Chapter 1436 - Hidden Offers Within the Depths (Patreon)

Vilas looked back at the empty space where the barrier sealing off this area had once been. To the naked eye, nothing was there, but he felt some kind of presence hidden there, unable to escape his senses.

He didn’t get an immediate answer, which made the Viper slightly raise his hand. “If you will not respond to words...”

“Fine,” a distinctly female voice he didn’t recognize finally answered as the woman revealed herself. She was wearing the same clothes and the same kind of mask as the people who’d ambushed Jake in the void. He didn’t recognize her presence either, nor could he tell what kind of magic she used, giving no clue if she was affiliated with any major factions.

“We appear to have underestimated you yet again, Malefic One,” the woman said, slowly walking forward.

“Am I to believe you didn’t expect me to detect you?” he asked with a chuckle, shaking his head. “Please, save your story for someone more gullible and tell me why you wanted to meet me here.”

The Viper was still trying to get a read on the woman, even finding her level of power difficult to gauge. Based on how she’d managed to somewhat sneak up on him, going by how he hadn’t known she was nearby while breaking the barrier based on how fast she got there, she had to be beyond the Godqueen level. Such a figure was someone he should know, yet she didn’t remind him of anyone he’d ever met or heard of.

“Yet my saying we underestimated you isn’t a lie. I hoped to observe you a little longer before you knew I was here,” the woman answered, her eyes smiling. “You are indeed correct. We hoped to meet you here.”

Nodding slowly, the Viper looked back to the pustule. “Tell me, what did you do to cause this? It doesn’t feel like a poison, yet not a curse either.”

“Merely the result of a failed experiment, repurposed into an opportunity to have the Malefic Viper come here with his true body,” the woman answered, being rather forthcoming.

“Which yet again begs the question: why?” the Viper said, fully turning around. “You have me here. True body and all. The perfect opportunity. Though I do hope you have other friends hiding, if this is yet another ambush. I assume it’s an ambush, as that appears to be the MO of your little group.”

Now it was the woman’s turn to chuckle as she unleashed her aura, prompting the Viper to raise an eyebrow. Surprisingly, she was about the power level of Snappy, which really wasn’t to be scoffed at, but at the same time, it meant that she was no threat, something she clearly had to know.

“As you can see, even if I brought a hundred of me, we would be no threat to you. Not even against that avatar of yours you used to explore before,” she answered. “I also want to apologize for the mishap with your Chosen. Certain individuals grew impatient and moved more quickly than some of us would have hoped.”

“See, that sounds a lot like a non-apology where you’re just blaming other faceless figures,” Vilas pointed out. “For fairness, how about you give a name, a location, and I’ll go talk to these impatient people myself? I’m sure we could reach a mutually amicable agreement after a good little sit-down.”

“Unfortunately, I’m not authorized to do that, and the assets they lost that day were at least some level of punishment,” the woman said, not really sounding that apologetic.

“Fine, didn’t expect much anyway,” the Viper casually shrugged. “But I do find myself curious. What do you mean by "they got impatient"? What do they want my little Chosen for?”

“More questions I cannot give satisfactory answers to,” she shook her head. “Though I can at least share the source of their impatience. The very nature of your Chosen breeds nervousness, and we need him alive. Knowing that there was even a contract out on his life by the Court of Shadows, some people decided to make their move to secure him.”

An answer that actually made some level of sense. Jake was good at making people nervous for his life, and he knew that Artemis shared this nervousness, though she was good at not letting it show. He was good at bordering between dead and alive, liked mortally dangerous situations a bit too much, and quite frankly lived in a way that was conducive to dying.

Then there was the contract by the Court of Shadows. Jake had just fought the assassin in the form of a chimera while on his visit to the Pantheon of Life, so it made sense that this made them even more nervous. Especially combined with Jake’s nature, which made him inclined to face the challenge rather than seek safety.

“So you need his Bloodline, huh?” the Viper asked, looking for outright confirmation. “And seeing as your little faction is only capable of infecting and controlling those without Bloodlines or Transcendent Skills, you had to use forceful methods.”

