“We do have our tools and our methods, but it would be better for everyone if we didn’t have to use them. It’s complicated. You’ve heard about the Law of Balance, haven’t you?”
“I have!” I said, grinning. “That’s why I’m refusing. Are you trying to set me up? Redirect the generator’s counterattack toward me? No, thank you. I’ve fallen for that once; I’m not going to do it again.”
“Is this your final decision?” Yamato asked. Getting a nod in response, he squeezed his thin lips, disgruntled, and said, “It’s a shame you’re not willing to cooperate. I cannot force you, but the consequences will be unfortunate.”
I shrugged. Tormis, and not just Tormis, had warned me against doing something like that. No need to rock the boat! Practice has shown that even despite bringing immediate gain, the Eater always took its toll, if not worse. My antics with Ananizarte might have worked out well, but could they be the reason why the goddess had gone off the rails and declared a vendetta on the rest of the world? Damn if I knew. I didn’t want to think myself complicit in the destruction of the Golden Fairs. That’s why I decided to scrap Yamato’s shady proposal — instinct told me that a partnership would do me no good. Let them solve their problems without me.
* * *
The hardest thing was being left alone with her. Even seeing the dark goddess was permitted only to a select few, let alone coming within her reach. Meetings were impossible; she appeared and disappeared whenever she wished.
Tao watched his blood slowly trickle down the onyx altar and soak into its surface, filling the shape of a five-pointed crown etched in stone. Drip-drop. A blood sacrifice — what a savage custom!
But she wasn’t coming. Had she sensed trouble? No, that couldn’t be. She must come; that method had already worked once.
A whirlwind of darkness manifested on the altar. Tao physically sensed the goddess’ arrival as a dull blow knocked him down, filling his mouth with blood and blurring his vision. A dark-haired girl was standing next to the black onyx pedestal. Ananizarte was silent, her hands clasped behind her back.
Tao stood up and braced himself. He was going to put everything at stake — himself, his clan, and everything he had achieved in Sphere. He bowed.
“Blood offering isn’t the best way to draw my attention,” the goddess said, her tone surprisingly calm. “I hope you have something to tell me, my Tao, or you will be punished.”
“Yes, my goddess,” Tao replied, lowering his head. “I’d like you to take a look.”
The gods were the masters of physiognomy, living lie detectors. An AI capable of simulating divine-level entities could easily identify a full range of players’ emotions and thoughts using only external, often insignificant, cues. It anticipated desires and calculated actions. Outwitting a god was just as tough as deceiving a licensed psychologist while using a polygraph. But in Sphere, nothing was truly impossible.
As he finished speaking, the PROJECT leader pulled a round item from his inventory. Inside, he felt chills, but his face remained inscrutable. A heavy orb cut out of colored crystal, black and purple, glowed in his hand. It looked just like an essence crystal extracted out of a legendary creature.
“A Dream Sphere?” the goddess asked. “Where did you get it?”
“You rewarded me with a Black Weapon. Let me bestow you a gift in turn.”
She came closer, and Tao handed the artifact to her, praying that she wouldn’t recognize his deception. Her gaze fixed on the radiant globe, Ananizarte carefully took it in her palms, staring into its violet depths with an entranced expression.
Sphere gave rise to many odd items. Some of them brought only trouble, such as Soul Eaters that caused NPCs to react in unpredictable ways. Those weapons and their wielders were hunted and sought after. Many of them had been destroyed, and others were hidden by Pandorum or confiscated by the admins. That item — a mage’s offhand weapon — was one of the long-lost Eaters. Tao knew that the goddess holding Obsidian was seeing something vastly different from the truth. A mirage conjured by the banned Spiritstone of Illusion could deceive even a god: a gift turned into poison.
Obsidian
Quality: legendary. Material: edra, dragon glass, divine breath. Durability: 17/100.
+50 Spirit, +20% resistance to dark, light, and shadow magic, +200 dark magic MP
Egregore: grants the wielder 1% of the attributes of the souls inside.
Vial of Souls: contains a limited number of souls. Souls inside: 0/10
Soul Eater: steals the soul of a creature who touches the item.
Players didn’t have souls, but gods did. An item Tao had no use for became a prison for Ananizarte. The face of the goddess as she realized that she had fallen into a trap was indescribable: amazement, rage, hatred. Her thin fingers were glued to the crystal ball; she couldn’t tear them away. She had no time to say anything, even to take a breath.
Your reputation with Ananizarte, the Goddess of Darkness, decreased! Current reputation: Hate!
Your reputation with the House of Darkness decreased! Current reputation: Hate!
She disappeared, the unrelenting force pulling her essence into the orb. Tao barely caught the dropped Eater. A black whirlwind was raging on inside its violet depths, crashing against its crystal walls. Before Tao’s eyes, a narrow crack ran down the ball’s surface.
Durability: 16/100.
Obsidian, the Vial of Souls, wasn’t indestructible like demonic items or the weapons of the Seven. Tao knew that imprisoning Ananizarte was much easier than killing her outright, but he hadn’t expected her to be capable of destroying the artifact from the inside. How much time did he have left?
Frowning, he wrapped the orb in his cloak and put it into inventory. He had to hurry.
Chapter 17
“WE’VE
