Chapter 126 - Touting of Power
"...hee hee heh heh..." Lamashtu giggled at first. It slowly started to change into a chuckle. Drawing all of Satan's servants in the spacious room to look at her, they became wary of her more. Seemingly unable to contain herself, she started cackling out loud.
"What has your vile thing done?" one spoke out loud with irritation.
"...ha ha ha..." she responded calming down a little.
"Do you not understand the gravity of what has happened whore?" Selbith stated with a mocking smirk. Her comment made the loyalists frown at her.
"Your King now has a rival."
"Satan has no equal! This is his domain," one proclaimed with doing a swipe motion with her hand.
"Once he destroys that creature, he will make you two our servants."
"...really now..." the deity began to say after stopping her giggle. The entire room's air suddenly felt heavy. All saw her eyes glow hauntingly as a grin came on her face.
"And tell me...who will save you from me...you harlot maggots?"
"Our lord gave us gifts," one stated as it drew out its weapons. Only the loyalists copied that demon's actions. The others that did not, started backing away instead. Looking cautiously at Lamashtu, they felt the urge to flee instead of fighting her.
"Is this the best that Satan's personal slaves can muster?" Ami mocked with malice. Getting her firearm out, she pointed at the nearest one.
"Your tongue and head will be on a platter for your insolence mortal!" one attendant lashed out offended.
"..." Lamashtu responded with narrowing her eyes.
All the loyalists were decapitated in an instant. Taking the remaining servants by surprise, they saw all of the floating heads burst like a water balloon. With fear running down their spines, the headless bodies hit the ground lifelessly. Letting out a short demonic chuckle, the goddess raised her hand towards the remaining attendants. Opening her eyes a little wider, she kept the dark grin on her face.
"Anyone else wish to test my authority?" she asked evenly with a distorted tone. All of them shook their heads immediately.
"Well now...all of you are going to answer my questions about our...esteemed lord of the Underworld," she continued with a lighter sounding voice.
"..." all of them remained still not finding comfort from her rapid aura change.
"If not...well...I have no use for you," the goddess informed and lowered her arm.
"..." the servants nodded their heads again looking at her with apprehension. Seeing movement to the deity's left, they saw the gunslinger lower her weapon. Pointing down at the ground, she didn't put it away or let her finger go of the trigger.
"By the way Selbith," the woman asked glancing at the female teen. "Shouldn't you be doing something right now?"
"...what do you mean?" she asked glancing back at her.
"Shouldn't you be chasing your one and only soulmate?"
"..." Ami reacted with a small frown. About to speak, Lamashtu put a finger perpendicular to her mouth.
"Tell me Selbith...If I help you and our concubine...will their be a repeat of what happened in Pandora's Box?"
"..." the gunslinger reacted with a blink. Processing what she said, she couldn't help herself to not give a sadistic smile.
"If you help Lamashtu...then Pandora's Box will be a precedent of what will happen to the Hell King now."
"...how...refreshing..."
"Did all make it out of Hell?" Rodger asked mildly biting the inside of his lower lip.
"...minus Jin...yeah," Bill stated. Though there was a relief all around from getting so many players out, the aspect that they couldn't get one out put weight on their shoulders. Shaking his head, the lead monitor tech changed feeds.
"All have reached the outskirts of Stratnum and are heading into the town."
"...okay..." the lea programmer commented. "When all get logged out, we'll try to figure out a way to get the ones in Purgatory next."
"...shouldn't we...try to find a way to get Jin out first?" Bill asked turning to him.
"..." Rodger remarked with a blink and looked at him.
"Not saying we should forgo getting the masses out first...but...that kid has done a lot and gone through hell," he stated. Employees in ear shot looked over and gave similar sentiments.
"I feel the same," the lead programmer agreed with a nod. Folding his arms over the chest, he looked conflicted.
"To be honest, I want to get him out so that he doesn't have to suffer anymore...on the other hand...he is our wild card. He helped get all the players out initially and was the one that opened the portal for us to get the ones out in Hell."
"I know that we are working on trying to re-write his profile so he can be able to log out...but is there anything that we can do to help him while he is trapped in there?" Sam asked.
"..." he responded with looking deep in thought. Looking up, he turned to Bill.
"You would have more in depth knowledge of what admin powers can do than me. What can we do for players?"
"Well if we had the admin codes that Adam has, we can basically make the gamer become virtually anything in the game. Kind of similar to using cheat codes to enable god-mode or get all items for example. However since it is an administrative code that we are using, it won't be seen as if cheat codes were used. That means there won't be glitching of the player's avatar."
"...that is at least something...wait...he is registered as an A.I. character despite being an actual player...will that still work?"
