Unwilling Eldritch Horror of Fortune

Damn it, just when one thing’s going my way something else has to come along and ruin it all. I doubt I could say no to an official summons from this mysterious Central, and I was also bound to meet up with people who knew the original Arbiter W. And on top of it all, I had to use up another one of my precious Soul Title Preview tickets, so if I didn’t get through this Tribunal thing within 24 hours, or 48 hours if I was forced to use both tickets, then my cover as an Arbiter would be all but shattered.

“When are the summons?” I asked, and it took every ounce of my being from screaming in frustration.

“It will be held after this situation is resolved,” Q said, “I apologize for burdening you with more unnecessary work.”

“It’s fine,” I muttered, “And it’s not like you were the one who’s forcing more work on my plate. How long would this take? You know that I can’t neglect my duties as an Aspirant now that I have infiltrated the Anomaly’s party.”

“I am unsure, my Lord,” Q said hesitantly, “But it shouldn’t keep you from your other duties for long. I will do my best to express your need to expedite the process.”

“Do so,” I said firmly, “And thank you again for the assistance. I’ll be busy for a while.”

“Understood, my Lord.”

The static feedback disappeared which told me that I was alone once more. I finished the food I took out and took a swig of water before heading back towards my gathered people. Most of them had finished their own tasks and were waiting patiently for me to come back. Patar saw me coming and immediately came to greet me.

“My Lord God,” my Archbishop said, handing me a small piece of fabric, “The scouts found this at the site of your Wrath. There was signs of injury, but no bodies were found. It appears that our assassin had escaped. I apologize for allowing such a thing to happen! I shall reflect on this error in earnest!”

I nodded and took the rag from his hand. Some of it was singed off from the impact of the lightning, but even though it was damaged, I could tell that it was the kind of rough fabric that was commonly worn by this world’s inhabitants. This meant that my attacker was someone from this world and not another Aspirant, yet it had access to Central’s equipment somehow. I frowned, all the signs pointed toward the fact that Origin’s arming people and sending them my way, much like what I was doing on my end.

Well, if it wants a war, then I’ll give this goddamn Trash Matrix a war. I wasn’t sure if it was actively indoctrinating natives into fighting me, or if it only had access to a few devout followers, but it didn’t matter. I had all the tools I needed, and I did not for a second doubt that my ability to brainwash people was inferior to theirs. I was tired of being on the defensive, I'll bring the fight to it.

“Patar,” I growled in barely suppressed resentment, “There are heretics about who wish us harm. Warn the faithful that there are those out there who aim to stop our Light; we go towards hostile territory.”

“I will pass the word down, my God! Your faithful shall allow no such scum to exist before your path! Say the word and we shall destroy all who stand in your way.”

Patar bowed low and I dismissed the man. He hurriedly left to convey my message to the rest of the people. I saw him hurry off to shout more orders at the gathered people. He was remarkably efficient at his job, but I guess I had Noe to thank for that. She always knew the best route to take in any situation, and I missed knowing that she always had my back. I hope she's resting easy now.

The convoy was able to reconvene in short order, and we were marching towards the supposed settlement within the hour. I wanted to say that our march was free to issues, but that would be far from the truth. We suffered more casualties the further we went, some fell from shadowy creatures that stalked us through the night, and others fell from ambush, felled by the same arrows that I saw before. Everyone was on edge against these unseen foes, but none of the would be assassins was able to pierce our defenses and strike at the core of our group.

It wasn’t just the various creatures stalking the woods that were dangerous, but every now and then we would encounter some odd traps and illusions that plagued our journey. These oddities would manifest in the form of phantasms that tried to lull passer-bys into a state of confusion, often creating mirage images of deceased loved ones who tried to lure their prey into the consuming darkness. It would whisper sweet words into the ears of my followers, offering peace and rest if only they listened.

I thought these would prove to be a hazard for my followers, as each individual had no doubt lost many people important to them, yet my fanatics simply cut down each phantom image without blinking, all while shouting my praises. They didn't even hesitate for a second. I had my innate skill to defend against such trickery, but seeing the crazed trust my devotees had in me was scary.

And worse still, the closer we came to the city, the more traps and ambushes we suffered. Their tactics improved, and instead of just hiding and attacking from range, they formed small gorilla squads to pick off stragglers. Some even came as assassins, aiming for when some members of my group were using the restroom or sleeping, always aiming for when we were most vulnerable. Yet just as their tactics improved, so did ours. We learned to minimize the amount of time we spent away from the glow of my halo and how to spot the telltale signs of an ambush. We learned to never rest away from my light, and to minimize blind spots.

