Unbound Deathlord_Obliteration

by Edward Castle

  "You had no right to attack her," he said.

  "Nor did she have any right to attack me," I said. "Her attack was of a different nature, but it was an attack nonetheless. And like I said, you know I'm right."

  He sniffed. "I know nothing of the kind."

  We stared at each other in silence until the Fairy Queen appeared right in front of my face with teary eyes. She had her hands clasped in supplication as she looked at me with pleading eyes. "Will you free us, young hero?"

  "Yes," I replied immediately. I could have tried to negotiate terms with her, but I wasn't going to try to profit off the suffering of others like those bastards at V-Soft had.

  First, I had considered the AIs too human. Then, I got upset that Ted was attacking me over flirting with a computer code. Now, I wanted to free all enslaved NPCs.

  I never said I was not as hypocritical as the next human.

  "Come, I'll open the secret passage for you so you can leave," I told the Queen.

  She shook her tiny head. "It won't do. We have Pledged ourselves to this farm."

  I frowned. "I've no idea what this means. Why can't you just un-Pledge?"

  She sighed. "A Pledge is a sacred bond between a fairy and a piece of land that can only be broken when both want to part ways. This farm, however, is part of the castle, and the castle obeys the will of the Master. We can only leave if he allows it. Or if he's replaced with someone who does."

  "Not a problem, then." I smiled. "One of my friends is taking care of the castle doors as we speak. When she's done, we'll go take care of the Master."

  Her little eyes shone with hope. "Do you promise?"

  "Yes."

  Quest: Free the Fairies

  F- rank

  You have agreed to free the fairies from their slavery if you manage to successfully conquer Edward's Castle.

  Condition:

  » Become the Master of the Castle

  "Thank you! Thank you!" She hugged my arm and started to cry with her face buried in my shoulder. "Oh, thank you!"

  If looks could kill, Ted's would have done so. She was looking at me as if I was a child molester. Bear looked like he knew what was about to happen and looked resigned to protect Ted in the imminent fight.

  However, for whatever reason, the gaming gods took some small mercy on me today.

  Before I could say anything, the Fairy Queen began shining with a golden light as she grew.

  Ever so slowly, she turned from a girl not much bigger than my hand,, into a woman as tall as my chest, which she was now hugging. Her revealing clothes made it slightly uncomfortable to look at her before, but now that she was my size, I was positively unnerved.

  I'd been with women as beautiful as her before, but I'd never experienced such sudden physical contact as this. No matter how accustomed a man was to the affections of women, I doubt anyone could have taken it in stride.

  Ted's eyes were bulging out of her sockets and Bear was looking with interest at my new Fairy Queen friend.

  Very awkwardly, I hugged the crying woman back. "It's gonna be alright," I said with with a flat tone, finally understanding that this was no blessing of the gaming gods.

  They must know I didn't want to console people, and now I had to deal with this.

  My voice seemed to trigger something in the Fairy Queen, because she began to cry even harder. I sighed, placed my chin on her head — if I was forced to support her emotionally, she could at least support a bit of my weight — and just kept quiet.

  "I'm an idiot!" Was the last thing I saw Ted whisper before closing my eyes.

  I could understand that. She'd fought with me over my perceived flirting with a childish fairy, and suddenly we saw that she was a mature woman, and a provocatively dressed one at that.

  Daggers reported.

  I replied.

  The Queen kept crying for a long time as I clumsy patted her back. Meanwhile, Ted recovered from her surprise and threw me an almost apologetic look. I invited her to the party again this time she accepted.

  I said,

  he said.

  I wanted to ask Ted to go a little further into the corridor and stay put, but unless she told me she wouldn't leave, and that she was willing to follow orders, I would just ignore her.

  About fifteen minutes later, the crying was finally under control. She didn't release me immediately, but instead looked at me. Hers was such a beautiful and pitiful face that even knowing she was only code, I couldn't fully suppress a protective impulse, not to mention my biological imperative. I subconsciously hugged her a little more firmly.

  "Would you kiss me?" She asked almost too low for me to hear.

  I frowned, but tried to not sound too harsh. "Why?"

  "I... I can't say. Please?" She implored me, drawing me in with her beautiful eyes.

  My 'trap alarm' sounded so loudly inside my head that it was a miracle I could even hear her over it.

  "No," I said firmly.

  "Why?" She sounded desolate as she asked.

  This time, I didn't soften my tone. "Because there is no way in hell that the cold Queen from before, who spoke about me lacking subtlety, and about how many people flatter her, could be acting like you are right now. I have seen people who are broken before, and your act is not even close."

  She looked at me with surprise, then a timid smile appeared on her lips. "Good. You have a chance against the Master." She still didn't release me. "Can you keep a secret?" She asked playfully.

  "No," I stopped hugging her. "Now, I'll count from three, and if you don't get at least two meters away from me, I'm going to attack you. Three."

