Chapter 032: Revelation

I managed to fall asleep. Of course I noticed that it happened only when I opened my eyes and discovered I was in a completely different location, most likely in a completely different plane of existence.

Everything according to plan, it seems. It’s nice to have things going according to plan. At least for once.

I was in an opulent bedroom. One belonging to someone infinitely powerful and totally depraved. Wherever I looked there was gold, expensive wood, silk, jewels… plus a lot of things of decidedly depraved usages.

It was too much to try to describe it. I wasn’t even sure of the size of the place. My mind had troubles trying to guess the distance. As if the space itself was somehow distorted. Nearest wall seemed to be three meters from me… or three kilometers.

God who made it’s bedroom be three kilometers wide and filled with so much wealth obviously had to compensate for something. It was a sign of…

I was interrupted by a loud hum coming from behind my back. I turned my head. Two meters from me (this time I was sure of it) sat a woman. Young adult of absolutely peerless beauty. One impossible, and yet one that didn’t look artificial. It was the peak of artistry of flesh. She wore clothing of velvet and jewels, one surprisingly modest… if you excluded several cuts, used to underlight important bits and pieces.

“That’s something rather horrible to say about me. I mean the compensating part.” Despite this, she didn’t look angered, but amused.

I sighed and sat. I had no idea what was behind me and if there really was a chair… but I was sure that there was going to be one after I sat. Dark and its rules. Of course I didn’t collapse on the ground, instead my butt found a very elegant and comfortable chair.

“Well, according to common tenets of how Revelations happen I should now be shocked by the great honour of being Chosen and standing in front of a god. I suggest that we skip this part, because I do not intend to be Chosen. There is also no need to introduce ourselves, since we know each other. You got fatter since World’s Requiem, Deviation.”

She smiled in a mocking way. “What a terrible thing to say to a lady. Especially one of such a noble descent.” I wasn’t sure if being created by local equivalent of Satan (Tyrant, what an original name for God of Tyranny) as a sextoy excuse for a queen could count as noble descent, but well. Suit yourself.

Of course she knew what I said, even if it was said in my thoughts. I guess it’s one point for Different World Theory. Plus one million points for Just A Game Theory, since she summoned my consciousness to her palace via Revelation ceremony. Despite me not wanting to become her Chosen One. Which directly contradicted local lore, according to which all Revelations ended with successful recruitment. Gods contacted those who were guaranteed to agree. So much about free will.

“I must say that I absolutely love your personality. And the fact that you don’t start drooling when you see me, like most mortals that see me. That’s something unique. And nice to see, at least from time to time.”

Right, it’s definitely my personality.

“You, of all people, should know the reason. You are totally outside of my strike zone. I have a well-defined opinion about what women should do in the bedroom and, to a lesser degree, in relationships.” It wasn’t something I was proud of, really. And I hoped Simea was going to help me fix this flaw. “You, as a god or hyper intelligent AI, are automatically out of the question. You are smarter and much more powerful than me.” Why am I even explaining it?! Alright, fuck it. “Enough beating around the bush. You know why I’m here.”

“You know that if you tried that with any other god, you would probably get a nasty curse?” She said with her angelic voice, completely ignoring what I just said. “Willingly doing something connected to their divine domains with an intent to make them Choose you so that you could talk with them in person? You are a nasty boy. That’s not how you treat gods.”

“Yes, yes, I understand. Sacrum and all of that. Treating gods like your servants is wrong. Be respectful. Seriously, can’t we just skip all of this? I know that you know that I know all of that.” A bit risky, but I knew how hard it was to squeeze meaningful information from Deviation even in World’s Requiem. And she obviously got few more layers of personality and free will in Gates of Eternity. I wasn’t going to spent next three years chatting with her over tea.

She rolled her eyes. “You should seriously call me Dev, like you used to.” Seriously, don’t remind me of that. “Oh, but I’m going to. You are now entirely on my mercy and there are few things I’m going to talk with you about.”

Aaand… Here it begins. Ugh. And I can’t even pretend to listen to her, since she will immediately know that I’m trying to pull that. Well, that was a rather low cost for getting some answers.

“You broke. Seriously, can’t you just accept yourself and return to being my Chosen One, Eliphas?” Urgh.

