Early Friday morning. City of Calamities.
Grasping the hilt and lifting the sword from the ground, Adryan sheathed it once more.
The summer sun that had been illuminating the area disappeared, and the holy bonfires drowned in the sudden darkness that followed.
Releasing the hilt and letting the weapon float a few inches above the ground, he looked at the hard work it had done.
The headless corpse of Cristhian Tamara had not changed much, but where his head had been, several objects appeared.
Yellow stones, translucent hexagonal pillars with streaking bolts of lightning inside, gold seeds, bronze tongues, and a piece of metallic bone that looked like a hammer...
To the naked eye, he could identify the characteristics of sequence 6, Judge, and sequence 7, Interrogator. He would need to do some divinations to know which one was the Sheriff and Arbiter, but he was pretty sure which one was the Disciplinary Paladin...
Using his control over the city, Adryan made the central object float up from the ground until it was in front of him.
It was a medium-sized object shaped like a staff and a pillar at the same time. It was made of dark bronze, and its sturdy appearance gave the illusion that it could be used in a court as a pillar.
"And you must be the Imperative Mage..." Adryan muttered a little, then rubbed his eyes with a sigh after a few moments.
From the slight itching in his eyes, he knew that these were the characteristics of Sequence 4.
Wiping away the tears falling from his eyes, the redhead covered the characteristics with smoke.
He may have the strength of a demigod here, but he did not possess the status of one. Therefore, seeing things with divinity would still take a toll on his body.
Putting that aside, he looked at the other stones surrounding the area...
Organized in several rows, each one indicating which path they belonged to, Adryan nodded, somewhat lost when he saw how many he had in his possession.
From the Black Emperor Pathway: one trait from Lawyer and Barbarian.
From the Chained Pathway: one from Prisoner.
From the Abyss Pathway: one from Criminal, Unwinged Angel, Serial Killer, and Devil.
From the Red Priest Pathway; four characteristics of Hunter.
From the Tyrant Pathway: two copies of Sailor and one copy of Folk of Rage, Seafearer, and Windblessed.
From the Justiciar Pathway: five Arbiter, four Sheriff, four Interrogator, three Judges, one Disciplinary Paladin, and one Imperative Mage.
From the Sun Pathway: one Bard, one Light Supplicant, one Solar High Priest, one Notary, and one Priest of Light.
From the Visionary Pathway: one Spectator, one Telepathist, and one Psychiatrist.
From the Hanged Man Pathway: one Secret Supplicant and one Listener.
From the Hermit Pathway: one Mystery Prier, Melee Scholar, Warlock, and Scrolls Professor.
From the Darkness Pathway: one each of Sleepless and Midnight Poet...
Looking at the neat rows, Adryan said nothing for several moments before laughing with great satisfaction.
His gaze fell to the sword at his waist, his eyes shining a little. With his left hand, he caressed the golden pommel.
"You did a wonderful job, Rapture. I'm proud of you." Although it was strange to talk to an object, the sword had living qualities, so in a way, it was like petting a pet.
Looking at it, Adryan nodded, satisfied with himself.
It was undoubtedly a beautiful weapon.
Rapture was a two-handed knight's sword. Its hilt and guard were works of art in themselves, as if holy fire had melted gold onto them, creating a reflection of it.
The sword's scabbard was made of black leather, with a gold tip and crossguard. Just below the crossguard, a gold circle was embedded. The sheath used to be simple, but when it was joined with the sword, it changed to what it is now.
Originally, the artifact did not have one; it was just the sword. But Adryan decided to give it one.
He did this so that the contract would work; without the sheath, it was very likely to fail. The sheath was not just for aesthetics but was a fundamental part of his chosen negative effect.
When sheathed, Rapture is just an extremely durable bat. In this state and when carrying it, Adryan would be constantly purified, and in one hour his sequence would drop one level.
This purification could not be used to cleanse him of evil or depraved states; it was exclusively a negative effect with no hidden advantage.
There were two ways to "turn this off."
The first was to give his blood to the artifact, which would put it to sleep for 20 minutes. It had to be his blood, no one else's.
While asleep, Rapture could not be unsheathed, which meant that no abilities could be used other than its great durability, which came from being a grade 1 artifact.
Adryan couldn't use this method very often, because the amount of blood the sword needed to put her to sleep was more than even a Reaper could give casually. He could only put her to sleep for 120 minutes; any longer, and the loss would leave him too weak to fight or do anything else.
Not to mention that to use it, he also had to give her his blood...
The second way to turn off the purification effect was to hide the Sheathed Rapture in a place of pure darkness where no light could penetrate.
For that, the Burnt Band was perfect. Its Shadow Warehouse was the best place for Rapture to sleep...
