Chương 126: Chapter One-Hundred-and-Twenty-Six

Adam plopped down onto a seat in the basement restaurant of his house. Belamouranthe and Weaver were already having a meal in the restaurant, both of them sitting on top of Finnian who had turned into a large blob after possibly eating too much. Charlie seemed to be in quite a good mood when she came over to his table and asked for his order. I should give her the Vanity next, Adam decided.

Since it released Weaver from her stall, it should allow Charlie to join Bel for dinner, without being forced to stand and watch when I'm present.

"I'll have sushi today," he said.

"With warm sake and some of that sweet Japanese plum wine."

"Umeshu?" she asked.

"That might be what it's called, yeah."

"What kind of fish would you like?" she continued.

"I don't know a lot about sushi, so I'll let you pick." Charlie nodded.

"Is that all?"

"For now."

"Understood," she replied and walked off. Before she vanished through a door, she cast one last glance towards Belamouranthe. Yeah, I'm definitely giving her the Vanity. I don't even care what weapon I get in return. As he waited for his food, Adam looked around at all the denizens that'd gathered in the restaurant after he entered. For some reason they all came here when he arrived, with Yenna providing music. In a way it was kind of nice, despite the fact that Sylvia was the only human amongst the lot of them.

Even though he knew their companionship was a ploy to keep him engaged with the Trials, he appreciated not being the only person on the island. Adam looked around at the empty tables. I guess Beck is still busy. Just to make sure his friend had actually survived, he queried the Eye. [This Player is not currently seated in the Tavern.] I hopefully don't have to worry about him too much, Adam thought. He's done this before, after all. Adam rubbed his eyes. Now then…

"Show me all the Players who worship Nwetrou." [Understood.] To Adam's dismay, more than ten people appeared around the various tables. There weren't as many seats available in the basement restaurant as the Tavern, so they quickly cycled through, twelve at a time.

"How many is that?" he asked after failing to count them correctly. [41 Players.] Fuck… Nwetrou is not messing around. The damage might already be done if all of them completed their quests for Stage Six.

"Show me only the ones who completed their patron quest for Alepheria's Crooked Tower." [Understood.] All but two Players vanished. It's not as bad as I feared, but still… two of them succeeded in sacrificing other Players. I should've been looking out for people like this. I could've at least stopped one of them if I'd checked before Stage Six. I feel bad for Beck. When he loops again, all the rewards and groups will be different. But maybe him and Gladwyn won't end up in the same Altar group?

That would be a silver lining at least. Adam didn't recognise either, but he could tell they were bad news just from looking at them. Both were men, and both had builds that Emelia had described as dangerous. The first guy was a blonde European, possibly Scandinavian, who had a crooked nose and a scar on his chin that ran down to his Adam's apple. His skin was tinged blue like a more intense version of what Jun had had, plus he had prominent gills on the sides of his neck.

His weapon was a dagger that looked similar to the one for Assassin but was clearly a later evolution. It would likely still be based around afflictions, since Assassin boosted those by 50%. On top of that he had the Plague-Spreader Mask that made afflictions jump to another target when they killed someone. He's probably stacking afflictions heavily.

In Stage Seven he'd be able to get both Scoundrel's Glove for that powerful Haemorrhage affliction on backstabs, and the Whale Eater's Snap Gauntlet which doubles the effect for afflictions it applies. That would present a huge damage boost for any Afflictionists. He has to die before he can make it there. The other guy had two weapons, which was only obvious because his spear leaned next to him while he was toying with a rapier in his hands, apparently cleaning his nails with the tip.

He clearly had the type of build that Emelia would have called a Parry Master, because the spear behind him was the Spear Dancer evolution of Hoplite, which added the parry shield. He had darker skin than the first guy, but their skin tones ended up looking quite similar thanks to the blue pallor that worshipping Nwetrou clearly gifted. His hair was black and curly, and Adam thought he might be Lebanese because he looked a bit like the actor Lee Majdoub.

Since he was clearly double-dipping in both parrying and boosting damage with speed, his Relics reflected the setup, because he wore the Slothling boots and fur coat, as well as the Chimaera Helmet and Vigilant Fighter's Vambrace, which Kate had also used with her rapier to create weak spots. I don't think he can parry my spells the way I'm using them, Adam thought. I could probably kill both of them, but I have to pick one…

Charlie arrived with his sushi and alcohol, and he took a break to happily devour every bite, though he wasn't familiar with most of the fish involved. Charlie helpfully explained what fish and seafood each piece of nigiri was topped with, and his favourites of the bunch were fatty tuna, eel, sea urchin, and snow crab, though all of it was quite delicious. I don't think I can go back to eating California rolls after this…

He'd consumed the warm sake along with his sushi, but afterwards he slowly sipped his glass of umeshu which was extremely sweet but had a great taste of plum. Once he was done eating, Adam created a special query to keep track of the two Players while he continued looking through the other 39 Nwetrou worshippers. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

It wasn't a lot of people, but it was still too many, since each of them had the power to permanently erase other Players. Of course, anyone who had visited the deep place and spoken with the squid would possess the Abyssal Tooth, but Adam felt like only those that worshipped Nwetrou might actually use it, although there was obviously no guarantee for that. I should probably look at how many possess the Tooth, but it might be too many for me to meaningfully do anything about.