"We can try and see what happens," the lead monitor tech commented.
Getting a head nod from Rodger, he turned around and filtered the character list. While getting into the A.I. section, both men heard people moving around them. The other workers were slowly crowding around and looking at the larger monitor. Going back, he narrowed down the in-game computer characters to a single one. Opening up the profile, he then uploaded the live feed of where the individual was at.
[STOP RUNNING AWAY COWARD!] a monstrous demon shouted at him. Flanking a hard right down a horror filled hallway, Satan's demonic form appeared slamming into the wall. Without pausing from cratering the wall in, the Hell King pushed off and continued his flight pursuit of the Blighter.
"...damn...he pissed off the real Satan in the game..." one employee commented.
"One wrong move and more likely he will be toasted," another stated.
[IF YOU WON'T FACE ME, THEN I WILL HAVE MY ARMY HUNT YOU DOWN. ALL OF YOUR GUTS WILL BE SERVED TO ME ON YOUR RIBCAGE!] the Underworld lord barked.
About to send a Hell fireball at the male teen, Jin suddenly went backwards at the same speed he was going forward. Impacting with the devil within a second, all saw the male teen turned around quickly. Cocking back his interlaced hands that were over his head, he let out a glitching low pitched roar that sounded menacing. Upon getting within each other's space, the Blighter hammered his hands downward on the Hell King's head. Sounding like loud grenade going off in auditorium, the fallen angel hit the ground hard.
The force behind the blow kept pushing Satan into the floor. Cratering deeper and deeper, the sound of the hallway breaking apart with tortured souls screaming from it created a hyper horror themed scene. Without hesitation, Jin flew away down the hallway instantly. The workers noted that despite the dead stoic look on the male teen's face, an aura of him being in agony seemed to emit. Seeing him clench his teeth and stretch out his left hand to reach for something, his speed doubled.
"...!?" everyone reacted with surprise.
Seeing a Hell commander appearing, his head impacted with the Blighter's hand. Not even stopping, the demon's head was ripped off without effort as he kept flying forward. The end of the corridor came into view frighteningly quickly. Instead of flanking again, Jin went through it like a ramming train. A few seconds later, he came out going through several meters of infrastructure and bedrock. Seeing him slowing down to his previous speed, he looked barely injured.
"Bill...get him out of Hell," Rodger stated firmly. "If there are any restricted areas that Satan can't go to, put him there."
"On it," the lead monitor tech affirmed the order.
Opening up the command input program, he began typing fast. Finishing the last line, everyone heard a Godzilla loud of a scream that sounded inhuman. Exploding out of the area that the player went through, Satan's red demonic form was a steroid version now. Looking beyond more terrifying than before, he flew after the Blighter faster than before. Hearing the other workers stating to him to hurry up, Bill hit the enter key.
"Transferring in...3...2...1..." he said giving the countdown.
[DIE YOU REJECT!] the Hell King bellowed monstrously. Cocking his right arm, he swung down with his sharp claws protruding. Almost making impact, his hand went through the Blighter. Blinking and seeing that the male teen's body had faded, it suddenly vanished.
[WHAT!? WHERE DID YOU GO!? SHOW YOURSELF YOU WORM!] he yelled angrily.
"..." Bill reacted closing the live feed to Hell. Sighing in relief, he turned around in his chair. To his surprise, the workers were looking at him with anticipation.
"Where did you send him?"
"Yeah. Come on. Where?"
"You didn't send him there did you?" Rodger asked with a sigh through his nose.
"That was the only place I could think off on the fly," the lead monitor tech answered flatly.
"...got it...everyone back to your stations."
"Oh come on!" one worker retorted as well as a couple of others.
"Instead of monitoring Hell," the lead programmer began and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Monitor Heaven activities."
'...what the...' Adam thought blinking in confusion. 'Where did he go?'
"..." he stated and opened up the character profile. Doing filters to find the location of the Blighter, he found him.
"...ha...that safe haven will not protect him..." the programmer commented with a smirk. "Actually...having him there will give me even more time."
'So that leaves just Lamashtu and the gunslinger named...Selbith,' the man thought with a frown. Going back to the live feed of Satan's personal chamber, it showed the deity virus interrogating the Hell King's servants. Standing next to it was white haired female teen.
'I get the very suspicion that I have been lied to about her...from everyone...and including her.'
"Well then...let me make a reason to fear," Adam muttered with a tight smile. Opening up a command code window, he began inputting administrative codes.
"The creators," he finished. Hitting the enter key, the code in the program flashed red then disappeared.
[Teleportation Sequencing...commencing] the computer indicated on a pop-up window.