Leaving that aside, Adryan looked again at all the characteristics he had and could only sigh a little.
Setting aside and marking the ones he would take later, he curiously held a Hunter characteristic in his right hand.
"With all the ones I have here, I can make a separate team..." Narrowing his eyes, he looked at the soldiers in the distance.
Before, he didn't have the confidence to try this. But now that he not only had the strength of a demigod here but also a powerful Grade 1 artifact, it was time to experiment.
As he poured spirituality into one of his tattoos, Adryan changed the characteristics of a Hunter to those of a Solar High Priest.
The soldiers connected to him already had the strength of a Sequence 8 Provoker. If he really wanted results, he had to use at least Sequence 7 characteristics.
"Unfortunately, I don't have any Pyromaniac or Witch characteristics. I'd be much more comfortable trying pathways related to the City..."
Clenching the hilt of Rapture with his left hand, the redhead looked at the fire soldier in front of him.
"Ready, soldier?"
A military salute, with his back straight and proud, he shouted, "Yes, sir!"
With nothing more to say, and his heart racing a little, Adryan released the characteristics of Solar High Priest.
The crystal pulsing with its own light flew from his hand to the fire soldier. After a moment of uneasy pause, it entered his chest slowly, as if it had fallen into quicksand, slowly being consumed.
The flames on the humanoid's body began to turn yellowish. Orange and gold fought for control, and the soldier's humanoid figure trembled and expanded for a moment, like a balloon about to explode.
Adryan just watched without doing anything, his threads intertwining to form a mesh, and a layer of crimson fire began to cover him.
The next moment, before it could explode, the swollen soldier froze. Quickly, his figure began to take shape and regain its form.
In five seconds, he had regained his shape, only it had changed. The flames that made up his body were now golden, with only his eyes burning orange.
This holy fire soldier stood up straight and saluted.
"Sir!" His voice was now a soft chant.
Observing the result of his experiment, the crimson flames covering him disappeared.
Adryan brought a hand to his chin and tapped it for a few moments. After a few seconds, he calmly commanded, "Show me what you can do."
Following his words, multiple straw dummies appeared in the distance. The holy fire soldier saluted again and immediately followed the orders given.
A few meters from the first dummy, he raised his hands to the sky, as if trying to embrace the sun.
A golden light descended from the sky and struck the dummy directly, setting it ablaze with golden flames.
He moved on to the next one and extended a hand forward, clenching it into a fist. The dummy was instantly covered in dense, holy golden flames.
With his hand still raised, the soldier lunged forward in an explosive display of strength and power toward another dummy. His blows and attacks seemed to be accompanied by a cutting motion, which in a few movements completely destroyed the poor dummy.
"Not only has the soldier acquired the strength of a true Sequence 7 Beyonder, but he can be considered a true Solar High Priest..." With his eyes shining a little, Adryan called his soldier, who stopped the demonstration and returned with him.
Watching him, the redhead couldn't help but feel somewhat disturbed by the success of his experiment.
With mirror divination, he knew they could be used for the Iron-Blooded Knight ritual, but their strength was only Sequence 8. This was neither ideal nor acceptable to Adryan.
The state of his soul would already make promotion risky, adding divinity to that was a recipe for disaster. He preferred that the ritual was completed as best as possible to avoid problems.
Only by filling the soldiers with spirituality could he overcome this, but the amount required to even reach Sequence 7 was something he could not afford and could not consider adequate by his standards.
Given the current outcome, he could give them characteristics to increase their level and abilities corresponding to the ones given.
Although he had confirmed that soldiers could 'take' characteristics and use their abilities, this fact bothered.
A lot.
'Every characteristic has the remnants of the previous bearer's will. Not only do the soldiers not go crazy or explode when one is inserted, but they are also capable of suppressing it...
'Doesn't that mean that, in a way, they have a will of their own?' His brow furrowed slightly.
It was one thing for the soldiers to be intelligent, capable of following orders, adapting to the situation, and reacting accordingly—perfect machines, if you look at it that way.
But for them to have a will indicated an awareness of what they were doing, an understanding of themselves.
The soldiers were not mere mindless servants.
With this realization, a long sigh escaped Adryan.
'It was a mistake to think that the natural inhabitants of a sefira would be so simple. Nothing ever is with these abandoned treasures...'
Staring at the holy fire soldier, Adryan felt a small urge to ask him a question. He wasn't sure if he should follow through or not, but the kind of reaction it might provoke could be something he couldn't easily suppress.
"..."
After careful consideration, he sighed again and extended his hand forward.
"Good work, give it back now."
He would ask that question when he had true divinity, with the control he would have over the City of Calamities at that time, he was confident he could face whatever happened.
