The Hundred Reigns 116: The Cocagne Affair (16)
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Space bent around them as a cloud of miasma swallowed the throne room.
Simon had already experienced an Abyssal Domain when fighting Exodeos, but this one behaved a bit differently. Reality shifted, the walls and ceiling of the throne room fading away into a greenish, magical thunderstorm that stretched across an endless horizon. The ground became a platform floating amidst raw, primeval chaos. Each lightning bolt echoed with a scream in a murderous cacophony.
Casval-Nodens, the Painbringer, has trapped you in his Abyssal Domain! All teleportation effects are negated! Casval-Nodens’ attacks will pierce through all elemental resistances!
Simon had read that what separated demons from true archfiends was the latter’s ability to create an Abyssal Domain, a private demiplane that granted them extraordinary advantages and trapped their victims inside. Exodeos had been too weakened by his long imprisonment to fully manifest his own, but Casval had bonded long enough with his demon to manifest its full power.
Nonetheless, all of Simon’s allies were trained fighters and reacted in kind. Alphonse and Thalas immediately charged at the enemy to get into melee range, while Simon and Filip moved to the sides; the former so he could cast offensive spells, the latter so he could aim his arrows at the enemy.
Moving the fastest, Thalas quickly closed the gap with Casval and attempted to smash him with his axe. The dragon extended his wings and took flight, dodging at the last second and pulling the leashed Eole with him. Thalas immediately gave pursuit by jumping after them, but Casval quickly pointed at him. A crackling bolt of lightning erupted from his claw and struck Thalas in midair, the blast pushing back to the ground below.
Eole herself opened her mouth and began to sing, her bewitching voice echoing through the Domain. It was a beautiful and sorrowful song that would have melted the hearts of those who listened.
A pity nobody did.
Charm negated by Indomitable Crown & Aura of Bravery!
Casval grunted in annoyance and flapped away Filip’s arrows of light with a wing, then shrugged off Simon’s Petrify and Countdown spells—either having an ailment immunity of some kind or sufficient power to ignore the effects. The demon dragon incanted another spell of his own, the air crackling with magic.
“Hurricane!”
A mighty wind rose from nowhere and shaped a tornado into existence. A storm swallowed the entire Domain, sending Simon flying into the air and upward. Thalas managed to anchor himself to the ground with his axe, and Filip’s wolf-mount did the same with his claws, while Alphonse’s defensive buffs shielded him.
“Simon!” The Paladin called to him, his voice muffled by the tornado.
Simon himself cursed as he flew uncontrollably across the Domain, flying stones hitting him in the face and the chest. He continued to ascend upward without any control over his flight. He briefly considered opening his Inventory and put on one of his elemental rings to protect himself, but that would have given himself away to his allies. He had to avoid using suspicious abilities for now.
Worse, the leashed Eole had begun to target his immobilized allies on the ground with ice spear projectiles. Thalas and Alphonse both managed to deflect the projectiles with their weapons, but Filip and his wolf took a few bloody wounds from the impacts.
“You have become predictable, Deceiver,” Casval taunted Simon from the eye of the storm, his voice carrying through the wind. “Your plot to have my sister and Mithras’ future vessel fight to the death was painfully transparent. You should change schemes more often.” He quickly turned towards Simon’s allies. “Do you know he is the Overlord in disguise?”
Thalas’ scornful laughter rang louder than the storm. “Him?!” he mocked Casval, before shattering a piece of the earth with his axe and then tossing the rock at the dragon with such strength that it shattered on impact. “He is the runt of House Magnos!”
“Your lies cannot deceive us, demon!” Alphonse replied, turning to Filip. “Can you bring him down?!”
“I will try!” The Ranger replied, his bow shining with power. “Inescapable Shot!”
The arrow he fired was more akin to a shooting star than any solid projectile. It pierced through the walls of wind faster than lightning, then deviated from its course when Casval attempted to fly out of the way. It struck the dragon in the chest hard enough to break past his scales and draw black, demonic blood.
Sensing his chance, Simon used a Hellfire blast to propel himself the best he could through the storm, the same way he tried to escape Mastemo’s pit trap in the previous reign. He moved closer to Casval, then threw a shuriken at him. The unimpressed dragon ignored the tiny projectile and retaliated by breathing unholy green flames at him.
That was a mistake.
Simon switched places with the shuriken thanks to his Ninja’s Kawarimi Technique, dodging the dragon’s breath and reappearing right in front of Casval. His shocked foe hastily folded his wings to protect himself from the inevitable attack, but Simon aimed his Mire spell at a different target.
He blasted Eole’s leash and dissolved it in corrosive poison.
She rewarded him by summoning a trident and blasting him with a blue-white ray of cold air and ice. It struck him in the chest, the chill reaching all the way to his heart and freezing the blood in his veins.
That hurt.
Heavy Frost damage! Frostbite ailment!
Frostbite transferred by Lovestruck!
Argh, the leash was merely cosmetic! Eole’s slave collar had to be what kept her under Vouivre and Casval’s control! Simon attempted to use Kawarimi to switch places with it, but failed. He guessed the technique only worked on unanchored objects.
“Throw me at them!” Alphonse shouted at Thalas, who moved to lift him as if he were lighter than a feather.
