Chapter 182

Pittsburgh - 6:09 PM

Thanks to Sara navigating for me, I was able to get back to Pittsburgh with only a few minor inconveniences. All I had really known was to head west until I found the right highway, but with her directions I was able to stay on the roads to cut my time down. That still left us with plenty of time to talk, though, and I sent her each of Pustibule’s toys as tribute for them to be purified.

There was still no way for me to understand the ring’s new passives thanks to them being written in Enochian. Whatever leaps I had made towards becoming more Angelic, they weren’t enough to remove the Dormant listing on my Status screen. Because I couldn’t do it myself, I was able to get a lot of information from Sara about what had happened in Hell.

The Armor of the End passive sent me my girlfriend’s literal armor from her Hall. It was the same gear that she wore whenever she greeted me for the first time, aside from when she was in her biblical form at the end of my last run.

It was an incredible set of equipment that had propelled me to a level of power I usually associated with late- to mid-game. The armor would appear on its own the moment I entered Hell, which was why it had been labeled a passive rather than a skill. Most of its boons were, sadly, still sealed, but I was assured that it would grow with me as I did. On top of that, I borrowed strength from Sara directly.

That had been how I was able to spend Mental Points without worrying about my limit. Sara was footing the bill for the cost. I wasn’t sure how that affected her or if I could even spend enough to hinder her in any substantial way. When I asked her about it, she deflected, and I figured she wasn’t allowed to tell me.

As powerful as the Armor of the End was, Angelic Ascent was a different beast altogether.

With every Demon I permanently killed, my Angel form became more powerful. The stronger the Demon, the bigger the boost. Just like the armor, it came with a caveat that it only worked in Hell. According to Sara, it was something the system -- not an administrator -- required for the sake of balancing the power of the ring.

Honestly, after learning about Angelic Ascent, I had wanted to jump back into Hell and make full use of it. I held no love for Demons, and I had no problems committing genocide against their kind in order to gain power. The passive had allowed me to kill a Demon Lord, after all, and it would have only been a matter of time before I would be strong enough to take on the Emperor and finish this game myself. Migraine from the overuse of Warmind powers be damned.

But, Sara had asked me not to. She wanted me to make it to the Patron’s Ball first due to some plan that she couldn’t tell me about.

Despite seeing a clear path forward, one that saved billions of lives on virtue of getting things done before the first month was up, I relented. Sara had earned my trust over the many years I had known her. She understood what my goal was, and I believed that she had my best interest in mind.

I had a lot to think about on the way back, but not long after our conversation petered out I had slipped into autopilot. Mentally, I was more exhausted than I had been for a long time, and I understood why Sara wanted me to leave it be. I would have to spend time going into Hell in order to acclimate myself to my new toys. It wouldn’t be too hard; there were legends and myths about it all over the place.

Plus, now that the power had left me and I was back to being normal, boring Anthony Franklin, I could admit that Zalzarog likely would have been able to kill me before I got strong enough to stop him. The Soul Drinker wasn’t a Demon Lord, but had tools that could put him on par with one.

From the moment I entered Pittsburgh, I had my hand in the Guaranteed Strike Mitt. My eyes were cast towards Rexxel’s Bank as if I’d be able to see Jeremiah up there, but something told me that he was long gone now that Pustibule was finally dead. I made it back to the Angel Express safe and sound.

Once I entered the Subspace Depot, I was greeted by the Mills and Jamie sitting at a picnic table set up next to the train platform. Corwin was the first to react and ran to me, and I knelt down to pet him. My attention was on the Weapon Master, though.

When she turned to look at me, I saw the differences I knew were coming. Jamie’s body was leaner now, and her face a tad more angular. Her short, straw colored hair was now much more vibrant and shined in the light. The whites of her eyes had turned dark green, and her pupils were slitted like those of a Dragon. Because she wasn’t wearing her armor, I could see the smattering of golden scales on her forearms.

