17 The Purity Of Fire
Several minutes later... - The Ancient Laboratory - Joyde's Point Of View...
A sickening schlop is heard resounding throughout the blackened corridors of this ancient sanctum as I pull my scythe out of a corpse.
Your soul feasts upon the essence of the slaughtered!
Strength increased by 20.
Agility increased by 10.
Vitality increased by 15.
Insight increased by 5. (Allocated to vitality - health bonus doubled)
+your usage of the dark power granted to you by a fiend of the deep has made you an enemy of the gods. (Lunarie and Mendrion are an exception)
+your usage of the dark power granted to you by Yyl has alerted the other Old God's to your allegiance.
Huh? Mendrion? I mean, I get Lunarie since she is one of the four deities of my Empire but Mendrion?
He was kind of my greatest enemy, even more so than Maria. The only being in this entire game who I couldn't take on alone without buffs and help from other Primal's..."Aww.. I'm gonna miss fighting you so much, Mendbro."
".... You do realize that we can still spar, right? And Mendbro? First Maria and now you, what is it with these stupid nicknames you Destined One's love to give me?!" Mendrion's voice echoes throughout my mind as I come to a halt and blink in confusion before sitting down onto the mountain of corpses I've made in order to rest a bit.
"Istvan, can we rest a bit. I ... I need to sit down for a moment." I ask the elder Vampire who seems to have adopted a rather smug look on his face whilst cleaning his scythe from all the guts and gore that stuck onto it. Guy must be proud of himself after that giant twenty person bladestorm... well, can't say I wouldn't be."As you wish, sire." He says and leaves me with a knowing glance.
Oh wait, didn't I tell him that I don't remember anything? Well, I guess that cat went out of the bag.
Shrugging to apparently nobody, I decide to finally answer Mendrion."Sparring will never be nearly as fun as kicking the shit out of each other because of differing opinions.. still, the fact that you were watching me kill things means that everyone else probably did as well."
"If by everyone else you mean pretty much all the Gods of Light and fiends of the deep, then yes. Everyone was watching you... how could we not after you exploded with that strange power." His voice echoed through, filling me with a sense of peace and safety... It honestly kind of disgusts me. Peace is a lie and feeling safety is asking someone to kill you.
"Strange power? You mean when I opened the book that Yyl gave me?" I ask while nonchalantly looting everything I just killed... which may take some time considering I don't recognize the room I am currently in.
"Before you two start arguing about something rather pointless, let me explain what happened, hah!" Yyl's blackened voice shatters the illusion of peace and safety, promptly making me feel rather energized and let out a massive breath of relief.
A deep grumble is heard coming from Mendrion as the old man begins his explanation."You see, the book didn't solely grant you the power you just used, it also formed a gate within your soul. A gate to the void itself!"
"You mean to tell me that I'm eventually gonna be able to draw from that well of basically infinite power?" And just when I thought I couldn't get any more overpowered. The void of EUPHORIA is a realm made completely out of pure mana, the first form of it, unprocessed and untainted by the wills of mortals, a true energy and not the corrupting arcane the mages of this world like to wield.
To put it simply, it is the power of the gods. One of the beta-testers, a mage of course, had managed to acquire a gate to the void after killing a fiend of the deep and taking its gate, giving him a basically infinite supply of mana and maximized cool down reduction for all spells... I've never fought the guy myself but I sure hope I do this time.
"Well, yes and no. Your gate is nowhere near the level of Gods or Fiends, but it will still prove to be a valuable asset to you... once you manage to open it. However, in order to do this, your soul needs to be stable. The burst of power we all felt here is what little magic managed to blast through when you lost it and started killing everything." So no gate until I the final stage of my breakthroughs, most likely. Oh well.
"I see. Well if you guys don't mind, I still have lots and lots of things to kill here so...." I mutter out as the two remaining entities within my mind leave and I crack my neck.
Looking around to find Istvan, I say."I'm done over here, we can go now."
He bows towards me and quickly starts following me as we leave the crimson drenched hallway and enter the final room. A giant chamber stretches in front of us, a massive machine rumbling behind what appears to be a throne of gold and black slate, an elven woman sitting upon it with draconian wings on her back.
On our right stands an endless lake of fire, trails of magma flowing downwards from the earthen ceiling. Soon the woman, clearly an ancient vampire, opens her red eyes and stares at us."Aahhh... Istvan... I see you have finally come to settle our debt?"
He grins at her as his cane transforms blazing red into the scythe he has been using so far."Indeed, Sylmae. I have... and this time you will die your final death!"
She barks out a laugh as she stands up from her throne."Those are the same words you spoke the last time we fought, brat. And yet I still stand!"
Then she turns to look at me and chuckles."And who might this whelp be? An infected one... hmm, this may prove to be an interesting battle."
