Chapter 54 of 74 · Book 6, The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

Chapter 54 — Demon Eviction

Book: The Eye of the Bedlam Bride · Part: The Bedlam · Previous: Chapter 53 — Flee rules · Next: Chapter 55 — Survival Royale · Floor: Floor 8 — The Ghosts of Earth · Series: the series

Opening

<Note Added by Crawler Priestly.

Summary

Priestly (14th): conscripted, facing the orcs, 'Stab, stab, stab'; the bugbears wonder aloud whether the gods will notice the bloodbath, and he writes that here they do: 'The gods notice when the toll is too great. They add themselves to the fray'; proof to him that in reality we are alone, three hundred of his people left from millions; 'I hope there is music, in the end.' Drakea: don't read his last entry — he does not make it to the battle once he sees what happened to Larracos. 'Fuck them all.' — Elle: 'She has a martyr complex […] Don't let her sacrifice herself.' Rain, potholes, Samantha squealing on the bars; the bike stowed for stealth ('The vibrations make it tingle'). Five miles from Ines's exit; Quan's nail traps disabled by Imani. Distant singing like Bea's yoga Gregorian chants. Samantha as recon in the head-thrower: glowing in flight, stronger as the floor goes on — goddess of unrequited love, or of the dead? ('Apparently they got to third base.' 'He's dead now.') Her report: a party at Yarilo's with less sex and no catering ('HELLIK'S WERE MUCH BETTER. HE ALWAYS HAD CANAPÉS'); a giant freshwater snake coiled on the shore, zombie baby seals and crabs crawling on it, living seals singing and crabs dancing round it, zombie fish and gulls, the ocean frothing red — and 'THE CAT LADY RIDING ON THE SNAKE'S HEAD', reciting poetry ('ALL POETRY SUCKS […] UNLESS IT'S PART OF A SONG'). Quest Failed: The Chowder War. New quest, Hell Comes to Crawler Town: Ines's warning turned a sneak attack into a war of attrition; 'an armistice is nothing more than a delay […] an overdue bill'; 'hell is not just a place. It is a contagion […] But worst of all, it attracts'; so much death has drawn the underworld's notice — 'This, I'm starting to learn, happens out there, too. But that's for another day'; forgotten gods risen, the Nothing breached again ('those who banished the harem there'), gods summoned involuntarily and acting strangely; this normally happens only on the fields outside Larracos where the Semeru built on the roots of the All Tree, never this early; 'Hell really wants to come play' — and some dumbass dumped contagious zombie livestock into an ocean that connects everything; demons need a weakened shell, and a zombie will do. Win by not dying and not being dragged to hell; a Legendary Quest Box and bagpipes (Donut gets a kilt). System: 'Souls rain. Sheol overflows' — Demon Eviction: the fallen and weakened subject to random possession, mass events in large battles, evicted demons returning only by dragging a soul down; Cuba is having one. 'Demons aren't undead […] You ever see any of the Evil Dead movies?' Mordecai: this belongs to the end of the ninth floor and will come earlier every floor now, part of the Ascendency setup, and could wreck Faction Wars; behead or pocket every kill; no grappling with weak undead; dead-dead corpses can take powerful demons; a grab, a portal, Sheol, death for both. 'If she's pulled into hell, her body will explode, and you'll never get the key.' Traps flung, Wisp Armor against charm, Clockwork Triplicate on Mongo, the sailor hat on; Second Chance on corpses shelved. Samantha's mission: roll up the snake and chomp the nun. 'YOU ARE VERY WISHY WASHY.' 'DO IT NOW, CARL! I WILL HELP WITH THE SPELL!' The xistera recalls her. 'I didn't jump back far enough.'

Characters

• Carl — Reads a new quest; sends a head to bite a nun; recalls it.
• Samantha — Glowing recon; third base with a dead badger; the chomp.
• Princess Donut — Poets should wear berets; a kilt.
• Sister Ines — On a sea serpent's head, reciting, ringed by singing seals and zombie pups.
• Mordecai — Demon Eviction rules; the Ascendency setup arriving early.
• Elle McGibbons — 'The best person I ever met.'
• Imani — Traps cleared; a weird quest.

Locations

• The Cuban coast — A red frothing sea, a coiled serpent, a shore of guts and dancing crabs.

Motifs

• Demon Eviction — Sheol overflowing; possession of the weakened; a soul for a ticket home.
• The Chowder War — Failed; an armistice as an overdue bill; children on both sides lost.
• The gods — Summoned involuntarily, acting strangely; 'This, I’m starting to learn, happens out there, too'
• Samantha's power — Carl's guess: stronger with every death; a body that might make her unmanageable.
• The Nothing — Breached again; the harem's jailers concerned.
• The all-tree — The Semeru castle on its roots outside Larracos.
• The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook — Priestly's second-to-last entry; Drakea's warning.
• Crawler on crawler — A card battle to steal a nun before hell does.