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Bit delayed, since I spent most of today dealing with a severe migraine, thanks to the low pressure from the upcoming typhoon making landfall tomorrow or Wednesday. Apparently, this year has been extremely bad in terms of typhoons hitting Japan.

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Chapter Two-Hundred-and-Seventy-One

With a flap of his wings, Adam flew towards the tower in the distance, activating his cloud boots mid-air to accel himself to much greater speed, which produced a loud whoosh as he zipped across the stage.

While he flew, he inspected the soul seeds he had collected. Only one of the names mentioned in their descriptions stood out to him: ‘Anri Tsiklauri’, better known to him as ‘Mórrígan’. The other three names were ‘Jessica Bay James’, ‘Cyavana Wadekar’, and ‘Halima Suleiman’, none of which were familiar to him.

It lent a lot of credence to the theory that the Flayed Lady had been trying to use sigil magic to take him down, rather than relying on the players to have competent builds or relics that countered him. She was sacrificing people who didn’t matter to Adam, using them like cannon fodder and human bombs, although the inclusion of Mórrígan was peculiar. Perhaps she was supposed to have served a greater role but had perished without being able to make a play.

I’m glad the last one that teleported away died, but I’m worried about what the Flayed Lady was trying to do.

Maybe something nasty awaits me inside the tower.

Despite being on guard, Adam still descended upon the bone creepers atop the trees in the forest and on the outside of the tower’s strangely crooked roof, flying past with swings of his stone hand, which absolutely tore them apart with ease.

Once they were all taken out, he circled the outskirts of the tower where the wildlings had built their scrap walls, making quick work of them all, as they did not stand a chance against his damage. No sooner had he come to a brief stop atop one of the walls than he laid eyes on a roaming discarded golem. Normally there would only be one in front of the gate, but with hardmode active, every elite and mini boss was doubled.

Which means I can get two chests from the get-go.

Adam felt a brief sense of déjà vu and nostalgia as he thought about using his lucky stone on the chest he would get. He’d felt the exact same way during his fourth loop when he’d been in a group with Gladwyn and James.

Only, this time, I’m not looking for a legendary, but instead a divine relic.

And I’ll be able to grab three relics at once, thanks to my choice ring and spider ring. At least I hope that’s how they work when used together.

Adam looked around, scanning the area just in case there were any enemies or unseen dangers trying to sneak up on him, but besides the rumbling of the lumbering mound of corpses, all was quiet.

“Do you think the player that teleported into the tower was able to lay a trap?” Adam asked Parvillo.

[I do not sense anything. While Player Dorian Solinas possessed a Chthonic Sigil on his body that allowed him to be propelled through blood to reach the inside of Alepheria’s Crooked Tower, that sigil has gone dormant and will not work a second time. Such power does not come without a hefty cost, as the language of the Absolutes is not made for mortals to endure.]

“Really? Then how do the blood sigils not kill its wearer?”

[Those are purpose-made by the Flayed Lady for her worshippers to channel her power. Unlike the sigil carved into Player Dorian Solinas, the blood sigils are made to work in tandem with their recipient, and the All-Seeing System enforces a protection on all Players, allowing them to possess and use weapons that would be harmful outside the comfort of the Trials.]

Comfort… What a sickening way to describe their death game.

[There is one other possibility that occurs to me, an unseen threat that may manifest, if indeed the Flayed Lady had the forethought to plan this far ahead. Given that it has not happened already, it is possible that she has not thought of it. Perhaps she assumed you would perish in the Forbidden Altar and never planned for what might come after.]

“I highly doubt that. If there’s one thing that feels certain, it is her ability to plan for the unpredictable. Despite how I betrayed her in my last loop, without her predicting it, she still managed to infiltrate my stage ten group, which means she must have prepared for the possibility that I might displease her since the start, before I even worshipped her.”

[Indeed, it is foolish to underestimate her.]

“What is the unseen threat?”

[It shall become clear to you soon enough.]

Adam wondered what exactly that meant, but then he looked at the golem that was about to leave his line of sight as it headed around behind the tower.

“Are you talking about a divine relic?” Adam asked.

Parvillo didn’t reply, which was a confirmation in itself.

Adam took off with a flap of his wings, summoning a cloud mid-air to kick off of.

With speed that would send him zipping past the golem within seconds, he only had a brief window of opportunity to make his move. He adjusted his trajectory while transforming into shadow, and prepared a devastating punch, but the moment he went through the golem’s pinwheel-shaped upper body and emerged out the other side, it was clear that he had failed to strike its weak spot. The brain was impossible to see from the outside, so his aim had been off. None of the corpses were damaged either, since true damage struck directly at the soul, and they were all dead. Likewise, they were only partially connected to the brain of the golem, so damage inflicted to them did not spread.

