Greed God chapter 222

April 11th 2016 Brightedge City, Sunken Cathedral, 8:00 PM EDT

I'd  spent a while considering how to do this next rank up. Given how hard  it had been to gather ten million points both times I'd done it, I knew  it would be my last for a while. A hundred million points was going to  be a nearly impossible task in the short term. I had unlimited options  to continue growing as a dragonkin, upgrading my bloodline more and  growing my potential.

I did none  of those things. True, they would be useful long term, but if I got  aced by some suckhead bimbo before I got a chance to actually MAKE it to  the long term I'd be pretty screwed, not to mention my girls would be  fucked, which suddenly kind of...worried me? I wasn't sure what that  emotion was. I had a bunch of them now, and they seemed messy and awful.  Mixing together into a slurry of suck that made me kind of regret  telling mom's ghost to fuck off, but what can you do.

Luckily  I spent quite a while learning to suppress my draconic instincts in  Gemworld, and human emotions were a lot like that, but weaker and in  larger numbers. Shoving them down for now to be dealt with later, I  focused on my current issues. I needed a comprehensive upgrade, and  while I had materials for that, a bloodline boost wouldn't cut it. It  was time to go full dragon.

I  slipped out my bottle of brandy (it had been running low anyway) and  then the emerald stake I'd used on Mary, which was still covered in her  blood. According appraisal, that shit had been partially absorbed,  bringing the stake itself up to E-rank from the F-rank it had become  after being infused with my power. Then I merged the two E-rank  materials together, paying a million points to create a D-ranked  material and then continuing the merge without even looking at what I  got, merging it with myself.

Now,  I knew that might not be the perfect plan, but I could control the  basic idea of what my stuff became, and since I'd focused on the dragon  boosting life aspect of the brandy and the Primal Force and vampire  killing aspects of the Stave as they merged into me, I knew what I was  getting basically, and I NEEDED to rank up before Lilith rose. Even  weakened I doubted she would be much weaker than Mary.

I  felt myself dissolve just like always, becoming energy, and I exhaled  in relief because I knew nothing could stop it now, as the energy from  the fused bottle and stave joined mine, I felt myself elevate yet again,  but this was so much more than the last few times. This time I'd pushed  my state of being completely past humanity, ascended to become a full  dragon. Not just that, the energy, life, light, vitality, and  destruction aspects of my various upgrades came together, in a new way,  transcending their former heights to achieve something cohesive and  solid.

As I  reformed, I glanced down to take in my new body. I wasn't a person  anymore, not even a hybrid. I COULD be, the ability to devolve through  the stages of my life was part of my dominion, but my true form was so  much more. A massive emerald dragon with golden patterns weaving across  my hubcap sized scales. I barely fit in this fucking cathedral, but a  bit of effort shifted my size to something more manageable as I glared  down at a shocked and horrified Mary and the seething pool that would  soon spit out Lilith.

I  felt invincible. Unstoppable. The tide of power and violence and  exultation at least blunted the grief and negative emotions I didn't  know how to deal with, I was a dragon now, and while I was adjusting to  this new form and state of being I would be spared the horror of my  humanity, though I knew it would come for me eventually, despite my  current state. I'd put every ounce of my intent into being stronger, and  being incredibly suited to killing vampires. I didn't spare any of my  possible upgrade for emotion control, as useful as it might have been.

My  draconic gaze skimmed over the cathedral until I found something  reflective, a silver basin off to one side. I took in my gorgeous gold  horns shot through with emerald veins for a second before finally  choosing to appraise myself.

[Appraisal  function activated. Treasure detected. Nicholas Lord- C rank Dragon of  the Primordial Spark. All power wells up from the origin, all force, all  life, all creation originates at the singular point. A light so bright  it burns away all obstacles, a fury so hot it turns even flame to ash.]

Well,  apparently I'd gotten to my 'cryptic bullshit for an appraisal' era.  I'd been expecting it for a while. Still, it told me plenty. This was  good. Granted I was a juvenile dragon, I could feel that. My maximum  size was about a hundred feet not counting horns and wings, and dragons  never stopped growing. I had a few growth phases to get through before I  reached the peak of my powers, but this was a qualitative shift in my  abilities.

I'd expected  upgrading to a dragon to just be a simple jump from dragonkin to full  dragon, but the interaction between the brandy, my own power, and Mary's  blood had boosted me even higher in C-rank than I had expected. Even as  a juvenile I was probably at about the absolute peak of what C-rank  could offer, which was a far bigger range than D-rank as per usual.

Mary  was staring up at me like she'd just seen the monster from IT hiding in  her toilet bowl, and I gave her a huge draconic grin before inhaling  and breathing out at her. A TORRENT of...I wouldn't call it fire, or  lightning, or even light. Some kind of shining force from the beginning  of time I guess, billowed forth and smashed into her. I'd expected to  need a few attacks, but the scream as she was turned into a soot shadow  on the wall lasted barely an instant.

Sadly,  her death did nothing to stop the rioting energy generated by my dad's  sacrifice. I appraised the pool again, and confirmed that yes, Lilith  was awakening. I considered blasting the water, but something told me  that the stuff was pretty antithetical to my breath in a lot of ways,  being a perversion of life and a substance of darkness and water. I  wasn't completely sure what mixing the two would do, but there was a  solid chance it would be pretty explosive.

