I came to a decision. There was nothing I could really do but try to get the Perovian to come and face me. By torching his place down. I targeted the first wooden building and ordered the towers to attack. A bolt of lightning hit the shedlike structure and blew it apart as a torrent of flame enveloped whatever wood remained.
I scratched my nose and shook my head. The towers were overpowered, there was no doubt about it. I stayed myself from destroying the other buildings, hoping the owner of the voice would come out to meet me, but they didn’t.
“I’ll keep going until you face me!” I yelled, distancing myself from the entrance. “I have something much more important to do than waste time standing here!”
“Then go,” the voice whispered in my mind. “What’s stopping you? If you won’t help, then destroy what you came for and begone!”
I growled low and clenched my fist around the bow. The Green Dragon Gang was causing shit, and I needed to get rid of them. If I wasted too much time in this place, they would only cause more death and destruction.
I targeted the second building and then the third. Pieces of wood exploded in all directions as the lightning bolt moved from target to target, killing and maiming the workers. Screams echoed in my mind as the carnage ensued, and they died one by one. The five came out and attacked me once they didn’t have any other place to hide. I stashed my bow and pulled out the halberd and swung it sideways at the first target, but stopped just as he was about to reach me.
“Shit,” I cursed and instead hit him with the side of the halberd, knocking him off his feet. I stepped back out of reach from the second, lunged in, and punched him in the gut. He dropped to his knees and coughed violently. “Stop! Don’t attack, and I won’t kill any of you!” I yelled as I retreated to the towers.
“I thought you wanted us dead.” The voice spoke immediately as the three who remained standing pulled the two wounded away.
“No, I don’t want you dead, damn it! I want you gone! I only want to kill the Zanoxian and no one else!”
“Then help do that one thing for me. As a sign of goodwill, I’ll come out with my hands raised. I will give you a hundred cores, and you will help me get a single one from a lair several zones over.”
“And you’ll go with me?”
“I will. Once I get the core, I’ll do the offering right then and there, and you will get whatever I have left.”
“What’s your special skill?” I asked, changing the subject abruptly.
“Wait, what do you mean?”
“These towers are a special skill I got from killing one of the contestants. What is yours?”
“Does it matter?”
“It does to me. Come out and show me, and if I’m satisfied, then we can agree on that one core.”
“I have your word that you won’t harm me?”
“You have my word, Perovian. I promise by the Gods.”
Something happened that I didn’t expect. A bolt of lightning struck the ground beside my right foot and peppered me with pebbles and soil. I pulled my foot back as I let out a yelp.
“The law of this rift, my unlikely ally. Once you make a promise, you have to keep it,” the voice said calmly. The way he spoke almost hurt my brain.
“Come out so we can meet,” I replied, trying to steer the conversation in a direction I was comfortable with.
“Can you remove your towers first? I’d feel much safer despite the promise.”
I removed the lightning tower and then stopped as a thought hit me. “How much do you know of my towers?”
“Nothing, really. Why?”
“Can you swear on the Gods that you know nothing about this skill?”
“No need to remove your second tower. I’ll trust you, as the Gods shouldn’t be invoked so lightly.”
I chuckled inwardly and shook my head. The—whoever it was behind the voice, they were full of shit. I didn’t know how much, but at least a truckload.
A similar figure to the five strode out of the shimmering wall that separated his base and this zone. He was taller than me by a head and broader in the shoulders with thick arms and legs. Muscles bristled along his limbs and his chest. My senses screamed danger, but I had sworn not to attack him, and that was how I planned to play this game unless he attacked first.
“I’m glad we finally get to meet face-to-face,” he said with a broad grin on his face. “My name is Loravian, the Perovian first prince.”
“I see,” I replied calmly. “So you’re royalty?”
He nodded and took a step forward, offering me his right hand. I took it and squeezed.
“I am, Champion of Veles. I would say that it’s good to meet you, but we both know that would be a lie.”
“I can appreciate honesty, Loravian. My name is Viktor, and I’m no prince, but I’m more than most men in my world, so you could say we’re about equal.”
“Oh? That’s interesting. Why don’t we have a little bout to see if you’re up to standard? Once we’re done, maybe we can sit down and talk about that last core I need?”
Chapter Sixteen
The group of five from earlier turned out to be his personal aides and weren’t a bad bunch once everything was said and done. They helped the workers and cleared the rubble. Another thing I had wrong was that they were slaves. The group consisted of paid workers and not slaves.
“So how much do you think I should pay their families as reimbursement?”
“Nothing, Champion of Veles. If we save my world, that will be payment enough, but I will make sure their families are taken care of.”
“You keep mentioning how we can save them, but how does it work? Can you tell me?”
He picked up what passed for a mug and drank some kind of slush as Melina and I sat on a bench just outside his safe zone. I had my hand on hers and squeezed lightly as we spoke. She squeezed back comfortingly, sending tingles down my spine.
