Now that the dust has settled, it's time for the next chapter!
The story so far: Momonga and five of his online guildmates have been flung into a whole new world, a dark and miserable place. In here, their bodies have been turned into that of their avatars, monstrous beings that had been worshiped by their former NPC servants-who were responsible for bringing this world to chaos in the first place. After their destruction of a hideous place called the Crossroads, what will each of them do now, when the call of destiny beckons?
And now, on with the story!
It was said that the depths of the Demon King's Palace were apportioned for the imprisonment of his enemies, who await the King's justice in feverish hunger within narrow, coffin-like chambers; constantly oppressed by the shrill screams from the torture chambers nearby. In the darkest corners of those chambers lay those who'd been entirely forgotten by the King's justice, their bones gnawed by countless vermin.
Deeper still were said to be treasures uncountable: massive chambers filled to the brim with magical items bursting with power; swords that could destroy a continent, gems that could bring prosperity, potions for the blind to see, and the lame to walk. All were plundered from countless vaults belonging to that vaunted human race, and now all were hidden away for the sake of the Kingdom, that no one should misuse their potential.
There were levels even further down, filled with horrific machines too gruesome for even the Demon King's palate, designed by maniacal minds with fertile imaginations. Within deep pits where no light was permitted to shine, unruly ghoulish fiends vie eternally for supremacy. Here were buried the worst secrets that the Kingdom harbored, whose revelation would make even the Demon King's tail curl up in shame.
Yet unknown to all but the Demon King himself, there was one last level even deeper than that, close to the very heart of the earth. It was an immense, cavernous chamber, designated for the most important work of all.
Here dwelt the other member of the Demon King's grand conspiracy. It was garbed in a tattered, ratty cloak, its body gnarled and bent, its face twisted to be so unrecognizable that only the Demon King knew it had once been human.
Only the Demon King knew its purpose here, at the furthest depths of the earth. It was at once prison and workshop; to contain the creature and its dangerous knowledge within an environment only the Demon King could control. Yet this creature would not even know the full magnitude of its work, and that was fine. It needed only to succeed once, and then it would behold the Supreme Beings, infinite in majesty.
"So these are the new batch?" the creature asked, its words hissed through rotten, misshapen teeth. "Hmmm... Fresh meat, strong, and wilful!" It moved in front of the humans Demiurge had gathered, who were all laboring under a strong compulsion skill. "Yes... Yes... They will serve."
"Are you sure? How certain are you now of success?" Demiurge asked. The doubt was evident in his tone.
The creature made a gurgling sound in its throat. "One will never be sure of success... my lord. There is always a great chance of fffailure. Hng. We must have faith, faith that the True Masters will finally heed our call. That is all we can hope for."
"I am growing tired of the repeated failures," Demiurge said, pacing, his tail swishing behind him. "Week after week I deliver sacrifices to this malodorous pit, with nothing to show for it! Where are the Masters you promised me, vermin? Better still, even just a message from them is enough. And you cannot even provide that?"
The creature rubbed the jelly-like jowl of its cheek. "This is the best this humble servant can do, my lord. I promise to do better, always, week by week, but this is the absolute limit of my abilities. If you are still dissatisfied, then feel free to dispose of this useless self."
"I did not think you were this impertinent."
"Oh, not at all!" the creature cried, raising its hands. The hem of its cloak raised, revealing for an instant a disgusting mass of pus-laden bumps dripping with foul sweat. "But these are the facts, my lord Demon King. Now..." It turned to the newest batch of humans. "I always have confidence in success. If this batch presents an ironclad defiance to the pain the ritual bestows, then maybe... Yes... Maybe..."
While the creature inspected each of the trembling humans in turn, Demiurge brushed some dust from the front of is coat and sighed.
"You... Do you know something of the prophecies of the Godsfall?" he asked.
"Hrm? Prophecy? I fear I am not skilled in divination, milord."
"I see. Carry on then," Demiurge said.
Within his crafty mind, Demiurge could admit to being more than slightly unnerved by the appearance of a so-called "sun in the middle of night". More troubling was the fact that it had been estimated to have appeared uncomfortably close to where Nazarick was.
