Его не звали, но он приперся / They never called, yet he is here: Интерлюдия третья: "Прощение" - 2

He could have replaced it, but it didn't work, just like two separate one-time shield amulets didn't work, or the exorbitantly expensive and equally rare spatial disruptor of ancient An'Liit design that was supposed to pull him out from under the attack. There were still basic enchantments on his clothing and one of the shield rings, but that wouldn't help against the strike of a legendary creature that had prearranged the necessary souls specifically for your demise... let's put it this way, loans with such interest rates are never granted, not even to oneself.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:53

Yet he managed it, relying solely on his own perception and the heightened agility enhanced by the capsule of elixir under his molars, reflexively consumed at the moment of the forced blink. Paying the price for nearly three hundred perception attributes over the course of eight and a half seconds would come later, when the intoxication would shave off a couple of years of life, if there would still be life to pay with. The world, suddenly slowing down, seemed to compress around the feverishly sweating body, but the Legend, shedding the flesh of his temporary vessel on the fly, became insanely fast, no longer unstoppable but simply infernally quick.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:54

In addition to protective amulets, Basil carried several spatial containers with him, where he stored not only correspondence and documents but also a whole pile of various trinkets. Some of these items had been lying there for many years, and some were passed down to him from his predecessor as Chief Treasurer. His late second cousin, towards the end of his life, suffered from such advanced paranoia that it seemed excessive even to members of such a cautious and accustomed-to-assassination family. For instance, he left in his Ring of Multidimensionality not only all the transferable rights of the seal and emblems but also an inextricable surprise that unfolds immediately upon its extraction.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:55

Basil had many harsh words to say about his relative and mentor at that time because using the Sphere of Nie'lan in such a way, turning a rechargeable and relatively easily repairable legendary artifact into a one-time mythical expendable, and doing all this secretly from everyone, including the Crown and his own relatives... well, calling it "extravagant" would be too mild, far too mild. But now Basil realized that sometimes even paranoia can be useful, and he also promised himself to come to his predecessor's grave and have a bottle of century-old wine there, offering heartfelt apologies.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:56

Just to survive.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:56

The strike, not even a strike, but a soft and almost caressing touch of the fiend, didn't reach Basil's face, stopping and unable to overcome the area of stabilized reality. Struck again, and again, and several more times, and then burst into a series of attacks from different planes, each of which could have lethal consequences for several hundred soldiers in armor at once. But it was all in vain – the long-dead scholar and mage of an extinct race, a race that excelled in Hell's magic and souls, better than any of those now living or who lived then, creating their Spheres, which are still found in various ruins, accounted for all such tricks and included them in the list of controlled threats.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:58

For about a minute and a half, Basil was as safe as possible, but then the hour of reckoning for such perverse audacity would come. How could he! To disrupt such a plan for his own elimination with such cynicism and ruthlessness. Such things are never forgiven, to anyone, ever. And there was no one left to help – the remaining loyal courtiers were either bewitched or were voluntarily stripping off their clothes and armor with amulets, preparing for a voluntary sacrifice, while the cultists were already circling around an absolutely transparent but unbreakable Sphere in an entrancing dance. The flickering bodies, flashes of strange, viscous, and somewhat sweet magic, complete absence of sound cut off by the Sphere, and his gaze seemed to draw him into a hypnotic whirlpool...

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:58

With visible effort, he closes his eyelashes, ceasing to sway to the rhythm of the dance, realizing that about a third of the available time has already passed, and there are no chances of salvation. It's unclear what's happening in the city, but if they're trying to kill him with such forces, if they've already summoned such creatures, then things are going very badly. Sigmund and his gang will clearly be forced into disgrace if they're still alive. Calling for help won't work either because all communication has been cut off, and the signaling systems have been intercepted, causing a standard "all is well" transmission on all channels. Something is happening with Time, due to the activated gifts of the rulers, who also had a hand in protecting the estates of their vassals, but even such games with the Law are unlikely to allow help to arrive in time.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:59

No one to come to the rescue.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 18:00

Is it time to die already?

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 18:00

Bassil had hoped to postpone this date by at least a few decades, but he was already old. He had already passed on the mechanism of inheritance, and even if he died here, embracing this legacy, it would still pass to the nearest living blood relative. But, of course, it would be better for his successor. Agnia is prepared to take it much better than his own heir. He never fully recovered from those mind-wrenching sessions, and now it's impossible to trust him completely, always suspecting that some implant in his head remained, or perhaps some control mechanism couldn't be completely eradicated.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 18:01

Agnia...

