City of the Dead

by Vasily Mahanenko

  Time was running out, and that helped Tailyn forget the pain and dash forward. His lightning didn’t do much damage. Taking out a level 230 creature with it was an impossible task, but that wasn’t what the boy had in mind. All he needed to do was keep Lirhart stunned. With 49 charges left, he could do that for nearly half an hour, and that was enough time for his plan to work.

  Overcoming the absurdly low temperature, Tailyn made it over to the cold generators. It was impossible to describe how the air felt there. The heat coming from Lirhart mixed with the monstrous ice to create a strange kind of turbulence, cutting to the bone and simultaneously drawing a sweat with its incredible heat. An energy cable was connected to each generator. Grabbing one of them, the boy pulled as hard as he could, and something eventually snapped. Tailyn flew backwards onto the floor. One of the four generators was gone, and the area immediately felt much warmer.

  And that was Tailyn’s plan. Sending another bolt of lightning down on Lirhart, the boy went to work on the second generator. Then, the third. The moment the fourth sputtered to a stop, Lirhart’s red glow began to intensify, overheating until something incredible happened just a moment before it was going to melt itself to death.

  City of the Dead systems conserved. Load reduced by 99%.

  The light in the room died away, just one dim lamp and the boy’s cooling opponent remaining to illuminate the area. Tailyn realized he’d lost. Lirhart had found a way to survive without his cold generators, and the golem began making his way toward the boy once again, only without its previous sluggishness. To the contrary, it picked up speed with each passing second as if coming to life after the cold had died away. Tailyn sent another bolt of lightning crashing uselessly into Lirhart. Having conserved the city, the mechanism had earned itself immunity to electric damage, and the boy wasn’t going to be able to take a monster like that out even with a hundred level one cards.

  But then, it occurred to him that he didn’t need to do the damage. Lirhart could destroy itself.

  Ka-Li…

  You used Fireball-II.

  You did 162 damage to Lirhart, One’s senior minion.

  Mana -1 (536).

  The desk holding the workstation was large enough that the golem couldn’t reach across it. Its lethargy completely behind it, the enormous mechanism dashed after the boy, but its size did it in. Tailyn, who was nimble and flexible, ducked around the table like a mongoose while the golem was forced to either come to a halt or speed up and spin farther away from the desk. It couldn’t find the right speed to get around the table.

  Ka-Li… Ka-Li… Ka-Li…

  Tailyn kept a storm of fireballs hurtling in Lirhart’s direction, each hit boosting its temperature by three degrees. And while that might not have been much on its own, the boy already knew what kind of a fearsome weapon that could be. Especially against devices that weren’t able to cool themselves.

  Something started to happen when the card was down to fifteen charges. Lirhart’s metal body was red-hot yet again, both from Tailyn’s efforts and its own attempts to figure out a defense against the savage human. Lirhart didn’t know how many cards Tailyn had, though what it did know was that it wasn’t going to be able to take another hundred degrees. Right then, it decided to act.

  Tailyn himself wasn’t sure why he froze in place. There was a vague buzzing that made the boy stop and listen, and when the overjoyed golem spread its arms to finally grasp its prey, it met its end. The level 180 monster turned into a pile of metal chopped cleanly into tiny little pieces. Pain shot through Tailyn’s body, though the lesson of the golem told him he needed to stand there and take it no matter how bad it hurt.

  The whole room was filled with red wires…lines…rays? Tailyn wasn’t sure what to call them. They’d shot out of one wall and buried themselves in the other, no obstacle too great for them—both the golem and Tailyn’s body were pierced straight through. In fact, as the golem came after the boy, it pushed right through one of the threads and toppled to the ground, split right in half. And since there were lots of rays, the part of the creature that fell to the ground was diced up into even smaller pieces.

  Tailyn was hit, too. One ray pierced his immobile arm and shoulder. Any motion just widened the hole, intensifying the pain and suffering, and so the boy stood there motionless. He knew he would repeat the golem’s fate if he made the smallest move. The only thing that saved him was that he was behind and protected by Lirhart, who had carved out a line-free space for itself.

  The boy strained his eyes upward to see that the device was hot but still working. His left arm crept upward, pressing itself against his body and holding a card up to his mouth.

  Ka-Li.

  He was not about to give in. Even if he was split to pieces, he was still going to fry that bastard. There had to be enough charges.

  The world around faded, but Tailyn continued blowing on the card even when it had completely run out. The last remnants of willpower were all that was keeping him standing. Not knowing where he was finding the strength, he focused everything in him on not toppling over. Not then. He needed to hold out just a little longer.