Could it be some scheme of that detestable Sebas Tian? And yet he was sure the other Guardian did not have the capability to create that ominous sight, which had been seen over the horizon from as far as the westernmost coasts of the former Holy Kingdom.
He was sure it was not Shalltear; information from his spies within her little domain had not shown even the barest hint nor whisper of an all-out offensive.
He then thought of the twins, the most likely suspects; and yet he was sure neither had the penchant for wholesale destruction without explicit orders from the Supreme Beings. Neither had chosen "sides" in the previous conflict, which would have destabilized the delicate balance of power Demiurge had maintained; and for that he was grateful. If they acted now, then that was troubling, but for now he put away that possibility.
That left-but she could not have done that, for all that her artifact could have accomplished such a thing. He had only been talking to Albedo a few minutes before he'd personally seen the blooming mushroom, so unless the former Overseer had achieved instantaneous teleportation with the aid of Shalltear-or some of the other maids with [Gate]-it was impossible for it to have been her.
No, it was technically possible for the others to have accomplished an alliance without his knowing it-but what was their purpose of keeping it from him? He could only conclude it was a sort of madness, similar to that which infected the former Overseer. Only Sebas Tian would have a reason to seek vengeance; and he wasn't the one to ally with the likes of Shalltear just to get to him. If all the others were working against him in the name of a mad conspiracy, then they truly were lost.
Could they not understand that he, out of all of them, worked harder than most in searching for a way to have their Masters' return? He alone labored to scour this wretched world for the necessary tools, the rituals, and the knowledge, all while managing this kingdom of miscreants that always acted like an unruly herd of cats.
It was truly difficult to work without a Command from the Supreme Beings. It was pointless and empty, like mindlessly piling stones on top of each other to no end. For those who valued the Supreme Being's words like a newborn would a woman's teat, the long barren silence could drive anyone to the depths of pitiless despair.
"Him... yes... He shall do," the creature croaked, pointing a crooked finger at one of the humans. The human's face twisted into a mixture of fear and disgust.
"[Follow]," Demiurge commanded, making the human tremble as he followed after the twisted creature. Tapping his fingers on his coat testily, he turned to the other sacrifices and said, "And you, go to those chains and restrain yourselves-ah, you there, [Stop]!"
The creature uttered a high-pitched whine, as, a man suddenly burst from the formation with a cry, spit flying from his bearded mouth, inexplicably breaking Demiurge's previous command. But upon his further command, though, the man's body stopped, like a statue, his eyes bulging out from his skull.
"I see... I see.. You certainly are a feisty one," Demiurge said, walking over to examine the human. "And... I know you, do I not? I have seen you before... Yes... You were there with him... On that last battle. Fufufu."
It was hard to spot, with the man's copper-to-reddish hair stained innumerable with the dust from the quarry, and the subsequent wiry, muscular body that came with such work; but this was certainly the human he had seen before, who had even tried to fight him, futile as it was.
"It is strange that you're still here, whoever you are. I would have thought you'd long been consumed in a camp-" Demiurge's smile twisted, "-Or at least leading a resistance somewhere, hm? But I guess you are not a strong-man, human. Just a sad, pathetic wreck of a man." The human's eyes blazed with fury, a remarkable achievement. He turned to the creature, who'd been watching with a frightened expression. "Use this one, instead. This one has a strong will. From where does he get it, I wonder? Hope truly is a slippery thing to crush."
"As you will, milord," said the creature, moving forward to usher the newly-chosen man, while leading its fellow back to the formation.
Demiurge smiled. Oh yes, he certainly had a good feeling about today. Perhaps that one would be the key after all...
"Will you be watching today, milord?" croaked the creature, as it bustled about in the ritual area.
"Certainly."
The creature seemed to be shocked, as it stared at him through the darkness. After a while, it bleated, "V-very well..! You shall certainly see the truth of my efforts for yourself, Demon King."
Nemu looked around, confused. Just a second earlier it had been just about to destroy an intruder, but then the surroundings had warped, and it had found itself in a dark place, illuminated by a persistent red glow. She felt a presence close to her, then bowed to it.
"What is your wish, my lord Momonga?"
"Ahhh... hmmm... Nemu-chan, is something the matter?" asked the skull visage of her ultimate Master, her creator, Momonga the God of Unlife.
