Chapter 286: Chapter 284

Chapter 284

[Group #4828 has been picked for the next attempt at defeating Floor Boss 2. Remember that turns are randomized, but the longer you stay - the higher the chance of your group being picked is.

Your own group is registered as: Riven Thane, Lillith of the Black Skies, Allie Thane, Nora Lang, Retesh Vorath, and all associated minions.]

Coming to a platform’s ledge on the right-hand side of the miles-wide enclosed arena, Riven and the rest of his group made camp with the hundreds of high-end undead minions surrounding their camp as a buffer to all onlookers; courtesy of Allie and Retesh. Just because Elysium said ‘Violence will not be permitted’ while waiting, that didn’t necessarily mean crazies wouldn’t attempt it. Especially if those crazies were associated with Greed, given recent events. Riven didn’t know what Elysium would do if someone tried to attack another participant in the waiting area, but he didn’t want to take that chance regardless.

The cliffs surrounding the interior of this underground arena were pressed up close to the large cylindrical and translucent energy shield that made up the battlegrounds. On their way around to find an unoccupied protruding platform, like so many of the ledges poking out of the cliff walls and numbering in the hundreds, they watched the battles unfold. Aside from these platforms were also large viewing rooms with rectangular windows cut into the cliff’s interior, and tunnels or walkways that made the entire thing look like an ant colony. Just like everywhere else on this floor, it was bustling with tradesmen, mercenaries looking to sell their talents to other groups without a total of 5, and people set into meditative poses while trying to cultivate as best they could amidst the madhouse of activity.

“Quite the drop down…” Riven mused, standing at the very edge of their platform with his hands clasped behind his back. An artificial orange sun glowed atop the cavern’s ceiling, with artificial dust clouds and even an illusory red sky, while the battlefield shifted underneath them to rearrange itself for the sixth time since entering this place. “When the system notification said it would adapt to the group, I hadn’t originally thought it would change the scenery too. I was only suspecting the boss itself would change.”

Allie stood beside him, following his gaze as the group #4828 was teleported onto the field in a bubble of light. “Still scared of heights, are we?”

Riven scoffed. “Oh shut up.”

Allie chuckled. “Remember when mom brought us to the Grand Canyon and you had to crawl across that-”

“It was six feet across!” Riven said, throwing up his arms with exaggerated flare. “And I was only a kid! You’re never gonna let me live that down, are you?”

“Never.” Allie said with a wink and a nudge. “But now at least we can both fly.”

“True. Very true. I’ve got Messenger to thank for that.”

The roiling landscape continued to shift underneath, but it began to slow down and solidify, and sandstone shelves started to appear as multi-layered canyons set up in a circular ring-formation that led down to a central sand pit. The five challengers, all of which were obsidian rock humanoids of some sort - set down on one end of the ringed arena at the third canyon-layer up from where the sand pit was. They each had molten eyes, veins of magma running across their bodies, large rock clubs for weapons, and lacked anything else of note. The sand pit itself was well over a mile wide, and the bubble of light surrounding the challenger group disappeared just as a rumbling sound started to echo out from the sand pit in the middle of the arena.

[Group #4828’s opponent has been chosen. They are pitted against: Myrandian, Flower of the Desert Storm. This level 200 Legendary opponent is a native to the dunes of planet Borishka in Universe 32, and has stagnated at attaining his soul-lattice insights to acquire the E-grade. This monster has accepted the pact with Elysium for a chance at enlightenment, choosing to serve as the optional floor boss and intending to eradicate these hellscape golem challengers from existence. Odds are 4:3 in favor of Group #4828. If you wish to bet against Elysium’s odds, you may do so by putting up items or Elysium Coins by interacting with this message.]

“Oh yes!” Riven outwardly laughed, remembering how Elysium and Negrada had bet against one another when he’d fought the Satyr Warlord miniboss in Negrada’s dungeon. Elysium appeared to be quite the gambling type, and Riven was all for it.

Putting up the ridiculous sum of a 129 million Elysium Coins worth on a single bet, he sat down cross-legged and propped his chin in his hands to watch the fight.

[Your bet that group #4828 will lose has been documented, 129,000,000 Elysium Coins have been deducted from your person. Should you win, you will be given 167,700,000 Elysium Coins back. If you do not want to accept these rates, please decline now.]

He’d always enjoyed casinos, and accepted immediately with a laugh from his sister.

Pulling out a bottle of spiced blood and crackers, he began to down it while enjoying his view alongside friends and teammates. It was going to be a long ride, and he might as well enjoy the show while he could.

Hopefully he wouldn’t lose all his money in doing so.

***

Athela raised an eyebrow Narg’s way from underneath her shadow-crafted hood, ignoring the shouting and screaming Riven was doing as his money went up in flames after his third consecutive bet loss. “And just what makes you think you’re up to standards to be my master’s last minion?”

