Side Story 1: Order of the Malefic Viper (1/2)

Around the same time Jake entered his second challenge dungeon, the Lucenti Plains, so were major things happening in the Order of the Malefic Viper.

All the branch leaders had finally gathered. For the first time since the coronation of Viridia, the Order had gathered in one place.

Of course, what was happening this time was on an entirely different scale than merely appointing a new Hall Master.

Nineteen branch leaders had gathered in the hall, along with their entire entourages. In total, more than a million people had gathered, which was also a testament to the size of their order. The main hall had been built during the order’s pinnacle of power, and back then had been used to hold gathering with billions attending.

The branch leaders themselves were each, as the name suggested, leaders of their individual branch. While they were at a lower rank than the Hall Master, Viridia had to admit that she held little to no authority over many of them.

One of the reasons for this was relatively simple: Strength.

Back during her coronation, she had competition, but her master, the former Hall Master, had made sure she was chosen. It had been unfair, but the Order of the Malefic Viper wasn’t an order based on righteousness and justice.

Which meant that while she held the highest position in the hierarchy, she wasn’t the strongest.

One of the requirements for becoming Hall Master was to be at the final stage of evolution before reaching godhood. S-tier, to be more exact.

Of course, this one final stage was the most prolonged and significant of them all. Someone newly evolved would be nothing compared to someone in just the middle part. A late-stage, or even peak, S-rank was far above what Viridia could handle. She was currently still only in the early stages, as each level took more and more effort.

The ones who had reached the absolute peak of S-rank, the ones who were but a single step from godhood, were referred to as demigods.

Of course, being a demigod didn’t mean that one would turn into a true god. That final step was an impassible gap to most, nearly no one succeeding to overcome it. The official records stated that the Order of the Malefic Viper hadn’t given rise to any new gods within their order after their Patron disappeared. If this was not proof of how difficult this was, she didn’t know what would be. And it was not due to a lack of demigods either, her master even being one before time claimed him.

Of the branch leaders, two were only A-rank, though both extremely close to their evolutions, and they both held strength where they could contend with weaker S-ranks, being why they had been chosen.

The rest were all S-rank, of course. And of those sixteen, was a demigod. Tortaros.

Tortaros had been her main competitor for the position of Hall Master but had in the end lost due to the power of nepotism. A loss he had never quite gotten over, as he still remained the biggest obstacle to her leadership.

And that man was currently moving towards her as she made her rounds, greeting the individual leaders one more time.

He had, naturally, been the last to arrive. Only mere hours before the event began did he teleport over together with his followers.

While he did have an absolute right to be audacious due to his strength, Viridia still couldn’t condone his lack of respect. Disrespecting herself was acceptable, but disrespecting their great Patron was out of the question.

Sadly, she could personally do nothing to admonish him… because he was by far the strongest outside of the Lord Protector and the Patron himself.

After her coronation, he had only grown stronger.

He controlled the power of space. Teleportation, pocket dimensions, and shattering reality itself was simple to him. Individuals with power over space were often feared and avoided by most, as they were incredibly hard to deal with. If they had the upper hand, escaping from them was borderline impossible, while if you had the upper hand, they could often run quite easily.

Not long after she had become Hall Master, did he make his most extraordinary feat of strength yet.

He had fought a god and survived. Not just that, from accounts, the god had even suffered injuries. Meaning Tortaros was not that far behind a true god.

Perhaps the god had been weak, maybe even injured beforehand. But it didn’t matter. For a mortal to fight a god was never simple. The fight had lasted for hours, with Tortaros finally escaping, with grave injuries, but he had survived.

After that, he had only gotten cockier. He hadn’t dared to challenge Viridia’s position directly, but it was clear that he started looking down on her more.

Moving against her openly was out of the question. She resided in the main hall for most of her time, and even when she was out, no one dared to make a move. The reason for that was rather simple. They feared the backlash.

Eras ago, a Hall Master was killed by a god without a reasonable explanation. The Lord Protector investigated, and the result was the destruction of an entire faction, along with the death of the responsible god. No one truly knew the Lord Protector’s strength, but he had been a god since the second era, making him extremely ancient.

Of course, all of this was discounting the looming threat of the Viper himself. Despite his absence, there was always the lingering fear of his return. And based on his history… the results of any transgressor would be catastrophic.

