“Wait, this isn’t—” I stopped. What was I even going to say?
That I didn’t kill him?
It was very obvious, even to me, that I had been the one who had taken this man’s life. I remembered the feeling, of pushing my blade into his chest, of impaling his heart, of twisting the sword within his flesh. I remembered it vividly. I remembered it all.
Even though I didn’t want to.
I was the one who killed him.
“You killed him.” Freya said again, and this time her voice stronger.
I looked to the elf. “Yeah.”
Her hands still shook, and I didn’t know when they would stop. “So, you killed him.” she said, for the third time now.
I stepped to her. “Freya, listen.”
“No, Zoran!” She glared at me, and a sole tear streaked down her cheek. “You’ve been reckless. You haven’t cared even a little for what you’ve been doing. This is not some big mistake. It’s just the result of who you are turning into.”
“What?” I frowned.
Another tear dropped from her eyes. “You’re a man who doesn’t give a damn about life.”
My muscles tightened. “That’s taking it too far.”
“If I said something wrong, correct me.” The elf still shivered, but her eyes glared firmly into mine.
“It isn’t like I would have killed Heslia if I’d actually known it was him.”
Freya’s gaze darted between me and the dead elf. Her chest flexed multiple times, and the sounds of breathing hastened from her mouth, mere whispers in the wind.
“Listen,” I sighed. “This wasn’t meant to happen. None of us meant it. But it’s what ended up happening. Can we move on and work on what we came here for?”
Her fists clenched. “A man with no regard for life.”
“If that’s all you’re going to say then I’m sorry, but I have work to do.” I turned, glancing back down to the dead elf. My hands ran down his arms, and a mental pressure burst into my mind, disappearing as quick as it had appeared. But I’d gotten a taste of it. This was something strong.
I looked at the lava-filled lake, and then the dark skies. No one. I raised an eyebrow. Where is the mental pressure coming from?
My eyes dropped down to the dead elf, to his arm. The pressure soaked my mind once again, this time gentler than before. I caught the edge of his sleeve and tugged up.
I gasped.
Runes of jade-green were embedded into his dark skin. The hieroglyphics glowed dimly, slowly dying out. But for the moment, however, they were still alive and glowing.
“Ah.” A voice spoke into my mind. “Good. You found them.”
My teeth grinded against each other. You.
“Indeed. Me,” he chuckled. “How have you been?”
I stood up, jerking my head around. Where are you?!
“Nowhere near you. But don’t worry, I’ll see you soon, Diablo. Both I AND my green blade.” He laughed.
I froze, and the muscles around my heart tightened.
“Zoran?” Freya gripped my shoulder.
My eyes stuck to the ground. Green blade. The phrase replayed in my mind for what felt like a million times already.
“Zoran!” The elf shook me.
I snapped out of my daze. “Yeah,” I turned to her.
“You’re back.” She pulled back her arms, and stepped away. “Are you…okay?”
“Let’s move.” I stepped to the Dragon. “We don’t have much time.”
“Wait,” Freya said. “We’re just leaving him here?”
I sighed. “How do you want me to take him away?” I asked. “Put him in my inventory? I don’t think that’s possible.”
“It isn’t,” Nyx said.
“That…” She looked at the body. “We can’t just leave him here.”
“I can. You’re the one who’s attached to it.”
She frowned. “You don’t care about this then?”
“I care about something else more than I do about this. Yes. And if you’ll excuse me, we need to get to the volcano quickly, and we’ve just wasted a good ten minutes here.”
She glared at me. “Fine.” She stepped away from the body, her hands shaking as she did. I turned away from her and jumped up, seating myself atop Acnologia, in front of the Death Lord, who had for his part stayed quiet throughout this exchanged. The elf leapt up and seated herself in the gap between us, looking as reluctant as a person could.
I sighed. “Look. It’s not like I feel good about this either. But we simply can’t take Heslia with us on a mission that edges on so much more. If he’s still here when we get back, I’ll bring him.”
“I don’t care.” Her voice was flat.
Acnologia spread his wings and rose into the skies. The body of the fallen dark elf shrunk before my eyes and then disappeared from view.
I bit my lip. “Ijyela doesn’t need to hear about this right now, okay?”
The elf said nothing.
I glanced back at her. “Look. She’s looking up a ton of information that we need at the moment. If she finds out something like this happened, she’s going to feel conflicted, no matter how much she believes in me. We can’t let emotion sway such a large part of this mission.”
“It wouldn’t hurt you to feel a bit guilty,” she whispered.
I sighed and turned around. This did not go well.
“It really wouldn’t hurt for you to feel a little guilty,” Nyx said.
You too? I frowned. Seriously?
“Diablo,” the Dragon’s voice rumbled. “Those runes…”
Yeah. I happily took the change in topic. They were binding runes.
“Damn,” Nyx muttered. “So, he was being forced.”
Seems like it. That would make the most sense as well. I don’t think Heslia was the kind to turn against me, no matter what the stakes.
“That’s true,” he said. “So, the Time Lord has probably been messing around with the Dark elves in this area. He must be behind the skeleton thing as well.”
