Chapter 300

Chapter 300

The skill fractal clicked into place on her soul pillar, beginning to churn out power in the form of Divinity - the Faith based energy; similar to how mana was used for magic and stamina was used for martial arts.

Her eyes snapped open with a wide smile on her pitch black lips. Athela had done it!

She’d finally mastered the Body Fusion technique!

Cackling evilly to herself, but not loud enough that Riven or the others filtering into the 21st Abyssal Floor would hear, she snuck around the room’s outer perimeter to where Genua was seated. She moved like a ghost in the shadows, only able to be matched in stealth by Fimrindle; and perhaps Nora now that she’d gone batshit crazy inbetween bouts of sanity. Though Athela couldn’t say that she minded the change - because at least now the woman was useful and not deadweight.

“Do you have more of Riven’s vampiric venom?” Athela asked, sitting down next to the other schemers with a huff of satisfaction. “Did you get it?”

Fay nodded sagely, pulling out a small glass vial with clear, viscous fluid inside. “Absolutely!”

“How did you manage to do that anyway?” Genua asked curiously, still knitting baby clothes like Athela had taught her to do with the blood silk balls of thread. Her pointed ears drooped as she pooched her lips and looked up at the other women. “Because I know you haven’t told him that you took it.”

Fay rolled her eyes and gave Genua a playful wink, and tipped her witch’s hat at the elf thrall. “You’d be surprised at the things I can do with my tongue. I basically massaged it from his teeth.”

“No, I’m very aware of what you can do with that tongue of yours. Though I don’t think Riven approved of it when he found out you were requesting such things of me, nor do I think he’ll approve of this should he find out what you two are scheming now.”

Genua gave them a knowing look, but kept knitting.

Athela, for her part, drooped her eyelids and gave the elf thrall a blank stare. “Do you disapprove? I thought you liked this idea.”

“Oh! I do.” Genua said with a laugh, but shot Riven a brief glance across the room where he was meditating under the sun made from Sin. “But you’re definitely going to make him angry if you do it. Just don’t throw me into the mix if you two get in trouble for this.”

“He’ll appreciate it in the long term. Plus, there are genuine reasons to do this.”

“Which are?” Genua inquired.

“You know just as well as I do.” Athela narrowed her eyes further. “Genua, do you even realize who you’re talking to right now? We are DEMONS, we make deals with mortals for their SOULS, Genua! Didn’t you grow up in a culture where you elves were deathly scared of demons? We’re creatures of evil! We are not the good guys. This is what we do!”

“Can’t disagree with that.” Genua muttered.

“Exactly!” Athela laughed, slapping Genua’s thigh. “And now with Fay’s insight complete and her new… rather useful, ability at play, it makes it all the easier! Plus, Gluttony wanted this… and he personally asked us to do it because Riven has yet to expand upon his bloodline and he’s been a fucking VAMPIRE for well over a year and a half. We’ll tell Riven after the transformations are complete… and what he does with them afterwards is up to him. If he doesn’t want them, we can just kill them then! Or he can give them to us!”

“This is still a serious breach of trust.” Genua scolded. “That’s where the problem lies,in my opinion. It doesn’t hurt Riven and even benefits him, but you’re going to be put in the dog house for not letting him know.”

“It’s a white lie! And he’d not let us do it unless it was already done by the time he knew!”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Mmhmm. Debatable. However I won’t deny, I will enjoy having the load of labor taken off my shoulders. To have more free time with Len will be nice, and right now I only get to communicate with her through the Blood Mirror technique I've mastered. How did you abduct them, anyway?”

Fay raised her hand. “That was my doing! My illusions replicated Elysium’s portals quite well when they attempted to leave, and with the insights I gained into my new alternate prison ability from the Depraved Sub-Pillar, as long as they’re equal to or less than my own level; I’m able to hold up to fifty souls. It’ll solve a lot of Riven’s food problems as we build up his blood farm, especially when you’re worn out or need a break.”

Genua grumbled slightly, rubbing at her neck where a fresh set of fang wounds were still only very recently sealed shut. “I am pleased to serve the master, but yes. He does go overboard sometimes, to the point where I even get light headed. Unless he’s on one of his hunts-”

“His hunts?” Fay asked curiously.

Genua raised an eyebrow, stopped knitting, and sat the half-finished baby shirt on the floor. “You don’t know?”

“Obviously not, thrall. That is why I am asking you.”

“Mhmm. I see. I think that’s a discussion you should have with him then.”

