Chapter 211: Nephilim (2/2)
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Take on the mantle of the Underground's Servants. You live, thrive, and feed on the sins of others and grow from their rotting bodies.
Your goal is to dig a hole to Hell and forsake the staircase of Heaven. You will gain the power of the Hidden Side of the Styx River at the cost of your affinity to good. The more you dig, the harder you will fall, the farther you will lose yourself, the more demonic you will turn.
This is the Way of Fiends. The legacy of The Slanderer.
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Do you wish to take on this Sub-Path?
Yes/No
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Note: How far are you willing to fall to actualize your desires.
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❮ ◈ ❯
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”Yeah, no,” Rakna deadpanned as he shared the window with Kaelith. ”If I wanted to abandon my integrity for power, I wouldn't be here.”
”You better not choose this for sure,” the vixen added. ”I might just drag you and force you to stay put for the rest of your life. Sub-Paths like these are worse than curses. I don't want to see someone as overpowered as you get corrupted. Who knows the scale of the danger you could become?”
”No worries on that. But it confirmed something for me; the reason why I got this and the Nephilim as potential choices,” he declared.
”Mind sharing? What kind of status do you have for that to happen?”
”Sloth.”
Kaelith paused for a moment. ”As in… one of the Sin Skills? One of the… Ultimate Class?”
He nodded calmly as he proceeded through the motion of accepting Nephilim as his Sub-Path. The name appeared on his status right away but nothing else changed. He only had to reach level 250 now. When he was done with that, he looked at Kaelith right about the time he estimated she'd be out of her stupor.
”…since when?” She mumbled. ”Since when do you have that skill?”
”About 16 days ago?”
”It all makes sense now!” She exclaimed. ”I knew something was wrong when I stopped being able to sense your presence. That's why the Pavilion isn't notifying me when you enter anymore. They literally cannot detect you!”
Rakna tilted his head. ”That's what troubles you? I thought you'd be a bit more concerned by the fact I have that kind of high-tier skill.”
”Well, that too, but I'm used to it,” she retorted with flawless logic and he couldn't retort. She then sighed and put her hand on her waist. ”But, to be fair, any self-respecting Top Host should have at least one skill like that. If you want my opinion, for someone to be admitted into the Myth Council as you did… it would be embarrassing for you not to have one.”
The therian blinked. ”That certainly puts a perspective… Does that mean you have one too?”
She scoffed. ”Of course. I have five Ultimate Class Skills. Though none of them are Sins. They are admittedly, one of the rarest after all.”
”…foxy, now that I think about it, I never asked what level you were, have I?”
”Do you want to know?” She smirked.
”Yes?”
”I am level 956. And I rank 36th in the overall Host Ranking.”
”...”
”Too impressed to talk? I understand. Don't worry.”
Rakna remained silent and Kaelith sweatdropped as the silence dragged on. It didn't help that he was staring at her so serenely. It was truly fascinating how much fur and hair color could do to his whole impression.
”Um… wolfy?”
He blinked and she had a bad feeling when she saw him smile a bit. ”Foxy, do you want to know a thing I saw in passing when I got my Emperor Title?”
Her mouth twitched.
”I have a 50% discount-” Rakna uttered and in the blink of an eye, he found himself making another hole in the wall of the room. A piece of broken wall fell on his head and he grunted. He sat up, his body devoid of injuries or bruises, and saw Kaelith with her leg raised from her kick.
”Worth it,” he said shamelessly and stood up, dusting himself.
She raised an eyebrow in surprise. ”I'm pretty sure I hit you hard enough to break your ribs. How come you're okay?”
He paused in his movements. ”Seriously? After all that spiel about being worried about me?”
”Well, next time don't brag about your discount… that I don't have. Fucking pieces of shit telling me I'm not eligible…” She grumbled the last part under her breath but Rakna obviously heard it.
”Right,” he resisted the urge to smile and checked the time. ”It's about time I go see the others. I'm confident in their faith in me, but there's no point in worrying them too much.”
”Can I come with you?” Kaelith asked as she walked to him from the place she kicked him.
”Sure… why?”
”Firstly, there's no way I'm letting you out of my sight for the rest of the day after what you pulled off today. At least, until I can get a good night of sleep without worrying. Secondly, I want to meet your friends,” she said earnestly. Rakna could smell that she seemed both curious and nervous about the idea. ”Or is it a bad day to do it?”
”No…” He slowly shook his head. ”The opposite actually. Your presence will help me mitigate the worrywarts that Flavia and Evelyn can be; give them a distraction.”
Kaelith's smile stiffened a bit. ”Right… the big-boobed witch and the succubus, right?”
Rakna snickered. ”Technically. But I somehow can't help but think you're using those appellations negatively.”
”Your imagination,” she scoffed and headed to the exit with her arms behind her back. ”Come on, we need to leave so that the room can be fixed entirely. It will seal itself.”
Rakna shook his head in amusement and followed her. ”Pronos, we're leaving,” he said and when he received no answer, he scowled and looked around, only to see the snake quietly sleeping on the ground. ”Your attention span is even worse than Allan's…” He commented and picked the little guy up and left the Gravity Room after Kaelith.