Gloominess +3: Reign of Decay. A LitRPG series: Book 3

by Elian Tars

  He looked both frustrated and tense, seemingly upset by the fact that he had been deprived of a good fight, and at the same time, worried about the lives of his people. Ignorance was one of the worst enemies. Only the craziest fans of bloody battles would be glad to meet it on the battlefield. But the Followers of Noriduel, as far as I could judge, preferred to fight with their enemies face-to-face.

  “Don’t ask how, but we’ve detected them,” I said quickly. “They’re underground. I’ve sent a squad after them.”

  “So, they’re leaving the city…” Horn spat and clenched his fists. “But why? There aren’t many of us…”

  Rumbling mixed with the squeaking of a gate being opened interrupted him. Horn turned around quickly, trying to understand what had happened.

  “Ohhh…” We heard a stifled groan, followed by another one, and then another…

  “What’s that?” Mara asked in astonishment, pointing at a gray cloud that was rising from the gate’s arc. It was growing bigger by the second.

  I noticed the mercenaries grimace in pain as the cloud enveloped them; they began to cough, trying to cover their mouths and noses with their hands. Some of them hobbled back in attempt to get out of the trap, some fell unconscious right where they were standing.

  “Toxic gas!” I shouted, not even trying to hide my surprise. Not that this was something to be surprised by, the technologies of this world differed from the technology of the Middle Ages of ours. The fact that gas weapons were first used during World War I on Earth didn’t matter here. Horn seemed familiar with these kind of weapons because he immediately took hold of the situation.

  “Retreat! Quickly!” he shouted at the top of his lungs.

  But the gas was spreading faster and faster…

  Chapter 29

  The Siege of Al-Harum

  You have inhaled the “Al-Degel Datura.”

  The effect of “Al-Degek Datura” has been significantly weakened. You will receive 1 point of damage every 8 seconds for the next 3 minutes. You are feeling slight discomfort.

  Standing beside me, Horn clutched his chest and pinched his nose. I glanced at his HP — it was dropping faster than mine.

  It was clear that there was no magic in their gas. It was a natural product, made without using any skills given by the Gods. Judging by its name, it was a mixture of some plants. Luckily for me, my Dark Side of the World was coping with it very well. Great, this means that I’ve done the right thing by bringing my troops to “Al-Harum.”

  “Kane, call our people!” I commanded. “The gas isn’t spreading as fast now. We have to take the mercenaries to get some fresh air.”

  “Wooo!” Lifting her muzzle to the sky, Vella howled loudly, calling for reinforcements. Jumping down, I put the unconscious Horn on her back.

  “Stand still!” I ordered, taking another mercenary.

  “Woof!” the Bullkorg barked, pointing at the third victim with a nod. I took the hint.

  I loaded all three on her back and walked beside her, keeping the valuable cargo in place, as the trio would’ve fallen off her without support.

  Kane’s Bull managed to carry four men. The fifth mercenary, a girl, had easily been carried off by Mara. As we were putting the Followers of Noriduel on the sand, I heard Hask’s pack approaching. They were close. The mounted Wolves trailed a little behind from the free Wolves and the Cougars.

  “Ken! It’s a trap!!! Help us!!!” came a desperate cry from the direction of the opened inner gates. It was Tael. A moment later, I was back on Vella’s back, hurrying to help my brother-in-arms. Mara and Kane followed close behind.

  “There are Ishirians there!” the necromancer shouted. “I haven’t seen them before!”

  I looked at him over my shoulder. He wasn’t lying. Damn it… I got accustomed to relying on his radar abilities, but they weren’t without fault. We got lucky that Bat No. 2 had flown over the underground tunnel (I could assume that it had been flying rather low) and sensed the energy. Kane suggested that the secret passage began in the castle (which was a logical assumption). I thought he knew that there were no guards behind the inners walls, but I kept that comment to myself. He was a man of few words, who didn’t speak of things that were of no importance to him. Okay, let’s drop this topic for now.

