Chapter 418: Evil Incarnate

Yawn

Ares stretched as he rolled out of bed begrudgingly. These damn beds in the sect were way too comfy! Living inside this palace was really a step up from anything Ares was familiar with and he was seriously hoping the sect master accommodations back in Heaven's Past were this pleasant too! If not, Ares might actually spend a lot of stardust renovating the place and sprucing it up for the the comfort of him and his family. Everyone should sleep peacefully!...Unless Enyo was bothering him, then sleep was the last thing that would be happening on comfy beds... Still, Ares was now officially committed to making life fluffy! Luxury was the name of the game and Ares was playing for keeps so he was going to be keeping an eye out for any high quality furniture from now on! Treasures especially because rejuvenating beds were particularly valuable and could even heal injuries or enable cultivation in a person's dreams.

That aside, Ares made breakfast for himself and Aejaz while reading a note, delivered to him by Loris Lax, from Enyo and Bellona. Ares had kindly offered Loris some waffles and he graciously accepted before disappearing... Though Ares wasn't sure if he'd actually ever be able to finish eating that stuff before it got mouldy... Hopefully, for his own sake at least, Loris wasn't THAT slow at literally everything! He'd live quite a complicated life if it were really true... Damn, now Ares was curious! Was he slow in the bedroom too or did peppy do all the hard work? This was truly one of the universe's greatest mysteries! Anyway, Ares ignored that nonsense and went back to reading the note. It was a mostly insignificant note now that all the major stuff had been discussed and it seemed like small back and forths were going to happen regularly on a day to day basis from now. If nothing else, the sisters seemed to be demanding certain types of food now that they could have access to Ares' cooking again and he was happy to oblige. If it weren't for the fact that there was currently no Transmit aboard the Federation this all probably would have happened a lot sooner. Continued communication, even when apart, would likely continue to be a consistent thing going forward... Although maybe not in Vraizon. There were a lot of Transmit shops cropping up in Sheryashka, because it was where Ares was and communication needed to be established with him first and foremost, and there were a lot in the world outside the Blade barrier, as the business needed to get off the ground back when it was still in its infancy, but Vraizon, and the few domains above it inside the Blade barrier, were uncharted territory. It was unlikely Transmit would waste time setting up shops up there, or maybe they'd get around to it it at some point, but Ares couldn't expect Transmits to be up and running everywhere he went after leaving Sheryashka for a while. It was slightly inconvenient but not the end of the world.

Breakfast was done and so it was time to leave but Ares wasn't doing things the normal way. He'd taken Rox out of the Primordial Blade and was leaving him behind to soak up all the leisure within this palace freely but there was also something else he wanted of the mimic and so he gave Rox his comprehensive orders on how to act today. This likely wouldn't matter right now but it was imperative Ares left Rox behind to maybe benefit Ares in... A little over a day's time? Roughly, give or take, that seemed about right. Ares' plan would all make sense soon, he was sure of it! This was only part one of the plan, though, and Ares had to do part two as well or else it all meant nothing and so Ares forced Aejaz to turn invisible and leave while he himself used the Nyxian Prowler to escape the palace via the shadows. This all seemed a tad excessive but it was potentially very worth the extra effort! Thankfully Ares and Aejaz only had to be sly and subtle until they left the core area of the sect and then they could return to normal afterwards... Sort of. Ares was going to be putting his hood up again for a short while just in case. On the way out, after leaving the core area but before leaving the sect, Ares was spotted by someone he recognised and it seemed like they were headed his way to start up a conversation. If Ares wasn't mistaken, this was Sandy's smaller brother, the one that had been looking to pick a fight on day one. Last time Ares spoke to this guy, Ares reassured him he didn't' care about the previous slight and told him to go make himself useful by asking about the scavengers if he was apologetic... Maybe he had some information to spare? Ares hadn't expected anything but that would be swell if he really did! Ares had nothing to go off currently so even scraps were welcome.

"Yo twerp! Got any news for me? Also don't worry about your sister, I already met her and neither of us are dead so that's pretty great... Although you really shouldn't be so mean! The way you talk about her you make it sound like she's some kinda devil! She was more reasonable than you!"

"Ah.. Haha, yeah I guess so... It's just, you know, I hear all those rumours too and I don't talk to her as much as I really should... But whatever, enough about that, I asked for information and got some... Though I'm not sure if its helpful or not. All I know is that the scavengers are heavily involved in the black market scene and there's going to be a pretty big one coming up soon. I know the day and rough time, I do not where it is or how to access it. I don't know if you need an invitation, a code word, or to just be in the right place at the right time. I have no clue. You'll have to do some sleuthing and figure it out on your own on the day."

