As the Ebon Blade and its metal wielder entered the strangely clean city, no one attempted to bar its way. Even when it stopped just inside the gate and turned toward the gate no one moved the drop the portcullus, or spring any dastardly trap on it. It found that sense of normalcy unnerving.

-43 Life Force.

Its wielder was clean enough after the firestorm it had endured that it might have been passed off as nothing but a man in armor. The ugly welds where the Warbringer’s limbs had been sliced apart and reattached were still obvious, but it had seen uglier armor on both demons and orcs.

Still, no one paid it any sort of attention. Not the demons or the damned souls. It was like an oasis of peace in the sea of madness it had endured up until now. From where it stood it could see a market place where people were buying and selling goods as simple as bread and produce. It could hear the sound of artisans working away in the distance.

-38 Life Force.

The Ebon Blade walked forward, to the edge of the square, and studied the scene, completely baffled by what sort of hell this was supposed to be. It’s a bit mundane for paradise, but compared to everything I’ve seen so far, it might as well be, the blade told itself.

Everything it saw normal enough, from the well in the center of the marketplace to the castle on the far side of the city. In fact, other than the demon faced guards and nobles, the only real indication that anything was amiss was that the city seemed large now that it was inside it than it had been as it approached the place.

That details was slightly disconcerting, given its recent interactions with Prince Cerivall. That monster had warped space to such a degree that escape had proven all but impossible. That didn’t seem to be what was happening here, though.

The blade spent the next hour wandering the city in a slowly expending circle, looking for abnormalities that might hint at what it was missing, but not one bothered it, or asked it its business. It spent most of this time examining the weave of the world, but it also listened to the conversations of those around it, which were unfailingly polite.

The essence flows told it very little that was new. The city was indeed warped in such a way that made it larger than it should have been. The same was true for a library and the castle, but it found the conversations to be especially telling. Why would the souls of the damned near the very center of hell be even more polite than the residents of Sevrin it asked itself.

-29 Life Force.

When it exhausted its observation approach it started asking questions. It stopped people on the street at random, both human and demon and asked them. One of the several questions it was trying to understand, almost at random. What is this place? Why are you here? Who is the Penitant? Where can I find him?

The first two questions were answered freely enough by anyone he asked, and while those answers varied, the theme did not. The Last City was for those who had committed no terrible crimes, but were too proud to move on. It seemed a strange placement for the blade. It had thought that perdition would have been at the outermost edge, but that was apparently not the case, even if no one could explain the theology behind it to the Ebon Blade.

The second set of questions, though, almost always ended the conversation directly. The topic made people noticeably uncomfortable, and though they mouthed polite words they quickly made their excuses.

-24 Life Force.

“He’s… Well, he’s the Lord of the domain isn’t he, and we are all his guests,” one merchant told the blade’s wielder.

“He’s the final authority of the island, save for the Prime Evil herself,” a guard answered curtly. “Beyond that I won’t put words in his mouth. You should meet with him. He’s no doubt expecting you.”

That was a common refrain, that the blade was expected. It had been told that since the gate, but no one would offer any advice on that front, and even when asked directly, where it could find the demon prince, they shrank back, insisting it wasn’t their place to say. “You’ll find him in your own time. We all do,” was an answer that was so common that the blade was tempted to rip out one of these damned souls and shred it just to get a real answer.

It resisted that too, though, at least for the moment. While it would have been expedient, it would have been a tactical error. So far no one had raised a hand against it, or attempted to bar its way in any capacity; as much as it would have enjoyed the fight, it would have been extremely wasteful to abandon all other options in favor of provocations and violence.

The last two fights were the hardest so far, too, it reminded itself. Perhaps murdering people can wait until my wielder has healed entirely. I might even use the break to advance my own powers.

That was certainly a thoughts. Though it was hesitant to use any more of the demon prince and princess souls it had, there was great power within each of them, if only it could hold back their corrupting influence. Had it recovered enough to do that? It couldn’t say. First it would examine the damage that the bug queen had caused to its edges, and then it would look deeper and decide if it was worth the risk.

-18 Life Force.