“Aim for the collar!” Simon shouted at his allies, though he could feel the ice in his lungs. He hoped that Filip would at least hear him over the wind. “He can’t control her without it!”
“Minion Eole, twist them!” Casval ordered in response.
Eole swung her trident and rained down aurora beams onto everyone present. Simon already knew it wouldn’t do anything—having suffered from it in a previous reign—and couldn’t dodge anyway, while all his allies were struck one after another. Thalas dropped Alphonse before he could throw him, and Filip’s wolf howled to the winds.
Simon sensed the Two-Tailed Fish’s sorcery attempt to reshape and transform him, only to bounce off the inviolate armor of the Overlord spirit.
Polymorphy attempt negated by Unyielding Essence.
Charm attempt negated by Indomitable Crown.
Alphonse’s Holy Fortitude let him shrug off Eole’s magic, but Filip… the beam struck him and his mount, causing them to scream and growl in shared pain. A hideous transformation unfolded, the Ranger’s legs merging with his companion’s back into a grotesque amalgamation of flesh and sinew. They began to shed their skin and fur like a snake did its scales.
“Your Majesty!” Alphonse immediately rushed to Filip’s side and attempted to heal him with a Cleanse prayer. The Ranger Crestone shone brightly on the King Consort’s chest, its light fighting the unholy sorcery taking hold of its user.
Simon could only pray that the Paladin’s own prayers would be enough when another problem reared its ugly head. Thalas had also begun to transform, growling as his fingers began to meld together into a single tentacle.
“Magic Erase–” Thalas attempted to cast, only for him to drop his axe and wriggle on the ground in his struggle. His tongue had turned into a snake. “Argh…”
Don’t do it, you fool, Simon hoped in his heart of hearts. Anything but that.
“Primal…” Thalas rasped with a reptilian hiss. “Regression!”
A wave of power strong enough to repel the hurricane’s winds erupted from Thalas. He shed his Berserker garb as his body doubled in size, undoing the transformation and changing from a squid into a musclebound paragon of shame coated in a crimson aura. His white irises looked around with mind-numbing fury, searching for prey.
His gaze settled on Simon.
Simon barely had time to Kawarimi with a flying rock as a comet of muscle barely missed him. Thalas had jumped over a dozen meters in the air in an attempt to catch him, missing and landing on the ground in a crash.
“He’s the enemy, you fool!” Simon snapped at his berserk half-brother, who didn’t listen. The man’s sheer grudge guided him to fratricide in his current state.
Alphonse and Filip weren’t doing any better. The Paladin’s prayers and the Ranger Crestone hadn’t been enough to protect the King-Consort from Eole’s power. He and his wolf had merged into an abominable parody of a skinless centaur of grisly muscles and leaking veins, with Filip’s torso sprouting from his mount’s back. He dropped his bow and Crestone alike, then attempted to mow down Alphonse with bone-blades extended from his forearms.
“Your Majesty!” Alphonse shouted as he parried the attacks with his sword in a vain attempt to reason with the monster. “Fight it!”
Casval himself laughed heartily at the spectacle. “See?!” he taunted Simon while holding his stomach. “My minions are better than yours!”
Simon tried to find a way to get Thalas off his back as his half-brother prepared to jump at him again. He looked up to Casval and quickly came up with something.
“You cannot win, Mardok!” Casval said as he incanted another spell. “Unlike you, I have found true friends who stand by my side! A sister that finally respects me, a brotherhood of darkness who welcomes me, and a shining star to guide my path!”
“Respect you?” Simon couldn’t help but laugh in scorn at the sheer absurdity of his enemy’s response. “You are always one mistake away from being eaten, Casval! You have obtained an archdemon’s power, and yet you remain your sister’s slave!”
“Crushing Wheel!”
Acting quickly, he activated Devil’s Arm and grabbed the dragon’s tail. He pulled himself closer to Casval while dodging some kind of summoned, screaming fire wheel Casval had thrown his way.
“What was that meant to–” Casval asked, only to notice the giant form leaping their way. “Oh.”
A frothing Thalas missed Simon by an inch and tackled Casval instead.
The sheer force of the impact threw Simon back, and the Berserker’s touch abruptly cancelling out all of Casval’s magical effects. The hurricane died out in an instant, calling Simon to the ground. He somewhat managed to soften his landing with a Hellfire blast… for about a second before Eole struck him from a blind spot and impaled him with her icy trident.
Heavy frost damage!
She nailed Simon to the floor while Casval and Thalas brawled in the sky above. The trident sank into his paper-thin Ninja garb and dug into his flesh. His poisonous blood melted the ice at the edges, but not enough to destroy the weapon.
Simon grit his teeth and drained life from his cows to regenerate, then exploited the opportunity. He activated Devil’s Arm again, grabbed her slave collar, and then followed through with a Mire spell.
That vile parody of a necklace melted between his fingers, and Eole’s eyes lit up with consciousness. She blinked in confusion and looked around aimlessly.
“Eole, Two-Tailed Fish of the Zodiac,” Simon rasped as he grabbed her trident and forced it back. She was too shaken to resist. “I know you’re both in there, merged as one.”
