Thinking was always useful. And this time my talent for thinking should help me catch them all in Spirit Shackles.
Taking on an Imitation of Quetzal’s form, I took off into the air and shot off to intercept our foes.
“What the hell?!” I heard behind me.
I was just in time: the enemy raid was just getting ready to leave the woods. The Markers didn’t look so good now that they’d lost some of their equipment. Despite the losses, they had recovered and even relaxed a little — they were joking, talking. All the same, their scouts kept their eyes glued to the sky, looking for me. The hunters were still using Signal Flares, but I was outside their range.
I breathed to calm myself down, counted each step, then landed in the forest and walked out toward my enemies with my arms raised.
“Don’t shoot!” I said, drawing their attention. “I need to talk to you, Marcus…”
“Well, look who’s here!” The raid leader gestured a few commands I didn’t understand, stepped forward and stopped. “Is this some trick?”
“I know where Destiny is. And I’ll hand her over to you if you take me back.”
Turning my head, I realized I was surrounded. All the Markers were ready for a fight. Some were combing the forest nearby, apparently suspecting a trap. Well, they were half right, just wrong on the details.
“You almost got zeroed, but for the sake of our old friendship I’m almost willing to forgive you, Renato,” Marcus answered, smiling broadly. “But if you think I give a damn about that bitch, you’re wrong. Make me another offer.”
“My people will come with me. You know we need to get on the final leaderboard.”
“Sure…” the orc said thoughtfully. “But something doesn’t add up here. You’re the one that said you don’t give a damn about the results of the Games, you just want to have fun. You weren’t even planning to come to the Games, it was a last-minute decision!”
“Alright, I admit it. The Threat must be either crazy or a slave to his hormones; he’s taken Destiny under his protection. No matter what she promised him, I don’t like it, Marcus. The kid is getting carried away.”
“More news at eleven! The kid took her right out of my hands less than an hour ago! I know she’s with him!”
Just then, their scouts returned from combing the forest. The senior among them reported:
“Clear, Marcus.”
Nodding, the orc turned to me:
“Well, I guess you’re telling the truth, Renato. But I still don’t get it… Why show up now? We’ve known since the morning that Destiny is with Scyth now. You decided to jump ship just now? Why?”
“I didn’t know. She only just showed up. We met her in the village. And you know what? Scyth is ready to split with us just for her! Even though we’ve been helping him all these days!”
“Destiny can really get under a guy’s skin,” Messiah said, pushing his way through the formation. “Ain’t that right, Urkish?”
“Sure is,” the lopher agreed.
More and more people crowded around us, trying to listen in on the conversation.
“The kid is rotten inside,” Marcus agreed with me. “I get what you’re saying. I get it, but… I can’t forgive you. I want you to pay for using that Aegis in the Pitfall. Now you know who you sacrificed our friendship for! Sorry, buddy… The Games are over for you!”
He gave a signal. But as soon as he started raising his arm and opening his mouth, I fired off Ghastly Howl. The effect hit all of them. I dropped Spirit Shackles at my feet, went into Clarity and sent smirking Marcus into Lethargy.
Next I turned into a living meatgrinder and watched my acceleration timer, flying back and forth and killing everyone I crossed paths with. The viewers must have seen only a blurry shadow and bodies exploding in clouds of blood and chunks of bone, brains flying and skulls popping — the side-effect of Hammerfist with a tenfold speed boost. It was beautiful, a real show! More blood and circuses for the people stretched out on the sofa with a bag of chips and a bottle of beer!
Although they probably couldn’t even see a shadow…
I flew after my enemies, doling out death with grim satisfaction as they ran around in Fear. I had enough time in Clarity to take care of them all. For almost an hour, my enemies would be stuck in the great nothing. Youlang and Inchito may have survived, but it would be a while before they got out of the Pitfall.
I found Marcus still frozen in a lethargic sleep beneath a heap of corpses. He should be able to hear me…
“You aren’t going to survive this time, bruiser,” I said, returning to my own form, grabbing his body and taking off into the air with it. “Sorry I tricked you with my Quetzal disguise. I’m not as rotten as you think. I’m not undead anymore, you know…”
Flying over the village where my allies had spread out, I noticed that Quetzal and Hellfish weren’t letting anyone relax: sentries stood around the perimeter, and a queue of people wanting to repair their gear had formed at the blacksmith.
As I approached the Pitfall, I kept talking to the silent Marcus, explaining my actions to the viewers.
“Just wait until the end of the Games, and you’ll understand what all this was for…”
Hanging above the Pitfall, I dropped the gladiator down to meet Abaddon. The orc bruiser, along with the titan destroyer Quetzal, was probably one of the best players here. But as a man, judging by Renato Loyola and Destiny Windsor’s reviews, he was a total piece of shit. And now, with no control over his body, he fell like one.
