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27. Infiltrating the Death Cult
🕑 Added 2024-10-02 15:00:07 +0000 UTCA cold hand grabbed his shoulder. “Wake up.”
Levi startled awake. He drew his knife and lunged, stabbing center-of-mass.
Isa caught him by the wrist. In a flash, he extended his free hand to Levi’s shoulder and forced him back to the bed. The two of them stared at each other, Levi’s heart pounding, Isa stone cold.
Abruptly, Levi smiled. He patted Isa on the shoulder. “Just testing you! Haha.”
Isa released him and stepped back. “Sure you were.”
Levi took a deep breath. He ran a hand through his hair. It was still dark outside, not even the faintest glimmer of dawn on the horizon. “What time is it?”
“Time to get moving.” Isa threw his cloak on.
Wiping his eyes, Levi called the Armalgam and the Spinal Cord to him. He dragged his cloak on over both. Colin stretched, then put his arms out in front of him and shambled toward the stairs.
Levi paused. He patted Colin on the shoulder and shook his head. “Just act normal.”
Colin lowered his hands. Embarrassed, he rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess I don’t know what normal zombies are like.”
“Just… you know. Normal. Pretend like I gave you orders to act like a normal human being,” Levi clarified.
Colin nodded. He gave Levi a thumbs up. Straightening his back, he rolled his shoulders rearward, puffed up his chest, and marched forward with purpose.
Isa shook his head at them. “Honestly, both of you are ridiculous.”
“Says the vampire.”
“What’s so ridiculous about that?”
“The shapeshifting, overpowered vampire.”
“It’s not my fault that I’ve worked hard and leveled up a lot in my long life,” Isa said, tossing his hair again.
They reached the ground floor and emerged into the back of the inn. A short walk later, they reached the place that had been written on Levi’s paper. To his surprise, they weren’t the only ones there. A few young men and women already stood around in the early dawn, milling about the empty square.
Levi approached one of the groups and flashed a smile. “Here for the Death Cult, too?”
The group looked up. Two girls and one boy, all of them about Levi’s age, met his eyes. One of the girls had long, slender ears, the boy had wolf’s ears, and the final girl lurked over the other two, with an impressively muscular build, a large body, and slightly green-tinged skin.
The elf-girl was the first to speak. She laughed and gave a friendly nod, glancing toward his swords. “That’s right. I take it you’re here for the same reason as us?”
“Of course! Which would be…?”
“Easy access to the region’s largest dungeon,” the muscular girl grunted.
Seeing Levi’s surprised expression, the wolf-boy leaned in. “The Death Cult controls the entrance to the only serious dungeon around here. Usually, they’re controlled by the Church, but since the Death Cult has more influence here, it’s taken over the dungeon. Adventurers like us need to… ‘join the Death Cult’ in order to access it.”
From the other side, Isa leaned in. “It’s not uncommon for career adventurers to pledge themselves to several different gods and goddesses in order to access dungeons. Almost every dungeon entrance is maintained by a cult or religion, perhaps in imitation of the central Church’s control of the mainland’s largest dungeons. Even I have my fair share of false pledges to various lesser churches.”
“Oh. You know, if I’d known that, I definitely would’ve entered the Death Cult to get access,” Levi said. He shook his head. “Unfortunately, we were recruited due to inevitable yet unfortunate events. But you are correct in guessing that we’re adventurers! I, Levi, and my friends Isa and Colin here, are looking to level up.”
Isa nodded. Colin glanced at Levi, confused. Conflict played across his face as he struggled between acting like a zombie and playing along as a normal person. In a kind of compromise, he gave a vague head bob, almost but not quite like a nod.
“I’m Mae, and that’s Roan, and that’s Piri,” the elf said, pointing at the wolf boy and the green-skinned girl in turn. “The Death Cult is definitely the most intense religion we’ve joined yet, but the dungeon is really top notch.”
“Really?” Levi asked, interested.
Mae nodded. “It’s one of the three Great Dungeons on the continent, and it’s the only one of the three not maintained by the Church. Plus, everyone’s afraid of the Death Cult, which means the dungeon is almost untouched. Compared to all the other over-delved dungeons, where you have to dive super deep to get any decent loot, the Death Cult’s dungeon is the best stocked and the least well cleaned out! Even low-level adventurers like us can come away with really nice loot!”
“Now you’re getting me excited,” Levi said, grinning. Not just the Death Cult itself, but also a dungeon? Hell yeah. We should’ve just planned to join the cult from the beginning!
Roan put a hand on Mae’s shoulder, calming her. He turned a sober expression toward Levi and his group. “But the Death Cult’s dungeon is also the most dangerous of all the dungeons, precisely because it hasn’t been delved or mapped before. We can’t underestimate its difficulty. Plus, the Death Cult isn’t known for its loving care toward its initiates. We’ll be thrown in with whatever we have on our backs, and may not be let out after we get injured. In fact, the Death Cult is notorious for not releasing those sent into its dungeon unless they return with their objective.”