“What you call being broken, I consider being repaired. And don’t call me Eliphas. It’s completely different world and different name. I’m Avhar Khan now.”

“Maybe it’s different world… maybe it isn’t. Maybe it’s different name… but it’s the same person.” She said calmly. I couldn’t picture anything that would make her lose her calm. At least anything that a mortal/player could do. “Or perhaps you prefer to make me use your… how was it? ‘real world’ name?” Uh.

“Alright, alright, let it be Eliphas. Just without the nickname. It would be…”

“...traumatic.” She finished together with me. “You overuse that word to be honest. You are aware that I’m not going to accept a refusal and I’m going to keep trying to sway you to my side?” Wonderful.

“Could you really stop? Please?” It’s most likely not going to work, but… I could at least try. “I seriously changed myself, and I’m not going to work for you ever again.”

My attempt was rewarded with a theatrical roll of her eyes, followed by salt to the wound. “And to prove that, you indulged in a rather fetishistic, even if mild, sex with a completely innocent girl?” Urgh. “Seriously, I expected more. You should slap her some more, beat her, torture her, bound her in your bedroom with your dick being her only source of susten…”

“No. This part of my life is over. “ Ugh. Everything to interrupt her. “You should know that I was honest with her. With the contract, and…”

“Of course you were.” She interrupted me. “If you were stupid enough, to try to trick an innocent person to have sex with you, by signing a false contract before authority of Overtyrant, you would get smited. In the way that would make Holy Smite feel like a mother’s caress. You’d better be happy that he is much more interested in spirit rather than letter of the laws and contracts.”

Wait, is she angry? No, probably only pretending. Seriously, she got much deeper than in WR. And I’m not talking about her cleavage.

“You are still tricking that girl and the rest of your merry band of misfits.” She continued her scolding .”Makes me wonder how they would react to know that you know everything about Doomplaces because you almost ran one yourself. That you were a Chosen One of Deviation. One known not for his strength, but absolute perversion with which you ran a significant part of the Glorastian Empire sex slave trade. One known for providing the best merchandise in the whole business.”

“Could you stop salting the wound? Please?” It’s seriously something I prefered to forget. At least it was obvious the ‘merchandise’ back then were lines of code in the game system. I wasn’t sure if the me from the apex of my…’career’ would feel comfortable with working on ‘wares’ so humanlike. But that was possible, judging from the way my past self acted. I was kinda an asshole back then.

“And what would Lena say if she knew you supplied Radakar with his… toys.” She won’t stop until she finishes making her point, doesn’t she? ”Or if Simea knew that Ensnared Lily was mostly based on the form of sex slave market you helped perfect.”

Moment of silence. Finally I decided to speak. “You finished? If yes, then I would like to remind you, that I betrayed Glorastia quite early in its war against the Treaty. I might have been merely a simple footsoldier without your blessing, but I don’t regret that.”

“Yes.” She sighed. “You still didn’t ‘fix’ yourself. You just made a first step. Important, I admit, but only a first. I’m going to fight until the end.” Suddenly she grinned at me. “You refusing and putting up the fight actually makes it worthwhile. Seriously, you should just return to me. We all know how you love breaking women, having them grovel before you and...”

Sigh. She was about to open her mouth again, but I interrupted her. “Yes, I know I sigh too much. Since you keep derailing this conversation, I’ll ask openly. What did that lunatic Robinson pull this time?”

“I won’t answer that. Let’s just say that I believe you should be grateful to him.” WHAT

“For what, imprisoning us in videogame? Sending us all to another world?” No answer, obviously. Only poker face. Ugh. “Alright, is there anything meaningful you can tell me about him or whether this really is a game? “More poker face.” Ugh. Well, I still learned a lot. Be so kind and let me out.”

“No way.” What? “Why should I? You’ve done nothing for me, so I don’t feel like sending you back. Feel free to navigate your way through the Paradise Halls.” This time her smile was cruel. “With a chance, there might be something left of you after you find your way back.”

It wasn’t hard to decode the meaning she woven into her speech. “Are you telling me that… Paradise Halls is a real location? Not just a lore piece, but a place you could actually visit?!”