“As I said, it is a sacrifice. I will offer my life along with the cores for their grace. It is one of the ways to—no, it’s not a winning scenario, but rather one where we just survive. See, this isn’t the first time our people participated in this game.”
“And is that why Indra chose you?”
He nodded. “We know how the game works, and given enough time and resources, we can keep Indra from losing. See, whenever a Zanoxian plays this game, we don’t fight, we just run and survive. That’s it.”
I frowned and stared at his expression. It didn’t betray anything but a deep fear he felt. I had felt it too, but then again I had never witnessed his power firsthand. There was still a deep hope that lingered inside me that I would never have to fight him, but the date had been set, and with every passing day we were closer.
“I’ve felt his presence. It’s not something an ordinary man can take,” I replied and squeezed Melina’s hand again. “He was strong, very strong. I’m not the same man I was months ago, but… I don’t know. We’ll see.”
“Well, then this monster will be perfect for you. See, armor created from basilisk ingredients has an interesting ability, or rather one specific piece of armor. It has a chance of nullifying physical attacks, and all the Zanoxians have been doing is attacking like madmen. Some preferred their fists, others cold weapons, but none of them were sophisticated enough to do anything but that. And why would they? Their power is insane.”
“Have you ever seen one fight?”
Loravian nodded and brushed through what little hair he had on his head with both hands and let out a sigh. The tone of his skin changed slightly from the gray and blue to a slightly warmer tone. I wanted to ask about it, but I stayed my tongue. Who was I to ask about their physiology?
“One of them killed my cousin with a single blow, and back then my cousin was seen as a big hero for my people. He was stronger than five of our best, and faster than—well, you don’t have those animals on your world, but let’s just say that he was extremely fast and agile.”
“So the best way to fight a Zanoxia
n is to have incredible defenses?”
“I would say so, yes,” he replied and pressed his mug to his lips. More of the slushy brew slid down his throat.
“So what do you think? Can we have that battle right now?” he asked.
“We can,” I replied and got up. “It’s only a battle if there’s something at stake. What do you wager?”
“I wager my cores,” he said. “All the duplicates.”
“How many do you have?” I asked inquisitively and stared at him intently for a long moment.
“If you want a precise number, I can bet 191 cores. I want that bow of yours if you lose. Is that alright?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’ll give you my bow. Do you want to seal the deal through the Gods?”
He shook his head again, and this time it bothered me. “There’s no need to. I’m royalty. We don’t go back on our word.”
“Oh, that’s funny because where I’m from, royalty is the worst.”
He frowned and stared at me for several long seconds, his long fingers tapping on his legs. “Didn’t you say you were royalty as well?”
“No, I said that I was on top of the hierarchy in my world. I’m not nobility, but I’m so strong that I’m considered the strongest where I’m from.”
“I see. In that case, there’s even less need for such trivial deals. You can just take it from me if you win.”
I took in a deep breath to stop myself from saying anything stupid but nodded in the end. Melina was quiet all the while, and I knew why. She was constantly scanning the area and glancing between the groups of workers and his servants.
“Mel, come with me. I’ll feel much better if you’re close to me.”
“Sure, I’ll have your back,” she whispered and flashed me a grin. “They don’t look so dangerous, and even though I can’t scan them for some reason, I don’t think they can do anything to either of us.”
“She has a sharp tongue, that woman of yours,” the prince said, his tone slightly condescending. “She would be punished for something like that where I’m from.”
“Well, we’re not on your world, and only the Gods can harm her if I set my mind to it.”
He raised his arms and pulled back slightly as if to show me he’d been wrong to say anything. And he was wrong. I didn’t care what he did in his own world, but this wasn’t his planet. This wasn’t even a planet.
“What weapons do we use?” I asked once we stopped in the center of the clearing.
“Whatever you wish. We aren’t allowed to use any skills, just our own.”
I grinned and nodded as I pulled my halberd out. It was perfect since it kept him at a good distance while dishing out insane damage.
“Alright. I’m ready, Loravian. Let’s go.”
He pulled out something similar to my halberd, but the blades were to either side and much wider than my halberd’s. They looked more like discs with serrated and clean edges.
The prince lunged at me without even announcing the start of our battle and swung his weapon straight at my neck. I barely managed to evade and deflect the blow. The speed at which he moved far outdid what I had imagined him capable of.
I swung my halberd in a circle, forcing him to step back and out of reach again as I got to my feet, lunged, and slashed across his chest. He blocked the blow with the edge of his circular blade, but it scraped his shoulder.
Damage Notification:
You have inflicted 2,877 damage to Loravian
He grunted and lunged back as I followed, stabbing the tip of my halberd at his chest. He blocked and twisted his body to the side, bringing the strange weapon around, and slashed at my back. I put my arm up and blocked the attack with part of my shaft, but part of the edge went through my shield.
Damage Notification:
You have received 899 damage from Loravian
“Enough, Loravian,” I snapped. “With that kind of damage output, there’s no way you can win.”
“Oh, we’ll just see about that, Viktor!” He laughed.
