What’s this? Fine… let’s see –
Warning!
You are about to permanently enslave a Nightmare of a Higher Tier than you!
You are about to permanently enslave a Nightmare of a higher level than you!
You are about to permanently enslave a Nightmare with a Domain!
Do you still desire to accept Erzili the Slithercreep as your Minion?
[Yes]
[No]
Permanently enslave…?
Erzili was waiting, expectantly. Does she know? Am I missing something?
I decided I wasn’t. At the very least, I had my backup timeline if something went wrong. With that knowledge, I pushed the button.
[You have acquired a new Minion!]
Name: Erzili
Race: [Slithercreep]
Specie(s): [Slime] (Metamorph Variant)
Monster Rank: Tier 5
Level: 204
HP: Does Not Apply
MP: 7.2M/20.2M
Negative Effects: [N/A]
Positive Effects: [N/A]
Epithet Skill(s): Muliebrity
Title(s): [Nightmare of Ten Thousand Forms] [Elder One of Ecstasy]
You may view more information about your Minions in the Minion Menu.
“Minions.”
Minions
You have (1) minion.
Minion(s) Available: Erzili
Would you like to view More Information on the Minion [Erzili]?
[Yes]
[No]
I selected the [Yes] option with no hesitation.
Minion Information
Name: Erzili
Epithet Skills: Muliebrity
Mystic Arts: N/A
Skills: [Morph] [Liquify] [Acid]
Master Commands: [Meat Shield] [Damage Transfer]
Master Skill: [None Assigned]
Tasks Assigned: N/A
Combat Tactic: [Protect Master] (Default Tactic)
Apparel:
Head – N/A
Body – N/A
Legs – N/A
Arms – N/A
Feet – N/A
Weapon – N/A
Loyalty: Lv. 1 [45/100]
Fear: Lv. 4 [55/100]
Loyalty Bonuses: N/A
Fear Bonuses: N/A
Bio: Erzili is a six-hundred and twenty-six-year-old nightmare that commands the nightmares Fort Zyvar. From a normal, unintelligent slime, Erzili was captured and used by a young Marisian Mystician for the manufacture of forbidden aphrodisiac tonics and love potions. While in the care of this Mystician, Erzili acquired sentience from the listening to endless narrations of romantic woes, and, ultimately, was experimented upon to create the perfect subservient being for sexual gratification. The experiments succeeded and triggered Erzili’s evolution into a Slithercreep – wherein Erzili proceeded to slaughter the Mystician, and wandered the land before encountering the Nightwitch Gothel the Lovelorn, and being granted a name.
“You can see it, can’t you?” Erzili spoke. “They are beautiful, the words… the Nightscripts of yore.”
“You can see the words?”
Erzili nodded. “Yes – but – not understand them. They are in the Mothertongue after all. And Erzili is not so gifted as to be able to understand it.”
You have enslaved a nightmare with a Domain!
You have acquired a minion with a Domain!
You may now control the Domain of your Minion!
You are now the owner of the Domain – Fort Zyvar!
Your [Domain] may not be fully utilized until total [Sovereignty] is attained.
Your Influence has gone up!
Your Influence Ranking has upgraded!
There were a lot of questions I had. Too many questions to ask. A lot had happened in an extremely short amount of time, such that there was barely any space for me to think. From Erzili going from being my enemy to being my subordinate was jarring.
“You seem conflicted Master.”
A shudder traveled down my spine. “Don’t call me that.”
“As Erzili has become your minion, you have become Erzili’s master, from now, till the end of time.”
“Why?” I couldn’t help myself. “Why?” I needed to know. “Why did you choose to allow yourself to be enslaved?”
“You are a Demiurge.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“It means you can become the King.”
“King?”
“The King of Nightmares.”
I laughed. Ridiculous. “I don’t have any interest in doing something like that. I just want –”
“To live?” Erzili wagered. “To survive?”
“Yes.”
“That is what makes you more worthy than anyone to be King. To be… Erzili’s King.” Erzili smiled. “With you – it may be possible, Erzili’s dream.”
“A dream of a family?”
“A much larger dream. A dream of a world, where nightmares and men are not engaged in eternal battle. A world where there exists a Kingdom of Nightmares, and that Kingdom trades, and visits the Humans, Midwarfs and Elvani.”
“You want… coexistence?”
“Don’t you?”
Yes. Of course. I would give anything for that. To walk through the human cities and experience their culture, music and cuisine. To study their architecture, history and art. To trace back their anthropological origins and tinker with their magics and ability to defy the known laws of physics. Without the threat of old age and disease, I could spend as much time as I wanted simply immersing myself into the richness of Alamir.
“I do,” I said. “But… there’s something I have to do first.”
“There is?”
“I need to find the Night Emperors… and kill them, and perhaps kill those above them.”
Erzili stared at me. She backed away, suddenly. Cautiously. “Why?”
“There’s a ticking time-bomb over my head,” I admitted. “If I don’t kill them, a lot of people might die… and I’ll lose all my memories.”
“Do you care about the people who will die?”
Do I? The entirety of earth, according to Oblivion. The entirety of the earth’s history would be changed completely if I failed. The world I knew would be gone. Would never exist. It didn’t mean that it would be destroyed… just altered. History, changed on a massive scale that would cause different people to be born and others to never be born.
“No,” I admitted. Erzili’s [Muliebrity] was still active it seemed. I couldn’t lie. It was the truth. “Even if I saved them, they would never know I did. Never be aware of it. I’m unfortunately not that generous, or that selfless of a person. I care for myself. My knowledge. My memories. That’s why I can’t afford to let them go. Why I have to find and hunt down the Night Emperors.”
“If, all you care for are your memories, then there is another path,” Erzili said. “After the Hlahan Forest, there exists a steep jagged mountain covered in a perpetual fog. We call it the Masakh Mountain. There, a being known as