All in all, it wasn’t a drastic physical change to become a Half-Dragon. The option to lean deeper into her new heritage would come up for her later down the line with claws, wings, or a tail if Jamie wanted them, but she would also be able to shift back to being more Human if she wanted. It was one of the better choices out there.

“Anthony!” Jeff exclaimed, jolting upright. He almost got caught between the table and its attached bench, but managed to free himself. Before I knew it, he was beside me and pulling me into a bear hug. “We were so damn worried about you.”

“It’s good to be back, Jeff,” I said with a chuckle, patting the man on the back before he put me down.

Kayla and Jamie approached me at a much more leisurely pace, and the Double Agent put her hands on her hips. She circled, looking me over with a critical eye. “Mercury told us where you went. You seem to be okay. At least, we’ve seen you come back in worse states than this. Why did you decide not to tell us that your plan was to dive into Hell with a captive Demon in order to kill him?”

“Because it was the only option and we didn’t have time to argue about it?” I offered, grinning.

“You had this planned out for a while,” Kayla countered. “You specifically asked the Dealer to get you things to take out Pustibule. We were present when he gave them to you.”

“I was,” Jamie corrected. “Pretty sure you and your husband disappeared for that transaction.”

The Double Agent sighed, and Corwin leaned up against her. Her hand absently began scratching him behind the ears. “Right, as Jamie said, but still.”

“Kayla, it was nothing I couldn’t handle, and everything worked out really well,” I said, smiling warmly putting my hands on her shoulders. That was leaving out a lot of the grittier details, but it was still mostly true. I had managed to set out everything I wanted to, which was kill what turned out to be a vessel. That part had been rather easy. Pulling away from the woman, I snapped open my inventory. “Plus, take a look at this bad boy. If nothing else, this was worth everything.”

“It’s a stick,” she stated, unimpressed.

I laughed as I held out the Staff of Raphael. The Archangel’s weapon did technically belong to a Patron, but I imagined he was one that Sara had no problem negotiating with on account of their similarities. It was made of pine wood and was about as tall as my shoulder. At the top was a plain handle, and the bottom had been cut into a ferrule with a spike. I sent the details to them.

[[Equipped]]

Staff of Raphael

(Angelic item; Growth Item, kill 10 bosses to upgrade; +10 Constitution, +10 Wisdom, +10 Willpower, Divine Regeneration passive acquired)

[[Passive]]

Divine Regeneration

Increase your natural hit point recovery speed by 400%

“Holy shit,” Jamie remarked.

“Yeah. That’s sweet, right?” I asked. “Later options are going to get crazy, but this one’s still really good. My recovery speed has already been increased to half my Con per minute thanks to another passive of mine, so this is really, really good for me.”

“It sounds like you’re going to go back to using your hit points as a resource again,” Kayla said disapprovingly before sighing. “You’re right, though. It is really good. I’m just upset that you didn’t let us in on the plan. We could have helped!”

“I understand, and I’m sorry. But I needed you here for Jamie,” I told her honestly. “Demonification wouldn’t have made her a monster so she wouldn’t have been kicked out of the safe zone that is the Angel Express, so it was necessary to have both of you here. It would have sucked, I know, and I’m glad it all worked out. Well, mostly worked out. Still had to use the egg.”

“Worth,” Jamie said.

I turned to face her. “How are you feeling?” I asked.

“Really good, actually,” she answered, crossing her arms. “Things were starting to get really dicey with the whole Demon thing, but the moment I cracked open the egg and became this, everything changed. I feel like I have the energy of a teenager again. Not even boosting my Con has done that.”

“Well, technically, you are a teenager now,” I said. “In Dragon standards, anyway. Half-Dragon, too. We have some trials and tribulations coming up because of this choice, but I’d rather go through those than lose you.”

Jamie pursed her lips and watched me closely. When I arched my eyebrow at her, she glanced at Kayla. The Double Agent urged her on with a gesture, and she sighed before thrusting her hand towards me. “Thank you,” she said, still hesitating. “Ruining your future plans had to be hard, or whatever. I’m glad you thought I was worth it.”