"..." the programmer responded and looked at the live feed. The two individuals he inputted the admin code for started to fade. Seeing them look confused at themselves, they vanished. Seeing the servants confused expressions made him smirk.
"..." Renee spoke breaking out of her train of thoughts.
Looking around her, the Felmorts and Dr. McCole left to go retrieve a spare monitor and headset. Looking at the doorway to the hallway, her mother was with the Ainsleys. Given how Jin's mother looked, she seemed to be having a difficult time with how things were progressing. Gene seemed both equally captivated from what was happening in the game and worried about his older brother. Looking around her bed, the headset and the monitor were still near her.
'Regardless of where he is or what he is changing into,' she spoke in her head firmly. Grabbing the headset and putting it on, she went to the TV. Orienting to be facing the head of the bed, she turned it back on. Getting back into the bed, she waited till the screen loaded.
'I'm going to help him until he gets out of there...whether he likes it or not.'
'...' Jin reacted with a frown from being instantly transported again. Looking around at the surroundings of white clouds, there was a golden shine coming up ahead.
'Back here again,' he thought with a deadpan expression.
Still hovering, he looked down at the white air fluff below him. Seeing his hands and bringing them to his face, his skin had changed again. Instead of the black veins showing on his hands and wrist, they had trailed up to the mid of his biceps. Looking like a severely infected person, the contrast with his pale skin and stained blood made him feel less human. Looking at his legs, the blackness network trailed up to his thighs as well.
"..." the Blighter grunted mildly. Lowering his hands, he sank toward the clouds. Not thinking he would be able to stand on them, he blinked in surprise when he didn't go through. Standing on the visible mass of condensed water vapor, he tried to figure out how could he given what he has morphed into.
"...whatever..." the male teen stated out loud. Heading towards the golden gates, it brought memories of the battle with the fake devil in Pandora's Box.
[...Jin...do you hear me? It's Renee]
'...not again...' he thought with irritation. It was the first voice that spoke to him and tried to convince him that it was someone he knew.
[Jin...how are you in Heaven's realm?] she asked a little confused. [Weren't you in Hell?]
"...don't know...just vanished from Hell and ended up here," he responded with a neutral voice. Walking forward, he scanned left to right with caution. The thought of the guardians materializing from the clouds came to his mind.
[Did Lamashtu do that?]
"...I was not near her at the time...Satan was chasing me outside of his palace or something..."
[This looks like the place I was sent when you went off to find the last demon virus. Is it?]
"...possibly...but I do not know if it is the same."
[You think there are guardians here and will attack you again?]
"...possibly...but I have not encountered anyone or thing," the male teen answered.
[Does it feel the same? I know when I went there to that holy castle, the surrounding air felt heavy and dark like something twisted underneath its face] Renee explained. The more she pushed aside the feelings of him not believing her and focused on being his observer, it made her feel less hopeless.
"...no...this feels light...and holy..." he replied continuing to look side to side.
Only halfway to the golden gates, there was someone standing on the other side of it. Seeing the angelic wings on its back, Jin wondered if it was one of the warriors that battled the fake Satan. Deciding to not use any demonic power to appear in front of it, he levitated. Going forward at a faster pace than walking, he watched the holy swordsman. Seeing the angel's face, it held an unpleasant expression toward him the closer he got. Slowing down to stop a couple of yards away from the gates, the Blighter lowered and stood on the massive cloud.
"...!?" the angel reacted with blinking in surprise. He kept looking at the male teen's face then at his feet.
[How...are you able to stand on the clouds?] the female teen asked confused. [Aren't you an unholy being? Anyone that isn't pure would fall through]
"Is this one of Satan's tricks? How are you able to stand on the clouds demon?" the holy swordsman demanded.
"That's a good question. What if I told you I have no idea?" Jin responded giving a slow blink.
"You think I will believe anything that comes out of your tainted mouth? You are a fool. Leave here at once."
"What if I don't leave?" the Blighter asked staring hard at the swordsman with wings.
"You can't pass through these gates so you can stand there. However given how unsightly and fowl you are, you will taint the holiness of Heaven's Entrance," the angel answered then made hand gestures at him. "Shoo demon."
"If I am impure and demonic," the sophomore asked while tilting his head to the left. "How can I be standing on these...masses of holistic condensed water vapor?"
"Masses of...I don't care! All Satan's creatures are full of trickery, mischief, and lies!"
[Masses of holistic condensed water vapor?] Renee repeated with mild tone of mocking. [You think throwing anything scientific at a religious zealot will do anything?]
"Shut up," Jin muttered quietly. He frowned a little hearing the voice giggle a little sounding amused. Focusing on the winged swordsman, his eyes turned to the golden gates.
"You can't open them demon. But if you want to die while being cleansed, be my guest."