Adryan had already learned what could happen if he let his curiosity control him; he would not make the same mistake twice.
The golden soldier nodded and, putting his hand on his chest, took out the clear stone. His flames turned orange again.
Taking back the Solar High Priest's characteristic, Adryan made the Notary fly to him.
He repeated the same process as before, placing the characteristics in the soldier's chest.
The same process was repeated. The orange and golden flames fought for supremacy, and the soldier's body swelled and lost its humanoid form.
But unlike last time, his form did not stabilize and continued to inflate, unable to contain it.
Not wanting to wait for it to regenerate or see such a loyal soldier explode, Adryan reached out his hand into the air and pulled.
Puff!
The notary's characteristics were separated from the soldier, who, after a few moments, shrank back and returned to his humanoid form.
Once he recovered, the soldier stood up straight and saluted as if nothing had happened. "Sir!"
'It seems the limit of the characteristics they can take is Sequence 7... But maybe that's on pathways that aren't adjacent to the City of Calamities. Maybe with Conspirator and Pleasure it's different? Although I don't have any with me at the moment...' Tapping his chin a little, Adryan made a note of this for future experimentation.
"You may return, good work." He said calmly.
"Thank you, my Lord!"
The soldier dissolved into golden dust, returning to being a tattoo on his left forearm.
Adryan looked at this and just laughed a little. For a second, the thought crossed his mind whether he should try to save a soldier while he had a trait inside him, but as soon as it appeared, he crushed it.
While his soldiers could carry characteristics and use their abilities, that wasn't the case with himself. If he tried to reabsorb them in that state, he would almost certainly absorb the characteristic they carried, which would be deadly.
"I'm not a milkshake to mix ingredients," Adryan shook his head, amused.
"The best way to use them would be to carry some characteristics with me at all times so that when I send out a soldier, I can give them one... But of course, the risk is that if they die in combat, it's very likely that I won't be able to recover the characteristic in time, so I would lose it.
"While it's a method of empowering my soldiers, it comes with considerable risks..."
Satisfied with today's results, he didn't stay here any longer.
Opening the door of flames and throwing Rapture through it, the redhead closed his eyes. The sphere of light quickly completed itself...
Reopening them in his bathroom and feeling something inside him being cleansed, Adryan calmly grabbed the sword and placed it in his shadow.
Rapture was swallowed without resistance, and once it disappeared into her, the sensation vanished.
He did not rush to break the wall of spirituality, but instead cleaned the altar to the Scarlet Monarch and made sure he had left nothing behind. The redhead knelt on the ceramic floor and closed his eyes.
Hermes soon left his lips.
"The Fool who does not belong to this era; The Mysterious Ruler above the gray fog; The King in yellow and black who wields good luck...
"I pray for your attention...
"I pray that you will listen...
"Mr. Fool, I have finished my work. I will be back at the Tarot Club this coming Monday..."
...
Whispers reached his ears, but the detective did not let this affect what he was doing. With a friendly smile, he handed a few yellow bills to the cashier in front of him.
"Thank you for your purchase, sir. Please come back soon."
Taking back the paper bag with the ingredients for his meals for the next few days, Klein nodded. With his errands done and on his way home, he took a moment to think about what he had heard a few moments earlier.
'Someone prayed to me. A man's voice...' Already getting an idea of who it might be, the Magician quickened his pace slightly, not enough to be a light jog, but a little faster than normal walking.
Arriving at his apartment, the detective placed his purchases on the table and entered his bathroom. Raising a wall of spirituality and taking the four steps against the clock, Klein ascended to the Sefira Castle.
Taking his place in the seat of honor, his gaze was quickly drawn to the pulsating crimson flame with black spots.
"Of course it would be Joa, he's the only crazy person who prays at this hour... Looks like he succeeded in his plan." Complaining a little about his fellow, Klein raised his hand and sent some of his spirituality to the flame.
Turning his head away and closing his eyes as usual when dealing with his soul brother, he listened calmly.
"... Mr. Fool, I've finished my work. I'll be back at the Tarot Club this coming Monday..."
'This madman succeeded in hunting down a demigod. That means he completed his ritual and is now a Sequence 5... He's only been in this world a month longer than me, but he's already on the verge of becoming a demigod, even completing the ritual ahead of time by who knows how long. Why is he in such a hurry? This isn't a game that has to be completed in the shortest time possible... Did he do that at home? Was Joa a speedrunner? It would make sense with how fast he is progressing...' Lampooning a little, Klein responded calmly to the prayer with a simple 'Alright,' and with that, he cut the connection.
Tap tap...
