Janus and The Prince: A LitRPG Saga (The Nightmares of Alamir Book 2)
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Comb –
Something was wrong.
ERROR!
ERROR!
ERROR!
Error Code 626-24225
Troubleshooting…
Title [User] has come into effect.
Racial Skill [Form Feaster] has come into effect.
Title: [Reincarnated] has come into effect.
Reviewing conditions…
Conditions Accepted.
Access Granted.
Nightscripts and Godscripts fusion possible via Antediluvian Hieroglyphs and/or Administrator Command.
Would you like to enable the commands to fuse your Nightscripts with the Godscripts?
[Yes]
[No]
Without hesitation, I accepted.
[Fusion in progress…]
[Transferring Data…]
[Installing Codex…]
[Installing Message System…]
[Installing Party System…]
[Updating World Maps…]
[Integrating Dimensional Storage…]
[Integrating AAA Network Database…]
[Upgrading Parameters/Attributes…]
[Integrating Magic System…]
[Integrating Daily Task System…]
[Integrating Mission Database…]
My head began to ache. Sounds around me distorted into echoes in the background as my vision blurred and I fought to maintain my balance.
[Fusion Complete!]
[You may now use the Godscript features of the Alamirians]
[You have unlocked the Night-God Scripts!]
Fighting back the dizziness, I muttered underneath my breath. “Godscripts.”
[Godscript Activated]
Bios Screen
[Class Undetermined]
Name: Neo Saintarelli
Health: 2,050/2,050 [272k/272k]
Mystic: 500/500 [448k/448k]
[Health Regen: 30k/Hour]
[Mystic Regen: 72k/Hour]
Level: 14 [42]
Age: 18
Race: Human (Marisian) (Alhamisian)
Social Status: Middling
Occupation: AAA Recruit, [Infiltrator]
Title(s): Son of Jacques
Affiliations: Alhamis Empire, Holy Empire of Maris, Saintarelli Family, AAA.
Base of Operations: Alhamis Empire.
Experience to Next Level: ?
The list kept going.
Attributes
Strength: 10 [84,562]
Endurance: 20 [60,601]
Vitality: 15 [24,871]
Agility: 24 [72,051]
Charisma: 9 [520]
Intelligence: 11 [999]
Mysticism: 5 [102,400]
Physical Status
Buffs:
N/A
Debuffs:
N/A
Flair:
Mana Eye [Cursed Eyes of Pattern Recognition]
Skills
Alhamisian Arms Training Lv. 2 [Passive]
Alhamisian Swordsmanship Lv. 3 [Passive]
Marisian Kickboxing Lv. 9 [Passive]
Marisian Wrestling Lv. 7 [Passive]
Marisian Arms Training Lv. 9 [Passive]
Marisian Fencing Lv. 8 [Passive]
Marisian Assassination Training Lv. 9 [Passive]
False Data Lv. 8 [Active]
Spells
Muffle Lv. 9 [Active]
Silence Lv. 9 [Active]
Sleep Lv. 8 [Active]
Mist Lv. 9 [Active]
False Data: Bios [Active]
False Data: Life [Active]
False Data: Level [Active]
False Data: Mystic [Active]
False Data: Location [Active]
False Data: Attributes [Active]
Bios [False]:
Neo Saintarelli, born to Jacques Saintarelli and Asha Saintarelli nee Chamberlain. The son of a somewhat thriving Middling businessman, Neo is an antisocial bookworm who has chosen to enlist in the AAA as a means to bring glory to his family and stop the hatred he gets for only being half-Alhamisian.
Bios [True]:
Neo Saintarelli, born to Jacques Saintarelli and Asha Saintarelli nee Chamberlain. The third son of the Saintarelli family, Neo is a quiet but thoughtful boy who spends more time in the comfort of books than with people. Coming from a long line of Marisian counter-intelligence operatives, Neo takes after his father Jacques, whose life as a simple businessman is a cover identity guarding his position as a Marisian double-agent at the Eminency of Espionage. Neo enlisted in the AAA under his father’s instructions with the ultimate goal of finding and observing a yet unknown target.