Readying my scythes and fists, I hear Istvan give out a dark chuckle as he turns to look at me."Heh... indeed, this will be an interesting battle Sylmae... but it shall not be the boy who fights you..."
I don't even have the time to blink before I am picked up and thrown into the massive lake of lava."I-ISTVAN?! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF TH-ARGH!" I begin to scream as I fly midair but the pain stops me as I fall onto the surface of the magma and it begins to incinerate my flesh and bone.
I may be immune to fire, but magma is on its own level. Istvan turns to look at me with knowing eyes as he pulls down a hidden lever, causing several granite blocks to cover up the lake and block any exit I may have still had... but before I passed out from the pain, I heard him say."You will thank me for this later... mi lord... that is, if I survive."
Same Time - Same Place - Istvan's Point Of View...
Life form Recognized - Ascendancy Process Initialized
Five minutes remaining
"Heheheh..." I manage to gutter out a laugh as the shocked bitch finds herself to stunned to even talk.
Soon though, she manages to find her voice."Y-y-you.. you threw the boy... into the l-lake... b-but t-that m-means..." She begins, voice already cracking as fear and panic takes over her form.
I nod, a savage grin upon my frame as I ready my scythe."Indeed, it is as you think, no matter how hard you try to tell yourself it cannot be. The boy is none other than THE EMPEROR HIMSELF! And with the power he will gain here... his ascension is assured!"
She shakes her head out of her stupor and forms a fighting stance, wings at the ready and dark orbs of power floating around her protectively."And what makes you think I won't stop his rebirth?!" She asks me and charges ahead, striking against the metal of my scythe with her clawed hand.
"Blood Power!" I yell out and feel the drain on my blood supply as I blast her away through sheer force and into a nearby wall which cracks in the process as she slams into it.
Four minutes remaining
I laugh as the machine's metallic voice echoes throughout the chamber as I focus my gaze upon the Queen Of Darkness."Oh you can try, but you are already running out of time, Sylmae. Can you defeat me in four minutes? I think NOT!"
Her eyes grow wide as I charge her, my scythe already swinging towards her as she leaps into the air in an attempt to dodge. I manage to cleanly sever off her right foot and quickly leap after her as she turns around mid-flight, foot already regenerated, and blasts me with a swathe of shadow.
This time, it is my turn to fly away as I feel myself slam into her throne but shake off the pain easily as I extend my palm towards her."Blood Chain!" Another bit of my supply drains out as chains of burning blood erupt from the ground and keep her from touching the lever as I transform into a bat and then descend right down onto her neck."AARGH! YOU WOULD DARE DIABLERIZE ANOTHER VAMPIRE?!"
I chuckle at her as she is forced to leap away from the lever to free herself from me and I gulp in deep, feeling my supplies restored. For those who may not know, Diablerizing is when a vampire drinks the blood of another, most usually older vampire in order to gain their power or an unfair advantage during a battle. It is unsightly and greatly looked down upon in all of vampire society."No price is too high for my Emperor's rebirth!" My own fanatical voice echoes throughout the chamber as I charge her again only to slam face first into a magic shield, stunning me as she slams her fist into my shoulder, promptly tearing through it with ease.
Three minutes remaining
"Hah! So weak! Even with my blood flowing through your veins you are still TOO WEAK!" She screams loudly before blasting the rest of me away with another burst of shadows, but as Cainite Vampire's often do, I quickly regenerate my wounds and lock her in combat as vampiric nail and blazing scythe meet."GRYAAAAAAAAH!"
Another scream echoes as she realizes that touching my scythe may not have been the best of ideas and I let out a laugh as I kick her away."And you are still far too arrogant for your own good, darling!"
Her eyes begin glowing red with rage as she recovers from my blow and casts arcane thunder at me, tearing away at my flesh as she screams in outrage."DO NOT CALL ME THAT YOU TRAITOROUS SWINE! YOU ARE MY MATE NO LONGER!"
Pinkish lightning strikes again and again at my skin but I fight through the pain and send an essence filled fist into her face, promptly sending her flying again as I recover."Blood Healing..." I mutter out and feel as nearly my entire supply is used to heal my wounds... perhaps she is not the only arrogant one here...
Two minutes remaining
"Shit!" She mutters out before casting several blood spells onto herself, increasing her already considerable power as she slams both of her hands into me, severing my upper and lower halves as she casts me aside."ARGH!" I hear myself scream before my regeneration kicks in and she turns towards the lever as I let myself fall to the floor, my old body already feeling exhaustion approaching...
You see, the price Cainite vampires pay for their living state is the fact that we age, albeit much slower than normal and are no long considered undead.. we do not possess their limitless stamina.. and I am about to hit my limit.
