6 Chapter 6: Criminal
[Third Person's Point of View]
Augustus' indignant cry left the room with an awkward silence.
'Wow. This is exactly what I needed', Augustus deadpanned in his mind. 'This whole situation seems to be a cruel joke, as if some higher power is getting a kick out of my suffering. Hmm, sound familiar.....'
'Dammmit'
"Loki, you deceitful bastard! Reveal yourself, I am well aware you are out there, you are fooling no one!", shouted Augustus, as he pointed to the entrance of the library behind him
There was a moment of silence as Augustes let out a sigh of relief. He had not expected anyone to come out, and he would have been horrified if someone had unexpectedly appeared.
[Say 'Menu' to continue]
Augustus was becoming increasingly frustrated with his new system, and he had only just obtained it. Why couldn't it have shown this information before he embarrassed himself? However, if someone were to observe him closely, they could see that his body was trembling with anticipation.
"Menu", he prompted quickly.
[Congratulations, you are the chosen one!]
[Ascendance System fused with your soul]
[Based on your initial race, the Abyss Pathway has been selected for you.]
[Note from #########- Congratulations, Chosen One, on receiving the Ascendance System. This powerful tool will help you rise through the ranks of life, shedding your weak and feeble mortal shell and becoming an Outer God - the ultimate position. Take this opportunity with gratitude, for even someone as insignificant and worthless as you has been given a chance to stand amongst ourselves.]
"You FUCKI-----"
Just as Augustus was about to unleash his fury at the message's audacity, another notification appeared.
[PS.- Before you start cursing and blaming me or the system, keep in mind that it is not a sentient being. It will only respond to specific commands or requests that have been programmed into it. Any other questions or requests will go unanswered, both from the system and myself. So go ahead and wander around aimlessly, there's nothing more you can do hahahaha.
Though we would meet soon enough.
Till then, take care, my love.]
The message concluded with a ding, reminiscent of a bell tolling. Then, a flood of words cascaded down the screen before Augustus could even process the previous message.
[The system offers all the necessary tools for the user to successfully ascend without any difficulties. However, it is up to the user how they choose to utilize these tools.]
[Acendance System (Version-FatherofDevils)]
[Status]
[Shop]
[Missions]
[info]
Overall, the System was quite basic, but Augustus was content with what he had. He made a mental note to come back to the message later and instead focused on his current priority: exploring the system.
'Status', he called out mentally.
[Status]
[Name- Augustus Ashford]
[Title- Low-Class Devil, The Chosen One]
[Race-Lesser Devil]
[Pathway- The Abyss]
[Tarot-The Devil (*image*)]
[Sequence-9, Criminal]
[Progress-02%]
[Abilities- (Strong Body-Low) (Keen Instincts-Low) (Weapon Mastery-High) (Killng Mastery-High) (Crime Knowledge-High) (Evil Desire-Low)*
Racial Abilities- (Demonic Power-D+)
*Reduce due to influence of #$&*%@#]
As Augustus read through everything, he was taken aback. Then it hit him - why did it all seem so familiar?
Even though Augustus wasn't an avid reader of Webnovels in his previous life, he still managed to read three or four of them. And out of all the ones he read, Lord of The Mysteries was at the very top.
With its captivating world-building and underlying Lovecraftian-horror motif, this book quickly became one of his all-time favorites.
But it was a world he would never choose to be reincarnated into, considering that he would be corrupted the moment he woke up in that world.
Despite his fears, he continued to function with surprising efficiency, relieved that he hadn't transformed into an eldrich reproducing insanity. This helped ease some of his concerns.
'Is this world one of those weird crossovers?', wondered Augustus, However, he has yet to find any evidence that supports this claim.
'One more thing to look out for', as he pondered, he took a closer look at the pathway and sequence he was given.
'Father of Devils'? The phrase caught his attention, as it was the same as his in-game username. Was this merely a coincidence? As he continued to explore, he noticed that the system version name was also 'FatherofDevils'. This was the same ID he had been recognized by in his previous life - one of many things that defined him.
However, Augustus was aware that it held a much more profound and terrifying significance.
In the novel, Lord of The Mysteries, The Father of Devils referred to the Above-The-Sequence of 2 specific pathways out of the 22 standard pathways of ascendance- The Abyss and The Chained.
That way all of these would make sense, as the starting sequence, Sequence-9 of the Abyss pathway is Criminal.
The sequence scales, ranging from Sequence 9 at the bottom to Sequence 0 at the top, are divided into three sub-levels: Low, Mid, and High Sequence.
The low sequence is made up of Sequence-9, and Sequence-8, all of whom are beyonders in the process of discovering their powers and unraveling mysteries.
Mid Sequence encompasses those who have reached Sequence-7, Sequence-6, and Sequence-5. These individuals possess advanced knowledge and skills in the matter of mysteries and often hold high-ranking positions in various organizations. Reaching Sequence-4 is considered the gateway to the realm of Demigods, popularly known as Saints, where one experiences a significant increase in power and life level.
