The Destroying Plague

by Dan Sugralinov

  One after another, I activated the ‘dummy’ epics from the treasury for each slot and collected enough to activate all the bonuses:

  Unconquered Herald Set

  Epic

  Scalable

  Consists of 16 items: knuckledusters, quiver, bow, helmet, necklace, shoulderpads, chestplate, belt, pants, boots, gloves, ring, bracelet, earring, cloak.

  4/16 Unconquered Herald set bonus: damage taken reduced by 5%.

  6/16 Unconquered Herald set bonus: 5% damage reflected back to opponent.

  8/16 Unconquered Herald set bonus: 5% chance to reflect damage taken to the enemy in full.

  10/16 Unconquered Herald set bonus: Thorn Aura (deals 300% base damage to all enemies within 30 feet once every 3 seconds).

  The armor was the color of ultramarine, and it looked unusual. Almost like plate, but without the grandeur of military armor, it looked light and weak, as if made of foil. But all the joints were perfectly matched — I kept complete mobility. A silver-gray cloak covered my back, a mithril earring hung from my ear. The epics were guaranteed to scale, so they’d always be current and would add to my stats even as my level went up.

  I particularly liked the set’s weapons. The knuckledusters span my whole forearm: a vicious sharp thorn ran from my elbow, while broad metal projections on my knuckles provided the main power. Now my Hammerfist was the best meat tenderizer ever!

  The new bow had a longer range, more power and a higher rate of fire than my old epic. The set quiver added attack speed and stored up to nine types of ammunition. I was still shooting Strengthened Steel-Tipped Arrows, but I could get a nice damage increase if I used better arrows. All I had to do was reach the weapon store.

  All the set items were soulbound — only I could use them. Separately, they were nothing special: each added a bonus of around fifty points to main class stats, in my case — charisma and luck. In general, in terms of health and damage, I’d even lost out a little. The sandbox epics increased my strength, agility and endurance. It was a good thing at least that apart from the pluses to the two main stats, the set items upgraded secondary stats too: bonuses to ranged and critical damage, accuracy and crit chance…

  For example, my plate helmet:

  Unconquered Herald’s Mask

  Epic, Unconquered Herald set item

  Scalable

  Plate armor.

  Armor: 127.

  +26 charisma.

  +27 luck.

  +19% attack speed with ranged weaponry.

  +12% accuracy.

  Durability: 900 / 900.

  Sale price: 650 gold coins.

  Chance of loss after death lowered by 90%.

  Simply put, I was crazily charismatic and devilishly lucky in this set.

  Crag, who had observed my transformation with his mouth agape, was surprised when I offered him gear too, but he didn’t refuse. Two ‘dummies’ was enough to replace his blue helmet and shoulderplates. All the rest of the boy’s gear was epic, gotten by farming sandbox instances that were a breeze for him. We decided to keep the rest until the clan was assembled and distribute it by need.

  Then something strange happened. I felt a piercing and interested gaze on my back and turned around: one of the lich bosses was staring at me from beyond the defensive barrier, but I was getting used to that by now. Crag was rooting through his interface, throwing on gear, and not looking at me. Everyone was in a trance in the temple, even Patrick. Behemoth stood with eyes closed. His avatar flickered more and more often, threatening to disappear completely. But the gaze wasn’t from there. When the presence disappeared, the following appeared in my logs:

  Luck increased by 500. You have caught the interest of Fortuna, the goddess of luck.

  Your reputation with Fortuna, Goddess of Luck, has increased: +100.

  Current reputation: affection.

  I hoped Behemoth didn’t get jealous. He’d sing his song again: another new little god, of whom there are more than a small world with a limited amount of energy can afford; demigods, imagining themselves to be who knows what! Hands off my initial! Oh well, I’d deal with that later.

  Once I was done with the equipment, I checked my Depths Teleportation cooldown: 13… 12… 11… It was time.

  Rising, I shouted to Crag.

  “Ready?”

  “Always, but for what? Even in this new gear and with my buff, we can’t take these things out.”

  “We can’t. And attacking the mobs ourselves would be dumb, I can’t die. But we’re not going alone. We’re putting together a whole team of monster allies.”

  “You mean your new friends? But how? The praying mantis and the dinosaur have been unconscious since the undead broke free, and we can’t reach the tavern. That lich over there will kill us without even having to move from his post,” Crag pointed to a figure hanging in the air about a hundred feet from us. The boss methodically fired some brown smoking balls of some sort of magic at the defensive barrier, keeping his eyes on me always. “No chance, Scyth.”

  “We can get to the tavern another way.”

  Understanding lit up in the boy’s eyes.

  “The Depths? But they only send you to a random spot in the chosen location?”

  “Before. It used to teleport you to any random spot, if only you knew the place. Then it became possible to fix a specific location. But at skill level ten, the choice got even more precise.”

  “One sec… So you can portal us right into the tavern?”