Asterion had warned him that the Zodiac Fiends weren’t necessarily allied, though only Mardok went out of his way to sabotage the others. A possessed Casval wouldn’t need to enslave Eole if both their demons shared the same goals, and Simon had helped the Kish escape slavery and go back to her peoples’ Sanctuary.
There was a chance for an alliance.
“Return King Filip to normal, and let’s put down the dragon together,” Simon said after rising to his feet. “Then we can free the Kish people from Vouivre and her cohorts.”
The possessed Eole glanced at the chaos around them. While Alphonse entirely focused on dodging or blocking Filip’s strikes, Casval was trying—and failing—to get Thalas off him. The dragon’s spells failed to pierce past Primal Regression, and the Berserker continued to punch and bite his enemy even as he breathed unholy fire at him. The tide could yet turn.
Eole stared back at Simon, seemed to briefly recognize the man who had freed her, and considered his words. Simon’s pulse quickened with hope…
Then it died in a flash of anger.
“No,” Eole said, her beautiful voice tainted by demonic majesty. She flapped her fin-wings and flew up in an instant. “No, Mardok, I don’t think I will help you.”
She snapped her fingers, and ice spears flew at everyone.
Simon was quick enough to dodge and the magical projectiles bounced off Thalas’ skin, but Alphonse was struck in the back and Casval in the left eye, blinding him on that side. Eole spared her thrall alone from her assault, and the monstrous Filip used the opportunity to hack past Alphonse’s guard and cut him in the shoulder. The Paladin briefly repelled him by striking him with a Starshot spell to the chest, then healed his wounds with a prayer.
“I remember your lies, how you turned my own subjects and husband against me!” the possessed Eole snapped at Simon while repairing her damaged trident with her magic. “I won’t let you bite me again, viper! You and our sister’s thralls will both pay for their treachery, and I will free the Kish from you all!”
“I am not Mardok!” Simon argued in vain. “He’s dead! I’m Simon!”
“Then why do you hide who you are?!” Eole pointed her trident at Simon. “Water Cycle!”
A wave of water struck Simon in the blink of an eye and swallowed him in a swirling current. He didn’t even have time to react when the liquid suddenly turned to ice, freezing him in a chilly prison that then swiftly exploded into steam. The impact was so strong that it cancelled his Ninja outfit and seared his skin to the bone.
Heavy Water, Frost, and Fire damage!
Ninja Crestone shattered!
Simon grunted in pain. He drained his cows to heal his wounds, but he could tell he was exhausting his herd at a frightening pace. The animals’ lifeforce was meager compared to that of Class users like Shabram or his Darkwood monsters.
“Eole, stop… I’m not going to fight or hurt you.” Simon pleaded with his friend, until he realized he had one way to make her listen. He opened his Inventory and pulled out a small item he had routinely held onto across the reigns.
A small, red feather.
Eole pitilessly pointed her trident at his head, magic crackling in it, yet her resolve wavered when she saw the feather. Memories—her Kish memories rather than those of the demon she had merged with—flooded her mind.
“Do you remember now, Eole?” Simon asked her. “I freed you from Frightwall, let you go… you said you owed me a debt of gratitude… you gave this to me so we could meet again as friends one day.”
“I…” Eole gulped, her arm weaker as her natural goodness and duty clashed with her inner demon’s rage. “I… I do not…”
A blade of light chopped her head off her shoulders.
Time seemed to freeze for Simon as he watched Eole’s skull roll and fall down onto the ground, miasma surging from her body and retreating back into the cursed gem in her chest. Her wings shifted from fins back to the beautiful feathers, her scales faded into smoke, and her knees gave way. Her corpse collapsed onto the ground with a faint thump that sounded so terribly heavy to Simon’s ears.
He stared up at his knight in shining armor, his mind numb of thoughts as it struggled to process the situation.
“I thought…” Alphonse muttered in sorrow and disappointment, his blade red with Eole’s blood. “I thought it would lift His Majesty’s curse…”
It didn’t. Filip was still a monster galloping their way, and all his mistress’ death had done was enrage him.
“There’s… no way to do so now,” Simon replied grimly. If the shifters retained their current appearance centuries after the Two-Tailed Fish’s sealing, then Filip’s condition was likely incurable outside of Mastemo’s elixir.
And he didn’t care to try to save the Ranger anymore. Eole’s sudden, abrupt death had snuffed out all his emotions.
Alphonse had meant well, war was war, and Eole’s demise would no doubt cripple Vouivre’s army… but all those reasonable thoughts were drowned out in numbness and grief. Simon had once again failed to save Eole, and it gnawed at him.
He was so absorbed in his guilt and sorrow that he barely sensed Belzemine’s death rippling through her brands from across half a world over. Whether it had been Louis who slew her, or Lauriane, or a Silk or whatever forces they assembled to take Frightwall, he likely would never know. All that mattered was that she died a slave, just like Eole. It was just one final stab in the back after a cavalcade of them.
How could it have gone so wrong? How could changing one name on a will have caused such a disaster?
It was only when he heard a dragon’s roar that Simon jolted back to awareness. He looked up to see that Casval had managed to free himself from Thalas by throwing the Berserker off him and into the void beyond the platform. Whether that would kill Thalas or simply incapacitate him didn’t matter to Simon. A strong and familiar emotion swelled in his heart when he saw the heavily wounded Casval land on the ground with a dislocated wing.
