VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne-Chapter 81: A Miracle to Behold
A man trudged through the forest, cursing and complaining to himself as he did so,
"Stupid.. That was stupid. Why did I do that? He didn’t need any help... He did fine last time... So why?! Why did you do that you idiot! Just because you feel guilty?"
He rambled for no one to hear, as he continued to trudge. This man in question was dressed in black, Gothic armour that was worn in places, as if it had been pulled from the grave, and yet at the same time also seemed perfectly fitted to his frame, rather than something bought from the store.
Which was probably better for him, considering that he had a deathly thin frame.
His skin was white as bone, clinging tight to his skeleton underneath, giving him gaunt and deathly features, while long black hair hung into his face. A pair of softly glowing emerald eyes were constantly fixed into a permanent scowl as he chastised and complained to himself. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
Where he stepped, grass and plant life wilted. Not enough to die outright, but there was a clear loss of vitality. As if his very presence was slowly poisoning them. Following in these plant killing steps and eagerly following him like a lost puppy was a pair of rotten corpses.
Yet the man showed no concern for the zombies staggering behind him, always following him everywhere he went. Why would he? They belonged to him.
It would come as no surprise that this man, in this world, was known simply as Revenant.
Revenant stopped in his strides, as did his loyal followers a moment later, as he clenched his fists so tight that they began to tremble. He swung his fist to the side, slamming it into a tree hard enough to explode a perfect hole through the mighty oak as he shouted in rage,
"DAMMIT!"
His chest heaved as he controlled his rage, before lowering his arm and letting out an irritated groan.
"What the hell were they doing there? They weren’t supposed to be there... Not like that. Something went wrong... but what? What changed?" He muttered to himself, his emerald eyes darting back and forwards as he analysed countless possibilities in his mind at once, before sighing once more.
"It doesn’t matter... This doesn’t change my plans. I just need to stick to the plan and-"
A tsunami of heat rushed over Revenant with enough force to stagger him forwards a step, bringing with it an energy that made his skin crawl with revulsion. His face, once a mask of withheld anger and irritation, twisted into an expression of pure shock and horror as he whipped his head around.
A column of azure flames was reflected in his emerald eyes as it stretched high above the tree-lines and stretched towards the heavens like a corridor for the gods themselves to walk down.
His eyes trembled at the sight, his jaw hanging open as his mind struggled to process what he was seeing. It wasn’t that he could not understand what he was looking at, in fact he knew all too well what this was and the implications of what it meant.
The reason his mind struggled with what he was seeing was because,
"T-that’s not possible... It shouldn’t be possible! How... How can this be?! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"
***
Saige’s eyes softly fluttered open as he returned to consciousness staring up at the most beautiful thing in the world. His head was resting on the thick thighs of his wonderful Lilith, whilst the Hellion gently stroked his head, especially focusing on his fluffy ears.
It was in this moment that he finally understood what it was about being petted so much, especially behind the ears, that dogs loved so much and in his moment of weakness he couldn’t help but let out a low purr.
Lilith giggled softly at the reaction, giving him a few extra scratches behind the ears for good measure, as Saige continued to lie there and enjoy it. That would have been the case for much longer, if an irritated voice didn’t come from the side.
"Oh would you two knock it off before I gag." Belladonna groaned in annoyance whilst pulling her hands out of the guts of one of the mutated Deer, one that she had killed in her assassination round.
The irony of her situation was not lost on her, but between being elbow deep in corrupted animal guts and watching her brother and his girl fondle each other like love sick puppies, she would definitely choose the guts every time. Even if she couldn’t lick her arms clean because of the corrupted blood, which was even more cruel of fate.
"What are you doing over there anyways?" Saige asked, tilting his head towards her but keeping it firmly on Lilith’s lap, before he added with a smirk, "Other than being jealous of little old me, Nyaa~"
He lifted his hand up like a paw and made an adorable, yet smug, expression just like a cat and did so just in time to have a rock pelted against his forehead.
Smirking back at him, Belladonna stuffed her hands inside the deer and pulled out its stomach. With deft hands, she sliced open the organ and quickly snatched something out from within, as she held up the wriggling Leech-like creature.
"Looking for the culprits. More Sin-suckers, just like the Boar."
She swiftly cut it on half and tossed it into the pile of other dead Sin-suckers, which she had piled on a piece of paper that had a fire Glyph scrawled on it. With a quick injection of mana, the paper and the body pile burst into flames as Belladonna stood and strolled over to the water to clean her hands.
"I get the feeling someone is infecting these creatures intentionally, and using these Sin-suckers to do it." Belladonna said as she dipped her hands into the water and began to scrub them.
Saige sat up, glaring at her with a serious look in his eyes that completely contrasted the playful character he had been performing moments before. He glanced at his notifications, seeing a few strange ones, but noted specifically that the Divine Decree had yet to be completed.
"It seems you’re right. The Beast Lord still wishes for us to find the culprit. But what do you think is the delivery system? I mean if they are doing it directly, why even use Sin-suckers in the first place?"
Belladonna chuckled softly, lifting her arm up to show the little black leech that had latched onto her blood covered forearm. An unwavering wrath already flooding her body as she ripped it from her skin.
"I have a few ideas."