“If you’re looking for confirmation that we broke the Bloodline Accords, fine, you can have it,” she shrugged. “Yes, we need him for his Bloodline and abilities as the Harbinger of Primeval Origins. I cannot tell for what, but he’s rather important. I can tell you that we truly wish him no harm, and even if we had succeeded, we would have continued to support his Path and ascension to godhood.”

“See, that’s one thing I’m a bit confused about,” the Viper said, tilting his head. “He’s my Chosen. I can see you hide those with lesser Blessings, but a Chosen of a Primordial? He would be like a flare in the night, notifying me immediately of where your little base is, which honestly makes me question whether I should have just allowed you to take him.”

“If you’re willing to extend our invitation to him, you’re more than free to do so,” the woman said jokingly. “Though I will warn that he would go somewhere not even you would be able to detect him.”

Hearing her say that should perhaps seem like a big clue, but in truth, it just meant he would be hidden by an extremely powerful formation or inside a World Wonder. There were many places to hide in the multiverse, after all, though his words did still ring true. Finding their base if Jake was there would be a lot easier, and there was even a chance he would find a way to reach out and notify the Viper using some of his odd skills.

“I’ll be sure to tell him that the faction that tried to kidnap him and murder his friends is inviting him to come for a visit. I’m sure he’ll be jumping up and down at the mere prospect,” the Viper waved off her silly proposal.

“You are right that first impression was less than ideal,” the woman sighed, shaking her head.

“Not gonna lie, I doubt you could ever have made a good first impression on him. Pretty sure he’d not be a fan of a faction going around infecting and controlling people, especially not if joining them would mean having to live in hiding,” Vilas said casually, hoping to keep the conversation going, though he was still skeptical.

Why was she here? She’d given some decent information and was just here to talk as far as he could tell, which meant she had to have some kind of goal in mind. Apologizing couldn’t be all. It wasn’t even a proper apology.

“Perhaps not, though I do want to clarify that the vast majority of those you refer to as infected have chosen it. They are not converted or forced into anything, but joined us of their own free will. Also, please save me the grandstanding in protection of mortals, oh Malefic One,” the woman said with a chuckle.

“Hey, I’m not saying I disapprove of such unscrupulous tactics and haven’t done arguably worse things in the past – and probably will do worse things in the future – but unfortunately for you, my Chosen is quite different from me in that regard,” Vilas shook his head, also mentally noting the claim that most joined them of their own free will.

Not to say that he believed her. In fact, he was taking everything she said with a few tons of salt. She had plenty of reasons to spread false information; he wouldn’t assume anything she said was correct unless several additional sources confirmed they were. Some of the things she said did seem probable, but that didn’t mean they were actually true.

“That we are also aware of,” she nodded. “He’s a rather peculiar existence, though I guess with that Bloodline of his, that’s only to be expected.”

“I can’t deny he’s a weirdo,” Vilas said, chuckling and shaking his head. “So you should really tell me what you want with such a weirdo. However, since you aren’t willing to do that, how about you finally tell me why you are here and speaking with me, knowing there is a very good chance I’m going to kill you once this conversation is over? Because just as I’m in my real body, I can tell that so are you, and gods usually want to avoid dying.”

“My affairs are in order, and I’m here fully knowing the risk,” the woman replied, with the Viper still unsure whether she was serious. Did she somehow have confidence in escaping should he attack? Because if she did, maybe he should inform her that it was already too late to run, as her life was firmly in his hands.

“As for why I approached you, it’s to make an offer,” she continued. “One that will also extend to your Chosen, if you so wish.”

“I’m not one to make promises on behalf of others, but if the offer is good, I’ll be sure to share its details with him,” Vilas answered casually. “Though I will warn you, neither of us is easily convinced. Now let’s hear it.”

“Rather than trying to convince you with words, I think it would be easier to show you,” she said before taking out an odd item from her spatial storage. It looked like an orb of fungal flesh, and he detected her pouring energy into it as the entire World Wonder around them suddenly shook.

Walls moved, and not too far away, a portal formed, seemingly created by the Mycotic Depths itself. It swirled with power, clearly that of the World Wonder itself, making the Viper genuinely surprised as he looked at the woman.