Hatred.
This reign was already lost. There was no way he would survive long with Louis, Vouivre, and the Cobweb all fighting together with knowledge of his identity. All he could do was save Remedia, grab as many levels and take as many heads as he could, and murder that cursed dragon.
“Alphonse,” Simon said with a dead, cold voice, his choice made.
The Paladin froze. “Yes?”
“Whatever happens now, I swear that I am on your side,” Simon replied as he activated his Nightveil and cloaked himself in shadows. “Put Filip to rest. I’ll kill the dragon.”
He put on his Overlord armor beneath the cloak of shadows, then activated his Ring of Strength for Speed.
Sixty points were suddenly added to his Agility score, increasing his speed even more than what he could achieve as a hastened Ninja. He crossed the gap with Casval in the blink of an eye and struck him with an Ectoplasmer blast to the face that caused the dragon to reel.
“Iron Maiden!” Casval cast, a coffin of steely spikes appearing right behind Simon. It closed on empty air as he dodged and retaliated with Night Raid. A swarm of bats assaulted Casval and engorged themselves on his open wounds.
Meanwhile, realizing he had no choice left, Alphonse finally struck back against the possessed Filip and cut him in half in a single stroke of his sacred blade. He quickly cast Haste on himself and moved to rejoin Simon.
Roaring, Casval gathered his breath and unleashed his fire at Simon. He tried to outrun the unholy flames, then summoned an Impwall when he realized he couldn’t. A thick, living barrier of tiny imps appeared to take the blow for him. Most were incinerated in an instant, but Simon survived the weakened blast with only slight burns.
The hastened Alphonse caught up to them and jumped at Casval, driving his sword into the dragon’s chest. Simon supported him by casting Mire and melting Casval’s scales with toxins so that his ally’s sacred blade had an easier time reaching his heart.
Casval screamed in pain, his crystal oozing miasma whose shadows clashed with the light of Alphonse’s sword. “Phantom Pain!”
A teal aura of pure, distilled pain erupted from the Goatfish crystal.
It struck both Alphonse and Simon, setting their nerves ablaze. The Paladin’s wail was deafening, and the horrible surge of pain brought Simon to his knees. The suffering reached past his body and into his very mana system, torturing his very essence with invisible knives and spiritual blades.
Massive Soul damage!
The Goatfish was flaying their souls.
“Do you feel that, Deceiver?” Casval slapped a screaming Alphonse off him with his tail. “I had so much pain inside me for all of my life… and I cannot wait to share it with you.”
There was no word to describe the pain. This was the bath of acid in Frightwall’s trap room, being incinerated by Vouivre’s flames, the emotional distress of losing Anna, Cassandra, and all those he loved, every single painful memory he had distilled into a single moment of absolute torture.
And it still wasn’t enough.
“You know nothing of pain, Casval,” Simon rasped. Such a word meant little to one who had died nearly fifteen times. “Mindflayer!”
He shared his pain back with Casval tenfold.
Simon poured all of his dark thoughts, all his resentment, all of his pain and sorrow into his psychic attack, even drawing on the feelings produced by Phantom Pain. The blast brought Casval to his knees, the dragon wriggling on the ground, clutching his head hard enough to crush a man with ease. Simon could sense the amalgamation of his spirit melded with the demon inside him wailing inside his skull, which only encouraged him.
“Oh… is that it?” Simon taunted him as he flayed Casval’s mind layer by layer. “You can give the pain, but you can’t take it?”
“Mercy…” Casval and the demon rasped with a single voice. “M-mercy…”
“Death is your only mercy, Casval.” Lightning crackled in Simon’s fingers. “Hellthunder!”
He aimed at the wound in Casval’s chest and where Alphonse’s sword was still stuck, using the blade as a lightning rod. His crimson bolts coursed all the way to the dragon’s exposed heart and fried it.
“Do you understand now, at the end of all things?” Simon asked Casval as he blasted his heart with Hellthunder again and again and again, until his heart was melting inside his ribs. “You may be a dragon and a demon both, but I?”
Simon poured all of his malice into his final Hellthunder.
“I am power!!”
He shocked Casval to death in a final burst of lightning, frying his heart and flaying his soul. His Domain shattered with his last feeble string of life, and a grim pleasure soon washed away Simon’s pain.
Level 53 Overlord Perk: Lord of the Demon Castle VI (Active): You are immediately aware of the location of anyone stepping inside your Demon Castle, and you can scry at any place within its confines so long as you are inside it.
Level 54 Overlord Perk: Devil Brand VI (Active): You can mark willing targets with the Brand of Wrath, allowing them to transform into powerful demonic creatures at the cost of burning through their lifespan. The branded are bound to obey your orders, at the risk of losing control of their transformation on refusal.
Level 55 Overlord Perk: Deathmastery V (Active): You can infuse inanimate objects with souls bound in your miasma gems or spirits enslaved to your will, granting them will and unusual properties.
Casval’s death healed his wounds, but the joy his death provided Simon was only a mere reprieve. Simon looked around as the Domain shattered into pieces, finding himself facing a giant wall of scales…
“Spacetime Anchor,” he heard Vouivre cast.
Anchor status. You can no longer teleport.
