Purgatory: The Devil's Game

by M. A. Carlson

  There was a rumbling sound from the previous dead-end as the wall began sliding down into the floor. Excited to see what I was going to find, I ran forward. As soon as that wall was down, I really wished I hadn’t been so eager.

  There were . . . I could only describe them as imps. They were small, red skinned demons with big noses and floppy ears, almost like a demon rabbit on two legs. There were dozens of them, all bowed in supplication before a larger, fatter imp with purple skin that sat on a tiny throne.

  The large fat imp’s eyes met mine and I saw hate and malice directed toward me. The fat imp screeched something I couldn’t understand, but the smaller imps clearly could. They all turned toward me as one. I thought they were going to rush me, instead they brought their hands together. Within a second, a small green ball of fire began to form.

  “Run!” Asher yelled. “Get back into the hall and around the corner! They can’t throw fire at you if they can’t see you!”

  I didn’t need to be told twice. I turned and ran. Just as I turned the corner, I felt several flashes of heat followed by pain. Three of the green fireballs hit me. Thankfully, the rest impacted against the wall. I still took a bit of damage from the fire exploding but it was nothing compared to what the three that hit me did. I was down to ‘53/140’ HP.

  “Do I stay and fight, or run?” I asked Asher, trying to ignore the burning pain in my side.

  Asher didn’t hesitate to answer. “You fight. Lesser imps’ fireball is their strongest attack. They are physically very weak. One hit should be enough to kill them. Just don’t let them cast another fireball or you’re in real trouble.”

  I nodded and posted up against the wall. The first imp that came into view got smacked in the head, which exploded like a cantaloupe.

  “Quick strike,” Asher coached.

  The next imp that came got hit with a quick strike, crushing its chest and killing it. I used quick strike over and over again, even when the imps started to jump on me. As long as their tiny teeth and claws were only doing a point of damage per attack, instead of trying to burn me alive, I could deal with them. They honestly weren’t much worse than the sloth leeches, in fact they were slower than the sloth leeches. I crushed one’s skull and smashed another into the wall with my shield. I quickly stepped back from one that was diving for my foot, then stepped forward and punted it, sending it careening into three of its brethren. I did a wide sweeping swing with my mace, like I was trying to cleave through them, smashing one and carrying it into a couple more. Unfortunately, only the first one I hit died, while the other two survived, though they weren’t moving very well after that.

  I swung, and I kicked, and I did everything I could to keep the little devils away from me. My health regeneration was not keeping up as well as I would have liked it to. Still, I kept fighting. I pushed myself, burning through EP faster than I could regenerate it. I left myself a twenty-point cushion, but as soon as I regenerated points, they were gone within seconds, as were two more imps.

  At some point, I had started to fall back down the hall, the imps and their corpses had made it hard to stay in the same spot. When I noted that some of the imps had started feasting on their fallen friends, I was equal parts disgusted and relieved. If they were eating each other, they weren’t trying to eat me.

  I don’t know how I survived. I should have died for as much as they simply overwhelmed me, but I didn’t. It felt like suddenly, a cloud had cleared, and the only imps left were those turning their fallen comrades into a snack.

  Breathing heavily, I walked slowly back down the hall, smashing the remaining imps. When I got to the turn, I peeked around the corner but only saw the fat purple imp sitting on his throne looking bored.

  I moved back from that corner and sat down on a small pile of imp corpses. If the big one wasn’t going to move just yet, then I wasn’t going to either. I could sit and let myself regenerate for the next ten minutes. I needed it after that.

  “I can’t believe you survived that,” Asher commented.

  I snorted. “Me neither. What can you tell me about the fat one?”

  “Greater Imp. And it should not be here. The good news is, it’s just as squishy as its minions. The bad news is, its fireball is stronger and can be used more often, and despite being squishy, it will have a lot more HP than the lesser imps,” Asher explained.

  “Boss fight,” I said, mostly for myself.