"Fair enough. I wasn't really expecting anything from you anyway so I'm surprised you managed to get anything at all."

"Hey! I'm not that useless..."

"Of course not, you make a great middleman..."

"Tsk. Whatever. The person who told me this said the black market will be taking place in two days time from now and would start at midnight. It's one day after your meeting with the clan so it shouldn't be too hard to remember... But I was also told something else..."

Ares raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Go on, do tell."

"Well there's been rumours about disappearances in Xasca city lately. Apparently it had been happening for quite some time but it was mostly during black markets that it occurred so nobody had heard about it. Discussing the black market openly is... You know... What happens during the black market yada yada... But now that it's become a more widespread problem, affecting even normal citizens with nothing to do with that scene, everyone's talking about it. My informant told me the security for the black market has supposedly gone up this year because they're expecting trouble. If whoever, or whatever, is responsible for those disappearances is acing more boldly right now then it's only natural their original target will be that much more attractive to them and they won't spare the black market any rest this time around... Of course this is all unsubstantiated rumours and such but more people are beginning to believe it day by day. The strange thing is that there's never any traces left and the people who go missing are like the ghosts of society. Nobody knew the missing individuals personally and they were all alone in life with no family or friends to call their own. It's like people who wouldn't be noticed as missing were all targeted specifically so the suspect could get away with this for as long as possible without being caught. Not that any clues have ever been discovered anyway so they must be pretty good as this abduction and murder process if it's all real... It's kinda creepy! It reminds me of something similar a long time ago... Ah but I won't bother you with history lessons!"

"No no, tell me. You'd be surprised how often small details could be relevant. Also, a 'long time' doesn't really mean anything in the cultivation world. Whatever happened way back could very much still be happening or relevant today in some manner... Especially if Sevorus was involved..." Ares muttered that part under his breath and the fellahin twerp didn't quite catch it so he wasn't questioned.

"Oh... Fine. But don't blame me if it's useless information... There was once a pretty legendary dessert dweller here in Xasca that led troops to go hunt monsters whenever their population grew too large or a tough monster became a threat to surrounding area. He was one of the original fellahin but records of him in our clan are pretty scarce and I'll get to why in a minute. What we do know is that he was one of the original settlers in this specific part of the desert. Some say he even founded Xasca city himself and that was why he was so keen on protecting it. Anyway, have you ever heard the story about the largest stepper horde ever recorded?"

"Yes, I read about it recently..." Ares was thinking about when he first ran into them the other day. He'd checked them in the notebook and this exact story was written there, mentioning how a small fellahin army took on about five hundred steppers. Ares remembered thinking it was likely there were way more than five hundred because counting the invisible army was impossible and, thus, hard to keep track of. Still, the underlying point was that it was an entire damn army of the ugly critters and that was a lot! They rarely banded together like that and so it was definitely a strange historical fact that wasn't in line with anything that had ever happened before or since.

"That makes things easier. Anyway, during the fight, apparently the fellahin guy I mentioned got into a real nail biter of a brawl with one particular stepper. It was way tougher than the rest but Mr Fellahin eventually dealt it a lethal blow... According to the history books anyway. You can't really tell with those things. Still, he was pretty certain as its dying wail was pretty loud and the screech pierced everyone's ear drums, making them all bleed... But that's unusual right? Normally the steppers don't make any noise. If they did they wouldn't exactly be as stealthy as they are... The fellahin thought nothing of it, though, and that this was just a one-off mutated commander of the steppers which was why they were all so co-ordinated to begin with. Anyway, with it dead, the rest of the fight was simple and they fellahin won eventually. After returning, however, everyone noticed a strange mark on the fellahin leader. He didn't feel ill or cursed or anything, but the mark was definitely there and couldn't be removed. It was a simple 'X' shape but it was rather ominous and ended up being a real source of agitation for him... Up until he disappeared. See a few other people had been disappearing around the time he returned from that mini war and so he went to go investigate around the city and find answers. One day he never came back, just up and vanished despite never leaving the city, and so that 'X' was treated as some kind of curse after all even if nobody understood it. We have no records of him, other than this story and a few things before the war, because he was never seen again. He was pretty heroic up until that point but then poof, gone!

It's a weird story though, right? What would a stepper curse have to do with other people disappearing within the city anyway? Yeah, sure, there's a correlation between people disappearing then, and people disappearing now, but I don't know what's supposed to connect everything... Whatever, I told you not to blame me if it didn't make any sense! Do what you will with this information, I've done my part and I owe you nothing for my earlier outburst! A debt has been paid off and we are even-stevens! With all due respect, you still scare me so I'm going to leave now!" The fellahin twerp immediately turned around and booked it because he was truly a scaredy cat in front of anyone even remotely mighty. Even his own sister was like a demon to him so what were the chances he didn't feel the same about unpredictable Mr Gold and his explosive tendencies? At least Sandy was his own sister!