They were back in the throne room. Alphonse was unconscious, Thalas was back—but still a maddened hulk—and they were surrounded from all sides. War Party dragon riders, Vouivre, and a slightly wounded, mountless Dassein were here.
“Loser,” was all Vouivre had to say to her brother’s corpse.
“Lay down your arms, Thalas!” Dassein called out to his brother, who simply roared back. “Don’t force me to kill you!”
Simon knew it was over. He had exhausted his cow herd, he was trapped in a room full of high level enemies with an unconscious Alphonse and an enraged Thalas, and cut from teleportation. Vouivre and Dassein’s presence meant Norbelle’s Eidolons had been defeated too, if not Norbelle herself.
All he could do was to go down fighting.
He still took a moment to look at what remained of the council room. Its Domain had collapsed on itself, leaving smoking ruins. Silk’s blasted corpse lay on the ground, next to a smoking Crab miasma crystal. A faceless, shifting shadow—someone else also using Nightveil, almost certainly the Rogue—stood as the only victor. In one hand was a golden miasma crystal bearing the Lion’s emblem.
In the other was Remedia’s severed head.
“Do you know what her third wish was, Simon of Endymion?”
The shadow spoke using Remedia’s voice, to further twist the knife.
“Make me happy, Simon,” the Nightveiled assassin mocked him with her laughter, a sharp saber materializing in place of the Lion crystal. “Make me happy, my Overlord.”
Simon struck the monster with Ectoplasmer in a final hail of defiance right before Vouivre and a hail of spells blasted him from all sides.
He went down fighting to the bitter end.
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A/N: phew, that one was a doozy. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and the arc, because we're now onto Overlord of Crime ;) thank you everyone for voting in the poll!
PS: link to Simon's end of Arc's stats: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1x-xs6HIE_KWJQAywAOa7523bddFtj4P4TwX-AXffb2M/edit?usp=sharing
Comments (107)
Dang, that is a devastating chapter for so many reasons. I look forward to Simon dismantling that gang and hope that he gets his happy ending eventually
The level ups seem… meh, but hopefully they’ve more interesting than it seems at first glance, and I’m a little disappointed no crimson king for the next path since it felt like a natural fit with them mentioning the ritual, but this reign wasn’t going to end any other way than things going very wrong. It’ll be interesting to learn more about cobweb, every reign they seem more and more involved, and it’d be interesting to see why exactly everyone joined together against Simon I didn’t expect that alliance at all. Plus people seeing him as past overlord, some left over time shenanigans maybe? Lots of questions, and it feels like we didn’t get a whole lot of answers. I hate to be overly critical cause I do love this story, but this maybe felt like one of the weaker endings to a path.
I think that at the beginning of the new reign Simon should apply the brand of Lust to Eole and have her change to a different shifter form, not a Kish. That should take the focus of her for a while.
Hmm, okay. I'm not quite sure who to attribute this death to in the stats. Voidy, would you mind WOG who actually took Simon down? ... Thematically speaking, I feel like this is definitely a Prince of Spiders kill, though, so maybe I just put that. It would honestly make a lot of sense that a Rogue's kill is by the proxy of other killers. EDIT: with that WOG, we can add a third tally for Vouivre! Reign Enders -Louis 1 -Euphemia 1 -Vouivre 3 -Casval 2 -Lauriane 1 -Mastemo 1 -Thalas (Fall Damage) 1 -Patriate Malphas 1 -Mana Sword 1 -War Party 1 -The Crimson Throne 1 -Balzam 1 -War/Church Party Crossfire 1
The death can be attributed to Vouivre or technically to anyone who killed him... it's not specified here who killed him so I guess you can attribute it to whoever you want.
What title do we think Simon is getting from this reign? One that blocks his brands being used as a link to him would be the most useful, but the Crimson Throne might go for one that mocks all the grief Simon went through this time around.
It obviously will have to do with him bagging Remedia. The arc was called Cocagne affair after all. It was also the thing the vast majority of comments were talking about.
Wonder if Louis can just be insta-killed at the start of each reign by teleporting him into the acid room. Definitely worth a shot. He always comes back to bite Simon in the ass. Vouivre can likely be defeated by getting within range of her at the start of a reign and then teleporting her forcefully to frightwall. Then she gets hit by the Judge's law, or otherwise surrounded by Simon's allies.
Good idea, but I foresee a couple issues. 1. Until Simon becomes friendly with Norbelle the Empress is still looking for any reason to have him executed (he punched Thalas and Simon was clearly Balzam's favorite) & she's got Judge's law set to detect any teleports in Frightwall. 2. Louis is the highest known level character thus far at 99 owning Balzam's old Warrior creststone (probably 2nd best after Overlord as he killed Gaurgauth with it), probably is immune to teleport, Louis 1-shot a corrupted Dryad's manatree from miles away, no way he couldn't cut his way out and if Simon dies in front of Norbelle she will know about him in future reigns.
I'm changing my measly one vote into the Overlord of Crime route. Time for a spider hunt.
Overall I'm sad we are going into Overlord of Crime, the visionary aspect there will be overshadowed and feel like a sidequest rather than the focus of the story. We're losing a key piece of the story, to pursue a path that can be undertaken at any time. Simon really seemed to enjoy theatre and he never gets a chance to enjoy himself.
