Chapter 86: Advanced Civilizations (1/2)

Congratulations! For helping your master defeat King Wotan and trapping his right-hand woman’s soul in your scythe, you have earned a level in [Weathermaker] and a level in [Reaper]!

+30 HP, +10 SP, +2 VIT, +2 SKI, +2 AGI, +3 INT, +2 CHA, +2 LCK.

By reaching level thirty in [Reaper], you maxed out the class! You can no longer take levels in it, but you gained the capstone ability [Charon’s Grim Harvest]!

[Charon’s Grim Harvest]: Reaper Capstone, 5 SP per second. You summon phantasmal, flying sickles in a wide radius around yourself, which will instinctively seek out all non-undead creatures within your vicinity to harvest their souls. The sickles inflict medium [Spirit] damage on contact, and if one kills a target, their soul is transferred to your main scythe as if affected by the [Helheim] Perk. With each soul harvested, the Perk’s radius will increase exponentially.

By consuming many fresh souls and your capping of the [Reaper] class, your scythe evolved into a [Scythe of Charon]!

[Scythe of Charon]: +30 critical; inflicts a STR/VIT debuff on successful hits.

Well, it was bound to happen. Maxing out the [Reaper] class and Vainqueur breaking past the level 60 cap made Victor somewhat happy, but didn’t make up for the post-battle exhaustion.

“Are we there yet?” Vainqueur asked as they flew over the shores of the New World, leaving the Dagger Coast behind them.

“The pyramid is there,” Victor pointed his scythe at a tipping point over the horizon. Although the sun had almost set, he could see dozens of winged, crimson ships flying over the area, the first sign of civilization since they sank Grandrake’s island. “This is the great pyramid of Kukulcan, capital of the Thaoten Empire.”

It didn’t take them long to reach the city, built in the middle of a lake of blood.

Beyond that ominous bit, the place couldn’t look more awe-inspiring. Far larger than any city of the Mistral Continent, the Thaoten capital was an entire island linked the lake’s shores by four bridges, one for each cardinal point. Built almost entirely of orange bricks, the houses were aligned in a very organized fashion, a stark contrast with the chaotic Murmurin. Immense alleys all lead to the city’s center, a massive mesoamerican pyramid as tall as the Empire State Building.

“I smell undead everywhere,” Vainqueur said, aiming for the pyramid. Unlike Port Damné, no ship attempted to stop them; in fact, they moved out of their way.

“This is a vampire theocracy, ruled by undead priests,” Victor explained. “The vampiric Red Plague came from here, brought by explorers from the New World to the Old. Most of the citizens are reptilian lizardkin, and the worthiest citizens are rewarded with unlife.”

He had also heard they sacrificed their enemies to feed their elites, but thought it wiser not to mention it.

“Batlings, hm?” Vainqueur grunted, gazing at a population of humanoid lizards watching at him with awe. “At least these ones have scales, which is a mark of utmost patrician refinement.”

“It’s fine, Your Majesty, these ones are friendly,” Victor said, noticing a crowd waiting for them at the main plaza, right at the pyramid’s base. Since night had now fallen, mists swirled around the pyramid, taking the shape of albino lizardkin.

As always, Vainqueur made his presence loud and clear by landing on the plaza, blowing bricks in all directions. Victor’s own landing was a lot more discreet.

The crowd that welcomed them was almost entirely reptilian, but the species making it up were surprisingly varied. While many were lizardkin, some of them obviously vampires, Victor noticed many winged kobolds, serpent-like creatures, and even wyverns among them.

The vampiric lizardkin obviously led them, each wearing elaborate, Aztec-like dresses of feathers. One of them stood out from the lot, an albino lizardkin with an elaborate winged hat and a staff resembling a mighty mosquito, the symbol of Camilla. Victor immediately used [Monster Insight] on him.

High Priest Xolotl

Lizardkin Vampire Progenitor (Undead/Reptile)

Strong against Holy, Unholy, Moon, Berserk, Darkness, Fire, Lightning, Blood, Frost, Necromancy, Drain, Insta-Death, Mind-Control, Disease, Poison, Fatigue, Sleep, and Beast.

Weak against Sunlight, Life, Manslayer, and Scaleslayer.

One of the first vampires of Outremonde, a follower of Camilla older than most countries. As personable as an undead, bloodsucking abomination against nature can be, he is currently on a ‘socially responsible’ vampire diet, feeding only on the blood of disgraced politicians.

“Welcome, great guests!” the priest said, his voice old but brimming with power. “I am one of the Thirty-One spiritual guides of the Thaoten Empire, Xolotl. Mother Camilla foretold your coming.”

“Ah, a dragonian speaker,” Vainqueur said. “Perfect. Minion, announce ourselves.”

“I am Victor Dalton, Grand Vizier of His Majesty Vainqueur Goldbeard Knightsbane, August Emperor of the V&V Empire, Ishfania, the Pirate Sea and the Albain Mountains. He is also known as the Defender of the Hoard, Minion Liberator, Greatest Gladiator, Billionaire Adventurer, and bringer of Dragon Civilization.”

