Labyrinth of Fright (Underdog Book #5): LitRPG Series

by Alexey Osadchuk

  “We are bound to submit to you,” Murk said faintly.

  I shrugged my shoulders.

  “Well, if that’s so… Then you are free. You may go. If you like, for example, you could go back to your homes. In the north of the continent.”

  A rustle ran down the foxman formation. Murk gave a short growl, and they all quieted down. Their discipline was sky high.

  “You don’t get it,” said the albino, frowning. “There’s no such thing as the Ice Fangs. I was brought here as a baby, just like a few of the others. But everyone else was actually born here. Foreston is our home. Our families… Wives, children… We are not going anywhere!”

  “Hm… So that’s how it is,” I said in surprise. To be perfectly frank, I was looking at this situation from a totally different angle. “Now I see why they handed you off to me…”

  “You need warriors,” said Murk. “We need to prove ourselves worthy of joining the clan.”

  I shook my head.

  “You do understand that the task ahead will be very challenging?”

  The foxes responded with predatory grins.

  “Just tell us what to do!” barked Murk.

  “Well, in that case, alright then,” I agreed.

  After that, I nodded at the arsenal door, inviting them to follow me.

  “And given we’ll be working together, I’m gonna have to get you some better equipment.”

  * * *

  “Think they’ll take the bait?” I asked, casting a gloomy look at the shore of the body of water the locals knew as Narrow Lake.

  “You needn’t have any doubts,” answered Murk, flashing his fangs and, nodding at the water, added: “Mothers never forgive such things.”

  Five days ago, a whole flotilla of dozens crudely hammered-together rafts was sent floating away from our side of the lake. In the middle of each such vessel, Murk’s warriors had staged hair-raising compositions with decapitated blackblood bodies. The heads were placed on separate rafts and also sent out into the lake. According to the foxfolks’ calculations, our unambiguous message should have reached its destination by now. Further downstream, on the opposite bank, there was a wide gulf at the mouth of the river. And that was precisely where our declaration of war was being sent.

  It took us two weeks to clear the blackbloods from “our” side of the lake. Murk and his fighters took eagerly to the work. The weapons and armor from the arsenal, as well as the potions and spheres I provided them simplified the task significantly. By the way, the hunter tokens I spent on the Fangs were reimbursed by the elders. Yes, that’s right. They had crystals, so of course they also had tokens. I’d be curious to find out how many of the tokens the clan had managed to save up over their centuries holding back the forces of darkness. I would probably find, to put it lightly, quite a lot.

  Over those two weeks, Murk’s fighters and Gorgie alongside, had exterminated the very fruitful brutes. In fact, this part of the clan’s land was so neglected that blackbloods were not even the most dangerous monsters around. And not all of our hunts ended without losses on our side. Since we’d begun, Murk had had to bury eleven fighters.

  By the end of the first week of hunting, the blackbloods had already made up their minds to attack the city. Around three hundred of them had made their way to the walls of Foreston. Just a month earlier, a horde of that magnitude would have made a real mess, but not this time. The newly awakened city, which was being fed mana every day by every mage in the clan, was starting to get its defensive system back online fairly quickly.

  Basically, the blackbloods that made it to the walls became mere food for the hungry city. The killer vines, which had grown back in just a few days’ time, tore the bodies of the dark beasts to shreds. The poison mushroom spawn traps, predatory trees, and meadows that looked peaceful at first glance but actually contained razor-sharp grass ― the forest around the city had turned into a true hellscape for our enemies. It occurred to me that it was a miracle the small army of blackbloods even reached the walls, and that they were probably quite diminished and beaten up already.

  The harsh reprisal against the dark creatures made a strong impression and inspired the city dwellers. The warriors up on the walls were telling the others what happened for several days after. Based on the way the elders reacted, they had never seen the living city so active before. One more plus for Pinebogey and me.

  After a short siege and unconditional victory, the first part of our plan was complete. We exterminated the remaining living blackbloods and essentially liberated the whole near side of the lake. I should note that if they had not made our lives easier by going to the walls of Foreston, our hunt may have gone on for months. We of course knew there would be a lot of blackbloods, but not quite this many… I’m afraid to even imagine what it’s like on the other side of Narrow Lake.

  “I see movement on the water!” the most observant of Murk’s fighters announced quietly.

  The albino bared his teeth with glee. I took a glance at the foxman out of the corner of my eye. At a certain point, he shared a memory from his childhood. Everyone thought the gods had blessed him. After all, it would be hard to ask for better camouflage in a land of constant snow. But, once in the forest, that blessing became a curse. Little Murk had a rough go of it at first. White fur in a green forest is not the greatest camouflage. He had to grind twice as hard as everyone else, spending tablets on the corresponding statistics.

  “Didn’t I tell you the Mommas would come to avenge their kiddos?” barked Murk.

  I looked where he pointed and felt the hair on the back of my head stand on end.