Done with him, I shot back toward the village. As I got closer, I saw strange activity: people gathered by the well. I wasn’t close enough to see who. Could Inchito or Youlang have gotten out of the Pitfall and attacked my raid? Sensing that something was off, I activated Clarity, got closer and realized I was just in time.
Although what was happening wasn’t what I expected.
My enemies hadn’t found my allies. Something of the reverse had happened: my friends had found Destiny and still thought her an enemy! And had decided to lynch her, and take out their anger in the process. Bogatyr Arioch and warrior Kart held the girl while the others suggested various methods of mortification, each more terrible than the last. For an instant I thought I was lost, that the civilized people I knew had been replaced by sadistic inquisitors.
The tailor Hox, his bloody mouth set in a grin, was trying to cut Destiny’s leg off with a rusty knife. Blood spurted out in a fountain. At the same time, to keep their prisoner from dying, they had three healers focusing her at once, including Michelle.
“Hold back, we won’t be able to heal her!” the dryad cried.
Holy paladin Blondiecat and templar Alison helped with the healing — that was all our healers except Equilibrium the paladin, who wasn’t there. And they were all girls! Even they didn’t feel any empathy for Destiny!
I came out of stealth and dove down to the cobbles between the prisoner and the crowd, pushed away the bloodthirsty craftsman so hard that he fell down onto his back in the queue of others hungry to torture the silver ranger.
“Leave her alone!” I turned to Quetzal. “What’s going on here?”
Surprise flashed across the titan’s impassive face:
“You’re not the only one with a bone to pick with her, kid! We need to blow off steam! You weren’t there yesterday. You didn’t see what she and her lackeys got up to in the graveyard!”
“Yesterday was yesterday, Quetzal.” I stood before the silver ranger, shielding her from the others. “She’s with us now! With me!”
Meister’s furious face appeared before me. The jeweler raised his finger, jabbed it at Destiny and then at my chest.
“Excuse me, young man, but how’s that? She’s an enemy! And if she failed to make good on her deal with Marcus, that’s her problem!”
“I said she’s not our enemy anymore!” I snapped back angrily, although mostly because I couldn’t even explain my position. “Not our enemy! Right, Des? And she sincerely wants to apologize!”
The elf girl flared her nostrils, but nodded. Someone from the crowd threw a stone at her, hitting her in the face. Her temple turned crimson and tears flowed from her eyes. Holding back the pain, Destiny looked down at the ground.
“I’m not your enemy anymore,” she whispered. “I really shouldn’t have caused you all that trouble. I’m really sorry.”
“Sorry?” Hellfish scoffed. “Scyth, did you know she was supposed to help us since day one? Horvac and Hinter made a deal with Joshua. Destiny and her people were supposed to come over to our side and follow my commands! Whatever she promises you, she won’t make good on it!”
“An Arbiter officiated the deal!”
“So what? She had a contract with Marcus too! And she weaseled out of it without giving a damn about the penalties!”
“Listen to me! She is not our enemy! I promised to protect her and I will keep that promise, just like I’ll keep our agreement!”
Meister grabbed the front of my shirt, shook me and shouted, turning red and spraying spittle:
“No, you just think she isn’t our enemy! I don’t want anything to do with that… lady!”
“Get a grip, kid!” Hellfish shouted. “That bitch deserves punishment!”
“We want justiiice!” Michelle sang.
“She has to answer for it!” Meister said, still spitting in fury.
“I said no!” I barked, putting my arms around Destiny and getting ready to go into Clarity and fly away if necessary. “You won’t just not touch her! She’s coming with us! I’m bringing her into the raid!”
I sent her an invitation, which she immediately accepted, but the next second one of the leaders kicked Destiny from the group, then removed my right to invite new members.
“Go on, kick me from the raid too!”
The snarling crowd surged forward, closing in around us.
“What?” Michelle shouted, her voice shaking with outrage. “You’re swapping us for her?”
“Scyth, have you forgotten that she tried to shoot you in the face twice only a day ago? That bitch was aiming at your eye,” Bloomer rumbled. “It wasn’t enough for her to kill you, she wanted you to suffer!” The poet was so angry that his had speech lost its usual singsong quality and his face twisted. “The bitch deserves zeroing! And torture!”
This was all I needed — a mutiny on the ship! Nether! I told Destiny to stay in the damn tavern! Why did she come out?
“Explain yourself, kid,” Quetzal said, putting a hand on my shoulder.
I met his eyes, nodded. I had to be tough. The fate of an enemy of yesterday was now more important than my moral obligations to my allies. I went all-in — I left the raid and declared calmly:
“Here’s how it is. I can’t explain my decision yet. Yet! I don’t have the right to reveal the details, and neither does Destiny. That’s all I can say right now. So anyone who doesn’t want Destiny to accompany us can stay here. My allies, including her, will go with me.”
I walked out of the village holding the elf girl’s hand — not looking back and hoping desperately that rationality would win out, that Destiny wasn’t attacked.
