Bezzi-ibbi snarled, the young Jaguar clan heir neutralized and killed orb-Bonded enemies, just like his powers were designed to do. A cultist mage materialized out of shadow, about to knife Bezzi-ibbi in the back, but Aodh was in the right place at the right time to impale him with his death-dealing dagger.
Madness and confusion settled over Aodh’s mind like a blanket, but guided by his magic, he wasn’t as lost as he might otherwise would be. He didn’t need to know what was going on to follow his instincts. Slashing attacks and bolts of energy all seemed to mysteriously miss him. While he rarely took any damage, when he did, the massive amounts of reserve life energy in his body healed the wounds almost instantly.
Tanushree and Vitaliya followed behind, both women generating jets of flame to hurl at their foes. Gonzo took the lead, guiding the way to the royal ceremony chamber. Aodh’s undead minions continued to be torn apart, but made a huge difference on the tide of battle. The zombie demons ignored Berber defenders and tore into their startled, living brethren from behind. Whenever the Delvers group came near a defender, Gonzo shouted something like a passcode, and the Berber soldiers largely ignored them. They had their own problem, after all.
After a nebulous amount of time, passing as several coherent flashes of violence for Aodh, the group drew close to their destination. Aodh pulled his deadly dagger from the arm of a now-dead cultist, and started forward, his steps taking on a dream-like quality. The next few moments were especially surreal. He drew deeply on his magic, his stomach twisting so hard he coughed up blood. When he burst through the double doors into the ceremony chamber, he quickly realized that he was alone.
Well, alone except for a trio of cultists and a beautiful woman wearing a gown and a crown. The handsome, regal woman, obviously the queen, was busy getting her throat cut. In that single moment, Aodh could tell that she was meeting her fate with bravery. “No,” Aodh shouted, running forward. Even as he ploughed ahead, he could tell he was too late. The queen’s eyes, still proud and full of defiance, had glassed over in death before she hit the ground.
Through the strange numbness that his extreme use of magic created, Aodh felt the echoes of emotions, memories of horror and outrage. His movements seemed slow, but his enemies were even slower. He darted forward, catching one cultist in the throat with his spear, and stabbing another in the leg with his dagger. The last, living cultists gasped, “How are you—”
Aodh ignored her. He caught the glimmer of the crown on the floor out the corner of his eye and felt distant sadness. They’d come to save the queen, but she was dead on the floor. Aodh picked up the circlet and started towards the other side of the room, still guided by his instincts. Behind him, he heard yelling, and turned in time to see Vitaliya running towards him. “Little Aodh!” she cried out, desperately. Then the young woman hurled herself in front of the cultist that had been creeping up behind Aodh.
The young woman stopped the slash of the robed cultist’s dagger using only her arm, keeping it from hitting Aodh’s unprotected back. The cut immediately turned dark.
The red-haired woman’s hand began to bubble and grow mottled green. “Rotting rot!” she screamed. “Plague magic!” Vitaliya snarled and hit the last cultist with a blast of fire to the face. Aodh was distantly aware that his cousin had probably just saved his life. Then Vitaliya gritted her teeth, closed her eyes and her arm flared with flame. The fire grew brighter and hotter, filling the room with the sickly scent of burning pork. Vitaliya fell to the floor with a cauterized, charred stump for an arm. The combination of the pain from taking her own arm, and her general fatigue seemed to have been too much for her.
At the back of his mind, Aodh felt dismay. He was also tickled by the seeds of anger. Vitaliya was a troublesome psycho, but she was his troublesome psycho. Burning herself had obviously been to sacrifice her limb to save her own life. Aodh wasn’t sure if he could have so quickly made that choice for himself.
He ambled over to the downed, steaming, screaming cultist, and cut the woman’s throat with Vampire Stabber. Then the young adventurer walked the last few steps, placing the crown in his hand on a stone head atop a pillar.
