53 Uriel.
The god of wine made sure to put on the mask again and assume his other persona, Enyo. It was a tribute to the Greek goddess of war. Whether that was a coincidence or not remained to be seen. Nonetheless, I think just that painted just good enough a picture of what he would be doing.
After the large metal door closed with a loud shut, I stealthily followed them back again. Although with Ein's presence, the creature, I had to be extra careful about the way I went about it.
I had to remain a pretty good distance away from the couple of them. Despite my precautions, she was somehow still able to sense; albeit the most she did was look in my general direction. It was still impressive, quite frankly.
We seemed to be heading up this time, however. The pair silently walked until they only stopped at the entrance of a certain floor. What was different this time around was the number that was deeply engraved on the wall: it was a large number 9.
My instincts flared up, and while it was not to the same intensity when we were at the Niddhog's resting place... It was still quite significant.
The effect only kept getting stronger and stronger as we ventured further into the 9th floor. We closed in some sort of large door, and it was an antique metal looking door.
It wasn't anything crazy, there weren't any decorations or such on it. But what caught my attention were the deep gnashed claw marks on it. That should be at least some sort of indication... My guard was raised to the maximum.
I wouldn't get caught lacking like before.
*Creak*
Enyo opened the room with a golden key that he brought from his pockets.
Strangely, only a key appeared to be needed. I was half expecting Dix's presence to be needed somehow. As the door opened, I couldn't help but widen my eyes.
What greeted my sights were frankly disturbing sights. It was even more disturbing than Dix's makeshift torture chambers— that said something.
Unlike the previous room, this room was sufficiently lit. Something that let me fully take in the happenings in this area. I was not that pleased.
In the middle of the dirt floor lay a large tree-like creature, and in its centre lay something that resembled a woman. But that was not all.
On the ceilings were the tangled vines and branches that originated from the 'Tree'.
[Uriel- Lvl?]
One of the six great spirits: The earth spirit. Currently incapacitated. Incubating Jewel Fetuses.
I grimaced at that, 'Uriel.... Incapacitated...' The puzzle was starting to slowly come together.
However, I couldn't fully take in the information that lay in front of me. Something else captured my attention.
There was an unending amount of Xenos and monsters that were chained up and linked to the 'tree' branches.
'Is Enyo the one that buys the Xenos from Dix?' I muttered. The vast amount and variety made that a very compelling argument.
[ Minotaur Xeno-Lv4( Early stages of infection)]
HP: 2120/2900
MP: 300
I even chanced upon some adventurers as well.
[Salim-Lvl2( Middle stages of infection.)
HP: 340/500
MP: -
There were a lot more infected lifeforms in this room. I even saw some normal boars and cattle. It seems there was no discrimination. The vines seemed to be glowing as they entered the flesh of each host. It was all coming back to the 'tree' as it pulsed in what I can only assume to be a delightful reaction.
"We are so close to perfecting the way to produce Demi spirits," said Enyo.
His gaze was impassive as he looked at the forest of half-corpses in front of him. Each body was dried up and aged. I couldn't know about the monsters, but the adventurers' skin all but turned grey with red webs going throughout the exposed part of their bodies and foam escaped their mouths.
It took me a while to understand what he meant, but then I widened my eyes in realisation.
'It can't be...' I muttered.
Enyo confidently walked amidst the forest of half-dead corpses, completely unaffected. In fact, I might even say that he liked it...
He kept treading until he reached the red membrane in the middle of the 'tree' that was linked to the 'hosts'. I could see some jewels jiggling inside it.
Enyo put his hand on it and cranked his neck to look at the 'Woman' in the centre of the tree. Furthermore, he seemed to wait a moment or two, hoping for any sort of reaction from her.
Alas, a response never came around.
"Feed well, freak." he encouraged after a while. I couldn't see his face behind that mask of his, but I could have sworn I saw a wide smile forming on the black and white mask.
Enyo chatted with just as equally undisturbed Ein for a while before heading out. Although, she seemed to look more intently at the trapped spirit.
I suppose there might be some history behind that...
-----
Nothing fascinating happened after that Spirit event, not that I was not already surprised by what already happened.
Now without any other distractions and the need to keep up my stealth, I could more rationally take in the information I received.
The first thing that crossed my mind was the major contradictions going on. How could Ouranos not know of such a thing, or is he going by his usual hands-free philosophy?
He could have misinformed, or he might have been misinformed himself— which I doubt. Or, the most probable scenario was that Enyo was simply delirious...
Unfortunately, there was no way for me to force the god of wine to tell me what his thoughts are. He was still a god. There was no way to anticipate what would his reaction be. He could even go 'Fuck it all', release his divinity and remove my existence from the world. The only consequence would be getting 'exiled' back to heaven.
There was also the matter of urgency... I was indeed curious about the history of the world. But is my curiosity enough to balance the hundreds of thousands of lives that could be potentially lost?
'I think not...'
I was no hero, but waging that many people's lives would leave a bad taste in my mouth.
"What are you thinking so hard about?" Hephi's voice rang in my ears.
-------
[Akagi Ken]
Level:5
HP: 7700
MP: 3850
STR: 138
VIT: 140
DEX: 140
WIS: 138
Unallocated Stat points: 156
Valis: ~10mil
-Strength: E420
-Endurance: D530
-Dexterity: D580
-Agility: D580
-Magic: E410
Skills: Gamers Mind - Gamers Body - Instinct - Mind's Eye (True) - Mage - Mystery- MasterSmith- One-Handed Sword Mastery - Rejuvenation - Shapeshifting - Mixing- HeadPatting- Luck- Endless Libido- Battle continuation- Mana Burst.
Magic: Ele magic - Non-Ele magic - Inventory- Space-Time magic.