  Asher bobbed, agreeing with my assessment, then said, “Pretty much.”

  “I think it’s about time we start carrying some potions with us,” I said, wishing I had a way to speed up the healing process.

  Asher bobbed again. “Probably not the worst idea. Oh, and don’t take too long recovering. That fat one can summon more of them.”

  “Great,” I grumbled and shifted to prevent one of the claws from the imps I was sitting on from stabbing me in the backside. Thinking about that, I realized the imp corpses hadn’t dissolved. “Why haven’t the imps melted yet?”

  “Not sure. Most likely, they are minions of the greater imp. Tied to it. Until it’s dead, they won’t be reabsorbed by Purgatory,” Asher answered.

  I check my HP again, ‘111/140’ it was close enough. I didn’t want to risk the greater imp summoning more minions. “Any tips for fighting this guy?”

  “Hit him hard, if he starts casting a fireball, get out of the way if you can,” Asher instructed. “Mostly, don’t die. It’s very unlikely this hidden area will never be here again.”

  I nodded, cracked my neck from side to side, then with a small hop-skip start, I sprinted with my arm drawn back. The greater imp narrowed its eyes at me when it finally took note. With a great deal of effort, it started pushing itself up. I wasn’t about to let that happen. As I ran at it, I angled slightly to my left, so I could strafe right past it. As I did, I swung . . . hard. My mace hit with a resounding crack. I hit the demon in its fat face, the blow carrying through the stone throne and breaking it into large chunks. The demon rolled off the back of its throne, tumbling several times before bouncing off the back wall, like some kind of twisted beach ball. It floated for a second as it tumbled in the air.

  I grinned and dropped my shield, getting a sharp response from Asher demanding, “What are you doing?”

  I lined up my shot, holding my mace with both hands. “Batter up,” I quipped as I swung. My mace met demon flesh with another loud crack and several crunches as the bones inside the demon fractured. I wished I could swing a bat like that when I was alive, maybe I would have ended up playing major league baseball.

  The demon careened through the air, still alive. The rotund ball of fat hit the wall and bounced once again. This time, there was enough momentum from the hit to carry the thing to the other side of its throne room where it hit the other wall. It bounced again. Once again, I lined up my swing.

  Crack! My mace hit again.

  Crack!

  Crack!

  Crack!

  My mace swung through the air impacting the little blob over and over again. I never gave it the chance to recover. I watched my EP carefully.

  “Don’t let up,” Asher cheered, sounding excited for the first time.

  Crack!

  Crack!

  Crack!

  I focused on just hitting the monster over and over again. I made sure to let him bounce off the walls until his momentum slowed down. It helped conserve my EP.

  Crack!

  Crack!

  Splash!

  “Oh, God, it’s in my mouth!” I cried. That last hit was finally the demons breaking point. The demon spawn burst like a water balloon, sending black blood everywhere. I spat it out as best I could, but my mouth was well and truly tainted.

  “Don’t swallow it, it’s highly acidic,” Asher screamed in warning.

  I felt my mouth start to burn. I continued trying to spit it out but quickly found myself unable to. My lips had gone numb. Instead, I dropped my mace and started pawing at my tongue only to quickly discover
why my lips had gone numb, they were gone. As were my teeth and tongue. It was only then I looked at my HP and saw it was also quickly melting away.

  I tried to ask Asher what to do but all that came out was a gurgle. Thankfully, the acid ate away the nerve endings so fast that pain signals weren’t transmitted to my brain for long. It felt more like an intense itch. Still, I was worried I was about to be melted, and the worst part, it was right after I finished off that greater imp.

  I looked around for anything that might help. There was no water to wash away the acid, no potions that I could readily see. Nothing. I was going to die . . . again. Then I saw the imps from the hall, their bodies were finally melting, being reabsorbed by Purgatory. I really hoped that applied to the blood that was currently trying to eat me alive.

  “Hit the floor,” Asher said. “Get the blood as close to it as you can.”