Of all the possible things!
A spy. I’d killed a spy and taken his place. I barked a large laugh. What are the odds of a spy being killed and replaced by an infiltrator? Either Neo was a horrible spy, or I was stronger than I realized to have dispatched him so easily.
This can work to my advantage.
Neo’s skill [False Data] was the cream of the crop of useful skills, especially when it came to fighting other ‘Players’ as it were. It was a skill that enabled him to even fool me into thinking his level was lower than it was. It was a skill that managed to fool everyone else, considering that his friend Vik hadn’t noticed either.
I take it back. Neo. Thank you for this gift.
I knew now, what I needed to do.
Interlude II: Desires
Lady Gothel, upon bestowing the name ‘Erzili’ had asked what desire she possessed the most. She had asked her, “What is it you want from the world, Erzili?”
At the time, she had not known. Her consciousness was developing, her intelligence infantile, and she had not yet understood the concept of ‘self’ or ‘identity’ or ‘desire.’
Things were simpler, all those years ago, when her only desires were ‘food’ and ‘sex.’ In those years as a young named nightmare, she desired little else, and soon, in between ransacking villages and abducting male and female alike to sate her desires, a stroke of chance, a random mutation occurred. The ability to understand, perhaps, that ultimately, all creatures, nightmare and Alamirian alike, desired simply those two things.
All struggles and all pursuits were after those two things. All wars and all stories. All fables and all legends. Life itself was only made possible or sustained through those two simple desires: ‘food’ and ‘sex.’
Take away food and all creatures perished. Take away sex and no creatures were born, thus all creatures perished still.
It was clear, upon meeting him, that he was like all creatures. He desired those two things. The first, she had given willingly. The passion and fervor at which he desired the first told her that he had been deprived of it for a long time. The words he uttered, she remembered, however fuzzy and conflicting it was to have memories of events that both did and did not happen, told her that at his core, he was not like the rest.
He had fears. He understood his limitations. He was vengeful, petty, arrogant, headstrong. He simultaneously believed himself to be strong and to be weak. He desired death yet so very desperately he clung to life.
He was as his name, and as his power. Duality – two contradicting natures.
Yet, he was simple. He was innocent. Almost childlike. He believed her words, without doubt, or hesitation. It was a shame. Alas, he was young. She knew he could not have lived for perhaps a century – no, not even half of that. In several ways, he gleamed with intelligence, but ultimately, his weakness, she knew, was the same as many a man.
She had two different memories of the day. In one, he had been present, sitting in her Quarters all day, reading and pouring over book upon book. In another, he had ordered Onna to bite off her fingers, and redecorated the entirety of Fort Zyvar to be complete with streets of gold and his golem soldiers.
Both of those two things had happened, as Fort Zyvar was as she remembered it, with streets of gold, and her books had laid on her table, so he had been there, reading through them.
In the memories she had of
him taking Onna with him into the forest, she assumed he was merely of to indulge in more sex. He seemed the type. When he had not returned for several hours, she knew then that something had gone wrong.
Then, in the memories she had of him being with her all through the day, pouring of her books, he admitted having gone to fight Giggles.
“The child!”
Had he truly, somehow, believed himself capable of handling Giggles alone? Had he not known, that he was to face an Elder One like herself?
It was fine, she realized. Fortunately for her, he had not realized the true extent of their contract. Of what it meant for her to fully subjugate herself underneath his rule. He was her Master, from now till death, and she, his slave.
For a simple exchange, a Demiurge was forever bound to her, and she, bound to him. Oh, surely, he must have believed that her slavery was to his benefit, but he was wrong. In truth, he offered to her far, far more than what she offered to him.
A fully realized Demiurge was a true horror to witness.
She shuddered, the memories coming back to her. He had been everything Janus was not, and at the same time, everything he was. She banished aside the memories, making her way, instead, singlehandedly to the spot where she knew she would find him.