Azmoth aggressively nodded in agreement, four arms folded while his flaming antlers gave the circle of four demons a faint orange glow.

Fay on the other hand was a little less antagonistic to the newcomer - and she placed a slender hand on the beholder demon’s green body in an act of encouragement. “Stop bullying him! He’s just here to help!”

“Eyeball demons always harm us.” Azmoth said with a pointed finger jabbed in Narg’s direction. “They mean! All beholders bad!”

“That sir, is downright rude and racist! I am enraged!” Narg humphed, emphasizing his rage by puffing himself up like a puffer fish to make his central body grow in proportion. The two normal eyes set over his frowning, toothy mouth narrowed - and the eyeballs across his numerous tentacles did the same one after the other. “I am a gentleman and a scholar! I will not be treated in such a way for having done no wrong!”

Azmoth leaned forward, his body crackling with cinders in an attempt to intimidate. “If you betray Riven, I smash and eat.”

“Stop it!” Fay used her grimoire to smack Azmoth’s pointed finger back, and the young brutalisk retreated after her dagger-like glare set upon him. “You two are out of line!”

Athela waved her hand back and forth in front of her face, cross legged, while continuing to ignore the cackling of Allie and Nora in the background as Riven repeatedly cursed the people who’d recently died. “I’m not being mean. I’m being practical. Riven deserves the best, and I feel like he’s settled. I just want to be proven wrong, so if Narg would so kindly put my worries to rest - I won’t have to tell Riven to get another model later on. What makes you better than the millions of others out there, Narg?”

From the sidelines, Fimrindle snickered loudly.

“You got something to say, you metal bean-pole?” Athela shot with a glare. “Spit it out!”

Fimrindle’s jaw didn’t move as the words came out of his mouth in a raspy gasp, making his speech look just as unnatural as it sounded. “You yourself were… not up to the standards you now tout… arachnid. If anything… the three of you have ridden on the coattails of your master’s fate. It is… humorous… that you would judge the beholder so.”

Athela gasped dramatically. “I’ve always been AMAZING!”

“No.” Fimrindle said with a scoff. “You were just a tiny, weak spider… barely even a demon, but with a princess complex… and an inflated ego to match.”

Athela whipped out both katana’s from her chest in a flash of red and a palpable killing intent that boomed from her position. “SAY THAT AGAIN, TWIRP!”

But Fimrindle had already vanished into thin air, leaving behind an echoing cackle that made Athela’s arms shake in rage.

“He doesn’t think I see him, but he’s wrong. We’ll see just who’s the better assassin! I’m about to tear that cackling metal face off of his-”

Athela’s words were interrupted by Fay, who cleared her throat rather loudly.

“Sit down! You’re being immature!” Fay commanded, pointing to the ground with a frosty stare. “Riven will NOT be happy with you if you start fighting Fimrindle over petty insults! And turn off your aura, your killing intent is leaking out for hundreds of yards!”

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Fay bobbed her head in Riven’s direction, where he, Nora, Lillith and Allie were all staring with confused looks directly at Athela.

Athela abruptly sheathed her two katanas into her chest, gave a winning, brilliant white smile to Riven, and blew him a kiss before hopping to sit back down cross-legged as if nothing had ever happened.

Her master and the others went back to watching the next boss fight, and she let out a long huff of a sigh. Raising an eyebrow in Narg’s direction while he remained in his puffer-fish state, she pawed at the air to get him to relax. “Alright, alright. Maybe Fimrindle wasn’t entirely wrong. Sorry. I’m just protective is all, and I want to make sure that you’re able to help Riven when he needs it. The three of us have already proven ourselves in one way or another at different times while traveling with him, and Lillith really kicked us into shape while emphasizing just how we were failing at our jobs until recently. I just don’t want you, the new guy, to make the same mistakes we did.”

“That’s better.” Fay nodded in approval, smiling at the other woman in turn.

Narg blinked rapidly across his numerous eyes, and slowly began to deflate with a wheeze of air like it was being let out of a balloon. Settling down in a lower floating position next to Fay, he grumbled something under his breath and evaluated the other demons one by one. “I see you’re not quite the barbarian I’d assumed you were. Thank you, for your apology.”

“Azmoth never apologize!” The young brutalisk said with a scoff and puff of flames from deep within his throat. “Azmoth never wrong!”

Fay groaned, and put her face in her hands while shaking her head. “I’m so sorry, Narg. This is not the kind of welcome you should be getting from us. I for one am very happy to have you on our team, and I hope you can do your best to keep Riven safe with us.”

***

Two days passed, and they still remained on the ledge as battle after battle occurred.