  But the heat coming from Lirhart as the device overheated was unbearable, and Tailyn began to tremble. His legs gave out. His body fell to the ground. But there were no more red beams there to cut him up into much small little pieces of boy. Instead, the god pronounced its will, filling Tailyn’s vision with messages:

  Mission update: City of the Dead. You destroyed the sacrificial stone (terminal) in the underground level. From now on, One’s revival is in doubt—the city no longer has a single sacrificial stone capable of swallowing up human essence and transferring it to the protective dome. Continue by blocked off access to One’s tomb for all living things.

  Your group receives a reward: +1 to a random skill.

  Alchemy (Magic Enhancement Elixir) +1 (2).

  ***

  Attention!

  Lirhart sent a request for help.

  New opponents will arrive in the City of the Dead in 12 hours.

  Prepare to meet them.

  ***

  You completed an additional mission for Search for Coordinates by destroying Lirhart, One’s senior minion.

  Your group receives a reward: +1 to a random skill.

  Alchemy (Mana Restoration Potion) +1 (3).

  ***

  You destroyed a creature at least 200 levels above you.

  All your attributes and skills were increased by 1.

  Status change: combat complete.

  ***

  All security systems in the city were disconnected after Lirhart’s death.

  ***

  You were severely injured.

  Time for full recovery: 5 hours.

  That was the last thing Tailyn saw before sweet darkness took him. He’d won, and he was going to live. Nothing else mattered. Although… What about the loot? Was he going to get any?

  Chapter 19

  “DON’T TOUCH HIM—he’ll be better soon.” Valanil’s voice broke through the blackness, and Tailyn opened his eyes. Something didn’t seem right, so he sat up and looked around.

  “Careful! Your wounds haven’t closed yet,” the herbalist said, and Tailyn finally realized what was off. He was in the main hall of the palace’s upper level. Not underground.

  “I had the girls carry you here.” Valanil nodded in the direction of the numericals, who were huddling together and jumping at every noise they heard. “Dort is down there trying to break into at least one room. So, you picked up the third mage outfit, did you? Not bad, congratulations. What happened down there? Why did the energy suddenly shut off in the city?”

  “There’s nothing down there!” Dort roared angrily. Tailyn just about cursed when part of the wall lifted to reveal the elder’s son.

  “That’s an elevator,” Valia explained. She was sitting next to Tailyn and saw the shocked look on his face. “They brought you up that way. Wait, don’t tell me you’ve never seen one befor
e!”

  “Where would he have?” Dort asked with a contemptuous snort as he tried to stay as far away from the girl as possible. “He’s used to pigs and dirt. Father can’t wait to kick him out of the house, so we just have to get back to town. We’ll have a long talk there.”

  After glancing unpleasantly at the girl, Dort went over to the charred remains of the stairs and looked up, checking to see how he could get up to the next floor.

  “Hey, you three,” he called over to the numericals with a wave of his hand. “Get over here! You climb onto her shoulders, you hold her up, and I’ll climb up you. What are you waiting for? Hop to!”

  Tailyn was shocked by his nerve, but he took his cue from Valanil—she thought nothing of what Dort was doing, so he left well enough alone, too. The girls followed orders obediently. As soon as they were in position, the boy clambered up them easily to get to the second floor.

  “Ah-ha!” came his happy shout. “There’s plenty to grab up here!”

  “No, I’ve never seen an elevator,” Tailyn said before turning to Valia. “Did you save me?”

  “You saved yourself—don’t embarrass the girl,” Valanil said, having given up on getting answers to her questions. Forian had apparently done a good job teaching his student how to hold his tongue. But that was fine—she was still going to crack him. They just needed to get back. “Where’s the lix?”

  “Gone,” Tailyn replied and glowered at the open door. The portal was out there in the square.

  “All the better. Okay, kids, have we figured out how to get home, yet?”

  Suddenly, Tailyn figured out what had been bothering him the whole time. There was a timer counting down the time to the attack at the top of his field of vision, and there were just ten minutes left. Had he really laid there unconscious for almost twelve hours?

  “Black lixes are going to be showing up soon,” the boy yelled as he leaped to his feet. “We have to get out of here!”

  “Where are we supposed to go?” Valanil asked, cooling the boy’s ardor. “There are thousands of inferior minions surrounding the city, and you don’t have enough charges on your cards to kill them all. The city is cut off. There’s no outlet to the surface. All we have is the air around us, and it’s generated by a purification plant. We’re in a trap, Tailyn. The only way out is that portal, only it leads right into the lix’s lair. Black, green, greenish-purple, it doesn’t matter. They’ll kill us, regardless.”

  “Hide! Get up to the second level! I’m not sure, but we have to go somewhere,” the worried boy said. “They’ll be here in ten minutes!”

  Valanil tensed up—Tailyn was too nervous. And when he started recharging his cards and putting them in the right order with shaking hands, she caught his agitation.