But it wasn’t all terrible news. Just as often as the ambushes, groups of non corrupt individuals would also appear, fleeing from their homes. These people told of the unrest happening in the Last City, and of the changes that had recently appeared. They said that not too long ago, some strange artifacts appeared near the borders of the Bastion, and all those who touched those strange devices had completely abandoned reason and attacked anything within their sight.

I was thankful that the Trash Matrix hadn’t managed to infect all the people inside the Depths, but it was abundantly clear that more people were in the grasp of Origin than those that escaped. Still, Patar had managed to brainwash these fleeing people and bring them into the fold, replenishing some of our casualties. But between the roaming monsters and the constant harassment, our numbers fell much faster than it was able to replenish.

Yet for all the losses we took, the surviving few grew stronger. Abnormally so in fact, and I was starting to think that Origin’s meddling had inadvertently helped us out as well. Just a casual glance using the Arbiter skill showed that many of my cultists had gained as much as 10 levels, while the elite amongst them had almost double that.

There was no way that kind of growth was natural, whatever the Matrix was doing accelerate its goons' attributes was also having an effect on mine, and I’ll make sure that the Trash Matrix pays fully for this oversight. It was just a pity that I couldn’t see my own stats with Noe asleep. I felt stronger, which, now that I think about it, was strange since I didn’t put any free attribute points into anything, and I missed seeing the numbers go up.

Eventually we stopped taking daily losses and were even able to capture some of the rebels alive, although little useful information was extracted. Whatever Origin did to their minds was so extensive that the people affected were left as little more than the beasts that stalked the woods.

So when we finally came within sight of the massive city walls of the last bastion of civilization, our group had shrunk to 177 individuals. But their levels all averaged around the 30’s, and every one of them would die for my cause. These zealots didn’t even flinch when one of their own fell in battle. We found a quiet clearing and made our preparations.

As if they had practiced it a million times, the twins each took a squad of scout veterans and disappeared into the darkness while the rest of the devotees waited for their report. They hastily assembled a rough camp, every individual going to their assigned roles in silence, and all looked more than ready to fight to the death. I stood in the middle of the crowd, my light doing its best to help soothe the minor wounds and injuries that accrued.

I sat in silence before the familiar footsteps of Patar interrupted my meditations.

“Yes?” I said without opening my eyes.

I heard him bow, “I apologize for disturbing your rest, Lord Light Bringer, but we have news of the outpost.”

“Explain,” I muttered.

“It is as you feared, oh Holy One,” Patar said with reverence, “The city has been completely overrun by the heretics.”

“Numbers?”

“Our best estimates state that they number close to 500.” Patar answered nervously, “They are also armed with strange silver sticks.”

I opened my eyes for the first time, pondering over this news, “What do they look like?”

Patar frowned, “They’re smooth, with a fatter end on one side while the other side is slender and has a hollowed-out circle on the tip. They’re also holding these sticks strangely, not like clubs or walking canes, but horizontally like a spear.”

It appears that Origin’s upgraded its arsenal from bows and arrows to guns. But if it could have done that, why didn’t it attack with a nuke or missile from the get-go? That would have surely killed all of us, and I doubt Noe could save me from an explosion with the tiny amount of Luck Charges I had available. Yet it resorted to crude arrows first.

The only logical explanation was that it couldn’t use those for some reason. Were most of the options locked away, and it had to slowly open up the more devastating weapons with time? It was already going against every protocol by arming the natives of this world against us, so there’s more than likely some kind of failsafe mechanism that prevents Origin from abusing its resources. Nothing else would make sense in this case, and it would also explain why it took so long for it to act at all.

I smiled. It wasn’t fully prepared, but I had already arrived close enough to threaten it so it was forced to deploy the forces it did have. I was glad that we caught up to Origin and its stronghold now before it could unleash its full arsenal. If I had to fight against alien weapons or even high explosives, then I don’t see how I could possibly win. But rifles and machine guns?

I messaged Vadeem through the chat and called him over. Now that I could fully utilize my transformation, I had a better plan than just allowing my brainwashed cultists to die under machine gun fire.

“Actually, Patar,” I said to my Archbishop, “I have a better solution for this particular problem.”

I turned to my big friend, “Did you buy that big hammer Jae-Hyun asked you to?”

He nodded and grinned, “Of course I did! Found one so heavy even I could hardly lift it without my skill.”

I pointed at the wall in the background, “How do you feel about going for some Vadeem Style home demolition?”

“Do you even have to ask?”

Read the entirety of the complete first Volume and the first 10 chapters of Volume 2 on Patreon!

It's currently 17 chapters ahead with a new chapter uploaded daily! 

Check it out if you want to support me or read ahead, and as always, thank you for reading!