  I more or less face planted, hoping Purgatory would suck the acidic blood out of my face. It was a relief when the itching almost instantly stopped. ‘3/140’ HP, and it was holding steady.

  I rolled on to my back and laid there. I didn’t care to move. I didn’t want to move. Today . . . so much trauma. So much nightmare fuel. I was going to take the rest of the day off . . . maybe the next day as well.

  “Stop laying around,” Asher ordered.

  I didn’t move more than turning my head to glare at him.

  Asher rolled his eyes. “Suck it up, buttercup. You have treasure to inspect.”

  I lifted my head to look around, then gargled something unintelligible that was supposed to be ‘Treasure?’. After hearing myself, I just laid my head back down. The treasure wasn’t going anywhere, and until my face regenerated, neither was I.

  Naturally, Asher wasn’t interested in my wants or needs. “Why are you just lying there? Do you not understand treasure?”

  I pointed to my face and then circled the damage with my finger.

  “Your face? It’ll heal. But the treasure might disappear,” Asher said, finally saying something that motivated me to move.

  Where the greater imp’s throne had been there was now a small, closed treasure chest. It didn’t look overly impressive. Just a simple wooden box, banded in dark iron. It was maybe a foot long by six inches wide and stood about four inches tall.

  I picked up my mace and shield as I approached. Purgatory liked to give me ambushes, it would be best if I were prepared. As I approached the chest, there was no pull or the abnormal desire I had come to associate with the sloth demon’s aura. It seemed to just be a chest. Still, I gently nudged it with my mace.

  As soon as my mace made contact, the chest erupted into gold sparks of light. When the light show ended, there were several imp tails, a large pile of tiny crystals, and more interestingly, there was a potion vial with a glowing golden liquid inside.

  I swiped the crystals into my belt pouch just to get them out of the way. I opened my inventory with a thought and added the spade tipped imp tails to one of the open slots next to my other remaining demon parts, not that I had a ton of them left. That left the potion vial. I picked it up and showed it to Asher, then asked, “What is this?” It was only then I realized, my mouth was back and in working order.

  Asher frowned and hummed in thought. “I . . . don’t know.”

  “I thought you could identify this stuff?” I questioned.

  Asher growled. “Usually, I can. This time, I can’t.”

  “Then how do we find out what it is?” I asked.

  Asher snapped, “You take it to an alchemist to have it identified. Or you level me up and then, if the increase in my proficiencies is enough, I can tell you what it is.”

  It would take 10,000 experience points to level Asher up. I didn’t know if I could wait that long.

  Asher continued, “The smart thing is to level me. If you go to an alchemist to identify it, it will cost you money. It will also risk letting others know you have something special. I promise, there are those like Billy who look for such things.”

  “Great,” I groused. That was just what I needed. I stuffed the potion into an open inventory slot. “And if you can’t identify it after I upgrade you?”

  “Then you won’t have a choice but to go to an alchemist,” Asher answered.

  I nodded. With that settled for the moment, I reached my hands to my face and inspected it. It seemed to all be there, though I wished I had a mirror to confirm. “Hey . . . uh, Asher . . . is . . . uh, my face back to normal?”

  “It’s hideous,” Asher replied quickly. “So, yes, back to normal.”

  My shoulders sagged in relief. “I hate you.”

  Chapter 15 – The Library

  After the greater imp episode, I did indeed take a day off. Asher wasn’t happy but he understood that I needed time to recover after almost getting my head melted off or any of the hundreds of traumas I’d suffered since entering Purgatory. I could see why some would just give up if they suffered enough losses. The only thing that kept me coming back for more was the goal. Heaven or . . . at least something better than Purgatory. I still had no idea what I was going to do.

  I lazed about on my day off. I ate several times, tried a variety of the foods being offered, not just the meat on a stick I’d become accustomed to. I’d forgotten just how much I liked potatoes. Once again, Asher wasn’t happy with the frivolous spending of crystals, but I couldn’t have cared less. Everyone needed a coping mechanism, food was mine. Or at least, it was that day.