  Her smiled broadened. "Oh, I like you. So manly."

  "Two."

  Still smiling, she brought her face towards mine and tried to kiss me. I turned my head, and she missed my lips by a millimeter, kissing the corner of my mouth instead, deliberately and slowly.

  "One."

  She giggled and darted away from me. Not two meters, but a few paces. She put her hands behind her back and crossed her legs while standing, striking a playful, innocent pose.

  "My name is Karla," she said. "We'll talk when I'm free."

  "Yes," I said. "We'll talk." I empathized the word.

  More giggles. "Silly deathlord. What else could I, the Third Fairy Queen, possibly do with you?" She turned and left, walking very seductively. She looked back after a few paces, still smiling, certain that I would be watching her leave.

  I wasn't ashamed of my actions. While I did refuse her because I didn't know her agenda, I was still a man, and there was no harm in looking at lady, that clearly wanted me to do so.

  The zombies were already in defensive formation by the corridor. I walked in their direction.

  I asked.

 

  I said.

 

  I looked at the zombies in front of me and raised my voice. "That's it, people! It's time for a massacre!"

  I could see the eagerness in their eyes. Good.

  "You can see the corridor in front of you," I told them. "There is one open door and nine closed ones, with stairs at the end. We are within the castle we came to conquer, gentlemen! It's riddled with vermin called minotaurs, vermin who enslave others!" I was giving into, and intentionally displaying my rage by now. "Kill them all! Open the doors of the corridor, kill all minotaurs you see, loot their possessions! Go! Go! It's time for some fun!"

  They cheered and rus
hed away. Bear seemed torn between staying with Ted or going. I didn't interfere; that was his business.

  "I'll be by the stairs," I said and started to move.

  A few zombies had entered the open door and were looting it. I looked briefly inside, enough time to see a bed, a metal table with some chairs, a metal wardrobe, and some paintings.

  There was also a metal crib to the side; looking at it made me way too uncomfortable.

  I kept going. Most of the zombies were now banging on locked doors, trying to open them. Two of them were going from door to door, trying to find an unlocked one.

  They made a terrible racket while doing it, but that was the plan.

  I got to the stairs and stood to the side, holding my bow while guarding them.

  A woman screamed in panic in one of the rooms and some zombies roared in battle lust. More women screamed after that.

  At the beginning of the corridor, Bear was discussing something with Ted. Apparently, the truce I had just made with the specter was gone in the face of what I had just ordered.

  Ted was crying, gesticulating, and yelling. I couldn't hear her words over the doors being hit, the zombies roaring in excitement, and the women screaming.

  Many of the fairies had stopped working and were behind Bear and Ted, observing the zombies' attack with mixed expressions. Some were delighted, some felt pity, some looked angry.

  "Ahhh!" A female minotaur appeared on one of the doors that a single zombie had blown open. She thrust a kitchen knife into his head and ran toward the stair. At least she wasn't pregnant.

  She was the first minotaur I'd seen up close. She was humanoid but hirsute like an animal. Her legs were those of a cow, including the hoofs, and her head was a mix of cow and human. She had no tail but two small horns protruded from her head, and it was possible to see the outline of four teats beneath the gray linen clothes she was using.

  I instinctively threw a firebomb at her. Fire engulfed her body and the explosion threw her to the floor floor. Two zombies, glowing orange, took the opportunity to jump on her and began to eat her alive.

  For the first time, I began to wonder if playing a zombie was affecting those players or if they were really that messed up in the head to start with. I didn't know which option was more disturbing.

  It made me feel a little better that they were glowing orange; it meant they were in Feral mode and couldn't stop their characters even if they wanted to. Still nauseating.

  Thankfully, I saw the looks of revulsion of most of the zombies in the corridor as they watched the unarmed and desperate woman be eaten alive.

  It gave me goosebumps and I remembered V-Soft again; the surprise on the face of the dead woman while all her coworkers screamed in panic... I shook my head.

  The minotaur didn't take long to die but it was enough of a scene that the ten or so watching zombies had stopped attacking the rooms.

  The others, however, kept my glorious massacre going.

  Even though I felt a little bad about it, I didn't tell the zombies to stop. I maintained the position I had explained to Bear and Daggers:

  It was either us or them.

  And when 'they' were slaving bastards, I couldn't spare any pity for them.

  Bear and Ted's argument came to an end when she logged out. He looked worn down as he looked at the place where she had disappeared, then joined me at the stairs.

  The killings slowed and eventually ended. No one had come to investigate.

  "Good!" I told them. "I hope you had a good time, because after you're done recovering your stamina, we're going to kill real minotaurs! Ones that are armored and fight back!"

  At that exact moment, the head of one armored minotaur appeared at the top of the stairs. I didn't see it as I had my back turned to him, but the zombies in front of me who were looking my direction saw it.

  They looked up and I turned back to do the same.

