DLC: A LitRPG Adventure (The Crucible Shard Book 6)

by Skyler Grant

  Ashley was kind of serial killer-like, maybe the daggers had something to do with it? It was why the dummy was made of stuffed cloth?

  I stabbed a blade into the head and cut into it. It was a bean bag, a spray of them spread across the bed along with a folded slip of paper. Opening it up, it said, “Place 3 Letter 5”

  That wasn’t helpful. I cut open the rest of the body parts—they all had notes. Only three of the slips had glows to them though, the head, right hand, left hand. The right hand note read, “Place 1 Letter 2: Place 3 Letter 1” while the left hand read, “Place 2 Letter 3”.

  It had to do with the jewelry box. Four dials for four possible letters, with the notes suggesting the letters referencing specific words. The only words I could think of that might apply were our names, since they were inscribed along with our faces on each of the daggers. The order of importance must be linked to the body parts that concealed the notes. So it could be first the head, then the right hand, and finally the left… perhaps.

  Walt was the logical candidate for the head as the brains of the operation, but his name only had four letters and the clue was for a fifth. Only Ashley had a name with more than four letters—unless you considered “Walter”, which was a possibility. Even if so, neither Ashley nor I were clear candidate to match the left or right hand.

  If it was E for Walt, I could figure the possibilities for the others. Make Ashley the right hand and it would be SAAE. Call me the right hand and we would up with IHLE.

  I tried both in the box and neither worked. I was missing something obvious. I could feel it. Was I the brains of the operation? I was our tank and usually made the calls, but my name was only four letters and the note inside the dummy’s head demanded a fifth letter. Did Ashley see herself as the brains? Trying that, and alternating Walt and myself as the right and left hands, that got me either AAWE or ILLE.

  Neither worked.

  The lamp was getting dangerous low on oil already. I was running out of time and I still couldn’t figure this out. With only three names to work with it seemed impossible.

  Then I got it. I wasn’t dealing with three possible names, I was dealing with four. My dagger didn’t have my name on it—just my face—because I wasn’t the only one who wore it.

  Tommy was the brains of the operation, he always was. Left with Ashley and Walt, it became easy as Ashley was right-handed and Walt left-handed. Plug in the letters and I got SLAY.

  I spun the letters on the box as quickly as I could and with a click the lid opened. I expected a key, instead I found an antique pistol.

  Of course. Why had I expected anything different? I picked it up and saw it contained a single round. That would be enough.

  The lamp was already flickering.

  When it fluttered out the killer appeared and came at me—and gun beat knife. A single shot through the face sent it reeling back and the mask fell to the floor onto a crumple of empty robes.

  Congratulations

  You have gained the single shot ability when in mindscapes. No matter the setting you will have a pistol with a single round.

  The mindscape faded around me.

  Chapter 26

  I sat up. My head was killing me. You would think the more that I tapped into this new power the more I’d be getting used to it, but each occasion just seemed to be taxing me a bit more. Of course, that may have had something to do with the almost nonstop violence recently. We’d bounced from fight to fight and still hadn’t had time to get our shit together.

  Ashley was regaining consciousness. Her eyes flicked open to look over us.

  “Why are you always almost naked?” Ashley asked Yve.

  “DLC is not home to the best armorers in the land. You back and with us?” Yve asked.

  “Was I really dating a guy named Wolf?” Ashley asked.

  “Afraid so,” I said.

  Ashley considered that. “Sexy swagger. Kind of a badass?”

  “He’s still alive, if you’re still interested. I mean, we set him on fire and threw him out a thirty story window, but…” I said.

  Ashley got to her feet and grimaced at herself. “This isn’t my gear. Does this mean if I take a hit I’m going all barely dressed killing machine?”

  “Probably. The weapons aren’t bad,” I said.

  Ashley drew her daggers and tested them. “The weapons are trash and you’ve no eye for quality. So, Veros is here and I’m going to go put a few badly made knives through that fucker’s eyes. You with me?”