The blade paused in its search then, and reflected on its status as a whole. It could siphon more than enough Life Force from the demons walking around to offset the slow trickle of power it lost every hour, that wasn’t a problem, but it had been an age since it had examined itself.

The Ebon Blade

Life Force: 4,938/15,600

Siphon: 42-60

Souls: 31/232

Path: Death, Level 5 - complete

Blood, Level 5 - complete

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Vengeance, Level 5 - complete

Infernal, Level 4 - 0/1 Prime Evil Slain

Reserves: 10 - Your gemstone is perfect.

Siphon: 7 -Your blade islong andsharp.

Connection: 5 - Nearly Complete - The windings of your grip are almost perfect.

Control: 5 - Overpowering - Your runes are deep.

Senses: 5 - Clear - Your hilt is unmarred.

Soul: 4 - Flawed - You know how you were created.

Powers:

Accelerate Wielder 5: Increase wielder’s speed and agility.

Aethersight 5: spend Life Force to see mana flows.

Aethershroud 5: suppress your own magical appearance by 100%

Aura of Hunger:Drain Life Force from nearby victims.

Amplify Blade 5: Spend Life Force to strike with extra power.

Amplify Wielder 5: Strengthen your wielder’s attacks.

Attuned:Bonuses you offer your wielder increase by 10%

Bolt 5: launch lightning at your opponents, and travel along it.

Disrupt 5: disrupt the magic of others.

Parasitic Link 5:Your wielder provides for your needs.

Shifting Blade 5: The blade can hide its wielder’s identity, or alter its shape entirely for short periods of time.

Secondary Powers:

none

Giant’s Strength 5: +5 strength

Speed of the Shadows 5: +5 agility, +15% speed in darkness.

Death

Drain Soul:

Harvest the souls of your victims for later use.

Convert Souls: Devour a soul for its constituent essence.

Ineffective Immunity: Natural immunities no longer protect your enemies.

Deathly Touch: All strikes deal +10 cold damage.

Beyond their Reach: Life drain effects do not affect you.

Grim Reaper: Bonus damage from cold increased.

Endless Malaise: You gather Life Force from the dead.

Blood

Vampirism: Drain more life force from blood

Hemophilia: The wounds you inflict don’t stop bleeding.

Bonds of Blood: you may examine the minds of wounded enemies with half of your connection rating.

Flesh and Bone: your wielder heals faster but at double the cost.

Red Haze: gain 33% of your Siphon from every significant wound inflicted within your reach.

Aura of Life and Death: You may heal people with a range equal to your Aura of Hunger.

Blood Mastery: You may take control of wounded opponents for a short time.

Surge of Vitality: Shorten your wielder’s lifespan to increase their physical attributes by 50% for the next ten minutes.

Golden

Golden Storage: Doubles Life Force and Soul Storage.

Golden Range: Doubles attack range, including Aura of Hunger.

Golden Strength: Double the damage of all secondary abilities, and increase the strength of Siphon by 50%.

Infernal

Abyssal Majesty: Command demons to obey you.

Abyssal Resonance: Even the lands of the pit fear you.

Bottomless Depths: You gain access to the demon souls you have been storing, and your soul storage is doubled.

Dark Consecration: Allows you access to the powers of the Infernal Path.

Endless Hunger: Doubles the speed and amount you drain with Aura of Hunger.

Hellfire 1: Grants you the attack Hellfire which cannot be extinguished or healed with holy magic.

Vengeance

Judge Soul: Judge good or evil at a glance.

Righteous Fury: +10% damage to anyone that has wronged you or your wielder.

Anger Issues: Your wielder takes less damage when pursuing a grudge.

Detect Grudge (enhanced): locate someone you have a grudge against, understand someones deeds when you fight them.

Claiming a Debt: Collect favors as you complete the grudges of others.

There were no surprises there, though there were precious few upgrades to be taken either. It could not complete its current path without slaying the Goddess of Hell herself, which seemed to be a tall order compared to all of its other paths.

-14 Life Force.

Still, that was a problem for later. For now, the blade turned and started toward the castle. No one had said so explicitly, but if the Penitent ruled this place, than the weapon could think of no reason why it wouldn’t find him there.