Seems likely. But why would he use the elves? He has an army of Eternals, doesn’t he?
“They’re all dead, you idiot. The Dark Lord told us that. Even these things you thought were Eternals were just elves.”
Well, the runes gave a feedback similar to an Eternal.
“I know. It’s…unfortunate.”
A volcano rose off the horizon, and smoke streamed from the very top, rising up past the clouds. How active is that thing?
“Hopefully not enough to shoot lava into the air.”.
A part of me was concerned. Not about the volcano, no. But that I’d just killed a close friend’s brother and not felt a thing after it. Sure, he was the one who had attacked me, and I hadn’t really had a choice other than to take him down.
Or did I?
Either way, it seemed like there was at least a tad of fault on my side here. But I was nonetheless completely normal.
I felt no guilt at all.
My chest tightened. What am I becoming?
The entire volcano came into view now. “Damn, that’s big,” Nyx said.
Yeah. My eyes scanned upwards from the base. Easily ten miles high.
Acnologia lifted us up as we neared the slope, making up for the sharp ascent.
“The entry to the Chamber we want is much higher up,” the Death Lord said, and I nearly jumped in my spot.
I smiled. Totally forgot he was here.
“He IS a quiet one,” Nyx said.
“What does the entrance look like?” Freya asked.
“A simple opening,” he said. “It will be a little hard to spot out, but I will lead you to it.”
I nodded, and directed my attention back to the slope. Dark rocks were scattered along the surface, most of them stuck to the structure, and others loosely holding on. Winds spilled from the Dragon’s wings, swirling around loose pebbles and pushing them down the incline.
I watched as they fell, rolling down the dark surface, t
owards the red lava beneath. Was it Acnologia’s fault those pebbles will hit the lava? Should he feel guilty about that?
“What the heck are you talking about?” Nyx asked.
I shook my head. Nothing.
“Go a hundred yards to the left and keep rising,” the Death Lord said.
The Dragon did the same, extending his wings out and strafing to the left. He quickly broke his position and rose up the slope once again. Dust flew up from the mountainside, kicked up Acnologia’s wings.
A couple of seconds later the Dark Lord pointed up. “There.”
My gaze followed his finger. A dark crevice sat in the mountainside, twice as wide as the Dragon, and four times as long.
“Wow,” I said. “Didn’t expect that to be here.”
“Neither had I,” the Death Lord said.
Acnologia hovered right above the crevice, sending his winds into it. I stared into the structure, at the darkness flowing within. I activated my Night Vision skill, and the sights inside emerged—rocky walls and a never-ending crevice.
“Head in?” Nyx asked.
I nodded. “Head in.”
The Dragon retracted his wings and lowered down, gently at first. He eased his way into the crevice, and then extended his wings out again, glancing at either side of his body first before he did. He glided down slowly, staying stagnant at one level for a second and then easing down a good twenty yards before doing it again.
The light above us quickly disappeared from view, too far away now to be more than a fading speck of white. The darkness beneath didn’t dissolve either. In fact, it just grew worse.
As expected.
We went down for another five minutes, and my Night Vision finally picked out the looks of a floor beneath us. A few seconds later, I confirmed that’s what it was. Acnologia eased himself onto the surface below, and we jumped off him.
A quick gaze told me we were in a narrow pathway inside the volcano. All light had left this section now, and darkness roamed the air.
“Zoran, do I use my light?” Freya asked.
“No, don’t,” I said. “Death Lord, you can use Night Vision correct?”
“Of course.”
“Good, then between the two of us, we should be able to lead Freya.”
I grabbed the elf by the wrist. “Come on,” I said, pulling her along with me as we moved forward. Her hand felt tense in my grip, but I pretended to not notice and continued moving.
Mist spewed into the corridors, not enough to fill the place up, and the puffs still rose up to my waist. That isn’t a good sign.
“This was in here the last time we visited,” Nyx said.
Yeah, it was. I stared into it. Was not helpful at all.
The mist thickened, rising up to my chest now, and in seconds, it completely covered our bodies. My Night Vision turned from useful to useless in an instant. I gripped the elf’s wrist tight, pulling her along.
In a flash I exited the mist and into the black yet again. A flame of jade-green sparked in the middle of what seemed to be a chamber.
I grunted. Not a fan of the color choice
“Well, well,” a voice chuckled.
I looked up. A lady walked up to me. And I froze.
“Gyleona,” I whispered.
“Oh?” she raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t think you would remember my name.”
“Didn’t think you’d resurrect so quickly.”
“But I did.”
“How’s the shoulder?”
Her fists tightened. “Doing well. Thank you.” She looked past me. “And how are you, Death Lord? I see betrayal is one of your strong suits.”
The man said nothing.
I let go of Freya and stepped forward, with my hands hovering over my swords. “I guess the fact that you’re here means something important is going on.”
“Oh, there is,” she grinned. “Your death.”
She snapped her fingers. A white light flashed and beings in green robes and golden helmets emerged before us. They shot toward me in the blink of an eye.
But I was ready.
