by John Gold
A minute went by, and then a second and a third, and it began to hit Leon that he was losing troops. They weren’t dying; they were disappearing into portal-like flashes. Nobody could tell what was going on or where his guards were disappearing to. As their numbers kept dropping, he still couldn’t figure out the answer, and he didn’t have time to read the message he was being sent.
Finally, there were just ten dead paladins left. Sagie stood there waiting for Rachel to resurrect them.
“Go ahead, I can wait.” She had no idea what was going on, but she decided against resurrecting them. “Fine. In that case, I’m going to go have a talk with Nate.”
A divine spear, a spell from the large pantheon arsenal, slammed into Sagie’s back, doing fifty million physical, electric, and mental damage. The stained-glass windows all shattered; the remains of the paladins were smeared across the floor. The façade on the walls crumbled, and chunks of ceiling fell to the floor.
The dust settled to reveal Sagie standing right where he’d been hit by the divine spear. His shield was hovering behind him—that was apparently what had absorbed the damage.
“I figured you’d take a shot at my back. Actually, I’m more surprised Rachel didn’t join you.”
But how? How was it possible to survive a hit that did 150 million damage? There wasn’t a shield in the world capable of that, to say nothing of all the magic shields belonging to the gods in the large pantheon.
The only part of the façade that survived the strike was, by some miracle, the main temple doors. The three-meter wooden constructions swung open to reveal two statues resembling Sagie and Femida. Nate, paralyzed, was lying face-down, only able to see the shoes on their stone feet.
“Well, Nate, time’s up. Remember that altar? Remember how you sacrificed me on it? No? Come on, I’ll remind you.”
Femida silently watched Sagie drag the grown man over by the scruff of his neck. Rachel made just the slightest move, but that was enough for Femida to place her long sword at the saint’s neck.
“Don’t be stupid. You’ll have your turn.”
Rachel could do nothing but stand where she was. She couldn’t even log out of the game—your character stood there for another hour if you logged out during battle, a completely defenseless shell any woman could kill. Each death meant losing 10% of her divine strength, and she’d already died three times. It wasn’t worth risking it for nothing.
Leon blocked Sagie’s path to the altar. He’d already realized that the mage had somehow been teleporting his players somewhere else, and he’d decided to kill Nate himself before Sagie could. Leon was already readying the divine sword he’d made, aiming it for Nate’s head, when the stone under his feet turned into a bog. His swing missed. Sagie kicked Leon into the filth.
“You have no idea how to fight. Just wait there—we’ll talk in a bit.”
Nate was chucked onto the sacrificial altar. The statue of Leon flared its eyes, as if ready to receive the blow.
“You feeling okay? Anything hurt? What’s that? The stone is cold? Okay, let’s fix that.”
Leon just had time to stand up and see Sagie lop Nate’s head off with his own sword. A flash, and the body disappeared.
The main altar was destroyed. Nate didn’t reply in the chat. The only people left at the altar were Rachel, pinned in a corner by Femida, and Leon. Sagie walked over to the latter.
The young man looked the god in the eye and smiled. Leon just turned the situation over and over in his mind, trying to figure out how to survive.
“I’m going to kill you, Leon. I’m going to take everything you care about, destroy your cult, kill everyone who means anything to you. The very idea of your existence, your reason for living will be ground into dust. And not just in this world. I’m going to take everything from you, and your parents will be first. You took mine, after all. Goodbye, Leon.”
Sagie swung his sword, Leon screwed his eyes shut, and nothing happened. When the god opened his eyes, he and Rachel were alone in the room. A crowd of reporters, guards, and bystanders were rushing up to the temple.
His head spun. Rachel couldn’t say anything, and Leon dove into his thoughts. When the first people peered into the temple, he opened a portal to his island in the astral and disappeared. Rachel was surrounded by guards to keep the reporters away.
“What was it like to survive a meeting with Bloody Sagie himself?”
“What did Project Chrysalis’ living legend want from you?”
“Did he become a god? Is the apocalypse coming?”
Rachel was so stunned that she could only think of one thing to say.
“He looked so scruffy!”
***
Back on my astral island, Femida and I break out laughing as the stress bursts out of us. Ah, I’ve wanted to do that for so long! In just one day, I did everything I’ve been dreaming about for years. I destroyed Leon’s belief in his own omnipotence, looked Rachel in the eye, and destroyed the city that was the reason my parents died. The promise I made to the archmage helped me do the maximum amount of damage to Airis Castle. I was even able to fight off the shapeshifting mage.
When Femida stops laughing, she asks me a question.
“Where did you send the paladins? I’ve never heard of battle spells for teleporting people.”
“To Hell.”
“How? I mean, how is that even possible?”
