[Hat of the Forsaken Witch Goddess]
The witch goddess was once heralded for her magical prowess. However, her magical experinting went too far, and she angered the goddess of Hope. For her transgressions, she was cast into the abyss to serve her sentence.
This hat serves as the last remnant of her extraordinary power.
Hikari smiled wryly at the descriptive text. She was a bit reluctant to give such a thing to Ayase, but it was too late to take it back. The other girl was already posing in her new hat. Besides, the effects seed fine to Hikari.
The hat gave a boost to all dark magics, and it gave an imnse mana buff as well as a buff to mana restoration. There were other hidden effects that couldn't be accessed without a set bonus, but the odds of retrieving a full set were nil, especially with the supposed goddess being cast out.
That gave Hikari another thing to consider. Past actions that she didn't even rember ever doing could co back to haunt her, but it was better to not worry about things that she couldn't control. Instead, it was better to focus on the problem at hand.
The city was full of corruption, and most of it seed to originate from the Thieves Guild and the Nobles that supported them. That was the whole reason that Hikari sent a certain rat back to the Thieves Guild headquarters. She left him with an item that allowed her to tap into everything.
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Doenel walked down a long set of stone stairs. The darkness reminded him of his ti in the rat tunnels. As a young whelp, he had to live his entire life clinging to the shadows and accepting scraps from other mbers of the tunnels. That all changed when the guild found him.
They made use of his skills, brought him up as a thief in arms, and he kept getting promoted, until he was at the top of the food chain for the slums. Most of the slums inner dealings went through him, and there was nothing that would escape under his whiskers.
That was exactly why he was the first one inford when those ladies had first entered the city. He'd sicked a wolf in sheep's clothing on them—a child no less. But his plan backfired horribly. Now he was becoming her errand boy, and there was nothing he could do about it. How does one even oppose the gods?
Eventually, the tunnel ended on a wooden door with black tal bars stretching across its surface. The rat knocked 3 tis and waited.
A voice on the other side of the door answered. "What is the sll that cleanses a thief from all mortal cris."
"Edith—the scent of the black rose."
The door opened narrowly and the stranger on the other side stared at the rat. "You failed to report on ti. Is there a reason?"
Doenel's nose twitched, and his agitation ssed up his forehead. "Just let in already. You already know the mission I was assigned."
"Right," the man said, opening the door completely.
On closer inspection, the man was not even living. His eyes glowed blue, and his armor was ancient. The black plates used to build the tal armor hadn't been in service in centuries. It wasn't since the Empire had outcast their own necromancer order.
The man's skeletal fra had nary any skin, yet he was a thief all the sa. The small curved dagger on his waist proved as much.
His skeletal mouth opened, and he spoke in a deep, scratchy voice. "It seems the leader would speak to you. There is big news, so you ca just in ti."
"Big news? What is it?" Doenel asked.
"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to say. Just consider it sothing that our leader wants to announce to everyone personally." The skeleton pointed a boney finger further down the vine infested hallway. "You'll find him in the crypt inner chambers. Luckily for you, he's in a splendid mood right now."
The rat nodded and started walking down the chamber. He wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Neither was he soone who would trust everything he heard and saw. Sotis things required double verification. Unfortunately for him, he had limited liberty at the mont.
He was between a rock and a hard place. Two goddesses who were most likely not friendly with each other, and if he wanted to survive, he'd have to pick the winning side carefully. He did have a few options though. He noticed that the goddess of order was one that was more forgiving than Edith, so there was potential for him to play both sides.
The brown vines aligning the walls continued as he walked. Inside of the crypt hallway there were several undead standing about, or they were resting in their coffins amidst the wall.
Eventually, the hallway led into a large open door, opening into the main chamber. Inside of the main chamber was an ancient room where several people stood. There was an empty throne at the end of the room, but none of the inner mbers dared to take it, not even the leader.
No, the leader stood at the center of the circle formation before the throne, and the other mbers—living or dead—crowded around him, waiting to hear him speak.
Most people on the surface who knew of the thieves guild would never guess that their leader was an undead. It was a lich king. Normally such creatures wouldn't accept a master ruling over them, unless that master was a goddess themselves. Even though nobody had ever had personal contact with the goddess except for the master, they knew his words to be true.
Indeed, so people who reach the inner circle are in disbelief initially, but they all soon fall in line when they realize the power of this lich king—Balag Nhaal.
For anyone who gazed upon him could see it. Magical power radiated outward from him, forming a terrifying aura, and he constantly hovered above the ground wielding a great black staff.
The undead's piercing eyes glowed black, and staring at them threatened to pull one into an abyss they'd not escape from. Only a few mbers would ever understand why thieves aligned themselves with undead and a goddess, but the lower mbers didn't need to know anyway.
As long as they were paid well, they'd not question anything. As for Doenel, well, he still wasn't clear on the specifics either. The only thing he aligned himself was with life. He cared about living more than the politics of it all. And not just living, he wanted to thrive.
The undead spoke, commanding all to listen by his presence. "It's great that all of you are here for this occasion…The lady has spoken. More join our forces—our thieves guild."
As the lich proclaid it, several shadows made themselves visible. They appeared from an empty basin from behind the lich king. A basin that had once been full of black ashes sparked to life, and green flas burst forth to send several more of them into the crypt.
A great phantom with an aura no less sinister than their leader appeared. More skeletons climbed out from the rubble, as if the rubble were their bones. From the ashes, there ford a small platoon of undead, arisen by the staff of their commander.
Balag Nhaal lifted his arms into the air, and the elegant black robes dangled from his skeletal fra.
He cackled as the forms of more and more skeletons climbed from a dark abyss. "The ti of reckoning is upon this world, for our lady returns."
Doenel gulped as they kept spawning. Then sothing incredible happened.
The walls of the crypt fell away. Doenel couldn't believe it. The abyss had grown, and the army kept growing even still. The rat could no longer see a door or a wall anywhere. Darkness deeper than he could even imagine descended upon them, and the undead reveled in it. The few living mbers gritted their teeth in fear.
It was doubtful to Doenel that any living being in this world had ever seen so many undead. They just kept climbing forever out of the black mist, like crocodiles climbing out of a swamp.
Only when there were tens of thousands of them did it stop. The brazier once again flickered into black flas, and the visage of a woman appeared.
Balag bowed, making it clear to everyone who she was. The skeletons fell in line, prostrating themselves upon their goddess.
Doenel could only look on with an agape mouth, not quite able to move.
Finally, the black rose spoke. "Banish , they will no longer. Observe , and they will all see." Her floating image looked directly at the rat, sending a shiver down his spine. "You there. They watch, do they not?"
Doenel flinched and tried to shake his head. "Wh-what are you talking about?"
"Do not play dumb with ...Well, it matters not. You will serve in death." She looked towards Balag. "Please save this wretched life from mortality."
"As you wish, my lady."
Doenel had no ti to react. The staff was pointed at him, and a pitch black arrow pierced his chest. He felt no pain. Only release.
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