“A great evil lies close, priest,” Vainqueur declared. “The vile Goldslayer Furibon will soon turn the golden El Dorado to lead! We must stop him!”

“That too.”

“We Thaoten will help you on your holy quest,” the priest replied. “You shall be guests of honor for the night, and the nights afterward. A great feast of cattle shall be ordered to celebrate your coming.”

“I also demand a lava bath!” Vainqueur ordered. “I am weary, wealthy, and important.”

“You will have it.”

This made the dragon pause. “You… you have a lava bath?”

“Of course we have one,” the priest replied, shocking Vainqueur. He clearly hadn’t expected them to deliver on his usual impractical demands. “Dragons are great and mighty beings, and we have honored the few who delivered their wisdom to us since the empire’s early nights.”

“I also want minions to cater to my every whim,” Vainqueur demanded, pushing his luck.

“Bring the dragon-kissers minions,” the vampire priest ordered while raising his staff. Immediately, a group of a hundred, winged kobolds arrived to serve Vainqueur. Many of them wore strange fur mantles.

And then, before the Vizier knew it, the kobolds threw themselves at V&V’s feet, their back exposed. On a closer look, Victor could finally see the mantles closer, and what they truly looked like.

Doormats.

“Our guests are too important to walk on the ground of common citizens,” Xolotl continued. “Our minions will make sure you never have to go outside your private quarters. Go on, and try them.”

Victor glanced at his master, who was completely speechless at this degree of servility, and hesitantly stepped on a kobold’s back. “Is it painful?” the Vizier asked, hoping he didn’t crush the poor creature’s back. “Am I too heavy?”

“It is perfect!” The kobold replied with an… aroused voice. “The feeling of being trampled by a higher being fills me with joy!”

“We are experimenting with minion chairs, who will allow guests to sit anwhere,” the priest continued. “And fawners, who will fawn over you while you bathe. They will remind you of how good and wise you are for the entire duration of your stay.”

Victor could almost see the gears turn in Vainqueur’s head, as he probably imagined new ways to order his minions around. “Manling Victor, this is the greatest archeological discovery since gold mining!” he declared. “We found a lost, advanced minion civilization! Far more advanced than yours!”

“I’ll do my best to reach that stage of development, Your Majesty,” Victor deadpanned.

“It is fine, minion, I forgive you. You are only half a dragon.”

Victor had to admit it, these vampires knew how to greet guests.

They had given Vainqueur and Victor each an entire wing of the pyramid as their own, each bigger than the Vizier’s manor. The Reaper’s own room included a king-sized golden bed, a magical mirror serving as some sort of interplanar tv, a jacuzzi, a sauna, a hammam, and, the pinnacle of luxury, a small, private, primitive soccer field.

How did the architects manage to fit all of that in a single place?

In any case, Victor traded his armor for a dressing gown, kindly offered by kobold servants eager to serve him. He jumped in the bed, whose feather-made mattress felt so soft, he could sink in it.

But unfortunately, he had a few things to check out before enjoying that warm place.

“Isabelle?” Victor closed his eyes and mentally focused on the demonic CEO, praying she was alright. He would have contacted Chocolatine first if her being overplane didn’t hinder his [Scarlet Study] Perk. “Isa?”

“Yes, darling?” the voice responded warmly through telepathy.

“Oh, thank the archfiends, you're alive!”

“Why would I be dead?” the governor responded, sounding irritated.

Because he thought a certain werewolf had killed her. “Oh, we, we almost died on our end, I had to check you out; especially since you’re starting out on your new job. Chocolatine said she exchanged a few words with you.”

“That werewolf girl? We had a very pleasant conversation, I like her. She understands how Hell works so well she could have been a demon herself. We will definitely do business in the future.”

Really?

“However, I came back home afterward to find my guards slaughtered, and a cow’s head in my bed,” she admitted. “Why is that?”

“Because the only horse in Murmurin is mine,” Victor replied, sighing. Clearly, while Chocolatine had agreed not to murder the competition, godfather-style intimidation remained a viable strategy.

“I see… any idea who the culprit might be?”

“No,” the Vizier lied.

“I see,” she replied with a tone that implied she believed in the opposite, before adding, sensually. “When are you coming back?”

“At least a month or two.”

“I will have a surprise on your return, but I will not spoil it telepathically. Take care.”

Victor ended the communication, puzzled, before mentally checking up on his allies in Murmurin and Port Vainqueur. Since they would open an embassy in the Thaoten Empire, probably with a permanent portal towards their own empire, he asked Allison, Malfy, Miel and Vainqueur’s main minions to be ready to cross over soon.

“We will take care of the princesses Vainqueur brought to us,” Allison said. “Poor girls, isolation did terrible things to their sanity.”

“Can you try to locate their still living relatives?” Victor asked. “We should try to return them to their loved ones if we can.”

“Vainqueur won’t be happy.”

“I will cook up some excuse, and dragons have a catch and release program. He will understand.”