Chapter 1728 – Glory Road 22 – The Fifth Seal

“You killed a god-warrior,” Quetzalcoatl said simply, her voice melodic and yet filled with a deep bitterness. In addition to that event, she must have held a grudge regarding Sylph’s zapping. “This does not happen during these trials.”

“These are hardly the usual trials,” the Gamer presented his case. “And I deem his death his own fault. He was the one who dishonoured the terms of the battle by reaching for the weapon an outsider provided.” A waving gesture towards War was all he had to make to that end. “That he was then killed by it was, ultimately, an unfortunate but self-caused accident.”

The feathered lamia considered his words for several long seconds, until Xipe-Totec groaned. “Huitzilopochtli agrees with you,” the Flayer Lord announced, “and he has elected to give you the choice: you may now skip the rest of the trials and step into an audience with him. A slayer of a god-warrior has that right and since it was your familiar that slew him….”

“Alternatively,” Quetzalcoatl added, “you may continue with the trials.”

John raised his hand to his chin, to show that he was contemplating the offer. Outwardly only a few seconds passed. Inwardly, John was moving around drawbacks and benefits. ‘Going there first is good if I am wrong about Huitzilopochtli being evil or compromised,’ he thought. ‘In all other cases, I’ll have issues… I want the other factions around in case we need to band together. Plus, this will ruin my Quest progress.’ “I will continue with the trials. It would be undue to enter without going through the full process.”

Warriors nodded their heads. John could not read their expressions, but Observe made it even easier to read their emotions. They respected him for the dedication and his strength, apparently, and for an invader his Nahuatl was fluid, even if his dialect was somewhat outdated by their standards.

‘Did they live in the Sanctum for the past 500 years? That seems to be the only possibility.’

“Your dedication is heard and laudable,” Quetzalcoatl said.

“May I make a request, however?”

The feathered lamia tilted her head and gestured for him to continue. “The Flayer Lord has insulted Nahua-xoco-atl-xolotl, calling her bloodless.” Shocked murmurs from the gathered warriors. “I wish to defend the lady’s honour. A duel between him and a chosen champion of mine.”

Before Quetzalcoatl could answer, the Flayer Lord cackled. “I will consider it if you make it to the next segment.”

“I will take your word for it.”

Nahua glanced over her shoulder at him, her verdant gaze darkened by her inquisitive thoughts. She knew that he was doing it for himself, yet he was also honest. Defeating Xipe-Totec and pleasing her were two birds with one stone, really.

“Onto today’s challenge, then.” Quetzalcoatl raised her hand and four members of the crowd behind her stepped forwards. Each held a sphere the size of a basketball, covered in glyphic script. “Your charge is to solve this riddle. Those who manage to do so will be allowed to continue. Those who fail will have to prove their worthiness in blood.”

The Gamer received the sphere. Momo was already next to him and Nahua turned around to inspect it. “When do we begin?” he asked.

“Now.”

Time slowed to a crawl. John pulled Momo and Delicia into his close mental network. ‘Of course you come to me,’ the bratty shortstack thought at him, then dove into the situation. Being a relay apart made things slightly inconvenient. ‘Do you recognize the script?’ she asked.

‘Most of it. We could ask Nahua?’ Momo suggested.

‘She’ll need several seconds to answer,’ the Gamer responded. His fingers did a little twitch. The surface of the ball rotated. ‘Some kind of Aztec Rubik’s Cube? We have to align the patterns to form sentences?’

‘There’s also a set of lines underneath.’ Delicia beamed into his mind a set of possible, sensical outcomes for that. Momo and John pierced the rest together from there.

Time returned to a regular flow as John moved the intersecting bands of stone on top of the sphere. Everyone else was still analysing their sphere. Of the present leaders, only Norahnon could have potentially kept up with John – if John had been on his own.

One final click and the sphere hovered up from the Gamer’s hand, to the surprise of many. Smirking with a justified sense of pride, he shrugged as if he had not done anything impressive. The outer layer of the ball split off, the many segments falling to the ground, and revealing a second layer underneath.

The game repeated, with the difference that Sylph was now there to grab the sphere for John. Guided by his thoughts, the volt bunny rapidly moved through the second layer. A third followed and that one was a bit more interesting.

Rather than moveable parts, John looked at a solid cube. Each side had a different symbol on it, glowing softly with enchanted power. ‘Mmh, seems to be basic artifice… I see, I can manipulate the runes to turn the destructive power of spells inwards.’ “What tools can I use to solve this?” the Gamer asked.

“Whatever you have on hand,” Quetzalcoatl answered.

“Wonderful.” Losing no further time, John simply crushed the cube between his hands. There was no need to engage with complicated carving and smoothing out of runes if he could just break it. The burned clay crumbled under the pressure, revealing a marble of obsidian within. It was just large enough to be comfortably held between the index finger and thumb.

“That’s not it yet,” the winged lamia cooed mockingly.