It felt genuine, and I wasn’t so sure anymore if the battle was a good idea. My pride had led me into it, but it just went on to show how stupid I was sometimes. If we went at it, I might hurt him, and then I’d be going against the promise I’d made to the Gods. One never knew what kind of penalty would come and what would be perceived as a breach.
I jumped to the side and swung the halberd at his chest again to create some space and steadied my breathing as he eyed me. There was something off about him, something that I hadn’t seen during our conversation. His eyes had turned bright yellow ever since we started fighting. How curious.
Not wanting to prolong this longer than needed, I went on the offensive. I feinted a wide swing and instead hurled the halberd at his guts. He tried to block, but he was too late. I followed the weapon, only a step behind, and slammed my body into it. The tip passed through his shield and was blown back.
I tried to read his stats, but I wasn’t able to. Something prevented me from looking in, and it seemed to make him happy. I wasn’t sure what kind of skill that was, but I wanted it.
“Is that your special skill? Preventing people from reading you or your group?”
He frowned, but then the frown deepened even further. “That wasn’t something you were supposed to figure out.”
“Then you shouldn’t have hidden your stats from me.” I laughed. “What did you expect from me? That I wouldn’t check you out?”
He shrugged and readied himself to fight again. I let him come at me and readied my halberd for a single move. He came in low at an angle and struck upwards. Seeing he couldn’t go any lower, I swung back around and angled the halberd at where his chest or head would be once he came up, and struck his shield. It crackled and then finally cracked, and the area had been his neck.
I stopped the halberd from going any further and pulled it back. But not before the edge slid lightly across his throat, drawing a trickle of blood. Enraged, he came at me. I dropped my halberd and caught his weapon with my left hand, stepped in, and slammed my fist into his nose two, three times in quick succession. Loravian’s head rocked back, and he let out a bloody gurgle just before I released his weapon and pulled away from him.
The five looked anxious to come to their boss’s aid, but they glanced between me and Melina, knowing there was no way they could do anything. Still, I didn’t see him as a big threat or enemy for now, so I pulled back and picked up my weapon.
“Good fight,” I said calmly and stepped back to Melina. “You can get up. I won’t attack unless you do.”
“It looked as if you were in danger for a second there.” She chuckled. “But the way you rearranged his nose—come on, Viktor. You shouldn’t have done that to royalty.”
I shrugged. “He didn’t want to stop, so I had to do it for him.”
Loravian groaned and pushed himself up to his knees and then finally stood on wobbly feet as two of his servants rushed in, disregarding their own safety. They held him up but looked away, not meeting his or my eyes. They were afraid and rightly so because they couldn’t do anything to help him if I wanted the prince dead.
“You hit hard,” the prince finally said as he stepped toward me after regaining his breath. “You hit like a Perovian!”
I shrugged. “Even harder if I used skills,” I said proudly. “You’ll be in for a treat when we go at the basilisk.”
“When you go at the basilisk,” he said. “I’m far too weak to even try.”
“And how do you know? Did you try?”
“We did. Lost seven of my greatest men to the snake.”
I thought about it for a long moment and then asked the question I should have asked right at the start. “Why can’t it be another type of monster?”
“Because we already have every other type, and there is only a single boss monster with a high-enough-ranking core that will work. The basilisk.”
I let out a sigh and shrugged. Snakes. Of course. I hated them. “What can you tell me
about it? Is it black?” I asked, scratching my nose, thinking back on my near-death run-in with the black snake in the tyranitaur cavern.
“No. It’s not black. It’s green and brown with ridges on the sides of its body. The scales are incredibly tough, and it was so long that it had problems moving inside its lair.”
“And you want me to fight that damn thing?” I snapped and stepped toward him. He stepped back as Melina caught my arm.
“You promised to save my people!”
“I made no such promise! I said I’ll see. Right, Mel?”
She shrugged. “Not killing him is the same as promising in my eyes, but yes. We never made a real promise. We can try to see if it works out. If we can’t kill it, then we give up and come after you.”
“You won’t have to come after me,” the prince said hurriedly as if afraid that we’d give up on the matter right away. “No, I’ll be right there. I won’t fight, but I’ll be there in case you can’t take it on.”
“Or is it to stab us in the back once we’re fighting?” I asked threateningly and wrapped my hand around the halberd’s shaft. “No, you’ll show us where it is and stay away from there. We’ll meet back here. And trust me, if you even come near us during the battle, I’ll make sure you die first.”
The prince bowed deep and did something with his arms, probably a custom for his people, but I had no intention of copying it.
“We’ll prepare something special from our homeworld. It will help you during the battle. Is that alright?”
“What is it?” I asked and narrowed my eyes on his.
He put up his hands and bowed again. “They are weapons that can deal a lot of damage to the basilisk, but you need to burrow them into its skin. The other special weapon we have is a sort of—how should I explain it? It is a box that has a substance inside that can hold the snake in place once it releases the substance. Not for long, but for a minute maybe?”
Crossroads: A LitRPG Cultivation Series (Towers & Rifts Book 3) Page 13