  The minotaur's helmet was open — it was designed in a way that it also protected the minotaur's horns — and we stared each other for almost a full second before I smiled and he disappeared back in the top floor.

  "Forget that!" I yelled, raising my sword and running upstairs. "Attack now!"

  They roared, I roared, Bear roared, and we all ran upstairs intent on killing the bipedal bovines.

  24. Reverse Siege

  When we got to the top of the stairway the minotaur was rapidly distancing himself, but expecting this, I had already lobbed a firebomb. It passed by the minotaur and dropped to explode just in front of his right leg.

  He face planted and was about to use the momentum to roll away when the explosion of a second firebomb slammed him to the floor.

  "Keep going!" I yelled to the zombies.

  While we ran, I threw a third firebomb to make sure he stayed down. We rushed towards the minotaur and... Bypassed him completely.

  "We have to leave! Come!" I yelled. "Come or they'll close the gates!"

  The zombies didn't understand why we didn't kill the minotaur but still followed my lead.

  The corridor we were in had multiple sets of stairs descending on both sides. We rushed through the corridor until we reached its end and were forced to turn left. Then, we found ourselves in a new corridor, this one full of doors.

  "Let's go! Run or they'll close the gates!" I yelled again.

  A few doors immediately opened at my words and a few minotaurs looked at us. Most were wearing linen clothes and one of them was shirtless with only lightsteel plate legs on.

  I threw a firebomb at him and he was thrown back into his room. "They saw us! Run! To the gates!"

  There was no alarm being raised by the minotaurs so I guessed they were using mind chat to send messages.

  More and more doors opened but no one stopped us. We went through an intersection but kept going forward. At the second crossroads, we turned right. That's when we found the first organized resistance.

  Ten minotaurs fully armored in lightsteel were blocking our way, formed into two rows of five. The beasts in the first line were crouched, holding their metal shields in front of them and their swords thrust out horizontally, like pikes. The ones in the second line were standing, also using their shields but pointing crossbows at us instead of using their blades.

  They immediately shot their crossbows and I raised my shield just in time, taking less than ten damage. "Keep going!" I yelled. "Trust our momentum! We have to get out before they close the gates!"

  That's when I noticed there was a third row. As soon as the minotaurs shot the crossbows, they passed the spent weapons to the ones behind them and received loaded ones in return. They aimed and prepared to shoot.

  It would have been an imposing formation if we were only a few, but with our numbers we could absorb the damage and roll over them. Even so, I wasn't about to take damage for no reason.

  I shot all but two of my remaining firebombs like a machine gun, some of them right above the first row, and some behind the second row.

  The percussion of the explosions was deafening and shook even the metal floor. It staggered our enemies and let us close the remaining distance without taking more damage.

  I leapt into the middle of their formation shield-first and tried to charge past. "Don't stop! They may close the gates any moment now! We must leave before that!"

  Daggers told me.

  I said as I was sandwiched between one of the defending minotaurs and the zombies who were surging forward into my back.

  The beast used the crossbow as club, striking me in the head. Thankfully, it did only about eighteen damage. The press of bodies all around me was so unyielding that I couldn't even try to counter-attack, but I took the chance to summon a darkball to do at least some damage.

  I asked Daggers.

  she replied.

  ast my ruse worked; our biggest problem was the possibility of countless reinforcements from outside. Now, we can slowly siege this place from the inside. Kill him if it looks like he's going to open the gates.>

 

  The darkball I threw was unimpeded by the minotaur's armor. The darkness element was like black liquid, and it worked just like it had when I fought Bear: instead of dissipating after hitting the armor, the liquid searched for small slits and entered it, reaching the minotaur's body.

  75 darkness damage dealt to Annoying Minotaur

  Damn!

  The darkness could ignore the armor but the minotaur had resistance to it, maybe because of the lightsteel armor. Now that I thought about it, I never asked Bear about the properties of his darksteel armor.

  However, it gave me an idea: I threw a deathball at the monster.

  Death element was smoke-like. It hit the minotaur's armor and... Poofed into oblivion.

  Shit!

  That wasn't what I had expected; I wanted it to behave just like the darkness element had, but such was life: a sequence of disappointments; or so my mom had always said when referring to me.

  The minotaur was about to hit me again, when a powerful shove to my back toppled us both to the ground, with me on top of it.

  I used the same tactic I had used against Bear: I dropped my shield and proceeded to stab the minotaur through the vision slits in his helmet.

  When I'd stabbed it five times a sword struck my neck and I yelled in pain. Then, someone kicked me to the side.

  I hit the ground and before I could try to get up, someone fell on me. I tried to push them off, but another body fell atop both of us. Since I could do nothing else, I covered my head with my armored arms and waited for the fight to end.

  I asked.

  No answer, which probably meant that he was in an Enraged state.

  I checked the battle log and saw that yes, he had used Rage. And he was dealing tons of damage. Every twenty seconds it was especially bad for his enemies: he used his armor-ignoring skill and things were ugly.