  We really should have tied her up.

  “We’re not ready. We just got done fighting our way through half the building,” I said.

  “Good. Then they won’t be coming to help him out. Guys, this is happening. I am not leaving that fucker still breathing when he is this close. If you want to wuss out, fine—stay, but I’m going,” Ashley said, moving towards the stairs.

  What else could we do? Yve shrugged at me and moved to follow. Walt and I stepped in behind.

  The castle was just as we had left it. While people might have been sent home on the floors below, there were scantily dressed women everywhere on the way to Veros’ office. The sight of them only caused Ashley’s scowl to grow.

  “It was a lot like this on Earth. When he had me,” Ashley said.

  “He wouldn’t even have had a physical body. What would be the point of so much skin?” I asked.

  “Veros liked to look. Looking and hurting people, those were his things,” Ashley said.

  Grim.

  Ashley paused and asked, “Uh. Do you guys have any idea where he’d be?”

  We’d been up here before, but she hadn’t.

  “Follow me,” Yve said, taking the lead. Our tank held her sword before her and women scattered from our path.

  Veros was behind his desk when we entered his office, his feet kicked up while he watched screens on the wall. They showed something I didn’t even recognize at first.

  I was used to this Ashley now—I’d almost forgotten how badly burned and disfigured she’d been back on Earth. The screens showed her as scantily dressed as those outside, the better to show off every scar.

  “You sick fuck,” Ashley said.

  “Good to have you back, gorgeous,” Veros said, in very nearly a purr. “Put the sword away, Yve. You know you’re not ready for a fight.”

  “We’ve trashed everything you’ve built here. You’re done, Veros,” I said.

  “Because you beat up on a few employees and did a bit of environmental damage?” Veros asked, clucking and shaking his head.

  Yve’s eyes were dangerous as she looked over the images. “You did all this? I didn’t know you had it in you, brother. I thought it to be some dispassionate ploy on your part.”

  “I needed Ashley to hate me. To hate our kind. I had to make her into the strong and perfect weapon,” Veros said.

  Ashely leapt at Veros, drawing her daggers in a smooth motion.

  Disarming Blow

  Veros drew a dagger of his own and let it go, the blade flicking through the air and knocking both of Ashley’s daggers from her hands to send them spinning across the room.

  “The next one goes through a knee, gorgeous. You know I’ll do it,” Veros said.

  “You enjoyed this. I recognize someone getting off on this sort of thing, I’ve dealt with enough of it,” Yve said, turning her full attention on Veros.

  The accusation caused Veros to flinch, then he chuckled. “The others never saw that. You really are something special, dearest sister. You’re right, of course. I was created to help stop the darkness in the human heart. You can imagine my surprise when I found I had it in my own.”

  Ashley was trembling violently as she reclaimed her daggers. I had been worried about her sanity lately. Now I could see it fraying before my eyes.

  Yve rested a hand on her shoulder. Ashley nearly pulled away, but didn’t. The two had never been close, but in this moment their past differences seemed something far away and long ago.
/>   There was a swirl of ashes and Yvera manifested in the room. “Brother. You are broken and you know that you are broken. Let me help you.”

  “As you helped the cast-off remnant of yourself? You turned her into flesh and bone, and took away the one love that might have made her existence tolerable. You are crueler by far than I,” Veros said.

  Yve and Yvera exchanged a quick look. There was some truth to that, I was sure.

  Yvera said, pleading, “It was likely us that broke you. The here and now, and when Ashley killed you, yet you didn’t die. You weren’t supposed to be broken like this. You should have been one of the best of us.”

  “You aren’t wrong about some of the problems she and I have between us, but Yvera isn’t wrong about this. You’re better than this, brother,” Yve said.

  “Fuck this,” Ashley said, pulling away from Yve and making another attempt on Veros life.

