Chapter 39: Completing Rituals

The canal district smelled as he expected, but after his experiences in East Borough, the red-haired man would say it didn't smell that bad.

This city had a better drainage system, and the smell was pretty much non-existent despite having a canal running through it.

It was tolerable compared to more 'normal' areas when he was still Joa.

"How are your powers?" Adryan asked as he walked through the district's passages. In the distance, there was a pink glow.

"I can't transform, and my strength is reduced even further. I'm a little stronger than a Prisoner, " the gothic-dressed Sharron replied, looking behind her at the lone zombie following them in the distance, barely out of the alley.

"Same here," Maric commented, looking around at the strange structure of this even stranger city.

"Flora?"

"Most are still in place, but my strength and abilities are that of a Marauder, and no matter how hard I try, I can't get into any of these buildings." The suppressed demigoddess complained, looking bitterly to the side.

How could a Demigod of the Path who specialized in stealing be unable to enter a building?

Adryan listened curiously to that.

'Maybe it's the case of the ungenerated map? That's why she can't enter because there's nothing to enter?' It was the same with him: no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get through the doors by jumping over them or going around them.

"What about you, Princess?" Jacob asked her own question. Trying not to dwell on her failure.

"My physical abilities are a bit superior to a Hunter, and my fire consumes too much spirituality. I doubt I'll be able to cast anything more than a simple torrent or a small fire spell." Adryan responded with a click of his tongue.

Even after using some of his power earlier, his spirituality had not recovered.

Knowing that relying on his pyromania to save himself and his team would only kill them, he made up his mind.

"As soon as we complete this ritual, we'll return to the Junction and buy a weapon."

Flora looked at him as if he had grown an extra head, "I didn't see any gunsmiths around this place, princess. Where will we get weapons?"

The redhead pointed to a simple chalk drawing on the opposite wall. "Those. They look like drawings, but they're enchanted; if you have enough points, you can buy a weapon."

'Luckily, that held up. Otherwise, it would have been tricky to kill the Margwa...' The redhead added in his heart, remembering the drawing of a shotgun back in the Junction.

They kept some of their strength, but in return, they showed up without weapons, which he honestly would have preferred.

A revolver would have been safer than trying to kill the margwa with his bare hands.

"This way," Adryan called, heading down a flight of stairs to the canal.

Being experienced Beyonders, they didn't mind that the dirty water reached up to their ankles. In keeping with her noble teaching, Flora lifted the edges of her dress to keep it from getting wet.

Sharron's dress was not long, so it was unnecessary for her.

Walking to the side of the stairs to a small open compartment in the wall- which he had opened during his transformation - Adryan bent down and grabbed a detective's badge.

No sooner had it been removed from the compartment where it rested than more of those portals opened. The guardians exited quickly, and Adryan promptly dealt with them.

The red-haired man paused for a moment before moving forward and looked up. His eyes quickly found a thin blue line rising in the dark city sky.

'That should be the theatre...' Nodding to himself, he continued.

With +20 in his pocket, the group continued along the canal and up another staircase.

Now, a gate stood in front of them, and behind it, a building loomed. Bright pink lights poured out of open windows, giving this dark place a wicked and lustful air.

"Is that a brothel?" Flora asked, somewhat surprised.

Usually, that kind of establishment was designed to be discreet and avoid attention. But this place seemed to have mixed the message and read backward.

"Morg City is known for its high crime and seen sins in the game world," Adryan replied as he turned to look at Flora.

He pointed to the closed gate with his head, and the noblewoman frowned.

-1.500

Approaching another of those black stone basins with the strange purple flame, a massive box with more strange symbols was behind it.

Adryan turned to his group and pointed his hand towards the balcony beside him.

"I need one of you to transform into the beast and activate the mechanism by electrocuting it behind it. Then destroy this box behind me, swing over, and open the door." His hand moved, pointing to a structure further away where something could be grabbed.

