Depraved Hero's Path-Chapter 51: Undying Archives Of Old: The Trickster’s Assault

[You have been affected by the Status Effect "Famine".]

Katherine’s confusion didn’t completely disappear upon reading the floating words.

Still, it explained her inability to move and the iron ball lodged in her stomach. It hadn’t been entirely because of the fear that she hadn’t moved. Her body had started growing weaker before she’d realized it.

[Your Endurance Stat is reaching critically low levels.]

***

The moment Katherine started falling, Zarath peeked at Elijah’s face from the corner of her eye.

’...’ She gulped.

With the way that he treated Katherine, she expected him to fear for her, to instantly get up, to try and go help her... Elijah did nothing of the sort.

There was no reaction at all. In fact, not even his facial expression changed.

"Status Effect, Famine..." He whispered. "Interesting. I assume Paralysis, Poison, and other Status Effects related to temperatures exist as well. Hm..." Elijah thought for a moment. "Paralysis and Poison-inducing Items or Skills are definitely things I would want to obtain soon."

’Master...’

Zarath could barely believe her eyes and ears. She had warned that losing would lead to being absorbed by the Relic. Yet, now that Katherine seemed to be on the losing side, Elijah didn’t seem to care at all!

’Is a cold-hearted son of a bitch!’ The Succubus blushed at the thought. ’Does he not care about Katherine? Why does he reject me then? Wait... He put his arm around me, but only once everyone else was gone.’ Zarath gulped, remembering their first encounter. ’ I see. I get it now. The reason why I let my guard down and was Marked by Master...’

***

Upon her index finger coming into contact with The Trickster’s Amulet, Marianne suddenly felt an immense amount of pressure that forced her body to jump back instinctively.

She stared with narrow eyes as the "Danger Sense" Skill went off repeatedly.

The next second, something started oozing out of The Trickster’s Amulet.

The dark, purplish aura around it slowly started condensing itself.

’It’s turning into a liquid. Can’t get splashed by that.’ Marianne thought to herself, and the -Danger Sense- Skill agreed with her.’

Slowly but surely, drops of the black, thick, and gooey liquid started dripping on the ground.

The liquid spread as more fell to the ground, and formed a perfectly round surface.

The next second, ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

[The Strength slumbering within the Amulet awakens!]

Marianne was completely unable to react.

Her eyes widened as the liquid surface stretched with inexplicable speed.

It had only taken a moment for the entirety of the Folklore & Mythologies Gallery to be covered by that liquid. The walls, ground, and ceiling had been painted black, alongside every Relic other than the Amulet.

’Relax...’ Marianne thought to herself while staring at the darkness below her feet. ’It hasn’t started yet. Whether the Tutorial Quest or the Main Quest, messages tell us about the start. This hasn’t begun yet. Still... Setting the Stage for the Game like...’ She looked around. There already wasn’t much light to begin with. The windows in the museum were scarce. Now, those windows had been covered by the gooey dark liquid, just like everything else.’Isn’t it a bit too much?’

Her gaze moved back towards the Amulet.

She stared at it with narrow eyes.

Everything had disappeared except the Amulet and her.

"Way to set a 1-on-1, huh?"

[The Trickster’s Domain has Expanded.]

[The Trickster’s Hands long for weapons.]

[The Trickster’s Knives long for blood.]

Reading these messages as clear threats, Marianne took out the second Special Administrator Rewards that she had obtained.

C-Ranked Item.

One left a trail of blazing flames, while the other a trail of chilling mist.

Twin Daggers Of Fire & Ice.

[The Trickster’s Sleight of Hand will be your Death.]

’...’

[Game Difficulty: A.]

[Game Quest: Endure the Trickster’s Assault for Three Minutes.]

Marianne frowned slightly at the words, when suddenly,

"Fuck..." She cursed under her breath.

The liquid that covered the wall behind the Trickster’s Amulet rippled and moved. From that liquid were formed to incredibly large arms. Each hand was big enough to hold Marianne’s whole body.

"That can’t be good." She whispered with a frown, noticing the more ripples appear.

From the ground just below the Amulet, a pointy spike started to emerge.

And when the two words appeared,

[Game Start!]

The spike moved with great speed, its pointy end aimed at Marianne’s chest!

And as it did, the hands were clenched into fists and swung towards Marianne from above, aiming to crush her!

***

Zarath’s frown and confusion only grew deeper.

’Master doesn’t seem to care about any of them, but he is reacting a tiny, tiny bit at Marianne’s Game. Is it because she’s a minor? Does he care out of a sense of duty and morality? No, I doubt it.’ Despite wanting to devour him with his eyes, Zarath was forced to turn towards the screen so as not to attract his attention. ’Throwing myself at him isn’t going to get me anywhere. He won’t even touch me when the others are around. I need to find a different to get to him. I need to understand what he wants, what he likes, and he needs... I need to understand him better, if I want a chance at getting what I need.’ The Succubus thought with narrow eyes. ’He’s cold and logical. To understand him, that’s the way I have to be. Think about this coldly and logically. What does Master want? My beauty and charms don’t seem to faze him. My flirting and suggestions don’t work at all. What does Master want?’ Zarath brought a hand to her chin. ’Master won’t touch me when the others are around. Because I am Demon, the others don’t trust or like me. Master doesn’t seem to hate me though. He needs to act that way for the others? What if he didn’t reject me? Then wouldn’t Katherine leave? As a Succubus, it’s obvious to me that she likes him.’

"That’s useful." Elijah grinned, seeing the Item that Léa took out of her inventory upon the door being kicked down by the Smilodon.

"I see..." Zarath muttered.

"Did you figure something out?"

"Yes, something important."

"About the Games?"

"Um, well... N-Not exactly..."