“I believe it would be in your best interest to keep collecting rare specimens such as these on the way down.” Lillith said, shoving some more sin-oriented crystals that’d been grown here in the abyss into Riven’s bag. “They’ll be needed in the future, and our trek will be the perfect opportunity to grab some to take back to Panu.”

Her voice was sad, even tired, and she’d been the least interested in the battles ongoing down below out of the group so far. Ever since she’d initially brought up how the Church of Gluttony wouldn’t be around in the future, and had failed to expand upon it, she’d been downright depressed.

Nothing Riven did seemed to sway her on her decision not to talk about it either. She’d been adamant that they finish the Abyssal Descent before talking about it further. Interestingly enough, she’d also been adamant that they spend most or all of their Elysium Coins while staying here. She’d even bet a few times herself, using up all of her money to make gains before going around and seeing what other groups had to offer - before making astronomically expensive purchases of the very best dao treasures, mostly including plants and spiritual crystals that could be grown in Riven’s garden back home.

She even mentioned that she wished she could take some of the greater treasures from beyond this realm or Panu, but the system wouldn’t allow such things until Panu was conquered - if it ever was. Until then, or until the 5 year time limit came due, Panu was mostly sealed to the outside multiverse with only a few exceptions. Letting in monumental dao treasures in the S-grade from Gluttony’s vaults off-world was not contained within those exceptions.

“If you change your mind and want to talk, let me know.” Riven said, hesitating before putting an encouraging hand on Lillith’s shoulder. “I’m sorry for whatever troubles you.”

She gave him a sad smile, then nodded and sat down again next to him. “Thank you. Now, what have I missed in my time bartering?”

Riven’s eyebrow raised, and he turned his attention back to the arena far below. This time, the setting was that of a black lake with a crab-like creature of titanic proportions that was striking at a group of four greater-harpies and a fallen angel. They rained arrows of hellfire down on the crab’s chitin, while it sprayed black bullets from its maw or used brutal melee attacks infused with some kind of unholy energy variation. Explosions rocked the artificial lake, and the cylindrical miles-wide cage enclosing the arena shook when one of the harpies was crushed against the outer rim.

Riven winced. “Well you haven’t missed much. The scenery changes every time, and most of the bosses are taken from somewhere else within the multiverse after Elysium tempts the creatures with prizes for winning. There’s been only three squad wipes though, so most of the time the monsters lose. When performing well, the teams also have been getting additional prizes in the form of treasure chests outside the portal access to the 20th floor.”

“Any other type of fights happen? Was it just monsters?”

Riven shook his head. “No, there were two others. One boss fight was against another pretty powerful undead participant who’d already made it to level 43 of the Abyssal Descent, but he’d transgressed against the system somehow and was brought up for judgement. If he’d won, he’d be put back, but he was killed along with his team members. The other was a fight against the environment, believe it or not. There wasn’t any fighting, but the team all had to stabilize rifts in the void where Holy energy was breaking through to kill them - and they had to do it in a pattern or the rifts would grow larger. They had to last for ten minutes, and they only barely succeeded with two losses. It was sort of confusing, and I really didn’t understand it because Athela kept trying to get freaky.”

“Ah, to be young and in love.” Lillith chuckled with true amusement for the first time in a while. “The three of you are cute. You, Athela, and Fay that is.”

“Thanks.” Riven scratched the back of his neck with an embarrassed look. “They’re pretty great. And they’ve been expanding their own relationship quite a bit. Did you know they’ve been going on dates with each other for ‘girl time’?”

“I hadn’t realized that.”

“Yup. I’m glad to see it, I hadn’t wanted this to be a… How do I put it? Eh. I want them to reciprocate with each other the same way they reciprocate with me so that no one feels left out.”

Lillith didn’t get the chance to reply, when a shuddering boom caused the arena to shake after the giant crab exploded in a mess of body parts. The fallen angel that’d destroyed raised himself up out of the monster’s body with a roar of triumph, and the greater-harpy comrades rushed down with shouts of their own to greet his success enthusiastically.

A shimmering black and purple chest appeared on the monster’s body next, created from abyssal energies that oozed with sin. A portal ripped open in space beside it too, and soon the party of five left injured but all alive through the portal to access the 20th abyssal floor.

[Your group has been chosen as the next up to fight Floor Boss 2. You have been selected for a unique boss fight experience given your composition. Are you ready to proceed? It not, another team will be selected.]

Riven exchanged glances with Lillith, and then the others, who’d all gotten up to start gathering nearby. Fay was woken up by Athela, Azmoth stopped playing chess with Nora, and Narg shut down his discussion with Fimrindle to float forward in Riven’s direction.

Adjusting her bone pauldron, Allie picked up her divine-ranked claymore and hoisted it over her shoulder with a grin. “It’s about damn time! Everyone here?”