I understand your frustration. Counterpoint, there is no need to assume he won't be able to let loose in another reign. I am voting for a mostly fun-filled reign as soon as I see it. I didn't interpret the play as something Simon would find relaxing, perhaps interesting, but not necessarily a 'Good for his mental well-being". Regarding the visionary aspect being sidelined, I didn't interpret the summary of the reign in that way; I believe Simon will explore his visionary side in a way that is unique to him.
UNLIMITED POWER!!!!
What’s Simon’s best move as far as naming the heir for the next reign? Seems like the generic name may be best this next go around and going forward instead of cas or voivre
Casval is the best option to neutralize the dragons. The generic name is good if he wants to confuse the Oracle.
The King in Crimson LOST!? NOOOOOO!!
Things simon should try: get belzamine to pretend to be freed and go with the merchant to infiltrate the oracle and feed him info telepathically. Worth a shot get her to commit to never acting against the oracle directly only talking to him telepathically and the oracle might never be able to see it. See if he can lure anyone important to frightwall before the oracle nukes it to get enemies out of the way. Find a way to remove brands or cut their connection to him. Not being able to remove them makes them way weaker as he basically can't put them on anyone he isn't willing to kill at the drop of a hat without giving enemies backdoors into his soul. Figure out how to use the attic and or the ability for followers to summon him to teleport everywhere important and get many plots going simultaneously, and pick up allies/creststones/zodiac crystals and take out lose ends globally. Hold out for creststone upgrades from the crafter and likely the oracle/librarian. Crafting probably lets him do broken things like making zodiac creststones or messing with abraxis directly or something even crazier and empirically the librarian and oracle seem to be the 2 classes that have not lost and died for several hundred years so they have something crazy going on. Just want to make sure he doesn't waste limited slots on abilities that are only temporarily strong or can be replaced by spells later. Also figure out what is special in that slave collar vouvrie keeps using that makes it able to actually trap a zodiac fiend. The only way he knows to control one requires a yearlong ritual and other ways seem extremely useful. Try to find ways of powering through teleportation locks as those keep killing him (maybe there is a way to move huge distances fast that isn't technically teleportation using chronomancy or soul magic? Idk. Check if stats boosts from leveling other creststones are the same each level or get larger with higher levels. If they are the same then because higher levels take more XP he should plan out a way to get a pile of low level creststones he gets a few levels in each run to maximize stat gain. Learn a good self destruct spell to kill an enemy for XP when he is dead to rights (he even has the ability to survive it and try to drain cows to keep going. Get way more cows or something better.
How much does Simon hate the cobweb and vouivre now? In later reigns, he‘s going to really make them Suffer…
I like Eole a lot, mostly her personality/design/lore, but she's the most useless companion by far. Shabram/Honorius clan are the MVIPs, then Remedia, then Anna/Laurienne, even NORBELLE has helped more. She's constantly getting caught. Simon explicitly warns her that both Dragons and Cobweb are seeking to enslave and possess her. Simon also just saved her from either Balzam's sex slavery or cannibalism (or both). It would be more interesting if she was forced to use her mental domination to survive juxtaposed versus her life's goal of abolition.
I agree. She‘s completly useless and dumb
A shame about remedia, she was probably my favorite of Simon's love interests. But, I am super interested in this next reign, although I'm a bit salty we wont be getting lore on the zodiac fiends, we'll finally get lore on the spider and hopefully a chance crush them like a bug(spiders are not bugs BTW)
Who has killed Simon more times?
I think it's one of the Dragons with x2/x3 or Balzam with his traps (acid/paladin/locking bunkers/etc..) depending on how it's counted. Off memory everyone else is at x1. A couple deaths have been group battles where it's not explicitly listed.
Can’t wait the moment we put our mace up the rogues a…. Sweet revenge
Id leave a picture of hate mace titled no lube but patron doesn't support such things.
Sad that Remedia's prediction of being killed by the rogue came through. I like to think that the next reign would help Simon focus on building a strong powerbase while operating in the shadows that he can easily rebuild every reign. He has a base of personal base power that he can rely on to keep on growing, but he's missing an actual military force or organization to call his own. Also good to know that the Paladin can be allied with under the right circumstances.
Wish he'd picked up the Ranger crestone to see if there was any perks worth absorbing before the reign ended. Now we won't know for a long time since it's unlikely another Cocagne reign is happening soon.
Void said he didn’t think there were any that would fit the build we are going for with Simon.
After that taunt, no wonder he would want to kill the Rogue next.
I hope in one of his reigns he does make Remedia happy and saves Eole. Thanks for the chapter
I suspect he'll do that by curing Fillip, rather than being with her himself.
I am not a fan of Simon proclaiming: I am power! It sound to me rather childish. I am the Overlord would have fit better. The gravitas for it is well established throught the curse of the story.
I thought it was an attempt to mimic Emperor Palpatine with the Hellthunder/Force Lightning. “UNLIMITED POWER!!!!”
It's like Stein's Gate. Simon loses something precious every time he dies. His bond with others. I hope at the final loop, Simon can reconnect with Anna, Remedia, Cassandra and Eole.
Time to clear up some webs, methinks.
