"I thought potions were your whole shtick, boss," the assassin noted as they ducked through the narrow passageways at speed.

"It is. Why?"

"It's just that I haven't seen you drink a single potion since this whole operation began."

"Now that you mention it," the healer joined in from their heel.

"Oh, that. I have my ways," he grinned.

"That's fair enough," she nodded, dropping the matter. Secrecy regarding one's abilities was generally accepted as a matter of course.

Eik had unlocked the ability to ingest large amounts of potion and store the contents within his body, however the hell that worked, for constant and steady internal release, increasing his already long effect duration to potentially a couple of hours. And if necessary, he could release increased amounts to overload his system—something that could never harm him given his extreme resistance to toxicity.

"What do your senses tell you, Hannan?" he asked as they reached the first flight of stairs that would take them to the upper floors. "Do you think you can find her?"

"Maybe…" the stealthy tracker muttered, concentrating on searching for the oracle while she simultaneously maintained several layers of stealth on all four of them. "There doesn't seem to be anyone who stands out as far as I can tell, but there is an area that's worthy of note."

"How so?"

"It's the fact that it's blank that caught my attention."

"I don't understand," Eik admitted as they reached the ninth floor and continued upward. "I don't really get how tracking abilities work."

"Normally I can sense signatures, almost like tiny smudges of white paint scattered throughout a room where every wall is painted gray. Except now a small area near the top feels as if someone has hung up a pitch black curtain to cover a very small part of that gray room, obscuring any white paint that might have been on the wall there."

"Okay, I get that, but isn't that, like… insanely conspicuous?" Eik asked.

"To someone at my level, yes, but for someone lower it might be difficult to distinguish it from anything more than an area that simply has no signatures. My guess is that, if they truly have imprisoned the oracle that all of the crazies love so much, this concealment isn't there to trick me, but to trick all of their own subordinates. And it probably works too."

"Hm."

"And even if I did notice the veil, if I didn't already know that she has probably been arrested, it definitely wouldn't be my first guess. There are many things people could want to hide besides a woman. Incoming!" she suddenly hissed.

"Get ready!" Eik called.

Three seconds later, a group of Awakened ranging from C-rank to A-rank, judging by their movements appeared from around a corner. Conjuring the same katana that he had used before once more, Eik decapitated the first cultist to arrive. She was fast and managed to throw up her hand, covered in some kind of energy, but Eik, supercharged with Backflow and Perfect Consumption as he was, slashed straight through to her neck.

The healer whose second specialty was crowd control waved his hands and an invisible force tripped the entire back line of the new group, essentially halving the number of Awakened they had to deal with at once. Traveling through the shadows, the assassin suddenly appeared behind the group, cutting arteries of two enemies with a single, unseen attack.

The stealth specialist dispatched of two more with a flurry of strikes, but an enemy A-ranker caught her in the side with a great-hammer, the crack of her ribs audible throughout the corridor. She gasped and leapt backward, battle experience keeping her on her feet to seek safety rather than collapsing to her knees and opening herself up to more hits.

Eik was there instantly, a crystal shield conjured along his forearm slamming the hammer away as it came down for his head. Surprised by his massive strength, the A-ranker tried to retreat as well but Eik gave chase, slicing off both of his legs and then, before the man could even scream, cut him through from neck to hip.

Even as he delivered that death blow, a swarming cloud of blistering blue beset the remaining enemy Awakened, invading each system with no mercy. The lower ranked among them didn't survive for more than a few seconds, succumbing quickly to the ridiculously potent toxin. The rest of them quickly began to show signs of corruption and weakness, discoloration spreading rapidly along their skin.

"Let's go!" Eik ordered, dashing through the still circling cloud of death. "The blue bastard won't do anything to you. Hannan, are you good?"

"Another ten seconds and she should be good as new," the healer, Sinki, confirmed, a golden sphere enveloping the injured area.

"Alright, take this then," Eik said and tossed a glob of green toxin at her, which quickly entered through the rapidly closing wound. He then turned the mist green as well, providing pain relief as they continued down the corridor toward the next staircase.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Damn, boss! Just how versatile are you?" the assassin, Wapan'aksh, asked incredulously.

"More than you can imagine," he grinned.

More levels rolled in as Apocalypse Canvas continued its dreadful work outside and the remnants of the summons finished off what they could before collapsing.

[Acquired Apocalypse Canvas — Lv. 53]

[Acquired Apocalypse Canvas — Lv. 54]

[Acquired Apocalypse Canvas — Lv. 5…]

[Acquired Apocalypse Canvas — Lv. 71]

[Acquired Apocalypse Canvas — Lv. 72]

[Acquired Living Manifestation — Lv. 115]

[Acquired Living Manifestation — Lv. 116]

[Acquired Living Manifestation — Lv. 11…]

[Acquired Living Manifestation — Lv. 121]

[Acquired Living Manifestation — Lv. 122]

[Acquired Monarch's Will — Lv. 128]

[Acquired Monarch's Will — Lv. 129]

[Acquired Monarch's Will — Lv. 13…]

[Acquired Monarch's Will — Lv. 137]

[Acquired Monarch's Will — Lv. 138]

With the frightening number of victims outside, and the city barrier gradually crumbling around the site of the battle, the reach of Apocalypse Canvas only widened.