So  I had to wait apparently. But I didn't have to risk my girls. I wasn't  sure what the fuck I felt about them, but they were mine, and I didn't  let my stuff get broken, even before I could actually give a shit about  it. I snorted and spoke for the first time since assuming this form. "Go." My voice was...crazy. Like a thousand echoes boosted by superbass. I'd need to tone that shit down in the future. "I'm fine, but all of you need to go."

I  wasn't fine, but I WAS so power drunk right now that I could fake it,  which was close enough. The girls clearly knew that at the very least  this wasn't a fight they could interfere in, and also if a dragon tells  you to get the fuck out you should probably listen.

They  all turned to leave, mostly after shouting at me to be safe, and I  turned my gaze to the roiling pool where my dad's body had vanished. I  doubted there was anything left, I wasn't sure how to feel about that.  He'd been kind of a dick, but I loved him I think, even when I hadn't  thought I could even do that. He'd raised me and taught me everything I  knew. In a lot of ways he'd been my hero, though not by any definition  of that word that the League would have accepted, and I smirked at the  thought of his own reaction to that statement.

The  energy in the pool pulsed and grew. Each surge caused waves and  snapping peaks, but somehow, instead of getting bigger, they got  smaller. Not that the power was decreasing, each wave tore the air  faster and with more force, just closer to the surface until finally,  the pool smoothed out into a sheet like glass, vibrating with so much  energy it seemed like it was about to explode.

A  single ripple formed in the center, like a pebble had been dropped into  it, and a form began to emerge from the pool. First there was the top  of a skull, with flowing black hair growing from it, then a pale, smooth  forehead, then a pair of eyes with irises so black they looked like  they could swallow an exploding star, and a patrician nose, and a mouth  with pitch black lips peeled back over delicate fangs in a grin as she  rose.

Her  body was pretty nuts, but I was a bit too conflicted and distracted to  care or enjoy it much, even if my preferences forced me to note that she  was built like the goddess of all porn stars. Her form was covered in a  weird black...shawl, dress, thing? Like a loincloth that split at her  belly to trail up and barely cover her tits before closing around her  neck behind the large ass golden necklaces stacked like five high around  her throat.

She  looked at me with interest. "Well." She said mildly. "I hadn't expected  something like you here. That is...much more progress than I expected  Tsaritsa's spawn to make by this point. Mary was a capable servant, and  you demolished her without much effort. I'm afraid I wouldn't be quite  so easy a fight." I was sure she was right, but just to be positive I  checked.

[Appraisal function activated. Treasure detected. Lilith-  B ranked Primal Vampire Queen. Wife of Cain, chosen of the devil,  second among the blood born. Weakened. You should still probably run.]

Ah, shit. The system didn't really add advice like that unless I was in a really bad position. Still, I could work with this. "You're weakened, and I'm fairly suited to disposing of creatures such as yourself." I was. I'd basically fucking BUILT this particular form for it, hence  the use of the stake with the vampire blood. The Primordial Spark wasn't  just an upgrade to my Primal Force, it was geared towards the  eradication of darkness. Vampires were pretty notably weak to that kind  of shit.

She shrugged. "Maybe.  Hence why I haven't swallowed you whole." She glanced up. "I'd also  prefer not to have a city dropped on my head, and I assume you would  rather avoid DROPPING said city." She spread her arms. "Which begs the  question, what are you going to do?"

That...was  a good question. I wanted to kill her, munch her down like a fucking  snack and char her fucking remains with my cool new breath weapon. She  was right. I might not have given a shit about the damage before, but my  girls were still nearby, and if we were as strong as I was expecting  they could easily die in the battle.

It  was hard to balance my new emotions, which had begun to burn through  even my haze of draconic power. I hated her. Not as much as I'd hated my  mom, or as much as I hated Mary for killing my dad. But Lilith was a  giant bitch and responsible for most of the bad in my life.

That  said, I was still ME. I refused to become some namby pamby do-gooder  swearing vengeance for my dead father and on a quest for justice. Fuck  that shit. I was pissed, but the actual killer was dead, and I wasn't  going to get dragged into a suboptimal situation and die along with all  my women for symbolism. That was stupid hero shit.

So  I decided on a compromise. I shrunk down to my human form, going from  the size of a bus to a normal person too fast for anyone to see, and I  nodded. "Fine. I'm leaving." She smirked. "BUT." I said with a snarl,  feeling my eyes shift. "I want you gone. Out of my city. Find somewhere  else to kill thousands or build a vampire harem or whatever the hell  you're planning."

She  narrowed her eyes at me, cocking her head. "I wasn't expecting that."  Her smirk became a wide smile, flashing far too much fang. "Fine. I'll  give you one year. Then I'll come back and we can have this conversation  again. Maybe if you're a little stronger it won't go my way." She  winked at me. "I'll be interested to see what uses you put me to. I hear  you're a naughty boy."

The  shadows in the rooms lengthened, then retreated and she was  just...gone. Huh, well that had been anticlimactic. I shook slightly as  the adrenaline started to wear off. This little confrontation had caused  more problems than it had solved. It had been stupid and impulsive, and  I suspect my seal had started cracking before I made the decision to  even come down here. I sighed. It was fine. I had a plan to handle both  my new emotions and shoring up my defenses with a strong new team  member. It was time to finally track down Raven. I'd cleanse her and get  her help. I just hoped her empathy could help me suppress this bullshit  grief. If not it was going to be a problem.