I quickly lifted Dawnbreaker into the air and swung, thudding into the first one. He flew back, crashing into the walls, and the crack echoed through the chamber. I spun around, and slashed at the next few that came at me. I managed to get one but the other two punched into my torso, and I went flying back.
Footsteps approached. Gyleona walked up to me as I stood up, and had her fists raised. “This is for cutting me up.” She thrust her hand.
I slid to the side, dodging her strike, and crushed my fist into her armor. A shockwave exploded from the contact point and she went flying back, crashing into the wall. I glanced at the room. Freya was in her Demon-elf form now, and was fighting one-on-one with an Eternal that still seemed to be overpowering her. The Death Lord took on the two remaining ones at once, smacking into them, but taking a few hits himself as well.
I used my Analyze skill on the enemy beings.
DING!
Name
???
Race
Eternal
Level
936
That’s not too bad for me. But conversely, that was bad for Freya.
Two Eternals surged up to me, but now that I knew their level, I was more confident. I slid Dawnbreaker back into its sheath and threw my hands up. My fist smashed into their chests, much, much harder than before, and they went flying back, crushing through the walls and into whatever stood behind it.
I shot up to the remaining four, attacking Gyleona first. The lady rushed up to me, ready to strike. I ducked beneath her strike easily and smashed my fist into her stomach. She choked and went flying back. I didn’t give in though, and rushed beneath her, sliding to a stop where she was supposed to fall.
I twisted my torso up and released myself like a spring, crashing my fist into her side and sending her flying into the mist. A loud boom broke through from the end, and then there was silence. I quickly ran back to the rest of the fight, but by then the Death Lord had finished everyone else up.
“Wow, that was fast,” I said.
“I am not weak either,” the Death Lord said.
“Yes, but your race is human.”
“Maybe.”
I frowned. “But I checked.”
“Maybe.”
Fun guy. We walked forward, and I found a fissure in one of the side walls, the only pathway away from here. We quickly stepped into it and made our way forward. The corridor was lit up by some dull light coming ahead, and that usually wasn’t a good thing.
This pathway was only a few yards long and we exited promptly. Heat seared onto my face the moment we stepped out. The chamber before me was familiar, with the long walls of obsidian, the pillars that stood on the side, and the red carpet that lay half burnt on the floor.
The floor I fought the Dark Lord in.
However, the place had been modified as well. Solid magma stuck to parts of the wall and clustered around the corners of the chamber. Maybe that’s why there’s a heat in here. I stepped forward.
And then my eyes widened.
A multitude of caskets stood before me—human-sized coffins of gold lying on the floor. A massive one stood at the very center, undecorated, just like the others. Strings of light connected each small casket to the large one, and the glow pulsated. A mental pressure broke into my mind and increased quickly.
I stepped up to one of the coffins, bearing the throbbing in my head. I pried at the lid and it came off easily.
That’s irresponsible.
And then my eyes widened.
A man in green robes and a golden helmet laid within the coffin. A crystal of green runes sat on his chest.
“An Eternal,” Nyx said
And he’s dead. I frowned. What the heck is going on here?
“Get away!” a voice yelled.
Gyleona shot out of the crevice behind us. I instantly pushed the others away and threw my hands up to my head. Her fist struck
my stance, and I went sliding back, shifting my body weight to keep myself up on my feet.
“I guess I didn’t punch hard enough the last time,” I mumbled. I lifted Dawnbreaker and Dearthsoul up and shot forward. I slashed into Gyleona, throwing her up into the air with just my strike. “Bladestorm!” I yelled, and rose up, striking into her body multiple times a second, slicing into her arms, into her legs, into any part of her body that wasn’t covered by armor.
We dropped to the ground a second later, but she was soaking in blood by the time she touched it.
“You…” Her voice croaked, and she spit out blood.
I smiled. “Say what you want, but I didn’t touch the shoulder.”
Laughter rumbled through the chamber.
The large coffin glowed brightly, and its lid shattered apart. A giant rose from inside it, nearly three times as tall as I was. Golden armor adorned his body, and was decorated with streaks of jade.
A familiar look.
And one that I hated.
My eyes widened, and my trembling hands gripped my swords. Damn it.
“Ahhhhh.” The man stretched out. “It’s good to be back.”
***
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
A blast of gold struck my body. Heat shot up my veins, and pain thundered into me, like a storm raging within my flesh. I smashed into the ceiling, breaking through rock and stone. My body twitched, and I dropped back to the floor, crashing into it.
“Oh?” The man in golden armor looked at his hands, with sparks of the same shade flying between his fingers. “I think I overdid it.”
Damn it. My body ached with every move, but I still lifted my head up. I focused on the form of the man before me and used my Analyze skill.
DING!
Name
Horace Zentheniel
Race
???
Level
???
Still no race tag. I stood myself up, stumbling a bit as I stabilized my stance.
Horace looked at me, with his golden eyes shining through his helmet. “You’re already this shaken from just that attack?”
The Eternal: Hellbringer - A LitRPG Saga (World of Ga'em Book 5) Page 15
