, apparently? And I’m very interested about these new minions Ashe has… apparently she’s finally gotten that summoner class with the help of Napoleon. I’d be interested to see just how many demons and undead we can fit into our little army before shit hits the fan.”

Note to self – need to keep following Trey’s family from 124

Note to self – need to fix Chapter 127’s status page about his endurance