Seems that Casval genuinely wants to have friends, so was actually hurt by Simon ‘betraying’ him in previous reigns. Rogue must have an ability that allows him to view memories
Remedia didn’t have this protection
Would one Visionary path locked him from others?
Nothing is different. Voidy mentioned just the path to get there is different. Its going to be a sidequest rather than the main focus.
Ooooooo PERFECT ending to segue into Overlord of Crime. The Rogue is fucked!
Thanks for the great chapter! I am really curious how the rogue learned about the wishes. Maybe he was hiding under the floorboards the whole time… I think it is more likely that he is a creature similar to Gourmand that can consume souls or its a rogue perk that lets him get the memories of defeated foes for impersonation. Simon should definitely be motivated to have revenge, the third wish makes it look like Remedia was ready to leave her husband and find happiness with Simon.
I think the answer is simpler than that. We know from Remedia that the previous rogue stole her mother's ability to fly. They probably have an ability that lets them steal intangibles, so talking memories too would be relatively easy.
I anticipate the day when Simon gets powerful enough to RUIN all of his enemies. Utterly violate their existence. Especially Gargauth's spawns. There's another thing I want to ask. Void, do you dislike Eole or something?! She's always getting abused and enslaved.
You can Google the trope fridgeing. It's one of those things that you see all the time but you might not bother to learn the term.
The ninja crestone really impressed me. I don't know whether it's just the aesthetic or something else. But regardless I do think Simon needs more variety in his arsenal. His stat shifting to speed blitz his enemies is a solid addition. Since most of his other abilities seem to be- stand around hit hard and blast spells (it's a bit reductive but you know what I mean). Variety is the spice of life and the lifeline to surviving the apocalypse.
Most of what he got as the ninja can be replicated by creating a blink spell, and a haste spell. That is why we are focusing on his spell casting, by its nature it is vastly more flexible than other powers, because you can do so much with spell and perks can buff all of them. It’s definitely a good idea to grab the ninja again to level for base stat increases though.
Very good job of making me not mind losing the vote at the end there. Also, even more evidence that the rogue has an equivalent of the merchant's instincts but for pain instead of money.
Okay, skipping on the obvious commentary. One of my hopes is that the cobweb are trying to gather the fiend chrystals in order to make miasma crestones and Simon will unlock this mechanic in the overcrime reign. Trapping the prince's soul in a gem and accidentally torturing it by powering with it a kiln for engraving the crestones in the future reigns would be a side bonus. We have a Silk romance promised, so it possibly will reveal if we are talking a shapeshifter, triplets, or something else. Lots of fetishes will likely show up in the comments when it happens. :D I remember something about the pirate and the necromancer, though might be mistaken. Those seem aligned with the dark side and might have interesting boons for Simon.
With how often Simon electrocutes his enemies to death he is never going to beat the Palapatine allegations.
"I'm power" deserves its own meme.
On 1 hand, getting any levels in this clusterfuck is good. On the other hand, holy shit, Louis isn't even on the front lines and they fucked up the Church Party + Cocagne coaliation so hard Also curse Fridays, I hate Fridays, 2 days without chapters hurts, but not as much as Simon's 15 deaths
Simon created the coalition that smashed him. He made Louis weak enough to need allies and annoyed the cobweb enough to force them to take a side. The crystals are a game changer and his side were using none.
Oh I am not going to be happy if others remember the loops. not a fan of that at all.
Not sure they do. I think the zodiac was talking about Mardok.
It's darkly funny how all those people won't know why the Overlord goes after them with so much motivation. It was probably the same with Balzam, even if he was a shit head from the beginning.
I mean for sure he went after people for crap they did to him in erased timelines. But his bar was probably low on the reasons to destroy people lives. Someone got the last meat bun at a stall he knew about from 4 reigns back? Gonna destroy that dudes like on every future he has.
Thanks for the chapter! This reign was perhaps my favorite one yet, and seeing the fruition of plans made by those Simon couldn’t see was great. I really appreciate how all of the characters are competent, and are still doing things in the background even if we don’t see them. Also, I went to check on the stats page, and the first devour crestone perk specifies that it’s from devour crestone, but the other two don’t? It’s not really that important, but it might be a good idea to make them all equivalent.
I wonder how different this chapter would've been if another Reign won the poll... I doubt the last scene would've been here, as it's just a perfect emotional motivation for the Crime route.
Yeah I get the feeling that that taunt is gonna bite the Rogue's ass down the line
Man, watching these shit dragons misuse the glorious tradition of minion management is really heartbreaking.
Damn good showing by Simon. He and his allies took out three archfiend vessels.
Does this mean all Zodiac Fiends remember the reigns? I guess Simon was yet to interact with any of them multiple times. Should probably hop on over to the Darkwood to check with his beloved Muse. This does kinda mean he should stay away from all of them until the final few reigns so he doesn't give them extra info.
In a way, his short reigns have been a blessing in disguise. With a shorter duration of time, they would have fewer chances of being freed and possessing hosts which equals less information overall. The Muse/ minotaur zodiac fiend is the one who probably possessed the least amount of information seeing as they were sealed.
Thanks for the chapter!! Poor Remedia!!! And all she asked of Simon was to make her happy.... REVENGE!!!!! REVENGE!!!!! WE HAVE TO KILL THAT DAMN SPIDER!!!!
