“Your dog will get in the way,” he says.
Wolf stops gnawing at his bone for a moment and looks up at him.
“Fine, he’ll be outside in the shadows here.” I point at a particular point on the map, outside the city gates.
Czech wipes his hands. “That settles it. Let’s get to town.”
(^_^)
It takes us all of thirty minutes to reach the back entrance to the city. Along the way, Czech talks about his real life back in New York and how he does IT for a robotrading conglomerate.
“What about you?” he asks me at some point.
“I do this.” I wave my arms around at the darkened ground.
“You’re permalogged in?”
I nod and he rattles off about that being a waste of life and a drain on government resources.
“Quiet,” I say once we see the guard station at the city gate. I briefly check my map again; there’s a way around them, but it will take a little skill.
“Can you three climb?”
Czech snorts. “Anyone can climb in a video game.”
I look to Deathdale and she nods.
“Good, then follow me. Wolf, you stay here.”
Wolf turns in a circle, suddenly anxious.
“It won’t be long,” I tell him. “Stay out here and keep your eye on those two guards. Once you hear me whistle, take them out.”
Czech scoffs, “You really think he can understand the common tongue? I thought you said he wasn’t a familiar.”
I shake my head at the muscular archer. The dumbass. “Trust me, he understands me. Now let’s do this.”
“On second thought… ” Czech turns away from us. “You guys just stay here.”
About a minute later I hear the thunk of a crossbow. This is followed by another thunk. Czech calls out, “You two going to help me move the bodies or not?”
I glance to Deathdale, whose face illuminates for a moment and calms, as if she has just taken a deep breath to cool her nerves.
“Well?” Czech asks. “I killed them. No need to take your shitty little shortcut.”
The fucking idiot.
I unsheathe my blade from my back and take a few steps towards him. The lira. Your revenge. Eye on the prize.
“We will kill him after we get the governor,” I hiss to Deathdale as I sheathe my Splintered Sword. “Do you object to this in any way?”
She locks her good eye onto me and shrugs.
“And I’m not planning to do the same to you,” I remind her. “You weren’t planning to do the same to me, were you?”
She stops and looks me over.
“Well?”
“Hey, asshole,” Czech says as he spots me. “This one is about twice your size, you grab his legs.”
“You know, you just lost us a ton of lira!” If it weren’t for the fact that we needed an eye in the sky, I’d hack him down this very moment.
“What are you talking about?”
“The news of a couple dead guards could make its way back to Tin Ingot.”
“Ah, fuck it,” he laughs. “It’s just lira. Besides, if we hide the bodies well enough, no one will know the difference.”
I clench my fists together, remembering my plan to kill him later.
“Relax, man. This is the back entrance to the city, remember? No one will check. You two go ahead, I’ll get into position.”
“Got it,” I look over my shoulder. “Wolf, stay here.”
He gets anxious again and I move over to scratch his ear. “Just keep your eyes and ears open,” I remind him. “Kill anyone who comes this way. Anyone.”
“I’ll meet you two back here at the raft,” Czech reminds me.
“Good.”
(^_^)
Deathdale and I keep to the shadows as we move forward. The outer rim of the city is mainly cottages and small plot farming. There’s a stable to our right, the horses not as spooked by us as they should be, and there’s a blacksmith to the right of that who is still working.
The governor’s mansion is easy to spot.
On the highest hill in the city and surrounded by sharpened pieces of wood to prevent horses from traveling up the hill, the mansion is well lit and by the looks at it, well-guarded. Two watchtowers sit at the entrance to the mansion, and I’d bet good lira there are waves of guards protecting the place.
This should be fun, I think as Deathdale and I progress through the outer limits of the city. As we move closer to our target, buildings get larger, better made, and more expansive. Citizens of the coastal city mill about, some still peddling their wares and others ready for a night out on the town.
The pub doors fling open and the sweetsick stench of alcohol wafts from the pub’s open doorways. Men and women clink their glasses together inside and celebrate the passing of another day. Teenage boys on stools shout out the night’s drink special.
To the west, closer to the coastline, the lights from the city’s resorts blaze nearly as brightly as the governor’s mansion. Torches on their rooftops give light to vacationers sharing intimate moments with their loved ones or loved ones to be.
I bring up my map again and examine it for a moment to see if there’s a better entrance into the complex. I use my fingers to zoom and swivel the map, which turns the governor’s manor into a 3D object with gridlines.
Cheating, I know, and I’m a purist in a way that makes me hate the fact that I’m using a handicap like this. Still, with little time to prep for the mission, there really isn’t another way to do this. Had they wanted us to do it authentically, the council of Tin Ingot should have given us a few days to case the city.
Before I can figure a way inside, Deathdale raises a hand and a bright solar flare blinds the three guards at the main entrance to the manor. She holds her hand out for a moment, the strobing light spraying forth from her.
The Solar Mage lifts her chin towards the guards and nods me forward.
Dammit! One hand on my brow to shield my eyes and the other on my Splintered Sword, I rush up the hill and meet the first guard.
“Bloody hell!” he shouts.
Instakill!
+1 Infamy!