"No, my lord. All systems are functional."
"Oh? Well that's strange..." The twin fires on the Master's eyesockets seemed to be swiveling about, as if He were reading something glorious she wasn't meant to see. "But it says here... Have you died twice already?"
She nodded. "I was terminated twice."
"What?" the Master exclaimed, his cloak of midnight black shivering. "D-dead? But... what's going on? What's happened? Is an enemy attacking?"
"What's wrong, Momonga? Hm..? Oh, isn't that the Guardian you made?" Following its voice, Nemu's other Master came into view: Ulbert Alain Odle. He seemed to fit right in with the hellish glow surrounding this cavern, as the light made his fiendish features warp and distort in sinister ways.
"Someone's attacked us, Ulbert-san."
"Wha-? Enemy attack? Are they Players?"
"Nemu! Speak quickly! Did you catch a glimpse of your attackers?" asked her Creator.
"Yes, my lord. As my lady Bukubukuchagama commanded, I was set to guard the perimeter. Then a group of bull-men came, and I terminated them as my lady wished. But then there was a stronger person, a human, who was able to slay me once." She paused, recalling the instance of "dying", which did not feel at all bad. "After reviving, I was able to pursue it again, and destroyed a separate band of undead and their vampire leader, before I was yet again slain by the first intruder. Reviving again, I was about to destroy the first intruder, who had already been wounded, when my lord summoned me here. That is the end of my report."
"Sounds real crazy..." Ulbert remarked. The light shifted, and it seemed to her that he sneered, though it could just have been her eyes malfunctioning.
"This is bad," Momonga remarked, as he started to pace. "We have to reach the throne room as quick as we can. We have to secure Nazarick."
"But doesn't that mean..?"
The two gods seemed to be sharing something in their gazes that Nemu wasn't able to catch.
"Damnit," Momonga said, rubbing the side of his skull.
"It's fine, it's fine. I'll be the one to kill her if you don't want to, Momonga-san," Ulbert remarked. The light seemed to make Ulbert's snout grin wide, with razor-sharp teeth, but it might just be the reflected light from his clothes. "Afterwards, once we 'control' Nazarick, we can just revive her again, no?"
"She was a level 100, if I remember correctly. It will be very expensive-"
"Well, yes, but the important thing will be that we've recaptured Nazarick."
Momonga sighed. "I suppose." He turned back to Nemu. "Nemu-chan, please return outside, and watch over Bukubukuchagama. Inform her about those intruders. Maybe tell her it'd be better to go back inside Nazarick."
"Yes!"
"And..." Momonga seemed to be thinking something. For a long moment, he just stood there, before he suddenly reached over and scribbled something on her forehead. Nemu closed her eyes. The cold sensation on her lord's bony fingertips did not feel at all uncomfortable.
"What's that?" asked Ulbert.
"[Minion Vision]. I want to be able to see through Nemu-chan's eyes from time to time."
"Ahhh, good idea."
"Well then, Nemu-chan, off you go," Momonga said, waving. Beside him, Ulbert snapped his long, spidery fingers, causing a small flame to bloom as he muttered to himself.
Nemu nodded fervently, as a great light washed over her senses, and she could feel her whole self being pulled through space.
After a flash of white, Nemu looked about her. She was at the forest again, silent and dead. She readied her great-bow, then paused, when she realized that there was no sign of the invader.
"...Disappointing."
Nemu had not been gifted with "tracking" skills. The most she had was the ability to sense undead through any obstacle, but that was it. If she needed to kill that thing, then she'd have to scour this whole forest. Not a task she was averse to, but she had received new orders. Those would have to be prioritized.
She turned towards where she recalled lady Bukubukuchagama would be, and headed there.
pAIN PAIN PaiN
Every single part of her screamed.
Blood oozed from the wounds in her body.
Fire raged through her limbs, through the hole that thing had bored into her.
Worse than the PAIN was the FEAR.
Bone-numbing, gut-wrenching-
She did not know why she was still alive.
But she was.
She ran through the forest. Flee, flee, flee.
Prey, not predator.
(Am I being chased? No, no time to think, run)
She cast away her pride as a human, and failed.
And now she's cast away her pride as a killer, so nothing remained.
