Chapter 76 - Undead Asylum Catacombs (5) (Patreon)

He had long ago suspected that this place was far more dangerous than she was selling him it all the time, but alas, there was no real difference in the outcome. It didn't really matter how dangerous this place was because, in the end, he would be still forced to go to the Orange Shore and carry out the will of the Astral and Lord of Light.

Such was the fate of the pawn in the great game.

Until he was weak, he could only play according to the rules of the game and try to become as powerful as possible. The stronger he was, the more freedom he would have during the game, and once he achieved Sequence 1 and became an Angel, he would be among the ones with enough power and freedom to take his chances to break the constraints of the game itself.

Only by achieving Sequence 0 Godhood can one become one of the chess players instead. 

Until then...

It was best to lay low. 

The world of the Beyonders ran deep, much deeper than he could think, and it wouldn't be good to showcase his ambition or be disobedient to those who are stronger. This was a world where the weak died, the strong lived, and the strong ate the weaker to become even stronger.

The world of Beyonders and Supernatural was of such character, and one needed to be very smart to navigate to the top. Valkorion was already in a rather good position because he could make use of the Lord of Light and Astral as his means of rising to power.

While trusting either of them would be an utterly foolishness because he was aware that for the two of them, he was nothing more than a discardable pawn.

Yet, he would be using it to his advantage because, for him, even though it was extremely risky and dangerous, he believed that the benefits he could have from the resurrection of the Astral and the rise of the Lord of Light were higher than the disadvantages and dangers.

"Then what yar we waiting for?"

The dwarven Slayer asked as they then located the exit from the ceremonial room where they fought the Lich. Because they were going to the deeper parts of the Undead Asylum Catacombs, it wasn't really hard to find the exit, but the problematic thing was...

There were multiple pathways across the ceremonial room that clearly led in the opposite direction and different paths. So, for the time being, they were stuck in the ceremonial room, while Mellisandre was going through the journals and maps of the Undead Asylum Catacombs.

"Also, now that you finally told the truth about the Undead Asylum Catacombs... is the Red Temple aware of the true strength of the Undeath Scourge in the Orange Shore?"

Valkorion asked the red witch as she stared at the maps, which showed a myriad of tunnels, pathways, and places marked on the map. Clearly, the Red Temple managed to get some solid maps of the Undead Asylum Catacombs.

"... at least Saints are in the depths of the Izalith, in the heart of the city, but we don't really know more. Nobody dares to enter those depths because it is very dangerous to enter the true depths of the Undead Asylum Catacombs."

Valkorion grew grimmer as he listened to Mellisandre because he didn't really like the answer at all. Previously, when they were still in the Cartharys, she told him that the maximum was Mid Sequence Undead, and yet, it couldn't be more far from the truth.

There were at least Saints in the ruins of the Izalith and the Chaosflame Covenant. That was something that was sending chills down through his spine.

"You think that the Cult of the Dammed would be able to take control of those Undead down there?"

He asked something that was bugging him because his mind was still searching for the reason why the Cult of the Dammed was in this place.

"Not really possible... if they could do that, they would have done it a long time ago... this place is rather special, and according to the information of the Red Temple, the Undead here cannot be taken control by force because it is highly probable that they are already under the control of some powerful being. If I had to guess, something is telling me that they are here for the same thing as we are."

If that was the case, then it wouldn't be really that bad.

Yeah, it wasn't the ideal situation because they would be dealing with the Necromancers and madmen worshipping Undeath in the most twisted and perverse way, yet if they were here for the same reason as they were, then they would be here in limited power.

For the very same reason why the Red Temple sent only Low Sequence Beyonders like Mellisandre and why he was here or Gotrik, who were also Low Sequence Beyonders.

If they sent someone more powerful, for example, Mid Seqeunce Beyonder, and much less said about the High Seqeunce Beoyynders, then it would alert the powerful Undead in the depths of the Undead Asylum Catacombs that were dwelling in the heart of the former Pyromencaers of Izalith, the Izalith City. 

"It's the middle one."

Valkorion raised his brow because he could sense some uncertainty in her voice, but alas, it was their best bet.

Immediately, three of them started descending down through the very narrow pathway. As they got into the formation, they slowly descended through the pathway covered by dust and cobwebs. 

The dwarven Slayer was on the point of spearhead as he led the three of them and they slowly approached one of the vaults of the Izalith. 

"Lassie... what exactly had brought down the Pyromancers? From the knowledge of the Slayer Cult, they were very powerful."

After walking for half an hour in absolute silence because everyone was vigilant about their environment, Gotrik initiated the conversation with the priestess of the Lord of Light. 

"Nobody knows; according to the records of the Red Temple, one day, Undeath Scourge erupted from the heart of Izalith, destroyed the entire city, then spread towards the rest of the Firelink Shrine, and in exactly 77 days, the entire Chaosflame Covenant was turned into the land of Undead."

Chaosflame Coventat was one of the most potent Beyonder Organizations of its time, established by the Pyromancers of Izalith, who also created the entire Firelink Shrine. 

The Slayer Cult was also a Beyonder Organization that could trace its history to thousands of years ago, but they were never that powerful like the Chaosflame Covenant, mainly because it was much smaller and only accepted dwarves. 

"Some scholars speculate that several members of the Covenant wanted to research the Undeath Scourge and uncover the secrets of the Undeath Curse, but it went out of control. Others are saying that it was sabotage from the inside, that the dark powers corrupted some Elders of the Covenant that released the Undeath Scourge in the city."

It was rather a mystery for many. 

Another thing that made the entire thing even more complicated was that, nobody escaped because it wasn't possible to leave the Orange Shore at that time.

Like someone blocked the entire region in some invisible barrier.