The sound of bells began mixing with the thunder of alarms through the palace. Aodh had tuned them out before, but the new noise reminded him that they were there. The cacophony would have probably knocked him out if he had not just endured a half-day, running fight on a hell world and controlled over one hundred zombies with his mind. As it was, Aodh’s mouth just dropped a bit in confusion and wonder as he read something only he would see.
Text scrolled across his left eye.
In reaction, he dialed down on how much magic he was drawing, the change seemed abnormal after holding power for so long. He started slowly at first, but eventually, he was able to stop the flow of magic. Once the magic stopped, the strange feeling he’d had before began to clear. Finally, eventually, he was himself again, and he ran forward to kneel next to his downed cousin, checking her pulse. Aodh realized he had many, many question, and no answers.
The Delvers had accomplished their mission, but at what cost? What personal cost? “I need help in here!” he shouted back over his shoulder. He knew that others would be coming soon anyway, they had to be after seeing the message he just saw. He had to do something, though. Aodh cradled Vitaliya’s head on the floor and tried to be strong for her sake.
***
Henry shouted, “I need more bullets!”
Suddenly, Jason was standing next to him, tossing knives with deadly, teleported accuracy into the eyes of a couple enemies. “Here,” his friend said, handing him a bag of golden bullets for his exoguns.
“Thanks,” grunted Henry. He felt like death walking. They were right outside the entrance to the ceremony chamber. Henry turned, about to jump through the open double doors when he heard a chime in his head, sort of like an LEDF but louder, and a different tone.
Then he saw new text stream over his eye.
Congratulations to Aodh Anthony O’Breen for ascending as ruler of Berber!
Aodh Anthony O’Breen has met the requirements for taking the throne of Berber, and completed the Ritual of the Crown.
Please show your support for the new king of Berber!
Volleyball appeared that moment in her huge, battered armor suit. She didn’t even slow down as others read their messages, disappearing into the Mensk ceremony room. Her clopping footsteps almost immediately stopped. Henry didn’t know whether to take that as a good sign or a bad sign.
“What the fuck?” asked Henry. “Did you just see that? The message?” All around them, the fighting inexplicably began dying down, and Henry caught a glimpse of a cultist trying to run away. “They must have seen it, too.”
“Yeah,” said Jason, eloquently. “Wait, how is this even possible? How did Aodh get in there so much faster than us? Also, I thought someone needed royal blood to complete the ceremony…” He trailed off as the implication of that statement hung in the air, and both men stepped into the ceremony room.
Aodh knelt next to his grievously injured cousin. Lady Tanushree stood behind him in her massive armor, her face impassive, but Henry could tell that Volleyball was shocked to her core. Vitaliya was half conscious as the two men from Earth walked in, and she turned her head towards them, one half-swollen eye squinting in pain. The fierce fire mage smiled, revealing that several teeth had been knocked out of her mouth or broken at some point. She said, “Long live King Aodh O’Breen. I always knew that little Aodh would find his destiny.”
Then the red-headed young woman, once beautiful, began to lose consciousness. Half of her face was burned and she was missing an ear, presumably all damage taken while protecting Aodh. Henry had seen her during the fight into the palace, watching his back every step of the way. Henry watched Vitaliya’s head loll and mentally added up all of her injuries with a clinical eye.
Aodh began pleading, “No, stay with us, Vitaliya. Stay with me. You’re my family. Don’t you want to stay and keep
annoying me? I’m sorry I thought all those mean things about you. Please stay awake. Please hold on long enough for a healer.”
This is going to be close, Henry thought. “Volleyball, guard the entrance to this room. Jason, help me elevate Vitaliya’s feet, then find something to put under her head.” He stepped forward to help Aodh’s fallen cousin when another, deeper chime sounded in his mind.
Oh fucking hell, what now? he wondered.
Henry saw text scroll over his eye, but the font was different than usual. Fancier. Bigger.
Congratulations Henry Sato and Jason Booth!
You have completed
[Gain control of Berber]
A subquest of your main task
<[Conquer Ludus]>
Aodh Anthony O’Breen has taken control of Berber and is in your employ. You now have massive influence over the entire country, and have satisfied the requirements of completing this subquest.