  “How many are there?” I whispered, gloomily watching as the entire surface of the lake gradually filled up with narrow little vessels with blackblood heads poking up over the gunwales.

  “Two thousand at least,” muttered Murk.

  But we were perfectly aware that this was just the beginning. The mothers had assembled a horde to punish those that had sinned against them.

  “Are you ready, Master Eric?” Murk asked me.

  I ran through the contents of my backpacks one last time. Potions, spheres, elixirs, eight stones I had filled with Chaos Shield and of course crystals. Lots of crystals.

  “Yes,” I nodded and started wading into the water. When the water was up to my waist, I turned and waved at Murk. “I hope we meet again!”

  He just nodded back and then, with a short growl to his fighters, faded into the trees. Very soon the city would be under siege again. I hope the foxfolk can withstand it. The fact Pinebogey had stayed back in Foreston gave me hope. I’m sure the Heart of the Forest will get a big boost of energy.

  Breathe in. Breathe out. Move air through my transformed lungs. A quick glance at the oncoming horde. Activate invisibility and muckwalker’s aquatic regeneration. Done. I’m ready to go.

  The dark waters of the lake closed up over my head and I pushed off from shore. On the other side of this lake, there’s a dark portal waiting for me.

  Chapter 27

  ONCE I REACHED the other side of the lake, I popped up in a thick patch of reeds, activated Sixth Sense and took a look around. Right away, I noticed a magical beast of some kind moving around thirty feet from me. Based on its elongated energy channels, it’s probably a snake.

  Under normal circumstances, Gorgie and I would not miss the chance to earn some tablets, but now was not the time.

  Despite the lake’s icy water, I was feeling great. Before I left, Murk advised me to slather myself in goose fat so I wouldn’t freeze to death midway. But when I thanked him for the advice and refused, he gave an understanding snort. As if to say, “mages have their secrets.” And as a matter of fact, he was right. Muckwalker’s Aquatic Regeneration wrapped my body in a thick layer of green-hued slime, which did a great job keeping me safe from hypothermia. The only trouble was that the slime took a long time to clean off.

  I waited for the magic snake to get on its way, then climbed up on shore and summoned Gorgie.
I spent the next few minutes cleaning the slime off my body with bunches of dry grass. Freezing up occasionally like a plains gopher, I was listening closely to what was going on around me.

  I wasn’t likely to sense something Gorgie couldn’t, and after summoning he had dashed straight into a nearby patch of underbrush to scout. But I still considered it a necessary precaution. Beyond that, I was trying to learn to use my transformations at every convenient opportunity.

  Gorgie was back a few minutes later, just as I got myself together and ready to move along. Pulling on a set of dry clothing, I thanked all the gods for my ephemeral slots.

  “What’s out there?” I asked Gorgie mentally.

  “Lots of burrows,” he shot back in disgust. That’s just how he reacts to blackbloods. “Younglings.”

  Our trap worked. All blackbloods in fighting shape were now landing on the foxfolk side of the lake. Alright then, getting past the low-level snots wouldn’t be too much trouble. And that was what we were expecting.

  “Sense the portal?” I asked quietly, spitting out bitter saliva.

  Gorgie gave a short growl back. Had he ever! The gateway gave off a vile stench like a gigantic rotting fish carcass. And that was at the fact that, based on the map, we had another three- or four-days’ hike ahead of us.

  “Then let’s go!” I commanded, and we headed toward the forest.

  * * *

  When Wintry Redpaw told us his guess about the number of blackbloods on this side of the lake, he wasn’t even close to appreciating the scale of the problem. The whole lakeshore and every patch of land we saw on our several-day journey looked like a giant anthill made out of thousands of burrows.

  I’m afraid to even imagine what’s happening at the walls of Foreston right now. I really hope the defenders are holding out. Other than that, I was really counting on the living city and Heart of the Forest having a beastly appetite.

  In my turn then, strange as it may have been, I found myself praising the gods for my previous encounter with the Blackblood Mother, which gave me the iridescent tablet with the Canopy spell. Without certain abilities and equipment like my Invisibility and Marauder’s Cloak, the mere thought of poking around over here would have been foolish. I even had to recall Gorgie a couple times. That was how densely the blackbloods had settled these lands.

  But the situation I found myself in also had positive aspects. For example, there were no predators where the blackbloods dwelt. The dark shapeshifters had quite simply outcompeted everything in the area. All that remained was to guess how far out their hunters ventured to obtain nourishment.

  Moving around was made much easier by the fact that the blackbloods in their settlements were constantly sparking disputes and squabbles, which often ended in murder and the subsequent cannibalization of the defeated enemy’s remains. Over the last three days, I had realized that hungry adult blackbloods saw nothing wrong with snatching up the first youngling they came across and eating them while their tribe looked on. And in fact, the onlookers would always rush in to join the feast.