Fay’s features darkened. “I am to be his wife one day. Remember who you’re speaking to. What are these hunts you speak of?”

Genua stared at the younger woman for a time, shrugged, and nodded in acceptance. “You’re right, so I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to tell you after all. Ever since binding himself with Gluttony entirely and becoming the reincarnation, he’s needed to kill and eat enlightened beings - not just drain them of some blood. He’s been doing so behind your backs so that you wouldn’t think less of him.”

Both Fay’s eyes and Athela’s eyes widened in shock.

Genua continued when she realized they weren’t going to comment. “If he doesn’t, he gets very… grumpy. Acquires painful debuffs. He tried feeding on me more often to make up for this neglect at first, when trying to forgo the hunts Gluttony requires, but he only became more violent and ended up hurting me in one of his mood swings. He apologized afterwards and I know he didn’t mean to do it, but having a ravenous vampire come after you even as a thrall is rather scary to witness. He gorged himself on me, and I would have died if not for him using Voodoo Doll to keep me whole.”

Athela’s eyes fell to Genua’s pregnant belly. “Was the child ok?”

Genua nodded. “Yes. Gluttony and Riven made sure of it, but it was a close call. Ever since then, he’s never missed a weekly hunt. Usually he kills people he feels deserve death, but sometimes he has fewer options. Such as when we had just entered Chalgathi’s pocket realm for the Altars of Despair and Hope. He sometimes has to kill a random person because the urges become too much… but he doesn’t like to talk about it and is not only embarrassed, but gets aggressively angry with himself over the fact that his urges to feed are beginning to control him. Here in the descent, he hunted various participants up in the main city whenever he could get away from Lillith’s training regimens. The urges to feed are getting worse as he grows more powerful and deepens his bonds with Gluttony. But what I meant to say earlier was that when he goes on these hunts, he’s usually rather gentle when feeding on me throughout the rest of the week. But not always - and I would very much enjoy having some fellow thralls to take some of the load off.”

Fay and Athela continued to stare.

“Why has he never told us of this?” Fay whispered. “He’s such a kind person. That must be so hard to bear for him, dealing with Gluttony’s urges.”

“Is he?” Genua asked with an amused smirk. “I’m not so sure I’d consider him kind, but he is a good master to have. He did, after all, sacrifice an entire city of innocents to get Athela back. I wouldn’t say that is kind, I would say that is even somewhat selfish - but his priorities are right I think. For the record, Athela, I’m glad he did it.”

Fay scoffed, obviously irritated that Genua would imply otherwise concerning Riven’s status as a kind man. “You have no idea what other warlocks are like out there. Usually, for demons like me that started out absolutely weak and too afraid to try our own hand in the hellscape wars to boost our power without a contract, warlocks are utter bastards. My first master was truly a monster to me. Riven is the opposite of that.”

“That old criminal underlord guy you briefly contracted with when we were having a feud was nice to you too.” Athela pointed out lazily. “Didn’t he try to set you up with his nephew?”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Fay wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Yes he did but it never went anywhere… and yes he was a kind old man. I don’t count that as a true contract though, he never once ordered me to do anything. It was more of a time away from Panu. Let’s not talk about that though, I don’t like dwelling on bad memories.”

Athela shrugged, leaned back, and cast her gaze on the ground between them. “As much as I wish it were Kara, she has no interest in becoming a thrall. And Riven feels sorry for her, so I don’t think tricking her into this or abducting her like the others would be a good idea. But, as Gluttony has said, vampires gain different resistances and unlocks by regularly drinking the blood of varying races. It grows their bloodlines stronger too. So adding two other drow to the menu wouldn’t hurt, especially since Riven has no liking for the two people we took. Even if he does get a bit miffed, it’s better for him that he does take the gifts. I mean seriously, what kind of vampire actively tries not to feed over a year out and has yet to expand his bloodline even once? It’s an inherent part of being a vampire! Now that I have also mastered Body Fusion, it’ll be even easier to get the two prisoners to cooperate - as I know you didn’t want to try now that you have a baby, Genua.”

Genua nodded absentmindedly.

Fay and Athela exchanged a look.

“Want to go visit the blasphemers? Those who dared irritate Gluttony’s Reincarnation?” Athela asked with a wicked smile. “Perhaps I won’t have to use any tools of torture this time now that I have my interrogation method sealed.”