Levi raised his brows. “Bunch of entry-camping assholes, then, is what you’re saying.”
“Strange words,” Piri grumbled.
Isa kicked him. “Don’t use otherworld terms,” he muttered quietly. Loudly, he continued, “We’re from an isolated village in the mountains. Please forgive my friend’s strange language. He hasn’t learned any better.”
Mae waved her hand. “It’s fine! You should’ve heard me, in my first month out of the forest. Oh! It was so embarrassing. I was using all kinds of weird elf terms…”
“Y’know, since I came down th’ mountain, I ain’t seen anythin’ but humans,” Levi slurred in a poor imitation of a Southern accent.
This time, it was Colin who nudged him.
“We mostly stick to our own countries, far away from the humans. But when you’re an adventurer, you need to travel if you want to find the best dungeons,” Roan explained.
“No human make party, so party together,” Piri explained.
Mae pressed her hands together and smiled apologetically at them. “Sorry, Piri is a short-lived race, so she couldn’t take the time to learn Common.”
Roan rolled his eyes at Mae. “Everyone’s a short-lived race compared to you. She could’ve learned Common, like I did.”
Piri grinned. “Piri lazy.”
“I approve of that. Honestly, based,” Levi said, nodding. He looked at Roan. “So, the different races each have their own countries? Do you have your own religions, then, and not the Church?”
Roan shook his head. “The central Church isn’t as powerful in my country as it is in the human country, and the individual branches that each worship one of the gods are more powerful, but we follow religion. We aren’t godless.”
“No, I mean, other…” Levi trailed off, realizing he was being a bit stupid. In this world, the gods were material. Real, physical beings. They could appear on the planet and speak to individual worshippers. Why would there be any religion but the religion? After all, even if some false god sprung up, the real gods could quickly quash their sect before it got large.
He raised his brows. And actually, what’s to say that’s not how gods are born? I don’t know anything about holy physics. Maybe they all started as false gods, but reached a critical mass of worship and became true gods.
Or maybe they were sufficiently powerful humans that they became worthy of worship and ascended to godhood, and false gods randomly concocted by conmen looking to found cults are just as false as they are in my original world. I have no idea. I’m just spitballing.
“Huh?” Roan tilted his head. His ears flopped with the motion, just like a puppy trying to figure out what strange command he’d been given.
“No, no, no. Never mind.” Levi swung his hands, looking around. The first rays of dawn had begun to glimmer on the horizon, which meant it was time for the Death Cult to arrive. He craned his neck and searched the far end of the clearing, looking for any of the people he’d seen at the party last night.
Someone smacked into his shoulder. They clearly meant to knock Levi to the side, but with his twenty-some levels worth of strength enhancements and the sheer mass of the Armalgam and the Spinal Cord on his side, Levi stood stock still, not budging an inch, while the one who knocked into him bounced off and almost fell to the ground.
All six of them stood and stared at the man who’d bounced off Levi.
Dressed all in black, with black hair and heavy black eyeliner, the man recovered. He drew himself to his full height and spat. “Fake Death Cult converts. You’ll be the first to die.”
Levi rolled his eyes. In a high-pitched voice, he said, “It’s not a phase, mom!”
The man tensed. He started to turn back, then forced himself not to. With visible effort, he ignored Levi, sauntering off to a large group of other black-dressed and black-haired people. They looked over their shoulders and laughed at the six of them.
Lifting his hand to his eyes, Levi shook his head. “Damn. Bunch of fuckin’ emos.”
Isa frowned. He narrowed his eyes at the emos. “The Death Cult wasn’t like this when I was here. The cult members were… different. Truly devoted to the cause.”
Levi glanced at him. “Devoted to the cause? You longing for the good old days?”
Isa glared at him. “No. We simply weren’t posers.”
“Heh. You should go tell them that,” he said.
“No.”
As dawn began to truly blossom over the horizon, and the crowds swelled ever so slightly further, the white-haired girl and the old woman who’d handed Levi the instructions walked out of the street and stood before the crowd. The white-haired girl stood deferentially behind the old woman. Stepping forward, the old woman cleared her throat.
“Everyone who wishes to join our vaunted sect, please step forward and form a line. If you already bear the mark, stand to the left. If you do not yet bear a mark, stand to the right. Once everyone has been properly evaluated, we will proceed directly to the dungeon. No one will be permitted to enter the sect until they prove themselves by slaying at least one gem-bearing monster within the dungeon, nor will they be permitted out of the dungeon. If you are in a party, that does mean one gem per party member.”
Levi nodded. He pinched his chin. “I think I’ve figured out how the cult makes money.”
“This is the least of it,” Isa muttered darkly.
The old lady clapped her hands. “Now then. Queue up.”