You will receive your reward within the next three Ludan days.
Thank you for collecting data for the Great God Dolos!
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Henry said. He turned to look at Jason, and his tall friend appeared just as floored.
“It looks like Dolos wasn’t joking when he gave us that first crazy quest.”
“Sure seems that way.” Henry absently loaded the exogun gold ammo into the darksteel exogun he’d just created with a thought. “We definitely need to talk about all of this, but first, we should probably try to save some people, kill the last of the fucking demons in this place and find somewhere safe to sleep. I’m seriously about to pass out. We can probably trust Volleyball to run interference.”
Jason still looked gobsmacked, but the former programmer shook himself. “At this point, I’m not about to take chances. Maybe we should go get Mareen and you can build us all a sleep chamber in some rock or something. After surviving all of this, I’d like to have a secure place to pass out...maybe for the rest of my life. You can do that, right—burrow into rock now?”
“Sure, maybe that’s not a bad idea.” Henry knelt, going through the motions of helping Vitaliya through her obvious shock. Tony was out of it, holding onto the pieces of himself with all he had left. Henry was proud of the young man. Tony had proven himself not only a great warrior, but a hell of a man.
“Gonzo is a body mage, right? Well, he has body magic. Maybe he can help,” said Jason.
“Why don’t you go find him? I’ll work on stabilizing Vitaliya and I’ll keep an eye on Tony.”
Jason paused in thought before leaving and said, “Alright, but if we can, let’s take Aodh with us if you do the whole hidden sleep chamber thing. His life is probably going to get even more complicated than ours in the next few hours. He could probably benefit from some rest, too.”
“Good idea,” said Henry. Then he busied himself with treating Vitaliya. Helping people and healing people made him feel good. He knew that his team had just saved thousands, maybe millions of people. The entire series of events still felt surreal. But in that moment, bandaging the broken and battered body of a young woman he didn’t even really like, but respected, Henry knew he was still making a real difference.
He’d vowed to himself before that he’d continue bringing good to the world, never stop until his last breath. That was the truth Jason had showed to him what felt like a lifetime ago while captured in a little cell in Mirana.
All of them would probably need a lot of time to recover, especially Mareen. Based on how her body was reverting, she’d be physically alright, but Henry could only imagine her trauma when she woke up.
Actually, he didn’t even know yet that everyone was alive. Hopefully, all the Delvers had survived their insane mission. But it was true that even if all his friends still had their lives, none of them would ever be the same again. Henry firmed his resolve. He would be resolute and as unchanging as possible, a beacon for his friends if they ever needed to find the way back to themselves.
Jason had been his guiding light during one the darkest times of his life. The least Henry could do was provide the same sort of anchor for all the people he loved, even if he would never be able to tell them out loud how much they really meant to him. The Delvers had accomplished their mission, but in war, there was always a price to pay, even for the victors. Henry understood that, and he vowed to never forsake those he’d literally gone to hell with.
Henry’s hands stayed busy, bringing a bit of relief to at least one person on Ludus. Vitaliya might still end up making the ultimate sacrifice in having protected Tony, the least Henry could do was try his best to keep her alive until a magic healer arrived. Tony looked on, watching everything the former EMT did with exhausted, concerned eyes. Aodh O’breen, the new monarch of Berber, technically Henry’s new ruler and quite possibly one of the most dangerous men on the planet, began to cry. Henry pretended not to notice Tony sob as he held his critically wounded cousin’s remaining hand.
Lingering Past
Yelm frowned as he studied Mensk in the distance. The Asag cultists had botched everything. He’d warned them not to underestimate Henry and Jason. He hadn’t even been able to really hurt that little bitch Mareen…whatever the hell she was now. At least she was demon food by now.
He wasn’t sure how the Delvers had made it to Mensk, probably the same way Yelm had, by waygate. But he was sure, as he used his enhanced vision, that the fire and violence around the palace had something to do with those rotting men from Earth. The fact the hellgate closed made it even more likely.
