The last thing Elias remembered was the system notification before one of the Tier 4 injected him with something else. He was sure it wasn't the same thing Ivy had injected into him.
That was what made him unconscious. He didn't even realise when he was dragged here till he opened his eyes.
But this one, he was fully awake. However, he felt weak and useless. He couldn't even lift a finger. The liquid in the syringe made him lose control of his body and his mind. He left like a dummy. A toy controlled by kids.
He watched them drag him to the other room. It was like a ritual room. No, it is a ritual room. It had a lot of bones stacked in the corner. Before they dragged him into the room, the children or should he call them sacrifice? There were seventeen of them. The system asked him to save them.
But, he couldn't even save them when he was this useless.
'Bastard system! To save the kids, they only offered to increase that betrayal's loyalty?'
When he does bad things, only then will the system give him great benefits.
"Fuck!" He grunted as his head started spinning. He finally reached the centre of the ritual room.
The room stank of incense and blood. Thick smoke coiled through the cracked ceiling, and crimson light from flickering lanterns painted the walls in sick red hues. Chains rattled with every movement.
'What the fuck is happening?'
He wondered.
He was tied to a stone pole like some ancient pagan offering. Thick ropes crisscrossed his torso, pinning his arms and legs in place. His head throbbed, his mouth dry, and his vision swam as the effects of the drug slowly wore off.
"Fuck," he groaned again, struggling against the restraints. He almost forgot what he was here for.
His system pinged softly in his head.
> [Warning: Corruption +2%] [Lust -10%] [Pain Resistance activated.]
Pain resistance?
Thanks to that, It started coming back in pieces.
Ivy.
The kiss. The touch. The soft moan she gave before sticking him with that fucking syringe into his neck.
Bitch.
Now he was here, not a survivor camp, not a safe haven. Just another hellhole disguised as wherever the fuck he is.
Classic fucking world.
In the shadows near the altar, the two Tier 4 zombies stood tall.
They were talking about how they would offer him and the children to their fucking Mistress. Then the system notification came again.
System Notification:
> > NEW MISSION:
Save the Sacrifices. (0/17)
Bonus: Increase bond loyalty.
Warning: Saving them might reduce corruption levels, and the risk of berserk might lower.
[ACCEPT] [POSTPONE] [REFUSE]
He was yet to accept it. The warning sounds like a benefit for him, but he doesn't know what would happen if he's not able to save them. He was tied up from neck to toe...
He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard their voices.
"The core inside him is unstable," the veiny one said in a guttural voice, glancing toward a pale priestess robed in grey.
Elias didn't even notice her presence. Her eyes were white and lifeless. She stood still like a statue, the only living thing in the room aside from the undead.
Ivy wasn't present.
"His body won't last long under her will," the scaled zombie hissed, walking in a slow circle around Elias. "But his power... it's ripe. We'll tear it out of him. Feed it to her."
The Mistress, again.
Who the fuck was that?
> [Quest Triggered: Survive the Extraction Ritual.]
Elias spat blood and laughed darkly.
"Oh, come the fuck on. Can I not get tied up without someone trying to get me?"
Another mission!
The priestess walked forward. In her hands was a metal device that seemed like a relic, covered in teeth-like drills, glowing with green magic. It looked like a fucked-up blender crossed with a ritual knife.
> [Warning: Core Extraction will result in permanent death. Initiating Emergency Protocol.]
> [Memory Bleed Unlocked: 1%] [Partial Synchronization with Vark Draven achieved.]
What? Vark Draven? Why do I have to...
Suddenly, something shifted inside him.
He felt a flood of dark, cold images flooded his brain. His head started throbbing with pain. The pain he never felt whenever he was stabbed, bitten or torn apart. It came, together with unfamiliar memories.
A huge castle made of bone. A throne wrapped in chains.
Screams.
Fire.
A woman's laughter was sharp and cruel.
Names he didn't know. Faces he couldn't remember.
Elias's breath hitched.
The fuck? Who was that woman? What kind of life has this monster been living? Where the hell is that bone castle?
He didn't have time to sort through the mess. The priestess raised the drill, and it whirred to life.
"Nah," he growled. "Not fucking today."
Elias roared and snapped his arms forward, ignoring the pain as his muscles tore against the restraints.
> [Pain Resistance boosted temporarily.] [Strength +3]
Yes! But, temporarily? Greedy system!
The rope gave way. He tore the rest with pure brute force and kicked the priestess square in the chest, sending her flying into the wall.
The two Tier 4 zombies roared in unison and charged.
"Fuck me," Elias growled.
He dived to the side as a massive claw smashed into the stone where he stood. Debris rained everywhere. He rolled and grabbed a broken chain from the ground, wrapping it around his knuckles like brass fucking knuckles.
"Hey system! I accept the fucking mission. I'm going to save those pink pounds of sacrifices and survive the core extraction!"
