Sacrifices To Jupiter XVII

Looking at her shitlessly scared expression, I become somewhat calm.

I direct my attention to the status window again. Summoning, was it?

Summon |E|

Gift Pack |E| |15 SP|

Artifact Pack |E| |15 SP|

Monster Pack |E| |15 SP|

I have a shitty premonition…

I focus my gaze on the first one…

Gift Pack |E| |15 SP|

30% |F|

30% |F+|

40% |E|

No— No fucking way…

"Why are you looking like that?" Mari asks, her voice coming from beside me.

When did she approach?

Speechless, I gape, looking at the panel.

Looking at the panel, she gapes, speechless.

We look at each other with questioning faces.

"This isn't what I think it is, is it?" I ask her with a skeptical face.

"What the hell is this?" she asks me as though I'm the one who's been praised for my smarts and has read more books than most people have seen in their lives.

No, kid, it's you. You're the one who's supposed to know shit!

"Did gods go senile?" she asks in wonder, pondering. "Isn't this just… gambling?"

It fucking is.

A new box pops up, a feminine voice musing.

Not the calm and soothing one I heard before reincarnating, but a different, vibrant and lively one.

But then it hardens, a complete opposite of what it was just a moment ago, stern and heavy, masculine,

Congratulations! You've been chosen as an Archdemon! For your accomplishment, I shall shower you with gifts! Bhahahaha!

A hologram of an old man appears, smiling, looking like an ancient Greek philosopher.

I'm Jupiter! Heed my blessings, Oh Demon! My daughter!

He pierces me with his gaze.

"Juno?!" Mari shouts in surprise, backing away, flailing and falling, frail.

"Juno? But isn't this a man?" I ask, scrutinizing the newly formed figure.

"Yes! She's also Jupiter! The demons call her— him— Jupiter! I never thought it to be true! To think that a god would—"

The old man opens his palms, two spheres there, one in one palm, the other in the other.

Both shine brilliantly, of a brilliant, diamond color.

Gift Pack |S|

Monster Pack |S|

Jupiter then smiles widely, raising his fist in a supportive manner.

Good luck motherfuckers! You'll be needing it! Bhahaha!

Then he nods, bidding a farewell, turning and vanishing.

"Wow," I whisper, looking at Mari's trembling and cowering, messed up figure on the cold stone floor, her book awkwardly opened on her lap.

"Is this what you call a sugar daddy?"

Approaching, I pick up the two balls lying on the floor. They barely fit my palms, almost transparent, hallucinatory. Made of real brilliants.

"You're not just going to use them, no?!" she asks me, stammering to her feet. "Just what the hell is happening? Why are the gods helping demons?! This is unthinkable!"

Blah, blah, blah—shut the fuck up, kid.

I'm as pissed as she is. Am I just a plaything for those beings, or what?

But what can be done, really?

Just like how when one is born into slavery, the best they can do is mine harder, is all. 

Fate holds us as its prisoners.

To break from fate's shackles is no simple task, demanding extraordinary ordinance to weave miracles. 

"Is there any use in keeping these?" I ask, shoving the two balls to her to show them. "What value do these possess?"

"You use! I doubt very much that these can be used by people, only demons. Maybe only by the Great Demons, and possibly even, only by Demon Lords and Archdemons," she blabbers, lifting her round chin, her downturned eyes resolute. "Even if it can be, nobody has seen such a thing before, and we need strength at the moment. Why hold onto resources when we can lose them at any moment?"

"What dangers?" I ask her, peering at her with my gaze. "The fact that you three came means there are more to come, correct?"

Silence envelopes the room.

She then nods, albeit slowly. "Archdemons usually appear in the heart of Darklands… but you're in its very corner… I haven't seen such things happen in historical records…"

"So at the border between humans and demons?" I ask, bringing my hand up my chin.

"Exactly. You right." Mari ups and downs her head. "If the news gets out, the capital will send all they have to exterminate you. Paladins, priests, and even saints will rush to destroy your demonic lair before it has any chance to attain power. They will wage an all-out war."

Just why is my luck so shitty?

Yet again, it can't be helped. We merely adapt, is all.

"Perhaps tomorrow or the day after, the local Adventurer's Guild will send a group to investigate the disappearances," Mari whispers, biting her lip. "A week at most for them to assemble a group of dungeon demolishers."

I nod, raising the left sphere. I forgot which one was which, but it doesn't really matter, or does it?

"Say, if I summon a high-ranked monster, won't it just outright murder us?" I ask her seriously, glancing sideways.

Is it me, or has the fog intensified? The moss of the walls and the floors have watered, whilst droplets drip-drop from the domed ceiling, hitting the floor.

At this temperature? It's cold as fuck.

Mari swings her head left and right. "The monsters you summon are fully under your control. They cannot attack you. Besides, there's a difference between creating and summoning monsters."

"When you create an A-rank monster, for example, it's A-rank from the get-go. If you summon such a monster instead, then it has the potential of reaching A, but it starts from lower ranks. They improve as the dungeon levels up, just as you do," she states, her sapphire eyes lit. "Unless they've changed this mechanic too…"

I still have a shitty premonition, and from what I've learned so far, my instincts are to be trusted.

The worst is that I die. But at least I won't die alone.

I nod, turning my head back to the ball and projecting my will into it.

Gift Pack |S|

60% |A|

30% |A+|

10% |S|