  The more I saw, I started coming to the conclusion that they had long been preparing to sail across Narrow Lake. This many predators couldn’t just be left to sit around in one place without a strong figure imposing their will. This all-consuming horde was essentially forced into nomadism because settled life would mean risking self-destruction. Lack of meat would simply drive them to eat each other.

  The closer I came to the portal, the less blackblood burrows I encountered. On the fourth day, meanwhile, even they disappeared.

  I was following the map I had acquired in the Foreston arsenal. But to be frank, it wasn’t really necessary. The dark emanations coming from the portal and completely soaking every living thing in the area were turning me inside out.

  The lack of blackblood mothers on the one hand was great. After all, it meant our plan was working. But on the other hand, I couldn’t shake a strange sticky sensation that it was all a performance in some way.

  The constant sensation someone was watching me made me annoyed and nervous even though Gorgie felt nothing of the sort.

  I was starting to get the impression we were overlooking something. It was all just turning out to be painfully simple. Hm… Actually, what am I talking about?! Almost a month of brutal fights against blackbloods, and they were making their second attempt on Foreston already… Nope. This has been anything but simple. But still, a little worm of doubt was constantly gnawing away at my confidence. Of course, that made what happened next come as less of a surprise.

  I was standing on a small hill and looking down sullenly on the landscape around me. Based on the map, this had once been a forest, but the portal had turned it all into a gloomy ashen gray wasteland. No matter where I looked, the earth was strewn with both time-yellowed and still perfectly fresh skeletons. The bitter and rotten flavors in my mouth were driving me crazy. I wanted to get as far from this place as possible.

  There were particularly many skeletons lying around a small lake filled with coal black water right at the foot of a hill. Despite the lack of wind, a slight ripple kept running over its black surface. And every such vibration sent a wave of nastiness coursing over me.

  Putting the facts together was not hard. That lake was the portal. If I hadn’t seen something like it in the Labyrinth of Fright, I’d never have believed it. Although I should note that this “lake” was even wider than the one opened by the Steel King. I wonder what kind of beasts come out of this gateway. And most importantly ― where do they go after that? Based on the big huge skeletons lying nearby though, they don’t all make it very far. I felt the hair on the back of my head stand on end.

  No, that’s not supposed to happen. Time to get started! A deep breath in. And a breath out. I had a hard time snapping out of the languid state and getting myself together. With a glance over my shoulder, I looked for Gorgie. The harn had opted not to climb up the hill. He decided to poke around among the trees instead. Our proximity to the portal was making him nauseous just like me. But in case of danger he was ready to be at my side at any moment.

  “Yes, little brother. I don’t like it here either,” I whispered, casting a gaze at the trees. “One last push and let’s go.”

  I heard an impatient growl from somewhere in the woods. As if to say, “let’s go already.” Finish up and let’s get this show on the road. I just chuckled and stepped forward.

  Quickly coming down off the hill and carefully walking around the bones of the unknown beasts, I approached the lakeside. The portal seemed to sense that something was amiss and was responding to my every step with a wave of vile energy. And when the first large ghostly crystal appeared in my hand, it whipped into a frenzy. Little waves were running frenetically over its slimy black surface. I gave a rapacious snort. Off to a great start! The foxfolk weren’t stingy with their crystals for such a critical endeavor.

  When I was about to throw the first crystal into the “lake,” I heard someone hiss out behind me loudly:

  “What do you think you’re doing, worm?”

  I quickly turned around. At the foot of the hill, twenty steps away from me there stood a woman who looked just like the one I killed in the explorer village. Like two peas in a pod. This one was higher level though ― sixty-seven. So, here comes Momma. I guess there was a reason I kept feeling like someone was watching me. All that remained was to figure out what took her so long to speak up.

  “I wanted to tidy this place up,” I responded, trying to make my voice sound flat. “This place is like a dumpster. It stinks so bad it’s hard for me to breathe.”

  “Look at the cheek on you!” The brute flashed her sharp fangs. “I am dead sure I’m going to enjoy drinking your blood!”

  Out of the corner of an eye, I glanced at the distant wall of trees and sent Gorgie a mental warning. I hope he’ll have enough restraint to keep his head down. The blackblood mother followed my gaze then and nodded.

  “Your beast has quite the cheek, to
o,” she told me. “Doesn’t want to do as he’s told.”

  I sighed internally. So, Gorgie’s mental magic resistance is working. Either thirty-four points is a lot, or this Mother doesn’t have such a powerful artifact as her late sister. Although, whoever said this brute was using artifacts at all?

  — Attention! You have been subjected to mental magic!

  ― Attack repulsed!

  “I see you’ve come prepared!” she barked.

  “Now it’s my turn, sister!”

  Another loud hissing outburst behind me made me shudder and whip around.

  — Attention! You have been subjected to mental magic!

  ― Attack repulsed!

  Another one! So did the Mothers not go with the horde after all? Or had some opted to stay behind?

  Over the next several seconds, I saw a laundry list of messages about mental subjugation attempts. Every attack repulsed made the blackblood Mothers fume more and more.