Explaining well what needed to be done, Adryan laughed a little and added:

"You just need to grab the flame. Don't worry, it doesn't hurt. Also, we'll all have to transform later, so might as well do it now and get used to it."

"I'll do it." Sharron offered, taking a graceful step forward.

The rest stepped back, giving the lady in the black dress some room.

Her deep blue eyes gazed into the purple flame. She closed them momentarily and grasped the flame.

As soon as her hand made contact, the same strange tattoo glowed on her hand, and her body was covered in greenish-black smoke that lasted only an instant. In the blink of an eye, that strange octopus monster with glowing tentacles stood in Sharron's place.

This creature raised the electrified tentacle and pointed it at the spot its leader had shown it earlier.

Zap zap!

The electricity shot out and struck the almost hidden panel, and the sound of machinery being activated rang through the place.

That done, the monster turned around and, with a mighty blow, destroyed the large box, revealing a strange statue of an octopus.

The creature only looked at it before darting off in the direction it was shown before.

"What kind of creature is that?" Maric asked, looking at the ominous statue whose empty eyes seemed to follow him.

"One that the least you know about, the better." Was all the red-haired man said as he waited for the ghost to return.

After about 20 seconds, the flame that had been touched flickered for a moment, and out of the same greenish-black smoke came Sharron, who opened her blue eyes and nodded.

"It is done."

"Good job. How are you feeling?"

"I wish the transformation to Werewolf had been as gentle as this one." Sharron replied with some wistfulness, remembering old times.

Nodding, the group walked up the new stairs into the brothel.

As soon as they walked through the door, they first noticed the huge amount of purple and red. The carpets, tables, and chairs were all in one of those two colors.

A small bar to the right, with a few chairs lying down. It all gave the impression that there was a big party here...

Which only made the blood that covered the floor and furniture stand out even more. There were several traces of someone being dragged and several bloody hands on the floor.

Adryan's group knew there was no need to ask what had happened here.

A staircase at the bottom led them to the first floor, where another altar rested.

The detective's badge and sphere were placed on top. The ritual began again, but this time, it was a different person: a man wearing a brown glabella and hat and sporting a thick mustache.

"What the fuck?! Shadow Man! What is the meaning of this?! We did what you told us!"

The room was sealed again, the stairs were cut, and more fire portals appeared everywhere.

Like last time, they stood together, moving in circles, generating a train that never caught up with them and ignored the detective's cries for help.

Finally, the man's agony was cut short when his body exploded in a shower of blood that condensed inside the golden sphere, and beside him, the same glowing worm descended.

+500!

Maric quickly grabbed it, stowing the strange creature in his brown waistcoat with a frown and ignoring the squirming in his chest.

No sooner had the worm left the altar than a purple light appeared above it. Glowing brightly and making a noise not unlike a gas leak or a kettle.

"We're leaving!" Adryan ordered, pointing to the staircase, and the group accelerated.

Descending to the first floor, the group was about to reach the entrance when the gas output peaked.

THUMP!

A sudden huge weight whose above them, the wood creaked and the whole building seemed to shake.

Flora turned in alarm, her experience whispering to her, "What is that?!"

"Margwa. Big guy. Ugly as shit and with three heads. Don't let him get you." Adryan responded by speeding down the stairs.

The group ran with speed to the colourful Juction, wasting no time, the red-haired man ran towards a wrecked tbarber shop that had a chalk drawing on its door.

The red-haired man raised his wrist and quickly saw his points.

■540

"I'm 210 short." Clicking his tongue, Adryan said as he watched a ball of purple smoke approach them from where they came.

Thinking momentarily, the redhead turned and smiled at the black-clad Sharron.

"Miss Casper, would you be so kind?"

"I just have to touch it?"

"Just touch it. The rest will come."

Following the man's words, she walked over to the wall. Placing her hand on the door, the newly earned points were spent.

In an instant, the chalk drawing on the door materialized in the woman's hands. It was a barrel shotgun, and she expertly loaded it.