As for Ares... He had a feeling in his gut he knew the correct answer here to this mystery. He'd actually speculated about the potential for this to happen yesterday just before setting off for the Riddlemyd and its seemed his earlier concerns wound up being true after all... What were the chances there was a stepper on the loose in this city and had been here for hundreds of years!? What if that mutant stepper really didn't die and marked the fellahin commander to track him back to the city, which would have been a large settlement at the time more than anything as tightly secured as this city, and crept inside? The stepper had been here since, murdering people in secret like some kind of shady butcher. Maybe it targeted the black market to get its hands on whatever goods it believed could aid it in its murdering sprees, be it weapons, cultivation resources, or anything it needed to heal whatever wound it suffered from back in its heyday against the fellahin leader... But this was deeply concerning, actually, because this would all mean this thing was hyper intelligent compared to a normal dumb stepper. It only targeted people that nobody cared about and it utilised its invisibility sparingly, not going on any mass rampages and hiding out in the background without drawing too much attention to itself.

If this stepper ever drew too much heat it would maybe calm down for a while, lay low, and let a few years pass to have all the rumours fade away before it kicked of its murdering again... If this guess was accurate then there was an experienced, psychotic, psychopathic, invisible monster murderer hunting people down in this city. Ares figured there would be at least one other troublesome creature, aside form the Anubis, the stepper brood mother, and the hallway creeper in the Riddlemyd, and it seemed like he was spot on as this thing was not going to be an easy problem to solve either... Ares was going to have to tread carefully in this town and keep his Omniscience on at all times to make sure he wasn't walking right by the creature... It could really be just about anywhere... Hell it could even be in this very sect right now! Again, a stepper's one weakness was the footprints it left in the dessert but no such thing was happening on the pavements in this city! Only Ares could feasibly find and kill this thing, especially if it was intelligent enough to not go overboard and garner excessive attention to its shady dealings, and he owed it to to Sandy to do as such given what he promised her... It wasn't part of the unwritten contract, and he could very well ignore it, but he'd feel pretty guilty scamming Sandy and betraying her trust in him so he was simply going to have to deal with this issue himself. Not only did Ares have to find the black market... Now there was a significant chance he was going to have to protect it too...

"Whatever, let's just set off and head to the Riddlemyd for today..." Ares turned to face Aejaz but the coward was trying to sneak away! He'd come to the same conclusion as Ares, regarding the sentient stepper, and was looking for a corner to go hide in! He didn't want to walk through the city anymore now that he was aware of the hundreds of years old, wizened assassin monster stalking all living things and searching for a target to slit the throat of. Aejaz didn't have Omniscience like Ares did so he was going to be on edge twenty-four seven from now on thanks to this information! How was he supposed to sleep at night!? This was worse than the twisted! "Tsk, think about it you plonker! It doesn't target people with relatives or friends who will notice their target going missing. If you up and disappeared I would appreciate having one less mouth to feed so it can't kill you! Also, I'll be running Omniscience pretty much all the time from now, as long as we're in this city, and I'll set up traps around the room, so being anywhere other than with me is the worst possible decision you could make if you're really scared of that thing. Stop trying to run away! Hell it's arguably safer in the riddlemyd than hiding in the room for crying out loud!" Ares didn't wait for a response and simply started dragging Aejaz towards the exit. By the time they arrived, Aejaz, albeit reluctantly, seemed to have digested what Ares told him and came to the conclusion that hiding behind big bro really was the best option he had available to him. That or learning how to steal Omniscience and using it himself! It was a great art, it was just a bit more complicated to learn without owning the Celestial Prisms and so it was taking Aejaz some time in that department... Though now he really did have a valid reason to learn it no matter how hard it was... That was likely what he'd do in his spare time from now. Anyway, Ares threw up his hood and activated Omniscience as he left the sect and went on his merry way to the city's exit.

