Chapter 650 - Greed's Final Form
A/n: 13 Early Access Chapters on P4treon and MORE! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️
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"So, the Listener, what is he like?" Cicero asked.
"You really want to know?" Serana replied with a question.
"Of course, Cicero wishes to… unless that is something he is not supposed to learn." Cicero gave a smart reply.
"Well… I doubt he will keep his true identity a secret for long but make sure to never cross him if you want to live. I haven't spent a lot of time in the outside world myself but judging from the monsters I know, he doesn't lose to any of them." Serana replied.
"Then, are there any plans we must follow as fellow Speakers?" Cicero asked.
"All the plans are running in his head. The question I've been meaning to ask is why did you give him your trust when it is just the first time you meet him?" Serana questioned.
"Oh! Cicero heard him say he is the Listener. Of course that's not all, Cicero is no fool… not that kind of fool anyway." Cicero replied, "Aren't you a Vampire? Can't you smell?"
"Smell what?" Serana asked.
"Death?" Cicero replied, "Death, Life, and Rebirth… all the scents on one man."
"No." Serana couldn't understand what Cicero meant.
"Heh!" Cicero laughed shortly before bursting into longer laughter, "Ha ha ha ha ha! Don't you… smell… hehe hehe… Sithis?"
As if he found the most interesting thing ever, Cicero spoke cryptically.
"You've gotta talk less crazy and more sense before I knock some into you." Serana threatened.
"Sense? Hahahaha… but that's… Madness! Hehe hehe hehe."
As Cicero wasn't able to contain his laughter anymore, Serana ignored him and walked towards the Sanctuary of the Dark Brotherhood.
The two of them just took an order from Jon. Serana was to get ready for the Emperor's Assassination plan while Cicero would ready the Night Mother to be moved.
As for him, he had personal things to get done first.
***
Lucien Lachance, for those who don't know, and no one really knew who he was, Lucien was a man who lived 200 years ago in the time of the Oblivion Crisis and he held the position of one of the Brotherhood Speakers at that time.
Lucien Lachance was said to be very devout to the cause to the point where his death was legendary among the Assassins. But before that, Lucien was the one who recruited the Champion of Cyrodiil into the Dark Brotherhood back in the game previous to TESV: Skyrim, TESIV: Oblivion.
During his time, Lucien Lachance led the sanctuary of Cheydinhal and discovered a traitor lurking within the ranks of the Brotherhood. While that traitor was unknown, Lucien ordered the entire sanctuary to be purified of all Assassins, not even in a heartbeat, to ensure no loose ends would survive.
Unfortunately for him, the traitor wasn't a member of the Sanctuary, and his Silencer, the Champion of Cyrodiil, was manipulated by the original Traitor to kill most members of the Black Hand including the Listener of the Brotherhood. This scheme led the remaining members of the Black Hand to suspect Lucien Lachance to be the Traitor since his Silencer was the one doing the killing.
Lucien was captured, hung up, tortured, castrated, and disfigured, all before slowly dying to the surviving members of the Black Hand. His Silencer was spared and brought to the Night Mother with the rest of the Black Hand members. There, the Night Mother revealed herself and declared the innocence of Lucien Lachance as the real traitor was none other than one of the Brotherhood's past victims that infiltrated its ranks, the Black Hand member, Mathieu Bellamont.
Jon recalled the information about those events and looked coldly at the ghost of Lucien Lachance.
"So… you have heard the tale of Mathieu Bellamont and the great treachery of Cheydinhal. Kill a boy's mother, and vengeance festers in the son…" Lachance said.
"Heh!" Jon looked up and down at Lucien, "That's true. It is always better to not leave any… loose ends."
Thinking of how many loose ends Jon himself left, it was ironic of him to say it that way.
"Of course. It would be a shame letting loose ends bring harm to… the innocents." Lucien said.
If there was a face to a Lawful Evil, the Dark Brotherhood's Assassins will always be one of those faces. Sadly, today's brotherhood is more on the Neutral side of things.
"Walk with me, Lachance." Jon said.
"Oh… you have something in mind?" The Specter asked.
"Aside from death and carnage, no." Jon replied.
"Good Listener."
A few minutes later. Jon and the Spectral Assassin headed towards the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary in Falkreath and as they reached there, they stopped for a few minutes to observe the situation.
"So that's what the Brotherhood has been reduced to." The Specter said.
"Thinking of some good old purification?" Jon asked.
"The Brotherhood always needs this kind of maintenance. Do you understand the risks of running a band of killers?" Lucien asked.
"Enlighten me." Jon asked the Specter to humor him.
"Same as all groups, the Brotherhood seeks to drive those who kill towards a certain goal with a certain power behind them. 200 years ago, the Night Mother knew the identity of the traitor among us all along but she wanted us to be purified, to lose power, and to work again to regain it."
"So you do not become too powerful and start being ambitious."
"Spot on, Listener. Spot on." Lucien said, "The Brotherhood is considered a band of those who embrace Chaos but decide to harness it same as all things that are Sithis. When these kinds of people fatten up, they lose their purpose too quickly. For that, they all have to be kept on the balance between struggling to survive and working to flourish."
"I don't mind the principle." Jon said.
"Then the Brotherhood has gained an excellent Listener." The Spectral Assassin seemed delighted with the Listener's answer but he started to notice something.
Jon was impossible to see through even for a dweller of Sithis like him. The thing that Jon was wearing (Greed) was nigh-impossible to see through. However, the thing started to feel agitated.
"Hmmm… is this natural?"
As the Spectral Assassin asked, Jon looked at Greed which he was wearing like a cloak, and noticed that Greed was acting up as if it was boiling.