And as the foundation of them all…

[Acquired Profound Toxin — Lv. 185]

[Acquired Profound Toxin — Lv. 186]

[Acquired Profound Toxin — Lv. 18…]

[Acquired Profound Toxin — Lv. 194]

[Acquired Profound Toxin — Lv. 195]

Another two groups, smaller and weaker than the first, came for them but were both quickly dispatched. If nothing else, it told them that they had definitely been exposed by the tripped trap by the servant's entrance.

Seeing no reason to pretend anymore, Eik released a new army of mid-sized Profound Toxic beasts and ordered them to scatter downward. If there had been someone extremely powerful on the upper floors, they would probably have been here by now.

That meant that any real threat would likely come from below. Hopefully.

They kept pouring out of him as they reached the twenty second floor.

"How much further?" he asked, flying up the stairs.

"I would guess another twelve to fifteen floors," Hannan answered.

"Alright, let's not waste any time then!" he said and threw three pills to each of them.

"Early payment?" The healer, Sinki asked with a chuckle.

Eik shook his head in the gloom. "Nope. Those aren't Eik's Legendary Mystery Medicine. They are Potion of Mighty Strength class 5, appropriate for A-rank, Potion of the Metal Body class 5, and Potion of Magical Empowerment class 5, respectively."

"Thanks! We'll use them well."

"Yeah. I've tweaked them a bit, so they're about sixty percent stronger than the conventional product, but they also hit you harder, so one of each is all you can safely take without cleaning it out of your system again first. I also condensed them into pills."

"Sixty percent?" Wapan'aksh gasped. "That's incredibly high-level stuff! No wonder people say you're going to be Elixir King soon."

"I don't know about that." The Elixir King was a title given only to the most powerful and influential of alchemists. It was first and foremost an acknowledgement of accomplishments and ability, but it also carried a number of perks such as access to materials and ingredients that would otherwise be near impossible to get one's hands on. Many of the aspects of the title of Elixir King was not exactly public knowledge.

Other titles of mastery existed as well, such as the Forge Master for exceptionally skilled and accomplished smiths—a title which Heath just could not shut up about. It was his ultimate goal and Eik was here for it.

They were close to the blank space above when a concerning feeling struck Eik. The summons he had sent down to swarm the lower floors of the Arch Temple were being destroyed. Rapidly.

"Guys," he hissed urgently. "Something is happening somewhere on the lower floors. The blue guys are being des—"

"Incoming!" Hannan called, voice much more controlled than Eik's.

"What?"

"I can't say for sure, but…" she muttered, chewing on her lip, concern seeping through after all as she drew her daggers. "It's something powerful."

Palms found weapons and buffs were prepared as a piercing, bestial howl echoed through the corridors, so booming that it was almost like the walls, doors, and windows vibrated.

"How close are we to the blank space?"

"About three floors further up," Hannan answered quickly.

"All right, good. You guys go ahead," he ordered.

"What? What I'm sensing here is not something an A-ranker can handle on their own. Stronger than you can imagine! You'll be killed!"

"All the three of you have to do is follow my command!" he barked, eyes locked on the dark corridor leading to the descending stairs. "This operation is for the safety of us all. Thank you for coming this far with me. Now scram, do as I say, and let me play hero! Get that damned oracle and get the fuck out of here!"

With that, he dashed back the way they had come, cursing under his breath.

Hannan, Sinki, and Wapan'aksh had all been pretty reticent after learning exactly it was they had come to the Arch Temple for. The three of them had grown up hating Moon Shall Swallow from early childhood, hearing horrific stories about the misdeeds committed by the cult and seeing them as some manner of categorical evil.

It was obvious that it didn't sit well with them to be rescuing one of the most prominent figures of the organization, but they had luckily also been nuanced enough to realize that things weren't always so black and white.

They would judge for themselves. It was worth the attempt if it truly could gain them an advantage in the never ending war against Moon Shall Swallow.

When he reached the staircase leading down to the lower floors, he had already lost connection with every single one of the Living Manifestations he had sent down to intercept pursuers.

With a mental command, another horde poured out of him, rapidly coalescing and growing into Profound Toxic beasts so large that they nearly couldn't fit inside the rather narrow corridors. When the gelatinous membranes of their bodies began to scrape against the walls and ceiling, they shrunk back down again without expelling any of the smaller individuals, instead growing more solid and whole.

Half of them led the charge downward while the other half followed on his heel, crawling along the floors, walls, and ceilings.

Another howl told him that they were on an imminent collision course. There was no doubt in his mind about whom he was about to clash with.

"Get ready, boys and girls," Eik growled with a smirk that attempted to mask his nerves. "Tonight we bring down the Devourer!"

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