Paradise Halls was the name of the palace of Deviation and her second husband, Hedonism. In Gehenna, the darker side of afterlife of Imperial Religion. After she overthrew Tyrant it was no longer a place of torture, but of unspeakable revelries, where all perverts enjoyed their perversions forever… until Tyrant’s rule is restored. Which should happen right before the End Times.

It was also supposedly neverending and filled with an almost endless number of servile daemons, demigods, deities, archdaemons and who knows what else. Plus a finite but great number of the Dead, so perverted in life that the Judge sent them to spend eternity in the Halls. How could a neverending place be made in a computer game?!

“Yes. Even the Kennels.” … Kennels of the Paradise Halls originated in a rather dark places of the internet and were a sort of meme there. DFI obviously never added them or even made them canon. For obvious reasons. Until now. Robinson, you sick fuck.

So it’s now at least a few more points for it being a real world. They might have been a location finite in size, though, so it wasn’t a definite evidence.

“So, what do I have to do to be allowed to leave this place and return to Tyrant’s Hold?” Please, let it be a quest rather than acceptance of Revelation .

“Be my Chosen One.” Oh for God’s sake.

“That’s impossible. I mean, what’s the point of forcing somebody to serve you? It’s obvious I’m going to avoid doing whatever you wish me to do.” Of course, judging from her level of intelligence/processing power, she could pretend she wants me to do A to make me do B, regardless of my attempts to free myself. Unless other gods intervened. Still, wasn’t the assumption of the mantle of a Chosen One supposed to be done willingly?

“Who said anything about forcing you? You know my approach to forcing things.” Right. We entered fields of deeper theology.

According to the backstory of Imperial Religion, Tyrant was one of six Primeval Gods that came pretty much from nowhere and could not only procreate to create other gods, but also create them from scratch. He, together with Discord (now a part of Pentagram) was supposed to create and manage Gehenna, local Hell. He created Deviation as his queen.

Turned out that being created as a glorified fucktoy and breeding implement to help make more gods doesn’t make you overly supportive for your creator. When Shadow, God/dess of Revolution and Anarchy decided to rebel, initiating War of Gehenna, Deviation was among the first to join the rebels. In the end the temporary alliance of Shadow, Deviation, Locust, Demiurge, Hedonism, Failure and Plague won, and Tyrant was overthrown. Which kinda broke local Hell into tons of separate dimensions, in some of which evil deeds in life were actually rewarded.

The split between Deviation and Tyrant also divided the ‘sexual’ domain in two. Deviation was generally responsible for pretty much every type of sex, with a single exception. Straight rape was a thing of the Tyrant. But the border was tenuous. Slowly brainwashing a kidnapped woman into a sex slave while making her enjoy her position was something roughly divided between both gods.

“And you should know my approach to your approach to forcing things.” I sighed. “I’m capable of accepting a very, very thin part of your domain. The rest is either rape or simply being disgustingly promiscuous. I’ll ask again, what do you want?”

“Well, I definitely don’t plan to force you to anything. Also, it doesn’t matter what you decide, the miracle that healed your lovely wife stays. I’m not going to use blackmail, even if it’s less important now that you finally made a move at her.” More like the other way around, but… that was good to know. “Now, there is a problem.”

“A problem?” I don’t like the sound of that. Goddess saying there is a problem? Sounds bad.

“Weell… one rather significant, that might persuade you to actually assume the mantle, especially when I promise to make it… more fitting for your current, impaired form.” That sounds even worse. “You see, I’m afraid that your mission about killing Ambryxis is significantly more important than you think.”

“More important?” More important how? Gods literally queing behind us to influence how it happens? Firstly it was Overtyrant, then possibly Shadow (if there was a deeper meaning behind Toothy), possibly the White Sun whatever it was, now Deviation… ugh. Also Pentagram, obviously.

“Yep. You see, the outcome of this quest might mean the rather terrible end of every single mortal being… on Aevaria.” On the continent?! “What’s more, it can theoretically get even worse.” EVEN WORSE?!

“Just who the fuck is Ambryxis?!”

She rolled her eyes. “A no-one. A meager deity, not worthy of such term as everyone beneath us, the proper gods. It isn’t about him. It’s about his death. But I can’t go into details. Rules of Great Game forbid me.” Wonderful. It’s Pentagram, isn’t it? We seem to be someone accidentally important and we keep running into their servants. “Yes, but that disgusting freaks position in that is different than you think. There is also someone else, debatably even worse than them.“ EVEN WORSE?! “And guess what you could do to increase your chances of survival?”

