Cult of Corruption: The Summoning
Cult of Corruption: The Summoning (CoC:S) is one of the massive novels written by American author, Brandon Somerville. In the first series of fourteen novels, CoC:S was the fourth released novel, and is the sixth of the timeline. It takes place, as all the novels do, in the fictional universe known as the Anaxverse. It was originally published on the 8th of May 2018.
Title and Publication
Mr. Somerville originally published CoC:S as an interactive novel with adult elements. In the future, he will be writing all the novels as ebooks. In the original versions, they are written in a second-person perspective as the author felt it worked best in a "choose your own adventure" setting. However, in the ebook form, the novels will be written in the third person allowing for far more insight and exposition. When originally published, the novel garnered much praise from the online communities on which it was posted. It remains one of Somerville's more popular novels.
Plot Summary
The Anaxverse series of novels can be read in any order, even though they follow a certain chronology. But, because the novels overlap and the stories are all interconnected in meaningful ways, it does not matter the order they are read. This novel in particular has multiple branching paths, dependent on Bo's corruption level. This plot summary will be with respect to a pure playthrough.
Plot
Cult of Corruption: The Summoning takes place in the perspective of Bo Wyatt. The game takes place in Dallas, Texas where Bo is quickly heading towards a ceremony he is late for. We learn that Bo has lived a lazy life, but has recently come upon a set of powers granted to him by a tome. He tried a love spell on a woman he has been infatuated with, Karen McAllen. It didn’t work, but a ritual he will undergo should help bring her views into his. We meet his friend, Raymond Goldstein, who helps Bo with the ritual. With a bound Karen, Bo reads the incantation, and ends up summoning Nergal. Nergal swallows Karen’s soul, and promises her to Bo. Bo starts to realize what he did wrong, and after a confused kiss with Karen, runs from the ritual site. He heads to his parents’ house, where he accidentally corrupts his mother Beverly Wyatt with the corruption he caught from Karen. His emotions tear anew, confused about the corrupting power he now possesses. Hearing his mother speak to Ray, Bo quickly leaves the house.
Bo flees, and continues to battle the corruption within him. He lets it overpower him at the bank, where he infects a teller. He seeks shelter with his friend Celeste Brighton; with her is Devany Sullivan. Bo chooses one to stay with, and on non-pure playthroughs, will have variations in the novel. The choice does not matter in pure playthroughs. Regardless of who he chose, with restraint, Bo will flee their house. He goes to find Bobbi Jo Dunn, a strong woman he feels can help. She ends up already being infected, and Bo continues to run away from the infection. As Bo runs through the city, he glimpses more and more corrupted people sexually engaging in the streets. This includes a BDA agent, Agent Getty who begs Bo to infect her. As Bo flees further into the city, he spots corruption invading city places including: the library, police station, and the hospital. He retreats to his friend Adria’s house, where he spends the night. As he sleeps, the corruption progresses, and Bo subconsciously corrupts Adria. Realizing what he did, he retreats again.
Bo encounters more and more infected throughout the city. He finds Devany, whom has been infected by his own mother. Realizing the evil Bo has brought upon the city, he goes to turn himself in at the BDA headquarters. There he meets Walter Riley. He is told he shouldn’t have been able to resist the corruption for this long, and he could be helpful. They discover Agent Getty was doublecrossing them, and agree to trust Bo. In the war room, he finds Celeste, who has been using her hacking skills to be of use. Discovering the government is going to bomb the city, Bo agrees to try to face Nergal head on, doing what he can to prevent that bombing.
Discovering Nergal is being summoned at a mansion, the BDA and Bo make their way there. They run over infected blocking the way. They make their way to the mansion, and find Nergalian Demons. They fight through the creatures, and make their way into the mansion. Inside, Bo gets separated from the group, and finds a heavily distorted version of Ray. Ray brings Bo to an underground lair, where Bo sees an uninfected version of Karen. She seduces him, but as they finish, his vision returns of a heavily infected Karen. She states the avatar of Nergal is now in her womb. In a quick turn of fate, Bo produces a spell, without the assistance of the tome. Karen shouts that Nergal is born, as blue light erupts everywhere. As the light dissipates, Karen is normal again. She feels regret for everything she has infected, and proceeds with Bo back to the BDA. The novel ends with Bo and Karen holding hands, as the sky turns green.