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 18:02

Too young, still too much of a sheltered girl, even with her wolfish tenacity and exceptional intelligence, it will be too hard on her, especially if he doesn't have time to pass on the duties and seals from the First Treasury, not to mention the other imperial gold vaults. He didn't want to leave her unattended, without pointing out the most crucial mistakes that can only be realized by taking on the right role. It's unfortunate that he has to leave now, at such an inopportune time, under such difficult circumstances. For someone like him, it's simply indecent to die like this, as if mocking his entire way of life, thinking, and behavior.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 18:02

But who's gonna ask him?

Camrad_RIP 20.09.23 в 15:28

Without opening his eyes, so as not to let the maddening dance mesmerize his consciousness this time for sure, Basil awkwardly assumes a meditative posture and, ceasing to count the seconds until the Sphere's fall, turns his gaze inward, into the depths of his soul. Into those depths where not even his relatives dare to look, where no one dares to peer except for the one initiated into this secret, always only one from the House of Ezless. Most often, it falls upon the head of the House and his successor, but it varies. Fate had it that on this day, he was the one entrusted with this right, the one who had already passed on its inheritance further up the bloody chain, reserving for himself the right to wield the very last argument, an argument his House of Ezless hadn't used in so long that most of the world had forgotten it, considering them mere traders, only close to the Emperor.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:46

Without questioning why, during those distant centuries when the alliance between the two families was formed, the Eternals began speaking to some amateur traders and profiting from that trade at all, why they didn't just take it by force, impose direct subjugation instead of a soft vassalage?

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:46

From his coat pocket, Basil retrieves two gold coins, and at first glance, both of them, as well as any subsequent ones, appear utterly ordinary. Upon closer and more attentive inspection, a seasoned specialist would realize that these coins, with their nearly worn-out crest and other images, do not belong to any of the currently existing and circulating minting styles. Knowledgeable antique collectors would also note that the coins are old but wouldn't be able to pinpoint their exact era, only providing rough estimates of their age. A magician, preferably an artificer with a leaning toward jewelry craft, would have great difficulty identifying the presence of an extremely peculiar and very ancient enchantment for non-divisibility, which, by the way, is prohibited by the laws of the Empire.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:49

None of the aforementioned individuals will discover the truth.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:49

Of course, these two coins, on which one can discern remnants of a pattern depicting either a runic ribbon, a crest border, or some kind of serpent, were not passed down through generations by Ezless to deceive gullible tavern keepers or pay for some goods. The non-divisibility of the coins stems from the same source as the property of binding specific artifacts to their users. Try to take the mythical Messenger's Ring from its rightful owner, and you'll notice how it simply returns to that same owner's finger. Then he'll activate it and begin asking you about the reasons behind your actions. However, it's not all that important it's just an example of the same effect at work, even if it's applied to coins that repeatedly appear in Basil's pocket, even when he didn't put them there; the effect operates on different principles.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:51

This coins.

Camrad_RIP 14.09.23 в 15:46

They were the first.

Camrad_RIP 14.09.23 в 15:46

The first three gold roundels were promised to the first of their house, Ezless the Fatherless, for his first bargain in time immemorial. The first transaction and the first deception. These coins were not given up, forcing the then-still-penniless merchant into decisive action. Two thugs were hired as collateral for one of the three coins, which the merchant didn't have at all, and they killed the debtor and, for some reason, didn't take all three coins, killing an unnecessary witness at the same time, but they paid in full and honorably.

Camrad_RIP 14.09.23 в 15:48

The traces of the third of the coins disappeared into the centuries, but these two remained with them forever, never spent, never bartered for anything, never known to anyone, pieces of worked and melted gold of the highest grade. They became a symbol, the first brick in the realization of the family will, the first attempt to claim something they thought was theirs and could prove it. Passing from hand to hand, from one Ezless to another, from century to century, the coins ceased to be just gold and became a symbol.

Camrad_RIP 14.09.23 в 15:49

The symbol was becoming something completely different.

Camrad_RIP 14.09.23 в 15:50

Transformed into a channel and a door.