A Player Character? I think as my Splintered Sword goes right through his skull. My next thought involves lira and how we are definitely not getting the full amount after this shitshow.
I’m over him moments later, going on instinct now because of the blinding flashes strobelighting all around me. I swipe my blade and connect with the neck of another guard.
Instakill!
+1 Infamy!
Another one? Why are Player Characters masquerading around as city guards? I know the answer to the question before I can finish thinking it: human players have grown bored with the same old adventure roles and have started looking for new storylines through the medium of public service. Hell, that’s exactly what I did in my previous incarnation as mayor of Ducat.
I’m retrieving the end of my sword from the player’s neck when Deathdale’s flash attack dims.
The final guard shakes his head to get a sense of his surroundings. Once he spots me, he lifts his sword over his head and charges.
Thunk!
-295 HP! Critical hit!
An arrow sprouts out the other side of his neck and he stumbles sideways.
A neck shot? That damn archer is good!
Deathdale meets me moments later. The town has come alive at the solar flare. Those that were near the main gate of the governor’s mansion scream as they regain their vision and see the two dead guards.
Thunk! Thunk!
A body falls from the mansion’s wall walk. The sick sound of crunching bones meets my ears along with the hollow sound of the landing.
“Shit! They’re going to sound the alarm. And what the hell? I thought we were going in stealth-like?”
Rather than wait for the mansion’s gate to lift, we use the side door, which Deathdale blows off with a spark of light.
We run through to the other side, where we�
��re met by several more guards who’ve just heard and seen the lights from the commotion out front.
I raise my sword to meet them and slide to a halt as large bolts of solar energy raise from the ground. The stench of smoldering skin tinges the air as our opponents are burnt to perfection.
I glance back to her. “How are you doing mana-wise?”
She locks her good eye onto me, gives me the thumbs up, and presses forward.
Thunk!
Another soldier falls from the wall walk.
Czech must have some sort of sight enhancement on his crossbow, I think as we make our way up two flights of stairs. No way is he pegging people so well from so far away without one.
I kick open the first door that I come to and find a woman inside, quivering near the door. She’s one of the maids, clear by her quarters and her clothing.
“Where is he?” I scream at her. “The governor!”
She shrieks and I crouch in front of her. “We’re not here for you,” I say in my calmest voice. “Just point in his general direction and your life will be spared. Don’t say anything. Just point.”
She raises a finger up and gestures twice to the right.
“Upstairs,” I say over my shoulder to Deathdale. “Two rooms to the right.”
(^_^)
Deathdale and I stand before the governor’s door, which sits at the back of a long hallway lit by candles. The trip to the top was relatively easy aside from a particularly big bodyguard I tossed over the railing.
“How do you want to do this?” I ask the Solar Mage. I’m slightly out of breath – damn DEX – and I get the feeling that the city alarm is moments away from sounding. I seriously can’t believe it hasn’t already sounded, but it hasn’t, so the element of surprise is still within reach.
Deathdale removes her black glove and touches the deadbolt above the door handle. A key made of light forms at the tip of her finger and she inserts it. The deadbolt heats up, I hear the click of the lock, and as soon as she’s regloved her hand, I burst in.
The city alarm sounds, almost as if on cue.
The governor, a fat slug of a man, is tangled in blankets with two other bodies. As soon as he hears the alarm and simultaneously sees both of us burst in the room, he cries out. The two boys, no older than fifteen, fight their way out of the bed and cover their teen bits.
“I guess it’s safe to say you can now add pedophile to your list of accomplishments,” I say. “Get up, put your pants on, and let’s go!”
“I’ll … ” He pulls his blanket to his chest. “I’ll have you arrested!”
“All your guards are dead and more will die if you do not come with us immediately.”
“What makes you think I’m the governor?” he asks with a crazed look in his eyes. “Why, it could be one of these lads!”
“Are either of you Drake Farmrot?” I ask the two boys. They both have long, curly blond hair and collars on their necks.
They look to each other, then back to me, and shake their heads.
“Good, go.”
The two nude teens run past me and I return my attention to the governor. “Up and out of the bed.”
“You … you can’t make me do anything!”
I sigh. “Deathdale, some help?”
The Solar Mage steps forward and tilts her head ever-so-slightly. Suddenly, the governor’s sheets spark and start burning. He’s out of his bed pretty quickly after that. Drake Farmrot is bald, bulbous, and short, his entire body covered in curly, pube-like hairs.
“Pants, on.” I tell him.
“They’ll catch you before you leave, Player Killer,” he seethes. A green icon flashes over his head as he slips into a pair of loose bedtime pants. An NPC.
“We’ll see. Now move!”
Deathdale exits first, followed by the governor, followed by me. I keep my Splintered Sword at the ready just in case he tries something, but I get the feeling he won’t be trying much.
The weighty turd is out of breath by the time we get to the courtyard of his mansion. He’s huffing and puffing like a steam engine train, his baby-smooth cheeks covered in beads of sweat.
Bodies are scattered about the courtyard, some from Deathdale’s attack, others from Czech’s ballistics. A few fires have been extinguished and there’s something electric in the air.