Thus, at the entrance to Krvavi Lagoon, her lips opened.
“Under the authority of my Master, Demiurge Janus, I command you –”
She lied, when she told him she could not fully utilize the words of the Mothertongue.
Dismantle.Domain(Krvavi_Lagoon) = True
“Dismantle.”
[Recognizing Command Prompt…]
[Analyzing…]
[Checking Authorization Level…]
[Authorization Found.]
[Demiurge: Janus]
[Command Authorized.]
Reality shuddered as the order came to be in existence. Her Master, sadly, did not understand the true merit of the power he wielded. There was satisfaction in rending aside the troublesome barriers holding Krvavi Lagoon, and sauntering her way, straight within it.
“How many years has it been, lovelorn one?”
Giggles stood atop the motionless lake, four hooves, half-man half-horse. With his right hand, he stroked down his braided beard, hollow eyes trailing her movements. He was as she remembered, aged, old, humorless. The being destined to see the final laugh had not always been this way. No, he had not. She remembered him, in the several centuries past, filled with ambition, passion, humor. Every word he uttered would never fail to elicit a smile, every action he made would bring her to laughter.
She disregarded the memories. “Where are they?”
“Lovelorn one, has it been a hundred years? Two hundred?”
She pressed her lips. “Where are my darlings?”
“Hundreds of years past, and you send your new pet Demiurge to take my Domain. Did you believe this one that weak, or did you believe the humorless one to be that strong?”
“Janus is a Demiurge. You know how powerful they can be.”
“Yet, the humorless one did not fight like a Demiurge. Did not act like a Demiurge. This one expected another Morpheus, instead, this one got an overconfident fool. He was weak, lovelorn one. For a Demiurge to be so weak – truly, it is a joke this one will not soon forget.”
“Where. Is. He?”
“Gone, lovelorn one.”
“Do not play games with me Laugher.”
“We battled, and the humorless one, in his final moments, used his last breath to plead for me to bring back to life your snowwoman.” The Elder One laughed. “And somehow, the child believed I would honor his request. Never have I seen such naivete in a nightmare.”
Erzili shook her head. “He is not dead.”
“This one made sure of his demise.”
She closed her eyes. Gesturing with her hands into the air, she invoked upon her master’s name a second time, writing out the words in the ancient script: Display_Master_Contract.
Master Contract
Current Master: Janus
Species: High Ghilan
Influence: Demiurge
[Epithet Skills]: Duality | Gatekeeper
Status: Alive
It worked.
The RETURN command had worked.
“It seems my Master managed to get the better of you.”
Giggles’ lips contorted into a frown. “That cannot be possible. This one killed the Demiurge. Of this, there is no doubt.”
“Erzili’s contract says otherwise, and Erzili is more than willing to believe it.”
She was pleased with the turn of events, although somewhat curious. Dreamer had told her the specific conditions of the RETURN command, but she had never seen its effect. She had no way of being sure Dreamer hadn’t been lying to her, deceiving her as he deceived them all. The problem was the anchored of the command was different depending on who used it.
It was supposed to return them to the person who had given them the most happiness. She believed, after their sexual encounter, she qualified for that title. Yet, Janus had not returned to her. So who then, was it, that had given him the most happiness in the world?
Where have you gone oh troublesome Master of mine?
“…if the humorless one managed to somehow survive… then it is as this one feared.”
She was amused. “Feared?”
“You cannot be a fool as to not know the being that named your Master. The Book of Nightly-Ones is in your possession.”
“What is your point Laugher?”
“Your master is a servant of the Sage of Perpetual Insanity. You have chosen a Master who serves the Avatar of Omega. A master who serves the Incarnation of the End.”
“And?”
The Nuckelavee let out a frustrated sound that rang like music to her ears.
“Have you already forgotten the insanity present in a Demiurge? Have you forgotten what Morpheus did to us? How he betrayed us? Have you come to forget, how he narrated delusions of a god-ordained task? Have you already forgotten, Erzili?!”