Camrad_RIP 14.09.23 в 15:51

Incarnated by contract and contract anchor.

Camrad_RIP 14.09.23 в 15:52

And so, after not just one millennium, the deal was sealed. A deal that had been flawlessly upheld ever since, granting them the powers that had made them the world's most successful creditors, giving them the authority to speak from a position of near equals even with the audacious and uncompromising Eternals, who were only just beginning to unite disparate principalities into the machinery of a mighty empire, who were merely planning to cleanse ancient ruins with steel and magic, upon the ruins of which pitiful remnants of once-mighty races and peoples still dwelled. And now, in the final seconds of his life, when there was simply nothing left to lose, Basil intended to make use of this right.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:30

Intended to demand.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:31

His hands barely trembled as his unsteady fingers pressed each coin against his still tightly shut eyes, as the legendary fiend raged behind an invisible wall, sensing in his gut how victory slipped through his fingers, how all premonitions of imminent and dreadful doom cried out in unison. His body didn't flinch when the worn coins once again displayed the remarkably delicate engravings of serpent rings, nor did it twitch when the coins turned into molten drops of yellow metal, searing their way into his eye sockets. But everyone, even those who couldn't hear anything due to deafness or the sound-blocking barrier of the Sphere, flinched at that moment when the first echoes of the ancient Call emanated from Basil's lips, utterly unlike the familiar shared language, yet remaining understandable and comprehensible, imprinting its meaning onto the very soul along with the words:

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:33

"Gold, gold, all mine." Not a voice, but the chime of coins falling to the ground, but the rustle of a huge creature crawling with scales of pure gold. "I turn to oblivion."

Camrad_RIP 14.09.23 в 15:52

The sphere has fallen.

Camrad_RIP 14.09.23 в 15:53

Only the man inside it was gone.

Camrad_RIP 14.09.23 в 15:54

Flame, Hardness, and some kind of weakening curse slam into Bassil's unresisting body, driving him into the wall, sending more cracks, making him spit out a stream of blood from his reflexively open mouth, but Losing Fidelity, despite his status as one of the Legends of his domain, despite all his power, feels no relief, only a growing panic. The man who should have been splattered with a thin layer of whipped and pulverized meat only shakes it off, climbing out of the huge dent in the enchanted granite.

Camrad_RIP 20.09.23 в 15:29

His steps and movements are heavy as if all the bones inside his mangled body have become incredibly heavy, golden. The same golden color is in his eyes, and it is also rapidly showing on his golden skin and hair. And the eyes... it seems as if something is moving in those eyes, under the golden film. The devil does not understand and cannot find a reason for his feelings. Why isn't there the thrill of battle, the pleasure of pain, the passionate desire to pay back the too-cunning mortal for his insolence, for ruining the plans of Losing Fidelity and his Sovereign? Whence the pressing panic, the foreboding of trouble that could not turn into another passion from which new shades of Lust could not be extracted?

Camrad_RIP 20.09.23 в 15:32

The spells of the fiends and cultists struck Basil of Ezless's body, tearing through his clothing, amulets, layers of skin, and muscles, yet he didn't even attempt to resist, only swiftly transforming. His sensory skills showed nothing substantial, the watchful eyes embedded within the assembly didn't perceive the chain of events, only foretelling an unclear calamity of unknown nature. However, Losing Fidelity was ready to swear by his place in the Choir and his access to the Bank that something inside the mortal was stirring.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:40

"Awaken from your slumber..." The voice, as impassive as it was passionate, as ancient as it was youthful, compelled each of his souls to tremble in terror, transferring its fear to its master and igniting a wild fury within him.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:40

Blink, a brief series of strikes delivered with the flesh-grown claws of the body provided by his servant, infused with curses, flair, spells, planar energies, and several divergent effects drawn directly from the Bank of Souls' guests. The series of strikes propelled Basil farther and farther, breaking through new barriers with his body and threatening to simply toss him beyond the limits of the Chief Treasurer's summer residence when those walls would finally give way. However, with each blow, this body twisted more and more, distorting further from within, growing increasingly heavy, and risking becoming altogether unmanageable even for a legendary being.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:42

"The sacrifice before you is precious..." All the strikes, injuries, and curses received, enough to guarantee the simultaneous destruction of two Losing Ones, seemed to have no effect on the man who monotonously extended his Call. It wasn't directed at a man, but rather his remnants, his skin, beneath which something was hidden, just as the Losing One had concealed himself a couple of minutes earlier, taking possession of the well-worn toy's material body.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:42

Losing Fidelity goes into a frenzy, forgetting his defenses and the orders he has been given, striving to defeat the enemy, to shut up the hateful throat that tugs at every one of his sweet souls with its words, preventing them from enjoying their submission, their singing and crying. He realizes by some almost deep instinct the necessity of finishing the battle as quickly as possible, preferably as early as yesterday.