The people he looked through mostly seemed like the kind who were just barely surviving by the skin of their teeth, and thus wouldn't have the opportunity or power to really fulfil Nwetrou's tasks, let alone most of the Absolute's tasks. Also, their skin colour hadn't changed quite as drastically as the two murderers'. Adam suddenly recalled a memory from his last time in Stage Seven. Emelia had mentioned that Ruimin normally got the Masked Courtesan, but she'd instead gotten Nwetrou.

Has he been interfering with my loops? Adam wondered. Since Nwetrou's Envoy had told Adam that he despised time-loopers, Adam thought he might be a target for the Absolute's ire somehow. Emelia also said that our team in Stage Seven used to work together really well… Maybe that was because Ruimin had the Courtesan's charming power? Either Emelia didn't know about the Courtesan, or Kate was just really dangerous with it, since she was a very touchy person and naturally had a charming personality.

Ruimin struck me more as someone who didn't take charge and she was definitely quite shy. There are so many things going on here that it's hard to wrap my head around… I truly feel like every Absolute has their own plans that we are all unwitting pawns in. Adam leaned back in his chair. There were a few of the Nwetrou worshippers that hadn't cleared their first task but who looked competent enough to attempt the second one. The Cloud Leviathan…

If Nwetrou is truly targeting me, then I might encounter another of his worshippers in Stage Seven. A part of him thought that he would be able to kill anything with his setup, since it wasn't based around damage, but instead control. Although, I wonder if I could kill Mast-Chewer, since she had the ability to disrupt magic with her roar. That might prevent me from controlling her blood and flesh to kill her. If all Slug Dragons possess such a power, then I may not be able to kill them with magic, after all.

And if they all possess that, then a Cloud Leviathan would as well, since it's evolved from them.

"Adam," Beck said, startling him. He dismissed his query for the 39 worshippers as he looked over at his friend, but he kept the one for the two murderers intact.

"We have a problem," he said. Adam grimaced, realising that Beck had experienced something in Stage Six as well.

"Nwetrou is after you," he replied.

"Did you encounter his adherents too?" Beck asked.

"Adherents? You had more than one in your Stage?" Adam replied.

"There were three in my Stage… I know that Diviner sacrificed quite a few people in my last loop, but I didn't expect everything to change that much. My Altar group was the same, but for the Tower… It was a completely different group, and there were six of us."

"Three worshippers in your group?" Adam asked, horrified.

"Only one of them seemed to have been fed info directly from Nwetrou, but the other worshippers quickly assisted him. I did my best to keep the remaining two Players alive while we were hunted down, and we were lucky that they ran into a mimic before finding us. But I was the only survivor at the end. Although, I somehow managed to get all of the objectives, and I even got the Crawler's Eye again," he said, lifting a large volleyball-sized eyeball up in front of himself with his right hand.

It was literally the Tower Crawler's eye, except smaller, which Adam thought was kind of weird as far as weapons went. The coloured dots next to Beck showed that he had obtained the Plunderer, All Secrets, Eradication, All Objectives, Flawless, and MVP bonuses. On top of probably killing 3 Players and getting all of the rewards for the objectives scaled to a 6-man group, it meant he should've gotten around 22, 000 Points.

"You should invest your Points into a lot of upgrades," Adam told him.

"I'm pretty sure the fun isn't over yet."

"What do you mean?" Beck asked.

"Tell the Eye to show you how many people are worshipping Nwetrou." Beck looked away to perform the query, but quickly frowned at what he was shown.

"41 Players…" he groaned.

"That's bad."

"I'm willing to bet we'll encounter them again in Stage Seven," Adam said.

"The guy who joined my group for the Tower said that the squid told him about me, and that we should work together, since the Flayed Lady wanted me to kill another Player for my quest."

"Damn it," Beck muttered.

"Also," Adam went on.

"Two of those 41 worshippers actually sacrificed someone in Stage Six."

"I'll get the Challenge Stone," Beck said decisively, arriving at the same conclusion as Adam.

"I'll finish evolving the Crawler's Eye to get the shards I'm missing. We can't let those lunatics live, they'll just turn into another Diviner." Adam nodded.