We walked thirty yards to the sound of angry cries, then silence fell and I began to hear shuffling footsteps behind me. Looking back, I saw that they were all following in a line. Breathing a sigh of relief, I realized that I’d been more worried then than during my morning drop into the Pitfall. Destiny was a critical part of what I had in mind, and getting her toward the top of the leaderboard was now just as necessary as getting the Concentrated Life Essence…
The previous night, when she woke me by ringing the bell to my room, I just swore at her. I was embarrassed to remember some of what she’d offered me for my help, but I refused it all. And then it hit me; I realized what she could do for me. We locked ourselves away in the bathroom and had a long conversation…
“That boy never ceases to amaze me!” Meister declared behind me. “Didn’t even explain himself! Who does he think he is?”
“He doesn’t have to explain his decisions,” Anna argued. Miss Commonwealth 2074 had survived, which put her in a good mood. “You could have chosen not to go with him, Mr. Rosenthal…”
“I beg to differ, Miss Kovalenko!” Roman bristled.
The curser and the jeweler went on and on about how I couldn’t trust Destiny, how she would betray us, and how one generally shouldn’t take up with bad people. The discontented muttering of an old man came through in the gnome’s crisp voice. The troll’s bass always sounded displeased, but now his tone took on a fanatic note.
I sped my pace to get escape their complaints, making them run the rest of the way to the Pitfall. Along the way Destiny asked where my pet was and I told her about how Despot was trapped down below.
As we got closer, I took off into the air to check for nearby enemies. Seeing nobody and certain that we weren’t about to be attacked, we gathered around the head of the staircase.
Quetzal and Hellfish approached me and Destiny. Hellfish had chosen his beast form to run faster, a huge wolf standing on its hind legs.
“It didn’t go exactly to plan, but the first stage of last night’s scheme is done,” the werewolf said. “What next?”
“We need to get Scyth’s pet out,” Quetzal said. “Everyone else should hide for now.”
“The seal has around 50% left,” I said. “I need three more volunteers to get it open without anyone dying. But I can only take two with Flight. With three, we’ll just fall all the way to Abaddon. I could make two runs, but we’ll lose time…”
“I know how to get there faster,” Destiny mumbled. “Is there a mage in the raid? We can use Feather, then Scyth will easily be able to carry the three of us down and back up again.”
Hellfish applauded ironically:
“Genius!”
“Yeah, we would never have thought of that,” Quetzal rolled his eyes. “And there’s no ‘us.’ We’ll get by without you down there, Des.”
“I’m not staying here!” the elf girl said, and I understood her.
“She flies with us,” I nodded. Then I turned to the ice mage: “Do you have Feather, Kara? Great, put it on Quetzal, Destiny and Hellfish. As for the rest… Youlang and Inchito might be around here somewhere. Head down to floor 22 and go inside. If they find you, try to survive until we get back!”
Taking off above the Pitfall, I waited until my three helpers had Feather.
Destiny, Hellfish and huge Quetzal linked arms and stepped off the edge, but instead of falling, they began to float down gently. I flew closer to Destiny, found and held her wrist, pulling us down to floor 531, where Despot languished in confinement. The demon thirsted for the blood of the dead, and I’d give him plenty. Marcus had died his last death, but there were still almost a hundred of his people in the game.
Floors flashed by, the gleaming numbers on the doors melding into a dotted orange line, the wind whistling in my ears. Someone said something, but the wind carried the voice away. Then I saw an invitation — Quetzal brought me back into the raid and invited Destiny too.
Soon we were standing by the gates. Our arms still linked, we walked towards them. The seal didn’t look whole, but even half-melted, crimson, filled with blood, it still held the gates closed. From behind the gates came the crashing of bones and huge footfalls — the demon sensed me and came closer to the entrance.
I touched the seal.
Removing seal: 54.99%… 55.265%… 55.54%…
It went four times faster than that morning. We lost 1% health each, the seal — just under 1%. But simple mathematics said that when the gates flew open, we would survive.
I wasn’t the only one who gained some Resilience. Destiny, holding onto Quetzal and me, rolled around on the ground and screamed at us to let her go, saying she couldn’t take it anymore. The men were calmer, but the pain still twisted their usually impassive faces.
Resilience level increased: +2. Current level: 55.
The seal began to glow crims
on, then caught fire… and seemed to meld into the metal of the gates. With a rumble, screeching their way across the floor, they began to open.
The demonic furnace face stuck out of the opening.
“Grogghr!”
We stepped back. I let go of Destiny’s arm and the girl collapsed to the floor. Quetzal whistled. Hellfish threw back his head and smiled widely.
“Now that’s power! Are you sure he’s on our side, Scyth?”
“I’m sure, Hell…”
Without waiting for the gap to widen enough to let his massive body through, Despot crashed his way outside and tore toward us.
“…fish,” I finished in confusion.
The Demonic Games (Disgardium Book #7): LitRPG Series Page 40