Oh, and those absolute lunatics of the Primordial Church. If anyone ever went over the line in disrespecting a Primordial or their legacy, they would descend with untold wrath.

Tortaros knew this, so he stuck to political maneuvering and insubordination. A sentiment that Viridia noticed had started spreading to some of the other branch leaders. Her position was rocky, she knew that, but there was no way she would back down.

Which lead to the current situation, where the man approached her, ever as haughty.

“So, girl, is the Patron truly back?” Tortaros asked the young Hall Master.

“Hall Master, Tortaros,” she corrected, annoyed. “And yes, who would dare to lie about such a thing?”

“Who knows,” he chuckled. “Someone desperate perhaps?”

“Oh, and why would only need to be desperate?”

“Destiny is unpredictable, girl,” he answered as he looked sharply at her. “The return of the Patron marks many changes. A return to power. Perhaps one would be desperate if they no longer held the strength required for these changes.”

“Such desperation would only be necessary if the supporting pillars fail to hold up their burden. Tell me, Tortaros, has the pillars of the hall started cracking?”

Moving a bit closer, she got in his face as she continued.

“Maybe we should do a renovation. Removing the old and broken pillars. They seem to be eroded and rotting after all.”

“Are you sure you can find new pillars that are up for the task? Can they truly hold the hall, or will the careless decisions of their architect result in collapse?” he answered as he smiled.

“If so, do not worry, child. I will make sure to rebuild. Even if the architect has to retire from her position.”

And with those words, he walked away, not giving her the chance to respond.

Gritting her teeth, she decided to just act like nothing as she returned to socializing. She had always hated these political messes. Tortaros had made many moves she quickly discovered.

While all the important figures were still very welcoming, she noticed they also seemed a bit reluctant. The only one who remained the same was the only other demigod in their order. Elder Duskleaf.

To understand this elder’s position, one had to understand the makeup of the Order.

At the top sits the Malefic Viper himself, naturally. Below the Patron was the Lord Protector. These two, however, were not considered a formal part of the power structure. One could say that they resided above the structure itself, far out of reach compared to anything else.

Below that was the nominal leader of the Order, the Hall Master. Once upon a time, there were many Hall Masters, and a council led the organization, but now only one Hall remained.

Directly below that, one would find the branch leaders, but on equal standing with the branch leaders was the chief alchemist - Elder Duskleaf.

Outside of the gods, this Elder was by far the oldest. In fact, he had lived longer than anyone else in the entire order, being an old man even during her master’s time.

Rumors have it that the man had found a way to keep himself alive far longer than average. Something not out of the question as he was undoubtedly the best alchemist in the order by a considerable margin.

While officially not on her level of authority, Viridia knew that this man, in many ways, held more power than herself. He, however, seemed to have little care for it, only focusing on his alchemy.

But she also knew that if Tortaros got the favor of this elder, her days would be counted. This is why she always tried to make a point of getting in his good graces whenever they met.

“Elder Duskleaf, it is a pleasure to see you again.”

“Ah, yes, you too, Hall Master,” the old man answered as he ran his fingers through his long beard. “Exciting, isn’t it? The master is finally returning.”

Smiling, she replied: “The height of excitement indeed. Too long have we waited.”

“Let us hope that this time it is for good,” the old man said, as he kept his smile, showing no intention of elaborating on his thoughts.

After that, they continued to chat away, the old man talking about alchemy, barely mentioning the Malefic Viper, except to throw in a rather inappropriate comment about how he should teach Duskleaf. She could only laugh at this but was honestly unable to give a straight answer. She found her Patron far too unpredictable, perhaps even more so than those who had actually met him.

The minutes ticked by as the time to begin moved closer. Excusing herself from the conversation with Elder Duskleaf, she made her way to the podium to get the event started.

The leaders had all been on a slightly elevated platform already, with all the other members gathered below. The other leaders quickly also got in position as she made her way over. Even Tortaros didn’t dare to dally, as he knew the importance of the day’s event.

Looking out over the millions of people, she took in the atmosphere for a moment before she formally started. With a clap of her hands, the sound reverberated through the hall as it silenced the chatter.

She had spent the last few days preparing her speech. A speech to unite the entire order to, in concert, celebrate the return of their great Patron.