A genuine smile bloomed on my lips, and I took her hand to shake. “It’s a pleasure, Jamie.”

“Good, don’t expect more gratitude for it,” she said, pulling her hand free once I let it go and taking a step backwards. Her hands went behind her back as she stood at ease.

“Speaking of gratitude, how’s Ashley?” I asked, looking between the three of them. “Is she pissed about the whole egg situation?”

“Surprisingly subdued, honestly,” Kayla answered. “I was worried she was going to go off after we received your message to use the egg. Ash did complain, but the moment she saw what Jamie had turned into, she stopped and stormed off to go back to bed.”

I nodded. “We’ll have to see, then, but she’ll probably be fine.”

The Angel Express doors opened to reveal Mercury and Bethany. He was out of his ninja garb now, instead clad in plaid pajama pants and a t-shirt that said “Rogues do it better.” The change in wardrobe revealed his dark skin, curly hair, and on point beard game, which was almost enough to make me jealous about my own terrible genes and inability to grow proper facial hair.

“Salutations!” he greeted in his roleplaying voice. “The Princess told me that you made it back!”

“Don’t like that,” Jamie muttered, and I turned my head to look at her. She continued. “Got a damn ghost on the train. I like my privacy.”

“Just ask her not to spy on you,” I scoffed before walking up to the siblings. “Thanks a lot for helping out, Mercury. I really appreciate you.”

“I was only doing my part, my liege,” he said, bowing to me with a flourish. “You were right, though. About the equipment and stuff. That Demon guy started fiddling with that dangerous collar you told me about and I dropped down to rust, like, everything. Must have used about half the can on him and the junk he was hooked up to. Sorry if that was too much.”

Smiling, I placed my hand on the ninja’s shoulder. “You did perfect, Mercury,” I replied honestly. “Without you, we’d have been dealing with Pustibule for Sara knows how long.”

“I’m glad it-“ Mercury was cut off as Bethany got his attention, and he looked down at her. “Oh, sorry. She’s got something for you.”

Releasing my grip on her brother, I looked down at Bethany. “What’s up?” I asked, both speaking and signing.

Bethany looked up at Mercury again, and he urged her forward. She took a step and, shyly looking down, removed a tray from her inventory. The girl held it up for me. It contained five different glass vials, each containing tea, and three tea bags.

“The vials are her version of a health potion,” Mercury explained. “They’ll heal you for between 5 and 20% of your max hit points. The tea bags will work with a pitcher of water and will heal for less, but you can drink more or share it. These are still preliminary results, she’s getting used to it, but Bethany’s been working hard all day. She wanted you to have the first workable batch.”

Bethany shook the tray, and the glass vials clinked together. Gently, I started taking them and putting them into my inventory before I signed to her. “Thank you. I appreciate what you’re doing for us. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

The girl hesitated before nodding. She tossed the tray back into her inventory before bowing in a manner similar to what her brother did and returning to the train. We watched her run through the dining car before disappearing into the next.

“Your sister is adorable,” Kayla said with a smile. “How long do you think it’ll take for her to open up?”

Mercury shrugged. “Hopefully not too long, but we’ll see.”

“Any insight, psychic boy?” Jamie asked. “You should know, right?”

“You’re calling me that, too?” I laughed. “First, thanks to Kayla for getting that to stick.”

“My pleasure, my liege,” the Double Agent said with a flourish.

“Of course it was, my queen,” I shot back. Instead of getting mad, she only grinned triumphantly at my words. “Second, a couple of weeks. Things will be easier with three of us who can sign, and Ash will try to learn on her own so long as none of us push her. If we do that, it’ll take her a while to get back on board.”

“Mess with Ashley, got it,” Jamie said.

“Only if you want her to stop making you stuff,” I chuckled.

“Give her all the space she wants. Loud and clear,” Jamie corrected.