Hmmm ..... This is not to say anything definitively or anything but I theorized that was a last-minute edit. As a result of the poll.
Dang, how many time Louis turn the table against simon now? What a fun character
Louis is still impossible to bring down and it means that Simon can only distract him and play for time to level up.
The Prince final taunt is something they will regret for the rest of their life, because Simon at this point is petty and vengeful enough to make the Prince suffer whenever he gets the chance and he will be locked in to ensure the cobweb is either burn down or subverted. Also, Remedia final wish will also haunt Simon for a long while and will make future interaction real interesting. Because the reigns where Simon is openly the Overlord, I can see him a lot of concessions to Concage and act sincrely kind & gentle to her. It might weird her out at first, which would be a funny yet bitter scene. Finally, I think this reign will forever change Simon dynamic with Eole. Because he had believed that if Eole is set free, she will be safe. But he now knows that she will never be safe as long as Vouivre is around and I can see Simon either confining her to keep her safe or force her to be with him. Because the alternative is another heartbreak that Simon does not want to deal with.
So cruel to leave us with this on a Friday. Wonderful as always.
Starting to really, REALLY dislike Simon. Doesn't want to level up and play detective instead, even if it means wasting reigns? OK. He is stupid, but ok. But at least PLAY DETECTIVE RIGHT!!!!!! This is not the first time he's seen loved ones die. Hell, he just remained cool watching Eole get decapitated. So WHY doesn't he notice that somebody who should know NOTHING of his dealings with the queen just taunted him with information NOBODY should know?!? Sure, someone might know they were screwing like rabbits. Big whoop. But every time they talked about secret stuff (like her wishes) she was taking precautions. And she is THE mage. Oh and the "The only thing left is go down fighting". No, you absolute goober. The only thing left is to use your ONE advantage of retaining information. So cajole, trick, goad information out of this group!!! But nope. He chooses to stoically fight. I swear this guy is trying his hardest to win the "god please I need plot armour" award.
People can't think straight in those scenarios. Hell, real people are losing their minds in way milder situations than this Cut Simon some slack
The spider and Vouivre are now tied for me as the people I want dead the most. They both need to be slaughtered then have their souls bound to a public toilet.
absolutely!!!
That ending is really sad.
Epic
Ha! It took 116 chapters, but finally, Simon killed Casval...and earned himself 3 levels in the process.
Damn. I was hoping for the Mardok path.
I'm new to the patreon, there's a mardok path? Id change my vote to that.
If only he had more cows!
Frankly, that was also kind of my takeaway. Mark everyone you can, and their pets. Especially with the new mark. A herd of demonic bovines he can dominate and drain at will - that is how you minimise human casualties. Good luck killing someone strong with a cow, but outlasting a stronger enemy by depleting endless herds of cattle is quite reasonable. Killing an enemy army with all the cows in the realm turned demonic, buffed to hell with relevant perks, and throwing a BBQ with the remains of your casualties: Both epic and very, very Overlord.
Prolly one of my favorite reigns so far, excellent arc. Hope to see Remedia again once he starts trying to fit everything together in the endgame. So far seems like the best match for Simon, also they will prolly be close to same age then due to looping, if not Simon actually older.
I also hope that Remedia is endgame. My heart broke a tad at the end of this chapter. It was my hope that she would survive Simon’s death, somehow, but I knew that Void would not be so kind.
Wow, this is by far my favorite reign so far, absolute peak. I’m really hoping for Kingmaker soon though, Simon needs a break
Damn
Anything other than overlord of crime after that last taunt by the Rogue would be storybreaking imo, very happy it won.
I imagine Void chose that ending after seeing the poll. If King in Crimson won there would probably be some sort of abyss-themed ending.
Well with that ending I overlord of crime was the right choice after all. The cobweb must go down, then the lizard, and finally Louis
Finally! Overlord of Crime won!
This story is awesome
Tftc And ... Great one, lot of sacrifices and we hope there will be another run with them all :)
Tftc
That's it. The Prince Dies First From Now On.
Damn, what a reign. Thank you, that was great. Now let's get our Waifu's revenge
TS PEAK
Alphonse is truly the best available option for paladin im talking like he might’ve not been in the top ten choices for paladin bro this was honestly salvageable up until that moment Vouivre is honestly funny asf for just saying loser over casvals corpse This final chapter just proves that the cobweb must die otherwise they’ll get 1-3 demon hosts and fuck us over every time
That, and the fiends remember the reigns. They'll know to bring more power next time too.
I can’t wait to see the rogue beaten like a pig. It’s finally time we uncover the prince of spiders. Tftc!
Simon is way too weak for that. His threat estimate was around level 70, and almost every character in the story has shown to be above their initial threat estimate.
Man oh man Simon's gotta kill that Rogue next Reign
I can't wait to see what Simon's revenge against the Rogue looks like. Great chapter as always!
We would have a new stats update?
Oups, forgot that! I've added it in the end of chapter note ;)
Well..that was sad...so Eloe cant go alone every time she do it she was kignaped
Yikes! At least he got three levels out of that! And Casval and Thalas really need a friend.
Tftc
TFTC
Ty