“You found a way to control the Mycotic Depths?”

She smiled, clearly detecting his genuine curiosity. “In part, yes. As you no doubt know, the World Wonder is segmented into areas, all with a collective consciousness, but also with smaller neural networks spread throughout to control each segment. We have managed to take control of a few of these segments so far, giving us control over the brain of the surrounding fungi.”

“If you’d told me that your faction had achieved full control over the Mycotic Depths, I would have known you’re lying, but your response seems... possible,” the Viper muttered, looking at the pustule again. “Yet your control isn’t perfect now, is it?”

“No, it’s not,” the woman shook her head. “As I said, that was a failed experiment, and instinctively, the World Wonder moved to defend itself and isolate the energy that could harm it. We cannot control this response, and if we try to destroy or cause the Mycotic Depths harm, we lose control to the overall consciousness of the World Wonder, but if all we do is give smaller commands, those are followed.”

“I can admit you’ve at least caught my interest,” the Viper said with a smile, not lying either. This was actually an interesting development. Obtaining partial control of a World Wonder like this wasn’t easy and showed that this unknown faction had both power and intriguing methods behind it. Even if their control was only partial, it was impressive to say the least.

“I’m honored to hear that,” the woman bowed before motioning toward the portal she’d opened. “And I would be even more honored if the Malefic One would follow me through here.”

“Perfect setup for an ambush,” Vilas pointed out again.

“It would be,” the woman nodded. “But I believe we already went over why that would be a foolish idea.”

“Which would certainly lull me into a false sense of security, looping right back around to making it a brilliant plan,” the Viper joked around as he nevertheless saw no reason not to check out what these people were planning. Was he at risk because he’d come there with this real body?

No. No, he really wasn’t. Worst-case scenario, he’d just need to show them why he was called the Malefic Viper.

“Would you pass through first, or do you want me to?” she asked, not taking his joke very seriously.

“I truthfully do not care,” Vilas shook his head as he teleported over and appeared right in front of the portal that had been created by the World Wonder itself. “So I guess I’ll just go through first.”

Stepping into the portal, the Viper felt himself be transported a relatively short distance, at least shorter than he’d expected to be. He’d clearly gone farther into the World Wonder, but not by much, lending credence to her words that they controlled only a small part of the Mycotic Depths.

The other side of the portal led to a fully enclosed chamber with no exits or entrances, and, as far as the Viper could tell, it was effectively a pocket within the endless walls of flesh that made up the Mycotic Depths.

The pocket was approximately the size of a planet, and an artificial sun hung in the sky, lighting up the world below. He saw cities, green grassy plains, and practically an entire small world hidden deep within the World Wonder, clearly there for many years with no one knowing.

Behind him, the woman stepped out of the portal and immediately noticed Vilas scanning the area.

“It’s not one of our most impressive outposts, but it gets the job done and is relatively decent to live in,” she said in a casual tone. “I myself stay here occasionally, though it’s mostly a place for mortal relatives and such who do not seek power to live out peaceful lives.”

“In other words, a disposable location that should I choose to destroy would only succeed in further motivating your members to work against me,” the Viper said with a smile, confirming that her words were true regarding who lived there. He detected mostly E-grades below, a few D-grades, and a single C-grade who he reckoned ruled the place.

“You can choose to view it like that. I instead would refer to it as a more pleasant location to talk,” the woman said. “It’s also to show you that while we operate out of sight, we may have more forces and greater capabilities than you initially believed. Something I’ll need you to believe for you to take my offer seriously.”

“Lots of lead-up to this offer of yours, so it better be worth it. No more beating around the bush, just out with it,” Vilas said, having also concluded he wouldn’t be able to extract more conversation by dragging out the conversation.

“Very well,” she said, bowing, and rather than tell him, she took out a scroll and held it up towards the snake god. He took the scroll and opened it, scanning its contents before his eyes went wide.

Later, he exited the small pocket world again, the masked god still bowing behind him, while the Viper wore a conflicted look of contemplation as he made his way out of the World Wonder with the scroll.