  Kane then helped me with the unconscious mercenaries by taking them out of the gas-affected area. While he was doing that, I was trying to give orders and keep the situation under control, and at the same time crush what remained of the enemy forces.

  We should’ve made some sort of headquarters and sat ourselves there. I should’ve had Kane track the situation through his familiars and use his zombies for communication, and I should’ve been making decisions on all the front lines.

  That would’ve been the right thing to do. But the results of war here depended heavily on participation of high-leveled commanders in battle. Especially, when one of the commanders had former villagers and Decay-traumatized warriors under his command…. Success in battle in this world depended on the leader’s strength and example.

  So I had to put up with small strategic mistakes and tackle problems as they came.

  “Get Kazimir back!” I ordered, turning away. We rushed into the gas cloud. A couple of seconds later, I heard Kane’s voice again.

  “He’s already riding to us. The God of Darkness ordered him to come.”

  I chuckled with satisfaction. The Old Man was watching after us and was reacting faster than me.

  We saw Ishrians ahead. They were poking the mercenaries with spears and cutting them down with yatagans, dealing damage and finishing them off after that.

  Anger began to bubble in me even though I understood that they had the right to defend their city and do as they pleased with their enemy. If I were their commander, I would’ve ordered them to do the same.

  “GRRAAA!!!” Vella roared, attracting their attention. The lower half of the face of every Ishirian that we had come across was covered with a fabric band, which was apparently soaked with the antidote for the Datura.

  The enemies stood shoulder-to-shoulder, ready to raise their spears at us at any moment. How naïve! As if we would let them!

  When there was about ten feet distance left between us and the enemy, Vella suddenly turned right and ran parallel to the first line of Ishirians. At that very moment, I easily jumped off her back. Making a somersault in the air, I took the trishula out of my inventory and landed.

  Aura of Darkness.

  The skill will come in handy now. If I’m lucky, it’ll heal some of the mercenaries.

  Trident of Darkness.

  You have dealt 587 points of damage.

  You have dealt 100 points of damage to a secondary target

  You have dealt 100 points of damage to a secondary target.

  You have dealt 100 points of damage to a secondary target.

  I never was a fearless hero and I’d never fight alone against such a strong enemy. That stayed the same. The only thing that changed was that I had become much stronger than an average fighter. Trained level fifty warriors with about 1,000 HP were the core of any human army in this world.

  Jumping back, I dodged three spears at once, closed the distance, and with two quick strikes defeated my first enemy in this fight. The next moment, a message flashed before my eyes, notifying me that the Aura had been triggered. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw black smoke rushing out of the sand. For a brief moment, it covered an Ishirian.

  Impressive, I thought, the skill’s appearance changed a lot since I’ve upgraded it. The “smoke” was barely visible before.

  The same happened with other skills, but their change wasn’t as drastic — Trident’s and Tranquility’s Darkness just became a bit more concentrated.

  It took me only four strikes to defeat a common soldier, without crits or special skills. It would’ve taken me even less with them. With the speed I had, dealing the necessary amount of damage and dodging was a piece of cake.

  Th
e problem was in the number of enemies, and in their officers and commanders, who were capable of a decent one-on-one fight.

  So yes, I wasn’t a hero. I didn’t plan on defeating all of the enemies alone. I rushed here to help Tael. We managed to distract the enemy from the unconscious mercenaries.

  What’s next…?

  “Grrr!!!”

  “Woof!!! Woof!!!”

  Although the lower half of the Ishirians’ faces were hidden, I could see horror in their eyes. The stomping and barking grew nearer. Pushing off the ground with all my strength, I rose up into the air. A furious pack rushed under me, crushing into enemy lines at full speed.

  I landed on the back of one of the Cougars and together with the pack rushed forward to further trample the enemy lines.

  Unfortunately, our cavalry’s attack quickly subsided, and we found ourselves locked in close combat. I jumped down on the ground and activated Aura again, which had automatically turned off when I changed my “class” from a foot soldier to a rider. These were the small inconveniences of low-level Riding.