“Remember the Sefirot I drew on the floor of the lab? While you were farming bots on the surface, I was busy making a discovery. Basically, my new tattoo is the key that opens a portal to Hell. The victim needs to be killed somewhere deeply linked to a god, though anything will do as long as you have the right concentration of divine energy. The rest is simple. I’m a walking altar, and I can send people to Hell just by killing them with my sword after activating the tattoo.”
“Why don’t you get sent to Hell along with them?”
“Because it isn’t a ritual, and I’m not using a spell. The only requirement is that I have to be in contact with the target that’s supposed to be teleported out. My sword is part of me, so that’s good enough.”
“And why did you send so many people to Hell? What happens if a bunch of people like you come crawling out the other side? What were you thinking?”
“Fem, it isn’t that simple. When we made your spear, you opponents in the astral matched your level and abilities. It was the same thing for me when I made my weapons and everything else. That’s why I decided not to make them this time. Anyway, Hell is the same kind of place—it matches your strength, skills, and level. My opponents were a good 200 to 1000 levels above me. Beating them is impossible, which makes surviving just one day in Hell incredibly hard. Believe me, you don’t just get one creature coming to greet you; you get a whole crowd. Plus, every circle in Hell has its own guards, and they can sense intruders.”
“But they’re paladins!”
“And what can paladins do without their god? Also, when I got to the devil in the ninth circle, he congratulated me and told me I passed the test. I think Hell is an area for special tests that gives you rewards if you pass them—abilities that have to do with your consciousness and body amplification. How many people do you think there are in the world who have just two streams of consciousness? I can’t help but notice that you aren’t surprised Project Chrysalis can give abilities like that to simple people. I imagine you won’t tell me how you know what you know, either.”
Femida doesn’t want to continue that conversation, though I can tell she knows a lot more than she’s letting on. I’m absolutely sure she’s from Lunar now. There can’t be any other explanation.
“Let’s not talk about that,” she replies finally. “Why don’t you tell me why you left them alive. Leon participated in the death of your parents, and Rachel betrayed you. It’s her fault you were sent to Hell.”
“You think I’m just being kind? I’m going to find them in real life and tear away everything they have. What do you think will hap
pen when the paladins die in Hell and lose their characters? What will happen if Nate dies and makes a new character? He’ll probably come back to Leon looking for his old job, though I don’t think any of them will trust Leon the way they used to. When someone is devoted to an idea, all you have to do is stomp on it to break them. I want people to think about what I’ve been through. I want them to start asking questions. My conversation with Kirk and sending the paladins to Hell are two steps toward solving one problem. And killing Nate robs Leon of his right arm. My ultimate goal is to destroy the belief people have in Leon, in his cult, his strength, his qualities as a leader. I’m not in a hurry, Fem. I can wait a year, five years, ten years. Empires can only be destroyed from the inside, and I’m just going to be the seed of doubt.”
“You ruined the lives of a whole crowd of people. You destroyed a city, killed local people, demolished the altar of a god. Don’t you feel any responsibility for that?”
“My conscience is clear. I take responsibility for what I do, but not in the way you’re thinking. I take personal responsibility, not social responsibility. If anyone comes looking for revenge, I’ll strike back. Do wolves apologize for eating the sheep?”
***
Tiamat was reading the Wanderer Times. The day before, Krash had come back with a very pleased expression on his face, and he’d sat at the window all day long without saying a word. Even Idzumi petted his kiir, who purred away.
Turning the page, Tiamat started reading an article written by an unfamiliar reporter.
Sagie appeared near Airis out of the blue, bursting into the city, killing the locals, and even knocking off Golden Hand officials. After destroying every line of defense the clan castle had to offer, he met Leon in the god’s main temple in Imir. He disappeared without a fight, however.
Sagie has a new nickname: the Mystery. This also has something to do with his loose, unsystematic fighting style, not to mention the weapon nobody has ever seen before. Most eyewitnesses are dead or driven mad by the scale of the horror they witnessed, so reliable information is impossible to come by.
During the storm of the temple, Sagie met St. Rachel, though everybody has a different theory as to why he didn’t kill her. Rachel herself has said nothing since her pronouncement about his disheveled looks.
The offices of Best Top, Inc., have been buzzing with arguments about whether to place Sagie at the top of the list of strongest fighters in the world. He disappeared from Leon’s temple, so he isn’t really active. Everybody agreed that he was unbeatable, however, and because of that, Sagie becomes the world top-ranked single player, edging out the White Eel of Venus.
What occurred five years ago has happened again: Sagie vanished without a trace after the battle for Airis Castle. Most of the stories people tell about meeting him are just rumors that are impossible to confirm. Some say he hated the Kreigen clan, though, again, that can’t be proven. In a word, Sagie is a monster who begins and ends in mystery. The players all wait anxiously to see what the monster will do next.