Though she would live, this catastrophe was something she could never forget.
In the distance they'd seemed like lanterns, swaying in the dusty wind. As the metal stallion drew closer to the town, the two riders could see better, could see the truth of it.
They were bodies, hanged by the neck and left to rot beyond the walls. Sebas felt his master check the stallion's speed, until they could just sit there and contemplate the sight. He was well aware that Touch Me was looking intently at the sight of the rotting corpses swinging idly from their ropes.
Having lived in this world for longer than he'd liked, he knew full well what had happened to them. Every single one of those hanged there were male and female humans-slaves who'd done some crime against rightful citizens.
Sebas Tian now wondered what his Master felt. The Supreme who had endowed him with everything that made him who he was; the noblest and most just soul in all the Forty-One.
"Now there's something I thought I'd never see myself," said Touch Me. "They're into this capital punishment here, then?"
It took Sebas a while before he realized his Master had actually addressed the question to him. "Capital punishment? I do not follow."
Touch Me pointed. "Execution."
Sebas blinked. "Y-yes. That is... or was the punishment for heinous crimes in this world." Though the practice persisted here, and now.
"Hm. Well, far be it for me to criticize another nation's way of justice..."
Justice? Sebas thought. Indeed, being hanged was a better fate for the human slaves than being sold by their masters to be processed into food. Hanging, in itself, was not reprehensible-the evil, the corrupt or the unjust being paid their just wages.
But humanity was, before that, enslaved. There was no justice there, in Sebas Tian's humblest opinion.
"Still, that's a really big health problem right there. And I can just imagine the stench when the wind blows just right... Do they not care because there's magic or something..? Well, in a way it sounds really convenient."
Sebas could not comprehend his Master's words, though he tried not to. He was just glad he could walk in his Creator's shadow. Whatever else happened-even just this much was enough.
The metal stallion roared to life, and the Master rode on into town.
The Demon Kingdom's territory stretched out over a large piece of territory, but it had boundaries. And beyond their borders it had tributaries: beastmen tribes numbering in the thousands, left to their own devices. Many immigrated into the Kingdom, for their own specific reasons.
Ngkah had left her tribe, hoping for a comfortable life as some low-level bureaucrat somewhere, content to live without having to become some lowly trophy passed around the campfire.
She never quite expected to be appointed assistant-director of the Pleasure City of PeroPero.
When the Kingdom was founded, devout cultists of the Forty-One were tasked to founding towns dedicated to each one of the deities. One of the few that had risen to a greater height was the one founded for the god Peroroncino. For a while, it seemed that the god, for all that he represented the exuberance of life and the celebration of the flesh, would forever be tarnished by association with his creation, the dreaded Night Queen.
But the appetites of the flesh were not soon discarded. While many would not fully brand themselves with Peroroncino's mark-thus outing themselves as a degenerate-the local cult's services became something of a legend among those in the know, surpassing even the best from the redlight districts in the cities all over the land.
Brothel matrons soon got to sending their very best to train in this town, to acquire the forbidden love arts that only those following the Debauched God would know. So what if he had created Shalltear Bloodfallen? Was that not just an extension of the god's unfathomable, but superior tastes, that a being of undeath should crave the passions of life?
The small town soon bloomed to become the so-called "Pleasure City" of PeroPero, a premier den of debauchery, catering to all sorts of lusts and fetishes each and every citizen harbored-for a price. Citizens from all over the Kingdom felt no shame in a pilgrimage once in a year to this sacred place; for not only would it be proper homage to the Supreme, it was also a way to fulfill one's deepest, darkest fantasies.
Naturally, over fifty percent of the workers here were of human stock. Of all the races in the world they were most compatible with the others, and could be easily trained without worry of reprisal from the pompous sects of Touch Me or Blueriver.
As assistant director, Ngkah's job was to worry over the training and upkeep of the thousands of humans living in this city, as well as the management of their various departments relating to security, training, management (and upkeep), among other many sections needed to keep the city afloat. She was not of Peroroncino's cult, per se, but she was a valuable bureaucrat, with a head good with numbers and facts.