  “How many of them will there be?” she asked as she looked over in the direction of the portal. Yes, it was thicker than it had been a few hours before. Someone was about to use it.

  “I don’t know!” Tailyn replied. He was on the verge of tears, woefully unprepared to handle that kind of responsibility. With barely enough mana to recharge his cards, the remainder wasn’t going to cover what he needed to spend the entirety of his Fireball-II. Of the 150 mana he needed, he only had 120. He was basically out.

  Attention!

  The first wave of black lixes will arrive in 10 minutes. (The time was reduced by 7 hours per the agreement with One).

  Opponents: 20. Levels: 7–15.

  “I’m inviting you all to the group!” Valia realized what was going on and decided to get everyone on the same team. “It’ll be easier to see what’s happening with everyone that way.”

  “Good idea,” Valanil replied. “Make me the leader.”

  “I’m not—” The girl was about to stand up for herself when the herbalist cut in.

  “We could argue about who’s in charge, but we don’t have time for that. Believe me, I have more experience than you. My team made it through to the third round at the academy arena. Can you say that?”

  “No,” Valia said uncomfortably as she made the changes to the group settings.

  New group leader: Valanil Revolt.

  The last thing the herbalist was expecting was what popped up in front of her. The numericals were just as useless and expendable as their names suggested, nothing more than meat shields if it came down to hand-to-hand combat. They had neither shields nor attack. And while the lixes ate them, the rest of the group could decide what to do next. Dort was still off somewhere above them. Judging by the sounds he was making, the kid was trying to break down yet another door. But it was the remaining two that were the most intriguing. Valia was at level nine, though Valanil would have placed her at level fourteen or even fifteen based on her parameters. And as far as Tailyn was concerned… The boy knew how to surprise. The woman wasn’t sure if it was a pleasant surprise or not, but they at least finally had a shot at surviving. A glance over his stats put him right at the threshold for level eighteen. But he was still level one, and that made Valanil nervous. She didn’t like surprises.

  “We need a rope,” the herbalist said as if she knew something. Still, she grunted when Tailyn just pulled a coil out of his inventory without asking any questions. And it was thick enough for even the useless girls to climb up, not to mention her.

  “Dort, get over here! We need your help!” she yelled, though the elder’s son just ignored her and kept battering away at the door.

  “Valia?” Valanil motioned over at the numericals and then up at the hole in the ceiling.

  “Got it,” the girl replied with a nod as she grabbed the rope.

  “Tailyn, we need time to regroup and dig in. Can you take care of the first wave?”

  “Yes!” he replied fervently as he looked his cards over. It was a crazy feeling, but the woman he considered the pinnacle of wisdom needed his help. “The lixes aren’t good against electricity, and my card is completely charged.”

  “Take care of them, and them come over to where we are. We’ll hide on the second floor—it’ll be easier to hold off the rest of the attacks from there.”

  “How many will there be?” That was the question on the forefront of Tailyn’s mind.

  “Usually three or four, with each much more dangerous than the previous one. So, get ready. I hope your mana has enough time to recharge in the breaks between the waves.”

  Valia easily made her way up to the second floor, secured one end of the rope, and tossed the other end back down to the rest of the group. The nameless girls were first up. Valanil grunted as she gave them a shove—even that bit of physical activity was too much for them.

  Tailyn stepped out of the palace and headed in the direction of the portal. By the time the timer had counted down to three seconds, he’d covered half the distance and stopped. There was no point going any further. Pulling out his deck as he battled his fear, he blew on a card.

  Ka-Li.

  You used Wave of Fire-I 5 times.

  Charges remaining: 45 of 50.

  For a couple seconds, nothing happened, and the boy started to wonder if he’d made a mistake and wasted valuable resources. But that was when the shadows started popping out of the portal. They rushed toward the palace, only they were met by devastating fire cast by a powerful mage instead of open air.

  You destroyed 19 creatures at least 10 levels above you.

  You receive a boost to a random attribute.

  Regeneration +1 (3).

  ***

  The second wave of black lixes will arrive in 1 minute.

  Opponents: 50. Levels: 15–20.

  Tailyn read the message with surprise and stared at the shimmering red icon with the crossed swords. Why nineteen, when there had been twenty opponents? Where was the last one? And why wasn’t the combat complete? How was he supposed to charge his cards? What was going on?

  The boy wasn’t ready for a new set of problems. Casting a glance over at the palace, he saw that the numericals were almost up—the third was clambering up th
e rope with Valanil’s help. But time was running short, and Tailyn decided to head back to the portal. A couple seconds later, another fifty lixes were going to jump out. And they were higher-level, too, which meant he was going to need more fire.