  The Wolves howled sadly — the enemies showered our rear with a hail of arrows. They didn’t shoot at the advancing guards, being afraid of hitting their own people.

  I didn’t see how many Ishirians were fighting with us. I supposed that everyone who could hold a weapon was against us. It was a simple, but an effective plan — pretend to flee, lure us into a trap and finish us off.

  But they messed up. Their plan depended on technical devices too much.

  I parried the strike of one of the yatagan-wielding guardsmen, hit him back, and kicked another one. The latter staggered and fell victim to the clawed paw of the Cougar next to me. At the same moment, I was attacked by two more Ishirians, levels fifty-one and fifty-three respectfully. I fended the strike of one of them with the trishula, but failed to block the hit of the second one. My right bracer blocked the damage somewhat, and I lost about sixty HP. I immediately held out my right hand to the face of the zealous soldier, snatched the green band, and put it into my inventory at once.

  The Ishirian began to cough, staring at me with wide eyes full of horror.

  “Take the bands off their faces!!!” I shouted. “Vella, translate!!!”

  Despite the roars and groans, I clearly heard her “voice” from somewhere on the edge of the battlefield. Getting the order from their leader, the animals began to try to snatch the enemies by their bands. I retreated behind the Cougars and Wolves and began to cast Tranquility — there was no need to fight in the first lines on my own anymore.

  “Come on, guys! If you see the bands on the Wolves or under your feet, pick them up and them on the faces of the unconscious mercenaries!” Mara cried loudly, sounding rather cheerful. It looked like she was enjoying the battle.

  There was no need to guess whom she was addressing. Berg and the rest of our warriors arrived soon enough.

  The battle was heating up. My riders dismounted. I had made a professional cavalry out of Greiv’s fifty men, taking only those whom I personally ordered to upgrade their Riding to level ten. I had ordered the rest to combine their Everyday Skills. Having level three Riding was obligatory for everyone, but they also needed various other skills like Acrobatics and Weakness Perception. And there wasn’t always a need for cavalry…

  Fighting on the streets away from the Wolves was now more convenient.

  But the battle was turning into a slaughter. It seemed like we were winning, but their number wasn’t decreasing. The battlefield was pretty big, and they used it well, constantly changing their front lines. I saw their elite warriors more often now. Pulling off the protective bands from their faces wasn’t an easy task.

  More and more Wolves and Cougars fell under the feet of Ishirians. They were changing their tactic and pushing us back. Damn it! I could support my people with only Tranquility and Aura. I was of more use here than in the front lines... But will this be enough? I wasn’t the best commander…

  Tranquility of Darkness.

  Okay, this isn’t a good time for whining. I need to decide what to do. Should I order them to retreat? No, they’d crush us even faster!

  What then? Should we clench our teeth and endure? Use our trump cards? No, a general that presses the panic button each time he suffers a few losses isn’t a very good general. Well, that maybe wasn’t the best comparison, but it captured the main point — one shouldn’t use their best strategy at the first sight of trouble.

  Tranquility of Darkness.

  It was hard to admit, but losses were part of a battle. The animals and people that would perish today in the sands were just numbers. They were tiny fragments of a much bigger picture, and there was no point in worrying about them. We weren’t fighting in vain, we had a goal. Being too sentimental could prevent us from reaching that goal and only increase the number of our losses.

  But damn it, each fragment was a life. They experienced happiness, laughed, had hopes, dreams, and plans for future… And for what? To die under the blazing sun of Ishiria? It seemed so horrible and stupid that a person lived for twenty-thirty years just to die from a single sharp strike of a yatagan.

  Tranquility of Darkness.

  I wondered if they’d think that their deaths weren’t in vain in their last moments. Would they think if how they had helped build a bridge to a safer future for their kids with their bodies?

  Maybe it’d be the other way round, and they’d curse everyone and everything for their misfortune.

  I didn’t like big battles. That wasn’t good for a general.