'The guardian said the same thing back then too...hmm,' the Blighter thought.
[He did?]
'...' the male teen reacted with a deadpan face. '...great...now you can read my thoughts...'
[The guardian back then was pretty upset that you could cross the clouds...do you think you'll have an army of angel warriors after you if you can open the gates?] she wondered.
'...probably...' he mentally spoke.
Going toward center where both gate doors met, there was no lock on it. Instead of reaching his hands out to open it, he focused on his telekinesis ability. Surprising both himself and Renee, the angel looked floored as the gates opened enough for him to squeeze through. Hovering and going through, he stopped near the holy swordsman. Pointing at him with a flabbergasted face, the winged man only uttered sounds from his mouth.
"...so..." Jin asked with a stoic face staring the person down. "...what happens now...friend?"
"T-This is p-preposterous!" he exclaimed loudly with a tone of disbelief. About to draw out his sword, the Blighter was instantly in front of his voice.
"...D...o...n...'...t...u...n...l...e...s...s...y...o...u...d...o...n...'...t...w...a...n...t...k...e...e...p...y...o...u...r...f...a...c...e..." the male teen threatened with his black-frost white eyes glowing hauntingly.
"...damn you..." the angel cursed with clenched teeth.
[Threatening the guardian at the gates is not a good first impression] Renee informed still in disbelief that he could open up Heaven's gates.
'You think how I look would make any good impression?' he thought back.
[...true...you are pretty scary even naked]
'...mmmm...' he thought with a small frown and grunting.
"Are you going to kill me demon?" the holy swordsman asked with a look of irritation.
"..." the male teen replied with a blink and backed up a bit. "...no..."
"..." he said narrowing his eyes suspiciously.
"Are there any warrior mortals that are trapped here?" the Blighter asked. It caught the Angel by surprise, but he did not move from being in an offense stance.
"...how...do you know about them?"
"...call it scavenge hunt..."
"...are they your followers?"
"No...I do not believe any are...however, I can assume there is a batch of them that would not be admitted to this place," Jin explained with moving his hand to show an open palm. "This happened around the time that pseudo Armageddon occurred earlier. It opened a portal to the different judgment realms from the mortal realm."
"...yes..." the winged man agreed. Becoming less tense, he adjusted his stance to not look on the defensive. However, he kept a hand on his sword handle.
"They seemed to have taken advantage of getting into Heaven when both ours, Hell gates, and Purgatory gates opened up in the mortal realm...did you escape from Hell?"
"...no...but I was infected with a virus from Hell," the Blighter stated then gave an open palm gestured. "As you can see...it is progressing rather rapidly."
"..." the Angel reacted with looking him up and down. "...yes...I believe you. I do not believe I have seen that type of infection before, but you do emit a rather peculiar demon aura."
"Would it trouble you to show me where those mortals are?" the male teen asked. "I only see clouds from where we are."
"It would trouble me. I cannot let you pass through despite the circumstances you have obtained," the holy swordsman stated firmly. "I believe what you say, I just don't trust you since you are demonic."
[If the other players were captured from being in the holy land...maybe suggesting capturing you and taking you to where they are imprisoned?] Renee piped in.
'...' Jin responded with a blink and a short pause. '...wouldn't hurt to ask...'
"How about capturing me as a way to take me to the mortals?" he asked.
"...hmm..." the gate guard said then thought about it. "Why should I trust you that you will give up so willingly?"
"I really don't want to cause a one person army war here," the male teen emphasized. "I am offering an easier method that is less destructive."
"Sounds easier...yes...but I still don't trust you-!?" the winged man stated then his face was grabbed by the teen. Bringing him to his face, the black veins on his face intensified. Protruding more and changing his face to look more cruel, all of them pulsated giving the angel a small flare of goosebumps.
"YOU WILL TAKE ME TO THEM OR I WILL RIP APART EVERY SINGLE ENTITY IN THIS FREAKING SO CALLED AFTER DEATH PARADISE!" the Blight raged with many threatening sounding voices everywhere.
"...!?" the angel reacted with a forced nod. Feeling the death grip on his face being let go, the tainted and undead looking mortal continued to glare at him.
"...w...a...l...k..."
"...just so you know..." he began then was cut off again.
"...if...warriors...come...you...better...convince...them."
"..." the man responded with doing a silent prayer. Finished, he flapped his wings up and down. Rising up to the air, he saw the Blighter float up to his height then stayed in place. Turning around and flying north, Jin followed him at the same rate of speed.
[Don't think I have ever seen a demonic looking person strong arm and twist an Angel's arm before]
"..." he spoke with just a blink.
[Especially when the said person is only here to get gamers out that got trapped]
"...whatever..."