> > [Save the Sacrifices] (0/17)
> > [Quest Triggered: Survive the Extraction Ritual.]
[ACCEPTED]
Sweet!
Elias focused on getting rid of the zombies. He doesn't know if he is going to win, but he's going to try his best. They were Tier 4 zombie and he's just Tier 3. Not a regular Tier 3, but a unique variant. He could make use of that.
Elias punched the scaled zombie across the face. It barely flinched.
Tough skin huh?
The second zombie came from behind.
Elias twisted, ducking under the blow and driving his elbow into its ribs. No effect.
"I'm gonna have to try harder than that... I see!"
More zombies poured into the room. Low-tier ones, groaning and snarling, drawn to the scent of blood and dark energy.
Elias ducked and weaved, smashing heads and cracking bones. He crushed skulls beneath his boot, slammed one into the altar so hard it cracked, and grabbed core after core.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight.
His body screamed.
He was running on fumes. The Tier 4s came again, one swinging a jagged sword, the other flinging debris with raw strength. There was too much happening at once. He couldn't face the low-tier zombies and those monsters at the same time. He blocked the debris with his arm, protecting his face.
He couldn't win.
Unless...
> [Cores absorbed: 99 / 100 required for Tier 4 evolution.]
> [Warning: Berserk Mode at 92%.]
> [System Tip: Absorb one more core to complete evolution.]
Elias dodged the debris thrown at him and slid across the floor, kicking one final low-tier zombie off the ground. It growled weakly as it fell. Elias's fingers wrapped around its throat and crushed its skull like a watermelon.
> [Core absorbed: 100 / 100.] [Evolution Initiated.] [Level Up: Lv.9 → Lv.10]
> [Tier Advancement: Tier 3 → Tier 4 achieved.]
> [New Skill: Bone Armor (Lv.1)] [New Passive: Damage Feedback (Lv.1)]
> [All Stats +10 | All Skill +5]
Finally! Yes!
Power exploded inside him.
His veins lit up red. His eyes blazed. Black marks stretched across his skin as if his body couldn't contain the force.
He screamed... in pain, in ecstasy, in rage.
Then he laughed, even though his body was still throbbing in pain.
"Now we're fucking talking. Shit! It hurts like hell,"
Thanks to the pain resistance boost, he managed to endure.
He turned, grinning with bloodied teeth, and launched at the Tier 4s.
Fast. No, he has become even faster than before, stronger too.
Every single hit was able to crack bones.
Thanks to just one evolution, he has become something else.
Something different than the monster he was. Maybe worse.
The two Tier 4s tried to back away, but Elias was relentless. They already knew he was stronger than when they drugged him.
"Hey! We should probably go..." One of them said.
Elias swiftly appeared behind them.
"Go? You ugly asses invited me to a party and you're just going to leave? Fuck you! But not literally!"
He grabbed on by the arm, ripping it away from his body. He then froze when he realised the bunch of sacrifices, no, children, at the corner, staring at him with fear in their eyes.
"Close your eyes... you don't wish to have bad dreams, do you?" he said and they slammed their hands over their faces.
He continued to rip his body apart. He beat him to a pulp, smashing its skull into mush, then went for the other one, who was crawling towards the exit. He grabbed his leg, pulling him.
He tried to claw the ground as fake tears rushed down his eyes.
Elias wore a 'what the fuck' look on his face.
He never knew zombies could cry.
"Mommy!" He yelled.
"You don't have a mommy, you bastard!" He yelled and turned to the sacrifices to make sure they weren't listening to what he was saying. They also seem like they didn't have a Mommy too.
He turned to the zombie and dragged him to the altar.
"Since you wanted my core... I'll have yours instead,"
He ripped out its core with his bare hand.
Breathing hard, he stood over the bodies, dripping in blood.
> [New Core absorbed. Tier 4 stabilized.]
His mind spun. Memories flooded in again.
Chains. Bone Castle.
A woman with eyes like the void.
Then a voice:
"You are my heir... and my enemy."
> [Memory Bleed (1%) processed.]
> [System Update: Morality Sync -2 → -10] [Corruption: 31%] [Berserk: 95%]
Elias blinked slowly.
"Fuck me sideways," he muttered, staggering back.
He wasn't out of danger. Not yet.
The priestess was gone. While Elias was busy tearing those zombies apart, she used the opportunity to run.
He felt a vibration from the altar. It glowed as the body on it vanished. He would have been the one on the alter if he hadn't acted fast.
He was glad he wasn't sacrificed and also... The tiny sacrifices were still in the corner.
He sighed heavily, his fingers trailing his wounded body. Suddenly, a voice came from the shadows of the cracked ritual chamber...
"You're awake, heir of Draven..."
His blood went cold immediately.
Heir of what now?
[END OF CHAPTER TEN]