The plan was ruined, but it was still amusing watching all the guards from the city trying to get through the shield. Yelm also took grim solace in the fact that other plans to bring down Mensk were still in motion. He knew of some that didn’t involve the Asag cultists, so there were probably others too.
Yelm formed a fist and let his ice magic create spikes on his knuckles. He punched a tree, the gesture pointless, but satisfying. It was tempting to stay behind, to reconnect with the cultists since they were probably still the most powerful insurgent group in Berber, but Yelm had fulfilled his mission.
It was time to finally meet his true masters, to stop pretending, and to finally stand shoulder to shoulder with the winning team. Yelm shrugged and vanished into the underbrush, confident in his powers. If any monsters tried to take a bit out of him, he could easily kill or outrun them now.
He had plans, big plans. Luckily, his true masters actually listened. His true leaders were not incompetent, religious lunatics like the Asag cultists were. They’d reduce Ludus to cinders.
Yelm smiled grimly as he traveled in the dark, getting lost in memories, feeding on hatred.
Everything for Jeth.
***
Liangyu stood in stony-faced silence as she read the message she’d just gotten by magic messenger bird. After she was done, she crumpled the small paper in her fist and spat. Cowards.
Her current mission came first. She was tracking down Mourad. The cow-like woman had stolen from her, which was unforgivable. The group that she’d ambushed before with disastrous results, she held no ill will towards them. That had just been business.
But Mourad had betrayed her. The big, cow-like woman had made off with a fortune of orbs and spirt stones. It was unforgivable, and neither Liangyu’s reputation nor sensibilities could tolerate it. She’d track the big thief down, kill her, and turn her into a thrall.
Still, that was her short-term goal, but Liangyu knew that planning ahead was the mark of a great general. She sat on a rock in the mountains between Berber and Tolstey, but after killing Mourad, she’d need new direction, a new plan. Elevating her descendants would not be the end of her life.
Unfortunately, most groups she’d contacted knew of her reputation, but didn’t want to risk working with her because others knew of it, too. Cowards, she thought again.
Earlier, she’d gotten quite a surprise when she’d seen the new message cross her vision.
Congratulations t
o Aodh Anthony O’Breen for ascending as ruler of Berber!
Aodh Anthony O’Breen has met the requirements for taking the throne of Berber, and completed the Ritual of the Crown.
Please show your support for the new king of Berber!
Amazing. Who would have suspected that her ambush target before had been a royal, and was now king of Berber? Liangyu should have known that Dolos would never play fair. That had been a terrible mistake.
Just the fact that Aodh O’Breen had made it to Berber, assassinated the former queen, and taken her place in such a small amount of time was very impressive. Liangyu had no idea how he’d done it, but she planned to find out. Knowledge was power, after all.
Since she was still technically in Tolstey, not Berber, the elegantly dressed Death Witch decided that she’d probably gotten the message because she technically lived in Berber, or at least, she considered it her country of residence.
She’d had time to think since seeing the message about Aodh O’Breen. Perhaps she was not ambitious enough, aiming too low. Why not Queen Liangyu? She liked the ring of that. After all, taking the name Qin Liangyu after arriving in and adapting to Ludus had been a sign of her decision to conquer, not be enslaved.
Suddenly, the contemplating orb-Bonded woman heard a chime in her head, but a different tone than usual, just like the sound that had proceeded the message about Aodh O’Breen. Liangyu perked up, but instead of more text, she heard a voice, one that made her freeze like a zebra surrounded by demon wolves.
This is the Great God Dolos! I have an announcement to make! People of Ludus—
Actually, are mortals really people? Do experiments or livestock have rights? That doesn’t seem accurate. I will have to think of a new way to refer to all the limited races on my pleasure planet—especially those Terrans. Ugh. I could almost forget what a terrible chore it is to provide for all these creatures if not for the Terrans, mucking about in their own filth and violence.
Delvers LLC: Adventure Capital Page 41