At the pinnacle of orthodox ascendancy lies the High-Level sequences: Sequence-4, Sequence-3, Sequence-2, and Sequence-1. Similar to Sequence-4, reaching Sequence-2 is the ultimate goal for a Beyonder, as it marks the threshold of becoming an angel. At this level, one becomes a completely ageless mythical creature with a profound understanding of true authorities and concepts. And finally, at the highest level, lies the title of Archangel - reserved for those who have reached Sequence-1.
Sequence-0 is the supreme destination for those who tread the path of blasphemy. Those who reach Sequence-0 are hailed as 'True Gods', fully embodying the principles and beliefs of their chosen pathway. The concepts that led them to godhood are under their complete control, bound to obey their every whim.
Augustus knew he had struck gold. When he reaches Sequence-0, as he believes he is meant to do, he will reign supreme in this world. Even the feared ExE deities will not be able to challenge him. And beyond that lies the throne of Above-The-Sequence, his final destination.
He shuddered at the thought and realised it would not be wise to take on more than he could handle in his first attempt.
"Let's check the other functions first", softly murmured Augustus as he decided to check the other functions of the shop.
'Shop', He commanded
[Welcome to the Beyonder's shop. Here the user will get to exchange items mentioned in the novel, in exchange for currency
1. Money Exchange
2. Item Exchange
Please select one.]
Deciding to check out serially, Augustus selected Money Exchange.
[Welcome to money exchange. Exchange your money here to any denotation you like. Here are the current rates of popular denotation in your world
1 SC (System Coin)=10 Lilium (Underworld's currency)=100 US Dollars (Human World's most stable currency)
Please Enter the amount and currency you want to convert]
Despite its simplistic appearance, Augustus was confident that it would serve a crucial purpose in the future, given all of his plans.
But all that was dependent on what was on offer at the item exchange section.
'Open item exchange'
[Item exchange]
[Here user can exchange for any of the listed items in the shop after paying the corresponding fees.]
Augustus scanned the various items on display in the shop, and he could only think of one word to describe them - wild.
The sheer amount of items on display was overwhelming. He could scroll through them in no particular order, or he could use the search bar to find exactly what he was looking for. The prices ranged from as low as 100 SC to billions of SC. But the one item that immediately caught his attention and it was almost comical how expensive it was.
[The Sunlight Dusk of Omnipotence- Primary Weapon of the proud 'Eternal Blazing Sun' Aucuses. A powerful weapon in its own right, it was extensively used by 'White Angel Aucuses', when 'he' was still a King of Angels under the reign of 'Ancient Sun God'. Aucuses' lord, the 'Ancient Sun God' was a Half Great-Old-One 'God Almighty', reaching his completion. This sword was used to stab the half-ascended 'God Almighty' during his momentary weakness, creating the greatest betrayal in history, The Dusk of Gods.
The only weapon in the known omniverse to have felled a true Omnipotent and Omniscient one; dyed in the Almighty's blood, it underwent a huge change. Now even Aucuse, its owner is afraid of touching it, fearful of both its power and the dark history it carries.
Nobody knows what power it currently has.
Cost-100 Trillion SC.]
Augustus was a huge fan of swords in his last life, 'Damn Kirito and his Starburst Stream'.
But the effect and the history behind the weapon were indeed worthy of the title 'Only one in the omniverse'. Knull's Necrosword would look like a joke in front of 'The Sunlight Dusk of Omnipotence'.
Augustus desired the sword, but he understood that acquiring it would not be possible for a long, long time. The underworld simply could not afford to lose such a large sum of 1000 Trillion Lilium from its circulation. On the other hand, Earth lacked even one-tenth of the necessary funds with only 90 Trillion Dollars in circulation.
Even if by some miraculous chance he managed to obtain the sword, he would not be able to wield it until he reached at least Sequence-0 as a True God. And according to the description box, an Outer God would be needed to unleash its full potential.
Now, for the answers to the questions he was dying to hear.
"Info", a soft voice echoed in the moonlit room.
*************************************
Hello, Author-san here!!!
I think I need to upload an auxiliary chapter to explain a few things about LoTM and mainly to give you guys a deep understanding of the power-relationship between the two worlds. It will be a lot of work, and though much of it will be copy and paste, I will still try to explain it in a way that makes it very easy for you guys.
Oh, and official Illustration of the characters are coming, so stay tuned ;))) (I am just one step away from tearing my hair----- Making all these illustrations from scratch is too time-consuming, even with the AI Image Gen I am using. Too much fine-tuning to do. The cover for the book and the devil tarot took four hours before the AI generated the one I wanted. What a bummer :xxx )
So don't expect a chapter for a day or two. And leave a few comments and votes, as it encourages me to do my best.
Reviews are also appreciated.
Thank You <3< strong>