  After my day off, it was time to go back inside. The first room cleared easily as did the balcony with little to no crystals to be seen. And more importantly, no secret passage. Asher wasn’t lying when he said they were random. I was less happy that I might never see one again. The crystals and experience rewards were . . . generous. The reward of crystals, in particular, was part of the reason I didn’t mind spending some on food.

  The first large group in the library went smoother than ever before. It helped that I could use quick strike to wipe out a bookshelf before the little sloth leeches could go and wake its neighbors. The bigger sloth demons still took two or three hits to kill, but so long as I took out the nearby bookshelves first, they were easy to deal with. Unfortunately, the crystal rewards were still paltry compared to previously. It was simply too easy now that I could resist their compulsion and see through their illusions.

  Naturally, that was when things started to change. After clearing maybe two dozen shelves and random pieces of furniture, I came across an old man, reclining in a chair. He had an open book lying across his chest as he gently snored. It looked extremely comfortable. And he had a similar chair just next to his with a book sitting on the table.

  “Victor!” Asher screamed, halting me as I was about to sit in a chair.

  I shook my head. “Not again,” I complained, shaking away the cobwebs. It was then I saw a gleaming yellow eye peering at me. The old man had one eye cracked open ever so slightly, it was just enough to see the inhuman golden iris. I growled as I swung.

  The old man tipped backward off the chair, allowing my mace to sail over him, missing completely. I tried to give chase but the chair he was using as well as the chair I was about to sit in came to life as did the books. Before I knew it, there were a dozen sloth demons trying to kill me and no sign of the old man.

  It was like the first time I’d entered the library. I kicked and stomped sloth leeches, smashed the larger sloth demons with my mace, and generally tried not to die. When the demons all fell, there was no sign of the old man, just a handful of tiny crystals.

  Looking to Asher for guidance, I asked, “Where’d the old man go?”

  “That old man was a greater sloth demon, and it ran away while you were distracted by the others,” Asher answered.

  That put me a bit on edge. If that thing ran away, why hadn’t it set more of the demons to attack me. “Will it wake more of the demons?”

  Asher twisted left and right in his version of a head shake. “No, it’s too lazy t
o do more than save itself. I am sure we will see it again. Let’s hope next time, you don’t get ensnared by it.”

  We continued on through the library. We systematically wove our way through the library, eliminating every demon we could find. It didn’t pay out much in the way of crystals and I was sure that the experience payout was just as bad. Still, we were trying to make up the difference in the sheer volume.

  Then I came across the old man again. It was the same setup as last time. Same napping old man with the same book across his chest. Same open chair. This time I shook off the compulsion before I even took one step. Instead, I settled myself into the first stance I was taught with my mace. I grinned a little as I stepped forward and swung from below, hoping to hit the old man with an uppercut from the mace. I hit the chair he was napping in, but the old man sprung from the chair, landing on top of a nearby bookshelf. His two yellow eyes glared at me, and his mouth opened revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth. He hissed angrily at me, then leaped away, but not before he tipped over the bookshelf into several nearby shelves.

  “I don’t like this guy,” I complained as I readied myself for the deluge of demons coming my way.

  Asher couldn’t help but quip, “It seems he doesn’t like you either.”

  I would have complained, maybe said something smart and witty, but the sloth leeches were already on me, and I didn’t have time.

  I ran into the old man three more times before clearing the remainder of the library. On the last encounter, the old man ran through the door that led out of the library, slamming the door behind him and waking up the remainder of the library, much to my frustration and maybe a little worry. There were still a lot of furnishings and bookshelves I hadn’t dealt with.

  A little while later, the library was finally cleared out. I sat down next to the door into the next room and gave myself a short breather. While I had been very efficient with my EP usage, it still needed time to recover as did my HP. With the number of demons, I’d just faced off against, I couldn’t completely avoid being damaged. After a few minutes, it was time to move on.