abcnovels
Chapter 97: [Devil!]
Chapter 97: [Devil!]
"I… have actually made a deal with a devil."
I was shocked to hear that. But then I calmed down as I realized that I was now living in a fantasy world where anything was possible. We got elves here, and vampires that walk in the morning. A walking unicorn-human wouldn't really surprise me, either.
Though on that note, I was the only one who was carrying that expression right now. The others were pretty calm as if they already knew about it. And if I were to make a proper guess then…
"The Corrupted Energy?"
It was too disgusting to be around. I was somehow managing to bear with it, but if I were to have a choice I would have rather not be sitting around people with that kind of stench.
He nodded as he spoke,
"I'll keep it brief. My [Gift: Absorption and Re-distribution!] is a [Beyond Mythical Grade] gift. It's already a known fact to all the people on the 40th floor and above so it doesn't matter even if I tell you all this."
I listened to him as he explained a bit about how his gift functions. He can absorb and amplify any form of energy and give to another person. The amplification works in various ways, from modifying that energy into a powerful curse, or changing that into a skill enhancer that temporarily increases the grade of ones that the others possess.
Though the real power behind his gift is that he can absorb not just energy but anything. From the life force of other people to their time and existence to a certain degree. In a way he can take one's time and give to another. Not just that, he can even take a part of their [Gift] and [Skills] and give to another person as long as it's compatible.
Not just to others he can even take it to himself.
Though there was one flaw in his ability. He needs to take consent of the front person to do so.
And as we reached that part of the conversation, my eyes grew cold as I looked at him. Doesn't that mean that he was here to take my [Gift] and powers?
"Ah! You seem to be misunderstanding something," he spoke as he observed my face as he continued," even though your power holds the authority to make changes to the system itself, it's not something I can have. There is actually another hidden flaw of the [Gift] that I had. Not exactly a flaw but more like a rule."
I observed his face with a serious expression as he explained further,
"I cannot touch the energy of the system or anything like that. You know, how I can absorb anything, right? Actually I once tried to absorb the system itself. It wasn't mine but of someone who owed me a lot. Did you know what happened?"
A slight scared expression appeared on that guy's face as he chuckled dryly before speaking,
"It said [You do not have the Authority to touch the System of the Tower. Further Attempts would be taken as a threat to the system and your existence will be erased completely!]."
My eyes widened at his words as he shook his head before speaking,
"I don't dare to do anything to the system itself. I don't think it's a matter of [Gift], either. You probably have more secrets than your gift, I understand, and that is why I am asking for your help. If it were just your [Gift] then I probably would have talked to you a bit before leaving from here. But I am glad that that's not the case here."
I was confused as I tilted my head in confusion. What was he talking about? Did he know about the [Game master system]? It doesn't seem like that.
"Mr. Crowley. I am the Seat 4 of the corrupted ones. If it is all right, may I answer your question?" Seat 4 politely asked and I nodded before she spoke,
"I don't know if you know this but I am from an Ancient Race of Seers, and I come from a world that is much higher than the worlds of other players. My eyes can see anything I want to see, sometimes even bypassing the system and showing me the Admin's and the others status and stats as well. Do you know what I saw when I tried looking at your status?"
I felt my heartbeat increase as I saw her smile a bit before she answered herself,
"[You do not have the authority to see the stats of this person!]"
And I gulped as I calmed down hearing her words. Inside, I sighed in relief as I realized that I was still pretty much safe. Though perhaps the 'fear' on my face must have made them misunderstood my thoughts as the leader spoke,
"From your expression, it doesn't seem like you know much about that either. I don't know if it is a good thing or not. Though it is true that you can interfere with the system without getting any side-effects. And that is why I need your help with two things."
And once again, coming back to square one, I looked at that guy, wondering what those two requests were. He told me about his [Gift] but the topic kind of drifted off from there.
