City of Sin

Book 6, 19

Old Acquaintance

It was no wonder that those who touched the power of laws could not be measured with ordinary systems. Richard found the life energy to be much more resilient than he could ever expect; he replaced the walls of fire every few minutes, and so long as they were up none of the undead could pass.

As he watched the ash piling up nearby, he suddenly pulled out his elven sword and stabbed it into the wall. The blade went in all the way to the handle, pouring a green glow into the stone.

An earth-shattering cry of madness shook the entire semiplane, but the glow continued to spread and stain everything around him green. The barren earth here immediately gave way to green grass, following which pure white flowers bloomed all over. The power of the third secret sword infused with the breath of life rejuvenated him greatly, but at the same time it was the bane of all the undead energy in the area.

Richard jumped into the air, and an enormous three-skulled skeleton with bone blades for forearms burst out from the section of wall he had just abandoned. The creature looked fierce, but it had a tiny hole in the middle of its skull from which white flowers started to bloom. These flowers quickly rotted away, but they were replaced by new shoots that then bloomed another set of flowers. This process cycled over a few times, each cycle noticeably breaking the bones. The beast’s bones clacked loudly as it struggled to chase after him, but in only a few moments it fell to the ground. This time, the flowers did not fade.

Floating in the air, Richard looked towards the castle’s keep, “Come on, show me your actual cards. Or don’t, we’ll see how many undead the Valley of Darkness can support.”

The castle immediately went dead silent except for the block fog spreading out from within. The horde outside suddenly came to a stop, returning to the cemetery and crawling back into their tombs one after the other.

“Heh, now you want to just trap me in here? Alright, let’s play,” Richard voiced coldly as he raised his hands, tiny flames leaping from fingertip to fingertip. Dozens of fireballs were shot out to surround the castle, the final array the maximum number he could control at a time to layer the explosions. An enormous cloud of fire enveloped the entire structure, fire falling down like rain. The upper levels immediately melted like wax, distorting until they weren’t even recognisable anymore.

Richard sneered before shaking his head. As expected, every part of this semiplane had been tied to the enchantment in the Valley of Darkness; a burst of sheer power would quickly start breaking it apart. Sadly, his calculations had been slightly off, diminishing the effectiveness a little. The rain of fire looked almighty, but it wasn’t nearly as powerful as a wave of explosions.

He decided to try once more, laying a slightly smaller array of fireballs. This one exploded as per intention, sending a mushroom cloud into the sky. This time, an entire metre of the castle was completely shaved off.

Before the smoke even dissipated a third set had flown out, slightly smaller than the first but still larger than the second. This one destroyed the entire top floor of the castle, incinerating an unknown number of undead creatures.

When the fireballs floated out from Richard’s fingertips once more, a hoarse voice finally rang out behind him, “Stop it!”

Richard threw the fireballs anyway before turning around, “Don’t you think it’s too late for... Oh? I thought you’d be one of the many prisoners. To think you’re here controlling a semiplane. Not bad.”

In front of him was a handsome bald man with dark skin and toned musculature, the most surprising part being his face. This was the person he had come here to find, the priest Essien.

Essien stared at Richard for a long time, “How long has it been? Already so powerful... You really do come from another plane, don’t you? Those blind fools! How did they let you come this far?”

Richard waved his hand to set off another explosion, now leaving the castle with only half the height it once had, “It’s kind of useless to say that now. Anyway, shouldn’t you try stopping me? I don’t think your master will forgive you if you let me do this a few more times.”

“You!”

“Tch. I managed to ruin your church all those years ago when I was a weakling, and now I can burn this entire valley down. Neian can’t take me anymore, do you think your master can actually do something?”

Essien suddenly flashed a cheeky smile, “Perhaps Neian cannot, but you wouldn’t say this if you knew who my master was.”

Richard looked at Essien and sighed, “So you know what your master is?”

“Of course!”

“Tch... You’ve disappointed me. Whatever reason you may have, it’s unacceptable to cooperate with a cursed demigod.”

Essien’s eyes went wide, “You... How...”

Richard sneered, “There’s more evil in this valley than in the hells of pain. You thought I’d buy that a god could do this without destroying his own divinity? Come on, you have to do better than that. Besides, it’s not like I haven’s seen a bastard demigod before.”

It seemed like Richard was bragging, but his words weren’t untrue. Having employed Zangru’s services for years now, he understood how such cursed children worked. At the same time, he also had a great deal of knowledge about the divine from his time accompanying Flowsand and the teachings of Theodore.

“You know a... Impossible!”

Richard sighed for what felt like the hundredth time, “You’ve been living in a closed plane, of course you don’t know anything. The gods here block your eyes, cover your ears; they play around with your perception of existence to serve their own purposes. The plane I come from has complete guides to becoming a deity, and there are several teachers that can show you the path. Our eyes aren’t limited to our own bubble; we have seen what lies beyond the void, and we understand the magnificence of it all.

“You know, that’s why I came here. I saw your name on a list and was planning to show you the world outside of Faelor. Sadly, we don’t always get what we want.”

“Why take me away?” Essien smiled sorrowfully, “I have nothing on me worth that much.”

“Because of your diary?”

“My diary? But most of that was just my fantasies!”

“The fantasies of a genius. Unlike the others of this plane, you’re not blind.”

“Maybe in your eyes. To everyone here, I’m just a madman.”

Richard shrugged, “So? It’s not like their opinions matter. I think you’re quite valuable, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop my own plans for it. For example...”

He waved his hand once more, covering the castle in another explosion. The Book of Holding flew out and flipped open, spell after spell being launched until the castle was drowned out by lightning. The thunderbolts scattered into numerous electric spiders that crawled into every corner and exploded, destroying the undead creatures within.

Essien’s face immediately distorted, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”