“Erzili remembers.”
Laugher huffed. “You surely must not. Else, you would not choose to serve a being like the humorless one. Unlike Morpheus, the humorless one is backed by a power that may allow him to accomplish the impossible.”
“Erzili will not let that happen.”
“How many times, Erzili? How many times have you uttered those words, only to realize you had no control over the situation? Is this not the third Demiurge you have picked up as a pet? Did you not lose the first to the Leporinian God-King, and lose the second to the Anathema Epsilon? When will you understand that you cannot control destiny? Morpheus’ existence was a one-in-a-billion occurrence. No other Demiurges can escape their natural fate. Their lifespan is one-fifth of a decade for a reason.”
She closed her eyes, humming underneath her breath. There was always merit in what Laugher said. Sometimes she hated him, for being so knowledgeable, other times, she adored him, his knowledge, his foresight, his wisdom.
“...or is it, that you have come to desire the world’s end as the Mad Sage does?”
“I have too many desires unfulfilled to wish the world end.”
“Surely this cannot still be about revenge?”
“What else would it be about?”
“You do not need another Demiurge for your goal. Should you join the Court – ”
“And be at their beck and call? Their every whim and command? No, Laugher. Erzili will not beg to serve in the legend of another when Erzili can reign in a legend of one’s own.”
“Your bottomless ambition will be the end of you Erzili.”
She sneered. “Rather excess ambition, than none at all. Look at you, Laugher. You were the Night Emperor of Sloth. Even long before Erzili joined the Nine, Erzili heard tales of your legend, fables of your power and cruelty. You once went toe-to-toe with the Anathema Triton and lived to tell the tale. You killed the Midwarf Champion Jotunfinn and mounted his wives and daug
hters atop his corpse in the presence of his people, laughing through it all with blood-coated lips. You were the most terrifying of the Nine Night Emperors, the most fearsome amongst Alamir’s most powerful.”
She glanced at the aged being. “And now, look at you. Look at what you’ve become. After Dreamer’s betrayal, you are but a mere shadow of your former self. Now you sit here, a lagoon in the middle of nowhere acting as a glorified guardian for an insignificant village.”
“This one came to understand that the meaninglessness of it all. A nightmare is to be as a nightmare must be. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“Your existence is a mockery of the being Erzili once adored. Cowardly. Ambitionless. Pathetic.”
The Elder One of Cosmic Humor sighed. “Lovelorn one – ”
“Enough.” Erzili crossed her arms. “Leave, Laugher. Erzili possesses a Demiurge’s authority. Out of the admiration Erzili has for the being you once were, Erzili will refrain from deleting you from the records of existence. But you must leave. Leave this lagoon. Leave and never come back.”
“…as you wish, lovelorn one.”
Neither sound nor motion accompanied the removal of his presence from the Lagoon. She was pleased that he was gone. She was angry, that he was gone. Laugher had so much potential. If only she possessed a fraction of the power he did. If only she could motivate him back to return to their glory days, where he blurred through settlements, a red mist in the air, his laughs echoing into the distance. The days when children were told to never laugh in the forest, for doing so would summon the Laugher – and their lives would come to end as their final sight was that of the Elder One of Cosmic Humor, a smile on his face, and the words on his lips:
“Would you like to hear a joke?”
Erzili shuddered. She missed Laugher. The real Laugher. Charismatic, confident, powerful – yes, if it was ever possible for a nightmare to experience the emotion of love, Erzili would agree that Laugher had been her first love.
Dreamer had been her last.
Alas, it was all in the past now. The Elder One of Ecstasy understood that it was too late. It was not, however, too late for her darlings. Waving her hand into the air, she wrote once more into the air.
Resurrect.Fallen.Nightmare (Yuki_Onna)
Recognizing Command Prompt…]
[Analyzing…]
[Checking Authorization Level…]
[Authorization Found.]