"Come on! Not again! At least not now." Jon became irritated as well, "Lust, replace Greed."
The Moonlight Crystal Anomaly, also known as Lust, jumped off the storage cube and attacked the Shadow Anomaly, also known as Greed. The two of them looked like liquids, solids, and gasses all at the same time as they fought. Lust immediately took over Greed and shed it off Jon.
Lust changed Jon's appearance to that of the blankest possible.
As Greed was tossed on the ground, it started to act up all over the place. Jon frowned with no features on his face and wanted to approach it but Greed suddenly stopped and took the shape of a sphere that floated in the air.
"Interesting thing. Aggressive though." The Spectral Assassin commented.
"Talk to me, buddy. What do you see?" Jon asked Greed, that was unresponsive as if not paying any attention to his owner.
As its name suggests, Greed is very possessive and cherishes materials but it only devours shadows, unlike Gluttony which is a free-for-all devouring asshole.
Lately, Jon had Greed absorb a large quantity of Shadow Energy in the Temple of Meridia which may have caused it to be energized and be ready for evolution. Now, it seems that Greed has detected something that it seeks to devour.
This is Greed's third evolution, at this time, it is also supposed to manifest an ego and take a form. As the first sin created by Jon, it was the weakest for a long time since Jon created it when he wasn't that strong, unlike Envy, for example, who manifested all her three powers from the get-go.
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[ Greed ] <Shadow Devouring Aether>
- Reform Weapons
- Perfect Stealth
- ???
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Greed started moving by itself in a buzzing even few seconds as if to find some resonance. The direction it was heading was the Dark Brotherhood sanctuary.
"This will turn into an absolute headache." Jon said.
"Chaos knows no bounds." The Spectral Assassin said in delight as it watched Greed like watching something so Sithis-like.
Eventually, Greed approached the sanctuary's black door but instead of going towards it, it took a turn to the right and continued forward for thirty feet.
""I see."" Jon and the Spectral Assassin both arrived at the same conclusion after witnessing the target Greed was after.
Beside the sanctuary's entrance, there was a small puddle of murky dark water that no living thing gathered around. While it felt like water at first glance, staring into it is like staring into the abyss.
"Stare into Sithis, brother, so that Sithis stares back into you." The Spectral Assassin came behind Jon and tempted him to look deeper.
Jon's eyes remained focused on the dark puddle and in his eyes, darkness spread and widened. A sneer appeared on his face as the puddle started to feel agitated because of his stare.
"Heh!" Jon's smile widened and the Chaos infection within spread through his tattoos which seemed as if his entire body was covered by them.
"I've already been to the Heart of Chaos." Jon replied and completely overcame the puny chaos gate in front of him.
"Interesting!" The Spectral Assassin was delighted by Jon's aptitude for Chaos, which in his eyes, was unparalleled.
"Quit playing tricks with me, Lachance." Jon spoke, "I see what Greed wants. Call it."
"I see." Lucien Lachance nodded and walked ahead to the dark puddle before calling, "My old and dear friend, come to me…"
And just as he called, the response came with vigorous horse neigh. The sound of galloping was heard as from the small dark puddle, the void stretched to let out a Harbinger of Doom in the shape of a powerful steed, black as night with glowing red eyes as a vampire, Shadowmere.
This horse is an icon for the Brotherhood and one of the mysterious creatures known as Doom Beasts that were gifted upon the Brotherhood by Sithis.
But today, this horse loved by most of the Game players will have another name, Greed's meal.
The sphere-shaped Greed turned into something with many arms and latched on Shadowmere from its body, legs, and head.
Shadowmere was one aggressive horse by nature and fought back fiercely but when you are targeted by Greed's apatite, things don't tend to go well for you.
Before it could even free a single limb, Shadowmere was down on the ground, completely immobilized, and being dragged back by Greed to the dark puddle where it came from.
Jon and the Spectral Assassin watched as the two monstrosities returned to the void and the dark puddle started boiling. Jon didn't make any sound and remained hidden until the situation calmed down.
"Something is coming." The Spectral Assassin said.
"I know. It is Greed." Jon replied, "It has grown and reached its potential."
Just like when Shadowmere came out galloping with vigor, a different horse came the same way but its appearance was much more menacing. Unlike the black red-eyed Shadowmere, this one was dark with black eyes almost as if it doesn't have any and just a being that imitates a horse.
But as its body fully emerged, it was clear that compared to the monstrous Shadowmere, this is an abomination on a new different scale.
An Eight-Legged Horse with two coming out where only one wound came and its body was longer and much stronger.
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[ Greed ] <Shadow Devouring Aether>
- Reform Weapons
- Perfect Stealth
- Sleipnir (Greed Ego)
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"Sleipnir?" Jon exclaimed.
[A/n: an Eight-Legged Horse from the Norse Mythology. It is the Son of Loki and the steed used by Odin. Loki was the mother in that situation.]
"That's… so ugly." Even the Spectral Assassin had a thing or two to say about this product of Greed and Shadowmere.
Jon approached the Greed's embodiment, Sleipnir, and put his hand on his neck but the horse acted violently and bit Jon's arm.
Seeing how it acted, Jon had an unamused look on his face.
"I haven't tamed a horse in a very long while and I happen to have some time on my hand."
Jon held the horse's head, dragged it violently, opened a portal to the inside of the Storage Cube, and tossed Greed in.
"Lachance, follow among."
Jon invited the Spectral Assassin in and walked after him to spend some time catching up with the talkative ghost and tame a horse along the way.
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A/n: 13 Early Access Chapters on P4treon and MORE! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️