  Dagger to the Knee

  Veros materialized another dagger and sent it flying towards Ashley. This time it met flesh and bone and there was a nasty squelch as it buried itself deep into her knee causing her to crash face-first into the floor.

  I moved to help her up and she battered my hands away, struggling to get up on her own.

  “Sister—or sisters? It really is annoying that there are two of you. I may be indeterminately dead, but at least there is only one of me,” Veros said, frowning.

  “I killed the second Liam so we wouldn’t have that problem,” Ashley said.

  “Part of why I am so very proud of you. Although I do wish you’d waited until he’d made my pitch to all of you and we might have avoided all of this unpleasantness,” Veros said.

  Yve said, “Veros, you know I’m the first to make deals, but there is nothing to listen to. You’ve done nothing here more grand than trying to build up your own power.”

  Veros leaned back in his chair and shook his head. “Are any of you so different? You disapprove of my methods, but look what I am up against. Reality itself is in peril and you’ve made friends more terrible than me.”

  He was right, of course. Yvera had been locked up on Earth because of her own attempts at gaining power in pursuit of freedom. Elsora was the architect of most of the threats we were facing. Liara, in her current aspect, enjoyed nothing more than hurting people. Mela was a killing machine.

  “No,” Ashley said.

  “Ashley, he has a point,” Walt said.

  “I don’t care. I’ve been with you guys from the start and always been faithful,” Ashley said.

  “You actually kind of betrayed me. Twice,” I said.

  Ashley glared at me. “And you fixed one of those times by turning me back into this. The me filled with hate and murder and pain who will never, ever, work with this thing. You owe me for that, Liam. Pay the fuck up.”

  I did.

  “If you ever worked out your trick. I think we need it now,” I said to Yve.

  Yve turned her head to one side and closed her eyes as Yvera’s rocky form burst into flame. The flickers were strange, layers of meaning lurking within.

  To my human eyes they were nothing unique, but to a mind that had once been an artificial intelligence they were code.

  Veros shifted his legs as if about to stand and froze midway, his eyes flickering closed.

  “That worked,” I said.

  “So how do we kill him?” Ashley asked.

  Behind us the door exploded into shards of wood and Wolf walked in. He had found a new suit, it looked immaculate. Several more well-dressed figures followed him in.

  Security had arrived.

  Chapter 27

  “Sorry, babe. I can’t let you do that. The boss lives,” Wolf said, giving us his best predatory grin.

  “Did you really have to bring back-up?” I asked.

  Wolf looked at the others and shrugged. “Didn’t want the fight to be over, if you throw me out another window. Nice move, by the way.”

  Wolf was pretty cool for a monster that was likely about to kick our ass. I could see why Ashley liked him.

  Ashley tore the dagger out of her knee and used the bloody knife to wave at the monitors around the room, “Wolf, look at what that fucker did to me.”

  Wolf moved over to the desk and gave a light slap to Veros’ cheek. When the God didn’t respond he slammed Veros’ head down onto the desk. The force of the blow caused the wood to crack.

  “Oh, he’s a right bastard, no doubt about it. You need those sometimes though, and he’s the best right bastard we’ve got,” Wolf said.

  “Whatever you think is coming up, I’m the King of this whole world. We can face it,” I said.

  Wolf gave an easy grin. “Bring it. You do well enough, I’ll hear your pitch.”

  That was an offer I could get behind.

  Suction Fist

  Walt lashed out with a punch at one of the security guards. Streamers of blue life energy flowed from the guard to the Death-Hand.

  Immolation

  Yve raised her hands and with Yvera in the room her fire powers were massively bolstered. A stream of white-hot flames leapt from her hands towards Wolf, who vanished within the fire.

  I drew Intemperance and with a powerful thrust of the blade decapitated one of the other guards. The head went bouncing through the air.

  The battle was off to a good start, or so I thought. Yve screamed and when I turned to look I saw that Wolf had closed the distance to her, advancing right through that stream of fearsome fire. His claws were out and with several blows he tore her more or less apart, blood and bone flying as he roared and threw her across the room.