About halfway to the big gates Ares saw a little boy, a homeless orphan, trying to steal some food from a vendor without being noticed. At first, Ares thought nothing seemed out of the ordinary with this sight. Ares had been in this situation himself before and knew what the kid's plan was. Create a distraction by throwing something and diverting the shopkeeper's attention, grab the desired product, and run for the hills! The kid had picked a shop with n alleyway nearby and that was going to be his escape route. Under normal circumstances Aras would have just ignored this and let things play out as fate intended but something caught his eye and he froze on the spot... This was bad... Really bad... Ares shook his head, acted like everything was normal as best he could, and walked over to the kid. He gave him a grand reprimand, told the shopkeeper he would deal with the kid, and led the boy elsewhere to talk to him in private. The conversation was a short one, and Ares let him go, but he did make it clear the kid should lay low somewhere safe for a while and stay in hiding for about two days. Ares gave him a spatial ring full of food, and some clothes he bought from a nearby stall, and that seemed to convince the kid to be obedient. Ares was satisfied with the outcome albeit a tad shaken up. He didn't explain himself to a curious Aejaz until they made it outside the gates just in case there was anyone eavesdropping on the conversation. Ares turned to Aejaz, sighed, and started to talk.

"I think I just saw the face of true evil and I'm not messing around here. That stepper we theorised about? It exists and it's definitely targeting people with no connections to other people. The stepper was lurking in the alleyway, waiting or that kid to run straight into its myriad arms and be slaughtered. I didn't think we'd find it so soon but it was there all right... But it's a bigger problem than I thought it would be... That thing is disgusting and its aura reeks of bloodlust. It was overwhelming, actually, and even palpable. I could feel the the taste of bloody iron in my throat just looking at it and it definitely wasn't normal. Average steppers have one eye but that thing had two, like a Siamese twin, and both were bloodshot, frenzied, and spiralling out of control in maddening fashion. It was enough to make me feel like I was going insane just looking at it out the corner of my eye.

That thing kills for fun and is nothing short of a murderous maniac who's revelled in bloodshed for hundreds of years. Ruthless, twisted, and completely deranged. If I picked a fight with it then and there it would have started murdering everyone around just to see my reaction. It would torture that child and laugh, that was the type of thing I just laid eyes on. Worse still, it's not to be trifled with. I may even have to use Garmr to kill it because it might even be capable of toying with me if I'm not hyper careful around it. I'm not one for moral grandstanding, nor do I ever really feel an obligation to right every wrong in this world... I would have ignored that kid any other day of the week and let him struggle through life as an orphan because I'm not capable of saving everyone...

But that stepper needs to die.

I will owe an unrepayable karmic debt for the rest of my life if justice is not dealt and I do not smite that despicable thing down. I feel more repulsed by it than I did that krakyrn abomination and I can't in good conscience leave that thing to terrorise people in Xasca forever. There's nothing stopping it from venturing out further too because it's powerful enough now that it can freely weave around through human society across all of Sheryashka without ever being noticed. It's a problem, more so than any other monster I've ever seen. I don't know what caused that stepper to evolve the way it has but whatever manner of experiment it is needs to come to a stop immediately and it can't be allowed to cultivate any longer that it already has. It shouldn't exist and even knowing its still out there right now is making my blood boil. It's a horrid thing and I will take great satisfaction in ending it. It's body was partially hidden behind a wall but I saw enough to know that thing is walking dread, a nightmare on two legs, and I'm not looking forward to fighting it... But I will do it nonetheless.

As for you, Aejaz, you needn't come along when my showdown with it begins. If a regular stepper bothers you that thing will give you trauma and never leave your mind for the rest of your life. It's swirling eyes swung in a 'u' shape like an evil grin pendulum when it noticed me interfering in its hunt so I'm pretty sure it's aware I know of it. This isn't a fair fight, it's a dirty game that it's going to play in ways I don't want to think about right now. Hostages and a trail of dead bodies are going to be the least of it so if you don't want to get involved then staying at the palace on that night is perfectly reasonable. For the Scylla, the Anubis, and other such monsters I did not give you a choice in the matter but this is different and this is dangerous. If you are going to come along then be prepared to fight like your life depends on it because I will have my hands tied not dying myself. Think on it for the next few days, I'm being serious here." Ares said no more on the matter because he himself needed to go over everything he just witnessed himself... That stepper was a diabolical existence and Ares couldn't help but curse Sevorus for his handiwork. It was going to keep murdering people until Ares dealt with it but he really didn't have the time right now and couldn't drag everyone in public into his brawl with it. Innocent people would die in the thousands if he didn't do this right so sacrificing a few random people to the murderer for the next two days was unfortunately the only way to go about this trolley problem that made any sense. The black market would take place at night, the stepper was almost guaranteed to be there, and the place was filled with illegal activity and criminal scum who could all get bent and die for all Ares cared. It was his best option in terms of dealing with the Stepper so he had no choice but to wait... Tsk. Ares shook his head and kissed his teeth. His mood had been thoroughly ruined this early in the morning! Not a good start to the day at all...