However, before she could turn the lever back and stop the Emperor's ascension, a massive quake shakes the earth around us, causing much of the cavern to collapse and several massive stones fall in between her and the lever.
"Hah! S-so e-even t-t-the l-land i-itself fights f-for h-his r-r-return!" I gutter out as blood fills my mouth and I turn downwards to see my legs regenerating as I attempt to stand up on my knees.
She turns around, fury red in her eyes and she grabs my motionless body by the collar and lifts me into the air.
One minute remaining
She grits her teeth as she looks me right in the eye, pure hatred clear in her gaze as I smirk at her cheekily."G-guess this means I-I w-win?" My shaking voice makes her shiver from rage as she steels herself, her velvet hair flowing downwards as she readies a fist, filling it with so much power and rage that the skin on her hands breaks apart.
"Yes, you do. But you will not live to see the results of your victory here, ISTVAN!" And with that, her fist unleashes a massive blast of pure darkness, tearing away at everything I am and ever have been, but my smile stays ever present as the machinery is heard clicking into place, a massive, clawed hand of blazing lava erupting from the covered lake as an explosion of flame clouds my vision and sends Slymae flying one last time.
Ascension Completed - Subject Awakening
Don't mind me guys and girls! I'm just a line break...
Mere moments later... - Outside/Town Of Sudan - Joyde's Point of View...
"Aargh... Ugh... What.. the... hell.... just... happened?" I hear myself say in a hellish voice, as if I talked through fire.
I reach for my head with a hand but cannot seem to differ them.. finally, I manage to open my eyes."What the hell?!" I exclaim as I take a look at myself, a being of pure, unrelenting flame and flowing magma... whatever Istvan did to me transformed me into a twenty story fire elemental."You will thank me for this later..." His words echo in my mind as I grin to myself, my new clawed hands grasping at nothing as I feel my new power thoroughly.
You have achieved the first stage of Ascension!
Ascension is a stage where a living being connected to one of the primal forces of the world gains a secondary form which increases its power immensely for a select amount of time.
You have gained a new ability, Chaos Form!
Chaos Form - Cast into a lake of lava in what seemed to have been a grotesque betrayal by the Cainite patriarch Istvan, The Crimson Emperor was forcefully ascended beyond his fragile mortal form.
Now, armed with the ability to project his soul unto reality, The Emperor can turn into a massive elemental being of pure chaosfire!
Once you gain the full course of the ability "Glory And Death", you become able to invoke the full power of your soul, transforming into a fire elemental and gaining 200% more defense/stats.
+in this state you are fully immune to fire and only Master level frost spells will be able to harm you.
+You are immune to normal physical damage but enchanted weaponry, artifact, legacy and legendary weapons can still harm you.
+in this state you have no weak points, thus you cannot be critically struck. An exception to this rule are Ascendant level frost spells.
+using Chaos Form resets the timer on your next breakthrough as the rampant energies unleashed during the transformation will damage your body.
+in this state you will become unable to use most of your normal abilities, but will gain supreme versions of them instead should they be viable.
+in addition to regular mana, all abilities will use the secondary resource "Heat" to be cast.
+During Chaos Form, your health pool is currently set to 20000/20000 and cannot be improved by any means other than accessing the next level of Ascension!
+During Chaos Form, your mana pool is currently set to 50000/50000 and cannot be improved by any means other than accessing the next level of Ascension!
+in this state, all auras gain the "Immolation" bonus, causing 200 damage to all enemies every five seconds.
You have gained a new ability, Chaos Fireball!
Chaos Fireball - One of the many powers wielded by The Crimson Emperor once he unleashes his Chaos Form.
Creates a writhing inferno of chaosfire about the size of a small house which can then either be thrown or slammed downwards for different effects.
+If the inferno is cast onto the ground it explodes, dealing 5000 damage to all enemies within 20 meters of the caster, degrading their armor by 10% per cast and applying a debuff called "Singed", which deals 50 fire damage per tick and lasts fifteen seconds but also reduces the damage dealt by the next Chaos Fireball by 25%.
+If the inferno is thrown away to a location, it deals 1500-2500 damage depending on how far the fireball was thrown, but applies no further effects.
You have gained a new ability, Soul Furnace!
Soul Furnace - One of the many powers wielded by The Crimson Emperor once he unleashes his Chaos Form.
Upon entering combat the user gains heat levels which raise the longer the combat lasts and through physical attacks.
+level 1 - All abilities deal only 50% of their damage but your attack speed is increased by 25%
+level 2 - All abilities deal 100% of their damage and you gain 25% more attack speed. (50%)
+level 3 - All abilities cause the enemies armor to melt, degrading it by 10% for each cast.
+level 4 - All enemies gain a debuff which deals them 100 damage per second.