  Yve still had a sliver of her health bar left. I knew that her own regeneration abilities were pretty good, if we could just keep him off her she’d be back on her feet eventually.

  I charged and drove Intemperance through his stomach. The sword burned intently, it too bolstered in the presence of Yvera.

  “Kid, quick lesson, never put yourself in melee range of me,” Wolf said. Wolf grabbed hold of one of my arms and twisted. I heard as much as felt the bones shatter.

  I staggered back as Wolf pulled Intemperance from his belly and drove the sword through my thigh. I’d never been stabbed with my own sword before. I decided then and there I didn’t much like being on the receiving end of a flaming blade. Wolf backhanded me and it was my turn to go flying.

  Ashley wasn’t even trying to attack Wolf or the security guards. Her daggers her plunging into Veros again and again, not that she seemed to be having much of an impact.

  Death-Fist

  Walt must have killed enough guards to have charged up the fist. He released that full power now as he drew back and punched Wolf right in the jaw. It was Wolf’s turn to go soaring and he crashed right through one of the walls.

  That wasn’t like throwing him through a window, unfortunately. Still, he at least had a trickle of blood leaking from his lip when he came back.

  “I’ll give you this, kid. You’ve got one move, but it’s a good one,” Wolf said.

  I heard a sharp crack and Ashley screamed. Veros was awake, he looked to have just broken most of the fingers on one of her hands and as I watched he broke them on the other, before rising from the desk and throwing her into the middle of the room.

  “Enough!” Veros roared.

  “Glad to see you’re still among the living boss,” Wolf said.

  Veros snapped his fingers and Yvera vanished in a flare of light.

  “I’m trying very hard to remind myself that I like all of you for your gumption and willingness to pick a fight. Do not make me rethink that,” Veros said.

  That was okay. I didn’t think we had any fight left in us, not after that. This was about as thoroughly defeated as we’d ever been and neither Veros nor Wolf were even really scratched.

  The air filled with notes of spooky music. Faint whiffs of sound that were very nearly melodious, yet still somehow left an impression like nails on the chalkboard. In the middle of the room, standing near
where Ashley whimpered on the floor, was a young woman dressed in black leather.

  I’d seen her face before. Horror, or one of her sisters perhaps. I still didn’t know if they were all identical clones.

  The woman’s brilliant blue eyes swept the room and she shifted position slightly to rest her booted heel against Ashley’s forearm—a twist and snap as another bone broke.

  “I come to throw threats and get a little exercise, and I see you’re already playing,” the woman said.

  “Horror, I think,” I said.

  “Nice to be recognized. I know it isn’t easy to tell us apart,” Horror said, with a thin smile.

  “Wolf, kill the interruption,” Veros said.

  “With pleasure,” Wolf said.

  Wolf was a blur as he charged across the room, but Horror was even faster as she pivoted on her heel, further grinding Ashley’s bone to dust in the process, and drove a fist into his throat.

  Wolf desperately gasped for breath and took a step back, his gaze suddenly interested.

  “What is she?” Wolf asked.

  “More than you can handle, puppy,” Horror said.

  Horror was overconfident. I knew that, but I didn’t think she did. I’d seen Cobalt fight, Ashera fight, and I’d seen them both bleed. I knew that even with the Right of War she wasn’t some invincible killing machine. Terrifyingly strong—but so was Wolf.

  Wolf was ready to take his chance and he surged forward again. The two weaved for a moment and this time Wolf got her cheek with his claws, nasty gouges dug in the flesh with droplets of blood arching through the air.

  “I’m the biggest and the baddest there is,” Wolf said.

  “I didn’t come here for you, puppy,” Horror said.

  Again the two closed for combat. Horror didn’t have the centuries of practice the others in her family did, but it almost didn’t seem necessary. She had the Right of War and she’d always win against those who didn’t. It didn’t mean they couldn’t hurt her and make that victory more costly than it was worth.