  “Tilda! Tia! Ulrich! Lead your people to the right, don’t let the enemy surround us!!!” Horn’s resilient, I could even say happy, voice roared.

  “Greiv, help them! The rest of you, follow me! To the left flank!” Kazimir said, sounding composed and focused.

  “And you and me, you lazy asses, are running to the center!” Horn was clearly getting closer to us, because his voice sounded louder and louder. “You thought you could take the coin and sleep like babies instead of doing your job, huh? This won’t do!”

  As it turned out, my soldiers managed to pull off Mara’s idea. They collected the bands and carried them to the mercenaries that were lying unconscious in front of the gates. Bringing the bands to their noses was enough to wake them up.

  Unfortunately, my guys weren’t doing good. Their HP was dropping because of the gas. They, too, had immunity, but it was partial and weaker than mine. I supposed that Erg and his team were overwhelmed with work, drinking the Simple Tranquility of Darkness Potion and healing their comrades.

  “Hask! Move your pack!” I shouted, realizing that there was no need to torture the weaker part of our united army nor was there the need to risk the lives of the former villagers. “Berg! Make the wounded retreat!”

  Hask howled so loudly that it made my ears pop. The animals began to give space to those hurrying to help the mercenaries — changing of the lines was pretty hectic.

  “Thanks for everything!” Horn smacked my shoulder with all his might. “I promise to give you a good discount for your next order!” he grinned through the red cloth that was covering his face.

  “Finish this first!” I replied, deciding to go with him and his people. Once the animals retreat, there’ll be no Followers of the God of Darkness left on this part of the battlefield. I wasn’t sure if the system would count all of the mercenaries as loyal to the Darkness, so this was the perfect time for me to go back to the front lines.

  I didn’t know if Horn had figured it out or if this was just a coincidence, but out of the back of the enemy formation emerged the ruler of Al-Harum himself in the company of his best warriors.

  Without slowing his pace, and still pinching his nose, Horn materialized a wineskin, pushed aside the lower edge of the band with its neck, and poured all of the wine into his seemingly bottomless stomach.

  “The battle is great, isn’t it?!” I didn’t even notice when Tael joined us. All this time, the most zealous me
mbers of the Old Man’s flock continued looking for the bands and bringing them to the mercenaries.

  “Yeah! We all nearly died! Ha-ha!!! What could be better that this?!”

  His laugh was joined by dozens of others. The mercenaries were excited, agitated, happy, and angry at the same time. Looking at them, I felt glad that the Followers of Bers didn’t gather in such big groups.

  A couple of minutes later, the two forces clashed. It was a ravishing battle, but my participation didn’t change anything — I fought some thirty feet away from Horn, side by side with Tael and Tia. At first, it seemed that our forces were equal, but the scale slowly tipped in our favor. Horn was winning in the fight against Anur-Sin when the latter suddenly cried:

  “Stop! We surrender!”

  Chapter 30

  Predominance of the Decay

  “Have you apprehended them all?” Horn asked Tilda.

  “Yes.”

  “Are the loot teams ready?” The girl nodded. Horn turned in my direction. “Should we send them in?”

  I wanted to ask him to wait a little, but noticed that Erg had already picked out a couple of people and was heading in our direction with them. I sent my people together with the mercenaries to deal with the loot. Horn chuckled.

  “Don’t you trust us?”

  “I do,” I smiled under the band. “But I like to be sure.”

  We were standing near a high, sandstone fence that separated the palace from the inner part of the city. There was a green coat of arms on the gates depicting a hissing snake above two crossed swords. Fixing my eyes on Kane and Mara, I watched them run laps around the nearby area. Finally, Kane halted, squinted, and pressed his cheek to the sand.

  “Can he sense the artifact that they were talking about in your troops?” Horn inquired, casually hinting that one couldn’t, and shouldn’t, hide secrets from him. Not that I was trying to do so, mind you.

  “Kind of,” I answered.

  “Ken!” Kane exclaimed, standing up. “This is the spot. Dig here.”