  “Bingo. Now I have the ability to choose a specific place within a location. The guys mentioned something about this, but only in passing.”

  “Let’s jump.”

  “Wait. Let’s try bringing Anf and Ripta.”

  The boy nodded excitedly — he couldn’t wait to try this venture. And he wasn’t risking anything; even if he got Subthreat penalties, the rewards from his personal Threat would easily compensate them.

  We returned to the temple, pressed our way through the crowd of the devout to Behemoth and spoke to the god.

  “Sleeping God, I need help from Anf and Ripta.”

  “Without their support, I cannot hold the defensive barrier long,” he answered, opening his eyes.

  “You won’t have to hold it long.”

  Without saying anything, Behemoth closed his eyes again. The insectoid and the raptor started coming to. Both their health bars were in the orange zone, but that should be enough for my plan. Especially since I planned to heal the guardians.

  We helped them rise, and considering their huge frames, that wasn’t easy. Then I tossed Anf the Bottomless Healing Potion flask. His health was lower than Ripta’s.

  “Drink,” I said, showing with a gesture what I wanted from him.

  The insectoid, who really did look like a gigantic praying mantis, grabbed the potion in his pincers and chugged it. His health bar started to rise. The insect’s type reminded me of Iggy, and I summoned the pet. He appeared in his true form.

  Anf returned my potion. Iggy restlessly ran circles around the insectoid and got some strokes as a reward. The needler chirped in satisfaction.

  “Enough chatter, guys,” I interrupted their friendly conversation. “Ripta, I’ll let you drink too, fix your health. Only a little later, in five minutes.”

  I waved the empty vessel. The dinosaur seemed to understand, squawked something, and then Crag came and pulled out his own Medium Health Potion.

  “Not much for your level,” he said regretfully. “But better than nothing.”

  The raptor drank it and cheered up. The health bar crawled up from the orange zone, and the terrible wounds left by Anf’s razor-sharp arms healed up. Behemoth’s strength wasn’t unlimited. We needed to hurry.

  “Alright. Ripta. Anf,” I pointed my finger at them and continued my speech, complete with gestures for better understanding. “We. Are jumping. To Flaygray and Nega. You. You. Me. Him. Them. Will fight.

  The raptor emitted an abrupt, trumpet-like sound. Anf made do with a la
conic chirp. I exchanged a glance with Crag. He nodded and I activated Depths Teleportation.

  Good luck, I suddenly heard Fortuna say in my head.

  Nether! It’s a good thing Behemoth didn’t hear her!

  Chapter 10. The Worms Will Eat You From Within

  I SUSPECTED that the Pig and Whistle clan tavern wouldn’t survive an assault like this, and we’d have to rebuild it. We got there without any surprises, ending up by the same table I was seated at last time.

  Casting a quick glance around, I saw that all the furniture had been moved to barricade the doors and windows. The undead were still trying to climb and break their way in, but they got stuck and blocked the entrances for the others. The puddles of blood, bone shards, smoke, soot and sickly-sweet smells weren’t creating a particularly positive atmosphere. Halloween was half a year away, damn it!

  “Glad to see you, boss!” The succubus curtsied, picked up a bottle of dwarfish brandy from the floor and took a long swig. “I know a little of the language of the dead. Our undead guests have said a great deal of interest about your good self…”

  “Not here, Nega!” Flaygray interrupted his girlfriend. His voice shook and he was barely keeping his poise. “The lich tried to convert us to his side, but I sent him to Azmodan’s ass with great pleasure. All the same, he managed to tell us a thing or two. And Nega, I must admit, almost agreed…”

  “Agreed? Forget it, we don’t have time…” I started saying, but then fell silent when I saw nobody was listening to me.

  Nega rushed to a far window blocked up with tables, grabbed the skull of a twitching skeleton, pulled and tore the head from the body. The body kept moving, but the succubus didn’t bother finishing it off. She smashed the skull against a wall and turned to me.

  “‘Agreed’ is a strong word,” she threw, continuing her enlightened conversation. “I just asked about the conditions. Then I explained to the lich that I was busy for now, but maybe, after my contract with the boss… Ow!” she cried as a tiny fireball from the satyr hit her in the ass. Nega’s tail twitched nervously as she rubbed her scorched buttcheek. “Flay! You old lech!”

  “No negotiations behind the boss’s back, got it, you little witch? Sorry, Scyth, she’s still young…”

  Ripta drowned out Flaygray’s voice — the raptor shrieked aggressively and rushed over to a far corner, where a zombie was already rising after falling down through the ceiling. A few waves of the spear laid the creature’s spirit to rest with all its health points. Anf excitedly scampered around the room in search of an enemy, found the unfinished skeleton and started crushing it into bone dust.

  Nega watched him and chuckled drunkenly.

  “Fine. I’m guilty! Punish me! Spank me, boss!”