“Welcome to this day of celebration. Welcome to the day that marks our orders return to glory. For too long have the Order of the Malefic Viper been constrained to th- “

*clap clap clap*

Loud clapping suddenly began in the hall below. The sound was echoed through the halls, clearly amplified by magic. At first, Viridia suspected it was Tortaros but soon found the perpetrator in the middle of the millions of lower-ranked members.

An all too familiar scaled man stood clapping enthusiastically. All the other members had quickly backed away from him in fright, looking at him in astonishment. What insanity had come over him to interrupt the speech of the Hall Master?

Viridia, on the other hand, stood frozen as the scaled man made a thumps up at her.

“Great speech, real touching stuff right there!” he yelled exaggeratedly, even bringing both his hands up to his mouth.

After his yell, the silence that followed was absolutely deafening. All the branch leaders and leaders were god-smacked by the audacity of what they assumed to be a lower-ranking disciple or follower. Duskleaf appeared to be the only one standing unfazed.

They didn’t have time to get their bearing before the scaled man teleported up to the podium, shocking everyone. Not the least Tortaros, who seemed to vaguely feel the concept of space within the move. At a level far above his own.

Viridia, of course, recognized her Patron and quickly got down on her knees. “I greet the Malefic One.”

Another bombshell shocked the hall as they all looked at the otherwise unassuming man. He wore a black robe with simple dark-green engravings running across it. His entire body was covered in scales except for parts of his face. A face that looked more human than reptile, and with long black hair growing on his head.

The other branch leaders quickly also got down on their knees, as they too kneeled - all except one. Tortaros still stood.

Instead of kneeling, he instead made a deep bow as he spoke. “Divine Heretic Tortaros greets the Malefic One.”

Divine Heretic. A title granted to anyone who managed to fight a god before they attain godhood. A title most could only dream of. As with nearly all high-level titles, the details of what it provided were unknown, as none had been willing to share the details.

Viridia suddenly understood why Tortaros didn’t kneel. It was etiquette that gods didn’t kneel to each other. And a Divine Heretic was more often than not provided the same privileges as a god in many social contexts.

However… this was the Malefic Viper.

“Good for you?” he said as he turned to the man. “And why exactly should I give a fuck about who you are?”

A bit stumped, the demigod tried to compose himself as he continued. “Of course, the Patron doesn’t need to do so. I merely wished to show that even with the Malefic One’s absence, a new powerful and promising member has arisen.”

“Oh?” the Malefic one said as he raised an eyebrow. “And where may I find this so-called powerful and promising member?”

Viridia had to struggle to hold her laughter back. Her schadenfreude was almost euphoric. The arrogant Tortaros was sure to be taught a lesson on this day.

Of course, Tortaros didn’t feel very good at the moment. He had believed for the Malefic Viper to be at least slightly impressed. He had many factions visit him in his branch. Even gods had come. Several offers to join other organizations had been presented, but he had rejected them all.

When the announcement was made that the Malefic Viper had returned, he was at first worried, but quickly he understood that this was a great opportunity.

The Viper was known to care for strength over all else, and Tortaros was powerful. At least… he believed himself to be.

“My Patron, you must jest. I have reached my current level faster than any other hall master or branch leader for eras, fought through countless trials, and even battled a god. Through my path I- “

“I didn’t ask for your life story, pal,” the Viper said, as he waved his hand. “What I care more about is why you believe that I would care for all of this drivel?”

“My Lord, I simply mean to say that with my power I would-”

“What power?” The Malefic Viper interrupted as he glared at the man. “You believe that wrestling a bit with some fledgling god makes you unique? I would be disappointed if you hadn’t. If you had killed a god, I could maybe have given you a little pat on the head and a participation trophy, but- “

“My Lord, I just meant-” Tortaros interrupted as his temper flared. He had humbled himself, shown respect, and all he was met with was disdain. Today was supposed to be HIS day to rise to power. To claim his position as Hall Master! But he had to keep himself constrained.

“I just meant that I believe that your return warrants changes! Changes fo-“

“Changes?” The Malefic Viper asked as he smiled. His aura washed out over the room, bringing Tortaros to the ground as he heaved in pain. The mere presence of the Viper enough to end his life. Fear was in his eyes as he didn’t even dare to look up.

“I agree. So let the first change be for you to Be Undone.”

And with those words, the one known as Divine Heretic Tortaros turned to dust.