Tiamat put down his paper and looked over at the happy shapeshifter. His race was lucky to have such an incredible fighter.
***
Bernard was sitting on the balcony of his small house. The island was his home, a present from his brothers and sisters. Ever since they’d all been sent back to be reborn, he’d spent a lot of time there relaxing alone.
Almost nine years had passed since the wanderers first appeared in the world. He’d spent that time building the Black Rose clan, fostering leaders, guiding their development. When the last of the gods left, Bernard stepped back, handing the reins over to his successor. He rarely went out on raids those days. His brothers and sisters worked alone, only getting together when they had a good reason to.
Recently, Bernard had grown tired of the big world, so he’d withdrawn to his island. He had a canopy of invisibility and protection from seeker spirits.
“It’s nice here.”
The god leaped up from his chair, stunned that he was no longer alone.
“It’s been a while, Bernard. You’ve really done a lot of work on yourself, and I see you still like dragon-bone staffs.”
Sagie and Femida were standing in front of him.
Bernard had always known this day would come. The quest he’d handed out to find the book in Teurus’ temple had never been closed.
“Thanks for the interesting read. I mean Gunther Moro’s Belief and Its Meaning in Our World. The author was clearly a wanderer from another era, and he thought belief in the gods was something humankind only needed at a certain stage of our development. Society only needed the gods between the primitive and high-tech eras. Divine will explained everything we couldn’t understand, though technological and scientific advances robbed the gods of their strength and therefore the respect people had for them. I get it now. You knew your era was over when the wanderers showed up. Smart! And that’s why you and the other gods wiped out any record of them, all mention of this book and its ideas, even anything that came close. Bravo! The only problem is that I have to assume you know Talamei and Miridia.”
Bernard’s eyes widened ever so slightly. He’d almost held it in, but Sagie could tell anyway.
“I can see that you do, and that means they were sent back to be reborn. Please let them know that I’m going to find them and send them to the Gray Lands.”
“You’re alone against the world!”
A red stake appeared in Sagie’s hands. It was the same as the one the god had once been killed with, only smaller. Bernard’s heart skipped a beat.
“I see you recognize this little guy. And that means you’ve been to the Gray Lands. Hey…when you go there, can you take anything with you? Your bone staff, for example? Answer me, otherwise you’ll be on your way there yourself before your time.”
“Only the soul leaves. Material items can’t get in.”
“Hm, I thought so.”
Sagie let the hand with the stake drop and turned to walk away with a sad expression on his face. Femida pulled out an identical stake and drove it into his back. The young man fell, twitched a few times, and dissolved into a flash of light, leaving Femida to quickly gather his things and dive into a glowing teleport.
The former god of war plopped down into his chair, trying to figure out what had just happened. Gunter Moro’s book, Belief and Its Meaning in Our World, was lying on the table next to him. The quest had been completed.
***
Your soul was sent to the Gray Lands.
There is no respawn point. If you die in the Gray Lands, your soul will be held in a soul crystal belonging to the Lord of the Domain and used as an energy source.
New world structure: 5th level
Fifth sequence limiter activated
Current location: House of Wrath
End of Book Three
Book Recommendations:
Thank you for reading this book.
Book 4 is out for order now.
If you enjoyed it then please join our Facebook group.
I would like to also introduce you to some other great works.
What would a badass and successful fighter think about being transferred into the body of a helpless and powerless child in Urban Tokyo of another world? His entire family is left behind in another universe, and he is now alone with only his bare hands to protect himself. Why not find out in the epic new novel Changing Masks by Nicholas Metelsky.
Fayroll by Andrey Vasilyev is an exciting adventure story about Harriton Nikiforov, a journalist forced to write a story about the newest online craze ‘Fayroll’. Along the way he meets a variety of interesting characters and finds a life changing epic quest that will change his life forever. This series was a best seller in Russia when first published.
Fayroll:
More Than a Game
The Road East
Winds of Fate
Gong and Chalice
Sicilian Defense
Under the Black Flag
&nbs
p; Different Sides
The Crown and the Key
Word and Steel
The Right to Choose
I also want to recommend Realm of Arkon, a great series written by a friend of mine: G. Akella. He is one of the most popular and best-selling LitRPG authors in Russia. Book one is currently available for free until the end of the month on Amazon.
Andy finds himself in a life and death struggle as he must adapt to his new environment and undergo the ancient ritual to become a Dragon to survive after accidentally falling through a portal to another world. Read this exciting adventure now by the best-selling author Alex Sapegin available on Amazon:
Becoming the Dragon
Wings on my Back
A Cruel Tale
Crown of Horns
Home at Last
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