Adam banked hard in the air, his speed carrying him far from the golem and tower. Unperturbed, he dove back in, this time pulling two traps to each hand and transforming back into slime.

Like a bomber, Adam threw his ordnance and pulled up. A dozen explosions overlapped to make the air vibrate, while their damage shredded and atomised most of the corpses that the golem was comprised of. Adam’s speed left him barely skimming along the exterior wall of the tower, before he was able to make a full loop in the air and dive back down onto the mini boss, landing with a devastating punch directly to its exposed brain mass.

The impact smashed the golem’s remains into the ground where they turned to a mushy paste, which Adam was unfortunately coated in.

Good thing my slime body dissolves organic matter.

It didn’t do anything to save his relics from the foul paint job though.

Left behind in the carnage was a pink fleshy relic chest.

Adam immediately pulled out the lucky stone he’d been keeping since stage two and flipped it into the air.

< < Lucky Stone Activated > >

< The rarity of options in the next reward has been raised by one level >

Instead of disappearing, the stone returned to his hand.

I keep forgetting that the relic renewal stone works on a lot of relics. But this means I can actually use it on the lucky stone to refresh its uses!

That guarantees divines as often as I have my Prankster’s skill available to reset the renewal stone or the lucky stone itself.

I can’t believe I didn’t realise it until now.

Adam didn’t have anything else to use the renewal on, so he renewed the lucky stone immediately. After all, there would be another chest available after he killed the golem in front of the tower’s entrance.

He took a deep breath before pushing open the squishy bubble-gum-textured lid.

< < Relics Available > >

< Interloper’s Mantle (Divine) — Allows the wearer to travel to a known Player’s Stage. 1-Stage cooldown >

< Spark of Creation (Divine) — Deny the Void >

< Heavenly Wishing Stone (Divine) — Wish for any Relic of Legendary rarity or lower. 1 use >

< Heavenly Conjuring Stone (Divine) — Combine 2 Relics of Legendary rarity or lower to produce a new unique Flawless Fusion Relic. 1 use >

Adam stumbled a step as he saw the four divine relics that appeared. With shaking hands, he took off Frankie and put on his choice ring, the gem of which immediately started to glow.

“Please tell me that my combination of rings lets me pick three relics,” Adam said.

[It does.]

Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit.

Then suddenly Adam realised what Parvillo had called an ‘unseen threat’.

The Interloper’s Mantle is going to fuck me over…

Getting a lucky stone and achieving 100 luck before stage six are two very minor hurdles for anyone to overcome. Even starting from zero luck, it might only take twenty upgrades or so to hit 100, since luck increases its own value the more you have.

The fact that I haven’t heard about it more is kind of crazy, given how powerful the effect is. If Emelia had known about it, she could’ve easily helped me survive Moonport in her universe.

“Is there some kind of unique requirement for making the mantle appear?” Adam asked.

[Yes. All other Players in your group must be dead, and it must be obtained before Stage Ten.]

Which means it would almost exclusively end up in the hands of player-killers, rather than those who could make the most use of it to help people. The fact that divine relics are also soulbound, means that killing a player wearing the mantle will effectively erase the relic.

“Is there a limit to how many times it can be used on someone?”

[10 times per Stage.]

“And what about the ‘known player’ thing, does that mean only my friends can use it on me?”

[The definition of ‘known’ is very broad when it comes to other Players. They must simply have seen your face and know your name to target you.]

“Can changing my nickname prevent them from using the mantle on me?”

[Yes. However, such a simple trick will not work on the Flayed Lady.]

Good to know there’s at least a small way to counter its effect, not that it helps me now.

“So, I’ve got potentially ten players coming here any moment?”

[I would have assumed so, but it has not yet happened.]

“Could she be waiting for me to use the mantle first?” Adam wondered. “It would allow me to escape if they came here, right?”

[It would.]

“How does it work though? If I travel to someone’s stage, am I stuck there until the stage’s completion?”

[Yes.]

“And what about stage bonuses and such? Do I keep the ones I accomplished in my original stage?”

[No. It would only count your contributions after your arrival to the known Player’s Stage.]

“Is there an announcement if I use the mantle?”

[Yes. Your arrival is announced to all living Players within the Stage you are travelling to.]

“Doesn’t Nwetrou’s abyssal gift, the Eye of Nwetrou, do the same thing as the mantle?”

[No. They operate in different ways. The Eye of Nwetrou allows the travel between dimensions in exchange for a soul drop, with each journey requiring more than the one before.]

Hmm.

“Does the mantle have a weakness I should worry about?”

[None beyond the obvious,] Parvillo replied.

Despite his vow to stop helping him, Parvillo was still quite forthcoming with information that Adam would never have been able to get out of Shitbox.