+level 5 - Your body expunges a massive blast wave, killing all enemies within 50 meters instantly.
You have gained a new ability, Blast Wave!
Blast Wave - One of the many powers wielded by The Crimson Emperor once he unleashes his Chaos Form.
Expunge a massive wave of fire, dealing damage and slowing enemies hit by it depending on heat level.
Blast Wave will deal 500/1000/2000/4000/8000 damage and slow enemies for 20/40/60/80/100%.
Using this ability will cost 20 heat at all stages and has a 15 second cool down.
You have gained a new ability, Phoenix Claw!
Phoenix Claw - One of the many powers wielded by The Crimson Emperor once he unleashes his Chaos Form.
Your hands have been transformed into massive claws of pure magma, causing all attacks to ignore 20% of all armor.
+wounds caused by using Phoenix Claw cannot be healed for 20 seconds after the attack unless the debuff preventing it (Cauterized), is removed.
+each attack does 1000-2000 damage to the target, depending on heat level and armor state. Cloth and leather bearers will always receive the maximum amount of damage.
+All attacks can be dodged.
+each successful attack raises heat level by 10, up to a maximum of 100, in which case the next heat level is opened and current available heat is reduced to zero.
"Magnificent..." A weak voice tears me out of my thoughts as I ogle the changes, THE POWER I now wield. Turning around, I spot a wounded Istvan bleeding out on the ground and quickly move towards him, flowing down the ruptured stone of the mountaintop I was on with ease as my legs have seemingly been replaced by magma. Kind of reminds me of the way a slime would move, in a way, but also quicker.
"Istvan! Are you...?" My unsaid question is answered as he gives a slow nod and I go quiet... it would appear my new power has not come without a price."I... I.. It is.. This is fine.. my... My Emperor. This... all this..." He motions with a hand towards me, pointing at my power as he grins savagely."... was... my purpose..."
Gulping in deep, he continues before I can say a word."One.. last.. URGH!.. Thing.. needs to be done.. before I go..."
"What is it?" I ask him silently as I try to access my inventory to no avail.
You cannot access your inventory in this state.
Well shit... he notices my somewhat panicked glare and lets out a hearty laugh."Do not.. try to save me.. my sire.. my job.. my last.. task... has been completed... And I have... waited for.. so very, argh!,... very long.."
He reaches into his suit with a surviving right hand and takes out a deed and gives it to me."The ownership... of Sudan.. the town.. it is yours now..."
The parchment manages to somehow survive all the fire and fury and disappears into my inventory.
Congratulations! You are now the Lord of Sudan!
Please access your town's Mayor Estate to modify/upgrade the town and/or change its policies!
I blink, surprised and confused as I ask."The town? Well, thank you but why would you give this to me?"
He smirks and chuckles darkly as crimson blood flows down his mouth."Aaahh... The... The Town... it.. it was founded.. two hundred years ago.. by those.... who hath served you.. The.. the people... they will.. will be... loyal... for it..."
"ISTVAN!" I let myself scream out dramatically as I catch him before he falls down. He grasps onto my molten hand and looks at me with weakening eyes."It is... in their... blood."
And then he gulps as I shake my head before he continues."This.. may seem... strange... but the town.. was built here for.. a reason.. it will serve as the perfect.. staging point.. for your conquest..."
My eyes grow wide as I realize the meaning to his words. I may not know where exactly the town is but the forest surrounding it is known to me. To the north are the mountains of the orcs, to the east are both of the human kingdoms, to the west is the pathway to the capital city and to the south is the remainder of the Theocracy... Wow. Well, that's nice.
"One... last... thing.. sire... would you do... this old man.. a favor?" He asks me with an even weaker voice.
"Of course, what is it?" I reply quickly as I see his health bar graying, a clear sign of a dying NPC.
"The Queen.. Of Darkness... Sylmae has survived... she goes to the.. to the town.. to feast... to regain her strength.. stop... her... KILL... HER..." He says grimly and full of drama with the final echoes of his strength and I laugh as he dies, his vampiric form erupting in flame and disappearing into ashes.
Quest Alert! - Stage One: The Defense Of Sudan
With his final words, Istvan asked you to bring about the end of his former wife Sylmae, The Queen Of Darkness and one of the seven true vampire progenitors in existence.
You must make haste towards The Town Of Sudan and defend it from the rampage of the ravenous Queen for as long as it takes!
Reward - You will be accepted as the towns lord without question.
+You and any who aid you will receive 500+(Number of slain undead minions/percentage of damage inflicted upon the Queen) fame.
+This is an EVENT! quest, which means that other players may choose to aid or fight against you.
Raising myself upwards as my giant form illuminates the night sky, I grin and turn my attention towards the town, screams already echoing throughout the night as I descend from the raging volcano from which I ascended.