“What about Jeremiah?” Mercury asked. “I heard you trying to get Pustibule to call him, but he never showed up. Even after the building got liberated when you two disappeared there was nothing.”

I shrugged. “Couldn’t tell you. My gut says he’s not going to stick around, which is a shame because I was really hoping to deal with him,” I answered honestly. “I’ll go out every day with the Strike Mitt and see if he’s still watching us, but we’ll use my Broken Boundary to make it into the Pitt and back to take care of things from here on. Aside from special occasions, the amount of time we’ll spend on the surface will be negligible.”

“Become mole men, then?” Jeff asked.

“Basically. Once I’m certain Jeremiah’s gone, we’ll resume operations as normal.”

“And what about Greg?” Kayla crossed her arms, a disgusted look on her face. “You said Olivia was turned into a Demon. What do we do about him?”

My triumphant mood finally faltered, and I pulled her head out of my inventory. Everyone except for Jamie flinched. “Yeah, he offered her up to Pustibule. I’m going to go after him. He’s supposed to be the protector of Pittsburgh-''

“That grade-A dickbag doesn’t deserve the title,” Jamie interrupted.

“True, but the strong can be trusted to protect the things they think they own,” I said. “But not anymore. Olivia was very religious, which we discovered when I showed off my Angel form in front of them. She was obviously his conscience, pushing him away from committing things like, well… like this. I was originally going to go take a trial that would put me out of commission for a bit after Pustibule was dealt with, but I sincerely believe I am going to-“

I was cut off as a screen popped up in front of me, and I frowned as I tossed Olivia’s head back into my inventory.

[[Patron Quest: Start the Trial]]

Greg Davis is a modern day Judas and certainly doesn’t deserve to lead the second most powerful guild in Pittsburgh.

However, it would be better for you to start the trial tonight. Doing so will save you a lot of time, and even if Jeremiah sticks around as a matter of pride or something he likely won’t attack your friends again without Pustibule pushing him. I got that impression from him.

Greg’s been holed up in his guild hall since you sent that message, by the way. Since you were invited in, I can see inside without being there. He’s scared to leave because he knows you killed Olivia. You’re going to have to wait for him to emerge from the Guild of Guilds anyway, so you might as well do the Trial.

Objective: Go to the Trial and go to sleep.

Reward: 5,000 points.

Snapping away the screen, I pursed my lips before sighing. Then, I nodded; she wasn’t offering me so many points for nothing.

“Greg will wait. According to Sara, he’s afraid, and she gave me a quest to go do my thing. So, I’m going to go shower, mend my clothes, and get going.”

“But you just got back,” Jeff complained. “You’ve got time for at least a nap before you get back out there, right?”

“The sooner I get there, the faster I’ll be out,” I said with a shrug. “And I’ll be sleeping the whole time. It’s a dream based trial, so I’ll be well rested when I come out of it.”

“Will you actually?” Kayla asked dubiously.

“About as well as can be expected,” I answered. “Will you accompany me for a bit, Kayla? I’ll need to rejoin the guild so I can liberate the dungeon, and we have some things to discuss. One on one, because it’ll be easier. Sorry, Jeff.”

“She’ll be safe with you, I know,” he said.

“Yeah, I’ll come with you,” she replied. “I’ll get back in my gear and be ready for whenever you are.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it,” I told her. Looking at my four fighters, I let a tired smile cross over my face. “All of you, thank you. I really can’t do this without you.”

“Alright, I’m going back to my room if he’s going to be all sentimental,” Jamie announced before doing as she said she would. “Have fun sleeping, psychic boy.”

“Good to have you back, Anthony,” Mercury said with a smile before following her.

“Go get cleaned up,” Jeff said, gesturing towards the door. “You killed a Demon today. In Hell, apparently. I think you’ve earned a shower.”

Nodding, I headed inside to clean myself up, the sense of accomplishment welling back up inside of me. I really had done well today.