The Werewolf looked surprised at the weapon in her hands, her movements unsettling her slightly.

It was as if the knowledge of how to use it correctly had been implanted in her brain as soon as she touched it. As if it were a potion.

"What kind of shotgun is that?" Maric asked at its strange design, looking nothing like anything he had ever seen.

It is as if it came from the future!

Adryan looked at it sideways, smiling at the sight of his favorite weapon of the entire game in all its glory; "That, my good undead furry friend. It's the good KRM, or as I prefer to call it, the margwa killer."

He then turned his attention back to Sharron, who walked forward, pointing the shotgun at the ball of billowing purple smoke already in front of them.

"Aim for the head when it opens its mouth. Only in those moments is it vulnerable!" Adryan recommended as he stepped back, his hand igniting into flames and a dagger forming in his hand, much smaller than the ones he usually created.

"Understood," Sharron replied in a cold voice, her cheek resting on the butt of the weapon.

The ball of purple smoke emitted a white glow before a giant creature suddenly appeared a few meters before them.

This was a creature very similar to the ones Sharron and Adryan had transformed into, only much larger and more robust. If the aforementioned transformation was an adolescent, this was certainly an adult.

It was a three-headed monster bearing tentacles. It was a greyish pig color with four spines on its back. Its height was easily 2.50 meters.

It opened one of its three heads, piles of sharp, yellowish teeth, and a ghastly yellowish glow from the back of its throat-

Bam! Plop!

Amidst green blood and chunks of flesh and muscle, one of the heads exploded in a spectacle of gore. A giant insect shot out from among these pieces, but before it could get away, a dagger of fire destroyed it.

"You keep destroying the heads; I'll take care of the Parasites," Adryan said to Sharron from a distance, another dagger in his hand.

"How much do you know about this place?" Flora queried, watching beside the redhead as the woman fought.

Behind them, Maric distracted the last zombie by moving it in medium circles.

"Very much so. My Lord loves this game, so we play it often." Adryan winked at the white-haired woman, who stiffened for a moment and looked at the man in disbelief.

Did the gods have those kinds of hobbies too?

The Margwa writhed in pain, letting out a resounding cry of pain from its remaining heads. Its tentacles writhing in all directions, leaving a few gashes in the ground from its tantrum.

Moving the slide, Sharron did not take her cold gaze off the monster. She quickly moved from her previous spot a few meters ahead, passing by one of the free sides the monster did not cover.

It only took the Margwa a few moments before it stopped writhing and lunged at the Werewolf at great speed. One of its mouths opened.

Sharron, with speed, spun around, shotgun already raised. The smoking barrel barely moved from its place before she pulled the trigger again.

Bam! Plop!

Again, another head exploded, and another parasite flew from the destroyed head but was again destroyed by a dagger of orange fire.

The gothic dressed Sharron repeated the same move as before, circling the creature who after recovering again assaulted but as soon as it opened its last mouth a shotgun blast was all it received, the last parasite following seconds later.

For the last time, the creature twisted before falling to its knees with a thunderous Thump! Then it fell flat on the ground. But before its huge body hit the ground, it disappeared in greenish smoke with yellow flashes.

Only a grotesque heart, similar to rust in color, was left floating in mid-air in the place where it was. It was as big as an adult's head and had several orange lumps throbbing in it.

A gloved hand grabbed the grotesque heart and stuffed it into a jacket. Turning to look at his team, Adryan smiled and murmured, "It's a surprise that will help us later."

Laughing a little at the reference no one caught, he turned to look at Sharron, who was loading the shotgun. She had a thoughtful look on her face.

"Well? How's it feel?"

After loading the last round and moving the slide, the goth woman paused for about five seconds before nodding slightly, "It's... fun."

"You have good taste." The redhead laughed a little more before looking at the other two closed gates.

"Alright, we'll go up 1 round here before we continue. Sharron, I recommend you use only melee for more points. Same for everyone; we'll save the bullets for the Margwas and Parasites."