As he tapped his armrest in a slow rhythm, Klein's eyes moved around the space, from the seats on either side of the rusty bronze table to the imposing ancient columns that surrounded him to the endless gray fog that seemed to stretch into infinity.
After a few moments of consideration, the man straightened up a little. A topaz pendulum hung from his wrist. Closing his eyes and using cogitation to empty his mind, he repeated silently seven times.
"It is safe to explore this space... It is safe to explore this space..."
Once he reached the seventh time, Klein opened his eyes. The pendulum was spinning at a considerable speed counterclockwise.
A positive result.
Wrapping the pendulum back around his wrist and hiding it under his sleeve, the Magician rose from his seat and began walking toward the edge where the tarot club was held, between the columns and the sea of gray fog.
He had already explored all the space between the columns; the only thing he hadn't checked yet was that sea that stretched into infinity.
Since he hadn't started cooking breakfast yet and had a little free time, he decided to seize the opportunity.
"... It's not like I can't return to my body immediately if something happens..." With those words of consolation and a last sigh, Klein took a step forward.
Contrary to what he expected, he did not fall into an unknown void but stepped on something. Carefully, he took another step, and the same thing happened.
Now that he knew it was safe, his gait became more relaxed. Looking around, Klein let his intuition guide him. In a space where he couldn't see anything beyond the gray fog, relying on his sight was somewhat useless.
After a short while, Klein saw something in the distance, a light at the end of the path.
This cheered him up, but he didn't let it get in the way of his situation. Without rushing and alert to anything that might happen, he made his way toward the light.
After 15 seconds, he saw a flight of stairs that seemed to lead to the sky!
The staircase was made of pure light. It was holy, transparent, and unblemished, capable of stunning anyone's heart.
The staircase had only three steps, and each one was quite high, as if designed for creatures larger than giants.
Klein looked up, following its path, and saw a layer of grayish-white fog, condensed and suspended in midair, as if supporting something. It was a significant distance from the staircase of light.
"Does the three-step staircase represent my consumption of Sequence 9, Sequence 8, and Sequence 7 potions? What exactly is above that layer of fog?" Klein advanced carefully until he reached the staircase of light and stepped on it.
There was nothing unusual about the steps, and they were solid as rock.
Klein climbed the stairs, up to the third level, and just as he was about to look up, something stopped him.
Kneeling down, he looked curiously at the step.
"Because I was on the floor, I didn't notice this..." Squinting slightly, he traced it with his hand.
The rest of the third step was covered with several black stains, which at first glance appeared to be deep, reaching the very center of it. At the sight of these stains, a thought crossed Klein's mind.
These were not natural to this space. They did not belong here.
Staring at this unnatural sight, realization struck Klein.
"These are the marks left behind by fire!"
Such a thing stunned the Magician, and a chill ran through his body from head to toe.
Was it even possible for something to burn here and not be repaired immediately?
Not even Eternal Blazing Sun, a true God of Sequence 0, was capable of leaving a permanent mark here. While He did cause to shake and suffer some damage, it was only temporary, being repaired within a few seconds...
Not wanting to think about how it was even possible to leave a permanent mark on Sefira Castle, Klein's eyes moved slightly.
"The marks increase at the edge, it's very likely that the next step will be even more burned than this one..."
Shaking his head slightly, he looked up at the platform of grayish-white mist in the distance.
Taking several steps back and concentrating all his strength in his legs, Klein accelerated and took a big leap. But once his feet left the ladder of light, all momentum and the instinctive flight of his spiritual body disappeared. He fell straight down and landed at the bottom of the layers of gray mist, not even coming close to reaching the platform.
"It looks like I'll have to advance three or four sequences... Sequence 4 brings a qualitative change, with that change I should be able to see what's there..." Klein looked up, his heart complicated.
The words of Joa and the Scarlet Monarch echoed deep in his soul.
Sefira Castle was not only deeply related to his transmigration, but it also carried an enormous burden. Klein felt that the answers to the questions that plagued him once he awoke in this new world were there, waiting for him.
"Once I become a demigod..." Repeating silently in his heart, Klein stared at the platform for an unknown amount of time, as if he could see through the fog that covered it and its secrets.
----------------
Sorry for being quiet these past few days.
I hope you enjoyed the process of Adryan's Reaper ritual. As you may have noticed, I changed the Precision power a little.
Also, I hope you like the negative effects of Rapture. By the way, this is what it looks like. There are more images on my Twitter profile. The artist is @jaavart on x.
Also, here's a new piece, take a look. This is during the events of chapter 250 of Volume 2. The artist is @Tori_illust.
To finish up... I think I fell into corruption. The opportunity presented itself, and I took it. You'll understand in a few days.