The Distinguished Mr. Rose Chapter 81: Chapter 80: Symbiosis

Read chapter 81 of The Distinguished Mr. Rose by QuiteTheSlacker on NovelPedia.

Chapter 80: Symbiosis Since the dawn of time, nothing had stoked mankind’s greed quite like the allure of power. It called to them in times of hardship, seduced them with the possibility of something more : the strength to overcome any obstacle, the knowledge to solve any conundrum, and most importantly… the ecstasy of freedom, knowing there existed none left above them. Maugris was a complicated man. Lucius did not doubt that the priest had good intentions — oh yes, he did care for others. He truly wished them well, but it was that very affection that prevented him from realizing the truth. They became his excuse. He cried their names when confronted with the zealousness of his research. His obsession with magic was to be used for the people and their prosperity, such were the tenets instilled into him by religion, and it was so that he came to fool himself that his desires were rightly justified. But in reality? That was never his goal. Of course, with greater power also came the ability to protect those he cherished. There was no doubt about that, but such was merely a derivative of his pursuit. A convenient bonus. No, what he really desired, what his heart craved and hungered for all this time, was to reach the realm of God. Maugris was envious of God: envious of the potential and possibility he could never hope to grasp. That envy hid in his half-hearted smiles, his spiritless voice as he recounted the Lord’s scripture. Lucius saw it clearly back at the church. For all his claims of being a loyal, faithful servant, he was amongst that grand hall of believers the most apathetic. Such had led to his unfortunate fate here this day — consumed by his own wayward ambition. Despite the gentleman’s best efforts, Maugris had failed to accept the truth. A shame, but not everyone could be like Ruggiero. There was beauty in the broken as well as the good. Who was Lucius to deny them? These poor sinners, their desperate, flailing attempts to be seen… even if the whole world were to turn away, disgusted, he would be here. Loving them. Immortalizing their splendor for all of eternity. “How do you feel, my friend?” Lucius asked Maugris now. The former priest had snatched the Demon King’s Fragment, but what came next was not the triumphant enlightenment he had proclaimed for himself. Instead, a surge of shadow leapt forth, crawled onto Maugris’s arm, and then spread all along his body until not a speck of his self could be seen untainted by the dark. He remained there unresponsive for a time, but an unsettling chill began to swell with each passing second. Maugris’s figure twitched and trembled. He groaned both in pain and pleasure as strange sounds of shifting, growing, squirming mass spilled forth. When the shadows receded, and Maugris’s visage was bared for the world to see, Lucius stepped back and let out a curious hum. The man before him had irrevocably changed. The right side of his body looked no longer human. Where once was his robe and firm muscle had now fused together into a lumpy white strand of brain matter. It encompassed his arm, his leg, even the side of his face. The other half kept his former appearance, albeit sickly yellow, delirious, and with a manic smile curving wide from his still-functional lips. It was grotesque. It was bizarre. But most of all… Lucius saw in him a pattern the gentleman had witnessed many times before. Yes, the Maugris of now was very similar to a demon. >[EMERGENCY QUEST!]< To you, o’ players so close to returning back home, a tragic predicament has taken place. Maugris, the Peer you have come to know on this journey, has succumbed to the Demon King’s Fragment and its corrupting influence. He is no longer your ally. He will slaughter you all without remorse. There is no saving him, for the blight has already taken root in his soul. Slay him whilst he is still human, or else his demonic transformation will be completed. Success: 500 Cosmic Coins and 5 unallocated status points. Failure: Transitio