Immediately, two lines began to form. The right line grew longer by the second, while only a few people stood in the left line. All the dark-dressed people, who had stood near the front of the space, lined up toward the front of the right-hand line. The one who’d bumped into Levi smirked back at them.
Mae sighed. She shook her head. “I guess it’s the back of the line for us.”
“Speak for yourself.” Smugly, Levi flashed the skull on the back of his hand. Isa tapped his shoulder. Colin gazed at nothing, truly uncertain what to do in this situation.
“Really? Wow! You guys were committed. Maybe next time we should do that,” Mae said.
“I told you we should get marked ahead of time,” Roan complained. He shook his head and walked slowly to the end of the long line.
The man who’d bumped into Levi laughed. He turned to Levi, an expectant look on his face.
Levi turned to him. He started to walk toward the right-hand line, and the man’s smirk grew deeper. Abruptly, he stopped and looked at his hand. He put on a shocked expression, then flashed the mark at the emo man and flaunted his way toward the left line.
The man’s expression soured. He glared after Levi, deeply irritated. Hhjskfjldjfklflk
“Do you have to be such a drama queen about everything?” Isa muttered.
“I prefer drama king, thanks.”
“That guy is absolutely going to try to kill us,” he warned him.
Levi spread his hands. “So? What’s the problem? We’re here to kill Death Cult people. It’s easier for me to justify self-defense than murder.”
Isa opened his mouth, then shut it. He shrugged. “I guess.”
They drew up to the front of the left line in no time. The others in line were villagers and locals, people who had clearly grown up in the Death Cult. Their eyes shone with excitement, and they carried cheap or improvised weapons. The girl ahead of them in line turned back. “I haven’t seen you around. Are you believers in the Death Cult from afar?”
Levi opened his mouth, then closed it. He smiled. “Yes, indeed.”
“Wow. That must have been hard. I know it’s not easy to worship the Death Goddess outside of our homeland,” she said.
“No. No one understands the beauty of uh, dying…?” Levi tried.
“No. There’s this perception that the Death Cult is a cult about killing, but that’s not it at all! We just worship the sanctity of nature and the inevitability of death. If you ask me, the Life Goddess and her healing powers are the ones who are truly unnatural.” She shook her head disappointedly.
“Right, yeah,” Levi said.
“Welcome home. You’re safe here. You can worship our Goddess to your heart’s content,” she said, resting a gentle hand on his shoulder.
He clasped her hand. “Thank you. I’ll remember this kindness.”
“Of course! Oh, how about this? Since it’ll be your first one after so long outside, how about I save you a front row seat to the ritual killing of nonbelievers this new moon? After we get our gems, of course!” She grinned at him and tapped the side of her head.
“That would be awesome! The ritual killing…?” What happened to ‘not being all about killing,’ huh?
“You don’t have that outside? Ah, of course not. Bathing in the blood of the slaughtered would be hard if you have to hide your religion, not to mention it’s hard to make flutes from their bones, too. For the dance afterward, of course.”
“That’s the problem, yeah. The bone flutes,” Levi said, nodding.
Colin stared at her, wide-eyed. Slowly, he turned toward Levi. His brows raised so high they almost left his forehead entirely.
She clasped her hands. “You’re going to love it. It’s a great way to give our thanks to the Goddess and punish nonbelievers at the same time.”
“Two birds, one stone,” Levi agreed.
Behind him, Isa glowered in disapproval, but said nothing.
“Next.”
“Oh! It’s my turn. We’ll have to talk later!” The girl turned around.
Levi glanced over his shoulder. “So, Isa, how many times have you bathed in the blood of the innocent?”
“Zero.” Isa’s glower grew deeper. “Something has changed. The Death Cult wasn’t so crude when I was a member. It had a purpose. A purpose I deeply disagreed with, but a purpose nonetheless. Now, it’s merely…”
“A lifestyle?”
“I was going to say ‘a club.’”
“Same difference.”
Colin leaned in. “Are we evil?”
“Only if you want to be. The cult is evil, for sure,” Levi replied.
“I mean… we’re aligned with the goddess this cult worships. Doesn’t that make us evil-aligned, as well?”
Levi shrugged. “I don’t see it that way. It’s not like I asked for her blessing. She gave it freely, and I’m going to use it freely. Whether it’s good or evil is up to me. As for the cult… I mean, I told her what I was going to do to it, and she hasn’t said anything. I think she might not actually care about the cult too much.”
“Next.”
Levi stepped forward. He flashed a winning smile and extended his hand. Before he could even say anything, the old lady edged up behind the man who was inspecting marks. “That one was marked by His Holiness, himself. He’s the one Shaheed said to keep an eye on.”
“Oh, is that so?” the man looked Levi up and down, an appraising look on his face.
Levi waved. “Hi.”
From behind Levi came a booming voice. “I said what?”