“You’ve … you’ve killed all of them!” His hand comes to his mouth and he starts to vomit.
“I already told you that,” I say as I shove him along.
We arrive at the main gate and pass through. No one is about, aside from a stray dog or two, and I get the itching feeling that things are about to heat up.
“Stay frosty,” I tell Deathdale as I shove the governor again. “Let’s go; you’re going to have to move quickly now.” He doesn’t move so I bang my sword against the sidewall just to add some emphasis to my demand. “Now, dammit!”
He powerwalks and we travel like this for all of one minute until we reach an intersection.
“Attack!” City guards spring out from either side.
“Shit!” I just barely miss the first swipe. I kick down at this guy’s shin but don’t get to finish him due to another guard on my left. I rise to meet his pike, which I catch in one of the grooves of my Splintered Sword. “Deathdale!”
The guard with the pike screams out as something burns him from within. Deathdale tosses her glove aside and a curved sword made of light materializes in her hand.
Instakill!
She slices one of the city guard’s heads clean off, the wound cauterized by the time his head hits the pavement.
Thunk!
An arrow flies into the guy I kicked to the ground.
Thunk!
Another arrow gets a guard just above his clavicle.
The governor.
I turn to find the shirtless bastard sprinting back towards his mansion. I narrowly miss a pike attack from a gorilla-sized guard, then spin around him and bring my sword into his back.
Instakill!
+1 Infamy!
“He’s getting away!” I shout to Deathdale.
The Solar Mage performs a perfect one-handed cartwheel, following it up with a swipe from her weapon that sends an arced beam of light at two city guards. The energy slams into their chests, burns through their armor, and tosses them backwards.
“He’s getting away!” I shout as I shoulder past another guard. I pick up my pace, my eyes trained on the governor as his fat little legs carry him away.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
Three arrows peg Governor Drake and he falls face first into the gravel.
QUEST FAILED!
Chapter Eight: On the Run
“Dammit!” My anger sparks a dose of adrenaline and I quickly bring down the closest city guard.
-216 HP! Critical hit!
“Stupid … ”
I kick in a guy’s teeth.
-89 HP!
“Fucking … ”
Another city guard meets his fate as I bring my Splintered Sword into the side of his body. I yank it out and an arc of blood sprays into the air.
Instakill!
+1 Infamy!
Thunk! An arrow practically splits the skull of a guy aiming his bow at us.
Does Czech not realize what he’s done? I think as I narrowly avoid the sharp end of a pike. I glance back up at Governor Drake’s dead body. The idiot!
My vision pane flashes as someone broadsides me from behind. I stumble forward just as Deathdale greets the man and slices his head in half with her sword of light. The stink of seared flesh is the next thing I notice, even with the chaos blooming around us.
“We need to go!” I say, my vision flashing red. A guy with a smoking flesh wound across his face swipes his sword at me. I pivot just in time, bring my blade up into his gut and twist.
-231 HP! Critical hit!
Some of the larger citizens in Rial Resort Town stand on the outer rim of the battle, tracking our movements with their heads and looking for
openings. Soon, it’ll be a free-for-all, and I get the sense that Deathdale will run out of juice sooner rather than later.
Another city guard swings at me and I leap backwards just in time. I counter with my broken blade, which cuts through his wrist.
-239 HP!
He falls to the ground, screaming in agony as he holds the bloody stump.
I roll to the outer rim and punch one of the braver citizens in the face. The big man stumbles, others clear out once they see I mean business, and I use the momentary confusion to stick two fingers in my mouth and whistle for Wolf.
“Come on!” I tell Deathdale.
We sprint towards the exit point, pushing past random attacks, stalls in the street that have been covered, and occasional drunks.
+1 Infamy!
Bonus attribute point received!
I smirk. One of my attacks did its damage after the fact and I apparently have another bonus attribute point to play with, which I should most definitely put in DEX.
No time now.
City guards and gallant citizens are fast on our tail, shouting and calling for others to join, and it’s with great relief that I see Wolf racing towards us. He slides to a halt in front of me, his blue-green eyes frantic as he takes in the approaching mayhem.
“Come on!” I shout over my shoulder at Deathdale.
I don’t expect a response, but I also don’t expect to turn and see Deathdale facing the mob by herself, her short gray hair beating in the wind.
A corona of light forms around her head and suddenly, all the rooftops before her are flickering with bright yellow flames. The mob chasing us screams as their clothing catches fire and their skin boils.
The silent Solar Mage takes a staggering step backwards and collapses.
“Deathdale!” I run to her, toss her over my shoulder, and bring her to Wolf. He drops down to his haunches. “Good!” I lift her up, get her legs around him, and hop on behind her, one hand on her waist. “Please do not wake up,” I whisper to her. “Please do not wake up.”
I have this itching feeling that she would fry my ass if she found me in my current position, parked up behind her rear as we both ride a pony-sized wolf towards our getaway raft.
“Faster, Wolf, faster!” The big Tagvornin beast pounds his paws into the cobblestone as he picks up his pace. He runs at full throttle, his tongue flapping in the wind as he carries us back towards the raft.
The Last Warrior of Unigaea: A LitRPG Trilogy Page 5