  Without a pause in her speech, she snapped her whip at a level two hundred and seventy Brainless Zombie that had broken through the barrier. Still laughing, she approached the struggling creature and mercilessly smashed its head in with an elegant hoof. Worms wriggled out of the skull and the succubus wrinkled her nose. Iggy, interested in the worms, flew over to this unexpected lunch. Then, after waiting for my permission, he started chowing down. I didn’t watch.

  Crag stood silently; his eyes glued to the succubus. Judging by his attempts to tear his gaze away, this boy from a very religious background was struggling with temptation. And it was winning.

  In the meantime, Flaygray ran to one of the windows, glanced through a gap for a second and fired a few fireballs out onto the street.

  “Damn lich,” he swore. “Ugh, I hope he comes to me in the afterlife! I’ll pull out his soul!”

  “I’m afraid you won’t meet him again. He’s linked to the Destroying Plague…” the succubus answered.

  “He and his master are upstarts! Where did this Destroying Plague come from anyway? In my day, we didn’t have anything like that in the Underworld.”

  I opened my mouth again to shift the conversation to something constructive, but the succubus spoke first.

  “Alright! If the boss doesn’t want to spank me, and Flay is more interested in that gross lich’s ass, then maybe…” Nega took another swig of brandy. Her gaze swept across Anf and Ripta and stopped on Crag. The succubus crooked a finger at him. “Come to me, boy.”

  “I don’t think so.” I grabbed the enchanted Tobias and shook him by the collar.

  The undead had stopped trying to press through all the cracks, and the lich hadn’t yet raised the fallen ones. Maybe he had a cooldown on that ability? I took advantage of the breather.

  “Flaygray, why haven’t you pushed through to the temple? These dead guys are no match for you!”

  “It’s not that simple,” the satyr said darkly. “Nega almost killed me. The lich took control of her.”

  Only now did I notice that he had less than half his health, and long wounds covered his body. As if from a whip. The succubus looked almost unharmed. It seemed Flay had decided not to attack his old flame. The same as what happened to Anf and Ripta. It was so unlucky that they happened to be split into pairs!

  “But he’s a lot weaker than you, and now there are six of us. Where are the others? Aunt Stephanie, the miners?”

  “The people are upstairs. This is no place for them,” the succubus answered soberly. “The lich really isn’t that strong. Physically. His power is in something else — as you’ve realized, he can take over other minds. I have the highest defense against such magics, but the power that bastard has… It’s something else. Tell me, boss, if it happens again and one of us kills one of the group… would that sit right with you?”

  “That won’t happen. Crag isn’t just any ordinary guy, Nega. His talent will give us a huge boost. Even if the lich does take control of someone’s mind, the others will focus on the enemy. Dead lich and living ally.”

  “That changes things!” the satyr rubbed his palms together. “Because the lich’s curse cannot be removed. I barely managed to get out of there,” he added. “The humans helped me with the barricades, but Nega got in and hurt many people. When she finally came around for some unknown reason, I was on my last legs…”

  I guessed the lich got distracted when Patrick and I appeared. If I’d been a minute or two late, the tavern would be cleansed, Flaygray would be dead, and the undead raid would have unleashed its entire strength on the temple barrier.

  Ripta emitted a series of noises as if someone had blown into a whistle several times. The satyr nodded to the dinosaur and spoke.

  “Now that we’re all together, I swear on Beelzebub’s belly that the lich will learn the true fury of the Underworld!”

  “Don’t anger the Sleeping Gods,” Nega hissed. “What’s the plan, boss?”

  The map showed the whole fort with the enemy markers. Three dozen undead and one lich were attacking the temple’s protective barrier from all sides. Another lich had the tavern surrounded with a little over twenty skeletons, zombies, a rotter and a queaser. A small group of undead had made their way inside through the back door, but they had no way through to the main hall — the door was locked and blocked with oak tables.

  “The overall plan is this. We go out. We give that lich a beatdown. We put the undead out of their misery. We go to the temple and do the same there. But first, let’s clear the tavern itself so the people upstairs don’t get hurt.”

  By then, my Bottomless Healing Potion had finished cooling down and I let Flay drink it. The whip wounds healed, and now our team no longer looked like a gang of cripples. Flaygray had even sobered up.

  While Crag and I took apart the blockade at the back door, the others stood at the ready. After freeing up the space, I pulled the latch open and quickly jumped back. The door flew open and the dead began to pour into the tavern with a dull moan. I glanced at one of them and calmed down.

  Ancient Skeleton Warrior, level 247

  A piece of cake for my team of monsters, I thought, and… was wrong. There were too many of the zombies and skeletons — we couldn’t handle all of them at
once. Only Flaygray among us had area of effect spells, but his Wall of Fire, which threatened to burn down the whole tavern, just set the undead on fire. The building filled with smoke and the stink of burning meat. Smashing through the doorway, a queaser forced his way into the hall.