Infinity Is My Affinity?!?-Chapter 116: Just Some Rich Doomsday Preppers

/Nico’s 1st Person POV/

I watched Peko freeze through the semi-transparent video pane hovering before me.

How her violet eyes blew wide open, and for the first time since I’d met her, that flawless, fairy-like mask completely shattered.

I could practically see the gears stalling in her head as she processed it all.

I didn’t leave her hanging.

With a quick thought, I pulled up the item from the Shop, dragging the glowing window directly into the center of our shared display.

{

Heart of the False Martyr (Epic)

Description:

A still-beating black heart engineered to intercept and assume binding magics.

Upon consumption, the organ integrates with the user’s mana signature and flawlessly replicates their unique frequency. Soul tethers, blood pacts, sacrificial contracts, and binding geasa up to Tier 6 are forcibly redirected onto the Heart in place of the user.

To the original caster and all parties involved, the contract remains fully intact and operational.

Notes* Must be consumed raw. Integration period: Immediate.

The original caster and all bound parties will continue to perceive the pact as valid and active.

Destruction of the Heart will cause the binding to disintegrate/dissolve, with the effects rippling across all parties involved.

This item does not nullify contracts. It assumes them.

Price: 1,720,000 Credits.

}

I walked over to the rickety chair by the desk, leaning back until the wood creaked in protest, before crossing my arms, letting her read it in silence.

[The General thinks he has us on an absolute, unbreakable leash...] I thought, watching her eyes track the glowing blue text line by line. [...too bad he was messing with a dude with a System whose Shop has the solution to just about every problem.]

"So, here’s the deal..." I said, trying to sound cool. "It perfectly spoofs the Blood Pact. The General won’t feel a single thing change on his end. We properly get our freedom, and we avoid triggering a nationwide manhunt."

I paused, pointing two fingers at the holographic screen. "But, there are two massive catches. First... the price tag. One hundred and seventy-two thousand Credits. Considering I just blew our entire savings on this Party Module, we are currently flat broke. Our balance is a pathetic joke right now, so it’s going to take a hell of a grind to afford it."

Peko didn’t even blink at the astronomical number, keeping her eyes glued to the ’Notes’ section.

"And second," I sighed, rubbing the back of my tired neck. "You literally have to eat a raw, magically beating black heart for it to work. No cooking it, no slicing it up nice. And it’s probably going to taste like actual garbage, and the texture... yeah. Are you sure you’re up for that?"

"Yes."

Peko didn’t even hesitate.

[Damn...] I thought, watching her expression remain utterly unfazed through the screen. [Peko is hardcore.]

"Alrighty then..." I said with a grin stretching across my face as I clapped my hands together and leaned forward. "Here’s what we’re gonna do."

Both Nom-Nom and Peko visibly perked up, leaning slightly closer to their respective screens.

"Nom, you’re on daily dungeon duty," I instructed, locking eyes with the dragon. "Start grinding hard... don’t hold back. Dump seventy percent of all the monsters you kill straight into the shared inventory, and physically sell the remaining thirty percent to the Guild. We need cash flowing, but we don’t want to draw any unnecessary suspicion by nabbing an entire ecosystem’s worth of loot at once and having nothing to show."

"Got it!" Nom-Nom cheered, aggressively pumping a fist in the air.

I then shifted my focus back to the Phoenix. "Peko... how good would you say your knowledge about this world is right now? Geopolitics, history, power structures, all that fun stuff?"

"Superficial," Peko replied with a single, brutally honest word.

"Then you need to keep hitting the library," I replied, stroking my chin thoughtfully. "Treat it like a full-time job. Read everything you can get your hands on. I’ll be back from this quest in three or four days, and then I’ll join the grind. By my estimates, with both Nom and me tearing through the dungeons and auto-selling the drops... a week or two, maybe three at max, will be enough to scramble together those credits."

Both of them replied with a firm, synchronized nod.

"Okay, that covers my end of things," I said, resting my elbows on the desk. "How are things looking on your side of the board?"

Peko spoke first.

"I now have more context on Entropy," she said.

My ears perked up at the name as I dumped my entire focus entirely on her screen.

"They began as an exclusive club of sorts for the wealthy," Peko explained. "... Their original goal was preservation. They wanted to protect the world’s culture, heritage, language, and art in the event that the Night of the Red Moon destroyed everything. They were archiving civilization, ensuring those who would come after wouldn’t have to start from zero."

[Rich doomsday preppers hoarding history.]

"They started with good intentions," Peko continued, "... and because of that, they received massive, open support from major countries, powerful sects and organizations, and even the Pantheon itself. They had both limitless funding and universal backing. But about fifteen hundred years ago, they fell to an Eldritch God."

I frowned, leaning closer to the screen. "Just like that? A bunch of rich dude with good intentions suddenly decide to worship an Eldritch God?"

"No one knows exactly when or how it happened," Peko answered without a shift in her expression. "...But their objective entirely inverted. They went from seeking to preserve the world’s legacy to operating as a terror organization seeking to hasten its end via the Night of the Red Moon. They believe this god will grant them a place as the new rulers of the next world, and they have the resources and the influence to actually do it."

[Of course. It always comes back to a delusional death cult.]

"As of now, they are officially outlawed across every nation," Peko added, her eyes narrowing slightly. "But because every major power supported them at one point, their roots run incredibly deep. Their ranks are entirely comprised of the wealthy elite, nobles, and politicians. It is universally believed that some elites in every nation at least have some ties to Entropy..."

"Yeah, at this point, you can never know which ancient noble family... or a wealthy merchant is secretly a part of Entropy." I said, slumping into the chair, "...They probably have paws just about everywhere."

"Indeed..." Peko nodded, "It will come as no surprise if they owned the banks, influenced the laws, and even funded the armies hunting them. Not even the Pantheon has been able to eradicate them, because peeling back Entropy means tearing out the foundation of society. And since they’re leadership is all wealthy elite, even looking at their way is difficult for the authorities."

I let out a heavy sigh, rubbing the back of my neck as a migraine started to throb behind my eyes.

[Fan-freaking-tastic. We aren’t just dealing with a gang of random thugs. We’re dealing with a fantasy version of the Illuminati backed by a doomsday god.]