Welcome to Gaia! ::

Tanto held up his hand, silencing the chattering creature. "Stop. You still have not identified yourself to us, or given us reason to do as you ask. For that matter, we do not have a reason not to simply leave, or make an attempt at killing you. So please, identify yourself and explain your position here."

For all his businesslike speech, Tanto was secretly excited. Necromantic Cypher? That was something he wanted, badly, to add to his inventory.

Lucifer's Testament?

The first key was here? On the Earth sphere, the entire time?

Tanto tried his hardest not to betray his internal excitement, but such was not possible. "It is fortuitous that was are here, then. The Necromantic Cypher will be retrieved, and I will begin unlocking the Testament."

He regarded the watcher with his bottomless violet eyes. "What else can you tell me about the Testament, and the Cypher? Be wary, if you lie I will erase you."

Yarah had to speak up now. "Okay now. How about we NOT unlock the Testament and just do our job?" Anything that had to do with Lucifer was not good. He might get himself beheaded by Tanto but eh. He was pretty sure he could block it and heal any damage he got. Probably.

And now they were dealing with a strong opponent that controlled undead. Greaaaaaaaat. I hate killing undead. Not a pleasant smell. At the same time, they were a little easier to deal with. Their bodies were slightly easier to manipulate and destroy. "Care to lead us down now?"

He carefully noted everything this watcher said. A power hungry Tanto was never a good Tanto to be around. Since everything the watcher said was interesting to the Demon-Major, then it doubly interested the Demon-Minor.

"This sounds like a setup that I am familiar with," Tanto said. "Again, we do not have proof of your identity. How are we to know that if we defeat the Devourer you named, you will not regain a measure of power and use it to take something that is not yours, such as the Cypher? Or that you will not kill us outright?"

He firmly placed his back to the stairs to demonstrate his point until he got answers.

Tanto stood and regarded the watcher carefully. It was true that he was powerful; indeed, Tanto had never seen that type of strength before. But that raised a very serious question.

"One final query," Tanto said. "If you are as strong as you appear, and able to do that, then why are we necessary?"

"The first problem is that the Cypher, as per the orders given to me by Lucifer, needs to be passed along that his Testament may find a suitable successor. Second is that the Devourer has removed my control of a large portion of this facility. It's imperative you be absolutely certain you've restored my control of lower levels before progressing, or else you may find this facility's powers turned against you as they were here - only without the benefit of my having done it solely as a demonstration, with the shields of your ship up."

"Yes, as you would be able to communicate with your toes once having them grafted back on after they were amputated," it replied. "As is, the first floor should be free of interference from me or the Devourer, if not free of our communication."

"He was... the Light," the construct answered. "He was the guide, the savior, so full of energy and purpose with the removal of destiny. He seeded us because we... we needed to manage his legacy. He was... going somewhere. He couldn't say where, or for what reason, but he needed to and he wasn't sure how long it would take...."