“Assume the mantle, hmm?” I wasn’t convinced. But… she did scare me a bit. “I still refuse.”

“Why?” She didn’t seem curious at all. She knew it. Interesting. “You seemed to have no moral qualms about making Simea continue using Lust Magic… okay, mostly having it since you rarely run into susceptible enemies… All of that despite her not wanting to. How was that? Future strength, needed to survive in this hell?”

Ugh. She had a point. Now that she said it like that, it really looked like a hypocrisy on my part.

I was obviously pushing Simea down the line where she wasn’t comfortable. Sure, she had very few occasions to use her magic, but she still had her hexes. She had her familiar. She wanted neither. They were going to be useful, eventually.

Should I take it? Deviation was going to tailor the Blessing and the Transcendentals to fit me, right? Without making secret little hooks to pull me closer to her side. Right?

I looked at her meaningfully.

“Yes, yes.” She sighed. “I would make it so that it would fit your… newfound character, without secret little hooks to pull you closer to my side. If you need it so much I could even tailor it so that having lots of sex with lots of people wouldn’t be required at all.”

Hmm. Tempting. Transcendentals would be crazily useful. Having another Chosen One would be an immense benefit. But… was it my past self trying to resurface?

“Also, Overtyrant’s blessing that hides the truth about Leria would also work on you. So you wouldn’t have to announce to the world that you are my Chosen One.” She added. “You would start whining about it very soon, so I decided to prevent it.” Right. “Also, typical ways out of the mantle still exist and work.”

“Alright, alright. If there are no hooks and it’s like that.” I’m not sure how should I feel now.

Deviation smiled. Then suddenly I could see the ceiling of my bedroom. I could hear Simea sleeping soundly.

WAIT A FUCKING SECOND.

I said that Deviation beginning the Revelation ceremony was a proof that this world wasn’t real, because it contradicted lore. Since I, as a Player, could refuse the Revelation. BUT I DIDN’T. SHE PLAYED ME. SHE WANTED ME TO MARRY SIMEA AND TRY TO CONTACT HER SO THAT SHE COULD PUSH ME INTO BEING A CHOSEN ONE.

DEVIATION, YOU FUCKING...

You became a Chosen One of Deviation!

NEW RACIAL POWER UNLOCKED

Sense Sex

The assumption of the mantle of Chosen One of Deviation changed your already well developed supernatural senses, allowing you to detect more things.

You can now use your supernatural senses to detect sex. You will know when it happens close to you, you will also be able to roughly guess the number and sex of participants.

Ah, shit. It started already.

NEW MAGIC SCHOOL UNLOCKED

Lust Magic

Rarity: Rare

An advanced subtype of Life Magic that allows its user to manipulate lifeforce and attune it to libido. Usable both on battlefield and on bed.

It can forcefully attune one's lifeforce to lust, damaging one's ability to think or do anything outside of sex. After overwhelming somebody completely and attuning 100% of his lifeforce to lust, the target is literally unable to continue fighting, often starting masturbate mindlessly on the battlefield.

1

Yeah, I expected that.

NEW HEX UNLOCKED

Dominating Aura

Type: Theurgy

School: Lust Magic

Grade: N/A

Caster is imbued with raw power of Lust Magic, extending an aura of domination around him. Those surrounding him that fail to resist are subjected to random mental debuffs and become more susceptible for Lust Magic. Resisting is harder for: women, those that find a caster attractive, and those of naturally submissive personality.

In extreme cases targets might suffer temporary mental breakdown and obey caster unconditionally for a time. If the hex is used several times in short succession, effects can be permanent.

1

NEW HEX UNLOCKED

Deviant Eyes

Type: Theurgy

School: Lust Magic

Grade: N/A

Caster can tap into the lifeforce of the target and analyze it in terms of sexuality, finding out what resonates in it the most, thus discovering target’s orientation, fetishes and kinks. At first the informations provided will be unreliable and inaccurate.