"I'm getting the Challenge Stone too. We'll each take out one. One is focused on parrying and the other is an Afflictionist, which one do you want?"

"It doesn't matter," Beck said.

"The Crawler's Eye allows me and my attacks to become invisible, so I can kill whichever one I get in a single attack unless they have some Relic that protects them."

"I actually got the Crawler's Arm and evolved it all the way," Adam replied.

"It has the same kind of invisibility."

"It's super useful," Beck said.

"The arm is something I've seen a few people use in my last loop. But the invisibility is a lot stronger when you've got magic that doesn't make much sound." New fear added to the collection, Adam thought. While the Beck he'd met the first time had seemed very reckless and too focused on speed, the one who sat before him now was a very unassuming demon wizard.

Because he'd had the odds severely stacked against him fighting three of Nwetrou's assassins, on top of taking on the challenging Stage, all while doing every objective and not getting hit a single time. Not to mention, this was only his second time through. I believe him when he says he can kill whichever of the two Players he's up against.

"I'll take on the one with the rapier and parry spear," Adam said.

"Phew," Beck muttered, deflating slightly.

"I was a bit worried you'd make me handle that one. I still have flashbacks to my spells getting parried… That puts the fear of God in you. Or Gods, in this case, I suppose."

"There was something useful I discovered from the Nwetrou worshipper in my group, actually," Adam said, changing the topic slightly.

"Do share."

"The ability to traverse between dimensions while in a Stage is a power gifted by Nwetrou." Beck sighed.

"So much for getting my hands on that. It's one of the Abyssal Gifts, right?" Adam nodded.

"I'm pretty sure it's the Eye of Nwetrou gift."

"Why is it always eye stuff…" Beck said with a frown.

"Also, do you think Nwetrou is after me because I killed his champion?"

"Possibly. The Tome Keeper said that Absolutes can be quite petty. At least when it comes to him and the Flayed Lady, but I'm guessing it applies to most if not all of them."

"Speaking of the Lady," Beck said.

"I see you're well on your way to becoming a vampire already. I can't say I fancy the look. Fangs don't really suit you." Adam blinked.

"Is that what my transformation is?" he replied.

"The denizens kept making remarks about my appearance."

"Yeah, your teeth already look crazy and you've gotten really pale. All you need now is an uncomfortable obsession with a teenage girl and sparkly skin, and you've got yourself a lead role in Twilight. Oh, but no, the eyes are different." Adam frowned.

"You should ask Charlie to bring you a mirror," Beck added. He did just that, and a minute later he was staring at his own reflection. Holy hell…

'Pale' had been an understatement, because Adam's somewhat tan skin had turned white like a sheet of A4 paper. His canines had grown bigger and elongated slightly, though not to the point that he would have noticed without being told or seeing it in his reflection.

"They'll get longer after the Floating Sea," Beck told him while Adam was busy prodding his teeth.

"I met a Flayed Lady worshipper in my Moonport group, and she had actual fangs. She didn't drink anyone's blood though. At least not that I noticed."

"Ugh, I hate vampires…" Adam groaned.

"It's totally not my style." Beck nodded.

"You strike me more as a werewolf guy."

"I've heard that a lot," Adam said. Out of everything that'd changed, the worst part was his eyes. His irises were originally amber, like a golden-orange brown hue. But what looked back at him were two red marbles with a black line going through the middle, almost like a progress bar. What the hell will happen to me when the transformation is complete?

"Wait," Adam said.

"When I encountered another worshipper of the Flayed Lady in a previous loop during the seventh Stage, he didn't look like this."

"Did he do the quest in Stage Six?" Beck asked.

"I have no idea."

"I think it may be tied to that."

"So, that's why all of the Nwetrou worshippers apart from those two don't have quite as prominent skin discolouration," Adam realised.

"It's part of their gifts," Beck said.

"I need to tell you about something crazy that happened to me, by the way," Adam started, before going on to explain everything involving Kate and her charming power. When he was done, Beck had a contemplative look on his face.

"That explains a lot," he said.

"Some of the factions that appear in the Lightless City and afterwards are concentrated around worshippers of the Courtesan. I didn't put two and two together though, but that's a dangerous power for anyone to wield." Adam nodded.

"Alright, well," Beck started.

"We've got our targets, let's meet back here after we've both gotten the Challenge Stone and then we'll take them out at the same time. You know, just in case they're talking to each other or something."

"Sounds like a plan," Adam replied. There was still a bit left before it would get dark, but Beck needed to get some more Mastery Shards, and Adam wanted to test out his new spells before attempting to use them in a fight against Nwetrou's adherent. As Adam practised his new skills, his heart wouldn't stop pounding in his chest. He had never thought that he would use the Challenge Stone to take someone out. How quickly things change…