“Yes… And I would prefer you didn’t torture them while I’m present. It makes me queasy.” Fay muttered, brushing her long white hair off her shoulders and straightening her sitting posture with a yawn. Tail slapping against the floor, she intertwined her fingers with Athela’s and squeezed her lover’s hand. “They’ve already been waiting an entire day since the last dose of vampiric venom, so we should probably get going!”

They shared a giggle.

Closing their eyes simultaneously, the two demonic women entered a trance - their minds leaving this plane to enter into another; as Fay activated her newly acquired ability through the insights of the Depraved Sun.

***

When Athela opened her eyes again, she and Fay were standing up - but still holding hands - in a mindscape very similar to the nether realms their families still resided in. It also skirted the lines of what was allowed by common laws of magic and miracle, as they really weren’t sure whether or not the ability copied their bodies to bring them here or not. Same could be said for items they brought into this place. This realm was far smaller though, only a couple hundred feet across, and had the distinct feature of allowing mortals to enter into it.

Such as the two victims that they’d captured from Kara Blackbow’s homeland. Zafima was the dark elf enchantress that’d conspired against Kara for some reason or another, and was an utterly vile person through and through. While Numin was Kara’s old team mate turned traitor after he’d been paid off by Zafima, the end goal being that Kara either died here in the descent - or that she returned in shame to be disowned by her family after not reaching Floor 40.

Riven had thought he’d let them go back home despite wanting to kill them - because Kara had asked him to let them leave; but his minions had other things in mind for these two. If they were going to create a blood farm for their master, they might as well start here now that Fay finally had an ability that allowed for such a thing. Why create a blood farm in Riven’s manor when they could have a portable one!?

Chained to the ceiling and hanging from iron manacles only inches off the ground, both Numin and Zafima had been strung up like animals.

[You have entered Fay’s Dreamscape Dungeon, a resting place for damned souls. Current Prisoners: 2 of 50. Prisoners must be weaker in mind, body, and cultivation than the wielder of this ability to be kept here.]

Candles resting on skulls by the dozens illuminated the prison with dim fire light. Bloody tools of torture that Athela had been using the last time she’d been here were strewn about on wooden tables, and empty metal cages were lined up against the abnormally smooth stone back wall - where anti-energy suppression runes had been carved by the ability itself to specifically target any prisoners kept here. The manacles they had on were around both prisoners’ feet and wrists, their clothes had been left in tatters to reveal shallow wounds that’d been stitched together with Athela’s threads, and each of the dark elves looked absolutely miserable. Perhaps miserable was even an understatement.

Depressed?

In denial?

In pain?

Athela couldn’t tell, nor did she care. But they both initially had far away looks in their eyes which quickly turned to terror and rage when they saw Athela and Fay approaching them again.

“You lying bitches!” Zafima coughed with wide bloodshot eyes, flailing around and dangling on her chain in the dim light. “Your master said he’d let us go! So let us go! This has gone on long enough!”

Numin, for his part, merely let out a whimper and closed his eyes tighter upon seeing the vial of venom in Fay’s free hand.

“Shut up, whore.” Athela lazily replied, letting go of Fay’s hand and giving the succubus a kiss before walking over to the enraged and battered drow enchantress - smacking her across the face with a satisfied smirk. “Or I suppose it was your mother, who was the true whore? You’re just her peon if I remember correctly, is that right? This wouldn’t go so badly for you two if you just accepted the venom and drank it like good little mind slaves. I promise, it won’t be nearly as bad for you after you actually become thralls. Genua loves it! She told me to let you know that she even highly recommends it! And that actually isn’t a lie.”

“I WILL NOT BECOME A VAMPIRE’S PET MONSTER!” Zafima screeched, flailing against her chains yet again like a fish caught on a hook; as if a renewed effort would somehow get her out of this mess. “I REFUSE TO BECOME A THRALL!!!”

“Please let us go…” Numin began to beg, his voice catching in his throat. “I have a family-”

“And I don’t care.” Athela cut him off with a level gaze, pointing one finger at the bare chest of the man and extending a claw. The thin black blade that her finger had turned into carved a shallow bleeding line onto his skin as he hissed in pain, and she withdrew her finger with a wicked grin. “You weren’t worried about how Kara Blackbow’s ending would go when you betrayed her for this uppity bitch who thinks far too much of herself, but now you expect me to care about yours? Actions have consequences. We like Kara, we don’t like you, and our master needs a proper blood farm. You two will be the first, but I’m sure you’ll be joined by others as time goes on.”