“Can it be used to travel to any stage, even the ones before the altar?”

[Yes.]

This would be a good relic to send back to the start of my next loop then.

I could use it to travel to Helena’s dimension and ensure she survives.

Adam thought about grabbing the creation spark, but the heavenly conjuring and wishing stones were both so much better.

He reached out and grabbed his first pick, which was the mantle. Then he grabbed the wishing stone, which caused the orange-glowing gem on the choice ring to dim. Since the last two holograms remained, rather than vanishing like every other time he’d finished his selection in the past, it meant that the spider ring worked as intended. So, he grabbed the conjuring stone.

< < Relics Selected > >

< Interloper’s Mantle (Divine) >

< Heavenly Wishing Stone (Divine) >

< Heavenly Conjuring Stone (Divine) >

And just like that, Adam realised he’d found the perfect way to bend the Trials of Defiance to his will.

With my knowledge of relics, and my ability to set up this chain of events with the lucky stone, relic renewal, and 100 points of luck, I can basically guarantee that starting from stage six, I begin to snowball an insane amount of power by picking up the spider ring, mirror mask, goblin tooth if I don’t already have it, and any other overpowered relic.

The interloper’s mantle appeared in his arms, alongside a pearl-white slate of stone that possessed a rainbow-coloured aura, and a piece of amber that shone brilliantly and was shaped like a tear-drop. The mantle itself was a cape of iridescent silk that took on a rainbow of colours when the fabric was disturbed, and it had two shoulder pauldrons of pearl-white thin metal attached at the top, alongside a chain of the same material connecting them at the front.

“Since this is soulbound, does it mean I can’t take it off if I put it on?”

[Incorrect. You may use it like any other Relic. Soulbound objects may not be passed to the hands of another, neither may they be duplicated and altered.]

“Does that mean I should get rid of the relic renewal stone before I use one of the heavenly stones? Otherwise, it’ll prevent me from getting another one, right?”

[The Relic Renewal Stone does not affect Divine Relics. That it affects Legendary and Epic Relics seemed to be an oversight.]

“I can still use my Prankster’s skill on divines, right?”

[No. Leering Prankster, Euphoric Tinkerer, and other Class Skills and Relics may not affect Divine Relics, as this is considered an attempt to alter them. Divine Relics are absolute.]

Adam frowned.

Well, so much for zipping around between dimensions with the mantle. Still, being able to use it once per stage isn’t bad.

Despite his internal grumblings, it was hardly a setback. He’d be able to get plenty of heavenly stones, which would make it all worth it.

I should probably fuse two relics before I open the next chest to get another conjuring stone, since I can’t carry two of them.

Fortunately, I know exactly which relics to combine.

Adam put the mantle away into one of his spidersilk bags, discovering that it could fold onto itself extremely compactly, becoming no bigger than a deck of cards.

Then he squeezed the heavenly wishing stone and made his wish.

The pearl-white slate turned into a reflective mask.

< < Secret Relic Obtained > >

< Mirror Mask (Legendary) — Copy and perform any Skill or Spell you have seen. 1-day cooldown >

Adam grinned from non-existent ear to non-existent ear as he took off his aristocrat’s mask.

< < Relic > >

< Aristocrat’s Porcelain Mask (Legendary) — Activate to see the future actions of a single target for 5 seconds. 1-hour cooldown | All healing effects on you have their efficacy halved | Damage inflicted to you by fire is doubled >

As he activated the heavenly conjuring stone, the air around him went completely still, as though the world was holding its breath.

[You have activated a Heavenly Conjuring Stone. To fuse two eligible Relics, you must hold one in each hand and bring them together,] Parvillo announced.

Adam brought the two masks together and it created a rainbow glow in front of him, while the air started to hum.

Then the effect subsided, and the two relics had become one.

< < Flawless Fusion Relic > >

< Aristocrat’s Mirror Mask (Legendary) — Activate to see the future actions of a single target for 5 seconds. 1-hour cooldown | Copy and perform any Skill or Spell you have seen. 1-day cooldown >

I thought for sure they would turn into a divine relic, but maybe that only happens in cases where the effects or relics are complimentary?

The cooldowns also didn’t change like with my fusion boots.

Still, it was hard for him to be upset. He had gained the beneficial effect of both masks, while removing the demerits.

The mask itself mostly looked like the mirror mask originally had, which is to say, a reflective face cover, but it now had a small smile and the impression of eyes when viewed from head-on.

I should fuse my pugilist’s belt with my next conjuring stone, since the flawless fusion will remove the speed halving effect.

Feeling pretty satisfied with himself, Adam flew over to the discarded golem in front of the tower’s entrance and prepared himself for his second chest.

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