In fact, she was something of an anomaly among the government employees here: her immediate superior was a strange, but powerful being known only as Solution Epsilon, or "Solution" for sort. The being that was cloaked in the garb of a female human blonde greatly exemplified the ideals of the Pleasure City, as she would always be wearing the fetish outfit of a maid, while at the same time lusting continuously for human flesh. It was the exact sort of perversion that Peroroncino's cult exalted, though the Director ever disdained being associated with any one god.
She was a hard lover too, as not one of the humans who'd spent a night with the Director ever returned. She was cold and ruthless, even in bed. Ngkah always had to write the losses off on the ledger as a "consultation fee", the very same label for a torturer being called to break in a particularly defiant individual-only to end up killing it.
But it wasn't like Ngkah didn't indulge herself. Every once in a while she'd call a human over to her house for the night, to help her scratch an itch. Nothing more. A hard-working orc like her was entitled to that at least, right?
She sighed, and put down the ledger on the table. Not even the tea her assistant had brought over could assuage her dim mood.
News had come in, straight through the [Message] network, of some disturbance in the southern parts of the Kingdom.
While ordinarily not something she should mind, the fact that PeroPero was dangerously close to the border with the Night Queen's domain meant that it would be one of the first attacked, if there was a war.
There was a chance she would survive, if such a thing were to occur. But then, what of her job? She'd come this far from her clan over the wall to seek a comfy job here with the wastrels of the Kingdom. An upset in the natural order would mean they would have to reconsider her for another position, one that might not be as nice; and should the worst happen, then she would have to be forced to fight, and that was exactly the reason she'd run away from home in the first place.
She glanced out over the window of her apartment, and down over the streets of the city, which was lined with bodies piled all around. She beheld an orgy so massive their collective cries could make one deaf; whose combined stench needed constant applications of dulling herbs on her nose. It was the weekly bacchanalia, dedicated to the Debauched God. On this day, sex was free from dawn till dusk. Many citizens would arrive the day before, and more than half of them would be freeloaders.
Inebriated patrons would toast to the Debauched God from parties on top of the various rooftops, or from balconies that faced the streets. Nothing was too racy, too kinky, too much. (Except, perhaps, indiscriminate killing; slaves were expensive.) All gloried in the unrestrained hedonism on this day.
She'd never once participated. It sounded like too much trouble, and besides, who else could run the city with most of its authorities down there?
Ngkah was glad that her superior also shared the same sentiments. Today the director was holed up in her office, and had been there since before Ngkah had showed up for work.
Said door now opened, and Solution Epsilon stepped out.
"Miss Solution," Ngkah greeted, rising. She adjusted the crumples of her uniform. "There is a matter of the-"
The blonde held out a hand to silence her. Ngkah noticed her face was pinched in a frown, as it were straining to hear something. "Do you hear that?" she said.
Ngkah shrugged. "I don't-Not particularly, ma'am."
Solution approached the window. "There's something... odd in the air..."
"Assistant director!" shouted her secretary, banging open the other door leading outside. "Below! Below!"
"What in the world...?"
What had been a vast scene of orgy on the street now became a literal bloodbath. A surge of flesh seemed to move from one end of the street to the other, forming a fatal stampede. Many slipped from the combined fluids of a hundred celebrants, and then were crushed under the heels and bodies of naked citizens and slaves desperately trying to run away. But from what?
Solution punched the glass, shattering the window. Over the thunderous tumult of screaming coming from below was a loud, piercing wail that instantly sent everyone in the room to their knees. The noise seemed to pierce Ngkah's head, hammering against her brain with fierce intensity.
She joined her voice to the cacophony, screaming until her voice got hoarse.
The floor below them shook, as if an earthquake had seized the city. Was it really the sign of the end-times?
Many leagues from the self-proclaimed Pleasure City of Peropero, and many miles high up in the heavens where none in the world could ever reach, Peroroncino deactivated the [Lidless Eye].
He blinked, unable to believe the scenes he'd just witnessed. A city filled with naked people. Fucking. In broad daylight.
Was that...?
Were those...?
And-oh crap, boner not now, of all times.
"...What in the actual fuck?"
Shurpuff says: Hello there! Hopefully you enjoyed the chapter.
Newer chapters of Godsfall and more are available for reading right now at my P atreon under "Shurpuff", so check it out if you like.
Have a nice day!