“I know.” John answered, peering deep into the marble. It was an object of great worth, that much was clear. Obsidian was not a material that could easily be shaped into such a perfect sphere, even with magic involved. A little red line at the centre was the only hint on what should be done next. “Nahua,” he gave the woman a verbal warning, before throwing it over to her.

The axolotl woman caught it, gave it one glance, then knew what to do. What John had intuited, she knew by virtue of her culture. “I offer this to you, great lord of sacrifice!” she spoke out loud. Arm stretched out in front of her, she slowly turned her palm. When the marble fell, it fell into a portal opening in its path.

Quetzalcoatl gave John reluctant applause. The warriors followed her example, a lot more enthusiastic about it. Everyone else was still on their first layer. From beginning to end, John had only needed thirty seconds to solve it.

‘That has to be some kind of record.’ “I take it we can pass now?” he asked.

“It is your right,” the lamia answered, slithering out of the way.

“After you.” The Gamer gestured for Nahua to take the lead. A sharp, pleased smile was her answer, bordering on the malevolent. As per usual, that was just her facial structure giving her expression a particular edge.

Nahua haughtily stepped forwards, strutting tall and proud down the Glory Road. In the beige facsimile of the tribal garb that he had provided her, she was a gorgeous display. Wide hips swung and with them did the curtain of the side slit, long skirt that covered her back and front, while revealing her dark legs. Marks rose from the brown of her skin, a lighter shade of it that seemed pale by contrast. They took the shape of glyphs and Aztec line art.

She wore a separate top and bottom that day, giving a delectable view of her slender back. Concave was the swing of her sides up from her hips. Little was the difference between her waist and her slender shoulders, notable enough to give the pleasant curve but not enough to compromise how bottom heavy she was. Like her skirt swayed, the frilly gills behind her pointy ears bounced as she walked.

‘I may have doomed myself,’ John thought. ‘Now that I know she’s “available”, my brain is doubly looking at her with interest.’

They advanced well into the next segment. The sky above was now clearly marked by the crimson sign in the sky. Eight lines crossed a circle, barely protruding from it. They were in the penultimate segment now.

Before them was a gathering of temples. It reminded John a lot of the first segment, overgrown as it all was. Ziggurats twice as tall as family homes rose to the right, partly covered by vines and flowers. Larger trees surrounded them, their roots incapable of digging through the dense stonework.

“You really are a smart guy, aren’t you?” Nahua asked, once they turned to disappear between the trees. She even stopped, giving up her position at the front, to turn to John. Playfully, she stepped up to him and put a finger on his chest.

Her mouth opened. Whatever more she wanted to say, she never got out. Her finger trailed downwards, feeling the muscle under his taut suit shirt. A glassy look came over her eyes. Her nostrils flared. She deeply inhaled his scent. A heavy blush came over her face.

Nahua snapped back, taking a large step backwards. “Oh wow… oh wow!” She shook her head. “Whew… okay, I get it now. There goes my greatest manipulation asset.”

“Don’t trust yourself to flirtatiously string me along anymore?” A smug smile spread on John’s face. He did enjoy watching her deal with her new Libido. It may have been weak, but he was not the average man.

“Nope, nope, nope, absolutely not,” Nahua answered chirpily. “Wow, your scent makes me dizzy… stay ten metres away but never go far, please.”

John laughed at the half-joke. They both knew she did and did not mean it. Stepping forwards, he walked past her. The Aztec woman wrestled quite visibly with her new emotions. Infatuated with him she was not, at least John did not think so, but she very much desired him. She could hardly be faulted for that.

“That went optimally for us,” Undine steered the conversation to calmer waters. The slime lady and Siena flanked the Gamer as they disappeared deeper into the jungle. “They must be tired of losing resources.”

“Something like that,” John agreed. Between harming Quetzalcoatl and killing Tezcatlipoca, the owner of the Eternal Sanctum must have been weary of expending any more resources that took time to replicate. It could also have been that the energy they had provided via the Blood Fountain was already expended. “In any case, not having to fight makes things easier for us.”

“Could-a gotten hella awkward if they realized that they could have just attacked us,” Hailey drawled.

“John solved the riddle too fast for them to realize that option,” Siena spoke with second-hand pride. “Our man knows what he is doing.”

“Sometimes,” Momo jabbed.

John just shrugged and put his arms around the two women by his side. “Fact is that we are only competing with Norahnon now. Xipe-Totec promised me a duel.” Looking over his shoulder, he met the anticipating grin of his chosen weapon. “You will get your fight yet.”

“And this is why you’re my king.” Metra repeatedly tapped the shaft of Rex Magnar on her shoulder. All of them were fully armed, in their individual ways. Aclysia held a Baelementium sword that John had brought in. It was standard military issue and wouldn’t survive a fight on their level. Regardless, the flexibility was needed, as was the presence of three weapons for Cutting Flurry.

‘Only one more seal – then Mythical Ichor… and answers,’ the Gamer thought to himself.

He could hardly wait.