Camrad_RIP 20.09.23 в 15:33

"Arise, Golden Serpent..." No creature's artifices, no techniques, or intricate combinations could silence Basil, now a sodden sack of flesh and golden droplets from the blows that had transformed him.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:29

Golden Serpent.

Camrad_RIP 14.09.23 в 15:54

Within the shelter of Alurei, with its unified language, a dialect ingrained in creation itself, people who were excessively greedy and obsessed with accumulating wealth were referred to by various names. In the Empire of Ages, they were said to "breathe gold," while in Alishan, they preferred phrases like "purse-headed" or "coin-minded." In the distant and enigmatic Arms Empire, such individuals were called "golden-hearted," although among those who worshiped the Monkey God of Gold, their relationship with this metal was entirely unique.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:27

While conversing with a few of the Summoned, the still-young Basil heard from one of them about a concept called "worship of the golden calf," somehow connected to the religious doctrines of an uncharted world, which was considered native to the Bound One. It might have seemed strange, but on Aluria, there had once existed a nearly identical practice, now mostly forgotten, and almost entirely absent from the lexicon, where the greedy traders worshipped not a "golden calf." Those who followed this path were said to have given their souls to the Serpent.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:26

Golden Serpent.

Camrad_RIP 14.09.23 в 15:57

"You're all mine, and I'm all yours."

Camrad_RIP 14.09.23 в 15:56

The one Losing Fidelity had only managed to be surprised, and then it was too late - when he had already kicked (not with a vulgar and long useless kick, but with a spatial distortion, splitting in half with a change in gravity vector) unwilling Basil, who refused to fall or shatter into pieces, into the stolen light of his Master of the heavens, when his Call came to an end. The body of the man, or rather, what remained of the man's body, simply exploded from within, bursting into countless delicate golden chains, each link the size of a grain of sand. Small chains merged into larger ones, as thick as a finger, and those, in turn, into thick ropes of pure gold. The ropes fused, intertwining with each other, giving birth to a gigantic, rapidly growing body...

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:15

Immediately, a kind dozen of chains shot toward the one Losing Faith, causing him to attempt an emergency escape, which he couldn't accomplish, as if the price for his long-learned and finely-honed ability, honed in hundreds of battles, had suddenly skyrocketed. It increased in every aspect, from reserve requirements to the strain on the assembly, and no one intended to give time for reevaluating priorities. The legend died, torn apart by golden chains that pierced not only the matter of the pseudo-body but also the energy shells and even the souls within the unraveling assembly.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:17

The legend died, but something else, incomparably more terrifying, rose amidst the shattered tactical charms of the park, writhing in a colossal mass of golden chains, gradually taking shape, acquiring flesh, and finding purpose. The serpent materialized in the world in the form of a colossal cobra, unfurling its golden hood and baring enormous fangs, reminding this world for the first time in many years why the dynasty of the rulers of the Hands Empire preferred not to conflict with the Eternals and generally keep communication to a minimum, why there was not a single major temple of the Monkey God within the Empire's territory.
The links of the chains transformed into scales and muscles, cast from gold and remaining gold themselves, leaving only two places on the immense multi-meter body of the summoned entity where there was something other than the golden hue.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:19

Where the eyes of the summoned entity should have been, there was an absolute void, gaping into somewhere beyond the reach of mortals, immortals, or even the deceased. And within that darkness, two small sparks danced, the lights of those very two coins, two anchors, and seals that enabled the Serpent to exist here and now. Every second of its existence was paid for, paid for by the very nature it embodied - gold. Gold evaporated from treasuries, safes, chests, purses, and money bags, spent on each of the Serpent's actions, but what the realm of Ezless - and therefore the Empire - had in abundance was gold.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 17:22

There was a Serpent.

VirusZyX 14.09.23 в 18:04