Athela gave them a playful wink and stepped back, redirecting her attention to the still flailing drow woman who was snarling and spitting in Athela’s direction. “And you know what’s funny about all this? You have repeatedly told me that Riven didn’t want us to harm you two… but if that was true, my minion contract wouldn’t allow me to proceed.”

Something of a twist of the truth, a gray area, but neither demon was about to say that.

Athela’s grin widened into a flow blown malevolent smile, showing bright white teeth from ear to ear in a crazed display of mania. Her hand ripped another piece of the once ornate golden dress that still clung in tatters to Zafima’s side. “And my Riven gets what he wants. Fay, bring the vial!”

“GET THAT AWAY FROM ME!” Zafima screamed, lashing out with a frantic kick - only for Athela to whip out one of her arachnid limbs from her back to skewer the drow woman’s leg just above the shackled ankles.

Zafima’s scream grew more shrill and high pitched in pain.

“I said no torture.” Fay grumbled, producing the vial of Riven’s venom that she’d procured from the man in their last snuggle session without his knowledge. “If this is going to be his Christmas present, we need to make sure all the prisoners are in top shape. Which gets me thinking… Now that we’ve learned Riven actually needs to consume people for Gluttony and not just drain them of blood, perhaps we should be a little bit more aggressive in how often we capture people and bring them here? That way, Riven won’t have to do this at random and he can just come and pick a person to eat! How nice!”

“That’s a great idea!” Athela exclaimed, slamming an open palm against Zafima’s thigh. “Hold on just a moment, I want to try Body Fusion on Zafima now that I finally have the skill. My ability to sneak around is great, but this should be a great interrogation method even if my Faith isn’t that high!”

“Good for interrogating weaklings, perhaps. But yes, I agree.” Fay nodded. “Go on then, show me what you’ve got.”

“Yes, Breasts. I will obey.”

“Don’t call me Breasts! I’ve told you I don’t like that nickname!”

“What about Horny Breasts, because now you have bigger horns too?” Athela raised a teasing eyebrow, and then over the continued screams of the dark elf enchantress - Athela’s body began to warm. She turned into a writhing pool of blood, coiling around in the air as the place where her palm had been began digging a shallow hole through Zafima’s skin. Athela poured her own thoughts into Zafima’s mind, her own body into Zafima’s flesh, and the chained woman began to convulse while drooling out the side of her mouth. Athela’s mass shrank down to nothing, absorbing into Zafima’s blood vessels as the captured woman’s eyes turned a bright red - her skin showing black patches with occasional white areas similar to how Athela’s own skin was. The soft muscles of the enchantress became toned and smooth, and it looked like she was being zapped by lightning over and over again by the way her muscles contracted against the chains.

Eventually the convulsions stopped, and the drow woman lowered her head - and opened her mouth.

“That works a lot better than force feeding it or pushing it through an open cut.” Fay murmured, and popped the cork of the vial before letting half of the fluid drain down the drow’s throat.

In an instant, Athela ripped out of the shallow area she’d entered into and the wound was sealed shut with bloodsilk.

“AH-HAAA! IT WORKS!” Athela squealed, spinning around and yanking Fay into a tight hug to bring around with her spin.

“PUT ME DOWN ATHELA!” Fay laughed.

But Athela ignored her and continued to spin three more times with the succubus in her arms before dropping the other woman and planting a firm kiss on Fay’s lips. “I can’t believe it worked so well! I was able to read her thoughts, although only briefly, and I could control her movements after overcoming her own resistances! This is an AMAZING ability to have!”

Numin gawked in horror in the background, staring at the two demonic women and then glancing back to the other drow prisoner - where Zafima was gagging on the vampiric venom she’d been forced to drink. She looked sickly and pale, and her breaths came shallow.

“Now it should only be a few more months of regular venom before they become more subservient.” Athela said with a self-satisfied smirk, putting her hands on her hips and setting herself in a wide stance. “Hehe! This is great! Now let’s do the same thing with Numin and get back out of here. It may only look like we’re in deep meditation, but if we stay here too long then Riven will get suspicious. Can’t have that until the job is done.”

Fay nodded her agreement and followed Athela back over to the dangling chained man. “Yeah. But we need to find more variety for Riven’s bloodline to bolster. Gluttony said that we should have multiple races and varying species in order to have the best chances to unlock more traits, so if we could get some obsidian orcs, Greed-affiliated demons, or unholy draconics while we’re here in the descent - those races would be hard to come by back on Panu. Let’s just keep that in mind and be on the lookout, and then whatever extras we manage to capture in battle can be for him to actually eat.”