Using this hex is undetectable without being observed by someone without Sense Magic powers, high sensitivity to magic or high level of Mana Manipulation [25<]

1

NEW HEX UNLOCKED

Curse of Lust

Type: Theurgy

School: Lust Magic

Grade: N/A

Target is cursed with a permanent arousal build-up. Average person will be forced to indulge in sex every four or five hours to remain able to think of anything unrelated to sex.

Curse can be broken by resisting the urge for twenty four hours. Repetitive failures to resist will make the build-up faster, potentially leading to a complete mindbreak.

1

NEW HEX UNLOCKED

Depraved Promise

Type: Theurgy

School: Lust Magic

Grade: N/A

A straightforward offensive hex, that forcefully attunes part of target lifeforce with lust, weakening target’s body and impairing concentration. With enough lifeforce converted, target loses ability to fight.

Hex causes additional damage to heterosexual/bisexual females (or homosexual/bisexual males) with submissive tendencies.

1

NEW HEX UNLOCKED

Ignition

Type: Theurgy

School: Lust Magic

Grade: N/A

Supporting hex that reinforces target’s body by igniting its natural processes and pushing them into overdrive. Restores part of lifeforce and can dispel debuffs, however it also causes a significant increase in arousal level.

Using it several times in short succession isn’t a good idea.

1

Sigh. I guess that’s pretty much what I expected. Still rather tame. She could definitely doublecross me much worse.

NEW ACTIVE EFFECT

Lesser Blessing of Deviation

Rarity: Very Rare

You were blessed with an ability to increase your manapool above its maximum state through sex. Exact outcome depends on its length, general depravity, and number of participants and their orgasms.

It will also allow you to quickly restore your manapool to its maximum level.

Yes, that would be an absolutely great blessing… if I wanted to build myself a harem. But I didn’t. Ok, fuck, now she really backstabbed me badly. It was almost useless, to be honest. The mana restoration effect after doing such tame bed games like the one we did today probably added a negligible amount of magic.

Well, fuck. At least Transcendentals were going to be usefu…

NEW CHARACTER CLASS

Thrallbinder

Rarity: Rare

You are now a Thrallbinder, a sorcerer dedicated to Deviation. They are well versed in various types of black magic, especially Lust Magic.

They are unable to draw their mana from natural sources - including mana potions or their own regeneration. They also can’t draw it from the Dark via their familiars. Instead they gain it from sex. They are also subjected to mana decay, passively losing it overtime. This liability is compensated by the fact that they lack upper limit of their manapool, making them a foe rather hard to fight in battle for attrition.

Their name comes from the fact that they always fight surrounded with thralls, mortals whom they bound to their will with special rituals, making them unable to deny their orders. They are better attuned to their masters, granting them more mana with every sexual encounter.

DEVIATION. YOU. FUCKING. WHORE.

Now she got me. There is, indeed, no secret little hook attached to it. This was an open mega hook. The size of a ship anchor. Sure, the blessing most likely boosted the mana gain from sex extremely, making me a potentially strongest Thrallbinder ever. But this is…

Wait a second. The window disappeared. But not the way it should. Normally it somehow dissolved in the view, but now it was more like someone pulled the cable out of socket.

I conjure status, and… there is an obvious glitch in the Class. Something is written there, but it’s completely unreadable. What is it now?!

NEW CHARACTER CLASS

Master

Rarity: Unique

Powers of Deviation and Overtyrant coursing through you have achieved a curious state of mutual stability. And, thus, elevated you into a completely unique class.

You are well versed in classic black magic… but also in Lust Magic, Doom Magic and Overtyrant’s Holy Magic. You are ready to use every possible mean to prosecute your war against what you perceive as a evil, so common in the place where you live. Your mana, however, restores itself slower than it should… but you are capable to gain your mana from sex.

You are capable of binding others to your will with a ritual, but this ritual requires conscious consent from both sides. Rather than being a one-sided exploitation it is a contract. You gain their servitude, whose scale determines the boost to your mana while being determined by agreement during the ritual. They gain your protection, unbreakable loyalty (acting against them, hurting them or breaking the agreement will have dire consequences) and help, when trying to achieve the goals that brought them to you. While being your servants they will also gain additional experience, their strength growing faster.

Due to the class being unique and your mission requiring stealth, those appraising you will see you as a Thrallbinder.

Holy... I think I almost died of a heart attack there. Seems like Deviation toyed with me even more than I thought.