“Everyone’s here.” Riven said, holding out a hand as Jackal rose off the ground to come to his palm. Wrapping his fingers around the shaft of the staff and inspecting the fiery eyes of the skull at its head, and made sure he had all their attention. “Is there any reason we should decline? I assume we’re all ready?”

No one said otherwise, and Riven acknowledged the prompt with a: “Yes, we’re ready.”

[Please wait. Your group is being transported now.]

***

A flash enveloped him, and Riven was ripped through space to appear in a floating bubble of light like so many others had been contained in as the arena was rearranged.

And the arena was certainly changing fast.

Blue skies lit up the interior of the battlefield with puffy white clouds partially masking a false yellow sun, reminiscent of Earth. The ground rumbled as slabs of white stone sprouted from the ground, with plants growing at rapid pace to create a jungle environment very reminiscent of the Zhangjiajie National Forest in China.

Not that he’d ever been there, but he’d certainly seen pictures of it.

Between the tall-standing pillars and the lush canopy of forest, it was quite breathtaking even though he knew it to be fake.

But when he turned around to say something about it to his comrades, he found that they weren’t there.

They were gone.

He was alone.

Confused, and looking around almost frantically, he finally found them.

Appearing in a separate bubble about a mile away, he managed to spy the others. It was a far larger bubble than his own, encompassing the hundreds of undead that’d been risen after the battle between the churches of Gluttony and Greed on the first floor abyssal city, but Riven was sure it was them even at this distance after spying Azmoth’s flaming antlers amidst the mass of bodies.

“Well this is weird. I haven’t seen this happen before.”

The bubbles settled on opposite hills overlooking the jungle canopy, inbetween numerous pillars each reaching many thousands of feet up into the air that reached the clouds. The sound of the jeers and cheers of the crowds couldn’t be heard within the cylindrical energy barrier encompassing them, and he couldn’t even see the onlookers anymore now that he was actually inside the arena. At most, he could only see the barrier itself - which had an illusion built into the interior making it look like he was seeing out into a horizon - if not for the shimmer of the energy making up the barrier giving it away.

The bubble popped, and he was set facing his friends with a frazzled expression, gripping Jackal in one hand as the maw across Messenger’s chest began to growl. And just before he started to make his way towards them, a new notification appeared to signify just what was going on.

[Team #9877 has entered the arena. Due to unique composition and circumstances, Elysium has designated this Floor 2 Boss fight differently.

Lillith of the Black Skies has been banished to the 50th floor of the Abyssal Descent due to having already completed this event in another age, and will remain trapped there unless freed by her teammates. Let this be a lesson to those who attempt to take advantage of Elysium’s good will. This event is not meant to be repeated.

Team 1 of this Floor 2 Boss Fight is as follows: Riven Thane, Reincarnation of Gluttony

Team 2 of this Floor 2 Boss Fight is as follows: Allie Thane, Nora Lang, Retesh Vorath, and all minions - including Riven Thane’s own.

Team 2 has been mind controlled by Elysium. If Riven Thane of Team 1 kills all of his teammates and defeats Team 2, they will be resurrected and are able to pass on to Floor 20 as promised. If Team 2 kills the reincarnation of Gluttony, he will be removed from The Abyssal Descent per the contract of Chalgathi’s questline - but he will also receive a penalty of -50 levels and a mandatory, permanent removal of Gluttony from Riven as the reincarnation host.

Odds are 3:5 in favor of Team 2. If you wish to bet against Elysium’s odds, you may do so by putting up items or Elysium Coins by interacting with this message.]

[Your Floor 2 Boss Fight has begun.]

Riven’s eyes widened in shock, and his gaze slowly lifted to where an army of undead were all sprinting or flying across the gap between them at incredible speed - with Azmoth charging at their front in a maddened explosion of flame that sent the large demon rocketing towards him. Riven saw Fimrindle and Athela blur into the shadows next, saw Nora follow quickly in their wake, and saw a barrage of unholy energies rip from the opposite hillside where Retesh had summoned a swarm of green energies to shoot directly at Riven’s position. Only a split second later and the hill vanished when Fay raised her hands, as she’d no doubt cast an illusion to hide the spellcasters across from him.

The thing that caught Riven’s attention most, though, was the eruption of death-attuned energies as Allie launched herself into the sky with a swarm of wraiths tearing out from her body. Her black wings glistened, her halo shone like the impending judgement of a god of death, and her gray, glowing eyes stared blankly at him as she lifted her hand. A storm of flaming skulls began blooming around her only seconds later. Together, the laughing skulls created a cyclone of sonic booms as they each broke the sound barrier to rip through the air towards him.

The fight was already on, and this one wasn’t going to be easy.

"Shit."