"I told you that I made a deal with the devil, right? Actually on the 46th Floor where the Admin's energy was wreaking havoc, there were small cracks appearing within the floor itself. Through those cracks, the corrupted energy began flowing within the floor, which I could absorb and use it for myself. It was a powerful energy that could indirectly interfere with the system itself.
Though random, it was still better than nothing. Some got cursed, others got a blessing," he told me the origin of the Corrupted Energy.
'So the corrupted energy is from the outside world? Does that mean I can get a lot of GM points if I go to the 46th Floor?' It was difficult to hide my smile as I thought about it. Meanwhile the leader continued,
"The problem was that due to the continuous filling of corrupted energy, the entire floor was beginning to break. So, I, being someone who can somewhat control that energy, transferred all that energy to a tree in the corner of the floor. At the beginning it solved the problem but… something else took birth instead. That tree… it came to life."
My eyes narrowed as he explained more about it,
"That tree called himself the incarnate of the Devil. At first I was worried, but then he proposed to me a deal that I couldn't refuse. He told me that he can guide that [Corrupted Energy!], from providing a random effect on other systems. And in exchange we need to provide him with more corrupted energy."
I sighed as I understood the gist of it.
"Since there were heroes, I thought that tree was another part of the system that was going to give us another blessing or something. Though seemingly evil, as long as it's within the system, it was fine to take it… it's what I thought until I noticed something wrong," a saddened expression appeared on his face as he gave out a deep sigh.
"Everyone who got power from the corrupted energy was happy in the beginning but as time passed, their life force was getting consumed. The weaker players started dying first, and the somewhat stronger ones were barely living. In the end about 40 or so people were left who were alive, including the 4 of us you see here. And it won't be long before we too lose our life to that power as well."
A life in exchange for power, huh?
"The first thing that we ask from you, Sir Crowley, is can you please save us? Can you ask that being that is behind you to take our corruption energy? It pains me every time I see my friends dying because they trusted me," he said as touched my hand, asking me to help him out of this problem.
[Would you like to erase the Corruption Energy of the target in exchange for 500 Million Points?]
I almost wanted to jump at it and press [Yes] but then I controlled myself. Too much greed will get me killed, gotta do everything slowly.
I thought that but…
'500 Million and the other two would be around the same so that would be at least 1.5 Billion,' my eyes twinkled as the 3 big bags of GM points in front of me.
"Sir Crowley?" Seat 1 asked with a concerned expression before I shook my head before speaking,
"I don't know. Even though my [Contractor] and I are on friendly terms, he mostly does his own thing while I do mine. So while I do want to help you, he is the only one who is capable of doing so. In fact, he was the one who helped her as well."
I spoke and the leader looked at the girl on his right side. She seemed like an elf though her hair was a bit snowy and the air around her was a bit cold. Was she another race of elves?
"I don't know. My skills doesn't work on him," that girl answered making the leader look at me with a slight narrowed look before he mumbled,
"Looks like we need to take a risk with this one."
And then a friendly smile appeared on his face as he asked,
"Thank you for understanding. Even if you fail to do so, it's not much we can do. Plus we have already accepted our fates as well. Though, will it be all right if I ask you for another favor?"
Ah! He said that he has 2 favors he needs from me. He only told me one of them.
"From what I have heard, you yourself can make minor changes to the systems of others so, can you help remove a curse from our Seat 4? Even if you can't it's fine, but can you check if you are able to do so?"
And he spoke before pointing to that Seer girl again. I saw her entire body behind a cloak and wondered if that curse had something to do with it. Even though I can see her system even at a distance, I need to show that I need physical touch to do it.
So, I asked her to come closer before I touched her cheeks to see her system. And once I checked it…
"…"
I wondered if what I saw was correct or not. Especially a small part of the system.
[Titles: Former Tower Master(Ex) Seventh Seer (Ex) Wife of Lirawern, the 4th Fate Weaver (Ex)…
Status: Broken Existence ; Cursed by the Enchantress (Ex)]